New Year's Eve

… actually, the morning of New Year's Eve …

I'm sitting here, thinking about how great the last couple of days have been, not to mention the last 19 months.

TWIL is upstairs getting ready for this afternoon, and tonight. {I only got ready a few minutes ago, we slept late. I'm not sure what we are going to be doing this afternoon, but tonight we are going to be going over to visit friends. Then we will be coming back and welcoming in the new year with The Sprout and TWIL's mother.

I hope you all have a good, safe, and joyous night.

Happy New Year!

I'll be back in a day or two with my resolutions, and a follow up on one I made last year.

Working again...

OK, so the transition from hosting to forwarding didn't go very smoothly. In fact, my domain was down for 3 or 4 days during the process. But everything should be up and working fine now.

I just hope I didn't miss any important email while while my domain was down.

...

Also, I am back at work after spending almost a week, including Christmas, with TWIL and The Sprout. During that time I barely sat in front of a computer, which was fine with me.

I hope everyone had a good holiday, which ever {if any...} you choose to celebrate.

I also hope that I didn't lose my readers {reader?} during the switch over. I guess I'll find out...

On Leaving My Own Hosting...

I have had, and been paying for, domain hosting for quite a while now. That hosting has been used to host this blog, with plans for so much more that I was going to do with it.

It hasn't worked out that way. I have my blog, but nothing else has worked out.

I spend all day staring at a computer screen, mainly developing and designing web applications, and by the time I get home I don't want to do any more of that. In fact, even during my breaks at work I get up and walk away from the computer as much as possible. So I didn't get much time to work on my own site.

So, the only thing I use my hosting for is this blog.

I used the space for transferring large files form one place to another, but now I have a 2GB USB drive that I use instead.

Further, looking at my site, on my own hosting, does nothing but remind me of all the things I "should" be doing with it. Working on the template, the CSS, etc. and I get so wrapped up in that I don't post as much as I'd like.

Therefore, I have decided to give up hosting my own domain and to use the free hosting that Blog*Spot provides. This will save my some money, which will be put towards something else. But more than that, it should allow me to let go of the thoughts about what I "should" be doing, and let me just take the time to post. {Although I'll probably spend time tweaking one of the standard templates.}

My hosting is already paid for the next couple of weeks so I will not be rushing the move, but it will be happening before the end of the month.

I'll make sure the current URL {http://journal.wyldwoods.net} forwards to the new URL.

The "Votes" are in...

Ricardipus has expressed an interest in hearing my reasons for moving to Blog*Spot, and since he is the only one who commented {He is often the only one who comments...} he will get to hear...

But not today...

today I am with TWIL and The Sprout. I am taking a couple of minutes to make a quick post while TWIL is in the shower and The Sprout is doing her homework. But we are going to be spending the day doing things together so I don't have long.

I believe we are going to be putting up more Christmas decorations and making some cookies. i don't know what else is on the agenda for this afternoon, but I'll let you know.

I am also going to try work harder on posting at least once in any calendar week. Although I still don't know what those posts will be about.

So sometime between in the next week you will see at least a post about why I am moving to Blog*Spot. You will also see one about what I know {so far} I will, and will not, be writing about.

Feel free to post a comment with any suggestions on topics, any questions you would like answered, or just to let me know you are reading.

Peace.
Time to make the cookies...

On Silence

In the time since I last posted I have been doing a lot of thinking. Much of it centred around this journal, or "blog" if you prefer. This included why I started this, and what it was/is to me.

I realized that this place had become a way for me to work express things and work over them in my head. Things always seemed clearer after I wrote them down, the act of writing helping me understand what was really going on "in there."

Well, around 17-18 months ago something changed. I started talking to TWIL every night. We talk about virtually everything, and that left fewer things needing to be worked out in here. {Yes, we still talk on the phone every night that we are not physically together.}

So I know what this was. But now, I don't quite know what this is.

I don't know what I'll write about here now, but I know I want to keep writing.

Anyone have any suggestions, or questions to get me started?

...

On another note, I'm probably going to be moving this journal to Blog*Spot since it is through Blogger anyway. When I do, all the current URL will start forwarding over there instead of pointing to my own hosting. And any links should forward to the right pages as well.

If anyone is interested, I'll explain why I'm doing this.

If no one is interested... Well, maybe I'll explain it anyway. It'll give me something to write about.

Peace.

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone is having a good time tonight. I was late getting home tonight and missed the Trick-Or-Treaters.

However, one stop on the way home was to pick up some Arizona Green Tea along with a couple other small things. When it was rung up the total was $6.66.

It seemed appropriate for the night...

One More For The Road

A couple of "road" related notes here...

