Life's Hard Lesson or Two or Twelve.....

The last time I wrote a Blog, I was venting about my knee injury. Which, unfortunately, isn't any better. It's been a hard time for me the past few weeks. The excitement I had about the PortOrchardLiving.org has since wained. I am trying to be excited, I know the potential is great, but the problem is my pain is at a near untolerable level and it's taking a toll on my good attitude. I have a new found respect and appreciation for being able to walk and look forward to walking without a cane again soon. (Did I mention I have to walk with a cane now?)
I'm a true believer that life gives you what you need when you need it. Along with the belief, I believe it goes the other way too. I think life can take things away to teach valuable lessons. My fight with depression and pain the past three weeks hasn't been without benefit, although the lessons I am being taught are hard for me to understand and very frustrating.
Once I started using the cane I noticed that people look away from me and won't make eye contact. Don't think I am paranoid. I walk my dog at least once a day and was used to greeting passers by with a big smile and 'hello' or 'good morning'.  The first day I used the cane I noticed that people will look at me, look at the cane and look down at the ground as they pass me. My 'hello' is now met with a nod if I am lucky, but no eye contact, no smiles, no conversation. My dog, however, is still acknowledged and often petted. The same scenario has held true each day I have had to use the cane to walk.
It's occurred to me in the past few days how appreciative I am for the upbringing I had. I lived around senior citizens and was taught to be kind to everyone despite age or physical differences. Having never had any discrimination shown against me, this time in my life seems especially cruel.
'What is it life is teaching you?', you may be thinking. I think life is teaching me to slow down and appreciate life more. It's also teaching me that persons with physical differences are treated differently and maybe someday I will be able to help change that. All I know is that, my injury, my depression, my sadness, has to mean something, it has to be for a reason.
Please God, let it be for a good reason.

Ready To Run From The Sidelines

To date, March has been an interesting month. Mixed with the best feedback for my website and a personal injury, I feel like I'm stuck in the mud.
A week ago Sunday I pulled some muscles in the back of my right knee. Last week I spent most days with ice on it in a elevated position. I finally ended up going to the Emergency Room on Saturday because the swelling had barely gone down and the pain is so severe. A set of X-rays and an ultra sound later, I have no broken bones and no blood clots (Thank God!!). The pain, however, I do still have. Adding insult to injury, yesterday I feel down a few concrete steps in the basement and added a huge bruise on my right hip and my right forearm. OUCH!
I'm so frustrated. As I sit here typing this, I can feel shoots of pain radiating from my left hip and I'm afraid to stand up to feel pain again on my right side. It's so discouraging- I have great aspirations for my new website and need to get out in the community to talk about it. I'm just hoping I can walk and talk at the same time without a grimace on my face.

Can't You Read My Mind?

I know you can't read my mind, hence, the subject of today's Blog.

It occurred to me (as I check the stats of my daily blog readers) that I would like to take an opportunity to say a few things I may have neglected to mention.

First off, last week was amazing. Friday I was blessed to find an article about myself and PortOrchardLiving.org on page 8 of the Port Orchard Independent newspaper. In past endeavors, I've been mentioned a few times in newspapers, but to be featured on a page was awesome!!! Thank you Danny Oliveaux (Editor of the POI)!!!

Second, the website I created is a work in progress. I've been working on adding more businesses everyday and I've got some ideas for some new features in the future too. I want to spend the time building it correctly so that I can optimize search engines and truly be an asset to Port Orchard by providing information that search engines pick up. Basically, please bare with me- if you don't see something you're looking for, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!

Thirdly, My sincere goal with the PortOrchardLiving.org website, the Port Orchard Living facebook page and everything else I do here is to promote Port Orchard. I really love this place and want to be a part of its economic success. You may ask why I feel I am capable of this.... It's not that I am capable of creating economic success for Port Orchard- it's that I have the tools of knowledge to create an information system that will (hopefully) create more search engine traffic that draws attention to Port Orchard. I'm really passionate about what I am doing, so I hope the fire I have within me will ignite an interest in others as well.

On other notes, I am thrilled with the traffic on the site so far. In less than 2 weeks since it went 'live' there have been more than five hundred visitors each week, with a spike after the newspaper article last week. Facebook is collecting 'LIKES' as well- we have an official page now: facebook.com/portorchardliving.

I feel really, really excited and blessed by this!! Thank you for reading and I hope you'll be back!

Waterpark Expansion & More!

You may have noticed the lane closure at SR 166/Bay Street just past Harrison a few blocks to Rockwell Ave if you are traveling away from downtown going west toward Annapolis.  Road closures can be a bother, but in this case, I am not thinking about the now, but rather the later and what the project completion will bring.

