Not Quite Home

Here I am. My new home, Fort Lauderdale Florida. I sit here two blocks from the ocean. I have a job. Bob has a job. We've learned alot about this town, no doubt we will learn more. I can't escape the feeling that I'm not quite home. Will we make it here? Will we love it here? Will we thrive here? I don't know the answers. I will try with all the effort I can muster.
This is a beautiful place. Palm trees, geckos, hotels galore, a new part of this country to call home. But it's not yet. After work, I drive to my apartment and I am in awe. There's the ocean. There are tourists enjoying my city. But I don't know this city yet. I've been here 40 days. So I give myself a break. I can afford this. We will make it. I'm a Floridian.
I'm impatient. I just want this to feel like home now. That's not how it works. It takes time. For now, I work when I am scheduled. I do chores when I'm not scheduled. God willing, home comes soon. I'm sure it will.

Cruisin'

I haven't written anything in some time. First and foremost because I am the only one reading this. Second, I've been busy. On the off chance anyone other than me reads this, permit me to say what's up.

There is a UHaul in my driveway. It's a Penske, but just like I call Pepsi "Coke", I call the Penske a Uhaul. So anywho, the Uhaul is there. It's full of everything we own. Furniture and memories are locked safely inside. I'm still in Springfield, Illinois. I've lived here for 15 years give or take. In 4 days, I will be at my new home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

This is all happening so fast and at the same time, not nearly fast enough. We went to California knowing we would live there. California turned out not to be in the stars. Blame me. Blame anything but know what I do; California is not my home.

We went on a vacation. First was Disney in Orlando. For a hotel guy like me that was a primitive joy. Everything is perfect. Everything is magical. We loved it as we always will. Then came our first, and God willing not last, Bahamas cruise. More in a minute on that. Then we went to Fort Lauderdale. I knew it wasn't going to work out. I knew I would mess it up or something would cause my dream to fizzle out leaving just us in a midwest town we hate.

But the stars aligned. We found a place. We got a lease. And now, sitting here I can hear a clock ticking to my left. In my mind I know it ticks down the few hours remaining of our old life and the hours until our new life is born.

More on Fort Lauderdale in a future post to those of you who probably will never read these words. Right now, my mind is hovering on the Carnival Sensation.

I've never been on a cruise. I had never experienced the open ocean. On October 2, 2011 that all changed. We boarded the awesome Sensation.

So we left Disney and drove to Port Canaveral. That's when we first saw her.

That was what we saw. I parked 20 feet from this picture. What a huge beast. Now comes Customs. Oh, never dealt with border patrol before. Sure, laptop is not in that bag. No, no fruits or vegetables or drugs here. We're done? Then time to check in. Five minutes later, a happy woman who was a cheerleader 30 years ago entertained us while we waited to board. Ten minutes later, we are on the Lido deck. Lunch and beer and time to wait until the cabin (E244) is done.

We walked the ship from Deck 12 to Deck 7. There's the pool. There's the putt-putt. There's the stage. If you know me, you know my next move. I walked on center stage. Only Bob saw me acting like a kid again. Thanks God. That was the first of many times I would giggle. I don't giggle.

Here's the shops. Here's the casino that we won't ever use. And in the background, there is NASA. I remember when NASA meant we were explorers.

The cabin is ready. we walk quickly to see room E244.

I will tell you more but now it's time to wait. I have packing to do tomorrow. I have a new life I need sleep for. So stay tuned. More later.

Now I know what 2011 is the year of
March 8 2010, that's when this picture was taken.

I was getting ready to get on the Amtrak and see California for the first time with my fiance. We were on the train for 2,000 miles ending up in San Francisco, California for our vacation. Then we took the train home and got married.But something happened in California. We realized how boring our home of Springfield, IL is. That's when we first got the idea. Then somehow that I don't fully understand, we were given lots of money. Then the idea became a plan. Now it will be a reality. We're moving.On November 4, we will load a Ryder truck with our stuff, 2 cats, and then tow a car 2,000 miles. And sidenote, let me show you the mountains we drive through in winter...

We won't have jobs yet. We won't be used to the city yet. If this sounds scary and like lots of work, you got it. But, in 2012, we WILL have jobs, we WILL have new friends, and we will live in one of the most beautiful and peaceful cities in the world.In my last blog, I didn't know what 2011 would be the year of. Now I know. It's the year of change; of new beginnings; of fear; but I have an ally. We are a team. And, at the end of this trek comes 2012.

2011 - The Year of ???