First, I'm down to the last payment on my truck. This is a good thing. I'll finally own it outright. I can't wait until I have the title in my hand and don't have to keep sending anyone money on a monthly basis. {At least not for that.}

It's also a good thing because I had purchased an extended warranty that was supposed to last as long as my payments. It ran out over 25,000 miles ago. Yes, I meant miles, not kilometers, since it was bought in the U.S. of A.

...

Second, I'm not here right now. I wish I was here, but I'm really over there somewhere.

Last Wednesday (Sept. 20) I flew the San Diego, California on the company dime for training. I was there until this afternoon. {Remind me to tell you about my last couple of hours in San Diego.} {Actually, I'll tell you about the whole trip over the next week of so.}

Right now I'm sitting in the airport in Phoenix, Arizona waiting for my connecting flight back to Boston. It is scheduled to touch down at Logan around 5:00AM. {AM!! That's before the sun gets up.} Then I'll get a couple hours sleep before getting in my truck and driving the 300 miles to see TWIL and spend a couple of days with her.

I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to it. I've been missing her soooo much...

In fact, I'm going to sign off for now and give her a call.

Peace.

Twilight Visits

For years now I have been attending Rites of Spring and have been wanting to get to Twilight Covening but have not managed to make it there yet.

Every year something comes up. I can't get the time off work... I can't afford the registration... Friends schedule their wedding for that weekend... etc. However, this year was looking good, like I would be able to make it.

That was until this past week.

My mother called and told me she and her sister, my aunt, are going to be coming to visit. Do you want to guess which weekend they will be here?

Don't get me wrong. I love my mother and will be happy to see her, it just strikes me as funny that they picked that weekend. Oh well, there is always next year for Twilight.

It will be good to see my mother. We talk a couple of times a month, but I haven't actually seen her since I got back up to visit for Christmas 2004. Almost 2 years ago.

I was looking forward to spending the weekend at Twilight, but now I'm looking forward even more to spending it with my mother and aunt.

This is what I was missing?

A few months ago I mentioned that it had been years {Decades?} since I had really remembered my dreams. Oh, there had been the very occasional nightmare that left an impression, but that was about it.

Well, I have started to remember dreams lately. Or at the very least, remember that I had been dreaming.

Over the past month {Six weeks?} there have been two dreams that stood out in my mind, for no other reason than they were so vivid even after I woke up.

In the first I dreamed that I woke up one morning and was going through a fairly typical day when I caught sight of my reflection in a window or some other shiny surface. That was when I noticed that I had about four days growth of stubble, except where my moustache should have been. That area was perfectly clean shaven. Which would explain the odd looks I had been getting throughout the day.

That dream had been so vivid, and made such an impression, that I found myself checking a few times throughtout the day to make sure my moustache was still there.

The second dream also had to do with shaving, only this time it was about me shaving myself. I was shaving and realized that the razor I was using would have to be replaced shortly. Then as I was taking a stroke under my chin, the razor caught and gave me a deep cut right at the bottom of my chin. As I tried to remove the razor, it was stuck in the cut, it started tearing at my chin leaving it a bloody, mangled mess.

I have some thoughts on what the second dream might mean, but not much on the first.

All of this has left me with mixed feelings. I am happy that I am dreaming, and remembering those dreams, again. However, the particular dreams were mildly disturbing and left me with a bemused and confused feeling.

...

I hope everyone has a good Labour Day long weekend.

And when I get around to updating the lists {JavaScript generated} in my sidebar I will need to ad a link to The Ricardiblog.

Yes, that's right, Ricardipus has finally started his own blog.

A Sore For Sight Eyes

Something very disturbing happened to me the other day.

On July 29th {30th?}, I was in the mall {which was disturbing enough as it was} and I saw a display of...

A display of Christmas Ornaments!

All I could think was "It's not even August yet!! The Back-to-School displays aren't even complete!"

Anyone else running into Christmas already?

Roughing It?

So much has happened. Some bad, but a lot of good as well. I don't even know where to start. I guess I'll start by telling you about Rites and see where I end up from there...

Rites of Spring

Rites of Spring is gathering of 400 to 500 people. Just us and our closest friends, as they say.

TWIL and I have both been going to Rites for years, and had seen each other around the gathering for several years. Last year we spent a lot of time together, talking and getting to know one another. That is when our relationship began.

This year we went as a couple. Well, we got there on different days, I was there on Monday and she arrived on Wednesday, but we were together for 6 days (5 nights) and shared a tent. There are cabins available but they typically have anywhere from 12 to 20 people in one room, in small-ish bunk beds no less. So it was a tent for us. The way we had it setup, it was much more comfortable, and much more private, than a cabin.

