Life Update from the California Desert

 Hey, everybody! I hope you're great wherever you are! I believe it's Palm Sunday today, so Cheers to those who honor it!

I just wanted to touch base and give you a summary of what life's been like since you last heard from me. I'm going to be short because I logged on to plan a trip and give my eyes a break from the iphone screen. One of the reasons I don't post on the blog much is because my computer doesn't wanna coorperate and I haven't gotten around to replacing it or getting it fixed. There's a long list of things that I have been giving my attention to. The other reason is that, I do have other forms of journaling that are filling in the gap of blogging. It was, after all a thing that I was mainly doing for myself. One can't, however help but feel a way about how you're getting thousands of views and hardly any comments. Sidebar: I get more views when I don't blog than when I do. Imagine that! It's like with my eBay stores. If I'm out of town and not listing any fresh items, I make more sales than when I am slaving away.What's that word again? Algorithm? (My stores, if you care: MyBrook, TruckerBrook and TheLovelyBrook all on eBay)

I've been living in the same place for more than three years now. One of my longest runs (pardon the pun) in my life. I have to say, the stability feels great. Have I considered moving for one reason or another? You bet! Part of why I haven't is because I am challenging myself. LEt's see what'll happen if I apply my energy to other aspects of life other than packing a bag and change of address. I recently had to update my Driver license. Boy, did it feel nice to have my current address on there. I also just got my own AAA membership. Those of you who follow me on socials may have seen the post. What makes this such a big deal is that my wasband (get it?) had me on his for a while. Even after we split up, he still had me on, so that was some form of a benefit / hold on me. I remember him once telling me that he would always take care of me until the day he died, I am the love of his life, even his current girlfriend knows that. Before you get teary eyed and think that this is some twisted form of a romantic story, No, it's not! Pathological lies and other forms of manipulationship. I remember wanting to find out from AAA if I could use the old membership to start mine, and thus be able to upgrade to the premium. This is how it works: If you have never had AAA, you have to start from the bottom level, have it for a certain amount of time without making any tow claims and then can you upgrade. If you recently had a premium membership, you can start from that membership. When I called to enquire, I gave them my old membership number which now belongs to someone else, no prizes for guessing. All of these are things that keep one attached to the past, no matter how much you believe you have moved on. This is why it's such a big deal that I now have my own basic membership that I will work my way up all on my own, like the independent btch that I am. Where my badass btches at? 

Another proud situation, is the fact that I earn my entire living from my eBay stores. I work everyday, even when I am on vacation. But I also give myself plenty of rest when I feel necessary, and vacation more often than I ever have. The fact that I have been able to lead a decent lifestyle, no roommates, no partner who walks around, swinging his manhood, implying that he's taking care of me, no boss, no unnecessary random drug tests (never done drugs all my life), no threats of getting kicked out, being fired, being dumped, deported, you name it, feels like a dream. So much to be thankful for! I hope that if you're in a situation where the above or any semblance thereof is taking place, know that there is life on the other side.Be gentle with yourself and grant yourself the grace you would offer anyone else in your shoes, but stay focused on the end goal: happiness /  contentment. It comes in all shapes and forms. So, don't compare. Know what yours looks like and keep inching closer and closer to that. Compare and despair, as they say.

While on the subject of finances, I have made way more, spent way less, but haven't necessarily been happy. My priority right now, is peace. More money would be nice but I am doing the best I can to sustain myself within the confides of the peaceful bounds. There are a lot of things I could do to make way more but I love being able to book a hotel room in the wee hours of the morning, throw a couple of outfits into a suitcase, take a shower and drive to as Vegas (4 hours away) and stay there for a few nights, without feeling like I owe anybody an planation or excuse. This year alone, I went to Vegas and Laughlin, (both 4 hours away) in January, Vegas in February, and am planning my next trip now for probably April, unless, I feel super antsy  during this last week of March, then I will head somewhere before April. 

I take a lot of pictures still, but don't post half as many on social media. It's not a priority in my life right now. Being in the moment, taking it in, making mental memories with whoever I am wish are top priority. I still have pictures from my time in South Africa two trips ago that I never got around to posting. The memories are fresh on my mind. I was home, (South Africa) last November - December 2023 and took plenty of pictures then. All in my devices. So I didn't get 2 likes from those photos and hundreds of views in my stories with a couples of reactions? I'm thankful that my family was in a position to take time away from their busy schedules and host me, entertain me, cook for me, YUM! They're all great cooks. And LOL with me. Thankful for traveling mercies and for all the nice people I come across during all my trips. 

I've been reading books and listening to audio versions as well. These are things I enjoy that I wasn't able to make room for in my life because of how much clutter was in my head before. As I have slowly but surely been decluttering, I am finding myself having space to enJOY being me! Do I have moments? Heck yeah! I am working on that aspect of my life as well. We'll talk more about that some other time, or not at all, who knows? 

We did the gofundme fund raiser for buying electricity tokens for folks in my home town in south Africa for Christmas. The funds are still there! I moved them to South AFrica and my sister is helping me find recipients, I won't get into the details of why three months later, we're still on this, but the donors are kept up to date. Thanks to all of them.

I didn't plan what I wrote about and there may be other things I probably could've touched on, but I'm done for now. Let's see if AAA has any great deals for my next trip! Love and happiness to you all! 

Tell me what's going on in your own life below, or whatever you feel like sharing. Cheers!