Friday, March 28, 2014

Wine, Zoloft, and Love, Quiet support

March 23 - April 3, 2014 (12 days)
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CONTENTS
RV LIFE
RV TIP
BROWSING THE WWW
CRAFTS
BOOK REVIEWS
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RV LIFE:
I'm still in a bit of a slump, but working through it. We spent a week in Cedar Key, FL. No that is not way down south in the "Florida Keys", but is on the Gulf coast of Florida, about an hour or two South of Tampa. I read in so many other blogs about how great this little community is. The "go to" RV park to stay at is Low Key Hideaway, but there are only three sites, so very difficult to get in. There is supposedly a great Tiki Bar where there is a happy hour gathering every day. I really wanted to stop by for a drink, but in my stupid, debilitating depression, I just couldn't bring myself to deal with "happy" hour. Maybe, if I had a designated driver, I could have gotten a nice buzz on to make me more sociable. But Scott had no interest in going.
We were only able to get reservations at Cedar Key RV Resort. This resort is 8 miles outside the center of Cedar Key, so we really didn't get the Margaritaville feel of the area. But Cedar Key RV Resort is a really nice park. I would consider this a Winter/Snowbird destination possibility. I'll catch up on Park reviews in another post.
We spent 9 wonderful days with my parents in Altoona, FL. They live in a continuing care or life care community. We were able to set up our RV with 30 amp and water hook ups. We either had to walk down to my parent's home to use their bathroom or use the outside bathroom "facilities". This was a first for me...using the outside bathroom. Yep, after dark I would go near the bushes and let it flow. I guess I can get used to a lot of things.
Spending time with my parents was really, really relaxing. My Father and I didn't even have any conversations that needed to be cut off because of differences of opinions! Mom and I had an afternoon together cry fest. That sure felt good. Thanks Mom.
The 9 days flew by. I never met up with our motorcycle friends, Pete & Judy, originally from NJ. I never met up with my Setter rescue friend, Bonnie F either. Yep, this depression is debilitating. My mind says "get over it", but it's taking time.
We then took 3 days (2 overnights) to get to Bear, DE. We're here for 12 days. I have some great alone time since Scott has been cleaning out his parents' home for sale. They've moved into assisted living and independent living in the same facility. I suppose I'll head over there next week to help out, but for now, I'm appreciating my alone time.
We have no idea where to head to next. I would like to find a nice Corp. of Engineer park a little more South.. Or maybe head to Four Paws Kingdom for a month. Hmmm, that sounds like a plan!
We got our hopes up slightly about the log cabin in TN. We were told the first offer fell through. The 2nd offer was supposed to be a cash deal, but turned out it wasn't. I thought that would void their contract, but nope, they closed this past Wednesday. That's fine. It wasn't meant to be. Now we can relax, slow down and spend the Summer in the Upper Peninsula. Fall will be here soon enough and we'll start our search for a house then.
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RV TIP:
Leveling boards
When we first began RV'ing, we considered those yellow, interlocking leveling blocks, but we felt they were too bulky for storage.
With scrap lumber we had from purging our household, we made 1' wide by 2' long and a variety of thickness boards. They were cheap (free) and worked fine, until they began to split when we were on soft earth.
While we were fixing our house up to get ready for sale, we covered our garage turned storage room with recycled rubber mat flooring. My thought it would make a nice base for gym equipment. I've seen similar material at Tractor Supply. It is used for horse stall flooring. The link shows a 4' x 6' mat for $40.+. I believe we found either 2' x 4' or 4' x 4' size outside in front of Tractor Supply for about $25.00.

Scott then cut them into multiple rectangles of 1' wide by however long was needed to span the length of the tires. They are flexible, stackable, easy to store, long lasting.
Here's a Tractor Supply link to a similar item sold in 1' lengths x 4' wide for $5.69 per foot.
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BROWSING THE WWW:
As if I didn't spend enough time on the computer...now there is a new site to suck me in and keep me sedentary. Thank you very much Carla, of Coze Be Gone, who mentioned this site in her blog.
RVillage is here! And oh what a great site it is already in it's Beta version, with the potential to be THE go to RV community site of all. It is the Ravelry or Facebook for RV'rs.

I've already joined about 10 groups on this site, one of the groups is for bloggers. So of course I have to check out each blog that is introduced. I cannot possibly keep up with them all.My favorite feature of this site is you can easily change your location. When you enter what RV park you are staying in, a circle pops up to show how many other people from RVillage are at that same park. You can then schedule a meet up! Wow, wow WOW!
Please check out RVillage and "friend me". I'm listed as "NJ No More"
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CRAFTS:









Yes, I have been knitting and cross stitching, but I'll post about some crafts from the past at my parents' home. My father keeps saying their home is filled with things I made.







