Category: Dogs

Animals, Creativity, Dogs, Emotions, family, Life, Nature, Photography, Writing

Gratitude

1972italy

This morning’s coffee of choice is the BOLD (says so on the outside of the box) vanilla cream puff.  And at 6am I need all the bold (sorry BOLD) I can get.  I am becoming a night person again but I still have to get up early in the morning to have my writing time since that is when everyone is asleep.  It is so weird being up when it is dark out…

Today I will share some short video clips of the hummingbird encounter from yesterday morning.  I had a few minutes to sit outside with the kids before I needed to get out the door for work.  As I sat there a hummingbird came right up to me and hung out for a bit.  I was even able to take some photos (they are “live” photos but in order to share all of the moments I just changed them to video).  It was very cool!

Another big thing happened yesterday… (drum roll please!)  My blog hit over 1000 followers!  🤗 I am so excited!  It was a milestone that I wondered if I would ever hit and I have so thank you to everyone!  It is so awesome to think that over 1000 people around the world read what I write!

Essie keeps wandering in here to get love or to see what I am doing.  Silly pup.  I got home from work last night and was able to get a bunch of stuff done off my list.  I am also trying to get Dad to FaceTime today (I almost wrote tomorrow because it is dark outside still) after I get home from work.  Tomorrow is just too full.  And most importantly that is supposed to be my day with Chris.  I don’t want to spend it on the phone (Dad and I literally can talk for hours).  So we’ll see if I get an email back today.  It sounds like he is getting his new laptop set up as close to his old computer as he can get.  Jean Luc has got him a special account set up on Amazon so he can make his own purchases (no more PayPaling me the money yay!).

I had better get going.  I just looked at the clock.  Thanks so much for reading and following my blog!  Stay safe and have a great day!

Animals, Creativity, Dogs, Emotions, family, Learning, Life, Thinking, Writing

What to Do First?

1972italy

I am so behind!  Lol.  I finally got almost a full night of sleep (a coughing fit was to only real interruption… air too dry) and the kids let me sleep in until almost 9:30am.  And since it is my day off I read a few more blogs than normal.  And here it is almost 10:30am and I haven’t even posted to my blog let alone looked at my classwork.  Normally it would be all be done by now buuuuuut….  The kids aren’t helping as Stella and Essie wander in every few minutes to try to get me outside.  I told them if the sun came out today (it has been cool, overcast and rainy the past few days) we would spend some quality time outside.  My babies.. Chris has also been a gem with everything he is doing around the house to help.  ❤

I made up a whole to do list for today.  There are a few things that I may put off til Thursday.  It feels like so much needs to get done.  But I guess now is as good a time as any to start prioritizing everything.  I still haven’t talked to my parents since last week.  No, Mom and I talked the other night after I got home.  That taught me that I shouldn’t do that on days that I work.  Trying to catch up on everything just before bed is a bad idea.  Mom messaged me that I should talk to them about my hours.  I will mention to them that I have worked every weekend since I hired in.  I was told that I would not be expected to do that but I have.

I can’t believe that tomorrow is the first day of September already.  Tomorrow is Tuesday but since today feels like Sunday since Chris will be home with me the week will be off.  I’d rather have my week off and spend time with him.  Tomorrow also is the 29th birthday of my eldest son (wherever he is).  I am constantly amazed at how much time passes.  So I guess that is a sign to make the most of what I have.  And as I type that Stella has come in to put her paws on my chair to remind me to go outside.  Again.  Lol.  So I suppose that I will try to get through my classwork and then outside we go.  (If I was still ahead with my classwork I might let this week’s slide but I’m not.)  Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Animals, Dogs, Emotions, family, Gardening, Learning, Life, Nature, Photography, Thinking, Writing

Light at the End of the Tunnel (and It’s Not Flashing)

1972italy

And the drama continues… hopefully after today it will be done.  Atleast in regards to the electricity.  Without going into too much detail the house/garage was not properly grounded out.  Since that has been remedied things have been ok.  They will be tweaking a few other things today (assuming it doesn’t rain) and then we will see where we stand.  So the kids have to deal with the power going out one more time so things can get fixed.  I am grateful Chris has the day off and can stay home with them.

I didn’t get much sleep last night.  Despite being stressed I couldn’t sleep so I was awake until 1am.  Amazingly the pups were awake too.  Everyone is sleeping now though.  I tried to sleep in but didn’t.  I got home later than normal too because of the extra work closing at the courtesy counter.  They are doing all kinds of things to keep their employees happy at work.  I won $50 cash this week in a drawing.  Last week (?) was a $40 gift card.  I am hoping that I get Monday and Thursday off next week.  Chris has taken them off to be with me.  Monday was his suggestion but Thursday I have a meeting.  I should know today.

