A post of good news.  I found myself a part time job.  I was hired to do some custodial work for a grocery store.  It's only about 20 hours a week but I now have an income!!  The hours start after the store closes... so from about 10:30pm till about 2:00 am. My goal was to try to keep my evenings open so I could get some softball games to umpire.  I have umpired men's and women's softball for about 30 or so years so I was hoping to get in the local leagues up here. (U.P. of Michigan) This is where I got started many years ago.  Anyway.. I called the guy who handles the umpires for the local leagues last week.  He said he had to wait to see who was coming back and the meeting was this last Monday.  He called me yesterday and said he needed one umpire and I could have the position if I wanted it.  So now I will be umpiring 3 nights a week in addition to my part time custodial job.  So for the summer I will be doing pretty good.  Throw in a few tournaments and I will be very happy.

So... I am moving in the right direction and feel very optimistic that I can achieve my goal of opening up an art gallery/tourist shop next spring.  My Brother said I can put a yurt on part of his property which is next to a main highway that stretches across the Upper Peninsula.  I can build a yurt and make it an unusual and interesting art gallery.  I have two artistic Daughters, several very talented Brothers and Sisters as well as a slew of nieces and nephews that are extremely talented so I will have no problem putting unusual items in the shop to sell.  We are decendants of the Saami peoples of Northern Finland and I hope to promote their styles and traditions.

I have always dreamed of having a gallery for my photos and now I am going to do it.  I just have to save up $15,000 to erect a large enough yurt that would work.  I would also be able to put a small loft and be able to live in it  until I could afford another one to attach to  the first one. 

I just have to continue to stay positive and focus my energy on this goal to make it happen.

Peaceful