This ugly gold & brown granny square afghan  was quite nice in the 1970's. It was my first granny square afghan and I didn't know how to connect the squares or secure the yarn ends. So over the years, it started to come apart. I finally told my Mom I'd make a an updated afghan to match her bedroom, and then she WILL throw out this ugly one. I did make the updated afghan. The pastel colors afghan above is the replacement. I trusted my Mom to throw out the ugly brown and gold one.









But Mom can be quite sentimental. While I was knitting on their couch, I happened to lose a knitting needle. So I was lifting up the cushions of the couch in search of my missing needle and low a behold, what do I see?
See that look of shame on my Mom's face?









Embroidery machine project
 Cross stitch when my Father retired.


Tunisian crochet afghan I gave my Mom when I purged my house to go FT.
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AUDIO BOOK REVIEW:
The Invention of WingsThe Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a book about the fight against oppression. Oppression of blacks, women, and religion. A historical novel, based on real history and real people and real specific characters (Grimke sisters).
Very well written from a young female slave and female white abolitionist's view.
I cannot wrap my mind around this way of thinking. Slavery, the Holocaust, religious superiority, anti-gay, white supremacists, animal cruelty,  domestic violence, child abuse, and on and on. What a sad world. I still believe the good outweigh the bad, but for how long?
From Wikipedia  White supremacy is the belief, or promotion of the belief, that white people are superior to people of other racial backgrounds and that therefore whites should politically, economically and socially dominate non-whites.
Who the hell are these people? Because of your color you're better than someone else?
I was brought up in a strict Baptist home. This belief "thinks a person has to believe in Jesus Christ at some conscious level to be saved (exclusivism)" Quoted from Patheos.Or as I was taught, we must ask Christ to forgive us our sins and accept him into our heart.
Really? This is the only way to heaven? (if there is a heaven). Again, I cannot wrap my mind around one exclusive religion. I'm not sure what to call myself, a Plurist, meaning there are multiple viable religions? No, I don't think so. I believe I am agnostic, meaning "a person who holds that the existence of the ultimate cause, as God, and the essential nature of things are unknown and unknowable, or that human knowledge is limited to experience."

BOOK REVIEW: (Kindle)
Scorched Treachery (Imdalind #3)Scorched Treachery by Rebecca Ethington
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This series continues to keep me obsessed. This 3rd in the series is written from Wyn & Illyan's view, so it somewhat overlaps what happened in Book 2, but from a different viewpoint.
I am still in awe of the imagination of these fantasy/paranormal writers.


Saturday, March 22, 2014

My sob story

March 21, 2014 (overnight)
New Green Acres RV ParkWalterboro, SC 29488 
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CONTENTS
DEBBIE'S LIFE
BOOK REVIEWS

DEBBIE'S LIFE:
Warning: You may want to skip the "RV LIFE" section. It's just a woe is me, sob fest and not very interesting really. 
It is certainly nice to be out of the bitter cold weather, although our week near Bristol, FL was not warm. I was able to take a hike one day (and get lost), and another day we had a toasty campfire to take away the chill. Quite a few rainy, dreary days which I don't seem to mind as long as I'm surrounded by woods.
We really dreaded moving from Torreya State Park. It was so nice and quiet. We are disliking moving more and more. I hope to find a nice place to stay for a month in late Spring up North somewhere in Michigan, Wisconsin, or Minnesota.
We are now on our way North to Delaware. We just left from visiting my parents in Florida for 9 days. We don't know what awaits us there. Scott's family is trying to clear out the parents' home to sell it, now that his parents will be in an assisted living facility. We have no idea if there is still work to be done, or if his siblings have taken care of it all by now. But, we'll be up there to help if needed. Unfortunately, there are no nice RV parks up there. NJ State Parks don't allow dogs. How ridiculous. Any RV parks up near where we lived in Monmouth County are at least $50./night for sandy sights, with iffy electric. The County park is nice, but is tight to get into, and a 2 week limit. So our plans are definitely up in the air.

