This space for rent
I am not a country music fan...
But this man singing made me cry. I would actually BUY his music. I wasn't the only one moved either. Watch this and you will see what I mean:
This man is a simple, country guy. Watch the end and see how HE reacted to their reaction..
Hot fun on the water
Well guess what? I did some kayaking for the first time ever. Yep, first time. I had a blast! It was not as difficult for me as I expected it to be and I didn't fall apart afterward. I am sore, and last night my right shoulder wasn't very happy- but after a few ibuprofen and a magnet on it for a couple hours it was fine. My lower back is sore today but that could be from sleeping so long!
I went to Pinecrest Lake with two of the three women I work with at the college (one is my boss) and another instructor, plus some friends of theirs. All of us women and a bunch of kayaks and a canoe. We had a pile of dogs also. Annie Mouse did NOT want to be in the kyak with me and I have a 4" long one inch wide gash and bruise on my right calf to prove it. She left me with 6 giant scraps and this one huge contusion which is still swollen and has a hard knot in it. Ouch. Well some tricks you can teach an old dog but not riding in a boat..
I got skunked on the fishing end but at least had fun with the kayak. If I could handle getting out of one better than I did yesterday I might think about getting one. It was awesome on the water and they made the oar for me so I didn't have to take those big long strokes which was easier on my shoulders.
It was so calm and peaceful plus I had plenty of room for fishing gear etc.
That just might be the ticket!
Anyway, they took some photos of me out there so I have proof!
Enjoying the calm
Gliding along
Waving to shore
I was quite a ways out there as you can see. The kayak was pretty stable and open so I wasn't worried about tipping it over. It was just a lot of fun! And for someone like me that fishes, I could get to my fishing spots so fast and so quietly. What I would save on boat rentals would more than pay for the kayak in one summer. But I am just dreaming about it right now. I don't have the money obviously.
I may do some window shopping however.....
Hope everyone else is having a great summer so far!
Summer marches on....
I want to thank everyone for their heartfelt thoughts on the loss of my Crouton. I just picked up her ashes yesterday. At least she is now home. I do miss her, especially at night.
But last night I woke myself up laughing. Yes, laughing in my sleep. Then I laughed at the fact that I woke myself up laughing and fell right back to sleep. But it was enough that I did remember it this morning. So life goes on..
I have been so freaken busy that I have barely a day to myself. Well today is one of those and if I can help it the rest of the week will be also.
Next week I am going to be running around for three days in a row running errands, doctor’s appointments, etc. So this week I get some rest. I was so tired last week that when I saw my daughter on Sunday she thought something was wrong with me because I was so quiet. Well being a zombie will do that to a gal…
So I have been forcing myself to bed at my normal time of 10 pm instead of midnight which is so easy for me to do. I have been feeling better already! Sleep is really not appreciated very much except by our teenagers who seem to think that sleeping 17 hours a day is normal and necessary.
My daughter has started her internship in Yosemite valley and is doing really well. She supervises a bunch of volunteers that come and they remove ‘noxious and invasive species plants’ all around the valley floor. Why the heck anyone would volunteer for that is beyond me!! She said they pulled out 500 square feet of blackberrie brambles last week. OUCH. Those are nasty plants and they do take over. In the back woods here we gather the berries in August but so many of them are near the roads that I quit eating them. Who knows what they suck up in the soil by the side of the road? Lead used to be the problem but not as much anymore with the no lead gases. Still. Yuk. When I moved here in 1976 my boyfriend (Josh’s dad) and I used to harvest food all over this county. Wild apples, pears, grapes and berries. It was a veritble feast. Progress (if that is what you want to call it) has taken out many of the areas that had this free food. But it is still out there for the taking if you want it. There are abadoned apple orchards all over this county from the 1800s. Truly. There is a large one in Yosemite also that the bears frequent every night. I never knew that beart paddies were so huge!!
Not many know where that orchard is either and I am not telling.
But I don’t collect that stuff anymore. It just takes so much energy to gather it, clean it and then can it up. I have no freezer space so I would have to can. Maybe canning again isn’t a bad idea with the cost of foods these days. Canned tomatoes would be the way to go- I use those more than canned fruit in the winter.
I have been returning to a lot of my old ways ever since both kids have flown the nest. Almost all organic food now, loads of veggies, no sugar in the house, even less chicken and fish now. Mostly all vegetarian dishes. Lots of rice and veggies. So how come I am still battling the bulge? Well- not being able to exercise like I did thanks to my FM and the muscle pain I have. But I still do my yoga and am walking more now. I also got a book and some audio mp3s from Jon Gabriel who lost over 200 lbs with this method he started. No diets, no tricks. Just some common sense and thoughts about being safe. I don’t know how much it will help but since I was last weighed a month or two ago I have lost 6 lbs. Now I couldn’t tell you if it was from being more active or eating less (not last night!) or this thought process but I don’t care. If I keep going I will finally start shedding this excess weight. I have to do this on my own- I cannot afford pills, shots or the gym. So wish me luck and I will let you know how it is going. I may not lose anything but I am determined to this time. I HAVE TO. Its that simple. I have to lose this weight for my health. So no shortcuts, just hard work and determination. The problem I have seen is that if you only have 25-35 lbs to lose it is much harder than losing over 100lbs!! I have no idea why, but really obese peopele seem to lose weight faster. And my age is a factor also.
