I think I’ve settled on an over-arching theme I’d like to personally have for 2025 and that theme is to enjoy life. I realized that my determination to simplify some things so far this year and clean out unused clutter also aligns with this. When things are easy to get to, it makes it so […]
2025 is Coming in Hot
Normally right before the new year, especially on New Years Eve, I look forward to a fresh new year and have a positive feeling. This was the first year in awhile, that I came into the new year cautious with a feeling of anxiety and unease. Regardless of how I feel, I still try to […]
Loss is Lifelong
Sometimes loss may be a positive thing. If you’re an athlete, for example, and your team loses, you learn from any mistakes, regroup, practice harder and come back better. Sometimes loss can be a proverbial bullet dodged. I’ve lost the bid on projects before to find out later that the client would have been a […]
The Essentials
Kind of glad this Christmas came and went without a lot of fanfare. It’s the first Christmas since my dad’s passing and that is, of course, going to take some getting used to. Shortly, I’m going to be coming up on 4 years since Mario passed away as well. As the years roll on, it’s […]
Obsidian
The dictionary definition of obsidian is, “a hard, dark, glasslike volcanic rock formed by the rapid solidification of lava without crystallization”. It’s one of my favorite rocks and always has been. I remember first encountering it when I was about 7 and I was on vacation with my parents around Mammoth in California one summer. […]
Winter Break
2024 is rapidly coming to a close. It’s been a difficult one and usually around this time I start reflecting on the year and looking forward to the next one. I also often take a break during the holidays to work on my own business and get some end-of-the-year downtime. Today, I’ll be driving Mario’s […]
“Uncage the Soul”
This week, a local artist I know lost her son to cancer. I had been watching his story with the disease unfold for a couple years. At one point in time he owned a video production company called, Uncage the Soul (the phrase was apparently one he used to sign correspondences while he was young […]
Time Marches On, Again
Another Thanksgiving down and this one was an oddball one. My mom is still slowing getting her mobility back, so she opted out. Mario’s dad had a cold, so he opted out. My dad passed away over the summer, so this marks the first year of his absence. I still cooked and a friend of […]
Sometimes you choose them and sometimes they choose you.
More than once in the past week I’ve said to myself, Mario would totally laugh if he would see FOUR cats in the house. I remember when we adopted Hathor and Juno (we gave them those names, their shelter names were not fitting at all) and Mario said something along the lines of, our limit […]
Drifting Gloomily Through Time
I’ve had yet another difficult week (2024’s theme really does seem to be “personally difficult things”). My mom has what we think is a sciatica flair up. While she claims she’s not like my dad in being stubborn, she very much IS. She refused to actually go to the doctor about it, putting me in […]
Misdirected Focus
Since my dad’s passing this July, I initially didn’t have a lot of time to think and review my feelings about it all because I was helping my mom. I think scattering his ashes at sea mid October really kind of locked the reality in that he’s gone. And consequently, I’ve had more time to […]
The Day of the Dead
November 1st is a day when a number of different cultures honor their dear, departed loved ones. The most widely known of these celebrations occurs in Mexico and is called El Dia de Los Muertos — The Day of the Dead. Similar celebrations occur during the first few days of November in Guatemala, El Salvador, […]