So it should be done....and an answered prayer

My insulation was supposed to have been sprayed today and if so then the contracters work is done and I can start arranging the contractors for my living area now. I won't have time before work to drive out to see though. Have too much stuff to do and meeting this lovely 30 yr old named Valerie for a few miles at the local walking track. Then its off to work for 12 hours. I am hoping to reconnect with a long time school friend this Friday also for lunch and just sitting around catching up with her. She is Melanie and we have known each other since grade school but its been years since I saw her and she lives less than five miles from where I am building.
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Just wanted to say thanks for the prayers for another friends nephew I mentioned a while back that had to be careflighted to Dallas with breathing problems. She mentioned last night that they were supposed to bring him home today I think. Another answered prayer!!!
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Sorry for the brief update.....had planned on doing a HNT post before work but got tied up chatting and run out of time haha

Almost finished outside... and a Gem of a date

Heres a few new pics. This was taken Friday. Notice the rollup door laying on the shop floor and lack of a porch?



My "sunrise side"


Taken very early this morning...was pleasantly surprised yesterday when I drove out with a friend and saw the doors in place


I got out in time this morning to get a sunrise pic ....was a bit overcast but still some nice color.


My nearly finished shop. I need to get some gutters installed soon and some shrubbery and grass planted. Might just buy some sod and lay it down.



And heres a few more pics I am too lazy to make comments on so decide for yourself what they are haha



I am hoping the insulation guy comes out tomorrow and does his thing and I will be done with this contractor and can start getting my plumbing lined out.
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Yesterday I met a long time online friend (has it been over a year?) from Indian Territory finally. This one is a Gem of a friend and such a pretty lady. Monica made the short drive to my small town early yesterday afternoon and we proceeded to go for a short drive.....ok maybe a long drive lol. I showed her my land and shop building and a lot of other non interesting stuff. We made our way back to town and dined at an authentic mexican food place called La Familia here in town. After our meal we drove around a local cemetary ( I DO know how to impress the ladies do i not?) haha. This cemetary has some beautiful headstones and one in particular I sought out to show her depicts an angel or Jesus (not sure which it is meant to be) in cowboy boots of all things. After a short drive through this sacred ground we proceeded to a familiar haunt of mine....Trail De Paris and went for a nice walk. After our walk we headed to the local movie theater and luckily picked a row between some kids who proceeded to talk through the whole movie...btw we saw Premonition. Now not having a TV I had not seen any of the previews of this movie but I read the reviews of it on the website and it sounded like something we would both enjoy. It was one of those movies that is hard to follow at times but if you can stick with it it is really a good movie. Sandra Bullock was her usual quality self and such a beauty(yes she is Monica so hush). Anyway after the movie we head back to the parking lot where her truck was and had a nice conversation before she headed home. Stop by her place sometime and tell her I sent you and I think she will send you some homemade cookies
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Hope everyone had a safe and happy weekend. I know mine was enjoyable....all one day of it haha

I have walls and a roof now...

Heres a few new pics for everyone to gaze upon. Looking in towards what will be my "apartment"


He still has to add the dark green trim and the ridgecap will be green also. Then a porch and he is done with his part.


Then the overhead door people will come install me some doors here. Then hopefully monday or so the insulation guy will do his part and I will be done with this contractor and start the task of contracting my living area.


And I figure a good way to close this post is with another colorful sunset from my "porch"

I have a door and some windows now....

Did not get as much progress today as I would have liked but it is a bit closer. Got my windows and door installed today. I bought the energy efficient Pella windows with the tilt in feature for easy cleaning from inside. They are vinyl frame and 36x32. Two in the living room/kitchenette and one in the bedroom and two out in the shop. There will also be one looking into the shop from the kitchen area.






My view from where my porch will be....

Meet Betty, and shop progress

I mentioned on the last post (I think it was) about possibly going to FL to visit a longtime friend who lives in GA. I mentioned this to another "chat friend" who is also in GA, in the Army. She mentioned maybe swinging by to meet her if she has not shipped off to Iraq by then. As of right now she is scheduled to go back over there in August but there was a possibility she might go as soon as April.



Is she not just adorable? This is my friend Betty and we have chatted off and on for about 8 years or more I guess. I do hope to get to meet her this summer and hang out for a few days maybe. Just hoping she doesnt ship out early cause she might be over there for 18 months this time she said.
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Johnny finally got started on my shop frame. He got most of it framed up and if weather cooperates (no rain or not too much wind) he should get the sheets hung on it tomorrow. Heres a few pics of what he did today. This first pic would be just inside the rollup doors looking toward my living area.



This view would be looking from the outside AT where the roll up doors will be.


I like this last shot as it shows what it will look like coming down the highway. I was hoping it would be kinda framed by the opening i cut through the trees and looks like it might work out like I planned haha.

