Category: Life

Animals, anxiety, Creativity, Dogs, Emotions, family, Friends, Gardening, Learning, Life, Love, Nature, Photography, retail, Thinking, Writing
1972italy

Here we are at our first dark o’clock post. Archie is actually chewing a bone in the dark. Stella is of course sleeping beneath her blanket beside me. I actually woke up to my alarm this morning. It is going to be a long day!

The customer I told you about yesterday that lost her husband came in not long after I got there. We chatted and I gave her a big hug. Then I gave her sister (whom I work with) a big hug before she left later that afternoon. It was hard not to cry. But work kept me all over the place for pretty much the whole shift.

The repair guy never arrived yesterday. Never called to say he was held up at another job either. Chris had to call to find that out. After Chris was running late for work then they recommended he call someone else since the guy was only working a half day today and had Friday off. Neither of us were impressed. What did impress us though was the fact that two bags of puppy treats and a toy were left on the counter and they were still there when I got home last night. I was almost 20 minutes late too. I am very proud of both my babies!❤️🐾

Today will be another busy one. I have people to call, stock to put out, inventory prep to figure out…. Speaking of which I need to send in a last minute word count. Well updated. So I should wrap this up. Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Aging, Animals, anxiety, Creativity, Dogs, Emotions, family, Friends, Gardening, Life, Love, Nature, Photography, retail, the World, Thinking, Writing

Loss

1972italy

This morning I find myself in a funk. Before bed I found out that a regular customer (and family member of a coworker) died. He had been helping his wife recover from a stroke she had almost a year ago. It was always entertaining to see them together in the store. She was a tiny woman who was very feisty (the stroke was very hard for her as she is very independent) and he was the large man (over 6ft tall) who took all her remarks with a loving smile. I know that she is devastated. Then all over the news there seems to be an influx of death. More than normal.

I never got a response from the coworker that offered to switch shifts with me. I got ahold of the paper and explained the situation. Hopefully they did find someone to cover it. I got a response this morning that my coworker “just got” my message. I sent it yesterday morning and followed up several times. Of all the meetings I wanted to be able to go to this one and say goodbye. I will write an email and send it.

The pups are bored. Archie wants to be busy but Stella is used to the quiet in our morning routine. As the day wears on I am not thrilled about being outside so I try to encourage zoomies and playing so I can coax them outside to run around.

I still need to get myself together for the holidays. I have ideas but I have executed none. A guy is supposed to come out to look at both the oven and fridge between 11am and 2pm today. Hopefully it won’t cost an arm and a leg.

I am just sitting here staring at the screen. I guess I will take that as a hint and wrap this up. I should send in my word count for last month as well. Thanks for reading and stay safe.

Animals, anxiety, Creativity, Dogs, dreams, Emotions, family, Friends, Gardening, Learning, Life, Love, Nature, Photography, retail, Thinking, Writing

A Little of This and a Little of That

1972italy

This is later than intended. I let myself peruse more of not only the news but also our blogs. The day is overcast and gloomy. I don’t want to spend the day doing nothing, but it is so blah. We got a dusting of snow last night. Just enough to make everything white. Archie seems to want me to either pet or play with him, he doesn’t care which. Stella is asleep on her back behind me.

I need to see if my coworker is still willing to swap days tomorrow. I made a mistake and was looking at the wrong meeting. The meeting for this month will be tomorrow night. My one night a week that I work. I will lose about three hours but it is my last meeting for Parks and Rec. They have been one of my favorites to cover over the years. I want to tell them goodbye. Parks and Rec as well as the Harbor Commission I have gotten close with several of the people over the years. The other two meetings I don’t think anyone will notice I’m gone.

Archie is restless and getting on my nerves. He has gotten yelled at and is now sitting on the other side of the room giving me the sad eyes. He has reached the restless part of his morning. He wants to be playing or at the very least getting attention.

Weirdest thing last night before bed… I opened the door to let the kids out one last time before bed and I saw a deer jumping over the fence to the outside of the yard. It seems that we get more animals inside the fence since the “real” fence has gone up (it was chicken wire before). The dogs didn’t really seem to care.

We have someone coming to look at the fridge and oven tomorrow. Hopefully it will be an easy and inexpensive fix for both. Archie is laying with his head in my lap. My laptop has just gone into power saver mode so I guess that is my cue to wrap this up and ger it posted. Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Animals, anxiety, Cooking/Baking, Creativity, Dogs, Emotions, family, Food, Friends, Holiday, Life, Love, Nature, Photography, retail, Thinking, Writing

The Christmas Scramble (and I Don’t Mean Brunch)

1972italy

I am feeling a bit stressed. I have three articles to write, which isn’t really the big deal. The big deal is that I have to sit through two meeting recordings. I have no idea how long they are. I intended to get this written and posted earlier but Stella was a bit upset when we got up. She had spent the night in Chris’s office on the couch while Archie was in bed with us. I didn’t even get a tail wag when I came in to see her. Archie was a good boy and stayed in the living room while I gave Stella some one-on-one time. Right now they are both curled up behind me on the love seat. I have covered Stella up (when I went in to see her this morning she was in this tiny little ball trying to stay warm). She is snuggled into the blanket I brought home yesterday. It is REALLY soft and cozy. It was supposed to be for Archie to lay on but then I was with him and decided I liked it too. And now Stella has laid her claim. So I guess it is now the family blanket.