So I am not obessessing over it but I am working on it. I did splurge on beer and pizza Tuesday night when the Wings were playing game 6 of the finals. Friday is the last game. I am switching back to Bloody Marys for way less calories and will eat a sensible meal instead of cheap pizza. Yuk. I paid for that dearly later on as it is!!
I have no clue if I will be able to get away this summer at all. My cousin wants me to come down on the July 4th weekend as Poppa and my aunt will be there. So I may jet down there then. I want to go to the beach and D and talked a tiny bit about going together, but I haven’t heard a peep from him since. So we shall see.
So that is all that is happening here in the hills of the Sierras. I am updating my vet tech blog today also but have a ton of homework and web work to do. Photoshop work for an old friend that is an acupuncturist. I told him I would trade with him for some treatments that can help my FM and maybe this muscle pain. Awesome!
So I better get to it.
Peace to all. Have a great and safe summer.
Half Dome-Yosemite Valley
photo by Jemma Williams
Ummm ya...
Well,
I have to tell you, the last three weeks have been a blur. Last Saturday I lost my 15 yr old cat Crouton. She was my girl, my baby that slept with me every night, rode around on my shoulders all the time, and was a funny, and beautiful girl.
She was fine until two weeks ago and then almost overnight she went into massive renal failure. I knew it was coming, it was just a matter of time. Over the last two years she had a couple of episodes of being dehydrated and lethargic.
So I was waiting for the other shoe to fall, so to speak.
And it did. I did hospice care at home here for her for a week and a half but on Saturday morning I found her under Jemma's bed hiding, and I knew it was time.
So ends one era of my life. It is very odd but that is what happens when my animals go- having stretched their lives through so many things in my life, they end whole chapters. She was my last connection to Floyd, my cat that lived to be 19. He was my last connection to moving here in 1979- to this house that is. So on and on it goes. Annie Mouse will be my last connection to where I worked for 20 yrs and adopted her from. Not to mention to Cameo. And Zinny, Jemma's cat that lives with me, will be my last connection to both Crouton, Cameo and Annie Mouse.
It is really strange I know, but I mark time that way I guess. Crouton was with me through both of my kids growing up and leaving home. She marked freedom for us all, as I got her the summer after my divorce was started.
She was there with me through my Mom dieing. Through the hell I went through with D. Through losing Cameo.
She was always there. And now she is gone. I am heartbroken but I have learned since losing my Mom that nothing is permanent except impermanence. She is no longer suffering from kidneys that won't work. She is at peace and having given me everything she could for 15 yrs, I gave her the ultimate gift of ending her suffering. I tell all my clients that, but it is so damn hard to do it yourself when you are a vet tech. We always keep trying more, more, more. It's just hard to let go. I waited until she told me she was ready- and told me she did. When I pulled her out from under the bed, she gave me the 'look'.
So I heeded her message and took her down to the hospital where I had gotten her 15 yrs before.And in the same room that we met in so long ago, she took her last breath. I was sobbing of course over her, holding her head and whispering to her, but it was fast and peaceful.
I am getting used to her not being her but I keep looking for her every day. It's just the way it is.
I felt really bad that the one week before I put her down I was so busy I was gone most of the time. She was here sleeping anyway, but I still felt bad I wasn't here to sit with her. I did take a day or two and did just that.
So forgive my absence. I have been so busy otherwise on top of that that I haven't had a moment to read blogs let alone post one. I haven't seen many new blogs anyway and I am wondering why. Maybe everyone is busy with summer. Between here and EFX2, blogspot and Vox we are so scattered I really hate it.
Fractured. Just like my heart at the moment. But fractures do heal in time......
Rest in peace my beautiful Crouton.
Wiggle Room....
Well the Wings won their last game against the Ducks (don’t read this Laurie) so there is a chance for us as we go back to the Joe Louis Arena on Sunday. I am going to be on the edge of my seat the whole time. If we lose we have one more chance which will take this game to 7 for sure. If we win we will have to win two more which will still take the game to seven. So at this point it gets really nerve wracking.
Other than that.. I am enjoying my time off of work. I am driving to the school every other day to take care of Rebecca, who happens to be a 7 ft long red tail boa. I took a ton of pictures of him (yes it is a he- they didn’t know that at first) but they are on my desktop computer which is down right now and reinstalling Windoze XP Pro. I cloned my hard drive onto a new drive as I was having boot up issues and now I am getting a weird install error so I decided to wipe the new drive and do a fresh install. It is taking a really long time for some reason so I am stuck with the old laptop of mine with the crazy mouse. It’s a lazer mouse I bought but it acts like an optical yet it jumps like craZy all over the place. I slowed down the mouse properties in the c.p. but it didn’t help a lot.
If anyone has had issues with one of these please let me know. The worst part of my desktop being down is that my drawing class is ending right now and I needed to be able to scan stuff with my printer. What a pain…
Today I am heading out across the river to an art walk in the cute little town of Murphys. The Mother Lode parade is today (second longest in length parade in the usa) so I usually leave town or stay home. I thought it would be good to get out of Dodge so to speak. The parade and subsequent rodeos really bring out the cowboys and the rednecks in this good ole town. Thanks but I will skip it. I guess I should be grateful for the progress this town has made over the last 34 yrs but it was a much nice place to live back then-rednecks included.
Oh well such is life. And by the way, I am meeting up with a very cute male friend of mine…. (wink wink)
Happy Saturday and if I am not here tomorrow- Happy Mother’s Day to all those Mothers and mothers to be.
I already wished my Mom one……..
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