So Blessed

Dear Family and Friends,
As I write this evening I am reminded of just how blessed my life is, yes there are constant challenges, yes I'm playing catch up from an intense time of travel, medical issues and emotional trauma, yes my life today is vastly different than it used to be. All of that is true but there is another side. 

I'm in a much stronger position today than I was a few years ago, gradually month by month I'm reducing the overall debt I face and right now with this recent influx of new work, with Steve's help, with the UAD learned and working in appraisal writing I'm encouraged.  I've learned more new things in the past week than I've had to learn in years and it was fun, invigorating, exciting and has given me a sense of accomplishment.

I'll tell you this, what we write now and how we do it is much stronger than it used to be.  The day of pushing a value or tweaking the numbers is over.  All of this new training and demands from the industry has caused us to step up and either quit or do a better job.  The reports we write now are stronger, more reality based than ever before.  While its true we make much less per report than in the past I've noticed that recently the fees offers are creeping upward.  I just finished one now that came in Friday, that I inspected this morning, wrote this evening and it pays $470.  Not only that it is from a company called 360 Mortgage. They order their own, they don't use the management companies at all and they will have the money in my bank account through paypal in about 3 days.  I call that progress.

So many times in life we tend to look back at the "good old days" and think that perhaps if we could recreate them we might find our best happiness.  I think that is wrong.  The good old days were wonderful at the time and they create great memories as well but we live now, what is to come next?  Could it be even better days than I 've known before, is that sacrilege to say or is time to get off the dime and move on?

I just want to say a word here.  And I can say it because this is my blog.  I think I have the most interesting group of children and little kiddos anywhere.  How I love to see little Mia smile, climb, crawl, yawn, eat and interact with everyone around, how fun to rough house with Timothy and see his eyes open wide when I pull up in the motorhome, to hear his ideas, to watch him play, to see him fall asleep.

Its true I spend much more time with Keanna and Kallie because we live so near to each other and there is nothing quite as heart warming as to see Keanna working the crowd at school and then see her spot my car and then she comes running over, full of reports on injuries on the playground, evil children who have gotten her in trouble for talking, new wonderful moments with her teacher, green or blue behavior awards for the day, her requesting over and over, can we go to the Dollar Tree?  One of these days I'm going to have to break down and take her again.  Having her stand beside my desk and race through her homework like its a fun game, did I ever do that?  Sure don't remember. And there is Kallie who comes in, finds me and races into my legs with her arms out wide, who wants to feed Starr treats, who wants to find the dollies, who has her own agenda and loves to come to Pappa's house.

You know I must be doing something right, to be so blessed with these incredible kiddos.  And I enjoy the challenge of trying to keep up with my bright adults, Steve with his ability to learn so fast, his boundless energy, Nikki who manages to keep us all together, organized and doing fun and enjoyable things, who balances work, travel, kiddos, groceries, and a whole lot more, Jo who has to cope with Timothy's allergies, who does not let a spec of dust land on her floors, who keeps on creating new dishes that taste great and are healthy, who keeps putting photos of kiddos on face book, who is steadfast and loyal and Jason who has more ideas, opinions, plans, hopes and a zest for life that is contagious.  A teacher that is feared and loved by his students.

Wow I am lucky and blessed.

Here comes the week, lets go!

Tim