TheBanyanTree: My, how time flies!

[Pam North]

-I suppose that now is as good a time as any to speak up!!!

Nostalgia is a wonderful thing...  I had gotten my first computer when my
kids were small and they played games on it...  I knew nadda about what the
internet was, and had no idea how to join.

Then came Steve.  As Marines, he and I worked together, and he was/is the
younger brother of the aforementioned Tom.  Anyway, Steve came over and
hooked my new computer up to the net, showed me what to click and where, and
off I was.  And by the way, this here was The Spoon.

Through the years I've posted a LOT, and then next to nothing.  I was a
single mom at first, and now, all these years later, I'm a single mom again.

The husband in between, who I've loved so much more than was healthy, has
chosen a life as a Pagan, a 1% biker club that (in my opinion!) has no
respect for women, and even less for the family unit.  I guess the other 99%
of us are mislead.

Anyway.  I've dipped way, WAY down Sidda, and I've decided that I will NOT
allow myself EVER to be so down again.  Drugs are a wonderful thing, and I
embrace them every morning, but I am determined that 2004 be the year of ME!

2003 saw the demise of my marriage and then my two children moved out to
live with their father.  My son came home a month or so later, and my
daughter finally came home this month.  Through it all, my kids have
remained healthy and that, after all, is what I pray the hardest for, so I
refuse to spend anymore time inside myself.

Besides, I am GREAT fun to be around, and I think everybody else should get
to enjoy me on the outside!!

Meanwhile, Todd moved out and took our Great Dane 'Banks' with him (though
after several months I've been given unsupervised visitation!!) and left us
with 'Hannah' our Bassett Hound.  And just a couple of months ago the kids
and I broke down - listen up Sachet! - and adopted another Dane, a seriously
mentally impaired guy we named 'Hassle'!

Trust me on this... the boy IS a Hassle!  He's large and spastic and real,
real stupid!!  And, he likes walls.  So when we retire to bed now and he
looks like Hannibal Lector with his muzzle, have no fear!, there are no new
holes in my walls that he's eaten during the night!  As much practice as
I've had, I should be an adept spackle-er, but alas, I still suck!!

So all you dear friends and fellow dwellers, I'm here, I'm ALIVE, and I have
every right to be happy and love the friends and family I have who love me
back!

(You hear that Carla????)

I still remember YB (and her hilarious posts!), and am forever grateful for
the totally AWESOME visit we had on Halloween several years back, where we
met, fell in love, and I am a better person for having hugged her neck, and
gotten the opportunity to sit face-to-face and chat over beer and
cigarettes!!

Thinking about it now, I really have met MORE than my share of wonderful
friends from the Spoon, and now this Tree....  I met Theta over coffee in my
husband's hometown; I met Bobby (yes?), and Wolf and Sachet...  geez guys!!
Where HAS the time gone??  Camping at Sherry's...  And of course, Maria.
Going to Florida for a Spoon-gala  moons ago, I invited Carla, we drove to a
nearby town where Maria was home from Okinawa visiting her mom, picked Maria
up about 0600 (that's 6:00 am for civilians!), and off we were.  Before we
even hit South of the Border, we were all great friends, and I was asleep!!
Since then, we've seen each other several times, and last month Maria and
her husband went on a cruise with Carla and her husband!!!!!!

And the arms keep reaching wide...  Don't know whatever happened to Tom,
though I know Steve fell in love, remarried, and retired and moved to
Arizona last year.

And while some of you have no clue who I am, and others wondered what was up
with me, now all of you know, and should keep knowing that I'm around and
listening.  And I'm forever grateful to Wes who I never met at all....

Hugs to each of you dwellers!

Pam