I haven't posted in a year! I've had plenty to say about the ups and downs of being self employed, the state of the world, the state of the fun, and random stuff that amuses me...but I've been distracted!
So business is up and down, down is bad, up is good, and I sometimes wonder how I can fit the family into a cardboard box, and if I might manage to build a fireplace once we move in! The up is much more fun, not to mention incredibly busy. Stone borders, outdoor kitchens, flagstone, stamped concrete, and decorative concrete restoration are pretty much what I live and breathe now.
In the meantime, I had a daughter get married-yes I feel old-and a son that turned 21 and announced a possible re-enlistment in the Marines. Did I mention I feel kinda old nowadays? Maybe I forgot to add that the youngest one turns 8 tomorrow, and I'll be turning 50 this year as well! No matter, I have too much to do and see to watch numbers.
So in early June, we all loaded up and flew to Cancun for what turned out to be an awesome wedding in a pretty incredible place. I tried not to think about numbers while we ate great food, swam, visited Chichen Itza, and then celebrated the big day. I think the most memorable moment for me was when my daughter and I started our walk down to the beach as I prepared to give her away. She looked at me, smiled, and said, 'Daddy, if you cry I will kill you!', it was funny, and it did help! She probably should have told everybody else that too because there were several that needed that dose of fear from what I could see. I just blamed it on blowing sand. Sand, yeah that was it.
Speaking of numbers, our Chichen Itza tour guide told us about the thousands of people that descended on the ruins from all around the world for the week of 12-21-12. Something between a funeral and the biggest party in the world ensued, and on 12-22-12, apparently a good number of people were left needing to figure out what to do after quitting their jobs and giving away everything. Those Mayans are such comedians, who knew? Oh, and no, you can't climb the pyramid, gringo. That's why there are ropes around it now.
To finish out June, the month that will henceforth be known as the biggest vacation of my life, my son and I drove his vehicle back to Camp Pendleton in California. This time we got some desert dust on our shoes from hiking the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park in Utah. It was epic, scary at times, and a very short week. We drove fast, we hiked fast, we spent a MINT on gas, and even managed to make it through some remote mountains in the wee hours of the morning, sucking gas fumes, without being stranded and eaten by cannibals. We had some serious conversations, some completely hilarious ones-none which can or will be disclosed-and a couple 'sho nuff' hair raising moments (at least for me).
I did manage a fairly miserable job of documenting everything on the GoPro camera I got last Christmas. It's a Hero 3+ that is N I C E! Incredible HD video. Amazingly, I can watch the hiking videos and go right back to sweating hands and a near vertigo attack, just as if I were there at that moment! Apparently I need to develop my video skills. A lot.
Well, it's turning into a book again after I said 'in brief'! I guess the last thing to add that, yes, I also worked a bit too during the last year!
