dynok9k

Well, I finally beat my phobia, I have had a fear of being seen barefoot my whole life. I was never without my shoes and socks, even when sleeping.The only time I have ever been barefoot is when I was at my friends beach condo, and then only because I didn't want to seem weird, I was uncomfortable doing it though. Just the thought of being seen barefoot terrified and embarrassed me. It was the reason I never learned how to swim.

A couple of weeks ago I was lazy with the laundry and I ran out of clean socks, I thought I would use a pair I had already worn, but the smell put an end to that. So, I decided to not wear any that night. The next morning I woke up and my feet felt really good, so good in fact that I sleep barefoot now. This got me to thinking that maybe it was time try and get rid of my phobia. I thought about it for a while and finally came to the conclusion that, feet are just feet, almost everyone has them, and nobody is going to care or notice if I'm barefoot or not, I shouldn't be afraid.

Next, I decided to go and buy a pair of good flip-flops from my regular shoe store. I went in and told the fitting specialist what I was looking for, she made a recommendation and went in the back to get my size, it is a size smaller than my regular shoe size. I sat down on the bench and when she came back, I asked her if I could try them on, I took off my shoes and socks in front of her with no thought or hesitation, my first success and it felt good. I bought the flops and the next day I wore them to a big store and there was no feeling of fear or embarrassment, this was a really big test for me and I passed it. I plan on going tomorrow and getting a better pair of sandals to wear, the cheap ones I bought from WM last week tend to rub the top of my foot a little more than I like, though I do like my feet feeling cooler and my toes not being scrunched up. I'm looking forward to working with Margie again to find a decent pair of sandals.

Today was a really big step for me, I went to a Nail Salon and got a pedicure, it was a very pleasant experience for me and it felt really good. The reason for getting one was mainly because I can no longer contort enough to cut my own nails anymore, I made a mess of them the last time I tried to cut them. I liked Kim the girl who did my feet, she was very good at her job. My feet have never looked this good or felt this soft, I am definitely going back every 3-4 weeks.

I feel so much better after defeating my silly ridiculous phobia. My feet feel better and I feel so much more free now. I may even take swimming lessons next year. I'm happy!

Well, I've got everything planted and the cages are nearly complete, they are functional enough to keep the critters out, at least for the moment anyway. Now all I have to do is water and maintain the plants and I should be okay.

Well, I bought the tomato and cucumber plants today, along with top soil, potting soil, fertilizer and pots, I still need some bone/blood meal and lime, also some black-cow for the cukes. Hope I can pull this off without my father around, it won't be easy, but I'll try.

Well, here is a general update on what's been going on in my life so far this year.

I've been busy with injured cats recently, that has been time consuming and expensive. Luckily the vet has been working with me to keep the costs down. And, since I can't get the local organizations to help me, probably because of this being in the hood, I am going to start trapping and getting the cats in the colony I take care of spayed and neutered on my own. Not going to be cheap or easy, but I need to do it.

The natives around here have been restless, there may have even been a killing across the street, the cops were hush-hush about it though, and nothing about it in the news anywhere, but at least one good thing did come out of the situation, the ones that were staying there moved out, that makes things a little quieter. Unfortunately, there are still plenty of thugs in the rest of the hood, that have boom cars blaring their loud and rattly jungle beat noise at all times of the day and night, and it sounds like their damned POS cars are going to fly apart. In fact right now,as I type this, I can hear one booming from 5-6 houses away. I hate this place.

We got our tomato, bell pepper, and cucumber plants planted, now we just have to maintain them and wait.

Also, I have a new hobby, I am now fooling with cast iron cookware. I plan on keeping things affordable, so I am starting with just a couple of skillets and a grill pan, all made by Lodge. I also plan on adding a deep frying pan and a dutch oven later on, after I get used to cooking with what I already have. What I get after that will depend on how well my cooking skills progress.

My DVD hobby is in the process of being shut down, I'll buy a few more to complete some collections, and other than the occasional movie, that will be it.

My comic collecting is also going to start slowing down, my interest in the hobby is waning, I've been at it since 1986, and there is so much out there now that I just can't keep up with it anymore. It is nearly time to let it go.

House cleaning will be started again real soon, I am looking forward to getting rid of some more junk from around here.

I'm right at 200lbs. and I really need to lose about 15-20lbs., so I've started trying to cut back on snacks and eat a little healthier overall. I am finding a lot of good stuff to replace the chips and onion rings, in the produce area of the grocery store. It's always been there, but I've never been interested until now. I have also found a simple recipe for homemade soup, it was on the back of a bag of frozen vegetables that are especially packaged for making soup. The result is it tastes way better than the canned stuff, and as an added bonus, my father actually loves the stuff. He usually hates vegetable soup, but this is different, he will eat all of it and usually wants more later. I will admit that I substitute beef for chicken broth and add stew meat to it for him, but still he has never really liked eating any kind of soup before, so this stuff is amazing. The next time I am in the store, I need to look in the frozen vegetable section again to see what else I can find.

Well, that's enough for now.
Later!

Well, here it is almost the end of the year and I am ready for it to end. This year has been both expensive, rough, and sad for me. There were a few bright spots, but for the most part this year has sucked, especially the past 6 months. This has really caused me to reflect on my life as a whole, about where I've been, where I am right now, and where I might be going in life.

Last week, we took some gifts to a dear friend we haven't seen in a long time, she was happy to see us and we were happy to see her. After a few minutes of visiting, we said our goodbyes and went home. She is into chickens now and her story about her rooster acting like a dog was too funny, it made my day.

