December 18,19 & 20, 2023
I woke up at 4:30 a.m. I wrote my blog until 6:00 a.m. Then I prayed my thanksgivings and gratitudes.
- Thank you for sleep. I am grateful for the rest.
- Thank you for this day. I am grateful to be alive.
- Thank you for challenges. I am grateful for the strength to make it through them.
- Thank you for community. I am grateful for the support.
- Thank you for love. I grateful to love and be loved.
I woke Angel up and went into the house. I greeted Christopher and got ready to go. Angel was going to work with me. She ate and got ready. I wanted to leave early to have time to search for Fletcher before my first cleaning job. We got in the pickup and started down the driveway when I realized I hadn’t made my smoothie. I put the truck in park and ran back in the house to make a smoothie real quick. With my smoothie made, I got back in the truck and off we went.
I drove to the place where Fletcher was last seen and walked all around calling for her but there was no sign of her anywhere. It was a cold morning with a north wind that had an icy bite to it, I enjoyed how it felt. It was refreshing and reminded me of home. On the way to my first job, I drove slowly down the back roads calling and looking for Fletcher. When I arrived, Angel did her schoolwork while I cleaned. She did math, reading and writing. She did a good job of staying focused and finished it all by the time I finished cleaning.
I continued on the back roads to my second job. I drove slowly with the windows down, Angel and I called and looked for Fletcher. When we arrived at my 2nd job. Angel listened to a Nancy Drew book on audio while I cleaned. It felt good to be cleaning and moving my body. It kept my mind at ease, which was a relief after all the turmoil the past few days. The physical act of cleaning was healing my heart.
I drove the backroads looking for Fletcher on the way to my 3rd job. My client was home when we arrived. She loves Angel and they sat together watching Bluey on t.v. while I cleaned. A friend messaged me and suggested that a tracking dog might be able to help find Fletcher. I had just been thinking the same thing. I put out a post on Facebook about looking for someone with a tracking dog and she did as well. I felt grateful to have such a wonderful community of friends willing to help out.
I had some free time before my next job. I stopped at the bookstore to get a Christmas gift. When I walked in Fletchers owner was there. I was glad to see him, I was planning on stopping by his work to talk to him and was grateful I could talk to him now instead. He said he is going to put an ad in the paper for Fletcher. I told him I would pay for it. He said to not worry about it. I felt blessed by his kindness. After losing his dog he has not said one accusing or unkind thing to me or Christopher. I insisted that I pay for any costs related to searching for Fletcher but he still kindly refused. I was humbled and thanked him for being so kind and understanding.
I stopped at the grocery store and went to my last cleaning job. Angel listened to Nancy Drew while I cleaned. I got the house sparkling clean and conversed some with my clients. As I was finishing up, a friend messaged me about a company that helps people find their lost dogs. It was after hours but I thanked her and planned to call them tomorrow.
We headed home and when I arrived I saw a lead on Facebook that someone had seen a black and white dog near their house. I messaged the lady but didn’t receive a response. I then received a text from another friend with a list of people with tracking dogs. I thanked her and told her I would call tomorrow since it was later in the evening. She suggested I call right away, so I did. I was told that too much time had passed and after 12 hours there wouldn’t be enough of the scent left to track Fletcher down. If she would have been injured she would have left a stronger scent but I healthy dog running through a field wouldn’t leave much a scent and the scent would most likely be gone by now. That was disappointing news but I thought that might be the case.
I took a long hot bath that Christopher had ready for me. As soon as I got in the water and my body relaxed, I felt exhausted. I relaxed fully in the water and let myself float. When I got out, I ate a salad for supper and got ready for bed. We all gathered in the banana hut and I read aloud 2 chapters of Hank the Cowdog book 5. Then we all said our good nights and I went to sleep right away at 8:30 p.m.
Thank you for reading my blog and being a part of my life. I dearly appreciate you.
Love,
Victoria
December 19, 2023
I woke up at 5 a.m. I had slept through the night. I prayed my thanksgivings and gratitudes.
- Thank you for good sleep. I am grateful to be rested.
- Thank you for this day. I am grateful to experience it.
- Thank you for water. I am grateful for hydration.
- Thank you for kindness. I am grateful for understanding, forgiveness and compassion.
- Thank you for colors. I am grateful for the beauty of colors.
On the drive to town Angel told me stories. I enjoyed listening to the things her imagination comes up with. I stopped to pick up a check for a pet sitting job I did last week. They were very happy with the job I did and said I was the best pet sitter they ever had. I was humbled. I had been doubting my pet sitting skills and through her kind words, I felt forgiven. “By grace are you saved”, was brought to my mind.
