Decisions can be a funny thing. They often depend on so many factors, and my decision not to get Adirondack chairs is a good example. I say that, but then I realize it was based solely on one factor: I can't easily get out of the Adirondack chair, so I've decided not to get them for the back porch area. There you have it, I've reached the age where an Adirondack chair is not the best choice - damn. Who knew it would ever come to this?
We moved to this house in November, and last year, last summer, and most of the summer before that, I lived in a house with a backyard, but not like this one. The one I had before was just that: a backyard. This house has 14 acres of land surrounding it, and it has something the other house doesn't have—peace! The house I lived in before, and chose not to get any outdoor chairs to sit in, had noisy neighbors and random crack heads walking around it. Believe me, we didn't hang out in the yard much - and we certainly didn't have any firepits to draw attention to the fact that we had a fire pit.
Leaving that part of our lives behind feels so good. It has literally been six months since I've even driven to that part of the world - it's a good 27 miles away, and I feel no need to make it a part of my life anymore. My best friend still lives there, but she comes out to visit me, so there you have it. I'm not going to head back if I don't have to, and that's a decision that didn't need too much time to make. It is, however, a decision based on a number of negative factors; factors I knew existed but was not at liberty to do much about.
When I say I thank God every day for my job, I really mean it. It has been so very wonderful to earn enough to get out from under the burdens, the circumstances, and the forces that we were surrounded by. Now, today, we're surrounded by quiet, peacefulness that just goes on and on. Our nearest neighbors are farther away than most, and they never (or rarely) leave their homes or hang outside, let alone make any noise. They don't. I can hang out in my backyard and whip up a nice little fire in the new firepit, while not sitting in Adirondack chairs, and really enjoy myself.
Laura has decided to raise chickens and vegetables, so she's having a great time doing it, while I'm just listening to cicadas, birds, the occasional car passing by, and the dogs barking at leaves that decide to blow across the front lawn. Dogs are dogs, you know, and we no longer have to keep shock collars on them, bring them into the house when they begin to bark, or try to stop them from barking. Nine times out of ten, when we lived at the other house, the neighbors were the ones causing the dogs to bark and calling the police to say our dogs were barking. Geez!
Now...well, they're dogs. We have four of them, and they are all perfectly content to stand outside, inside, wherever, and just bark their fool heads off. One of them is a Dachshund, so it is what it is. The others are just normal, average, basic dogs, and they will bark because dogs like doing the dog thing. Again, I thank God every single day - five or six times a day, and He smiles. He's smiling, we're smiling, the dogs are smiling, and if our old neighbors are also smiling, I would have no idea. Furthermore, I really don't care.
I'm taking off tomorrow, it's a Monday. I'm taking off so I can write a little bit in my book. I'll end up writing today, too, but I haven't been writing as much as I thought I would, so I took a break to get back into it. I'm off next Monday because it's a holiday, but maybe it can be a thing. Then, I'm taking off the 29th as well, for a fun and fabulous time of a floating holiday. I'm using it for cultural purposes because again, my company allows for such wonders. I am so grateful. I'll end up writing that day as well -- so, it looks like decisions are being made both left and right!
Enjoy your time wherever you are, and if you dream of getting out from under something - keep the dream. We knew, and we prayed, but it took a long time. It really did. I only earned enough to make it, and now I'm doing a bit better. I've learned to save, to buy better, to work better, to use more of what I already have, and to buy less of what I don't need. It's all worked its way up and down the ladder of decision-making, and I can honestly say, I'm both content and happy. I love my life.
Photo Credit: Pinterest.com
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