I encountered a bit of an annoyance for class.  What they did was have the next set of classes start on the day you finished.  So working ahead only worked for the previous class.  I am back to having to make sure I turn in my papers on time instead of being a week or more ahead.  So Monday (or my next day off) I will try to get atleast a week ahead of things.

I worry that Stella is getting an ear infection.  I notice that more and more she is shaking her head.  That is usually a sign of an ear infection.  Not to mention all the dirt that girl gets in her ears chasing that damn ball!  I try to clean them out ever once in a while to keep the dirt from getting too deep into her ears but that is a losing battle.

I found a small frog sitting at one of our ponds yesterday.  That made me feel good.  I don’t think it is a peeper.  I think it is still a baby.  In regards to the gardens the tomatoes are going like crazy but none are ripening yet.  We probably have about twenty growing on the one plant.  The beans are still going well and the green pepper plant has atleast three peppers starting on it with the possibility of more buds.  The memorial garden is going very well too.  Some of the flowers are blooming so I have hopes for the food stuffs in with them.  I will try to take some photos soon.

I had better wrap this up for today.  Thank you everyone for your kind words and support!  Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Animals, Dogs, Emotions, family, Gardening, Learning, Life, Photography, Thinking, Writing

Electrifying!

1972italy

This morning I was setting things up in my office and the electrical started doing the whole flashing on and off thing.  I turned off Chris’s computer and the AC  in the living room and that seemed to stabilize everything.  I can get online again.  I can barely see the keyboard because I am surrounded by the dogs (the power surges really freaked everyone out… they finally stopped shaking) and can’t reach the switch.

It is almost as dark as night but according to the Weather Channel no precipitation.  We’ll see.  I was hoping to get some class work done this morning.  I was awake at 6am but didn’t really want to get up.  I gave up at 7am.  I don’t have to be to work til 1pm today.  But I am hoping a friend will be able to come over before I go to work to help with the electrical.  Especially after the surging this morning.  If we can’t leave the AC on then it is going to be way warm for the dogs.  With the AC on it was still pretty warm when I got home last night.

This whole thing with the electrical really worries me.  I don’t want to come home to a fire.  We still have to get the fixes done on the garage before the snow flies and my Jeep fixed.  I should have a check waiting for me at work today so I can get that deposited and pay bills before work tomorrow.  That will be a relief.  That will catch me up for the month I believe.

I think I will ask our neighbors across the street to keep an eye on the house today while we are gone.  I will feel better if I can message them every once in a while to make sure all is well.  I am surprised they are all still in the office with me.  My babies.

I haven’t done much with the camera.  Partly because not enough time but the other thing is I don’t know how much space is left on the memory card.  I need to get another one.  I’ll see if I have some extra.  They aren’t too expensive.  Then I can start adding some more to the blog.  I need to get out and check the gardens too.  I’ve not been out there in a few days.  I am getting some beans in finally!  There are a TON of tomatoes coming in on the one plant.  I am hope the one in the memorial garden will start to blossom soon.

I should wrap this up and try to get some of my classwork done.  Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Dogs, Emotions, family, Life

Storms

1972italy

This will be an awkward post as we have severe storms rolling through here and a lot of this will be typed with one hand due to the Pitbull in my lap and the other at my side (Moose is asleep on the couch).  The storms started around 3am or 4am this morning.  They are supposed to last til around 10am or so.  I hope they ease up before I got Fast enough that I had to flip the off switch on Chris’s computer instead of turn it off the regular way by using the pull up menus.  It was like someone flipping a switch on and off.

I messaged Chris at work in a panic because I don’t want any of the electronics fried.  By the time he messaged me back (maybe a few minutes) I had checked all the breakers and done as much trouble shooting as I could on my own.  I tried to get under the house thinking that an animal was responsible but ended up covered in spiders for my trouble (I still think that is it because there are an inordinate amount of flies that keep appearing on my office, I shew them all out the window and put the screen back back but a few hours later there are 20 or more around there so I’m thinking beneath my office is a body).  I even spit out a spider.  Yech!

The long and short is that Chris ended up coming home from work to help figure out what was wrong.  The power to the house was turned off and on many times during this process which really stresses the dogs out.  Moose would not leave my side, Stella was just freaking and pacing getting in everyone’s face and Essie hid under a table in the yard and would not come in, even once it was all done (we ended up just cutting the power to the garage).  It took me a while to finally coax her in.  We were in bed by 11pm or so.  Then the storms came.

Oh and I ended up missing my meeting last night.  I was on and at the meeting (I had to restart all the internet stuff twice) then all the sudden the power went.  Again.  By the time we’d gotten it all straightened out the meeting was a done deal.  So I sent an email to my editor explaining that we had lost power and I missed the meeting because of it.