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My mom has many flowers and flower beds. She has the green thumb for the whole family I think. I took a couple pics of her tulips in bllom in just one of many beds she has and thought I would share some of her joy with y'all.

TRYING not be as a stone waiting to be struck

One of my best friends (and also the mother of my daughter) recently found a quote I really liked and anyone who knows me knows how much I like quotes. The quote is "Destiny has two ways of crushing us - by refusing our wishes and by fulfilling them.” by Henri Frederic Amiel. Now of course upon seeing this quote I had to dig deeper. I have also mentioned how much I like Wikipedia in the past so to this resource I looked for more info on this man. Some of his other remarkable quotes I liked are........

"Women wish to be loved without a why or a wherefore; not because they are pretty, or good, or well-bred, or graceful, or intelligent, but because they are themselves.”

Learn to limit yourself, to content yourself with some definite thing, and some definite work; dare to be what you are, and learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not and to believe in your own individuality.

The man who insists on seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides

and finally...."A man without passion is only a latent force, only a possibility, like a stone waiting for the blow from the iron to give forth sparks"

I love to feel inspired and at the moment I truly do. This man lived from 1821-1881 yet his beliefs and thoughts still ring true today. I am definitely trying not to be the stone waiting on the blow from the iron. I stress the word TRYING cause sometimes it is easy to sit back and wait for lifes good things to come to you. Thanks Brenda for "sharing" the quote and I do hope you know I am here anytime you need me.
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I have this friend named Trish and she mentioned something this morning that is truly a sad thing no matter how hard hearted you are. She has a new 10 day old nephew and he was in the ER last night for 6 hours with trouble breathing. They care flighted him this afternoon to Dallas I think it was so please keep this infant and his family in your prayers. She mentioned this family had already lost one child to SIDS. Thanks for the prayers.

Okie Angel, Ms Vicki and the story of the green

I had a wonderful day (half day) with my Okie Angel , Ms Christie today. This was our second "date" and she came down here this time. Had a great late lunch /early dinner at my second favorite place to eat in Paris which is a local establishment called Magel's Grill. The place was practically deserted when we arrived around 4 pm. We were just getting back from a short drive to the country to show her my land and future home. We also go to see my brother and lil nephew Sasha as we drove by my parents house. I am sure I will hear about not stopping to chat with everyone tomorrow when I head out there. Didn't want to overwhelm my Okie friend with my family just yet haha. After our meal we proceeded to the beautiful downtown area of Paris and I showed off parts of my hometown just as she had done in September of last year when I went to Indian Territory to visit her. We then took a leisurely drive out to the nearest lake and drove through some of the loops and then proceeded to wind back toward town via the long way around as I showed her some of the awesome houses of this area. She got a call saying her uncle was having some problems and she had to get back to help her mom with him so we had to cut it short. I want to thank her for a wonderful date and looking forward to getting to know her more and more in the future!

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I got another little bonus surprise just moments ago when I got a phone call from a girl I went out with a few times when she lived here in HS (so many years ago it seems) and lives in Columbus GA now. We got to talk for about 30 minutes and kinda catch up on things going on and even mentioned maybe getting together if possible sometime this summer maybe in FL to hang out for a few days maybe. She works for AFLAC and I of course had to ask if they had plans to kill that damn duck anytime ssoon......nothing in the works right now but if she heard something she would let me know haha. Anyway not sure if she still reads the blog but thanks for a nice conversation Vicki!
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Update on the house? ummmmm I have a trailer load of metal and some equipment out there. I have to do some adjusting to my temporary power pole before they will hook the juice to it so hopefully Johnny will be getting started sometime within the next few days. The weather here has been a bit cooler last few days but still the highs have been near 70 so I guess I shouldn't complain right? haha

Happy St Patricks day (for 30 more minutes) to everyone. Interestingly enough we celebrate his anniversary of his death. St Patrick was born around the year 385...yes three eighty five is correct. His name was originally Maewyn. He was once a slave and escaped to study under St German in a monastery in Gaul. After twelve years of this he returned to Ireland to set up missions and spread Christianity to the pagan people of Ireland. He served the country in this capacity for 30 years before his death in 461 on March 17th and since then it has been a holiday.
One of the traditonal items we associate with Ireland and St Patricks day is the shamrock. St Patrick used the three leaf clover to associate with the Trinity and how the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit could exist as seperate elements of the same entity. This is what started the wearing of the green on his day of celebration. The first celebration in USA of this holiday took place MANY decades later of course in the year 1737 when it was first publicly celebrated in Boston, MA.

