My move to NC

It's Been a Very Long Time

2010-03-18T11:18:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's been a very long time. I'm not sure exactly where to start. I was reading my last blog before I started on this new one, and the last one had left off on the fact that Mark and I would be moving to Ohio in a week. That was nearly two years ago, so I guess I'll just pick up from there.
Mark and I put basically what we knew we'd need in the car, and placed everything else in a storage unit in North Carolina before we'd made the move. We came up here basically on the last paycheck I'd recieved from my previous job, and I was grateful that work was relatively easy to find once we got to Ohio. I found a job in about two weeks after we'd made the move. Unfortunately, Mark hasn't had quite the easy time that I'd had, but that's okay.
Mark and I stayed in Berwick for a while before finding a house in Fostoria. It was a decent two story brown house. We stayed there for several months, but it was just too big for just the two of us, not to mention a bit expensive (nearly $400 a month!), so we found a smaller house that worked rather well for us, which was a little more affordable (about $300 a month). Thanks to my job at the time being terribly slow, we basically went broke, so we had to move back to Berwick, which is where we are today. I guess it's not too bad, although I'm not here all the time since I work six days a week (just to get 42.5 hours a week), but that's all right.
While we were in Fostoria, Mark and I adopted a stray cat that we'd found. She'd got out of the house one day and didn't come back for a day or two. When she came back, she was pregnant, which we discovered after we'd moved her out here to Berwick with us. About two weeks before Father's Day 2009, our cat (Cleo a.k.a. "Little One") gave birth to 4 beautiful kittens (one of which looks like a carbon copy of his mother). Unfortunately, on Father's Day, "Little One" was hit by a car and died, leaving behind her small litter of kittens.
Mark and I raised them from that point on, and we did a pretty good job. Two were given away, and Mark and I kept the one who looks just like his mother ("Little Man") and the only black and orange one (who's name is Abbie). They've grown into very healthy cats, I might add (even the vet said so himself!).
Just recently (like last month), the house went "high tech" with the final addition of a brand new computer and the internet. It was really no big deal for Mark and I as we've had internet before, but it gets kind of crazy at times because we're basically everyone else's instructors until they really get the hang of things. I'm not complaining though. I really don't mind it.
Oh, I almost forgot. Aran got his name changed legally at the beginning of this month. He also got his new license and social security card sometime last week or the week before (I think). Mark and I (as well as Mom & Dad) are showing our support for him, though sometimes I wonder if Mark and I are the only one's who are really trying. Well, let me rephrase that, I'm sure there are others in the household that are trying. Mark and I seem to be the only two who seem to get it right 100% of the time.
At any rate, it's been a short two years, in my opinion. I've been trying to stay busy. It's almost summertime, which means it's about time for me to start my ritual with mowing the lawn every other week. I can't wait for it to get warm and stay warm! I'm also grateful that the snow has finally melted! YAY! So anyway, that's all for now. Until next time....

Moving On

2008-05-01T18:49:00.000-07:00

It's final now. We are sure of it this time. We have decided not to put it off any longer. Yeah, that's right, as of the ninth of May this year, Mark and I will be living in the great state of Ohio. We're not leaving North Carolina behind. We'll still come down to visit as Mark's mama is still down here along with some of our close friends. We haven't left NC behind us. We are just moving up to Ohio for a fresh start, and to be closer to my side of the family as Mom and Dad aren't getting any younger.
The entire family is very excited that we're moving up there. Moving up there was Mark's idea originally, though we did discuss it in depth amongst each other before we made any solid plans to do so. So, even though we've been talking about it for the last year, we've finally decided to stop putting it off. It's definitely set in stone this time.
We're both very excited, and we've been counting down the days. Our departure date is only seven days away, but it feels like it might as well be seven years away. The closer we get to that date, the longer the days seem to get. However, we're both aware that, once we're in Ohio, the days are going to go so fast.
We are very sure this is a good way to better ourselves. Jobs here are getting scarce, and I myself am not sure how much longer my job is going to last. We are confident we'll be able to find good jobs in Ohio, and that we'll be successful in whatever ventures we set out on. So, just so you know, the next time I post a blog, it will be from the great state of Ohio! So, until next time........peace.

