March Madness is Right

March started on a high...

On March 1st, Greg and I decided on this house. The house has 1.5 acres, 3200 sq. ft., 2 bedrooms, 2 master suites, 3 bathrooms, an average sized eat-in kitchen, a formal dining room (which we are turning into Greg's office), a large living room, a screened in porch, in ground pool, and a four car garage. The house needs a fence for the poopies, a sidewalk to the front door (the current owners have people enter through the garage), the driveway completely concreted, and shutters. Other than that we just need to add our touches to it. We should close on the house in the next three weeks and should be moved in by the end of April.

Last week was a little less happy...

On March 9th, my father called and threatened to commit suicide. After hours of drama he was committed to the psychiatric unit at the local hospital. He apparently has been 'investing' in several internet scams which have left him without a home, a vehicle, and broke. His doctor isn't sure what the next step should be. My father will admit that the situation is a scam but in the next statement tell you how rich he is going to be. I'm not sure what his next step will be but it seems like he has a long road a head of him.

This week has been better...

Greg and I went this weekend to pick up the antiques in my fathers storage unit before they were auctioned off. It's great to get my grandparents antiques. I might have a possible temp job starting next week. Today, Greg and I sold the camper. It was sad to see it but the ladies who bought it will take good care of it.

I'm crossing my fingers that the madness of March is over. I don't think it is but I'm hopeful.

On the Hunt

The last several weeks have been filled with house and job hunting. Greg and I have been debating the last several weeks debating over building verses buying. We have weighted all the options and in the end we still aren't sure what we want to do. We have decided to look at this next round of houses (about 20) and if none of these pan out we will build on this 1.35 acre lot. I am having little luck in the job area. The market is slow everywhere and apparently I have moved into an odd economic area (hurray for me) according to my temp agency. I am going to sign up for substitute teaching next week so at least I will have some income coming in.

On a more interesting note, I spent the weekend in Illinois. On Thursday, February 25th, Jessica (John and Sue's daughter that was removed my DSS) turn 18 so John and Sue flew her and her adopted mom, Irene, to Illinois. It was very exciting and scary all at the same time. I really enjoyed spending time with Jessica. We watched movies and did some shopping. I am looking forward to visiting her in NC in the next couple months.

Update

We have found a house we like and we started the buying process. I am hopeful that this is supposed to be our home. The house has an insteresting lay out and can easily transformed into our house. The house (link below) has 90% of what we want. It is missing the privacy fence for the poopies and a pool and hot tub.

http://public.kaarmls.com/property/view.asp?MLSID=678736

Random Pics of new & old family...

Bekah (Greg's 16 yr old niece) with some of her Christmas presents. Sahara claimed her snuggie.

Sssshhhhhh!!! Sahara is napping.

Jo Jo (left- Greg's dog) and Lena (right- Josh's dog)

Reece (Greg's 16 yr old), Greg, Carson (Greg's 13 yr old)

Carson and Sahara; the antlers lasted long enough for the picture to be taken.

Savanah (Greg's 11 yr old niece and Bekah's sister) with Sahara.

Greg and I at Halloween

Josh and I at Halloween.

Partial Relocation

I am semi moved. I say semi because I only a 25% of my stuff and the rest is in storage. Ugh!!We are debating between building and buying. We are leaning toward buying now and building later. Our dream would be to have a house on several acres on Lake Norris. Currently there are not a lot of options at Lake Norris in our price range. We have already visited several properties but only found one house we wanted to look at. The house has many of the things we need (4 rms, lg kitchen, at least a 2 car garage, place for dogs, space between us and the neighbors) plus some extras we planned to purchase (pool, hot tub, jacuzzi tub, fire place).

http://www.fredmcbride.com/index.cfm/Featured-Listings-421.html?event=listingDetail&ListingID=331883

I have no job but I spent 3 hrs searching today. I have an appointment with Office Team (the temp agency I worked with in KY) tomorrow to sign my tax forms so I can start work as soon as something becomes available. The good news is the economy is picking up here so finding a job shouldn't be that hard.

Confused in transition; Let your intiution be your guide

I am, obviously, not a good blogger because good bloggers should block regularly; shouldn't they? As my blog will tell you balance in my new personal challenge. For me, my life changed quickly in the last 6 months. I am slowly but surely working on getting my life where I want it to be. So, where am I now Before we get there lets talk about the last year.

I knew moving to Louisville would bring a lot of changes in my life and I was right. These changes have challenged me to take a closer look at my life and I realized I needed to make some changes.