I received my certificate for my second class yesterday and I started the next one.  This is about character.  I had hoped to watch some of the videos before work but that would mean going back into my office (I am in the living room on the floor).  I don’t think I would get much done with the girls trying to get into my lap in the chair.  So I will make another cup of coffee and read out here.  I hope everyone has a better day.  Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Animals, Creativity, Dogs, dreams, Emotions, family, Life, Thinking, Writing
1972italy

I woke during the night feeling guilty.  No idea why.  I hadn’t done anything to feel guilty about.  But that feeling spurred a line of thinking of things that I had done wrong over the years that I did feel guilty about.  So I tossed and turned trying to think of something else.  Not much sleep happened.  Even my dreams I thought in the dreams that I wasn’t going to get much sleep.

I got batteries for two of my favorite toys, my Trex and my dragon from the Harry Potter books Norbert (he came from the egg that Hagrid got).  The Trex has a controller that makes him walk (forward only) and Norbert yawns, eats, burps fire, sneezes fire, giggles (there is a spot you can tickle him) and stretches his wings.  I had rechargeable batteries in both toys but they never lasted very long so I splurged and got regular batteries.  Chris got a good laugh when I brought each of the toys in and ran them through what they could do.  The dogs were not amused.

I am glad I have the day off but I find myself leaning toward not wanting to go back to work.  I suppose that if I didn’t have to work the courtesy counter I would be less inclined to not wanna be there.  But I am getting everything done that I need to so I shouldn’t complain.

Well crap.  I just realized that I will need to send in my word count for this month soon and I don’t seem to have any of the papers set aside so I will need to rely on my emails.  I hope I have kept all the emails from this month.  I should probably print them out after I finish this.  It is so unusual for me to not keep the papers.  Hmmmm…..

I guess I should see if there are any stories that I can read and review for class.  As of yesterday there was only one other student that had gotten as far as I had.  Thanks for reading and stay safe!

 

Animals, Creativity, Dogs, Emotions, family, Food, Gardening, Learning, Life, Nature, Thinking, Writing

Do This Now or Do This Later?

1972italy

While I am grateful to have today off I am fighting with myself over what needs to get done today.  I have been trying to keep on top of things in my life and not put things off that I can do today.  To be sure I can get it all done today and relax tomorrow.  But I also know that I will not really relax tomorrow because I have the meeting that I need to cover for the paper tomorrow night.  So now the question is do I just divide things up between the two days?  I am very proud of myself for keeping up with as much as I have with everything going on.  I don’t want to lose that.

I plan to get classwork done as much as possible this morning.  I will try do do a bit more tomorrow morning.  It is nice because Chris is asleep and the kids can chill with me or go outside so I have relative quiet to watch the videos from class and do the required writing.  If Chris is still asleep then the kids and I will be outside.  I notice that the humidity has really effected the garden so I need to go out and water everyone today.  I know that they are reflecting how I have been feeling.  I make it a point to talk to the plants and thank them for not dying on me lol.

The body is sore from work.  Not bad sore but using muscles that I haven’t in a long time (well except for my right arm, that pain is the tendonitis).  We tried to have a nice dinner after I got home from work last night but the meat I brought home did not taste right so that kind of spoiled things.  But it was still nice to spend time with the family.  I barely made it through one episode of Supernatural before I had to call it a night.

Two things I do need to do today are call Mom and talk and FaceTime with Dad.  It has been over a month for Dad and I due to his computer being down.  Mom and I have done random texts but yesterday she needed to talk and had to leave a voice message because I was at work.  I may put making treats off until tomorrow.  I don’t plan on going anywhere so I shouldn’t need to dole any out.  Besides I have the hot dogs I can use for bribes if needed.

I should probably get to my classwork while I have time.  Thanks for reading and all the support!  Stay safe!

Dogs, Emotions, family, Friends, Gardening, Learning, Life, Motorcycles, Thinking, Writing

Getting It Together

1972italy

I just have to get through today.  I switched with the other Jennifer at work because they had me working 6 days in a row.  Yesterday morning was miserable.  Anything that could got wrong did.  I’m not sure why I am closing all the time.  I seem to be the only one that is doing that.  The other new hires are working more mornings and getting out at a normal time.  It was my understanding that I would be on mornings but… I guess not.

This morning I am writing in the living room.  I told the kids that I would come out here for a bit so they didn’t all have to cram into the office.  Moose takes up as much room as he can to keep his sisters out.  Then he gets mad because Stella is content to curl up and sleep on my feet.  Lol.

Next week will be my first week with both jobs (the grocery store and the paper) as well as class.  I am going to try to keep ahead a week for as long as I can.  That way if a week is too busy and I fall behind my classwork won’t suffer.

