It's been a few weeks, hasn't it?
Life has settled into a routine up here. During the week, I go to work and deal with my overgrown toddlers. (Some things never change.) Then, when the weekend rolls around, I point the truck in a direction and go see what I can find.
A couple of weekends ago, I spent the day at Old Fort Niagara. Oh my goodness, you would've loved that place! The history, the old stone buildings, the craftsmanship... I could almost picture the soldiers walking around the fort. And standing there looking across Lake Ontario at the Toronto skyline... it was pretty incredible. I found myself wishing you were standing beside me, telling me something about the construction of the buildings that I hadn't noticed.
Then this past weekend, I finally checked off one of my biggest bucket-list items. I made it to Almanzo Wilder's childhood home. Can you believe it? After all these years of wanting to visit the Little House sites, the first one I see ends up being Almanzo's home. That certainly wasn't on my bingo card! I also got to meet Dean Butler and Alison Arngrim! The whole experience made me even more excited about something I discovered while I was there. Next summer there's a motorcoach tour that visits all of the Little House locations. It'll cost me a little bit, but honestly, I think it'll be worth every penny. I won't have to drive thousands of miles by myself, I won't have to sleep in my car, and who knows... I might even make a few new friends along the way.
Work has been...well....interesting.
Remember when there were four of us in Safety? Well, now it's just me. Two were fired, and the other one left for another job. That means I'm trying to keep everything moving while also proving that I'm worth keeping around. Some days I feel like I'm doing okay, and other days I feel like I'm coming up way short. Tabor keeps reassuring me that everything is fine, and he's even mentioned the possibility of a permanent position with Barnhart. I sure hope he's telling me the truth because, Charlie... I really like this company. I like the people. I like the work. And for the first time in a long time, I can actually see a future instead of just looking for the next paycheck.
If things continue the way they're going, I might finally get this debt paid off. Can you imagine that? Me... debt free. I haven't been able to picture that in decades. And once that's behind me, I can finally start moving forward with the legal work on the land and some of the other things that have been sitting on the back burner for far too long. Even if I had to draw unemployment between projects, I'd actually be okay for a while. That's a strange feeling, but a really good one.
Anyway, I guess that's enough catching up for one night.
I'm tired. I didn't sleep well last night, and it's finally catching up with me.
I miss you tremendously, just like always. I wish you were here to see all these places with me. Every weekend I find something that makes me think, "Charlie would've loved this."
Come visit me in my dreams sometime.
I love you.
Always,
Me
