Despite my best efforts

Without much forethought or effort, I can string together a mighty onslaught of insults about where I live. If you've known me for any length of time, you have probably been subject to one of my tirades.

For the last few days, I have tried to limit what it is I let annoy me about living here. My thought is that if I lessen the amount of complaining I do I will see a reduction in my unhappiness. By taking all of the things that get on my very last nerve and trying to ignore them, I might be more content with my own situation. On paper (or the screen), it looks like a good idea. In practice it is proving to be quite the challenge.

One of my largest problems with the area in which I live is my own boredom with it. I talk about what there ISN'T to do here but I realized that I have not done any real research into the matter. The question crossed my mind: What if I've lived down here since March of 2005 and because I ASSUMED that nothing of any interest was occurring, I have been missing out on things I might enjoy? So this morning, I made it my mission to explore the arts and entertainment calendar of the Rio Grand Valley. Here is what I found that I can put on my December Calendar:
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Candlelight Posada, Archer Park, McAllen, first Friday and Saturday nights in December. Christmas entertainment with a South Texas flair...food booths, luminarias, twinkling lights, caroling and a live Nativity scene.
Christmas Boat Parade, Port Isabel, early December. Don't miss this spectacular parade as boats make their way from Port Isabel along the causeway and along the bay at South Padre Island.
A Christmas Celebration, Edinburg, second Saturday in December, celebrates the season with mariachis, dancers, a crafts fair and Las Posadas production.
Christmas Street Parade, South Padre Island, early December. Grab your favorite parking spot on Padre Blvd. for the enchanting Christmas Street Parade.
Winter Vegetable Show, Pharr, early December, showcases the Valley's many vegetables shown by 4-H and Future Farmers of America members.

I'm particularly enthralled by the last entry. I am ashamed to admit that I have wasted SO much time complaining about the cultural void here when I could have been looking at a 10th grader's tomato. What an ass I am.

I have spent a while looking up what I would like to do in Houston and I realized that there was more to do in the WEEK of December 3^rd than I have time to post on this blog. They are all activities that I miss having available to me; musical concerts, art exhibitions, book signings, the theatre, etc. And I should note, I did not do all of the things I wished when I actually lived in Houston. I had all of it available but had not the funding to partake in it. Now, with plenty of income available for artistic adventures, I have nothing to do but look at the size of an eighteen year olds zucchini.

Is my dilemma clear?