Ethan’s Journey

​More work has been done on the barndominium. The floor is poured, sidewalk in place and the front porch is spacious. The next month will be letting the concrete cure. Ethan continues to work on his application to the electrician apprenticeship program. We are having a hard time locating his high school diploma. I will have to order another one. We had a little bit of life happening at the time he graduated. There was no time for filing. We had some crazy storms today. Ethan reminds me of my dad when there are storms coming. My Dad liked weather and storms. Ethan is the same way…but two fold. He has an in depth weather app on his phone and he was watching the rotation of the storms, was watching how the clouds were forming. He saw a few tornados touch down via radar in our area. He was so excited. I sit back and enjoy the look of pure bliss on his face. Paul tells him all the time he should have been a weatherman. Apparently one of the farmer’s pigs got loose up at camp. She was runnin...

​How did the summer go by so fast? September 1 st already! I saw Kendall at the Liquor store today. They started classes this week.  So far it is going well for them. It is day 2 so I would hope so! Things went well with the surgery today. It was a long day. He was in surgery for about 7 ish hours. He is now recovering.  I tried not to bother Sarah too much. I did want to text her all day long.  I am still feeling tired from traveling. Paul snored all night so I didn’t have a restful night’s sleep. It sounded like a sea lion trying to play the tuba under water. I know that is affluent specific, but that was the first thing that popped into my head. Hopefully there will be no snoring noises that resemble animals with musical instruments tonight. 

​Paul and I both got our 4 ish hours of sleep and the alarm went off entirely too soon. I made some strong coffee to help. I had to ride with Paul to the airport to pick up my car since I didn’t fly into Rochester like I was supposed to.  I was totally feeling the burn of yesterday’s wear and tear on my body.  There was a steady rain this morning. Jiminy was living his best rainy day life today. It was slightly chilly and damp in the house. He took matters into his own paws and twirled himself into a soft, fluffy and warm cocoon to nap. Paul and I  both trudged through our day. I got a second wind this afternoon. After work I was able to do some meal prep in anticipation of going to camp for an extended stay. I got 17 meals in the freezer. Phew! Tomorrow I will stock up on more groceries.  I also made a chickpea and beet salad that was a nice blend of flavors. After eating on the go for the past few days, I need add in some veggies and protein.  I did have a bri...

​There was a man at the conference that I got giggling at. This poor guy. He was working at another booth and was really excited to talk about his product! I am not mature enough to be here! I am also glad I am not a man. I get excited to talk about vet med….I would hate to present myself like this. However, I do believe it was something in his pocket. Ha ha. Teardown was a nightmare. I had to carry a 40# box down to the business center. I rented a cart, was yelled at because apparently there is a “freight elevator” for big items like a cart. I was getting off the regular elevator and was greeted with a snarky lady barking that at me. No one was waiting to use the elevator for the one floor I had to travel. That seemed like a “her” problem that she was so cranky. The lady and guy in the booth next to me were kind enough to help me tear down the booth by myself. I’m t was incredibly kind and I appreciated it more than I could ever verbalize. I was able to package everything into 2 more ...

 I woke up to a Baraat going on outside, 10 floors below. It was so loud! A Baraat is translated as “groom’s procession” and is an Indian wedding tradition. The tradition is that the groom’s family throws a high energy send off to the wedding venue.  Everyone was dressed up. There was music pumping. There was an announcer with a microphone. They were so joyous and upbeat. It was fun to watch and listen to. We have been seeing the people belonging to this group over the past few days. The women are all dressed up in their beautifully beaded traditional Indian attire. My coworker and my got a front row seat to this party, walking right by it on our way the conference. When we arrived at our booth, our chairs were gone. Boo! I guess the next 12 hours of working will be on the hard concrete. We stole those fair and square. We couldn’t even complain. We had to become thankful we had them all day yesterday. We worked really hard to get people to talk to us. I had to become militant ...

​My coworker and I headed over to the convention center early to iron out the multiple kinks that had revealed themselves. We learned more about shipping the materials back at the end of the conference. Basically I may need to get an Uber to Fed Ex about a 10 minute walk or 5 minute drive down the street. I will likely have to make a few trips. Ugh! We got most things situated on time. I decided to just deal with my end of conference issue….at the end of the conference. Life will go on. There is a cute little dachshund in our hotel that attended the conference. His name is Oliver. He is a dapple guy! He has a marbled coat with a mix of light and dark colors. He has a happy tail and we were fast friends in the elevator. After the conference, my coworker went to the Chief’s game. That seemed too people-y after a day full of people. I went back to my room and logged in. I had a few hours of work to do and catch up on….quietly.  I ordered room service for dinner. I ate quietly. It was ...