Wow! Where have I been? There is so much to catch up on, so let's start with where I am.
The move is over. It's been over for some time now. Maybe that's why I haven't been adding to the blog...I'm not perpetually pissed-off any more. We left NC, leaving a few folks that became good friends behind. We also left perhaps the two biggest assholes on the planet, but that was a relief.

In NC, if you remember right, we were invited to stay with "friends". Right. Things went smooth for a bit and then suddenly we were being told when we could go out, what time we had to be back, and admonished for where we went. We were told what we could eat and what wasn't allowed. All this was severely aggravating but manageable.

Then I was told how to discipline my daughter. And folks, that shit didn't float at all.

At least there were no vampires there...I think.

Don't get me wrong. I don't tie her up and belt-whip her till welts form and psychological scars start to criss-cross. I don't lock her in a closet and force her to pray to God for forgiveness. What happened was this; she was playing with her mashed potatoes with her hands. I told her three times to stop it. The fourth time was a slap on the hand. A slap.
This child is the light of my life, the one I would die for, literally die for. The slap wasn't that hard, trust me. The next thing I know, this narcissistic cow of a woman is standing between me and my daughter telling me that my ways are old and don't work and that I am never to lay a hand on the child again.
Needless to say, I was homeless quicker than you could toss the c-word out a second time. We ended up moving to a short-term motel in Raleigh. OK, so it was a hooker hotel. So we got woken up at 3 AM by the cops because there was a murder in the room behind ours. So we got woken up at 2 AM because there were 2 hookers that were cold and tired and wanted to crash with us. OK, so we had to drive for 20 minutes to get to work and since we had one car, sometimes I would have to sit at work for 4 hours before my shift started. No big deal...right?
 So, it took about 3 months of that until we were ready to go. Florida was the next stop and the end of our problems.
We made it to Florida with a plan. A plan that had to be fixed as soon as we got there.
You see, my wife's Uncle was in charge of finding us a place. He picked this small, 2 bedroom place in Opa Loka. Go on, Google it. Better yet, don't. I don't want to frighten any of you. Opa Loka is not what you could call "people friendly". It's the type of place where the FBI shows up to shut down a house filled with guns, explosives, and drugs.
New plan!
Took us almost a year to prepare for the next move, Homestead, FL. That's when the blue skies opened and normalcy took over. Over the next three years, we worked, we fixed our credit, we purchased a vacation club, we got married (yes, she finally made an honest man of me), honeymooned in Disney, and then purchased a new home!

Our daughter is in a great school and is showing serious improvement as a budding young artist. The cat population grew from 2 to 10. Sadly, we lost Biggie almost as soon as we hit Florida. That left the old lady Bebe as our sole cat. I thought I was in the clear.
But no, my wife has a genetic problem that makes her adopt cats. We took in 2 kittens...supposedly, both female. Nope, one of them was hiding his instruments of destruction. Not long after, they had 5 kittens. While we waited for the kittens, my wife's boss needed a temporary home for her two cats. That took us to 10 cats.
Noob the Wonder Dog was thrilled with all the new friends, but I worried he would pick up bad cat habits.
So, enter Harley Quinn.
We went to the store to get a small dog. Small. A chihuahua maybe or a wiener dog. Is that what Harley is? Of course not. Harley is a Saint Bernard. She melted our hearts with her over-sized, cuddly self. Noob was thrilled.

Just to be sure, not every day was a blessing. Some days were more of walking around with a rotten fart smell surrounding you. We went through our first hurricane, scary but we were ok. We got t-boned by a Chevy Silverado but again, we were ok.
We lost someone we loved very much. It still hurts, but we held on as a family and made it through ok. We lost a few more cats, Bebe finally passing away at the ripe old age of 17. Harley grew and now weighs about 125 lbs. Maybe triple what the Wonder Dog logs in at, although he is getting fat now too. Just to be on the safe side, we went out and got another dog, a Rottie named Loki. He's 6 months old now and living up to his name. They both are.
Two criminals living under our roof. And poor Noob in the middle.
I've retired from work, content to help out my wife a couple days a week at her job and spending time at the pool here in our new community. We make decent money, enough to pay the bills, eat, AND have fun. We've arrived as a family to a great time in our lives.
And as I've always suspected, the things that piss you off are there for a reason. To help you grow as a person.
Adversity is a common part of our lives that affect us differently. For some, it's a signal to quit and either try a different route or to give up altogether. For others, it's a test to see if we're ready to move on to the next problem. As a wise man/woman/beast once said, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
Never have words been truer. My wife and I have weathered many storms. More than we care to remember. But now, the seas are calm and the skies are blue. Life is good.