• I tweaked my friendship with Josh. The tweaking was hard but necessary. I think we fought more in the first 6 months of his move to Louisville than we had in the last 10 years; but where there is growth there is usually growing pains. The separation caused both Josh and I stand on our own two feet in life instead of rely so much on the other. I was able to see how I took on the responsibility of hold Josh accountable for the things that he did not do so essentially I was mothering him. About the time this tweak was worked out Greg and I started dated. This transition was hard for Josh and oddly easy for me. He felt as though he wasn't as important to me. After few heartfelt conversations our friendship is the best it has ever been!
• I ended my friendship with Riley. As you may know I toyed with this idea on and off for a long time. I don't know that I can pin point the exact reason I kept him in my life (though many of you have your own feels about this) for so long other than there was just something about him that I really liked. In all honestly, I think there was something about his potential that I really liked. We all know that you can't like someone for their potential, you have to like for who they are. I know there is a part of me that could not let go of the hurt that I felt over how he treated me the week before I moved or how he behaved once he was in Louisville. I have let go of those hurt feelings and there is a small part of me that feels a loss without him in my life but I have no regrets about the choice that I made so I know it was the right one.
• With my eyes wide open I jumped into a relationship with Greg. Within a month or two we were talking about marriage and living together. I knew that things were moving fast but I was (am) enjoying the ride. It was a nice feeling to not be so calculated. The last couple months have been rocky. They haven't been horrible but haven't been a bowl of cherries either. Communication and balance are challenges in our relationship. Is is interesting how communication and balance aren't an issue when there is nothing at stake. I am not the world best communicator and I tend to be more confrontational than communicative especially when I have tried to be a 'good' communicator. I also want to hash everything out (leave no stone unturned) and not dice things up and deal with them a bit at a time. So we are working on how to communicate in way that works for both us of us and how to balance kids, jobs, needs, wants, responsibilities, and our relationship. Happily at the end of each day I have no regrets.

Where am I now? I am continuing to challenge myself to find better balance in my life. There are a two specific areas of my life I want to focus on: health, spirituality.

• Health: I was walking 3 to 5 miles a day when I lived at Josh's. I was walking when I moved to Greg's but it is a longer drive so I didn't walk as frequently. Greg and I joined a gym the local gym but I ended up not being impressed with it. So last week I started the Power 90 workout program that Josh bought and never used. Although I have not worked out this week (because I haven't arrive at home before 8 pm) I am really enjoying the workout program. I am also working on how to eat better in Louisville. I am not impressed with food options here. The fresh food doesn't last long so to eat they way I like I have to make several trips to the store a week which is very frustrating. I think my biggest issue is I am not inspired to do be a creative cook. All the 'good' grocery stores (Fresh Market, Whole Foods) are so far out of the way that I can't go there on a regular basis; they are also twice as expensive as the general grocery stores. Not very economical. I am hoping things will be better when we move to Knoxville. (Crossing fingers) I have already seen a huge Earthfare not far from the area of town we want to live in.
• Spirituality: Greg is a Christian and attends a Baptist church on a semi regularly basis when he is in Knoxville. Religion and his faith are important to him. I have been to his church several times and I don't mind it. I like the preacher, Rocky. He is a no-nonsense, straight talker. His sermons are reality based. Like last week was about Definite Responsibility which basically boiled down to you are responsible for the kind of relationships you have with people. I haven't been to a sermon of his when I couldn't apply something to my life. This being said Greg and I struggle because he embraces Jesus and all that encompasses that and I, on the other hand, embrace our ability to coexist with the same purpose. My struggle boils down to what I believe is the hypocrisy of organized religions....our way is the only way....makes me want to scream TOLERANCE, ACCEPTANCE! And ask how can you preach love and acceptance but teach that homosexuality is a sin? The good thing is that basically Greg and I have the same values because clearly our spiritual believes will never be on the same page but hopefully we will continue to work on staying on common ground.

A few pics

Greg, Carson, Me @ Family Reunion in June

Greg and I visiting the family in March

A New Step

Today I went to my first metaphysical class. It was great to meet some people in the area who are working on and/or learning about their abilities. The class is an eight week long class but we are going to break it up into two classes a month starting in January. Today was just an over view of what the eight classes will be teaching. Through out the classes Charlotte and Yvonne (the ladies who are teaching the classes) will provide suggested reading and research materials and a list of people in the area who have positive reputations. I am very excited to learn more about my abilities.

Louisville is an interesting area when it come to the metaphysical realm. There are a large number of people involved in the metaphysical realm but the community seems to be underground. It is almost a secret society that everyone knows exists but no one talks about. Most people say this is because 'we are in the bible belt'. I haven't quite figured out what the deal is. I know that Louisville is not as progressive as it likes to think it is even though it has a Metaphysical School. I would say that it is more progressive than the cities around it but no where near what it needs to be. I guess there is always room for growth.

There is a definite need for a metaphysical store. I know that there have been at least two in the past that have closed. I know there has to be a need with the amount of people in the area who are involved in this realm. The closest store is in Cincinnati. I am going to check the store out in two weeks. I missed the psychic fair this weekend in Cincinnati, which is supposed to be huge, because I forgot about it. However forgetting about it allowed me to attend today's class. So, I will be doing some investigating in to why the metaphysical stores have not survived.

Wish me luck!

Life in the fast lane

It is amazing how time flies whether you are having fun or not. In the last couple weeks, I have become extremely busy at work and am now working full time. (I was working 3/4 time.) HURRAY! I am starting to get a groove here in Louisville. (It is so hard to let go of the past comforts.) My navigation skills are building daily. I now know where the main roads intersect and can take different routes to get to where I want to going. I bought a new car last week. I had been sort of but not really looking. I found an '08 Hyundai Sonata I liked and created (with Josh's help) a deal I liked. It was sad to give up my Tiberon but I needed a car that Sahara could be comfortable in.

Josh and I spent this week contemplating being respite providers. The first place we checked out paid $40 for level 5 kids. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the level of behaviors for children, level 5 is hospitalization level. For me, $40 doesn't cut it. I have no idea what other companies pay but I feel respite is a big commitment. It is a nice second job which is why we originally considered respite and we could check out other providers but I think this is something we should think about at a later date. So, I will be searching for a second job in the next couple of weeks.