Notme

No I don't think the site is dead!  There are some people who come on here quite regularly and post, some that come on here quite regularly to chat, and some that do both. there are also people that come on here quite infrequently, or they come on with people, or they might end up doing doing things with their life, and then eventually Come back again for a short while. I guess it ebbs and flows depending on what is going on.

I know I haven't seen a couple of friends of mine for awhile, and I know that it's been pretty busy period life sometimes gets in the way and sometimes you forget things are things get a little too complicated, but I always try to keep myself centered in life, and each day it seems to get harder, but then it gets a little easier 'cause you know darn well you're trying your best and you have the right supports. Hopefully you are doing well yourself, I haven't seen you on for awhile either, so I'm hoping everything is going well with you.

For me this year has been up and down.   Up meaning that right now I have my job i'm happy I what to expect, And I really don't have to worry about my job position any longer.

Down Because it took so long to get to where I felt I felt comfortable with the way things were going on. it was because of a pastoral change at the church. Having a pasture leave after eight years service to our parish, and New pastor Took over in July period from November 2021 To November 2022, I was wondering what the heck is going on and why things are changing so fast. things were happening so fast I didn't even know whether I would still be able to have a position in the church helping the people that I usually do when I've done since 2009, or if the church would end up taking total control of everything going on and not giving me away to manage my resources. After a long talk with the pastor, I was informed that yes they did take over the operations, and While I understand why because I've talked to several people involved, I thought the way they had done it was a little bit underhanded and silly. I once thought that the reason why they did it was because they wanted control of everything under their roof, and the thrift store was the only autonomous ministry in the entire building. I had particular to certain things that I no longer have, but then I ended up having to go to the pastor, As well as several people that I trusted. my Only complaint was the way it was done was underhanded and devious. they had decided to do something without telling me 1st and not even letting me know what was going on. I also couldn't start working again until March of 2022 carmen so it took me several months to be able to figure out what was going on, and then we find out that the former pastor has been assigned to another perish, which would mean that a new pastor took over The reins.

I met with this pastor and we got a few A few things straightened out, and I feel a lot better now. the only thing that I worry about is will we be able to keep the same pasture that we have based on financial strain or whatever, hopefully that won't be an issue, but I kind of wonder: the people that work with me in the church are awesome people, they really care about the people that they work with, and I respect them. I told the finance director straight up directly to her face that I am here for the duration, and I wanted some honest Truth because I've been told other things that I couldn't believe, and she finally told me that we won't have to close, but we may have to change the way we did some of the things we did. I just basically said I wish somebody had told me that way back in February of 21 Or February of 22 when I tried to tell you guys that I was wanting to get back to doing something for the church. I basically had to beg in order to get back into the building, which is not something that I like to do.

That and the fact that I have had several medical situations i've had to deal with, Make it kinda hard sometimes. Some days it doesn't even pay to get up, I hurt all over, I don't feel good, or something or something isn't running right at church. The last time I took a day off, it took two hours before I got the first phone call that there was something wrong, and I contacted the finance manager who stood in for me, And it was nothing really wrong except for this individual who was one of my volunteers was telling me that things were going one way when they're actually going another. Sometimes I wonder if I'm running a daycare center or I'm running a thrift store ministry! I told that to my finance manager as well and she laughed but she knows exactly what I'm talking about.

I can tell you that I do miss my brother james and I do miss my brother eric or my brother daniel. All of them have been working very very hard and All of them have had their specific jobs that they have done. my brother eric is a teacher, my brother daniel is a business owner and he does the pressure washing and cleaning of businesses, my brother james works at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center as a radiologist, who specialized in MRI's, And possibly other scans. I talked to him on a regular basis, and it's pretty cool but I still miss him. I was lucky that I was able to see him in April of this year, and was about 2 minutes away from walking out the door with him to go spend the weekend with him when he gave me an antigen test and I ended up with COVID-19 according to the test period I was devastated, but I knew that I had to stay behind because I did not want anyone to get sick Karma and I know that riding back there is like a 60 mile ride from Vermont to New Hampshire. that doesn't really bother him or I, but I wanted to make sure we were keeping everyone safe. ever since then, i've talked to him several times, but the one person I haven't really talked to for a long is my brother daniel, because he has been busy doing all of these renovations to his house, with his wife, so he's constantly working, and I don't want to bother him too much. maybe this year, I will be able to enjoy some time with them i'm not sure. I know that my aunt is with my cousin and her husband and their two daughters in Italy, and they've been sending us pictures via Facebook of beautiful places: i've never seen anything so beautiful in my life, it kinda reminds me of the hills of Vermont but I'm not quite sure. not sure what I'll do for Christmas I know that tonight I'm supposed to have brought to me a Christmas meal, but I would have loved to have gone to my local high school to have, but there is no accessible bus being used. so they will bring me A dinner home delivery style.

I hope all is well with your family: well I don't get to spend much time with my family, i'm always in contact with them. I visited my dad about three months ago in their new place, which is an assisted living unit, because my step mom needs 24 hour care period my dad lives there and pays over $1000 a month, and she pays 5500 via her medical insurance, so both of them even with all their health problems are well taken care of and I'm happy for them. I sent my mom her birthday card and her Christmas card and their anniversary card The second week of December, so they have all of their Christmas presents, and my parents will be away for Christmas period so I'll spend Christmas either here at my apartment or I will be spending it with my family my brothers wherever they are. they are more set up to be able to take my chair if necessary than my parents are.

I hope that you and your family are doing well, as well as your partner. I hope that you are able to enjoy little time, and I hope that you were able to continue to enjoy it. sometimes it's hard because I feel as if daily diapers is the place where I need to be, so that I can keep my head straight and talk to good people, I do keep in touch with my friends also, but most of the time i'm here either during work or after it to Check in. this will be year #4 of membership here, so I'm looking forward to That is well.

As you once stated I don't think this place is dead, it just ebbs and flows, people come and go and they come back every once in awhile, it's nice to see you logged in again, I hope to see you again soon.

Happy holidays to you and your family and and Merry Christmas!

Brian