My Busy Life

Have you ever taken a step back, and looked at how busy your life is? I have, and I also discovered something else, too. Unless you're impossibly lazy, nobody has a life that's not busy. Of course, the hustle and bustle of every day life is rather annoying at times, it still feels good to know that you're still alive. For example, I work ten hour days five days a week plus between an extra four to six hours on Saturday. I also help Mark keep up with the housework, as he has the same schedule as I do. It's amazing that we even find time to get on the computer, or even time to go do things together. We're pretty busy people, and things get kind of crazy most of the time. Both of us need a way to relieve some stress, a break from our busy lives. I try to find that break as often as I can in my writing, whenever I can't find that break anywhere else.
There are times that Mark and I just take off and go somewhere...just to get away. We'll go out to a nice restaurant, catch a movie, or go to a hotel for a night. Warehouse work is no piece of cake, and when you work ten hour days, your life is practically devoted to your job...as we've both found out. It's really nice to be able to get out on the weekends...when we can. And when we can get out, we just try to relaz and get away from all the stress and everything else. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I'm sure we all know how that goes.
There are times that I feel like all I ever do is work, work, work. I'm sure we all feel that way at times. The day starts at five in the morning for Mark and I. We get a break from everything at 4:30 on our way home, and then it starts all over again whenever we get home. I'm really busy almost constantly, but it's all worth it in the end. I'm very happy where I'm at. I never would've dreamed that I'd ever live in North Carolina or work for one of the most well known furniture companies in the United States, but that's where my life has brought me, and I wouldn't want it any other way. I'm even happier living here with Mark. I love Mark. I love my busy life, and I love it here in North Carolina!

A New Writing Site!

Yesterday, Mark was sick so he left work early. He'd been on the computer surfing the net, and he found a good site for me. I can post my poems on it, and get feedback from other writers, and they can rate it, and all kinds of things. It also has many other links to other writing-related sites as well. I've posted two poems, and I've already got feedback on one of them. Also, this site automatically copyrights your original poems so that way nobody else can claim them as their own.
Membership to the site is free, but you can upgrade your membership for so much money a month. I think an upgraded membership costs like four dollars a month or somewhere in that range. There's also a lot of writer's forums, and various other things to keep you tapped into a whole network full of writers. I'm hoping that it will help me out and get me one step closer to getting published.
Also, I'd like to take a moment to give thanks to Mark for believing in me, and finding the site for me. He keeps assuring me that I'm really good at it, and keeps telling me that I should follow through with my dreams of becoming a published author, if that's what I want. Thank you so much, sweetheart.
Anyway, I know it sounds like I'm plugging this site, or giving a testimonial or something. I do apologize for that, because that really wasn't my intent in the first place. I'm just really excited about this site. It's great! I'm not too sure how the site is about publicity or advertising, so, if anybody's interested, send me an e-mail, and I'll give you the website. I hope you'll enjoy it just as much as I do.

Contacts

After spending a good portion of my life in glasses, I'd decided I wanted a little bit of a change. I had an eye exam done, and asked the doctor to fit me for contact lenses. The eye doctor told me it wouldn't be a problem, even though the test results showed that I had a stigmatism. I was fitted for regular contacts (thank God!) and the eye doctor gave me a week to try them out. He told me that he hoped the regular contacts worked out for me because the contact lenses to correct stigmatisms cost about 30% more than regular ones.
Thank God the regular contact lenses worked for me. I recently got my contact lens prescription filled, and it only cost about $50 for a three month prescription. It feels good to be rid of glasses and still be able to see. It was rocky ground at first as you have to get used to touching your eye to put them in as well as taking them out, but it's a breeze once you get used to it. Mark also got contact lenses, but they kept falling out of his eyes for some reason, so he just stayed with glasses.
Contacts have made me feel better about myself....not that I already did feel good about myself. It's just nice not to have a pair of glasses sitting on your face. That's one of the best feelings in the world, in my opinion. I really can't describe the feeling. I keep hearing people (mostly Mark) tell me that I look good with contacts, although my man thought that I looked good before I got contact lenses as well.
It's really odd, though, that I keep seeming to make stepping stones for my family, or maybe I'm just the one that continues to break the mold. Either way, I've been the first (on Dad's side anyway) to move more than 400 miles from the homefront, the first one to be in a same-sex relationship, and now the first person (at least that I know of) in the family to wear contact lenses. Wow! What's next? I don't know, but I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Thinking about Getting Published

