Thanks givings

"The delights of self-discovery are always available."
        ~Gail Sheehy

This entry's been buzzing around in my mind for the past couple of days, and finally my thoughts are centered enough that I can sit and write without the bother of distraction.

First, I'd like to personally thank each of my J-Land friends who shared thoughts and support about my frustrations with a personal situation.

Robin - you hit that proverbial nail on the head.

Annie - thank you for stopping by and jumping in.  Your points are true and well-taken.

Kbear - the box does hold a bit of an analogy for this situation and you caught on to that (pardon the pun).

Jimmy - setting and keeping boundaries is something I really need to work on, and I am touched by your insight and honesty.

Charley - as long as there is a balance, I won't.

Cheryl - your right, she won't go away.  Just yesterday her husband came by the house for a quick visit, but more on that later.

Sam - your right and I needed it.  I did my best in the name of friendship for so long, but I have stepped back.

Thank you all for your friendship, love and for being there for me.  It really means a lot and each of you helped me immensely.


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Thanksgiving was at our daughter's home again this year.  Among the highlights were:
*Upon seeing Sam walk through the front door, Baby D's face lit up.  "Gampa!" she greeted us while she ran into Sam's arms.  But later she called a Santa on the television Gampa, too.
*First complete sentence by Baby D: Read the book. :)  She repeated those words like a mantra, all day long.  Read the book.  Read the book.  It sounded vaguely like the chorus of a song I love.  And yes, several of us did read the book (Thanks Mary, I omitted that important point).
*Sam's Mom sliced her finger open while cutting potatoes with Amy's new Pampered Chef knife.
*Dona cut her finger while slicing green onions with Amy's new Pampered Chef knife.
And of course there was plenty of food and I ate too much!!  I know I did because I was awakened early Friday morning by the sound of my stomach growling.  LOL!

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Yesterday B#2's husband stopped by for a visit; he often comes by at least once a month.  He always comes alone, but at some point he'll bring B#2 into the conversation and this time we learned he has to take her all the way to Portland to receive medical care.  I don't know how he does it, balancing the demands of owning a business and taking care of her, but every now and then he has to touch base with us.  I distanced myself from B#2 last summer and I've had no contact with her since.  Sam understands why and supports me.  Every now and then his friend will drop a subtle hint with the hope that I will call her, which is always followed by an awkward silence coz I won't take the bait.  Then someone changes the subject and the moment passes.

While visiting Leavenworth last summer with another couple we began plans to rent a house boat on Lake Roosevelt for a week next summer.  I am so excited about this and can't wait!!!  The house boat we have in mind will sleep ten (six in three different staterooms and four on two living room sofa beds) but we've decided to limit the number of people to six so everyone has a stateroom and therefore, privacy.  The house boat is new, and therefore spendy, but splitting the cost three ways makes it feasible for all of us.  Man oh man, we are talking some serious kickin' back fun and calming relaxation on the water, complete with a Jacuzzi.  ::::smile:::: 

The tree farm kept us busy all weekend with a steady flow of customers arriving to either tag or pickup a tree.  My craft room/office has a wonderful view of the farm so I worked on making Christmas cards and other projects in between customers.  Yesterday I only got ten cards completed, today I upped the number of cards to thirty-four.  Finally. I'm getting the creative juices flowing again.  There are times when I think the pressure of my day job sucks all the creativity out of me.  That, in and of itself, is frustrating, and the accomplishment of getting so many cards finished really helped to counterbalance all that negative work energy.  When I mentioned the audit wasn't going well in a previous entry it was in reference to technical difficulties I was experiencing.  Seems every file I sent electronically to the auditor was rejected by the server of our ISP; in the end a two minute task turned into a day long ordeal.  I could feel the adrenaline rising and arrived at the conclusion that 99.9 percent of my stress is caused by computers, or more accurately, software problems.  In other words, by something over which I have no control.


"Conquering others, requires force.
Conquering oneself, requires strength."

      ~ Lao Tzu