Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays (Holy Days???) No. Seasons greetings.... not that either. Gimme a break you could say that at the beginning of spring or summer. It's Merry Christmas. It's the time of year the Church chose to celebrate the birth of Christ. I won't get on my history high horse. I recently heard a retired general make (to me anyway) a very true statement; It has become acceptable to persecute Christians. In the media, in retail, anywhere in the world, it has become acceptable to persecute, marginalize, or just generally slam Christianity. I'm not normally one to put my faith in someone elses face. I don't preach at people. But, my faith is just that, my faith. Respect mine, and I'll respect yours. Why not Happy Holy Days? It fits, doesn't it? For at least two religions... Merry Christmas my friends and family. I love you all. Tom

Therapy

I've been in therapy for awhile. It's been good for me. I fit the clinical definition for depression, but I'm not what many define as clinically depressed. I'm functional. I don't get so deep down that I can't get out of bed. Maybe it's my sense of duty and responsibility that won't let me do that. In researching I discovered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. It was suggested to me by my therapist and I picked up a book Feeling Good by Dr. David Burns. The copy I picked up from the library was a little dated, but it made sense to me and it worked for me. I also didn't end up on meds which was one thing I was hoping to avoid. I still have issues. I'm still working on changing patterns of behavior and thought. Overall, it's been good for me.

My mediation experience

I know this is just my experience with mediation. Others, I'm sure, have had worse or maybe better experiences. I am fortunate to live in a county that has an assisted program that doesn't cost a fortune to begin with and has good mediators working for it. All of the mediators are lawyers working pro-bono. The cost is dependent on the value of the estate. I had a good mediator. I think he did a good job explaining what was going to happen and what was going on. We were not all in the same room. I think this was a very good thing. I do think this helped things move on much quicker. It was something I dreaded. He started out on in her room since she was the one who filed and she made the first proposal. He then bounced back and forth a couple times until we can to a binding settlement. There were a few tweeks when he typed it up, but we finished before the 5pm deadline. It wasn't as painful or emotionally brutal as I thought it was going to be. It still really didn't have to go there. But I guess, the good thing, is that it is settled and just about done. Tom

Balmorhea Diving

The first weekend of Decmeber I took a trek out to Balmorhea Texas to go diving. I keep saying it's 8 hours from here (Dallas) but it's more like 7 without stops. It could probably be done in 6 if you have a lead foot. I don't. The water is a constant 72-76 F. The air temp, however, is much more variable. They had an early season snow fall. The air temp was COLD.

We were staying in the on-site hotel. It's nice. The room was more of a suite. The bedroom had it's own door. It was kept closed to keep it warm. The kitchenette had a single sink, a table, 4 chairs, a two burner electric stove, a microwave, and a dorm sized refrigerator. The potential wet areas are concrete floor. The room has carpet. The worst thing I can say is that the hot water system is per building. There was plenty of hot water first thing in the morning. None in the afternoon after all the divers had finished diving. We weren't the only ones there. This is a nice place to dive. Visibility is always good. There are plenty of fish, and it's neat to watch the ducks freediving to 15 feet to get something to eat. There really are ducks in that picture.

If you don't bring your own food, your choices of places to eat are pretty limited. There's mexican food and there is mexican food. I think there may be one other mexican place there too. Or, you can go to Pecos. There is a little more variety there.

If you bring your own food, you do need to bring your own pot's, pans, eating utensils, etc. Think of it like camping in a motel room. It works. And, it's much cheeper.

Texas does have mountains. No they aren't like the Rockies or the Nevadas, but you can still get sunsets over the mountains, and they can still be beautiful.