At work earlier today, Mark and I were discussing my poetry and short stories. He's been a really big supporter of my writings ever since I told him about them, and he would really love for me to get published. That is something that I've been interested in (getting published, that is) ever since the first time somebody told me that I should.
I really wasn't too sure of my own writing...until I began letting other people read them. I started getting all this positive feedback from everyone that read it. I got the same kind of feedback from my unfinished short stories as well. Everybody would tell me "you should finish that, and get it published. it could be the next number one seller". That makes me feel really good to hear that stuff. It makes me feel like I'm doing something that people enjoy, you know? It reassures me that my writing is more educated and adult than I think it is.
My ex-boss lady from Ohio liked my poetry so much that she had me write three poems just for her. Now that says something, doesn't it? A bunch of my former co-workers up north love my poetry. But of everybody, Mark loves it the most.
That man has encouraged me more than anybody I know. He's always been a huge supporter, and always tells me that he would get me published if he had the money to back me up. I know he'd give me all the financial support I neeed if he had it to give. But, alas, he doesn't, and neither do I, so therefore I sit here trying to figure it out. Mark's going to look online for me, and see if there's any publishing companies online who'd be willing to look at some of my stuff. He told me he would do that for me because he believes that I could be very successful. All this feedback that I've gotten from Mark and everybody else has got me believing that my poems are very good, and I believe that I'd be a very successful writer myself. Once I find the means to do it, then hopefully everything will go smoothly from there. If anybody wants my autograph, just let me know now. It beats waiting in those long lines at that book signing party (or whatever it's called) later on down the road!

The End is Almost Here!

As I sit here in front of the computer this evening, it just hit me that the end is almost here! The end of the year that is. It seems that this year just started yesterday, and it's already September! In another three months Christmas will be here...with New Year's to follow! Already! Where did this year go?
It seems like just yesterday I was up north working in my dead-end custodial job, dreaming of bigger and better things. Going home to a marriage that was steadily going downhill, feeling worthless because I was working to pay all her bills because she wouldn't get a job. Feeling down because it seemed like my wife was only concerned about my money and that was it. My brother in law (who'd moved to NC earlier in the year) had come up to OH, and therein I'd found my escape to happiness. I took a week's vacation from work, and (two weeks later) was NC bound! I'd decided to stay here because I felt happier here than I ever had up north. I can't believe that was back in the tail-end of April. It was the week of my birthday as a matter of fact. It doesn't seem like it was quite that long ago, but I've been a resident of NC for the past 5 months. Where did all that time go? It seems to have flown by since I've been here.
This will be my first Christmas where there will possibly be no snow. This will be an interesting experience for sure! I will certainly have to keep you posted whenever that time comes. Boy oh boy. What would Christmas be without any snow? That's a thought. When you've been raised in the Northern states, snow and Christmas seem to go hand in hand as much as peanut butter and jelly! Somehow I'll make it through....oh who am I kidding? No snow! I've been praying for that kind of winter ever since the very first time I drove in that white fluffy stuff! This will be great!
Ok now, time to pull myself together and be serious now. Hold off on the excitement. If I get all worked up about it now, then we'll probably get a few inches of snow here. That's just my luck. In the meantime, I'll keep praying for no snow.

The Loss of a Pet

Shortly after I'd come down here to North Carolina, we'd aquired a little black puppy. We had no idea what the breed was or anything like that. The only thing that we knew was that he was cute...very cute. We named him Psycho, and he lived up to that name very well. When we'd play with him, he'd growl and nip. He would put the other dogs in their place all the time, even though all the other dogs were usually much bigger than him. He was a very sweet puppy, and he was very big on giving hugs and kisses. I'll never forget the times that he was smaller, and he'd wiggle underneath the kitchen counter just so he could mess with the cats (when the cats were still here). Or whenever we'd put the food down for the dogs, Psycho would be right there to sample each one of the three dishes as they were set down. I loved the way he'd get all excited whenever his name was called; his eyes would get really big and his tail would start wagging at about a hundred miles a second.
We have so many memories of him. He loved to eat...a lot. He had a nice little belly on him, which we used to pick on him about. That would always get him in a playful mood, and he'd get all wound up for hours on end. He used to mess with the cats and eat their food every chance he got. We always thought he did that just to spite them.
He had overcome parvo about two months ago. Right then we knew he was a fighter. He was only in our lives for about four months, but he definitely made a big impact on us. He was so full of life, and he fought to the very end. About a week ago, he became really sick. We tried everything we could do to help him, and he held right in there. This morning (at around four o'clock) his sickness got the best of him, and he passed on. We're taking comfort in the fact that he's gone on to a better place where he's no longer suffering, and not in any pain anymore. He was a wonderful puppy, and a fighter all the way to the very end. I'd like to take a moment to dedicate this particular blog to Psycho (May 2006 to September 2006). He touched our lives in so many ways, and we love him very much. He will be missed by all of us.

