Hello Again. Is anyone even still there?

Ugh. I feel terrible that I have to keep resuscitating my blog due to my hectic schedule and procrastinating tendencies. So, if anyone even still visits here, thanks for at least visiting to see if anything new has been added and for those of you that have given up hope that I'd post, well, I'd apologize and all, but since you gave up coming here you'll never know how sorry I am.

Okay, so middle school is still ever so challenging and trying. (Not that I expected it to suddenly be a walk in the park mind you.) I am growing and becoming more accustomed to the middle school way of life, but I must say that in some regards it's pretty damned depressing that the our communities and cultural climate is such a mess. I gotta assume that in some way things have always been this way, because I remember hearing adults say "kids today..." but holy crap!! When and where I grew up, we didn't have to worry about people bringing guns to school (unless maybe it was hunting season and they were on a gun rack in the back of the pickup--which I gotta hope doesn't still go on), there was no worry about bloodshed should a gang leader be executed, teachers and adults in general weren't blatantly disrespected on a continual and relentless basis (to their face) and people in general didn't publicly air their dirty laundry or worse yet wear it like some badge of honor.

What happened to our sense of pride and shame? Where did our civility go?

Sometimes I genuinely feel as though I'm a sane person in the midst of a mad world. How did I get here? How can I get back to my home planet? Was I just completely naive as a child? Had my parents done THAT good a job in sheltering me from the craziness that has simply been around forever or have things really gotten exponentially worse for all our technological advancements?

As Thanksgiving came and went this year, I spent a great deal of time reflecting on the things I'm thankful for: My family and friends first and foremost, the fact that I have established a decent and somewhat comfortable living for myself, and that despite everything I am still an inherently and outwardly good human being. And now that Christmas is quickly approaching I am looking forward to the time that I get to spend with the people I love. Never have these moments been so important to me. I hope everyone that visits my site (either intentionally or through happenstance) and reads this post, takes the time to appreciate the good things they have in their life and really makes time to cherish them.

If I don't make it back beforehand, Happy Holidays!