Keeping Up With the Times

2008-04-12T23:22:00.001-07:00

Well, it certainly has been a while. Mark and I have been super busy here lately, and, for brief periods of time, didn't have access to the internet. Anyway, we're still alive, and I thank God for that. Mark and I are just as happy now as we've always been, and I thank God daily for that. I'm so happy that I've found that one person in my life who can truly make me happy and truly love me for me.
I can't believe I've been living in North Carolina for two years now. It doesn't seem like it's been nearly that long, but it has been. I've still got the same job, and I thank God for that. On August twenty-eighth of this year, Mark and I will be celebrating our three year anniversary. It's been a pretty good three years, too, and I hope and pray every night that three years turns into thirty, and thirty turns into sixty, sixty turns into ninety, and so on and so forth.
But quite a bit has happened since last October, Mark and I are no longer living on our own. We were living in Granite Falls in a house which Mark's stepdad and mother own, but his stepdad got a hair crossed sideways or something, and decided to kick us out. Shortly after that, we met two people who have become very close friends. They gave us a roof over our heads when we needed it, and they are really more like family than friends. They are true friends, and that seems like something which is very hard to come across these days.
On the lighter side of things, I did something a month ago which I thought was too painful to even think about doing up until now. I walked into a tattoo and piercing place, and had my tongue and my lower lip both pierced. Believe it or not, neither one of them hurt. Feeling the needle sliding through the flesh of my bottom lip first, then feeling another needle sliding through the flesh of my tongue a few moments later gave me a little bit of discomfort, but there really wasn't anything about it that really hurt.
When I went to go get pierced, our two best friends went with us. The man I went with got his nipples and his tongue pierced, and the woman who'd gone with us got her nose and her tongue pierced. The funny part is, out of all three of us, I was the only one who had a swollen tongue afterward. I guess my tongue is just a little more sensitive to that kind of stuff or something. Anyway, I couldn't talk very well for a few days, but I can now talk normal again since it's healed and the swelling has gone completely down.
Mark wasn't quite sure how a man would look with his lip pierced, but after I got mine done. he said he thinks its sexy. . .especially on me. I'll have to get a picture to put on the computer for those of you who are interested in seeing it.
But that about wraps it up for now. Until next time...........Peace!

A Place of Our Own

2006-10-24T18:20:00.000-07:00

Well, our roommates have officially moved out. Mark and I finally have our own car, and we have our own house. We've been very busy at work working 10, 11, 12, sometimes even 14 hour days. In the evenings we've been coming back home, and working on cleaning the house...very well. We've finally got things situated in the house the way we wanted them from the beginning. We love it!
We were even able to unclutter the bedroom a little bit by bringing some of it out into the living room so it can actually be seen. The living room is now adorned with a lot of large elephant figurines, and things of the like. We're not quite done yet, but we're satisfied for now.
Our next project will be 2 remodel our roommates' old bedroom as well as our own. You know, just change things around. I've never really been this involved with a house project before, but I think this time it's different because it's a place that I'm actually a part of, a place that I actually own part of. A place that Mark and I can call our own!

