Turdy Seven

Today is my 37th birthday.  I am not bothered by age much, but I don't like to think of being in my late thirties and a single mom.  Mostly, I am happy about where I am in life though.

Lexi Turns Four

My baby is growing up.  Lexi's fourth birthday was yesterday.  While I can't believe she is already four, I also can't remember life without her.  Isn't it amazing how that works?  She is becoming quite a little artist.  She is getting lots of practice during her "craft time," which is also the time that Jordan naps and I try to get some work done.  I will have to post a few pictures of her masterpieces soon.  

It's Not You, It's Me *REALLY*

Prior to setting a goal to try online dating, I remembered how much I hated dating when I was single.  I figured that I should give it a try though because I don't have any friends here in California and I still want to believe that I can find someone special to share my life with. 

Well, I have gone on three dates and now vivid memories of exactly WHY I hate dating have been rushing in.  All three guys were nice, decent looking, able to converse well, and very into me.  The problem is that I just wasn't interested in being more than friends.  Maybe that means that I am not ready to date, but more realistically I have never fallen quickly for anyone.  Back to the problem - I had to tell them that I wasn't interested.  I HATE doing that. 

I consider myself a nice person.  It is horrible to have to tell another nice person that you aren't as interested in them as they are in you.  I always do my best to let them know right away in the nicest way possible.  Being too nice about it though, often just encourages them to try harder.  I need a great way to tell them that it just isn't going to happen without hurting them.

I have told them I just want to be friends, which was true.  I just need a guy friend.  That way I would have a friend, but not have to deal with all this.  Oh and I don't mean a friend with benefits.  I just want a guy to talk to and hang out with once in a while.  Is that too much to ask?  Probably...guys have a one track mind, right?

Remembering Haiti

Last week, most Americans probably couldn’t pick out Haiti on a map. Even fewer can actually say they have been there. I have.

Back in the summer of 2000, I worked for an engineering company that had a contract with Royal Caribbean. We were working on what they refer to as the “private island” they named “Labadee.” It is actually a strip of land on the northern coast of Haiti.

My company hired private planes to fly down almost every other week. Somehow, we were asked to assist them with a huge insurance evaluation. Someone from our firm needed to go down to take pictures and note everything on the “island.” Most people in the office did what they could to avoid going there. Since I love to travel ANYWHERE, always want another stamp in my passport, and would be crazy enough to do it… they asked me.  Of course, I was thrilled (and I would go again).

I flew down on a 10 passenger jet plane with a few of the guys overseeing construction from our firm and a couple of employees from Royal Caribbean. We landed in Cap-Haïtien, which is about 80 miles from Port-au-Prince (where the earthquake hit). It was a small airport that didn’t even have a paved runway.

 We stepped out of the plane and were ushered into a bullet proof passenger van by two armed guard that were hired to escort us around. To get out of the airport, we had to go through a security gate because the entire airport was surrounded by huge prison like barbed-wire fences. When we finally emerged, the van was swarmed by beggars. It was covered like flies. I was honestly scared that one would get run over. Of course, our driver was used to it and didn’t really care.

 I knew that Haiti is known for its extreme poverty and military upheavals, but you can never be prepared to witness it in person. I don’t have the words to clearly describe it, so I found some pictures on the internet (http://www.traveladventures.org). I didn’t take any of my own because we were in a van and because I felt like I would be another American gawking at them.

This week, all the news coverage has brought back memories of that trip and the sadness I felt just witnessing their daily lives. I can’t begin to imagine the added horror that the earthquake has brought upon them. I can only feel a sense of relief that two of my friends/former co-workers who moved back to Haiti (one in Port-au-Prince) are reported to be “fine.” As for the one in Port-au-Prince, I am guessing that means he and hopefully his wife and kids are alive.  I am hoping it means they still have a house and at least most of their friends and family are alive.

