New Year...Same me...

     Happy New Year to one and all!  I wish you health, success in your endeavors, and your continued interest in reading the ramblings of the mad blogger from the deserts of Arizona...Christmas has come and gone and with it goes all the good cheer and smiling and goodwill toward men.  The a-holes are back driving like maniacs and people are rude and the gyms are jammed...(for about a month), but the good new is that I am alive and well and trying my best to keep my attitude positive and a smile on my face.  Christmas time was very busy for me, work-wise, filling in for vacations and switching back to the graveyard shift.  My work colleague goes in the hospital on Tuesday...(for heart bypass surgery) and if all goes well, he will be back sometime in March.  Then, sometime in April, I will undergo surgery for an umbilical hernia that is long overdo.  It isn't bothering me but I need to have it done and of course I want to get it out of the way before summertime when golf prices come down and I can play at my course for free.  I also want to be available for Phoenix Comicon and a planned trip to Virginia to see my eldest niece graduate from high school!

     Veronica is graduating from high school!  I am so proud of the young woman she has become and will continue to become as she prepares for the next step in her journey... College!  She was accepted to all her choices and now must narrow the field and audition for a chance to get into the program she wants to study.  I'm not giving out any more info than that because I don't want to jinx her chances.  As you know, she has a standing invitation to come to Phoenix Comicon every year and I hope that she can make it out here again, but I understand it may be a little crazy at the end of May in school with final exams and graduation plans.  Either way, I plan to be in Virginia in June for her graduation ceremony.  Good luck, Vee!
     Natalie (my goddaughter) is also moving along on her journey.  She is graduating from Middle School and applying to high school.  She is applying to the same school that her sister attended but is going to study in a different field.   I wish her the best of luck and look forward to seeing her out here in Phoenix in a few years...she has the same same standing invitation that her sister has to visit anytime (when its ok with Mom and Dad...I'm not  stupid man!) and I already have a few adventures planned that I will not divulge at this time.  I can't be more proud of my beautiful nieces
and I love them both!  You rock, ladies!

     There is also a tentative plan...(and the more I think about it the more I want it to happen) to travel back to Aruba in early December to visit the paradise I had the pleasure of visiting for 8 years when I owned a time share there.  My friends from New York will be there and I miss my "Happy Island" and Bob and Toni Ann.  I have been working my butt off for the last few years and the light at the end of the tunnel (bankruptcy repayments) is beginning to get closer and I have begun saving a little each paycheck to make this trip happen. The time share is gone but there are plenty of places to stay... It's hard to believe I want to be somewhere else when I live in paradise already, but there is nothing like the white sand beaches and gentle waves of Aruba.  The food and the relaxed atmosphere and spending time with my good friends is an opportunity I don't want to miss...(sounds like I made up my mind already, Hmmm?)  Ok, Bob and Toni Ann.  Let's get the Daddys and JK and Denise (if they can) on board and let's have a reunion tour in Aruba!  I can't wait to hear my first "Bon Bini" from the airport staff at Queen Beatrix Airport in Oranjestaad...

    Along with these plans are the usual...Eat healthy, work out more, blah, blah, blah!  Ha Ha! I just want to enjoy each and every day God is blessing me with.  I took a few days off this weekend as a friend is visiting for a golf marathon weekend.  Mike and I used to work together back in Jersey and it will be good to see him and kick his ass in golf! Take time to reflect at the amazing gifts this life has to offer.  Find time to unwind and just relax.  Schedule more time for yourself and stop thinking you have to do everything yourself (unless you're single... Get off your ass because you do have to do everything!).  Enjoy 2017.  It's going to be a great year!  God Bless!