Life is a Long Road

Who would ever have thought that I'd be riding around in this boat?  Not me.  I am basically afraid of the water and need a lot of coaxing to get in anything that goes fast.  This boat is anything but my dream boat, and yet, here I am.  The adventures never end.  My life is always one crazy idea after another.  My husband and I spend a lot of time on the water.  God knows if anything ever happens, he better be ready to rescue me,  cause I won't be ready to do it for myself

It has been so long since last I wrote here. I did not realize how long.

Tonight was a great night on the lake. They held the Christmas parade of lights tonight. A lot of boat owners decorate their boats in lights and tinsle, and parade around the water in a beautiful display of the Christmas spirit. We did not participate in the lights, but we did go and support our fellow boaters by watching and cheering them from the side lines. It was great fun for everyone. The sail boats were spectacular with their tall masts gleaming in the night, one of them was a beautiful angle (photo on Left), others were huge Christmas trees, and one was even a space ship with 3 little green men. I am sorry about the picture quality, it was my cell phone. The picture on the right is a house boat with two stories of lights, and it was just beautiful.

This year started out so full of everything wonderful, and has been down hill since June. I lost my job in June and started the long road to finding a new one. It has been challaging and more difficult to deal with than I had imagined.

"This too shall pass" or so they say, but six months without work is a long time. The self doubt and anger grow daily. It is hard to be without the money, but the money is only a small piece of it in the long run. As all of you know that have lost a job due to no fault of your own, the loss of purpose is really much more difficult to deal with.

I have toyed with many ideas in these last six months to restore myself. I could write a book, open a store, volunteer, go back to school, or just stay at home and be me. However, I can't shake the nagging sensation that I MUST find another job. It is overwhelming me. None of the other ideas seem to stick, not one is worthy of my undivided attention. To tell you the truth, I thought I wanted to do every single one of those ideas at one point or another in my life. In fact, the book was even started a few years ago. Perhaps that is worth another go? What do all of you think? It probably won't be a masterpiece, I just need to finish it. Right?

You can tell by now that soul searching has never been my strong suit, but this last six months have proven that I could do with a little more of it. I suspect that I am affraid of it. I'm not even sure where to begin. Join an ashram in India? That is a daunting thought. Maybe move to a lone cabin in the woods, and live like a hermit for some undetermined amount of time? Whatever it is, I simply do not believe I can manage it. Fear has a strangle hold on me and I am doing a horrible job of breaking free.

On a more positive note, this year Garrett graduated from the University of Deleware, Amy is continuing her education at Kennesaw University, and Michael is doing great in the 8th grade. Also, Michael and I are still taking Karate, we still enjoy the lake and our boat, and we still have a wonderful family. Isn't that supposed to be enough? I have a good life, so am I selfish? If so, maybe that is why I cannot find a job, or even manage to finish a book I started a long time ago.

I hope to keep you all posted on the latest. With any luck, I will be back at work soon, and this will all be behind me. I will add more pictures then.

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2008 was a bit unusual for us, we didn't have a tree because the house was under construction, but we were glad to have Garrett come home to visit us and recooperate from a surgery on his shoulder. Below are couple of pictures of our happy crew at that time. Lady was crazy about her new pillow, it was a big hit!

Does it really matter which way you go?

Every now and then, stop to remind yourself that in the long run every path must eventually lead to the same place. It is the view, and terrain that are different.

May your view be gorgeous and your path meander gently to your preferred destination.

A couple of years ago we took a trip on motorcycles to Montana, Wyoming, and a small piece of Colorado. We had a great time visiting the national parks. This is a picture of my husband, my youngest son, and myself.

2009 Summer Plans

The Island Paradise - St. Thomas.

This year we took a trip in April to St. Thomas VI. It was great. Shopping, sunsets, boat rides, good friends, fishing, snorkeling, and great food, who could ask for anything more?

Below is a picture of Gary and Michael enjoying a day of shopping. Don't they look thrilled! LOL

The beaches are sandy and for the most part not crowded. The cruise ships can create some swimmers but for the most part the cruise ships create shoppers. Downtown is only fun when the cruise ships are not packing the place. Every Friday is "No ship" Friday so those who travel by plane can enjoy that day at least.

Below is a picture taken on the last night we were there. Moon was so bright and beautiful over the bay and the city lights created a breathtaking view.

We are so excited to have summer around the corner. Living at the lake allows for a sense of peace and tranquility that all the other places we ever lived failed to do. We can stroll down to the lake and enjoy sunsets over the cove and an endless parade of boats that cruise down the main channel at the end of our cove.

While I enjoy the peace granting negative ions, my husband and son don't seem to notice them at all as they run around the lake on our Yahama jet ski, playing in the waves. That is not for me, but i enjoy watching them. I can't take the waves, in fact it is terrifying for me to go fast on water, but they love it.

I will post some pictures soon of the lake, our house, and our life. The water is much higher than it was this time last year when we thought the cove would dry up and blow away (not really - we had a good 20 feet of water behind our house)

We are planning another motorcycle trip this year, last time we went to Montana, and this time to the North Carolina Outerbanks, I can't wait to see it. I love beaches! I will post those pictures too when we return.

Michael will take his yearly trip to see Grandma and Grandpa in Michigan, and spend time with them at their lake house fishing, and boating.

I have to figure some more of this technical side of doing this blog, but I post the information soon.