This was the first time TWIL had spent an extended stay in a tent.

We had a good sized tent. The interior floor space was 11 by 11 feet, and there was room for me to stand up straight anywhere in the tent. We were also setup with a queen sized futon mattress, real bedding, stacking drawers making dressers, a hanging clothes rack, a portable power supply, even a full-length mirror. We were both very comfortable. The lodge with the restrooms and showers, was a walk of about 150 to 200 yards.

Our time at Rites was wonderful, especially the time we got to spend together. {This is my opinion, but I'm sure she would agree.}

We spent a lot of time talking, some of it about long-term plans. Of course it is too early to put any of it in here... Yet.

We celebrated a couple of anniversaries while we were there. The night we started talking. Our first kiss. And not long after we got back, Our first date.

Leaving Rites was difficult. Knowing that after spending those 6 days together I would not get to see or hold her for 2 weeks. But her car was packed and she had to leave, The Sprout was waiting, while my truck was still blocked in by several other vehicles.

This time I was the one standing there watching her leave. I have done this before when she has to work the occasional Sunday and I am there. She leaves for work before I am packed and leaving to head back to Boston. However, this time was so much harder.

We still talk every day, either in person or on the phone. And we still don't get to spend as much time together as I would like.

... and now I have to go to bed before I fall over. So you'll have to wait until next time to hear about a dream I had, and other topics that are in the queue.

Walk in Beauty.
Peace.

I'm not ready...

Well, it's that time of year again. I leave in the morning for Rites of Spring and I am not ready.

Everything that can be packed at this point is packed, although not loaded into my truck yet. But the more I packed, the less ready I felt. I don't know how to explain it. I just don't feel ready.

I have been looking forward to Rites for quite a while now, as well as looking forward to spending time with TWIL. And I still am. I just suddenly feel that ...

... I don't know. Something feels off.

Maybe it has to do with all the rain we have been getting for the past 2-3 weeks, and the fact that TWIL and I will be staying in a tent. Possibly because of how big a deal some of her friends are making about the fact that she will be in a tent. But that doesn't seen like it. These feelings are somehow bigger than that.

...

Actually, let me clarify one thing. I will be getting to Rites tomorrow, along with a group of people who help to set the place up. TWIL will not be getting there until Wednesday, when the main group arrives. But we will have from then until we pack up, the following Monday, together. All told, by the weekend there should be almost 500 people gathered.

...

I can't type any more right now. There is a voice I need to hear, so I'm off to make a phone call. I don't know if I'll be back on before I leave, but in case I am not, I hope everyone has a good week. I will be in a tent with no Internet until the 29th. Don't expect anything out of me until, probably, the 30th.

For those of you on my Quote of the Day(?) list, I have left the list on autopilot so you should still get a quote every day while I'm gone.

Walk in Beauty.
Peace.

Parting is such sweet sorrow...

I am still spending, on average, every other weekend with TWIL. {Around 1000km (600 miles) round trip} This means that when I am leaving to head back on Sunday evening I know it will be about 12 days before I see her again. {We still talk every night, but I can't see or hold her over the phone.} You can imagine this doesn't make it easy to leave. Not that it would be "easy" if it was going to be 12 hours, it would just be easier.

Because it takes between 5 and 6 hours to drive the 500km back I usually leave around 5:00pm. Although I need to admit that lately this has been slipping to 6:00pm. And it gets harder to leave when this time sneaks up on me.

A couple of weeks ago TWIL and I were sitting on the porch, talking and enjoying each others company, and when I looked at my watch it was approaching 4:00pm. We kept talking and the next thing I knew it was after 5:00pm. No time to prepare myself, just get my stuff together, say goodbye, get in my truck, and get on the road.

Usually I'll take my time and gather things up in batches over the span of the afternoon. Doing it all at once and heading out the door was ... difficult.

When The Sprout is home leaving can be even more difficult. She has a tendency to slow me down so that it takes me longer to get on the road. This is because she doesn't want me to leave so I don't mind. After all, I don't want to leave either.

The Sprout has told me that she likes it when I come out for the weekend and we get to spend time together. I can't tell you how good this was to hear. I couldn't help but smile. {Just thinking about it is making me smile again.}

I am heading out there after work tonight. It will be the three of us all weekend and should be great.

I hope the weather holds. It is supposed to be mostly sunny all weekend.

Posting Photos, Again

Along with the code changes I made last week, my new template also shows thumbnails of my latest Flickr photos. This is a change from my old template which showed my Buzznet photos.

This changes was made because I stopped posting photos on Buzznet, and when I started posting them again I was posting them on Flickr. At the time I prefered Flickr over Buzznet.

