Category: friends and family

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Sent out Christmas Cards

I can’t afford anything but Christmas Cards this year for my family members.  I sent them out today.  I sure hope they get them before Christmas Day.  They should get them by Christmas Eve.  I have gotten several Christmas Cards from friends and family.  What I didn’t expect was that most of them had a little money in them.  One card from my grandmother had $100 in it.  Grandma’s always looking out for me.

I have kind of raked up so far.  I have gotten money in 7 different cards and have a total of $210.  That’s really going to come in handy.  I need some clothes for work and some better work boots too.  I was wondering how I was going to afford some and now I don’t have to worry about it at all.  I’ll have to remember to sent each of them that sent money a little ‘Thank you’ note.  I feel very blessed right now.

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I didn’t know it got so cold in Arizona

I came out here in June.  I knew it got hot but it’s a different type of hot here.  The humidity isn’t a factor like it is back home so when it hits a hundred degrees here, it’s more like eighty-five back home, or where home used to be.  What has really surprised me is how darn cold it gets here.  I thought it stayed kind of warm here year around.  Oh well, I don’t mind the cold that bad.

I got a comment from an old friend back home on my first blog.  How cool is that?  I was surprised because she’s an old flame from a couple years ago.  It would be nice if she does come visit.  I do miss some of the people back home but I love it here and have made some great friends.

I’ve decorated for Christmas as best as I can on a tight budget.  My Christmas Tree is more of a Charlie Brown type of tree because it really is a twig I got from where someone cut some off of their tree.  I did spend a little money on some lights for it but I made the decorations for it.  I went to a local thrift store and they had some ornaments for fifty cents.  So I have a Christmas tree!!  I think it’s great personally. I won’t be sending out any Christmas cards through the mail because I can’t afford it but there are plenty of cards you can send online and that  will have to work this year.

My landlord told me about a 15 year old kid up the street that is in need of some guidance.  His father left them a couple years ago and his mother has to work two jobs so there’s no one home to keep him out of trouble.  I have become his ‘big brother’ more or less.  I’m trying to get him a Game Boy for Christmas if I can scrape up enough money.  He comes by every day when I get off work and helps me do what ever I’m doing that day.  He’s a pretty neat kid and if I can help him stay out of trouble, then I’ve done something good.

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I can’t believe my luck!

I bought a Sunday paper and was sitting outside my room enjoying the weather when the owner of the motel walked up and asked how I liked it there.  I told him that I was trying to find a small apartment to rent because I needed something more than just a motel room.

Well he told me that his neighbor had a small apartment over their garage that had just come open two days ago. The guy that had rented the place had really trashed it and it needed some repairs before they could rent it again.  That started me thinking.  I asked where it was and if he thought it would be okay to go by and see the place.  He gave his neighbor a call and said to be there in 45 minutes.  It was only about 2 miles from where I work.

When I got there, they told me not to expect too much and took me up to see the apartment.  Yeah, that guy had trashed the place pretty bad and these were elderly people that had rented to him.  I made them an off they didn’t refuse.  I offered to do all the clean-up and repair what he had messed up for the deposit and at least the first months rent.  They agreed!!

Most of the stuff I would need to make the repairs I could get off of the job site from the dumpsters.  It was scraps mostly but they had already told me that if there was something I needed, it was okay to take it.  I HAD AN APARTMENT and guess what else, it was furnished.  Some of the furniture was messed up but nothing I couldn’t live with or fix.

It was a one bedroom, one bathroom and a living room, dining room, kitchen combination.  The power was included in the monthly rent and it was only $350 a month.  Man am I lucky or what?

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I started young

I had my first job at 12.  I carried out trash for a local small restaurant back home.  They paid me $10 a day to carry out the trash and pick up the parking lot.  I would do this about 3 to 4 times a week.  I was making up to $40 a week and thought I was on top of the world.  Finally I could buy some nice tennis shoes like everyone else wore.  I could get myself a skate board like everyone else had and I could even buy some clothes that were more like everyone else’s.

See, there were three of us kids and I was the youngest.  The oldest was my brother and had a sister between us.  I got my brothers hand-me-downs mostly to wear.  Since he was 6 years older than I am, some of his clothes weren’t what the other kids were wearing at that time.  You know what I’m saying?  I looked different and felt different too.  I was a very angry kid and rightfully so most of the time.

I hated school.  Then one day I walked into Mrs. Daye’s class and things began to change.  On not overnight by any means but every time I was sent to her, she always told me she had faith in me.  She knew I was going to make something out of myself.  Because of her, that’s what I began to believe too.

So here I am working 50 hours a week doing anything from laying block for the foundation, roofing, framing and anything else they need help with.  I’m learning new things all the time and reaching higher and higher so I can be someone I can be proud of.

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Hello world!

Well here I am on the Internet.  I sure hope Mrs. Daye happens across this.  She believed in me when no one else did.  I would love for her to see that I kept my promise to her and I am making something of myself.  Growing up on the streets makes you tough in a lot of ways.  Some ways you wish you weren’t so tough in and she helped me see that it’s okay to care about something or someone just because.

She asked me to promise that even if I didn’t finish high school, that I would at least get my GED, which I did and moved to Arizona.  I had always dreamed of living here.  It’s about as far away from my family as I can get and I love the dessert.  I had worked odd jobs in the housing industry and now I work for a company that builds houses and I absolutely love the style of houses out here too. I’m sort of a jack of all trades and the master of a couple anyway.

I guess maybe there’s a little bit of adventurer in me too since I moved out here not knowing anyone or anything about the area other than there were desserts here.  I can’t see myself anywhere else now.  I hope you stop by from time to time.