Elephants

2006-10-03T18:11:00.000-07:00

Ever since I was four or five years old, I've always had a fascination with elephants. I'm still not really sure what it is about them, but does anybody really know the exact root of their vices. Elephants are very magnificent animals, and, even though their brains are very small, elephants are very intellegent animals.
My favorite movie when I was a little kid was "Dumbo". I loved that movie, and I watched it a lot. I watched it so much that I, at one time, could actually recite lines from the movie from memory! I nearly cried whenever the circus people imprisoned Dumbo's mother in that cage just because she was defending her son. I laughed when Dumbo got drunk off the "water" the clowns had left beside their tent. I triumphed in the end when Dumbo became famous for being the world's only flying elephant.
I recently watched a Bill Murray movie called "Larger Than Life", in which the main star is an elephant. It's about this uppity guy who doesn't even know who his real father is until it's too late. He finds out that his father was a circus clown, and that his inheritance is his father's circuz elephant. He (Bill Murray)despizes the elephant at first, and decided to get rid of the elephant, but grows to love the elephant by the end of the movie. If you haven't seen it, you should really check it out. You'll even have a lot of laughs as you watch Bill Murray's crazy adventure with this elephant. Matthew McConnahey (the star of "A Time to Kill") even has a snall roll in the movie as this gungho truck driver.
But anyway, that's enough with the movie reviews. It's time for me to get back to the subject at hand. Over the years, I've gotten all kinds of elephant things for Christmas. These include mirrors, pictures, stuffed animals, small statues, Christmas ornaments, and various other things of that sort. Mark has also given me many, many things that deal with elephants: pictures, crystals, paperweights, blankets, and pillows. I thank him as well as everyone else, for all that elephant stuff that I've gotten over the years.
I've also gotten Mark into elephants in the time that he and I have been together. He's just as obsessed with elephants as I am, I think. The only difference in my obessession and Mark's obessession is that I went as far as getting an elephant tattooed on my left bicep. It's the most expensive elephant that I have (it cost $50). Though, I have to admit, this is the first time that I've ever written about elephants.
Anyway, that will probably do it for this one, seeing as how I'm running out of things to write...at least about elephants anyway. I apologize for the lapse in entries, but work usually has Mark and I extremely busy, so I can't really get on the computer too much. I'll be sure to write though whenever I can.

My Busy Life

2006-09-17T17:19:00.000-07:00

Have you ever taken a step back, and looked at how busy your life is? I have, and I also discovered something else, too. Unless you're impossibly lazy, nobody has a life that's not busy. Of course, the hustle and bustle of every day life is rather annoying at times, it still feels good to know that you're still alive. For example, I work ten hour days five days a week plus between an extra four to six hours on Saturday. I also help Mark keep up with the housework, as he has the same schedule as I do. It's amazing that we even find time to get on the computer, or even time to go do things together. We're pretty busy people, and things get kind of crazy most of the time. Both of us need a way to relieve some stress, a break from our busy lives. I try to find that break as often as I can in my writing, whenever I can't find that break anywhere else.
There are times that Mark and I just take off and go somewhere...just to get away. We'll go out to a nice restaurant, catch a movie, or go to a hotel for a night. Warehouse work is no piece of cake, and when you work ten hour days, your life is practically devoted to your job...as we've both found out. It's really nice to be able to get out on the weekends...when we can. And when we can get out, we just try to relaz and get away from all the stress and everything else. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I'm sure we all know how that goes.
There are times that I feel like all I ever do is work, work, work. I'm sure we all feel that way at times. The day starts at five in the morning for Mark and I. We get a break from everything at 4:30 on our way home, and then it starts all over again whenever we get home. I'm really busy almost constantly, but it's all worth it in the end. I'm very happy where I'm at. I never would've dreamed that I'd ever live in North Carolina or work for one of the most well known furniture companies in the United States, but that's where my life has brought me, and I wouldn't want it any other way. I'm even happier living here with Mark. I love Mark. I love my busy life, and I love it here in North Carolina!

A New Writing Site!

