Thankful

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I like Thanksgiving. I like the idea of a holiday which apart from the massive amount of food which is consumed and apart from the day of retail gluttony which follows it, is set aside in it's purest form for being thankful.

I can't help but remember my Thanksgiving 12 months ago. I was alone in my small one bedroom apartment, I was depressed, I was scared and uncertain of where life was headed. I'd decided to spend the day doing some projects on my computer and anything else I could think of to distract myself. I remember sitting on my apartment balcony and watching happy people below get in their cars and head off to their family gatherings. I honestly just wanted the day to be over.

A year later and life couldn't be more different. I just spent a great evening with the 2 most incredible children on the planet and sit here in a beautiful home looking at the Christmas tree my kids and I decorated this evening (eager to rearrange their ornament placement!)

Tomorrow Ben will wake me up way too early as always. We'll get up and ready and I'll spent quite some time convincing Emily why we should make some modifications to her "outfit". Then we'll hit the road, pick up Haley and head to Fort Worth to spend Thanksgiving with her family.

I've come to believe that if you're having a bad day it can look totally different tomorrow. Sometimes however "tomorrow" can take a year to come!

I am ridiculously blessed. I have so much to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving.

People Are Actually Reading This?!

I had a couple of conversations with family members today and it turns out that quite a few people are actually reading this thing! (Hello New York)

It was suggested to me that I tone it down a bit or something to that effect. Well sorry. Not going to happen.

I started writing on here from time to time primarily as a means of therapy more than anything else. The last 4 years of my life have for the most part been hell and I don't use that word lightly. I went from 2 years of fighting serious illness right into the last 2 years of what has been the most heartbreaking period of my life.

I had lunch recently with a friend who described the past few years for me as "pushing a boulder up a hill" and to be quite honest I'm looking forward to getting to the top of the hill and watching the darn thing roll of into the distance on the other side!

Truth is next week I'll experience (was going to say "celebrate" but yeah right!) my 36th birthday. One of many of my mother's famous quotes is that we're promised "3 score and 10 years". That 70 for those of you who speak English. So that being said I'm halfway to my eternal rest. And I don't know a darn thing!

So if you're on here reading this, looking to be inspired, click HERE this guy does it probably better than anyone I've ever known. In the meantime if you're still here I'd welcome you to take this journey with me. I'm not perfect, I make TONS of mistakes, in almost 36 years and the single biggest lesson I've learned is that I still have a lot to learn and I have good days and bad days, both of which often find their way onto these pages.

So if you're still with me, welcome aboard. Laugh with me. Cry with me. Learn with me. And for goodness sake if you have any suggestions as to how I can do this thing called life better, let me know!

Weekend's Over

The weekend's over. The kids are gone. The house is quiet.

• Great weekend with the kids and the dog, Samson. I'm not a huge animal person but don't mind having the dog from time to time since from what I can gather his life in his main residence isn't that wonderful.

• Watched Ben play his last Fall Ball baseball game yesterday. In his last at bat of the season he effortlessly hit a monster drive to the outfield. Perhaps the biggest of his young career. It's a great feeling when your kids is the one wowing the other parents.

• Bit the bullet and checked out COC Metro Church
which meets in the school around the corner. I hate the notion of church hopping but I've recently moved to a new town and in many ways need to start living my life where I'm at now.

• Love it when my Emily says the awkward things that need to be said. I do however wish the other adult party could be a little more accepting of the new reality. Also wish the naysayers had actually asked me what the truth was rather than inventing a reality to fit their agendas. Who knows maybe they read this. You know who you are!

• Back to the funny farm tomorrow. Mondays at the office have been weird lately. In fact the office in general has been weird lately. Something is off, hopefully it re-aligns itself soon.

• My son is an incredible human being in his own complex way. Too much to write here he just is.

• I've said this a million times but if I die tomorrow I'll be perfectly content in the contribution I've given to the world in Ben and Emily Blackmore.

• Haley's been sick since Friday. Headed out to check in on her in a few.