Flash Back

For my long time blog readers, you might remember the heading above. I had it a little over 3 years ago. It was resurected tonight when I realized that the comments problem I noticed a few days ago wasn't going to go away on its own. Apparently, HaloScan wants to charge now. While I am sad to lose all those comments, I am not too sad about switching back to blogger. There are a few advantages to blogger comments. Mainly, that they work more often. Since I had also dealt with problems uploading graphics, I realized that the easiest solution would be to just use blogger's templates & just upload a header. That works for me. At least for now. I know I need to do some cleaning up and add links, but this will have to do for now.

The thing that make this switch HORRIBLE was that I didn't save the old template. I thought I had a copy of it or at least the links to blogs I read. I don't though. Please leave a comment, so I can find your blog and add it to my sidebar.

Decade Recap

The other day, I read Crazy Bloggin Canuck's post that was about her Decade in Review. I liked the idea, so I am copying it. Here goes:

2000: Living in Miami, long term relationship with Arab boyfriend I met while living in the Middle East, went to Jamaica for friend’s wedding

2001: started the year off with lasik surgery, broke-up with Arab boyfriend, moved to a small apartment, went to Houston for mom's wedding to step-father, started working on a huge project in the Bahamas, moved to the Bahamas for work, met my (now) ex-husband there, spent the holidays at Paradise Island and experienced Junkanoo

2002: moved back to Miami, visited a good friend in NYC and had job interviews there, started dating ex-husband, got a new job with the company I am still working for, got engaged during the holidays

2003: got married in Miami, honeymoon in Jamaica, week long executive training at Dartmouth, spent the holidays in Texas attending my brother’s wedding

2004: worked, traveled for work, experienced lots of hurricanes, and saved money for a house

2005: bought our first house, found out my mother-in-law had terminal lung cancer, 2 weeks later found out my dad had terminal brain cancer, a week later found out I was pregnant, experienced several hurricanes, went to Texas for Thanksgiving and last time to see dad, a week later he died, spent the holidays with in-laws

2006: Lexi was born at the beginning of the year, worked from home instead of taking maternity leave, a month later husband lost his job, scrambled to get him a job, went back to work and had my sister be our nanny, put our house on the market, mother-in-law died that summer, sold our house that Fall and moved to South Beach, spent the holidays in San Diego with my family

2007: was on TV on the Today show while watching a morning concert on South Beach the weekend of the Superbowl, found out I was pregnant that Spring, husband lost his job in the summer, sent him to Houston to find a job, quit my job and moved to Houston that summer, went to husband’s granny’s birthday party in Virginia, gave birth to Jordan (early) the beginning of December, flew father-in-law to Houston to spend Christmas with us.

2008: potty trained Lexi, got kidney stones, received a call from my old boss offering me to work part-time from home, bought a house, joined Facebook, went to my family reunion at the Grand Canyon in the Summer, survived hurricane Ike, and bought my own mommy vehicle at Christmas time.

2009: knew this was going to be a crazy year and that divorce was coming, felt insane so took a trip to San Diego to visit mom for 6 weeks, realized I should consider her offer to move here, went back to Houston to discover marriage situation was worse, filed for divorce, husband lost his job, scrambled to help him find a job, put the house up for rent, completed divorce, moved to San Diego, and spent the holidays with my family.

Perhaps, this little idea just made me tired. That, or it is getting late.

New Years Resolutions

I like making New Years Resolutions. Last year, I decided just to make a goal to survive the year because I knew that the divorce needed to happen. Guess what - I made it through! Yeah amazing. :) This year, I'll go back to the traditional resolutions. Here they are:

1. Eat Healthier: less sugar, white flour, and sodas
2. Tone Up: my mom got us a membership to the YMCA. I can drop the kids off in the daycare & work out.
3. Try Online Dating: I have been thinking that it would be nice to go on a date or two, but I really don't go anywhere to meet guys. I am going to try some of the free online sites and see what happens.

If anyone has advice, especially about the third one, please share. I don't know very much about it.