I do apologize to all of those who follow my blog. I have made very, very few blog visits in the last couple months. I am going to work to remedy this situation.
This pic is following a recent boat trip on a local river.
Since I last posted, I have been out on a boat twice, both times over Memorial Day weekend, which was a fantastic weekend for me! I took some pics and will post them sometime in the future.
I have also been spending much less time at the computer. Between working third shift and struggling to get enough sleep, I have also been working much harder at keeping this home clean. Although you only see a clean house in the pics on my blog, the truth is that I have often been a dreadful housekeeper. I am determined that this place is going to stay tidy and clean, and it has taken a lot of time daily to keep it the way I like it. I love this place, and want to keep it beautiful. Although you've seen pics of my little bathroom and my porch, I do have more pics of the apartment and plan to post them soon too.
As I wrote in my last post, I traveled to Chicago to attend a women's retreat in April called Women on Fire. It was one of the most enriching experiences of my life, and I feel forever changed. The purpose of the retreat was not only to bring women together to network, fellowship, and support each other, we also talked about what we are on fire about in our lives and identified our passions. One of my passions has been working with people, and I recalled how much I enjoyed my counseling jobs.
With the help of the women at the retreat, I discovered that although I cannot return to chemical dependency counseling without being under an agency, there is no reason that I cannot bring women together to form a support group, or to have classes on increasing self esteem. Some of the women at that retreat are life coaches, and perhaps I can do something in that area, though I feel I need some training in that. However, people have always come to me for advice, and they seem to think I am wise. Why not continue to use that talent in another venue? I haven't formulated a plan yet, but plan to soon.
The biggest change in my life has been the happiest change.
I'm dating!
I met him online through a dating site. The funny thing is, he lives only 6 miles from my hometown!
Oddly enough, he was divorcing about the same time that I moved to my present city, so he wasn't eligible to date while we lived close. I first wrote to him about May 1 and met him in person the second week of May, and we have been on about 10 dates so far.
He is the most considerate men I have ever gone out with. Since the day we first began e-mailing each other, I have either heard from him via email, instant message, personal visit, or phone call daily. He believes that the man always pays for dinner, he remembers little things about what I like, and we always have fun together, even if its just hanging out and talking. He's incredibly intelligent (master's degree), and has a wonderful sense of humor. We laugh together a lot. We like a lot of the same music, and even watch the same cartoons! (Yes, I watch cartoons. And I don't care if you think I'm silly for it!) Besides going out to eat, we've gone on walks together, gone on a picnic (he cooked the chicken), and we've gone to an art museum. He even likes shopping. Last weekend I met his children.
Needless to say, I am thrilled to pieces. And I am falling....Head. Over. Heels.
I so hope this works out!
Oh, one more thing I forgot to mention...when I attended the Women on Fire retreat, I heard from a couple different women about how they met their beloved. We talked about thinking outside the box, and to say Yes to dating anyone. One of the type of men I said I would never date was a pastor.
Well guess what my sweetie does. Yep, he's a preacher!
I believe that God has an incredible sense of humor, because although I am a born again Christian, I only go to church when my son asks me to watch him sing or perform, or when he asks me to go for a special occasion. I haven't attended any church on a regular basis for over 10 years. Some of my religious beliefs are not consistent with mainline Christian beliefs. I have shared this with him. And yet this man sees the spiritual in me. He likes me anyhow, even though I call myself his "little heathen."
The funny thing is, he is a preacher I could listen to even if I wasn't dating him! He writes one paragraph weekly eDevotions, and I feel like he is speaking my same thoughts in each one. I have told him that if he invites me, I will come to hear him preach, but he has to ask, because dating a pastor is a bit tricky, and its too soon to be asked a bunch of questions about my role in his life. If we get serious (and I hope we do), then that may be the time. For now, I'm just enjoying getting to know this wonderful man.
Oh yeah, and if you're one of my Facebook friends, please don't ask me questions about him on my FB wall! One of my best friends from school (also on FB) goes to his church, and for now, I need to keep this on the down-low. He is also on my Facebook, and if he DOESN'T feel the same about me, it would be pretty embarrassing for him to read how I feel before I have actually told him.
So that's my life in a nutshell! I really am going to make a better effort to keep my blog more current and make more visits. Oh, I am now moderating all my blog comments as I have been inundated with spam comments, some of them with really inappropriate links. I hope you'll understand.
Until next time, thanks for stopping by!