Weekend Update

Ahh, what a weekend. The kind that comes about very rarely, and I love - the three day kind! I took Friday off to go to an Equine Assisted Psychotherapy training. Yes, I know I'm crazy, but I went to see what it was all about, since that's what one of my best friends does for a living. And you know the most frustrating part? Every so often, when I would have one of those "a-ha" moments, there's Msh, with her mouth smirking and her eyebrows raised. Yes, Michelle, you were right. Those are the worst words I ever have to say to her! Some of the things I learned. "Men and Dogs respond to the same things: Praise, Recognition, and Pork Chops." Seriously, I actually learned some other things. Like, I'm a goal/deadline oriented person. Give me a job, leave me alone, let me do it. I don't like to pussy-foot around, I want to jump in, and I get aggravated/frustrated when there's a lot of "chatter". I also tend to say the same thing over and over, even if it's not getting the task accomplished, so I need to figure out a different way to communicate when the first try doesn't work. Also, be ok with other solutions. Yeah, it might not have been how I would have liked to see something done, but did it work? It was a great day, and I'd highly recommend it for anyone looking for additional insight, and/or teambuilding.

The rest of the weekend went well, also. Racing, racing, and more racing! The first race of the season for the dirt track, and it went amazingly smooth. Race-ceivers are the way! Sunday I re-discovered that bribery works all kinds of wonders with kids, and then came home and baked cakes. Walked with my puppy, then visited the Ramsey house for the most yummy eating. A quick trip to Bedford to return one car and pick up my poor Honda completed my weekend. The Honda is dying - so I'm hoping it holds together until I can get my other car back from M&D. At least I got to see Annette some!

And, let's just finish on another quote that's been tumbling around in my head:

"Slow to trust, but quick to love - I push to hard and I give too much"
"I ain't sayin' I'm perfect, but I promise I'm worth it"

Can you name that song?

Me and Msh - Pictures of the two of us are getting harder and harder to come by!

Writer's Workshop

Wow . . . I'm on a roll this week! Writing for Mama Kat's workshop this week. I chose the prompt, "What is your role in the household?"

My friends tell me I try to do too much. It's an ongoing joke that I have something to do, 6 nights a week. The one night I don't have meetings, is the night I reserve for MY errands. So, where does this leave me in my household?

I'm the housekeeper, the cook, the shopper, the dog feeder, the dog walker, the bill payer, the trash puter-outer, and the basic repair-er. There are many times that I think, "If I could just come home and the dishes were done." I joked before that the most romantic thing a boy could do for me is mow my yard! Fortunately, I have good friends who do that for me, but if I owned a mower, I'd do that, as well. Living by myself certainly has it's disadvantages. However, I chose to look at it this way.

If the house is clean when I leave, it'll be clean when I come back. If I want to have all pink flowers in the flower beds, so be it. I don't have to justify to anyone eating nachos in bed, while watching TV at 3 am. Britney really does not care, as long as I share with her. I can use up every drop of hot water and not miss a wink of sleep over it. I can drink out of the container, I can eat the last of the brownies, and it's ok. My house is as loud or as quiet as I chose. There's no fighting over covers, no arguing over a thermostat.

If I were to let myself think about what I'm missing out on, by being single, yup, it would get me down. Instead, I chose to focus on the good - and there is LOTS of good. When I want the chaos and laughter that comes with a houseful of people, I have the most awesome friends that I can go visit. I've said it before, and I'll say it again.

Life is good.

Wordful Wednesdays

It's been a while since I played along with Wordful Wednesday's. That might have to do with the fact that my camera inexplicably disappeared, but did you know when you clean house, things magically appear? I'm so sick and tired of being sick and tired!

Anyway, I finally picked myself up and decided I was done with the whole sick and tired thing, which makes my puppy very happy. Normally, she's a pretty well-behaved spoiled animal, but last night, she decided that she needed some natural scent, and rolled in something slightly worse than month old dead something or other. Of course, she did this just before I had to be at a meeting I was already 45 minutes late for, so she got locked in the bathroom until I could get home. I walked in, and told her, "get in". She knew I wasn't kidding, and now, you get to see what pitiful looks like.

She loves water. Normally. But, when you start to mix soap in, not so much. But, do I REALLY have to stay in here?