There is so much to do! I am trying to figure out Christmas ideas. Dad seems to be sending me something that he would like better than myself. I need to figure out my plans for my Secret Santa. I am on my third person for Secret Santa at work. The last person drew the last name yesterday. Out of 14 people she managed to get her own name. So I switched with her. But I didn’t want her to know who her person was so I switched with someone else. That turned out to be an even better thing because the person I switched with had no ideas for the name she had gotten. I was close to the person she drew and she knows the person I had well so it was a win/win! But I need to get buying my gifts. And making the puppy treats. I have several hundred that I plan to give out to various families.

I finally got a prototype of the newsletter I hope to put out for work completed. I saved a copy and printed a copy. The printed copy I photographed with my phone and sent to the store owner. He seemed very impressed by it. My goal is to have the first one ready to go by the new year. I have touched base with everyone that I need to get information from (I told them I would write the articles if they provided me with the information… such as new things coming to the deli and meat department and a list of recommended wines from our wine consultant) and explained that I needed as much as they could give me as soon as they could. Inventory is the 31st so I need to have everything together before then.

Speaking of having everything together I need to wrap this up and get going with the first article. I will need to duck into my office to watch the videos since I cannot find a single set of ear buds anywhere. But the first article will be for the Christmas event yesterday afternoon. Since the Grinch was there I am thinking of writing the article in the voice of Dr. Suess. I also need to download my photos to send. I will share them here as well. It will be a nice change. Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Animals, anxiety, Creativity, Dogs, Emotions, family, Friends, Gardening, Holiday, Learning, Life, Love, Nature, Photography, retail, Thinking, Writing

Moving Through December

1972italy

It is crazy how fast this month is going! I need to start buying my gifts for everyone. The last step in organizing the Secret Santa happens today. The last person gets to draw a name. Then it’s on to organizing the potluck.

Gah! I just found out that there actually was a meeting the other day. The Government Office was wrong. I am kind of bummed. I wanted to say goodbye to everyone. The flip side is that the recording for the meeting has already posted (bless them!) so that means I will crank out three articles Monday. I need to set myself an alarm so that I don’t leave work and just come home and stay. I will forget with everything going on.

I have (not so) little Archie sleeping next to me on the loveseat. He is dreaming about chasing something. I told him tomorrow at this time we would be sound asleep. I do need to make sure I have enough time for my articles. I need to make sure my earbuds are charged so I can watch the mattering recordings as well.

I should wrap this up and head to work. Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Animals, anxiety, Creativity, Dogs, dreams, Emotions, family, Friends, Gardening, Learning, Life, Love, Nature, Photography, retail, Thinking, Writing

One Thing and Another

1972italy

This morning it is just Archie and I on the love seat. I just looked outside and it seems to have changed from rain to snow outside. I just hope the snowfall doesn’t thicken until after I get to work. I don’t like driving in the dark as it is. Blinding snow will not help.

I think pretty much everything in the fridge either has going bad or is bad. The fridge has been limping along for a bit. Things just aren’t staying cold. The freezer is keeping things frozen for the most part. I’m not sure what we will do. Christmas is right around the corner and there are still gifts to buy. I need to replace the other set of brakes on my car as well.

I don’t know if I missed a meeting last night or not. There was nothing in their Facebook page (they list the meetings every week with times and dates). I called to verify and was told next week was the meeting. But when I looked at their transcript for last month’s meeting it said the meeting was scheduled for last night. I sent an email to my editor to let her know the situation. I guess we’ll see next week!

I need to wrap this up. I am hoping to remember everything I have going tomorrow as well…. Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Animals, anxiety, Creativity, Dogs, Emotions, family, Friends, Gardening, Holiday, Life, Love, Medical, Nature, Photography, retail, Thinking, Writing

Typing on the Run

1972italy

Instead of an alarm this morning I woke to Archie getting sick. Things come out a lot quicker from him. He barely made it to the doorway. It looked like a furry stuffed animal but I am not missing any. Sigh. Better out than in I guess. Unfortunately that was 15 minutes before my alarm was set to go off, 10 once I got back into bed.

Work was pretty fun. The running joke was the store owner thought I should dress like an elf (I told him I was covering our Santa event for the paper). I adamantly refused saying I was a Grinch about Christmas. So I’m a change of tack he decided I could dress like the Grinch instead. After a moment I said I would. Only if I could have Archie there dressed as Max (I have antlers he can wear… yes I know he only has one in the original). As things stand he will be talking to the store manager to see if I can bring Archie with me, lol.

