What nerve!

My herpes has been letting me know it is still a tenant in my body.

Like all tenants, it is quiet and not a problem 90% of the time. It's when they miss a payment or have plumbing problems that they can become a pain.

Between financial tightness, the economy in general, the environment, and becoming a parent, I have been stressed.

This has caused an increase in my awareness of my tenant.

Given time it'll settle down and life will continue as usual.

10 percent

I have begun to read more in the last two months.
I have always had a book or two on my night stand, but I can't say that I got them all finished...

Books on CD have been a tremendous blessing.
Plug them into the car and listen all week on the way to where ever.

I recommend "the Richest Man in Babylon".

In story form with the lost city of Babylon as it's location, it teaches financial lessons everyone should know.

Live on 70%.
Save 10% and invest it to create more wealth.
Use the remaining 20% to pay off all bad debts.
In this simple formula is the secret to great wealth and more importantly, Peace of Mind.

How does your garden grow?

Our little garden is much happier now that the weather has cooled off into the nineties.

Only two of our lettus have come up, but the tomato plant is recovering from the heat and the pumpkin has started blooming.

Next spring we will start earlier and build another planter.

Zelda has a long time friend and former gypsy who has settled down in south Texas to start a family. They have an old house they moved to a plot of land and added onto themselves. They planted a garden and traded for a cistern to hold rain water.

They took off two weeks to hold up in the house together when their baby was born.
I envy them. I fear I will not decide for myself where I want to go when our baby is here.

"See you tonight Love, gotta get to the office, oh, and kiss the baby for me."

Jim Rohn in his "Challenge to Succeed" warns of letting others "nudge" us off course.

I have been nudged, well, I have totally abdicated my responsibility for where I want my life to go.

I have not taken the time to get out and see what can be accomplished, then stopped, sat back in a quiet place to plan my future...

Time to grow up and take that responsibility.

Bill Moyers - "the limits of power"

I was up late Friday night trying to get our check book to balance when Bill Moyers Journal came on.

His guest was Andrew Bacevich who has written "the limits of Power", a book describing the tendency of the President, since the 60's, of taking more and more power and using that power to erode liberties and start wars, "in the name of democracy" (my quote).

I've added a link to the broadcast above.

Make the time to take a look.

I am praying the next President makes the time to read this book.

Read, your live depends upon it.

Lap top will travel

Ah... after lending, and then selling my lap top to Zelda for use with her business I once again have it back!
(along with a docking station and 22" flat screen for those times when I work in the office).

Today I am sitting on the back patio with the spiders and potted plants having breakfast as my poor wife sleeps in the room adjacent.

My times Zelda will express sadness in missing me as I sit next to her.
I can understand.

I miss my wife who I made breakfast for on days just like this as she slept in.

I miss my wife today as she tries to catch up on lost sleep.

This pregnancy has been a learning curve.

She simply doesn't have the energy to go adventuring.

I also am trying to catch up on lost sleep which causes my emotions to run amok.

Twenty Years take Note

Zelda's 20th high school reunion was this weekend so we packed up for a trip to visit her bestest friend in the whole wide world and the town she grew up in.

Kansas is a nice, beautiful place with matching people.

We stopped off and placed some of her old LPs (that would be vinyl 33 Long Play records of heavy metal she and her first husband bought back when they lived here.) on consignment. Her friend and owner of the store was excited to see her and to hear we are pregnant. She was equally excited to see the albums Zelda was parting with. Some are rare, all in excellent condition, and will be interesting to see what they fetch.

Bestest friends chose not to attend the big party.
Seems the 10 year was poorly put together and this one was very much improved.

My high school years were boring and bland compared to those of a small rural college town.
I didn't wreck any cars or make any life long friends. Though I may be mistaken on the latter.
(My brothers and I were dealing with the death of my father).

Zelda is fondly remembered by her class mates of twenty+ years ago.
I got to meet the friends of hers who knew her first husband, attended their wedding as well has his funeral.

Friends who skipped class, liked the same boys, wrecked their cars (on a fairly regular basis), partied by the lake, snuck out after bed time, and have now grown up.

I watched as 38 year olds reverted back, if only briefly, to 18 year olds hanging out after school.

Yes, we hung out mostly with those people she knew back in the day, but who else would you hang out with if not your friends?

And we all agreed that high school sucked.
The insecurities we all had.
The shyness of a few, the anger for some, the fear of most, and the perceived injuries from harsh words.

The jerks are still the jerks.
But old grudges of friends are forgotten.

We also visited with the former mother-in-law who was grieving the loss of her son at the time Zelda was lost in the pain of young widowhood. She is excited to have a new grandbaby through us and nervously welcome Zelda back into her life.

Twenty years can heal a lot.

A time to let go of old hurts.