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Chain Effect

I was recently sitting on my new couch, deep in thought, surveiling my past year and the journey I have been on.  The house has tape on the walls in preparation for the paint I have to muster up the courage to put up, the carpets have been measured to be replaced, the furniture has been shifted to new alignments , I have nice new light fixtures hanging in the house making me happy each time I flick on a switch and then I can see into the kitchen...a work in progress...but coming along with my red and white...All these changes have happened and I am so happy as I do enjoy the esthetics of my surroundings and am affected by them.  These changes, however, have only come about due to the changes that have occured this past year. A chain effect that doesn't seem to have an end in sight - and it's all good.
Last March I was 10 lbs thinner with a much better ass and was escaping to the gym constantly.  I was very sad in my marriage and wondered what my future was going to hold for me as I knew it was near its end after 16 years.  I hated being home and my blood pressure was always skyrocketing.  I was scared and pressured and didn't know what my life was going to look like in a year.  And here I am...a year later....still standing, taller in fact...and a little heavier...but standing, nonetheless.
Kara and Todd started me on the "preparing for my future" journey when they offered to send me to Bonnie Gordon College.  Man, I was scared to go back to school, to do this new "thing" that I had done at home, but not "for real".  The intent was to get my skills upgraded to help me earn an income as it was clear I would be having to do it for myself real soon!  School started after Darren moved out - and the new journey to me facing life as a single mom took over.
At the college I met people I will have in my life forever.  Friends I have made that I simply adore and can't imagine how I lived without them prior to school.   I met  teachers, staff and students who helped me, guided and encouraged me.  In meeting those people, life has jumped the rails to a new track. 
After I received my certificate I needed a job...bad.  I wrote an email to everyone I knew expressing my need and one reply was from a teacher / friend at the school who recommended I call a place called "We Bake In Heels" to see if they needed help.  I got a job there and was thrilled beyond belief.  It was a 6 week contract.  Perfect, I thought, I can see if this is something I can do.  After my 6 weeks at the bakery I got the position at the College to be the Teachers Assistant for their 6  week program.  More people met, more friends made, more awesome experiences.  Growing is brilliant.  It was arranged that after my trip to Asia I would be welcome back to the Bakery to work.  Asia didn't pan out...but a job did and I will be working full time at the shoppe and can't wait to get back there. 
I set out on my journey to decorate cakes - maybe from home, maybe not.  I didn't intend on meeting the people I had and to have the job I now have...it's not what I had planned but I love that plans change and can change for the better.
I needed help in getting here....the help was a shove from my sister.  In a previous blog about swimming I described the time Kara pushed me off the high board at a pool once.  She pushed me over and I screamed till I hit the water HARD and never let her forget how that push was not cool.  This push, the push to get me to school, has opened so many awesome opportunities for me - it's like the diving board all over again, but this time the push has forced me to see me for me, to learn to be brave, to get out there and to accomplish things never imagined.
So, in my house that is being redecorated....and my life that is being redone...I embrace the new challenges ahead.  The path has been a crazy ride some days, but the chain effect of meeting people and believing in myself has proved worthwhile.

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