A Couple of Milestones -or- I Touch a Lemur

So this past week I’ve crossed a few milestones that I’ve got to say made me smile. One, I’ve now been a non-smoker for over 6 months! I took my last puff of a cigarette on December 12^th of last year and haven’t so much as touched a cigarette since. It was a tough road and one that I hope I will never have to travel again. I was a smoker for the better part of 15 years. 15 years! Now, 6 months out, I feel a lot better about walking away from it and it seriously feels like another lifetime that I was a smoker. Some days are better than others, and I’d be lying if I said I never have cravings, but they are so few and far between now that they are fairly easy to manage. So, yeah!

Second, this past week marked one year since my return from The Republic of Georgia. One whole year. Speaking of another lifetime… Georgia seems like it was so long ago but this past year seems like it’s flown by. Tons of my friends and family have gone through so much since I’ve been home that it feels like I’ve been here forever but at the same time this past year seems to have flown by too.  It was a good year though with a whole lot more ups than downs and I do believe that I’ve settled back into life in America (at least my version of it). I’ve managed to avoid a lot of the things I like to avoid and utilized the advantages of America as much as I can.

Speaking of; this past week, Christina and I went to Bee City in Cottageville, SC. Now Bee City I thought was more about the bees and honey but surprisingly there was a petting zoo that was tons of fun and I had a blast. There were monkeys that would catch cheerios, lamas, goats, emus, gophers, all kinds of birds, ponies, bunnies (Christina’s favorites) and lemurs. There were also snakes, turtles, and frogs but those were not a big favorite of anybody in our group. The nice people that ran it had a gift shop and café where we had some burgers and fries and browsed the honey selections.

There was a bee exhibit and it was kind of fun watching them go in and out of the hive, but for me, the lemurs were the highlight of the trip. They were so cool looking and they would just gently reach out and take a cheerio out of your hand. They would even sit there and wait patiently on their turn to get a treat. It was too cute and way more fun that I thought it would be. I ended up just walking around and smiling the whole time and if you can find a place that’ll make you do that, then you know you’ve found a good way to spend and afternoon.

After Bee City, we took a short drive over to Givhans Ferry State Park. There we took a walk on one of their nature trails and had an enjoyable stroll through the woods. State parks are one of the joys of South Carolina and we’ve had a great time at several of them in the Charleston area. In fact, this weekend we’re going to take the drive up to Table Rock State Park and do some camping up there. (pics and post to come)

This goat's hair was Faaaaaabulous 

Derpy looking Lama

Anyway dear reader, I only wanted to update you on the goings on this week and wish you the best. Bee Good!