2006-09-12T16:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Mark was sick so he left work early. He'd been on the computer surfing the net, and he found a good site for me. I can post my poems on it, and get feedback from other writers, and they can rate it, and all kinds of things. It also has many other links to other writing-related sites as well. I've posted two poems, and I've already got feedback on one of them. Also, this site automatically copyrights your original poems so that way nobody else can claim them as their own.
Membership to the site is free, but you can upgrade your membership for so much money a month. I think an upgraded membership costs like four dollars a month or somewhere in that range. There's also a lot of writer's forums, and various other things to keep you tapped into a whole network full of writers. I'm hoping that it will help me out and get me one step closer to getting published.
Also, I'd like to take a moment to give thanks to Mark for believing in me, and finding the site for me. He keeps assuring me that I'm really good at it, and keeps telling me that I should follow through with my dreams of becoming a published author, if that's what I want. Thank you so much, sweetheart.
Anyway, I know it sounds like I'm plugging this site, or giving a testimonial or something. I do apologize for that, because that really wasn't my intent in the first place. I'm just really excited about this site. It's great! I'm not too sure how the site is about publicity or advertising, so, if anybody's interested, send me an e-mail, and I'll give you the website. I hope you'll enjoy it just as much as I do.

Contacts

2006-09-10T17:48:00.000-07:00

After spending a good portion of my life in glasses, I'd decided I wanted a little bit of a change. I had an eye exam done, and asked the doctor to fit me for contact lenses. The eye doctor told me it wouldn't be a problem, even though the test results showed that I had a stigmatism. I was fitted for regular contacts (thank God!) and the eye doctor gave me a week to try them out. He told me that he hoped the regular contacts worked out for me because the contact lenses to correct stigmatisms cost about 30% more than regular ones.
Thank God the regular contact lenses worked for me. I recently got my contact lens prescription filled, and it only cost about $50 for a three month prescription. It feels good to be rid of glasses and still be able to see. It was rocky ground at first as you have to get used to touching your eye to put them in as well as taking them out, but it's a breeze once you get used to it. Mark also got contact lenses, but they kept falling out of his eyes for some reason, so he just stayed with glasses.
Contacts have made me feel better about myself....not that I already did feel good about myself. It's just nice not to have a pair of glasses sitting on your face. That's one of the best feelings in the world, in my opinion. I really can't describe the feeling. I keep hearing people (mostly Mark) tell me that I look good with contacts, although my man thought that I looked good before I got contact lenses as well.
It's really odd, though, that I keep seeming to make stepping stones for my family, or maybe I'm just the one that continues to break the mold. Either way, I've been the first (on Dad's side anyway) to move more than 400 miles from the homefront, the first one to be in a same-sex relationship, and now the first person (at least that I know of) in the family to wear contact lenses. Wow! What's next? I don't know, but I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Thinking about Getting Published

2006-09-09T14:28:00.000-07:00

At work earlier today, Mark and I were discussing my poetry and short stories. He's been a really big supporter of my writings ever since I told him about them, and he would really love for me to get published. That is something that I've been interested in (getting published, that is) ever since the first time somebody told me that I should.
I really wasn't too sure of my own writing...until I began letting other people read them. I started getting all this positive feedback from everyone that read it. I got the same kind of feedback from my unfinished short stories as well. Everybody would tell me "you should finish that, and get it published. it could be the next number one seller". That makes me feel really good to hear that stuff. It makes me feel like I'm doing something that people enjoy, you know? It reassures me that my writing is more educated and adult than I think it is.
My ex-boss lady from Ohio liked my poetry so much that she had me write three poems just for her. Now that says something, doesn't it? A bunch of my former co-workers up north love my poetry. But of everybody, Mark loves it the most.
That man has encouraged me more than anybody I know. He's always been a huge supporter, and always tells me that he would get me published if he had the money to back me up. I know he'd give me all the financial support I neeed if he had it to give. But, alas, he doesn't, and neither do I, so therefore I sit here trying to figure it out. Mark's going to look online for me, and see if there's any publishing companies online who'd be willing to look at some of my stuff. He told me he would do that for me because he believes that I could be very successful. All this feedback that I've gotten from Mark and everybody else has got me believing that my poems are very good, and I believe that I'd be a very successful writer myself. Once I find the means to do it, then hopefully everything will go smoothly from there. If anybody wants my autograph, just let me know now. It beats waiting in those long lines at that book signing party (or whatever it's called) later on down the road!

The End is Almost Here!

