July 31, 2021 – Photo

While out on an excursion, I captured the image of this solitary sailboat out on the water. It was a picture perfect day, serene and peaceful. Things weren’t so serene or peaceful on the boat I was on as I ‘fed the fish’ after consuming a rather large lunch and becoming seasick. As much as I enjoy looking at boats, I’d prefer to stand on steady ground and appreciate them from afar. All of that bobbing up and down doesn’t set well with me.

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July 30, 2021 – Eyesore

An old friend reached out to me via text this morning and told me how excited she was that we would be moving back. I told her that I wasn’t sure whether it was going to even happen because we’d had no movement whatsoever with the sale of our home. “Lower the price?” she suggested. I responded by saying that we were considering it, but that there were more obstacles to get over or around than just the price. If our house were anywhere else, I think it would be under contract by now, but it’s not. It is where it is, directly across from the main hospital entrance, and there’s not much we can do about it. My old friend has never been out to visit so I didn’t think she quite understood what an imposing presence the hospital was, so I took a picture and sent it to her. Her reaction was, “Eeeeek!!” She then sent an image of a privacy fence and said that in order to cover up an ‘eyesore’, a friend of hers installed one and it worked out pretty well. “It’d have to be a mighty tall fence!” I replied.

July 29, 2021 – Photo

This is my second favorite photo from the recent getaway I took. It reminds me a great deal of my childhood. I spent many afternoons combing the beach, looking for colored glass or interesting rocks. I don’t recall spending a lot of time in the water because it was far too cold, but I enjoyed removing my shoes and socks and walking along the edge of the water, my bare feet sinking into the wet sand with each step I took.

July 28, 2021 – Limbo

As I sit here tonight, I am wondering to myself, “How many more answers to their questions must we provide before they’re satisfied?” And when I refer to ‘they’, I’m referring to the people who are ‘very’ interested in our house. As it turns out, the open house that was held a couple of days ago yielded some positive results. Four different couples toured our home and one of them showed some real promise. Their realtor forwarded our realtor a list of questions and I answered them more than adequately, but now they want to know even ‘more’. In the first batch of questions, they asked how many previous owners there were, whether there was ever a pool in the side yard, whether we had converted the wood burning fireplace to natural gas, and how much our monthly utility payments were (over a period of a year). I understand asking about the total number of previous owners when purchasing a vehicle, but a house? What’s the relevance? Mind you, I did find out and I told them. There were only three, which I think is amazing for a home that’s 62 years old.

July 27, 2021 – Photo

I had a heck of a time deciding which photo I wanted to feature today. But of all the ones I took, this one appealed to me the most. During our overnight getaway, my husband and I got to spend a little time at the beach/waterfront. This image shows a number of boats at the local marina. In addition to the boats, we saw an assortment of birds (seagulls and herons and ducks and sparrows), fish (including jellyfish), dogs (of all shapes and sizes), and people (of all shapes and sizes). I am glad we got out of town for a little bit. It was a pleasant distraction (and quite entertaining).

July 26, 2021 – Shower Talk

What a strange day it’s been! An open house was scheduled so I suggested to my husband that we plan a little overnight getaway and spend some time with my family on the other side of the mountains (since we had to make ourselves scarce anyway). After checking with the dog boarder to see if she had availability and determining whether any reasonably priced hotels were available, I pulled the trigger. Our boarder had room for our dog and Priceline had a room for a great price, so it all worked out. The biggest stumbling blocks were getting my husband to actually go and navigating the traffic on the way over. Before we headed out the door, I felt like one of those pet owners who tries to coax their dog into taking a walk, and once they actually get their dog out the door and onto the sidewalk, the dog plants its butt and refuses to move. Now, I’m not saying that my husband is anything like a dog although there are a few peculiar similarities (I’ll tackle that another day), but when it came down to willfully departing our home in order to go on our little getaway, I felt the closest analogy to describing my husband’s resistance was of a dog planting its butt on the sidewalk.

July 25, 2021 – Photo

I call this photo ‘Nature’s Candy’. When we first moved into our home, a friend of the family gave us some starter thornless blackberry bushes. Once we planted them, they flourished, so much so that they’ve practically taken over the garden. My husband trimmed them way back in the spring but that didn’t seem to make much of a difference. I don’t mind so much. It’s nice to be able to step outside and fill a bowl with fresh berries. And it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than buying them at the grocery store!

July 24, 2021 – Self-Sabotage

If you’d like me to bungle something for you, give me a shout. I don’t mind helping you out, I’m a great ‘bungler’. I’ve been doing it for the better part of my life and have had tons of practice. And there seems to be no end in sight as I continue to bungle things, intentionally or otherwise. Most recently, I bungled a job opportunity, but I do have to wonder if there was some intent there, a bit of self-sabotage to shut the whole production down. As much as I want to work and return to the ‘land of the living’, the job was for 40 hours per week (four 10-hour days). I know I’m capable of doing the job, it consists of responsibilities I’m more than familiar with. But when the hiring representative shared the schedule with me, the initial interest I had began to wane. Twenty hours per week? Sure, I’m all over that! But 40? Just the thought makes me tired. I remember the last time I held a full-time job, and what I remember most is how out-of-balance my life was and how much I looked forward to Fridays!

July 23, 2021 – Photo

I snapped a photo of this little guy through a pane of glass. When I saw how it turned out, I was disappointed. In an attempt at a better photo, I stood outside and waited for him to return, but he was so skittish, he refused to take a drink from the feeder as long as I was standing there. I stood so long that my back started to hurt so I eventually gave up on the idea. Unfortunately, this is the best out of all of the photos I took. I wish it didn’t have the lines through it. I cannot figure out why they’re even in the image. Maybe I’ll be able to capture a better photo of one of my feathered friends in the future. If I do, I’ll be sure to share it with you.

July 22, 2021 – Milestones and more.

I reached a significant milestone this week. Since I started my blog back in September of 2020, I have managed to accumulate 302 followers. In fact, carlie, you helped me reach the big 3-0-0 and I’d like to thank you for that! I’ve been at this for ten months solid and although it hasn’t resulted in anything from a financial standpoint, it has helped me make sense of a number of things which previously eluded me as well as navigate some difficult times I’ve had in recent months. Taking the time to write every other day has brought me a great deal of joy as well. I’m rather mystified that it took me so long to ‘find my way back’ as I had always intended on being an English major. I also endeavored to become a renowned artist but it no longer speaks to my heart. Nevertheless, I’ve enjoyed reading and writing and ‘words’ for as long as I can remember. They’ve helped transport me to other worlds. But somehow, despite my desire to go on to college and get my Bachelor’s Degree, ‘life’ got in the way. Joining the military was the first detour I took and then that turned into meeting my husband, getting married, and having babies. When my babies came along, I had to put college on the back burner. Trying to take classes, write papers, and study for exams proved too difficult while looking after little ones.