I’ve been having a hard time getting into a routine
since I went to midnights. My life and schedule is so hectic with
regular hours, overtime hours, trying to sleep, the kids, Kate, and
everything & everyone else it’s hard to get into
a daily consistent pattern.
I need to get back to gym and start eating better.
When the weather is nice it’s so much easier to go for strolls on the
rail trail or hike other places with and without the kids. There is no
reason why, on the days I go in at 11pm, that
I can’t go in earlier and work out in the gym at work then take a
shower and start my shift. Kate starts her Zumba class on Monday so I
start back at the gym Monday myself. I work 3pm – 11pm that day so after
I get out of work I’m going to hit the gym for
at least 30 minutes of treadmill and elliptical. I have a weight loss
goal in mind and I’m excited to hit it!
I’m very much looking forward to being able to go
on hikes again. I decided that we need to get good waterproof hiking
shoes/boots. Last one time in particular our feet got soaked terribly
and there were several times when we encountered
some muddy terrain.
We’ve decided to get a State Park Pass this year.
It’s good for your vehicle with up to 17 people inside. It will be nice
to have it on my days off with the kids where we can go to the beach,
forts, and other State Parks for fun and inexpensive
day trips. Damariscotta Lake State Park is only 18 miles away and just
a few trips to any of them the pass will pay for itself. We also are
going to go camping a few times this year when the weather is better.
One place I am determined to finally go to the
Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad in Phillips. I have been on
the other three narrow gauge tracks and have tried the last few years to
go here, but they are open with such infrequency
that it was hard to make it there. Not this year though!
Read about a trio in Entertainment Weekly called The Lone Bellow. I think they are pretty darn good!
Kate
is that special lady I met on OK Cupid, but first I visual met her
while she was working at Debs and she became the topic of discussion of
sorts with co-workers
of how can I meet someone like the cute girl at Debs. What would I
say, how would I approach her I mean, she’s at work, in an ice cream
shack clearly not there to meet someone. The only solution, become a
repeat customer and take it slow. Down side, she
didn’t have regular hours and I never saw her there again until after
we were dating.
Obviously
it was meant to work out between us as we did eventually connect
spending a wonderful summer together; falling in love along the way, and
our relationship continues to progress splendidly. We have many
similar tastes and interests and I look forward to many adventures with
her by my side in the future!
So
where did we go, well just check out some of the past blog entries and
you will see stories and photos of our many hikes in Central Maine and
along
the Mid Coast! We sort of made the Vaughan Woods in Hallowell our go
to place to hike along the with Viles Arboretum in Augusta.
I
had a lot of fun this year and managed to attend a record 21 wrestling
related events traveling as far as New Jersey for a once in a lifetime
opportunity
to meet the greatest Japanese wrestler of all time Keiji Mutoh better
known as The Great Muta!!!!!
The
majority of the shows were local wrestling shows here in Maine, however
in early June I has an amazing wrestling weekend with my best bud Jay
traveling
to New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island for 2 wrestling shows and a
wrestling convention. Other shows included 2 WWE shows, Canaan’s first
two WWE shows, and Chikara Pro coming to Maine for a 5 star event!
Mom,
Irving, Canaan, and I attended a Sea Dogs games, the Doggies won, where
Sgt. Slaughter was making an appearance. Mom and I went to July Sprint
Cup race in Louden, NH after my ex in laws gave me two tickets they won
at the Oxford Casino. On the way back we ate at Bonanza in Sanford,
Maine. It had been a long time since my last Bonanza dining experience,
it was spectacular!
When
Jay and I had our wicked weekend we made a stop in Coney Island had a
hot dog at Nathan’s Famous Franks Original Hot Dog Stand, took in the
Coney
Island Sideshow, and rode the world famous Coney Island Cyclone wooden
roller coaster celebrating its 85th Anniversary!
Roller
Coasters are not my thing, but I had to ride it not just for its
legendary status, but because I promised myself that I would start
trying and
experiencing new things. A lot of my trying new things centered around
foods like onions, peppers, meatloaf, and other things I would never
eat before. Some I found that I like a lot, others not so much still.
Another
thing I decided to give a go was acupuncture. I had always been
fascinated with it and was just curious how it felt. So I checked my
insurance
and located a place in Portland that accepted it and billed my
insurance direct.
Acupuncture
is really something that has to be experienced to fully appreciate it
and its benefits. In all I had 7 or 8 sessions where I would lay
on my back and she would place 10 - 12 needles total on me. One in
each foot, the side of each leg between the knee and ankle, the elbow
area of each arm, the back of each hand, and the remaining 2 – 4 were in
my head and face region.
A
couple times after I would flip over onto my stomach and she would do
cupping. Again that’s an experience. After using heat to fasten the
small
class cups (think mini fish bowls) she might slide them around into
position and the really work the back muscles in loosening them up. On
my lower back it hurt so badly!! Just excruciating! Some of them left
some very large bruises on me too.
I would do it again; I found it to be very unique and interesting experience that everyone should give a try once!
One
of the things that I enjoyed the most this past summer was after a trip
to Moxie Falls with Mom, Irving, Canaan, Addison, and myself we stopped
off and did a photo shoot of Canaan in Canaan! We had such a great
time doing it. This Spring I want to do Addison in Addison.
