The Kitchen table

 Hello Again. It's been a busy couple of weeks.  I've been working on my downstairs bathroom.  We are in the process of renovating our house one room at a time. This ended up being a bit more hands on than I had planned.  The handyman wanted 800 dollars to lay tile in a three foot by five foot bathroom.  I learned how to tile. I'm pretty happy with the results. Tiling is pretty tricky.  If you don't lay it from the center, things can get wonky pretty quickly.  Before you know it, it looks like a blind, drunken idiot slapped tile down and glued it to the subfloor.   There are a lot of rules involved.   I was never a rule person.   It probably comes from being so heavily controlled until the age of 12.  I lose all patience about a minute into a recitation of 'why I must do something'.   Or at least I used to. Traditions had a similar feel to me.   It felt like another must do.  Somewhere inside,...

 Hi! My name is Chris.  I used to blog over at a deliberate life.  Unfortunately I am now locked out of that blog.  I let it lapse and couldn't retrieve it.  That's okay.  This vibe is different.  I'm different. I am again losing weight.  Not nearly as much, but still a decent amount.  I allowed other portions of my life to take precedence.   I can't say I regret it. I am a much more well rounded person these days. I spent time getting a career and letting it go.  That too will be a part of this blog.   The career I picked was a confidential victim advocate for victims of domestic violence.  I worked in one of the most dangerous cities for women in america.  I also spent time as a hospital advocate for victims of sexual assault and rape. My realization after spending two and a half years as an advocate, (and a year and a half as a case manager in a safe house) was that almost every issue I encountered  ...