Back to (Hand) Writing

I really want to get back to consistent writing on my blog. I’ve been so focused on Notesprout in my free time that I haven’t taken time to write out what I’ve been thinking about lately. And I think that is contributing to the noise in my head. I already have a busy mind in general. Writing in my blog and journal have been quite helpful. But these past few months, I haven’t been writing here much. So, I’d like to get back to it. Have I mentioned that before…LOL Fortunately, I continue my daily journal…hehehe

Today’s entry is being written by hand in Notesprout. When I’m done writing, I’ll convert it to text and correct anything the conversion misses. I don’t yet have that directly working in Notesprout. But I do plan to have that option someday soon. Being able to build this tool is such a blessing. And it’s great that I can work on all the features I really want and make some amazing things possible.

As I recently wrote about, June didn’t go quite like I expected. That isn’t a bad thing, though. It was still an excellent month after all. And that’s coming after an amazing spring. I still plan to write about our May vacation soon. I just need to get back into my writing flow. I don’t rush the important things anymore. June has been a nice time to slow down and relax. I just wish I hadn’t taken a break from writing…LOL

Sadly, I’m not feeling the 250th birthday of my country. I’ve typically been the patriotic spirit that loves being from the USA. Unfortunately, the nation is being run by people I can’t relate to. I’m trying to be nice by wording it that way…LOL It isn’t just the one guy. It’s also all of the people who allow what he is doing. I’ll get over this. It just makes me sad that I feel this way on such a milestone year. I watched the new Soarin’ Across America at Disney on Friday. I think I’m the only one who didn’t enjoy it. I was glad to be done with it once it ended…LOL I’m sure my feelings about the USA have something to do with how I experienced that new version of an attraction I usually love.

On a better note, I’m otherwise the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. I’m experiencing most things from a much better perspective than I ever have. My heart remains open to all that God has been showing me about life. Although things can always be better, I can still find His goodness in most things. I’m in the middle of my life expectancy and grateful I have the outlook I do now. I don’t know what it’s like for most people, but I don’t hear a lot about the good others are experiencing. I mostly hear about the bad stuff they are experiencing. I’m happy to listen, of course. I’m only really saying that I feel happier than they sound…hehehe

I finished Cherie’s latest Bambi painting over the weekend and mailed it today. She’ll now have one for each of the four years we’ve known each other. It took me longer to make this one than it did the other three. I don’t suppose there is any particular reason why I took so much time with it. But I’m glad I didn’t rush it. I love how it turned out. I know she’ll love it and it will go nicely with her collection. I believe this one marks the moment when she’ll become the one with the most works “by Greg Marine” other than myself. At least official works. She has other things I’ve made as well. But not everything is a named work.

Tomorrow is the last day at work for fiscal year 2026. That means I’ve been with this company for 2 years now. My years of service will be 5 in September, though. They carried it over from the previous company. Plus I was a contractor before that. So, I’ve been at this job for 6 years now. This is the longest I’ve worked at the same job in my career. A lot of changes have happened in those 6 years. I’m grateful for the work I do and everything God provides through it. I’m excited to begin fiscal year 2027 on Wednesday and I’m happy I’m in my 7th year at the job.

I have a lot more on my mind. I hope to write more in the coming days. I’m glad I handwrote this entry. I’ve missed doing that. It felt good to do this today. It’s also helped get a few things off my mind. I needed this…hehehe

Side note: This is the first time I’ve used Claude AI to convert my handwriting to text. When I use to try to handwrite blog entries, I used Google’s Gemini. Gemini struggled to not change my sentences around. Claude was flawless with it tonight. I typed this side note…hehehe The rest was handwritten and I only made minor adjustments to things I wrote incorrectly in the first place…LOL