Heaven to me

It's snowing outside.  It's been coming down steadily for 4 hours now.  There are at least a couple or three inches of the fluffy white stuff on the ground.

If I had written that a week ago it wouldn't have been odd.  The fact that I'm in Charlotte right now is what makes it unusual.  Winter Storm Leon hit here late afternoon, and thankfully I got from work to the hotel where I'm staying before things got too crazy.  They had a segment on the Weather Channel a little while ago showing how the highway system around Atlanta grinding to a halt inside of an hour around lunchtime.  I can't think of anyplace I'd rather NOT be than Atlanta right now....

Speaking of Atlanta - they cancelled 800 flights there today.  The hotel where I'm staying is right by the airport, and it hasn't been all that busy here since I arrived.  Well, I'm told that they're full tonight.  From the conversations I've heard in the lobby much of it is due to cancelled flights.  When Atlanta or Chicago closes down it reverberates around the country for a week.  I'm wondering how it will affect travelers trying to get to NYC for the Super Bowl.

I don't mind the snow.  It's cold that really gets to me.  It's only the high 20's here this evening.  People who live hear are insane about it.  Where I came from makes this look balmy.  And, the fact that we'll be in the mid-60's again by the middle of the weekend makes it easier.  Of course, if my cross-country drive were happening right now I'd be screaming bloody murder.  But it's not, so it's all good.

I'm going to do something for the pups tomorrow.  They've been wonderful as I've schlepped them around the country - driving 2,500 miles last week, and keeping them cooped up here in the hotel while I've been at work all day.  I've made arrangements for them to go to "Doggie Day Care".  They typically get kinda worried that I'm not going to come back and pick them up but the good news is that they sleep well when the get home.  I hope they have a good time.

Part of the problem with moving is the disruption it causes in life.  I can't find anything.  I know it's packed and if I really need it I could probably dig it out.  But in the scheme of things I'm living out of a suitcase.  That's ok for short periods of time, but for extended periods it puts me out of balance.  As a result, I'm doing what I can to make the necessary arrangements to get as settled as I can soon as possible.

The good news - I'm enjoying the job so far.  Good thing, since it's what brought me back.  It's a long-term contract (2 years) so I'm expecting it to be a stabilizing element in my world.  That, and one other thing.  The thing is - I'm not ready to talk about that other thing right now....

In less than a month I have another birthday.  They seem to be coming faster and faster.  It seems like only yesterday that I turned 50, and here's another birthday divisible by 5.  I don't feel much different.  I suppose I've got a few more wrinkles and a few more miles on these tires but I'm still loving life.

Andrea James put something on Facebook saying that she recently passed the 75,000,000 pageview mark for her website since the late 1990's.  I remember finding it.  It single-handedly changed my world.  It opened my eyes to options I never knew existed.  It demonstrated to me that a fulfilling unlived life was out there but it required some faith and some courage to grab.  And it sparked a flame of hope that eventually came to burn bright.  Something as simple as a website became the key to a second chance at life.  That's the life that I'm living today.

As crazy as it may seem to anyone else, it's heaven to me.