So in a few days I'm getting my tax refund. Then it's time to pay for my first ever cruise!!! DeBenson91 is going to the Bahamas. I've never been on a ship or to the Bahamas. 2011 is going to change all that.
But that isn't the only change that is coming my way. This year there is a good chance we're moving. We're looking at going 2000 miles west. If we pull this off, it will be a huge undertaking. New state, new friends, new jobs. I'm excited and terrified at the same time.
2010 was pretty good to me. I got married to my soul mate. Now, as newlyweds, it's time to move onward and upward. I hope 2011 will be kind to us. I hope our plans will match the plans the year has in store for us. For now, all I know is 2011 is the year of ???

2010 My Year

So it's Christmas Eve, 2010. All the tv shows are about a review of what happened in 2010. I kinda like that idea. So this is my look back at my 2010.
The first months of the year were spent getting ready for March. My fiance at the time left on March 7 to go across country on the Amtrak to California and then back to get married on St. Patrick's Day. The Amtrak was amazing! It was so cool to eat a steak dinner in the dining car while going through the Rocky Mountains. We had never been to San Francisco and that was also intense. We hiked for hours on the slightly treacherous Palomarin trail, had seafood at the wharf, foolishly hiked Angel Island, and did 100 other things tourists are required to do.
Then came March 17, wedding day. It's funny to look at the video and see how nervous I was. My spouse and I have known each other for years but something about going through the steps was terrifying. And now we're married! That's great because I'm not going through that stress again :)
So I'm married and now comes the happily ever after. Not quite. Then came the toughest part of 2010. We had a beautiful cat named Jubilee that we loved and that loved us. She'd been with us since we had first dated. We made sure to give her the best life we could and she knew it. Old age caught up with her and we had to let her go. I miss you Jubilee. I love you girl.
Our house got quiet. After awhile, we decided our cat Marcia needed another cat around. Enter Rogue. Rogue is orange, has sharp claws and teeth, and doesn't like me that much. Hopefully in 2011 she will realize that I am cool and I feed her. Meanwhile, I'm content to be her scratching post.
2010 has also been the year of the facebook. I won't mention my obsession with farmville, other than to say if you need a neighbor, send me a message. This has also been another year of our youtube channel. We've tried to keep our 1500 subscribers entertained.
So what about 2011? God knows what's in store for us. We're planning to take our first Bahamas cruise. Who knows what will happen. There will be plenty of laughs and more than enough tears. For now, I'll say goodbye 2010 and thanks for the memories.

A Farmvillain

Ok my one reader, you are right, I haven't written anything in awhile. It's not my fault. I've become addicted to the dumbest game on the Internet. Of course, I'm talking about farmville. I'm not sure why I'm so hooked on it. I know to the minute when my crops will be ready. I know how many bricks I still need to upgrade my haunted house (three more). And if I get sick of my farm, well I have three others I work on too.

But there are some things about farmville that seem weird to me. Granted I'm not a real farmer, but do farmers have lighthouses on their farms? When you harvest real farms, do you find fuel under your crops? How about ice cream parlors or for that matter haunted houses? The only part of farmville that is realistic is that strawberries only take four hours to grow in real life too.

So now I'm going to try to get back into my original obsession; Youtube. I'm starting to work on a collaboration video with a Canadian friend. (Yes Josh I will start filming tomorrow). And now two of my youtube buds in Ireland want me to do a collab vid. Hey everybody, can't we just farm instead?

Anyway, that's all I have for now. Soon I'll make a post about my upcoming Bahamas cruise. But right now I have to go plant acorn squash.

The Year of the Flea and the Ancient Chinese Secret

So we have a new Kitten, her name is Rogue.

If you want to see a video of her check out our youtube channel. Yeah, I know she's cute. What the picture doesn't show is the gift she came with. Fleas. Lots and lots of fleas. So for you cat owners, you know that's no problem. Buy flea killing stuff. Done. But it only takes three months to work. So now might I suggest a flea comb? Well that would be a great idea. But Rogue loves to bite and claw and try her darndest to kill me. So combing her is, to say the least, entertaining. And then there is her big sister Marcia. Marcia hates two things, Rogue and fleas. So now medicine and a comb for Marcia. That it why I am calling the summer of 2010 the Year of the Flea. I know summer is only three months but the fleas are making it seem quite a bit longer.
But what about the Ancient Chinese Secret you ask? What a great question. I have had this blog for months now. I write about things I think are interesting, or annoying, or funny, whatever. I love reading comments. But, the only comments I get are in Chinese. Yes, I know, it's spam. I won't tell you what the comments say. I suggest you use google translator. When you do, you will think the comments are as funny as I do. Trust me on this. Until then, it's an ancient chinese secret. So if you are reading this and you DON'T speak chinese, feel free to comment.
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