I need to bolt. I hope you have an amazing day! Thanks for reading!

Animals, anxiety, Creativity, Dogs, Emotions, family, Food, Friends, Gardening, Holiday, Learning, Life, Medical, Nature, Photography, retail, Thinking, Travel, Writing

Mitigating the Migraine

1972italy

I’ve had maybe an hours sleep. With the weather changes the headache has become a migraine. I just want to curl up and be left alone.

I have both pups wrapped around me on the love seat. Chris is asleep in bed. I would give a lot to stay home with them today.

I have to stop at the post office on the way home. Our neighbor on the corner sent me a text last night letting me know that our mail person told her she needs to put her mailbox with ours. She has one by her house. No one sees a need to move it. I done want her mailbox on our property. That means she (or her boyfriend) will be stopping out front at all hours. They have a sketchy relationship. We don’t need that drama out front. So I need to find out what is up.

All is set for me to get out a little early Sunday so I can cover the Kids Christmas Party. I just need to figure out if I am stopping by home before I go to the park. Probably not. I will just have to bring my camera to work with me.

We drew names for the Secret Santa yesterday. I think there are three people left that need to draw names. Everyone seems very excited about it. I also am pulling the pot luck together I guess. Someone asked me to ask the manager if we could have one this year so I did. Now somehow I am in charge of it.

I think I will wrap this up and try some more medicine for my head. Thanks for reading and stay safe.

Animals, anxiety, Books, Creativity, Dogs, dreams, Emotions, family, Food, Friends, Holiday, Learning, Life, Love, Nature, Photography, retail, Thinking, Travel, Writing

Shuffling the Holiday Cheer Around

1972italy

The winds have been blowing since yesterday. The power has gone out and come back on. We got a little of the promised rain last night but with the temperature drop what precipitation we get will be snow. We are also under a winter storm advisory. Things are starting to get interesting.

Yesterday found me all over the place. I did get most of my running done but I got home a few hours later than I hoped. Mom and I spent time chatting over coffee at her place then we went out to lunch. We both had a very good time. Times like this I wish she lived closer. She needs to get out more than just to the senior center and the store.

I have also agree to add two more articles for the paper this month. I asked if they wanted someone to cover the Kids Christmas this weekend and Santa is coming to the Village Market on the 19th. They said yes. So I will be covering both along with photos. I enjoy doing articles with photos. So Sunday after work I will buzz over to the park and do my thing. I need to remember to bring my camera to work. The event starts at 1pm so I will have missed the first hour. I am tempted to ask is the night shift manager would mind coming in early so I can get there when it starts. I would like to get some photos of Santa arriving. I will talk to her today when I go in. I also need to drop off the stuff I got yesterday from Mom and my friend for the event.

Despite having two days off I have not touched my novel. Part of me is angry with myself but then there is the feeling that there is something cooking with it. That is needs to be left alone for right now. So I am not going to beat myself up for not working on it. I am going to trust the process.

I need to figure out a way to make sure I don’t forget my extracurricular activities. I get so much going and then I will get lost in the daily regular projects and completely forget the extras. Like I need to draw names for the Secret Santa at work today. Which reminds me, I should bring something to draw from. A Santa hat or some such. I could bring a stocking. That also reminds me that I need to get a stocking for Archie (I kept saying Moose in my head). This is why I have tons of lists all over the place..

I ought to wrap this up. My mind is whirling with things that I need to do. I did not get any new photos yesterday so it will be some repeats. Sorry about that. I hope you have a great day! Thanks for reading and stay safe!

Animals, Cooking/Baking, Creativity, Dogs, Emotions, family, Food, Friends, Gardening, Learning, Life, Love, Nature, Photography, Thinking, Travel, Writing

Feeling Good

1972italy

Well yesterday was a full day for me! I did laundry, dishes, watered the plants, filled the bird feeder, swept the kitchen, played with the pups AND made my first turkey soup from scratch! It turned out really well. I boiled all the wings and made my own broth then once I got the meat off the wings (I let them cook for several hours) I added all kinds of fresh stuff: potatoes, onions, mixed veggies and even fresh herbs from my garden. This time I added about half a stick of butter for a nice rich flavor base.

Stella is beside me on the love seat smiling. I have covered her up and wadded a blanket for a pillow beneath her head. She was so cute when she nibbled the blanket before trying to cover herself up with it.

Archie is on the floor chewing a bone. He has been very good about giving Stella her space this morning. Last night he decide that he wasn’t close enough to me (Stella was beside me) so he wedged himself across the top of my head. There wasn’t any room so he would whine every little while until I finally scooted down further on the bed. Then he oozed himself further onto my pillow.

I have a full morning planned. As soon as I post this I am headed to Kalkaska then to Mom’s with a few stops in between. My goal is to be home by noon or so.

I do have several new photos to share. Hopefully I have enough room in my media. If I don’t I will update as soon as I get home. Thanks for reading and stay safe!