Recap of a Year
Posted 11.12.2008, at 06:23:52 PM
Well, hello there! An actual blog post on my site that is more than an announcement ... how wonderful? Why have I not been posting updates, you ask? Well, the answer is simple: I've been leading a busy life both personally and professionally, and it has been absolutely wonderful.
Many people take "busy" to mean that you have no free time; that it is all work. To me, "Busy" means that I am keeping active. On a personal level, it has been a crazy, crazy year. On a professional level, it has been just as insane (in a good way). This blog entry is going to be long, so please forgive me. Also, I'll likely add random quotes in as I'm in a pretty good mood and am absorbed in music at the moment.
---- "We've walked together down this winding road in search of something true. Together we grew. But now our journey has come to an end and it's on to something new for me and you."
My personal life has been all over the place. First, my family. I've blogged about my relationship with my mother in the past. It's no secret that she and I do not get along when we're living together. But, I do love her, even if I can't bring myself to say that to her anymore. It has been years since I last said it to her, but I've thought it.
Puppies, Puppies, Puppies!
For the past seven years, she had been working on forming a kennel of her own which resulted in her importing Willow, her Gordon Setter bitch, from Australia. After years of more research, she found the male she wanted to breed to and set out to do it. Being the son I am, I helped her with this goal.
In late February, I drove to Connecticut with Willow and spent two weeks there driving across Rhode Island each day to see a repo specialist just East of Providence. On May 2, at 10:30PM, the puppies started being born. Yes, I uploaded -lots- of pictures here [click].
The white ribbon pup, now named Puck, was pretty sick when he was born. I spent just shy of $3,000.00 in vet bills to keep him alive (bringing my total investment into this little venture close to $6,000.00 USD). These days, Cold (red ribbon), Isabella (pink ribbon), and Puck (white ribbon) live with my mother, and the other pups have gone to homes around the nation (mostly to be shown in the AKC).
Puck is officially my dog. I claimed him after paying the last vet bills for him.
---- "So goodbye my friend until we meet again some other day. I know so much will change."
The Ending of a Chapter, and the Start of the Next
I knew for years leading into 2008 that I needed to get out of my mother's house. The sad truth of the matter is that my mother and I cannot live with each other. We get along really well when I'm not living with her. To make things worse, just being in that house (in my bedroom, specifically) depresses me. A crippling depression.
What kept me living there for so long was that I didn't want to move only to find I couldn't sustain myself and have to move back in. So I waited. I waited until I could afford to move. Then, one extra nudge from a friend of mine and I decided to make the leap.
As of June 16, 2008, I no longer live with my mother. And you know what? That's freaking amazing!
I now live in a house in Janesville's 13th ward (one of the older districts). My home has three bedrooms, one and a half bathrooms, all hardwood floors, a remodeled kitchen, and a huge back yard. I love it here. The nighborhood is wonderful and quiet, and I'm pretty close to most of the places I go to when in Janesville.
---- "I stand before a road that will lead into the unknown. At least, unknown to me. I want to go, but I'm paralyzed with fear. Fear of a choice where the outcome isn't clear. And I take the first step of a million more."
Traveling Duo
It is worth nothing that the day I moved out of my mother's house was the same day that I drove to Tennessee to pick up my friend Kyrie for what would become one hell of a summer adventure.
After living in my house for just under two weeks, Kyrie and I packed up and headed West. Our trip spanned 20 days and 6,030 miles. We covered Omaha, Denver, Colorado Springs, Las Vegas (Luxor hotel; the prostitutes there looked like walking diseases), San Diego, Los Angeles (spent a week there attending Anime Expo 2008), San Jose, Portland, Seattle, Mount Rushmore, and a short stop in Mauston, WI, at 2AM to meet a friend of mine.
I have to say, there is nothing quite as special then having a conversation like this happen:
Kyrie: You smell
Me: Yeah? So do you.
Kyrie: *sigh* yeah
Then again, 14 days in a car when you and your traveling companion sleep past check out makes it hard to shower ... still lots of fun!
All told, Kyrie and I covered Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnestoa, and Wisconsin.
To say I had an interesting summer is putting it too lightly. But, it was a whole hell of a lot of fun. Kyrie actually enjoyed it too. So yay!
---- "Life goes on as it never ends. Eyes of stone observe the trends. They never say forever gaze if only."
People
The number of people I met this past summer that I had previously known online was mind-blowing. I got to meet with Igor (Kaitou Ace), Sarah (Princess Minako), Aaron (Regex), and Sheyna (LadyPSerenity) again. I got to meet Aaron S. (ShadowWalker), a man I have known for eight years or so. I also got to meet with new friends that I had only known for a short while prior to this summer. John (Kishiro), Alex (Fiery), Jen (Lola Granola), Peter (xy), Kyle (Xero XII), and a handful of other people that I know.
After Anime Expo, Kyrie and I travelled to Portland and met up with Aaron and Quinze. From there we went up to Seattle, had dinner with Jen and her boyfriend, went to this really neat Chinese market, and then crashed at Jen's boyfriend's townhouse just East of Seattle.
In August, I took Kyrie back to Tennessee. From there I headed up to Cincinnati where I spent two days meeting with a client of mine and his family. The day after, I met up with John, and we drove up to Cleveland to meet with his girlfriend Alex.
By the time I got home on August 9, I had covered 8,300 miles and met over 15 new people.
---- "And I wonder, when I sing along with you, if everything could ever feel this real forever. If anything could ever be this good again."
Work, and Lots of It
Work has been good. Since the start of the year I've had two really solid clients who have been keeping me busy. The amount of new information and skills that I have learned this year is amazing. That's really all I can say on the subject.
Life
So, life has been good! So much more has happened that I typed, but typing all of it would be the size of a novel.
There has been depression this year, but I suspect my life will always have that in one form or anothing. But what matters is that overall: things have been wonderful. Of course, as I type that I become lost in thought. I know what I want to happen in my future. I wonder if I'll get what I want? Hm ...
---- "I wonder if the journey will be as short as I hope or much longer than it seems? But either way, I've made up my mind. I'm through feeling scared. I'm leaving that behind. Now it's time to go."
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