Ethan’s Journey

 My big exciting news for today is that I got a new phone. It is fairly similar to the old phone, just has more memory and is slightly bigger. It too almost 3 hours from start to finish. I had to have small talk that entire time. I survived. I am feeling like a sailboat with no wind lately. I think I am just tired of the weather. Just feeling a bit blah. Hoping Grand Bahama will fix it. I think I just need sunshine and a little adventure for a few days.  Paul has started the replacement of our mangled mailbox. Somehow I bought a mailbox even bigger and more obnoxious than our existing mailbox, which is already comically large. We can fit several medium sized packages in it. I told Paul he now has a place to sleep if I ever kicked him out. Ha! Paul is rigging up a spinning device to help shield it from future snowplow hits. It is our “prevention loss mailbox” plan.  I already hate the mud and paws combination. More has been coming back with muddy paws. He has been nice eno...

 It was actually warm today. Legit windows open kind of day. The sun was shining, then it poured, then we would see the sun….that kind of day. Avery came over for a bit and she walked Moe with me. It’s still too wet for the shorter dogs. We walked on the road because the yard and field are grass soup. Avery dropped off some laundry. I helped make sure it was all washed and dried. I explained to her that I wasn’t feeling very useful and would love to help her save money by doing a few loads of her laundry. She brought over a couple loads. Ethan had a guy that he worked with come over. Ethan was helping him fix his far. Ethan and this guy were talking about a class that is offered at Ethan’s job. This guy is taking the class and Ethan might consider doing so as well.  That is still “to be determined”. Ethan is worried that he will be too tired to be able to attend 3 hours of class after a full work day. He already gets so tired at work and is exhausted when he comes home. I had ...

 I got int a conversation with a friend about marriage and how I would be a dating disaster if something ever happened to Paul. We got chuckling about our online dating profiles. “I would keep mine as honest as possible. I would want someone to know exactly what they were getting without any surprises.” I said. “What would that look on a dating profile?” “Independent, won’t always follow directions, doesn’t like to stand in lines, home body, the number of animals I have at a given time is never up for discussion, I don’t do dishes, I don’t like repetitive noises, can be unreasonable if pissed off, sometimes crabby for no reason, laughs at people getting injured once I know they are ok……but I feel I should include something kind of positive stuff…like…cleans up vomit if an animal gets sick, good at planning vacations, sometimes witty, good at managing finances, favorable credit score, doesn’t shop too much.” We laughed. “I may even include that I have a preferred yogurt spoon…..I am...

 I woke up delightful this morning. Greeted the dogs and Ethan. Paul gets home later today from his trip to Pittsburgh to work. As I started working, I notice how loud the traffic was today. I normally don’t notice this, but it was the ONLY thing I noticed today. I blame perimenopause. I almost went outside to shake a broom at them as they drove by. Because any sane person would do this right? I could pair it with shouting “GET A MUFFLER!” I had a person reach out to me that I hired early last year. She found me at a conference 6 months later so we could meet in person. Today she sent me a message sharing her latest certificate and the growth she has had in the clinic. I was so happy for her. I remember that the clinic she applied for wasn’t going to be a good fit for her and I directed her to her current clinic. I love when I get these follow ups! It made my day. I forgot all about the noisy cars pissing me off earlier. Yay! Avery and I met for our exercise on FaceTime. We chatted...

 I have decided that I think Paul should talk to me the way I talk to Jiminy in the morning. It was 6:30 and Jiminy was snuggled in a blanket considering his first nap. “Are you sleepy Jim?” I asked him as if he could answer. “I can only imagine how exhausting it must be to wake up perfect AGAIN! That’s a lot of hard work!” Now why isn’t Paul saying these things to me? It would be sort of true (but mostly not true…but we should be positive.) Ha! For the record, I am not saying these things to Paul either.  Moe is driving me nuts! He wants to be outside the whole day. He is asking to go out soooo many times. If I let him out, he sits on the porch. I could tie him out but then risk him biting any delivery people. If I let him out, I am watching for delivery people. If I tie him out I am not. Usually in the summer I have a tie out far away from the door so he can’t hurt anyone. I also put him right outside the window I work near to watch him. With the snow and mud, this just isn’...

While having a discussion with my friend, Heather, we discussed how aging has changed how we see and react to the world around us. As we age, we become more protective of our time and are able to set boundaries a little bit better. If you slip up, and let your guard down, a good friend will be there to point it out, and help you put it back in place. Heather did a great job of that today for me. She always has my best interests at heart.  We chatted about our trip to Florida next year with the girls. We set a date which is one step closer to making it happen. It is hard to make sure everyone follows through and make the trip happen. We have revised the group we have asked to join us. We are hoping this will yield us some fun results. Moe was being a dingbat today. He kept whining at me. We do this thing with the dogs called “show me”. If they are trying to get our attention, we respond with “show me”. The dogs will take us and show us their problem. Sometimes it is a toy stuck, som...