Serenity

Most folks have heard the Serenity prayer, "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference".
Personally, it's one of my favorites! Something that I continually focus on. However, I don't really think I've ever really achieved it. How would you know? Would one find themselves in nirvana or something?
As a card carrying member of AA, It's a matter we discuss extensively. It seems to be a consensus though that there are no hard and fast rules, serenity is for each individual what they perceive it to be. That's too bad.. for me I need concrete... I like it spelled out.
I don't know if I will ever find "serenity". Occasionally I have enjoyed serene moments. I feel like I've reached a kind of peace with the way the economy has changed my role in the family. I think I'm finally getting comfortable with month to month, week by week, insecurity. It is teaching me a faith and reliance on god that I have never had.
Myself.. I'm happy with that. For me that represents a huge improvement.
One day at a time. One moment of serenity at a time. I'll take it.....

Hopeful

I'm looking back at yesterdays post thinking that I forgot to mention that while I strive to be contented and I pray for contentment it doesn't always happen. So.. If I want to be contented...
Well I'm hopeful that I haven't confused you.
Talked to a good friend of mine tonight at the supermarket, he was telling me that another friend of ours that we used to work with is now a big time superintendent with a company that does bridges. He's going to work for him. Sounds like there may be a opportunity there for me as well.
It would mean relocating but an opportunity is worth it's weight in gold these days. I'm hoping between these things and the changes being made to the carpenters union, that I may find more than a few months of work this summer.
Gas prices are skyrocketing, cheese prices are insane! The country, Oregon especially, is doing it's damnedest to rally and get on top of this economy. It just seems insane the uphill battle we're faced with..
And yet, I remain Hopeful...

Contented

Another word that appears frequently in my prayers. What really is life about? A collection of material goods? a gathering of people to call friend? a daily search for that one great moment to tag "legacy". Immortality? I don't know!

My goal, personally, is to get thru each day with as much joy as can be mustered for that day.
Trying not want or desire anything more than what I have.

Is this contented?

Patience

For 3 years now, Patience has been a favorite prayer, a watchword, a mantra if you will. I've been so long without structure that I'm not sure I will be able to abide it when it does come. Patience! Should that word go hand in hand with waiting? Seems to me waiting implies impatience?

Post by Andriod

They're complicated, they're a pain! What have we gotten ourselves into? Gadgets!!
A couple of months ago Ms. Lea bought me a new Droid phone by HTC. It looks really cool. When you turn it on it says "Driod" in a cylon tone just like you see on the commercials. Very Very cool!
However....
Now, I'll admit I'm not on the Geek squad or anything, but I am fairly savvy when it comes to working the camera or a computer, hooking up the cable, or setting up the stereo. I've done a lot of that stuff, but this phone... wow! It took me a whole day to figure out how to make a call!
I wanted a smart phone, because the last job I ran, my superintendent wound up having to go back to his home town to start another job, so I had to communicate with him some how. Not all construction sites have phone and power capabilities and although this one did, I don't have a laptop to carry to work. having a phone that I could send him photos to his email and exchange emails, text and voice, was, to say the least, invaluable!!!
So, I felt that a smart phone was the way to go. It has a touch screen that I swear I live in fear of.. A person can go a long way in the wrong direction with those if you're not paying attention. I'm sure I've mentioned on several occasions that I'm missing a few of my digits, so holding the phone without touching the screen can be a challenge, god forbid you accidentally touch that screen, you could wind up watching Cindy Lauper on you tube that way... or maybe on a conference call with Timbucktoo.
At first I was very unimpressed with the camera in the phone, it seemed like all the photo's came out blurry when compared with the Nikon Coolpix. So in my frustration I decided to do a little fiddling, instead of the ole' point and shoot, Low and behold, it actually does a lot more than just taking your run of the mill baby photo.
Here's one of my experiments...

Fall Already?

Wow, April? Really? Where has the time gone? I actually got to go back to work for a few months, can't even begin to tell you how good that felt!
I built a whole lotta coops between then and now, cutting firewood, clearing the yard. We actually got to go camping last summer.
That was AWESOME!

We finally, set the stepson free...
I guess we have mixed feelings on that.
Anyway, here we are November, they're forecasting snow for this weekend and I'm so not ready for snow!!!
I got to reconnect with my daughter, Baili, this summer. Missed her a lot and am sooo thankful to have her part of our lives again.
Ms. Lea has been reconnecting with a lot of her family back east lately. It seems they are really really fine bunch of folks! They sure sound very caring!!
A friend of mine recently asked why I Facebooked, he didn't see the value in a social network, I tried to explain to him, how sometimes we lose friends and family due to a lack of proximity, time or sometimes simply not caring enough to maintain the relationship. Facebook has allowed me to reconnect with a lot of my family that I figured were lost to me, the same with my wife and her family. In this crazy time that we live in, I think there are huge advantages in gathering your loved ones to you, figuratively, for friendship and emotional support. I for one thank god everyday for the people who are in my life who help me keep my head screwed on, just by being there and giving me a simple baseline of normality to help me keep things in perspective! Otherwise I soon start to think it's all about me, LOL!!!
Nope,
fall is over,
it's time for winter,
thanks for being there, friends and family!!!

Three B's

Yup, that's busy, busy, busy. No rest,
they say, for the wicked.
I beg to differ, that is about the wicked part!
Whatya' think of the company logo? It really doesn't matter what you think, cause I've thought long and hard about what I'd do for a logo, the name we've had for a long time, and this is it.
How's it that I can come up with lot's of different ways to put together a hen house and I don't have the imagination to design a decent logo?
Well, this fits. Sooooo..