The Waterfront Park Expansion Project is well underway and I’m getting excited! The City of Port Orchard is in the process of constructing a multi-purpose path/trail beginning at the Waterfront Park and ending at the Annapolis Ferry Dock. 

Taken from the Foot Ferry Dock, this picture shows the
construction area right below the Golden Grill restaurant
shown in the background. Notice the beach on the left side-
caution was taken to keep debris out of the water.

When I first heard about the expansion, I thought, ‘what a great idea’. I mean, who doesn’t like a nice walk along the coast, right?! The more I learn about the project the more excited I become, because it’s not just our area that is getting a new pathway. Imagine being able to ride your bike to other towns along the water? Imagine heading out with the kids for an adventure with a picnic lunch. All these ideas and more are going to be possible when the full scope of this project is realized.

The project is considered a portion of the ‘Mosquito Fleet Trail’ and is named after the commuter ferries that linked our community with those nearby in the early days of Sidney (now of course, called Port Orchard). The project is adopted from the Kitsap County Greenways Plan completed in 1996.  Read more about it here and check out the map of the projected plan.

You can also read more about the current Bay Street Pedestrian Path and check out a map here.

Another picture of construction area taken on the existing boardwalk behind Peninsula Feed.

Why Assumptions Suck!

Have you ever heard the saying, 'Assuming makes as ass out of you and me?' Sometimes it's okay to make assumptions. For instance if it's raining outside and your assumption is: if I don't wear a hat or take an umbrella my hair will get wet. -that is most likely a true assumption and since it involves only yourself its harmless.
Unfortunately, other assumptions are not harmless. I have had a few situations this week where people have made assumptions about me that I find hurtful and offensive. First off, just because I graduated from High School somewhere doesn't mean I was a Native to that area. I've probably moved over 50 times in my life- starting when my parents got divorced when I was 3 years old. Some moves have been good ones and some moves (like the one my last year of High School) were horrific in more ways than one. I would have loved to grow up in Port Orchard, graduate from SKHS and stayed here, but my life journey has been very different than that. (Admitting to being born in California has always been a sore spot for me because I love this state so much and hate California so much!) It wasn't until I was in my early 30's when I bought my first house, that I spent Thanksgiving and Christmas in the same place for two years in a row. I'm not playing a violin and singing a song of 'woe' about my life, simply explaining that getting the facts are always necessary to paint a real picture. Fortunately, my husband has lived in his home in downtown Port Orchard for over 20 years and I am happy to have a husband, home and career that won't force me to move again- ever!
That leads me to my second bummer of the week. Just to clarify- I am not rich. (This isn't the bummer- but I sure would love to be rich!) I have a residual income from work I have done with businesses over the past decade plus and have chosen to spend my time doing something that makes me happy instead of make more money. I know that is a shock to most people. I was asked how I make money from Port Orchard Living. Is money everything.? Of course it is! (NOT!!) Just because I don't get paid to do what I am doing doesn't make it less time consuming or meaningful. It's important to me to be passionate about what I do and what I can add to the best community I have ever known. I'm at the point in my life where I believe I will achieve anything I set my mind to- if it's a big dream I have to work harder.
I'm just a girl (ok, well 42 year old woman) trying to be the best, happy, me possible. If you want to know about my life, please just ask me and don't make assumptions!

Why Graffiti?

I was walking through Jackson Park the other day with my dog, Zigi and was really impressed with all the trail improvements. I was really un-impressed with all the graffiti I saw. A door to a storage area on a restroom building looked like it had been pried open with a crowbar. I've never understood graffiti and I've certainly never understood defacing someone else's property; government property included. I know our world isn't fair. I know kids get bored. I know self expression is one of the things that makes our country great. But, really, graffiti? Etching your name in a fence post? Spray painting a door? I've always wondered what goes through someones' head when they vandalize someone else's property. Do these people destroy their own things or is it just other peoples? I am so grateful I have never been bored enough to think about being destructive. I am even more grateful I had adults around me that taught me right from wrong. I can almost hear my Dad saying something like, 'Hey, if you want to do THAT, go ahead but do it to your own stuff'- Probably referring to cutting one of my sisters doll's hair or something.
When I think about public property being destroyed or damaged it makes me sad. Don't we all deserve public places to enjoy? What makes one person or a group of people so self righteous that destruction is ok? I guess I have a lot of questions for certain people in this world. -
And not a big shock, all those questions start with 'Why'.....