I still do, and will be leaving Flickr in my template. However, I don't believe I'm going to abandon my Buzznet account. It is still good for when I want to comment on that site. I may even post an occasional photo over there, but Flickr will be the main photo site I use. {At least for now...}

So check out my photos and feel free to leave comments. {I think this is the place where a lot of people would ask for someone to buy them a Flickr Pro Account. But I'm not going to do that.}

Comments are welcome on any of these posts as well as on any of my photos.

Code changes

You probably notice a change to these pages. {At least I hope you notice a change.} I finally got a lot of the changes I wanted to make to the code behind this site completed and rolled out. I also made some small changes to the stylesheet which were needed by the new code. Larger changes to the stylesheet will be coming soon-ish which may change the look drastically. {At least to the colours.}

I like the narrower layout as it seems to make the posts easier to read.

Feel free to leave feedback in the comments.

What have I got to lose?

I have set a goal for myself. I need to lose weight (about 60 pounds) and I am going to lose it over the span of this year. This is a little over a pound a week averaged from January 1st to December 31st.

Calculating based on a constant rate throughout the year comes out to around 16-17 pounds at this point. Looking at the scale, I have actually lost about 10 pounds so far. A little behind, but not too bad. Especially since I about 5 of those pounds came in the last week and a half.

I know some people will say that I should be able to lose it quicker than that, but I want to make sure I can maintain the new level once the weight is off.

I'll keep you posted.

...

One reason for the problems I had losing weight at first was that I have changed medications. {At least it seemed to be related. Hard to say with certainty though.}

As mentioned in previous posts, I am diabetic. Type II. Earlier this year I changed from one of the oral medications I take to Byetta, an injected medication. This has been a very good change. However, I am still on another oral med and the dosage of it needs to be adjusted to work properly with the Byetta.

For the first few weeks of being on Byetta my blood sugar levels were all over the place as we made a lot of changes to the dose of the oral med. This did nasty things to my system, my mood, and me. Eventually, we set a dosage to use and stuck to it. It wasn't quite right, and we are still changing the dose, but we are doing it slowly this time. And I am giving each change about a week to adjust before making the next change.

One of the side-effects of Byetta is weight loss. However, this will be limited until all the meds are at the correct doses. Hopefully I will be reaching that dose soon.

Generally speaking though, I feel much better now than I have in a long time.

...

One other thing I am currently losing is a nasty looking mark on the back of my hand.

About a 10-12 days ago I had a bunch of red marks break out on the backs of my hands. Most were very small and minor, but one was about the right size and shape to be a cigarette burn. In fact, that's almost exactly what it looked like even though it wasn't a burn of any kind. It was a patch of eczema.

I am very happy it's finally clearing up.

It finally feels like Spring

What a great day it is out there, and here I am, sitting inside at a computer. Of course I don't have much of a choice since it is a work day. Although I did spend most of my lunch break outside. It is sunny and 23C out there. I wish it was going to last all weekend.

I know it has officially been Spring for over a week, but it has not felt like it. After Spring officially started it got colder.

I like this weather.

And I feel somewhat like I'm coming out of hibernation.

...

I have a lot to catch up on. It has been a long time since I posted here, and it has been almost as long since I read any other blogs.

I have a lot to read.

And a lot to say.

Too bad I'm at work and have limited time at the moment... And I'm going to be with TWIL for the weekend. No writing then either.

Soon.

Following up on the Stress post

I should have let you all know a while ago, but the stress I was referring to in my last entry has been lifted. That's not to say that all stress is gone, but that big one is gone.

As I have mentioned before, I am a Canadian living and working {Legally} in the United States. My work visa expired on Feb 3rd and I had to leave the country and attempt to get a new visa while re-entering the United States. This wasn't optional. It could not be done at any time or place except while I was physically entering the country.

This is always stressful because my life and future is in the hands of the US government. {You can fill in your own comments on the US government.} Of course this year the stress wasn't just mine. TWIL was also feeling stressed about it. But I have a new work visa and can continue to stay and work in the US. Which also means that I can continue get out and spend time with TWIL as often as I have been, which is not nearly as often as I'd like.

Annual Stressing

It's getting to be that time again.

I have been feeling nervous and stressed for the last week or two. The same thing that comes up this time every year. It all revolves around INS. Sorry, now it BCIS, a division of the Department of Homeland Security. And it will be resolved Friday, one way or the other.

There were times in the past when I didn't really care what either way, but that's not the case now.

Now I really want to stay.

...

I know I haven't really said much, but that should change by the weekend. I just don't feel much like talking right now.