I'm sorry . . . really I am . . .


At least when she's clean and smells pretty, there are perks . . .


Can't you just let me sleep? Seriously . . . it's cold out there!

Fine - I'll just ignore you.

But, after I had left at 330, and got home at 0600 from that wreck call, this is what I found. I can almost hear her saying, "Ex-CUSE me. Do you KNOW what time it is?!?!?"

At least things aren't ever dull around here . . . and she's ALWAYS happy to see me come home!

Come play with us . . .

Wake Up Calls

It's 5:48 right now. I got one of those happy wake up calls. You know, "Rescue 3, respond . . . " Intially, I was aggravated, wondering where night call is. But, eventually, there's more radio traffic, and more equipment requested, and . . . off I go.

So, here's the question. I have to be at work at 9. Do I stay up? Do I try to fall back asleep? Britney woke up enough to greet me, but she's snoozing again. Sleep is so overrated . . .

Video

Now, I don't usually get "political" on my blog, but when I saw this last night while flipping channels, I couldn't help but share.

See, one of my best friend's is currently sharing her son with the Army. He's serving in Iraq, right now. Yesterday, while we were eating lunch together, he called. Now, he calls very frequently, so that's not a huge deal. However, during the call, he interrupted her. "Mom, I've got to go, right now." And then he hung up. She laughed it off, and said, "Yeah, he does that, but he'll call back." I can't imagine being her.

So, for all of his buddies, all the mother's sons and daughters, would you watch this, and pray that they all, and especially Sidney, is watched over?

Sunday Night

Ah, Michelle. She's so good for me. I read a recent blog post to her and she was so encouraging. I've had a couple of pretty hurtful things said to me recently by people who are supposed to be my friends, and she has helped me see the truth behind the statements. She's also encouraged me to write more, to share thoughts and ideas, even if no one is reading this except me.

Today, I took Britney for 3 walks. THREE. In the puppy world, this is as close to heaven as you can get. I've been actually walking from my house, rather than driving down to the river road. While she protests being reigned in with a leash, it's much better exercise for both of us.

On the third walk, she was starting to wear out. The best part of this, is she actually acts like she knows how to walk on a leash. You know, not trying to pull my back out? But, I was struck by how, on the surface at least, this town is so idyllic. Let's see if I can share a bit.

The sky, of course, was crystal blue. It was in the high 70's, with a steady breeze blowing. While the mountains are still a bit sparse looking, there are signs of green everywhere. The field, has started to sprout, and the flowers gave the whole thing a purple haze. As Britney played loose, the few cars that came by stopped, laughed, and went on. Coming back on Blue Ridge Road, there was a pick up game going on at the ball field. A handful of random kids, and what appeared to be a grandfather and father encouraging them. A picnic was going on at the shelter, and kids were crawling all over the playground. Again, everyone waves. The cars passing me on the shoulder, drivers throw a hand up in acknowledgement. Small town, all around. The train passed, as it does every afternoon, with the engineer waving as he passed to the kids in the first car. I was tossed back to sitting in the car with my parents, counting cars at the crossing in Roy, UT. I'm privileged to live in a small community like this. My wings are getting a bit cramped, and it occurs to me more and more often, that maybe there are better opportunities elsewhere. But for now, every day, I'm going to enjoy the walk, and the waves.

Now, it's going to be a good week . . . and Carrie, a busier, happier week, ok?

Photo was taken 04/03/2009, looking up the road Britney and I walk down. And, while today was gorgeous, Friday, not so much!

Grrr.

It's 115, as in am, as I write this. I've mentioned that I'm glad to be getting back into running calls - even those that come in just after I've drifted off to sleep. I've even gotten used to the fact that I get the, "I stubbed my toe, take me to the ER" calls. But daggone it, I'm frustrated! Tonight, we actually had something that had us scratching our heads, and it's, "Oh, I'll go. You can take the (rescue) truck back to the building." Ok, yay, that I get to come back and get back into bed, but grrr, something interesting, and I'm not along for the ride. Sigh.

Just fits the rest of the day, and my mood.

On the positive side? Karey loves me. Do you know how I know this? She brought spinach dip to the track. Mmm, yummy. That's a happy note to crawl back into bed on. Night!