I
saw 2 concerts this year, Dierks Bentley in May at the Augusta Civic
Center with High School chum Amy Mathieu and a big show at the Bangor
Waterfront
in August with my best lady Kate, a former co-worker of hers and two of
his friends.
Dierks
show has two opening acts and I even was drawn for a meet and greet
with Dierks backstage. However, it was to take place during the opening
acts and quite honestly I would rather watch the show. The show in
Bangor was the Last Summer on Earth Tour featuring The Barenaked Ladies,
Blues Traveler, Cracker, & Todd the Big Head Monster. Both shows
were a lot of fun and simply fantastic! We had
general admission on the lawn at BNL and I would see any show that was
there in the future.
Kate and I both enjoy live music and yesterday we bought 5th row at the Merrill Auditorium for Jewel March 10th! We are very
excited as I love Jewel and both of your favorite song is Foolish Games.
John
and I had front row for Aziz Ansari at the State Theatre, it was an
absolutely hilarious show! Well worth the $35 each they were. Prior to
that
we took in Japanese Hibachi cooking at the Fuji Steakhouse including
eating with chop sticks. John and I got the Fuji New York Sirloin; it
was melt in your mouth good!
Thanks
to Paul and Amanda I was introduced to a couple Portland places I had
never been to before, Duckfat with their delicious poutin and Coast City
Comics and their stupendous rotating supply of the finest pinball
machines! John and I went there as well during my birthday tromp
through Portland.
I
introduced Paul to the Liberal Cup after we took in Big Time Wrestling
at the Augusta Civic Center while the both of us and John sampled Run of
the
Mill in Saco for the first time together prior to Avengers at the
IMAX. A movie we almost missed due to Paul’s shenanigans!! Other
flicks taken in this year include, Cabin in the Woods, The Expendables
2, Hunger Games, The Dark Knight, Rock of Ages, Dark
Shadows, Skyfall and more.
In
sad news the Hostess Company closed their doors and went out of
business. That means that Maine’s own JJ Nissen is done for and more
importantly
Drake’s makers of the greatest snack cake of all time Funny Bones is no
more. I enjoyed what will probably be my last Funny Bone ever on New
Year’s Eve, quite depressing.
2012
started out rough but ended brilliantly for me! I’m excited to see
what 2013 brings, here are a few things that I would like to do or see;
Get a poker chip from The Oxford Casino and Hollywood Slots Bangor
What a year this turned out to be for me, it started and ended in ways I could have never predicted.
January
began with me separating from my wife that eventually lead to our
divorce that we filed on Valentine’s
Day, way to mess the meaning of that day up! I’m not going to get into
the details, because the people that I want to know about what
transpired know and that’s that.
I
will say that I couldn’t have gotten through it all without the support
of my best friend John. He was there
for me from major counseling sessions to just letting me sit at his
place watching television laughing. I will never be able to thank him
enough!
Through
it all I will say I feel the kids handled the divorce, me moving out,
and the introduction of new people
in their lives quite well. I did have the, are you and mommy going to
get married again, from time to time at first, but all in all,
remarkably well.
The
other major change that I went through this year was leaving the City
of Augusta after 10.5 years of service.
It was a decision that was both easy and difficult to make. I had a
plan though when I left to go to State Police as they were hiring, and I
knew the hiring process would take long enough for me to get my payout
from Maine State Retirement to pay off my debt
so I could afford to live. What I didn’t realize was the hiring
process would be so excessively long! I applied in early June, it
closed June 29th and my test and interview were the first week in August and eventually after my polygraph my start
date was October 3rd!
I’m
at DPS in Augusta were we dispatch for Gardiner Police, Fire, &
Rescue, Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office,
Windsor, Litchfield, Chelsea, & Vassalboro Fire Departments, and
The Maine State Police Troops C & D call sharing & covering 7
counties. We are also the answering point and dispatch Warden Services,
Marine Patrol, Fire Marshal’s Office, Forestry and more.
Whew!
I
love it, it’s fun going to work again and I enjoy the people I work
with, for the most part! I’m back on midnights,
which I expect, and there’s plenty of overtime, which I expected. My
tour on nights will be less than a year, which is nothing to complain
about. Besides my good pal Rood get a job here as well and my best lady
is very understanding of my schedule knowing
that it’s not forever, it’s just for right now!
So
I dated this year for the first time since I was 17, and I don’t have a
whole lot of positive stuff to say
about that. It was interesting because it was something new that I
hadn’t experienced in a long time, but I learned fast that taking people
to dinner on a first date was an expensive way to find out that I’m not
interested in going one date number 2. So
I started suggesting walks on the Rail trail as a good way to meet and
get to know each other. Then if things went well date number two would
materialize. There was only 3 people that I went on a second date with
so I think it worked.
I
tried the on-line dating with OK Cupid and Plenty of Fish because I
wasn’t sure where to go and meet someone
otherwise. None of my single friends were any help which is probably
why they are still single. I met a few interesting people, and a few
that were completely different in person and a few that I didn’t care to
meet at all. I did meet one special person,
most of you know who that is, but I’m going to save that for part 2 of
the year in review!
