Farewell 2011

Farewell 2011, you were a very confusing year with a lot of highs and a lot of lows, and for the most part, I will not miss you. 2011 was a year that for the most part I would love to put far, far behind me and I think I share that sentiment with many, the world became a more turbulent place and we lost many great minds.

In my family, I almost lost my marriage and it proved that what I thought was solid is not, but Joel and I have decided to keep our committment and work through our problems. We had the birth of a lovely little boy, Charles Robert Casey who has warmed my heart in some cold times and we have continued to delight watching Lily grow, both reminders of how life really is wonderful if you can view it through and with the eyes of a child. We also had the announcement of two more babies on the way, both with lovely parents, Jaxson due in February, and another who we don't know the sex or name of due in August.

Charles Robert Casey

Lily Englehardt

The world lost Steve Jobs and on a personal note, I lost my step-father, Jerry. Many of my friends had parents pass and we all comforted on another knowing that our loved ones were in a better place, but our hearts ached. You all may be gone from our sight, but you will never be forgotten...

I have also found many blessings this year in the form of friendships, some new, some rekindled, and some that have endured years, thank you for your support and love. One friendship that I am proud of has been between Glenn Burch and Joel, Glenn almost passed away in 2011 from a disease that we had almost forgotten about, AIDS, and Joel has been assisting him in his recovery, may Glenn continue to improve...

My wish for 2012? My wish is that J and I continue on the path we have found recently, we seem to be heading in a great direction, may we all find what we truly need in life and may we all have a better year than 2011.

Help Your Neighbors...

I have an idea, an idea that will make us all better if we follow through and make our voices heard. Many of us are “independents”—we are toy makers, writers, designers (hint! hint!), accountants, etc., and we all have a skill, trade, or profession that we offer. Many of us have been earning or trying to earn a living through our wares but some of us have faced layoffs, unforeseen disasters, a reduction in income or other circumstances that have created a need for us to try to make a living through alternative measures. I would like to create a blog page where you can “advertise” your skills and hopefully we can all benefit.

We all need to face the needs of our neighbor, in the avicultural community we are a nation of many faces and skills, we need to band together and help each other—many of us have been forced into reducing or parting with our flocks for a variety of reasons—lets extend our hand and open our wallets to those we share a common thread with. I want to take business away from the “Big Box Stores” and bring it to the small independents that are getting killed in this economic disaster.

What skill do you have? Are you willing to trade services?