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	<title>Natasha Fondren &#187; gratitude</title>
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	<description>Adventures in Writing on the Road</description>
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		<title>My Lucky Stars</title>
		<link>http://www.natashafondren.com/writing/my-adventures/my-lucky-stars/</link>
		<comments>http://www.natashafondren.com/writing/my-adventures/my-lucky-stars/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 May 2011 11:34:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Natasha Fondren</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[My Adventures]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[desert]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gratitude]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Sometimes boring is fun. All I do is work and workout, lately, and I’m so happy. Almost every day, I wake up and think how lucky I am. It could be the lizards. Reptiles are SO cool. I lived thirty-some years of my life without seeing these cute little critters dart around the ground, and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span class="caps">Sometimes boring is fun.</span> All I do is work and workout, lately, and I’m so happy. Almost every day, I wake up and think how lucky I am.</p>
<p>It could be the lizards. Reptiles are SO cool. I lived thirty-some years of my life without seeing these cute little critters dart around the ground, and they’re SUCH a kick.</p>
<p>I mean, LOOK AT THAT BELLY! Doesn’t it just BEG to be tickled?! Don’t you want to just take your finger and go, “Coochi-coochi-cooooooooo!” Hah!</p>
<p><img src="http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/38887_420372062345_561427345_4625980_8072169_n.jpg" width="440" height="330" /></p>
<p>It sort of blows my mind when I look around. I guess when you live in one environment for so long, to suddenly live in a new, completely different environment is a bit surreal. I mean… cacti?! How weird is that? There’s this one cactus in the RV Resort’s garden called an “Old Man Cactus,” and it has all this white, furry hair. It’s fascinating.</p>
<p><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" src="http://www.cryleaf.com/fs/images/cactus35.jpg" /></p>
<p>Doesn’t just looking at it make you want to laugh? It DOES look like an old man!!! Or wasn’t there a TV character, with a bunch of hair, called “It”? Or something like that? This cactus is an Old-Man-It!</p>
<p>Maybe it’s the sun. After living in a place that only gets sun ninety-odd days a year, getting sun over three hundred days a year is pretty fantastic.</p>
<p>My one neighbor wanted to stick a little solar light in the ground, and he had to use a DRILL. In the ground! ROFL! I wish I’d seen that!</p>
<p>My life has changed so much in the last year and a half. I’ve changed careers, built a new business… I never would’ve imagined in a million years that I’d be where I am today, doing what I’m doing today.</p>
<p>I just had to thank my lucky stars. <img src='http://www.natashafondren.com/writing/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':-)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p><span class="question">What about you? What are your lucky stars?</span></p>
<hr />
<p><a href="http://www.natashafondren.com/writing/my-adventures/my-lucky-stars/">Visit this post on my Blog.</a></p>
<p><small>© Natasha Fondren for <a href="http://www.natashafondren.com/writing">Natasha Fondren</a>, 2011. |
<a href="http://www.natashafondren.com/writing/my-adventures/my-lucky-stars/#comments">6 comments</a>
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		<title>Ode to a Slower Life</title>
		<link>http://www.natashafondren.com/writing/full-time-writing/ode-to-a-slower-life/</link>
		<comments>http://www.natashafondren.com/writing/full-time-writing/ode-to-a-slower-life/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2009 05:21:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Natasha Fondren</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Full-Time Writing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gratitude]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Working one job rocks. Before, there was always something else needing to be done. If I had a day off from one job, it was to work the other. I generally took a complete day off once every two or three months, and sometimes managed a few days in a row during Christmas, but mostly [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span class="caps">Working one job rocks.</span> Before, there was <em>always</em> something else needing to be done. If I had a day off from one job, it was to work the other. I generally took a complete day off once every two or three months, and sometimes managed a few days in a row during Christmas, but mostly I worked every day, 12-16 hours. If I took even half a day off, I’d feel guilty because there was a huge list of to-dos just glaring at me.</p>
<p>Now?</p>
<p>I get up. I go to my computer. I usually have one or two tasks and that’s it. Granted, the one task might be write 5,000 words or finish the edits on an essay, but when I’m done?</p>
<p>I’m done. And I’m usually done between 3 and 6.</p>
<p>I get to take a walk. I get to sit around a campfire with my best friend, her husband, and my niece. Cook a real dinner. I get to enjoy a little life. I get to talk to people “live.”</p>
<p>I get to read more!</p>
<p>And when I go somewhere? It’s okay if I get lost (three times). I don’t bother looking at my map, because if it takes me an extra hour to get there, no big deal. I just enjoy the drive.</p>
<p>Another bonus? I have no need to “escape” home in order to write. I can work at home! Granted, home is in a camper that’s all windows, so I feel like I’m outside. Granted, I’ve got a pretty cornfield on one side, a green, grassy field on another, and a creek running beside me. Fresh air and a clean breeze are in ample supply.</p>
<p><span class="question">So what do you do when you’re done for the day?</span></p>
<hr />
<p><a href="http://www.natashafondren.com/writing/full-time-writing/ode-to-a-slower-life/">Visit this post on my Blog.</a></p>
<p><small>© Natasha Fondren for <a href="http://www.natashafondren.com/writing">Natasha Fondren</a>, 2009. |
<a href="http://www.natashafondren.com/writing/full-time-writing/ode-to-a-slower-life/#comments">28 comments</a>
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