fresh.

sunday sillies ... only a few days late ... explanation for my tardiness below ...

It was my birthday yesterday.

The only thing I wanted for my birthday this year was a shower.

It was a long 4.5 days without one.

The worst part about no electricity is the lack of ability to vent on my blog and talk to friends.

I've never realized how much I needed friends until being so isolated.

Today, I'm going to be a tag-a-long to go to the store a half hour away.  It's just something that feels like 'normal' to me in Vancouver.

A tag-a-long is always nice for errands, and the Jersey Girl invited me.

To me, that says, she'd like the company too.

Even though yesterday was my birthday, I was more than happy to be the one to cook, so that we'd have a nice meal to celebrate the few week's drought of income finally coming to an end.

Still, the most enjoyment we had was to pay the people we promised we'd pay on the 20th, when things kicked in.

Two days early is a nice surprise, plus it feels so much better than that looming 'you are letting people starve' hanging over our heads.

With utter JOY we paid people what we owed.

That felt like a nice gift for my day; paying people who were patiently waiting.

Then there was the birthday treat I was presented with first thing in the morning: a dead phone because it wouldn't charge anymore.

Mind you, it was a crappy phone from the dark ages, as we only got the cheapest phone we could get for when we first got here, but seriously?

4 months?

Kinda feels like the knives we bought here that broke just from trying to crush garlic.

Only the best gets shipped to the people of the Dominican Republic, yessirree!

However, we are pretty sure the reason that archaic phone died, was from when we had the power surge of the light show that happened when our inverter room just about blew up.

There is a nice smoke stain on the ceiling that VERY easily could have been a blown up propane tank that stands only a mere 5 feet away.

We could have been fricasseed gringos in an explosion you would have been able to see all the way back to Vancouver.

When we were not online for a few days, we wondered, will people be worried?

I think you only need to worry if it's been over a week.  10 days?  If you don't hear from me here for 10 days send in the reinforcement, otherwise, it's probably just our power being stripped again.

I can't be away from my blog that long.

I miss you all way too much.

Even when I don't get comments, just seeing the numbers on my tracker makes me feel like you're here.

Anyway, I do get to have a special time for my day, eventually.  My mother and my baby sister gave me enough of a birthday gift that I get a haircut.

A haircut!!!!!

I haven't had a haircut in almost a year.  I'm not exaggerating.

It looks like I have a fire hazard on my head.

The sheep in the hood definitely confuse me with their kin.

I suppose a few days off here and there aren't bad.

Time to clear my head for a new beginning.

A new start along with saying goodbye to Mr. Lumpy.  I've been telling him he has to vacate and leave me be.

I've been massaging him out of my life and he's shrinking.

It makes me feel like I can heal from anything.

So that I can start anew without fear.

So that Mr. Lumpy can start a new life some place else, maybe as a good growth, not a sinister one.

Fresh.

Like how I feel about having a shower after 4.5 days.

My bath in a bowl has ceased for the time being.

Happy birthday to me.

i do not settle for a meaningless, boring life