Getting back on track

Thanks for the virtual shoulders that were extended for me to rest my head on the last few days. One person especially and she knows who she is. I have done some much needed inward gazing and I was not liking what I saw. I know much of it is created by stress and lack of sleep but theres more to it and I am hoping to have it all controlled now. I am sure many are thinking Me Melodramatic please shut up haha. I have pretended long enough. I have kept Christ in my life but barely and that needs to change......that WILL change. I have been holding back so much anger for so long and trying to deal with it alone when all I had to do was ask for a hand. That hand has been asked for now and I am already feeling much more relaxed (as I sit here typing at 4 am). I got some muchly needed sleep and about to get some more. I had a very nice workout earlier and if the rain will hold off in the morning I will walk about 3 or 4 miles.
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Unless something comes up between now and then I will be venturing back to Indian Territory again next weekend to visit with a dear friend whom I introduced everyone to back in September of last year and whose picture has graced my blog a few times. I have no idea what the plan is as of yet but I know I will enjoy my visit. I was literally almost speechless a few days ago and that does not happen often (shut it). Ok sit down and read slowly...this gets very interesting. I met Ms Christie for a wonderful date last fall. Monday September
18th to be exact. Easy enough so far right? We had a wonderful time. I had another date that weekend with Sandy. Again had a wonderful time and in fact we started dating regularly and I am sure the long time readers tired of hearing about all that stuff so I will not drag that back out. Ok the plot thickens. I kept in touch with Christie all this time and we have grown to be great friends (correct me if I am wrong here Angel). I recently "met" online with another lady from Christies home town. They know each other....quite well. In fact (and I KNOW i will get this wrong so I am gonna cheat) one of their relatives is getting married to one of the others relatives next week I think. Very odd and small world huh? ...wait. The plot thickens more. The new friend is divorced. Nothing odd there right? Whats funny and totally unexpected...she WAS married to I THINK an UNCLE of SANDY. I am sure many of you will have to read that twice. I would to make sure I got it right but its late and I would just still think its all a joke they are playing on me. Oh and just a small kicker here....the new friend goes to Church about 1/4 mile from my townhouse haha. Anyway I need sleep. Have another week of 12 hour days ahead and then a relaxing visit with my OkieAngel Ms Christie on Saturday. Everyone have a great week.
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One of the secrets of life is to make stepping-stones out of stumbling blocks.

-Jack Penn
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If you have made mistakes, even serious mistakes, you may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call "failure" is not the falling down, but the staying down.

-Mary Pickford

Thoughts

I am tired. I am unhappy. I am working too much. I am playing too little. I am not working out. I need a change. I try to make a change. I screw that up. Sometimes I just wanna drive. For weeks. For months. For years.

There are at least two kinds of cowards. One kind always lives with himself, afraid to face the world. The other kind lives with the world, afraid to face himself. ~Roscoe Snowden

I sometimes feel like both.

My life has been one great big joke,
A dance that's walked,
A song that's spoke,
I laugh so hard I almost choke,
When I think about myself.
~Maya Angelou

It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere. ~Agnes Repplier

What does God look like?

My good friend Dianna sent me this in email and I thought it was cute so since I have little time and not much to share, I shall share this.

Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they drew. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.

The girl replied, "I'm drawing God."

The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like."

Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute."
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Johhny (my builder) is supposed to have his equipment moved to my land today and hopefully starting on the shop tomorrow morning. I have been so busy working this week and last I have not had much time to make it by any blogs. 12 hour days and 6 days a week kinda do that to you haha. Some have asked about how the Dee Date went....it was really nice but a bit rushed. We got to talk for about 20 minutes before the movie and maybe 15 minutes afterwards since she had to go get her daughter but the movie was great and Dee is very nice. I am guessing we will be going out again but not sure when our schedules will allow...Mine is a bit hurried right now and hard to find a free minute. If you get a chance go see Wild Hogs. Excellent movie!!
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Thats about all I have time for today.....just time for a shower and shave before going in for another 12 hours of fun at the factory woohoo lol

Another venture into Indian Territory this afternnoon

I am headed north again shortly to the quaint little community of Idabel OK in Indian Territory. Going to visit a friend I have not met yet but have chatted with both online and on the phone for I am guessing 8 or 9 months now. She is the lovely Dianna also known as Dee. We are going to see the movie Wild Hogs which from all I have heard should be hilarious. I still do not own a tv so only previews I have seen were via the interweb (havent used that term lately).
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My builder says he should be moving his equipment to my land on Wednesday and hopefully on Thursday morning I will see some welding going on. I still need to get the electric coop to hook power to the temporary pole but first have to get a friend to get the box ready so getting in touch with him shortly ( he sleeps late after late night card games haha) so hopefully by weeks end I shall be posting pics of a nearly completed shop.
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Hoping everyone has had a great weekend so far and looking forward to the coming week.

CIAO