2006-09-05T16:35:00.000-07:00

As I sit here in front of the computer this evening, it just hit me that the end is almost here! The end of the year that is. It seems that this year just started yesterday, and it's already September! In another three months Christmas will be here...with New Year's to follow! Already! Where did this year go?
It seems like just yesterday I was up north working in my dead-end custodial job, dreaming of bigger and better things. Going home to a marriage that was steadily going downhill, feeling worthless because I was working to pay all her bills because she wouldn't get a job. Feeling down because it seemed like my wife was only concerned about my money and that was it. My brother in law (who'd moved to NC earlier in the year) had come up to OH, and therein I'd found my escape to happiness. I took a week's vacation from work, and (two weeks later) was NC bound! I'd decided to stay here because I felt happier here than I ever had up north. I can't believe that was back in the tail-end of April. It was the week of my birthday as a matter of fact. It doesn't seem like it was quite that long ago, but I've been a resident of NC for the past 5 months. Where did all that time go? It seems to have flown by since I've been here.
This will be my first Christmas where there will possibly be no snow. This will be an interesting experience for sure! I will certainly have to keep you posted whenever that time comes. Boy oh boy. What would Christmas be without any snow? That's a thought. When you've been raised in the Northern states, snow and Christmas seem to go hand in hand as much as peanut butter and jelly! Somehow I'll make it through....oh who am I kidding? No snow! I've been praying for that kind of winter ever since the very first time I drove in that white fluffy stuff! This will be great!
Ok now, time to pull myself together and be serious now. Hold off on the excitement. If I get all worked up about it now, then we'll probably get a few inches of snow here. That's just my luck. In the meantime, I'll keep praying for no snow.

The Loss of a Pet

2006-09-04T09:46:00.000-07:00

Shortly after I'd come down here to North Carolina, we'd aquired a little black puppy. We had no idea what the breed was or anything like that. The only thing that we knew was that he was cute...very cute. We named him Psycho, and he lived up to that name very well. When we'd play with him, he'd growl and nip. He would put the other dogs in their place all the time, even though all the other dogs were usually much bigger than him. He was a very sweet puppy, and he was very big on giving hugs and kisses. I'll never forget the times that he was smaller, and he'd wiggle underneath the kitchen counter just so he could mess with the cats (when the cats were still here). Or whenever we'd put the food down for the dogs, Psycho would be right there to sample each one of the three dishes as they were set down. I loved the way he'd get all excited whenever his name was called; his eyes would get really big and his tail would start wagging at about a hundred miles a second.
We have so many memories of him. He loved to eat...a lot. He had a nice little belly on him, which we used to pick on him about. That would always get him in a playful mood, and he'd get all wound up for hours on end. He used to mess with the cats and eat their food every chance he got. We always thought he did that just to spite them.
He had overcome parvo about two months ago. Right then we knew he was a fighter. He was only in our lives for about four months, but he definitely made a big impact on us. He was so full of life, and he fought to the very end. About a week ago, he became really sick. We tried everything we could do to help him, and he held right in there. This morning (at around four o'clock) his sickness got the best of him, and he passed on. We're taking comfort in the fact that he's gone on to a better place where he's no longer suffering, and not in any pain anymore. He was a wonderful puppy, and a fighter all the way to the very end. I'd like to take a moment to dedicate this particular blog to Psycho (May 2006 to September 2006). He touched our lives in so many ways, and we love him very much. He will be missed by all of us.

Myself on Writing

2006-09-03T20:36:00.000-07:00

Well it's another day. I failed to mention yesterday that I've been writing poetry and short stories for the past few years now. I have a rather large collection of poems that I keep in a notebook, and I noticed that readers can leave comments, so I thought that this would be a good way to try out some of my poetry. So feel free to leave me a comment on any of my poems (either positive or negative). A little criticism never hurt anybody right? So, without any further introduction this particular poem is one that I wrote for Mark. I wrote it before I'd come to North Carolina, and it's called "The Most Thoughtful Man I Know".

