I started to wonder if something might’ve happened to Andy along the way, but he “liked” one of my Facebook posts, so I know he’s alive and well. Hopefully, he’s enjoying his vacation. 

Between Tom and I, and as Tom pointed out, we wonder if maybe he felt a little jealous seeing all we have which is WAY more than he’ll ever have, and if that got him a bit depressed. 

I’m back on the levothyroxine and hoping for the best. 

Tom printed a 3D swan yesterday. It’s blue. I’ll add some pink glitter polish to it and give it some sparkle later on. 

Took a nap yesterday and it was so nice to just be able to feel tired and allow myself to nap without having to worry about schedules or anything like that. It was also nice to let my body sleep as long as it needed to today. No pushing myself to stay up. No pushing myself to be up at certain times. 

Did a light 15-minute workout when Tom got home. Won NaNoWriMo too, and am now doing the editing. 

Tammy is recovering from her car accident and the girls are excited about getting an apartment in the area. She and Mark got them new beds. 

I learned from Andy that Charlotte’s Alzheimer’s disease has advanced and she’s now in a nursing home. His mother went to see her, but Charlotte only remembers her from when they were younger. “I didn’t know they were friends,” I said to Andy, but Andy said they’re not. Then why did she go see her? I asked, and others asked the same thing. I guess Judy kinda misses what they once had together before my mother and some of her fellow phonies in their little “high school clique” came and messed things up. My parents – especially my mother – really made life hell for some people. The way my parents pit people against others, including their own kids, was appalling in every sense of the word. As a 10-year-old kid, I didn’t get it, but as an adult looking back, I am ashamed and disgusted by the immaturity, the competition, and the needless backstabbing that went on during those summer getaways at the beach. 

Later… 

Anyway, it’s official! The Maui dream is on! Although this dream has a 0.1% chance of becoming a reality, I would love to be able to retire in Maui one day depending on how the money goes between now and retirement. That and other things. I still love the idea of moving to Florida and would gladly take that over staying in Cali for the rest of our lives, but why go for the silver if we can have the gold? And Maui WAS gold! 

As soon as I stepped off the plane I knew it was my special little spot in the universe. It was this magical sense of perfection and belonging that I felt every single day. The weather was perfect, there was an abundance of color everywhere, and the areas we swam in had waves big enough to keep things lively, but not so big they drowned you. There were no bustling freeways and the atmosphere was so laid back. No one was in a hurry and crime barely existed. 

The only negative was money. Not everyone there was rich, mind you, as the Walmart employees would be sure to confirm, but those are the ones that live in nothing little apartments. 

Again, unlike my dream of escaping New England, and then my Cali dream which went dormant when I made it to Arizona until the first Oregon snowflake rekindled it, I highly doubt this one’s achievable. Florida should be doable, but not Maui. Still, I won’t let go of it till he retires and we see how things are at that time. All my past dreams were either realized or faded with time for a number of different reasons. This one probably won’t fade, but it’s ok if it doesn’t get realized as much as I’d like it to since there is still Florida and I definitely want to live in a tropical climate someday, the one climate I have yet to live in. Florida’s climate fluctuates a bit more than Maui's, but it sure is cheaper. 

I felt like I found my ideal place on earth when I first moved to Arizona, but that was different. Anyone moving to a warm climate for the first time in their life would no doubt feel like they’d found their perfect home. But after living in and visiting different parts of the country, as well as other countries, I can truly say that Maui is it. If there’s any place better than that, then I don’t know about it right now. 

For now, even though California has its faults, and even though the winters are a bit chillier than I’d like, I’m going to enjoy the wonderful things I have here that I never thought we’d live to have. I have a big beautiful house in a middle to upper-class neighborhood filled with all kinds of fun/valuable things that many can only dream of. Most importantly I have true love at my side and am relatively healthy and fit. Got a thyroid that likes to be underactive and a heart that likes to be overactive, but nothing’s killed me yet.