I’ve gone from all kinds of time to no time for family and friends.  Mom and I barely text and Dad has asked if we can FaceTime (I think his computer has been repaired but I’ve not had a chance to ask) but I’ve had to say no because I was at work.  I don’t think it would be such a big deal but it happened so fast.  I mean I was hired on the spot and started almost the next day and have been going full time ever since.

I think Monday will be my day to catch up on everything.  I need to do some stuff around the house and yard as well as try to catch up with family and friends.  I am grateful I have been able to come home to Chris and the kids these past few days.  I need to keep reminding myself that I have a meeting on Tuesday that I need to cover.  It is via Zoom so I can stay home and watch.  Out of the 4 monthly meetings that I cover only one still meets in person.  I prefer the Zoom meetings and will be sad when I have to start driving to all the meetings again.

I am happy to say that the Pearl (also known as the Black Pearl my 1992 Honda CBR600) is now residing in the garage.  My awesome husband moved her in there from the shed yesterday while I was at work.  I think I will atleast clean her up tomorrow.  I am very excited because this means I can start trying to get her running again.  She has been sitting stuck in the shed for many years (since I had to lay her down) so she needs to have everything gone through.  It would be awesome to have both bikes running! ❤

I have run on quite a bit this morning.  But the bottom line is things are looking up.  Thanks to everyone for their kind words and support!  As always thanks for reading and stay safe!

Creativity, Dogs, Emotions, family, Gardening, Life, Photography, Thinking, Writing

Off Balance

1972italy

I don’t know how long or short this post will be.  My right arm really hurts from the tendonitis.  I need to get a brace for my forearm and for my elbow but that can’t happen until I get paid.  And if I get the song and dance about how it takes a few weeks to get things set up I may have to figure out whether or not to stay.  That is becoming a big concern.

I woke up this morning and let Stella out and went back to bed.  I was sorely tempted to try to sleep another hour but I couldn’t remember if I started work at 10am or 11am.  I didn’t want to rush myself or the dogs.  I feel as though I have gotten no sleep at all.  I shouldn’t be this exhausted.

My mind is a total blank right now.  I keep staring at things around the room then remember that I am supposed to be writing.  Then I stare at the screen and wonder hat to write.  Here’s a random thought.  With Hollywood essentially shut down I wonder how many actors and actresses will find it hard to go back to that after being able to live like a “normal” person for all these months.  I’m sure some of them are itching to get back because that is their passion.  I just wonder about the rest.

I did promise garden photos.  Hang on while I go take them.  I got home last night and we essentially played til dark after they ate.  Be right back….

Ok I got this pics.  I am gonna wrap it up on here for today.  The typing is making my arm worse.  I took some photos of all the new tomatoes coming in as well as some green peppers that are sprouting out.  Minion’s memorial garden has taken off since I added the extra dirt the other day.  I think I will have to water them all tonight when I get home.  Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Animals, Creativity, Dogs, Emotions, family, Gardening, Learning, Life, Nature, Photography, Thinking, Writing

Keeping a Steady Pace

1972italy

This morning finds me actually ready to face the day.  I got quite a bit accomplished yesterday including getting a week ahead on my class work.  I still need to watch the rest of my videos today so I can try to get the writing portion done.  The kids got their nails trimmed (I finally made puppy treats so I could bribe them), the mouse cage got cleaned out, laundry and dishes got done, trash went out and I got the tree out front trimmed and some weeding done.  If I can continue to keep things up this way I will be very happy with myself.

Getting my mind to not focus on trying to do it all at once is the tough part.  My mind will sit back and say, “Holy crap that’s a lot to have to get done!” and then I freeze and nothing gets done.  So when I feel the panic rising I try to focus on something else.

I really want to stay home and work on my writing but I know once I get to work I will be fine.  I feel bad because the deeper I get into my writing the less time I spend with the family.  And on mornings that I work that means the kids don’t get to play or do much of anything.  I don’t see Chris until his days off because he is still asleep when I leave.  But on the days I do see him I seem to be glued to the laptop doing class or outside reading up on something.  It will be a fine line balancing act.  But I suppose a lot in life can be like that.

With Fall approaching it will be interesting to see if the COVID predictions will be accurate with a new wave coming through.  I’m glad I don’t have to work outside of our little town.  But it is a wait and see.  Changes are always happening whether we want them to or not.

I intended to take some photos of how the gardens were growing yesterday but I never got round to it.  I will try to do that either before or after work today so I can share them tomorrow on here.  I still have no idea how to tell where the beans are in their growth.

I will wrap this up for now and try to get some more classwork done before work.  Thanks for reading and stay safe!