We arrived at my first cleaning opportunity. Opportunity is my new word for job or work. I’ve been paying close attention to the words I speak and write. I’ve also been paying close attention to my tone. Words have energy. Are my words uplifting and encouraging? Is my tone calming and gentle? I did a rice experiment a while back. I put cooked white rice in 2 separate baby food jars. On one jar I wrote love and on the other jar I wrote hate. I feelingly said I love you to the love jar and meanly said I hate you to the hate jar. I put the jars in the back of the fridge. A year later, I was cleaning out the back of the fridge and found the jars. The rice in the love jar still looked like white rice. The rice in the hate jar was orange and brown and slimy. Words are powerful. The words “work” and “job” feel oppressive to me. So I got to thinking about how much I enjoy cleaning and organizing. Each day I get an opportunity to do what I enjoy. Not only that, cleaning is therapeutic to me. In exchange for enjoying self therapy by cleaning, I get currency to use on more things I enjoy. What an amazing thing!
Angel did her schoolwork while I cleaned. She did math, reading and writing. I messaged a friend asking if she could print up flyers for me to put up around where Fletcher went missing as well as give some to the post office so the postal carriers can keep an eye out for her. My friend was happy to help out. Then another friend called to check on me to see how I was doing. I felt blessed to have such a wonderful community all helping out.
When I finished cleaning, I stopped to check in on a friends house while she is out of town. Then went to my next 2 cleaning opportunities. Angel played with her toys while I cleaned the first house. At the next house, Angel watched a movie. I had good conversations with my clients and enjoyed making their lives cleaner.
On my way home, I stopped and picked up flyers that my friend had left for me at an office building. Another friend who was there gave me some really encouraging words and I was grateful to receive so much kindness from so many people. I put flyers up on the drive home and left some at the post office. I stopped off at home briefly to empty out the back of the pickup. Then drove to Cameron to pick up a small chicken run. Everything went smoothly and we arrived back home around 6:30 p.m. Christopher was spending the evening with his friends, so it was just Angel and myself at home. We ate, took a bath, each did 100 rebounder jumps and went straight to bed. I read aloud a couple of chapters of The Hidden Staircase a Nancy Drew book and we fell asleep around 8 p.m.
Thank you for reading my blog and being a part of my life.
Love,
Victoria
December 20, 2023
I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and went back to sleep at 4 a.m. I woke again at 5:40 a.m
I wrote my thanksgivings and gratitudes.
- Thank you for mornings. I am grateful for another day.
- Thank you for help. I am grateful for all the assistance I receive.
- Thank you for friends. I am grateful for community.
- Thank you for forgiveness. I am grateful to be set free.
- Thank you for dogs. I am grateful for their love.
- Thank you for community. I am grateful for the support.
I woke Angel up and went into the house. I made tea and got ready to experience the day’s opportunities. Angel came in, ate her breakfast and got ready to go with me. We left right on time and Angel told me stories on the drive.
At my first cleaning opportunity, I enjoyed conversing with my client while I cleaned and Angel did school; math, reading and writing. Math is her favorite. My next house was where Little Bit’s mom and sister live. They all had a great time playing. Angel played with the dogs for a while, then she watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. I enjoyed cleaning and was grateful for the honor.
After I completed my masterpiece, we drove to the Rockdale Reporter to deliver the weekly paper to businesses around town. Angel stayed and hung out with Suzie at the front desk while I did my route. Suzie has a tablet with a matching game that Angel likes to play. The route went good. When I delivered Moon River their paper, they had a chai tea ready for me (I had messaged ahead). I conversed with some friends there for a few minutes and they shared uplifting and encouraging words with me about losing Fletcher. Once again I felt blessed to be surrounded by a community of love.
I finished my route and went to my last cleaning opportunity. My client and I had some wonderful conversations while I cleaned. We are going to get together when I’m not cleaning so we can talk uninterrupted. I really enjoy our conversations.
I arrived home a few minutes before I had a coaching session. I greeted Christopher and got settled into the banana hut. The session went well and when it was over I took a long hot bath. I soaked my tired muscles and did a full body relaxation session. After a while Angel joined me and we scrubbed ourselves down from head to toe. When we got out, Christopher had supper ready. I ate a big salad and then made juice. Christopher had already made pineapple juice earlier. I made canary melon juice and almond milk. We are full of fresh juice again for a few days.
We skipped family reading time. I was feeling really tired. Angel slept in the house with Christopher and I went to bed in the banana hut. I did 100 rebounder (mini trampoline) jumps and made a few phone calls. I fell asleep right at around 8:30 p.m.
Thank you for reading my blog and being a part of my life.
Love,
Victoria