Myself on Writing

Well it's another day. I failed to mention yesterday that I've been writing poetry and short stories for the past few years now. I have a rather large collection of poems that I keep in a notebook, and I noticed that readers can leave comments, so I thought that this would be a good way to try out some of my poetry. So feel free to leave me a comment on any of my poems (either positive or negative). A little criticism never hurt anybody right? So, without any further introduction this particular poem is one that I wrote for Mark. I wrote it before I'd come to North Carolina, and it's called "The Most Thoughtful Man I Know".

The Most Thoughtful Man I Know

The most thoughtful man I know
Is about 600 miles away from me
You know, it takes 9 hoursTo get to North Carolina
That's right, he lives in North Carolina
Sometimes I find it hard to believe
That one man so far away
Can care so much about me
In this day & age, you never know about people
But this guy is much different
This guy has a very big heart
And refuses to say anything bad about me
Much less hear the same
Even if I'm the one saying it
This man really cares about what I have to say
That's something I've heard many times
From many, many different people
But this time I believe itI have faith & trust in him
And that's something I don't have
In too many people
This man has shown me
That I'm not the bad person
Most people make me out to be
This man has shown me
That there's someone out there
Who really cares for me & means it
This is why that North Carolina man
Is the most thoughtful man I know

So there it is. I hope you all like it. I spent some time on it, and I honestly think it's one of my better ones. So, therefore, I will close here. Happy reading, and (one final time) I hope you enjoy it. More later.

What's Happened in the Past Six Months

I was married for almost three years. The wife and I were having problems, and the problems just kept mounting and mounting. I started growing very tired of the way everything was going in my life as well as my marriage. My moods ranged from extremely happy to extremely depressed, and I turned to the internet. It struck me as very odd that people who didn't even know me seemed to care more about me and my feelings than the people that I knew did. That's when I met Mark. I was in a NC chat room, and Mark and I started talking through instant messaging. That was a little over a year ago.
We became friends right off the bat. It felt good to have someone that I could talk to about anything that was on my mind. Our friendship got stronger by the day, and I also noticed that I was starting to fall in love with Mark in the process.
About the last week in April of this year, I'd come down here to North Carolina for a visit...not really intending to stay, but things changed. I was happier that entire week than I'd been in the past two years. To beat it all, I was with Mark that entire week, and at that moment I knew that Mark was the only one who would make me truly happy.
Mark drove me back up to Ohio, but I didn't stay long. I wasn't even in the state for 24 hours, and Amy (the soon to be ex-wife) started in on me, and we had this huge fight. I told her that I was sick of everything and that I would be leaving. She didn't believe me then, but she did the next morning. I came back here to Norh Carolina with Mark, and have been happy ever since. I began looking for work the second day that I was down here, and had a job within a week.
For the first time in a long time, I'm very happy, and every one of my friends knows it. They all tell me that I sound happier, and that I look a lot better than I ever did when I was in Ohio.
Mark and I got to go up to Ohio the week of the 4th of July. We stayed at Mom and Dad's from July 1st until July 10th. The family took to Mark very well, and they had no problem accepted Mark and I and our relationship. On the Fourth we all went down to Columbus to watch the DooDah Parade with Aunt Liz. Well, at least that was our intention. Mark and I did one better though. Not only were we in the parade, we ended up leading the parade. I think Mark was more excited about being in the parade than he was about watching it from the side of the street. I know I was!
After the parade, we all went to Aunt Liz's house for supper and spirits. We ended up getting back to Mom and Dad's at about eight o'clock that night...after of course we showed Mark Delaware State Park. In addition to that, I fullfilled one of Mark's dreams by taking him to Michigan. He kept telling me that he always wanted to see that state, so I took him up there and we visited Cabella's in Dundee MI. We both had a very good time, and Mark saw more of Ohio than he ever had before. Dad also introduced Mark to niplets. We all had our fair share of them, and Mark had a lot of fun helping Dad make them, too.
Also, Mark discovered how the old wringer-washers work, and was very fascinated with their operation. He'd never seen one that actually worked before. He told us all that he'd only seen them before used in people's yards to plant flowers in!
Since we've come back from our Ohio trip, the company that we are working for (Broyhill Furniture) hired us onto the payroll. We were working there through a temporary employment agency, so it was very refreshing and assuring when we heard from our bossman that Broyhill was going to hire us to full time. Finally, we're off the temp agency's payroll!
So, Mark and I have been doing great, and I love it here! I love being with Mark, and I love North Carolina.