Rooms In My Head

    Sometimes I write in this blog just to clear my own mind about stuff going on in my life.  Lately, I've been copying and pasting a lot of stuff just because the author reflects my point of view and puts it a cleverer way than I could.  And then there are the Foxworld posts with their mini observations.  It seems rare anymore that I write just to let my readers know what's going on with me.  This is just such a post.

    I've been working at the hotel now for eight years.  Before this one, I worked at another hotel for four.  Both were on the overnight shift.  For personal reasons, I had committed to stay at my current job until the end of next summer.  By that time, I will have been nocturnal for thirteen years.  As much as I love my job and the place I work, I'm tired. I want to do something else.
    So, for the next eleven months, I'm going to be exploring my options.  There's some things I have to consider: my age and my health insurance being two of them, and what type of job.  I really like working with the public and meeting new people all the time.  I got offered two jobs just from giving the tour of the hotel.  One gentleman suggested that with my knowledge of OKC's architectural history, I should work for him as a water taxi driver in Bricktown.  Another, for the same reason, said I should become a public relations guy for the City of Tulsa.  Both offers just came along at the wrong time.  And now, with Gaby's job being more important than mine, moving to another city is not really an option.
    One of the things I'd like to do is to talk to people who are actually doing the things I'm interested in.  I have friends on Facebook that are just such people, and I'd really like to sit down with them and talk about what they do, and see if they can offer any advice.  (This would also be part of a larger plan to get to know some of my Facebook friends who are only acquaintances in real life.)

    If my world were different, I'd really like to spend my days concentrating on my art.  I used to do just that, but real life interfered, and I just don't know how to restart.  I've let things fall apart so much that I think I'd have to take a few months off just to do the prep work.
    That being said, I have started a new adventure in my artwork.  A friend of mine convinced me that the photos that I take, manipulate on the computer, and then set aside for the purpose of eventually maybe possibly in the future getting around to drawing or painting, are, in fact, works of art in themselves, and that I need to just find a good printer and mat, frame and sell what I've got.
    Framemasters, here in Edmond, has a giclée machine.

 

I'm so pleased and excited about the way these look I could just bust.  But I've got to make a big investment this year in framing and printing.  I intend to have at least a dozen of them to show at the Edmond show next spring.

As many of you know, Gaby and I went through immigration last year, and last summer he got his green card.  That gives him the ability to travel, and our intention is to go see his family in Chihuahua ASAP.  The biggest obstacle has been that he has to have a Mexican passport, and that has to be gotten through the Mexican Embassy.  There is a traveling consulate that one can go to when it comes to town, but they aren't very good at keeping their online schedule up to date.  Fortunately, the agency where Gaby works keep track of this stuff, and finally, a year after he got his green card, he's got an appointment this week to get his passport.  That means we'll be able to start making plans within a few weeks.
     Just one hitch:  Chihuahua is one of the cities noted for violence, killings, kidnappings.  And my sisters-in-law live in Ciudad Juarez, which is even worse.  I want to go, but I have to admit I'm more than a bit nervous.  I'm going to be relying on advice from my in-laws about safety on this trip.  But I really want to go.  There are photos that need to be taken.

We went to see a new doctor last week.  We really like him; he listens, and he really seems to know his stuff.  Also, he's not afraid to talk about money and how we can save some on healthcare.  We've both been given referrals to specialists, a sleep specialist for Gaby, and one that that can take movies of my innards.  I could talk more about the state of our health, but I haven't gotten my lab results back yet (because of my schedule, not because they aren't ready.) 
    Gaby was told he needs to lose 35 pounds.  (He's actually 70 pounds overweight, according to the insurance charts, but, you know, baby steps.)  I need to lose about 30 myself.  That will require a plan, and we haven't sat down to make one yet. But as I sit here typing, I'm feeling the achiness that comes with being too sedentary.

They say a man's mind is like a house with a lot of rooms.  These are the rooms in my mind where the lights are on.  I've got a three day weekend this week.  Maybe I'll get something done in one of these rooms.