Christmas was quiet for the most part, we had chicken and potato salad for the dinner, my father doesn't like anything different, so I kept it simple for him. But, I on the other hand would love something better, I love cornbread dressing, but haven't had any for years, as most store bought stuff doesn't measure up, and being unable to trust my oven, it is older than I am, I can't make any from scratch, or even a good mix since they stopped making the Ballard mix years ago. Oh well, I'm still searching and maybe I'll get lucky and find some decent dressing for next year. At the moment though, I would love some pizza from either Fleur De lis or the Past Time Lounge, that would taste so good right now.

I now have another cat in my house. A couple of weeks ago, one of the younger cats that had been getting close to me, but would not let me pet it, started rubbing on me and wanting petting, as well as insisting on going in the house, it would not take no for an answer. Me being the softy that I am let her in. The other cats aren't happy about it, but they haven't really attacked her either, so that is a good thing, they'll get used to her eventually. Since she is inside now she has a name, my father named her, Joanna. I really didn't need another inside cat, but what could I do, she worked really hard to get in.

I found out the other day that one of my favorite people,that I've come to know and consider as a friend, is going to be leaving his job in a couple of months, that made me kind of sad, I understand why he is leaving, but still, I get used to seeing certain people over the years and when they are gone I really do miss them terribly.

A couple of my other,much older friends are not doing very well right now. I know they don't have much longer and it hurts knowing that. They have been so good to me and I can't imagine life without them in it anymore, just seeing them going down has been hard, they were always so happy and active, even going to movie is a chore for them now, and they used to love that.

My health is holding steady at the moment. I am rather exhausted from not getting a break from my daily routines though, and I don't know how much longer I will be able to hold out without taking a real vacation, and if I don't get one soon, I think I am going to crash hard in some way or another, and it won't be good if that happens.

As for life in general, I have been trying to keep things simple and enjoying what few moments of happiness and quiet that I can. It's not always easy to find those moments of peace around my place, but they are there if I slow down enough and look for them.

I know it is just a concept, but I am hoping the new year will be better, at least a little bit anyway.

Well, breaking things into 2 posts, the good and the bad, the last will be hidden.

Well, the new bank is doing fair, not great, but maybe it will get better soon enough.

Finally got to see Scoob on DVD, I actually liked it a lot. Hope they make another one, or even release this one in the theater sometime, I would like to see it on the big screen as it was originally meant to be seen.

Finally got my teeth cleaned yesterday, they had an opening and I took it before things close down again. All was good, but I will be getting an old filling replaced at the end of August.

Comic shop is slowly returning to normal, as is B&N. It makes me feel a little more normal again myself.

The I-pad is working out well, I am using the chromebook less and less lately, mainly for typing intensive things only.

The garden is just about through, but we did get a lot more stuff than we did last year, the set spray worked.

I've been away from social media a fair bit lately, not a good or bad thing, just a thing I needed to do, and I'm feeling better now.

I've been feeling a bit down the past few weeks, I just had to get past one very hard week, and now I am slowly starting to feel better. The shutdown was a hindrance and made things worse, as I had nowhere to go and get away from the house, which was something that I very badly needed to do.

I went and got a haircut today for the first time in over 4 months, and boy does it feel good to get the hair off of my neck and ears.

I'm thinking about getting a new gun. Will I actually buy anything? I don't know, but at least I am interested in one of my old hobbies again. Part of the fun of the hobby for me, is that while searching for the one that I want, I get to look at so many others that sometimes I find something I wasn't expecting to find, a special gun that I wouldn't have found if I hadn't been looking for my original choice, it always makes things sweeter when that happens.

The garden produced it's first tomato yesterday and it was so good, I hadn't had a real tomato like that in a long time. This year we still don't have many bees, and while the set spray we bought does seem to be helping, I won't know for sure how well it works until the end of the season.

So, at the moment life is okay. I'll take that.

I have been trying out a air-fryer and a vertical waffle maker, both seem to be extremely versatile and have worked well. This has expanded our limited menu a little bit and that is a good thing, as my father is so hard to feed. He eats mostly meat and very few vegetables, not a good situation at all as I prefer vegetables. If I don't eat the same thing that he does at lunch or dinner, he will pout and not eat anything. At least now, I am not scarfing down all of the unhealthy oil regular frying has.

Well, it's Christmas Eve and I'm about to start fixing dinner for tomorrow. Pork Roast and potato salad are the main dishes, everything else is a quick microwave deal.

I have enjoyed finishing my shopping early, it still feels weird not going to my grandmother's this year though. First year in 15 years, I haven't had to buy fruit for Christmas presents.

We went to lunch with a friend yesterday. She had on a nice red sweater, and was very happy to see us. She will be retiring soon and is ready for the freedom. Sad part is, her husband lost his job, so money will be a little tight for them until he gets another job.

I still have to deliver a couple of presents to some friends, but I can do that later this week.

My b-day went well, everything was quiet, and I got the air fryer, will have to try it out next week.

That's all for now.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Everyone!

I have been too busy lately, but I've got to do, what I've got to do.

Our summer garden didn't do well, I guess it was a combination of the weather, old fertilizer, and a lack of bees. We might try a fall garden, if we get the time, since we know what went wrong and can fix most of the problems fairly easily.

I've been cleaning out a shed/carport area the past week, it has been a lot of work, I've hauled some really nasty stuff out front and I'm not finished yet. I'm never going to let things get this bad again. After I finish the shed, I'm going to start back on the house again, I have decided to get rid of everything that is not needed, it's been way past time to declutter this place.

Another part of my youth is gone, the last retail shop in Cortana Mall closed on July 20th. I had a lot of great times there with friends. I'm going to miss going there and just walking around reminiscing about the past, but with the last store gone it is time for me to let go, I will still have my memories.