Fading Summer

August kinda snuck up on me this year. Usually we take a little vacation in July and get out of town. But this year we are having to cut back – like most everybody I know. So we stayed around here all through July and just went to the pool when we needed to take a break.

I sent Mom a gift card

I talked with Breanna a lot about my mother and my whole family in all reality and she helped me to understand a bit more.  I decided to send my mother a gift card.  I wrote her a note to go with it telling her that I wanted her to use the money on this gift card to do something special for herself like having her nails done or getting a new hairdo.  I wanted her to feel special for a change because my father was the one that kept her down in all reality.  It wasn’t that she wasn’t a good mother, it was that he wanted to control everything and she didn’t have the chance to be herself.  I don’t really want to talk about it anymore.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO YOU!!!!

Mothers Day is Sunday and I have mixed feelings

I read a poem someone wrote about being a Mom and it was really good but the only problem is, it didn’t sound like my mother at all.  My mother was not what you would call a ‘good mother’ but she is my mother.  Without her, I would not be here and for that, I do thank her but do you know how hard it is to find a Mothers Day card for a mother like that?

They really need to have Mothers Day cards that say something along the lines of “I know you think you did your best but maybe you should have tried harder.”  I bet they would sell a bunch of cards like that.  I don’t now.  I can’t find a card that says what I feel so maybe I should just write her a nice little note telling her thank you for having me or something like that.  I do love my mother but I’m not so sure about how I love her.  Does that make any sense to anyone else?

Well the surprise was on me!!!

I honestly think I’m falling love with Breanna!  This is the most amazing woman I have ever met.  The surprise for Valentines Day was on me, not her.  She came over and told me that she was going to fix us a nice dinner and we were going to celebrate Valentines Day right here.  Okay I thought, there goes my surprise for her but she’s a much better cook than I ever dreamed of being so I sure didn’t complain.  She fixed us some of the best steak I have ever eaten with a baked potatoes and a great salad.  We had a candle light dinner and I put the single rose that I had gotten her on the table while she wasn’t looking.  She loved it.  You would have thought it was a dozen the way she acted.

After dinner, we sat and talked for hours about her life and my life, our dreams for the future and anything else that came to mind.  She had a bit of a hard time at home too and I didn’t know that at all.  We found out just how much we have in common and how much our dreams of the future were the same.  I have to admit, this was the best Valentines Day I have ever had or could have ever imagined.  She is a very special woman.

Trying to plan something special for this weekend

I’m new to all of this.  Living on my own, having a sweet girl for a girlfriend, and everything else that has happened since I moved out here.  I have to admit that my life has never been better.  I’m learning a lot on the job about construction, home improvements, electrical work and everything else involved in the construction of apartments, houses, and businesses.

I’m learning a lot about what a wonderful addition a good woman to be to your life too.  Breanna has been one of many blessings to my life since getting away from the problems back home.  I feel so very blessed and I want to do something very special for her for Valentines Day.  The problem is money.  I have to be creative in order to show her what she means to me.

What I have in mind is a nice picnic at the local park since it’s supposed to be a nice day.  I can afford some of the flowers you can get in the grocery store but I can’t afford a dozen roses.  I have heard that one single rose is just as good as a dozen to some women.  Breanna is that type of woman I think.  I’ll check and see how much a single rose will cost me from a florist because those that you get other places just don’t live very long.

I need some suggestions of what to fix for the picnic.  Got any suggestions??  Help!!!!!

Best Christmas of my life

I told you I had great people that I rent from.  Well for Christmas, they gave me a months free rent.  That means I don’t have to pay any rent until February 1st.  I went to church with my landlord and the church gave me a box full of food too.  I guess Mrs. Thomas told them about me being young and out here alone.  I don’t know but now I have enough food to last for about a month I bet.

The after Christmas sales are really helping me get everything I need.  Most stores didn’t do as good before Christmas as they thought they would so they really marked stuff down a lot after Christmas.  I got a new pair of work boots at 40% off.  I got some jeans for work at 25% off.

That allowed me to buy a mattress and box springs that are new at a local thrift store so I now have a bed.  I don’t have a headboard or dressers but I have a bed.  I got a set of sheets too.  Luckily I have a blanket and pillow.  I’m getting there.

Had to work half a day today

Well the boss told us to come in for half a day today.  I didn’t mind since I didn’t have anywhere else to be and that man really blew me away today.  He gave me a gift card for $100 to Lowe’s so I could get me some tools I’ll need for work and then gave me a whole box full of canned foods, a ham and all kinds of fruit.  He gave everyone a box of food like he did me but I don’t know if he gave everyone else a gift card or not.  I’m not asking because if he didn’t, I sure don’t want to have anyone get mad at him.

Everyone has been so very good to me since I moved out here.  I finally found a place where I feel like I am welcome and needed.  I have had a blessed Christmas and it’s not even Christmas Day yet.  I think I’ll go to an evening service at one of the churches around here and make sure I give thanks properly.  I sure hope you and your family have a very blessed Christmas too!!

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.

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.