I have had a very difficult week and thought about not posting anymore. A lot of crying and it seems I just can't get through this depression because things keep bringing me down. My husband has been wonderful through all this.
I've got some negativity thrown at me for things I said about Dina's adopters in a past post. (Check out the comments in that post.) I didn't think I said anything bad. Just because the adopter's don't have the same rules as we do for our dogs, does not mean they are bad, just different. Yep, I cried a lot over this. I thought I did a good deed by saving Dina, but then I get blasted. I guess I shouldn't have a blog if I can't take the criticism.
A couple of weeks ago there has been so much negativity among the volunteers of the dog rescue. I just wanted to crawl into a cave and be left alone. Such nastiness, power struggles, misunderstandings, difference of opinions. It's to the point, I don't know what to do. So my temporary solution is to walk away. I said my piece, got blasted. Again, I cried a lot. I am now no longer reading any dog rescue emails unless they are specifically addressed to me personally. It became so stressful for me, I have lived on sleeping pills for two days and slept the day and night and day and night away. I think I may have slept too much because I started having dreams about being attacked, about my laptop being stolen, etc.

I really want to help. I have a difficult time just doing things for me all day all the time. I feel I need to be of use to someone else. But it seems when I volunteer, I get TOO INVOLVED. I get into the inner circle and hear all the crap. I want to just tip toe through the tulips and give myself a pat on the back for helping out. I think, I HOPE, I have FINALLY learned my lesson. It's good to volunteer. There are so many organizations that need free help. I will continue to volunteer, but I want nothing to do with being on a committee or hold a position. Just let me stay in the background and do my small part. My computer and I make a better friendship than people and myself.
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AUDIO BOOK REVIEW:
The Handmaids TaleThe Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Narrator did an excellent job. But other than that? I just didn't get it. There was no ending, nor purpose. Just a sort of diary of the handmaid and what a depressing, restricted, hopeless life she has. No closure. I was 1/2 through the audio book when it switched to "part 2". I considered quitting, but the rave reviews pushed me onward. Nope, don't get it. A total waste of time.
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BOOK REVIEW: (Kindle)
Kiss Of Fire (Imdalind Series #1)Kiss Of Fire by Rebecca Ethington
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As of this writing 3/8/14, this kindle version on FREE on Amazon. Hurry!
I supposed I have to admit, I am a softy for Young Adult Fantasy books. It started with Twilight, BEFORE Twilight was known about. Now I can't get enough of authors' imagination into an altered world. As I'm reading and getting so involved with the characters, my adult self is saying this is silly. This is some girl's little fantasy that she wrote in bed alone at night. I shouldn't like this. After all, I am a mature woman. Can't fight it. This is well written. I love and hate the characters. I was drawn back to reading and reading to escape into this alter world.
There is family ties and family break ups. There are childhood crushes and true love. There is good and evil.
Be forewarned, if you are enjoying this book by the time you are a 3rd through it, definitely get the next book Eyes of Ember. You will not want a break to a different genre. You will want to continue the story. Too much excitement at the end with definitely an open ending which needs to be followed up in the 2nd book of the series.

Eyes of Ember (Imdalind #2)Eyes of Ember by Rebecca Ethington
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The 2nd book in the series continues to be as great and addicting as the 1st book.
Two men in love with one woman. Hmmm. Who will truly win her heart?
Love, adventure, mystery, fantasy all wrapped up in a nice bow.
And just like the 1st book, you have to read the next book, because the storyline has not come to any closing.
I downloaded Scorched Treachery prior to finishing Eyes of Ember for a smooth transition.




Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Recluse


A lot of crap going on in my life. Nothing devastating, just stressful and has snowballed me into a depression. I don't like "people" very much right now, so don't want to be around anybody or bother with the blog.

Monday, March 3, 2014

SHERLING LAKE PARK - Greenville, AL - RV PARK REVIEW

RV PARK REVIEW:
Feb. 19 - 25, 2014 (1 week)
Sherling Lake Park  - Greenville, AL 36037
Site# 34  $21.50/night (weekly rate)
Our rating 4 out of 5
Sites: Mostly very nice sites with shade trees, lots of pull thrus, fairly large. Our site #34 was very large.
Hook ups: FHU
Bathrooms: 1 building, quite a ways from our site. Did not check them out.
Laundry: No
Pets: Very pet friendly, with lots of areas to walk the dogs.
WiFi: No
Verizon Internet: Good
Sprint Internet: 4G
Satellite: Enough open area for direct line
Verizon cell: Good
AT&T cell: Good
Book Exchange: ?
Activities: Fishing on the lake
Mail delivery accepted: no
Area/Town/Sights: Not much to do in this area. Town is very spread out and parts are very run down. Did not feel comfortable going to the laundromat in town.
Nothing much to do, except enjoy the nice RV park.

Our Travels