The Most Thoughtful Man I Know

The most thoughtful man I know
Is about 600 miles away from me
You know, it takes 9 hoursTo get to North Carolina
That's right, he lives in North Carolina
Sometimes I find it hard to believe
That one man so far away
Can care so much about me
In this day & age, you never know about people
But this guy is much different
This guy has a very big heart
And refuses to say anything bad about me
Much less hear the same
Even if I'm the one saying it
This man really cares about what I have to say
That's something I've heard many times
From many, many different people
But this time I believe itI have faith & trust in him
And that's something I don't have
In too many people
This man has shown me
That I'm not the bad person
Most people make me out to be
This man has shown me
That there's someone out there
Who really cares for me & means it
This is why that North Carolina man
Is the most thoughtful man I know

So there it is. I hope you all like it. I spent some time on it, and I honestly think it's one of my better ones. So, therefore, I will close here. Happy reading, and (one final time) I hope you enjoy it. More later.

What's Happened in the Past Six Months

2006-09-02T19:11:00.000-07:00

I was married for almost three years. The wife and I were having problems, and the problems just kept mounting and mounting. I started growing very tired of the way everything was going in my life as well as my marriage. My moods ranged from extremely happy to extremely depressed, and I turned to the internet. It struck me as very odd that people who didn't even know me seemed to care more about me and my feelings than the people that I knew did. That's when I met Mark. I was in a NC chat room, and Mark and I started talking through instant messaging. That was a little over a year ago.
We became friends right off the bat. It felt good to have someone that I could talk to about anything that was on my mind. Our friendship got stronger by the day, and I also noticed that I was starting to fall in love with Mark in the process.
About the last week in April of this year, I'd come down here to North Carolina for a visit...not really intending to stay, but things changed. I was happier that entire week than I'd been in the past two years. To beat it all, I was with Mark that entire week, and at that moment I knew that Mark was the only one who would make me truly happy.
Mark drove me back up to Ohio, but I didn't stay long. I wasn't even in the state for 24 hours, and Amy (the soon to be ex-wife) started in on me, and we had this huge fight. I told her that I was sick of everything and that I would be leaving. She didn't believe me then, but she did the next morning. I came back here to Norh Carolina with Mark, and have been happy ever since. I began looking for work the second day that I was down here, and had a job within a week.
For the first time in a long time, I'm very happy, and every one of my friends knows it. They all tell me that I sound happier, and that I look a lot better than I ever did when I was in Ohio.
Mark and I got to go up to Ohio the week of the 4th of July. We stayed at Mom and Dad's from July 1st until July 10th. The family took to Mark very well, and they had no problem accepted Mark and I and our relationship. On the Fourth we all went down to Columbus to watch the DooDah Parade with Aunt Liz. Well, at least that was our intention. Mark and I did one better though. Not only were we in the parade, we ended up leading the parade. I think Mark was more excited about being in the parade than he was about watching it from the side of the street. I know I was!
After the parade, we all went to Aunt Liz's house for supper and spirits. We ended up getting back to Mom and Dad's at about eight o'clock that night...after of course we showed Mark Delaware State Park. In addition to that, I fullfilled one of Mark's dreams by taking him to Michigan. He kept telling me that he always wanted to see that state, so I took him up there and we visited Cabella's in Dundee MI. We both had a very good time, and Mark saw more of Ohio than he ever had before. Dad also introduced Mark to niplets. We all had our fair share of them, and Mark had a lot of fun helping Dad make them, too.
Also, Mark discovered how the old wringer-washers work, and was very fascinated with their operation. He'd never seen one that actually worked before. He told us all that he'd only seen them before used in people's yards to plant flowers in!
Since we've come back from our Ohio trip, the company that we are working for (Broyhill Furniture) hired us onto the payroll. We were working there through a temporary employment agency, so it was very refreshing and assuring when we heard from our bossman that Broyhill was going to hire us to full time. Finally, we're off the temp agency's payroll!
So, Mark and I have been doing great, and I love it here! I love being with Mark, and I love North Carolina.