January 16-18, 2024
It was another cold day that wouldn’t get above freezing. Three out of my six clients canceled today. I’d had my fill of staying home inside all day yesterday and was glad to have a reason to get out and about. As soon as it started to get light, I left to check on a couple of dogs and goats. The roads were clear and not icy. I needed to break the ice on the animals water, feed them and make sure they did ok in the cold. I figured they were fine, the dogs were large dogs and had a dog house full of straw and the goats had the same. The owner is a truck driver and has me check on the animals every other week. As soon as I arrived the dogs ran over to the gate and were happy and healthy. I went inside the gate and brought my squirt bottle with me to spray the mean goat if he tries to butt me. The goats had made a mess of things on the porch. I straighten up the dogs feeder and cleaned up. I put food in the feeder and fed the dogs some wet food. I called the owner to tell him how things looked and wanted him to tell me how to get to the pump house to check the water. I was on the phone with him headed to the pump house when I saw the goats coming over. I held up my squirt bottle to spray the mean one but nothing came out, it wasn’t working. The goat saw his opportunity, he came at me and pinned me against the house. I was still on the phone with the owner and told him his goat was attacking me. He said to grab a big stick. I reached down and grabbed the first stick I could. It was not very big but I whacked the goat on the side of the head with it. He backed up and started to come at me again. I pointed the stick at him and he backed off. Ok good, it was working. The owner thought the whole thing was funny. I didn’t think so at the time but looking back at it, it was funny. Crazy goat! I walked backward to the pump house holding up the stick because whenever I turned my back, Mr. Goat thought that was his moment to get me from behind. I checked the water and broke the ice, all the while keeping an eye out for that goat. He had disappeared somewhere and I didn’t trust him not to sneak up on me. I made it back out the gate with my trusty stick and set it down next to the fence so I could use it when I came back in 2 weeks.
I headed to town to clean a couple of houses. My first house was at my friend Kim’s, where Chance lives now. Chance was happy to see me and seemed to love his new home. I am really happy he has such a great place to live. I talked with Kim while I cleaned. We both have upcoming trips, I’m leaving tomorrow for Utah and she is leaving the next day for California. My next house went well. I was there by myself and enjoyed making their house beautiful. When I finished, I headed home, stopping at a friends on the way to have a quick chat.
When I arrived home, I greeted Christopher and Angel and started packing for my trip. Christopher got a bath ready for us and I took a long hot bath. Angel joined me after a while and we talked about what she was going to do while I was gone. She wanted to go with me and said it would be strange not having me around. I assured her that she would have fun with her dad and I would be back before she knew it. I had a big salad for supper and afterward we gathered in the banana hut for family time. I jumped 200 rebounder jumps and read aloud the last 2 chapters of Hank the Cowdog book 7 and we went to bed. Angel slept next to me on the trundle bed and we fell asleep around 8:30 p.m.
The next morning, I woke up at 4:30 a.m. I did a full body relaxation session and prayed my thanksgivings and gratitudes.
- I am grateful for vacations. Thank you for the opportunity.
- I am grateful for freezing weather. Thank you for the challenge.
- I am grateful for sunshine. Thank you for the joy it brings.
- I am grateful for my health. Thank you for foods rich with vitamins and minerals.
I got up, jumped 200 jumps on the rebounder and stripped my bed. I put clean sheets and blankets on it and felt happy that I will be coming home to a clean bed after my vacation. Angel woke up and we went in the house. I greeted Christopher, made tea and a smoothie and finished packing. Angel ate breakfast got ready to go with me. We left right on time at 6:30 a.m.
We listened to a Nancy drew book on the drive. Angel did school while I cleaned a house. She did a great job staying focused and finished it all by the time I finished cleaning. At my next house, Angel listened to Nancy Drew while I cleaned. When I finished there, I picked up Ms. M and we went to the library for Story time. Angel got to read a story to the littler kids. I am glad she wants to do that, it gives her incentive to improve her reading skills. Ms. M enjoyed being there, she laughed and smiled a lot. She really likes kids.
Christopher picked Angel up from me at the library and took her home. I would be leaving town right after I delivered the papers and Angel wasn’t going with me. Ms. M and I went to the Rockdale Reporter to pick up the papers to deliver. The papers hadn’t arrived yet, so we hung out and talked to friends that work there. When the papers arrived, we left to deliver them. Ms. M listened to a John Denver music station while I ran the papers in different businesses around town.
When I finished, I took Ms. M home and headed out to meet my friend Sarah in Cedar Park. I was leaving my pickup parked at her boyfriend’s house and she was driving me to the airport. It was great seeing Sarah and we had fun conversations on the way there.
Everything went smoothly at the airport. I wasn’t sure how Little Bit would do in his kennel since he wasn’t used to being in it. I had given him some CBD oil and drop of Benadryl at Sarah’s house. He had slept hard on the drive to the airport but was wide awake once we arrived. He did good in his kennel though and only yipped a couple of times. Once we made it through security, I found a juice bar near our gate and ordered a celery, apple and kale juice and a peach, banana smoothie. It was great being able to watch the juice and smoothie being made fresh. They were really good and I drank them both right away. Once on the plane I fell asleep right after it took off. I slept most of the 3 hour flight. Bits woke me up yipping once but otherwise he was quiet.
My son Scott and daughter-in-love Delany picked us up from the airport. It was great to see them. They live near the airport so it was a short drive. When we got there Little Bit did not like the snow, he kept looking at me as if saying…what is this cold stuff and why am I expected to walk in it. I knew he had to use the bathroom since he’d been locked in his kennel for 5 hours. He wouldn’t go and I kept letting him out, finally he decided to pee on the edge of the snow when I stood out there with him. We went to bed shortly after we arrived, it was late and we were all tired. Scott and Delany had to work in the morning and I was thinking of going skiing and then soaking in a hot springs. Little Bit and I had the upstairs to ourselves. Scott and Delany had set out sleeping mats for us and we fell asleep right away.
I woke up cold in the night. I knew where they kept their extra blankets and I went downstairs and got one. I still felt cold with the extra blanket but I didn’t want to get up again and I finally fell back asleep. I woke up again at 5 a.m. I laid in bed and prayed my thanksgivings and gratitudes.
- I am grateful for my kids. Thank you for happy, healthy children.
- I am grateful for a good flight. Thank you for airplanes to get us places faster.
- I am grateful for adventures. Thank you for my love of new experiences.
- I am grateful for Christopher. Thank you for caring for Angel and our farm while I visit my kids and grandkids in Utah.
I made plans for my day. I found a ski resort called Cherry Peak that didn’t cost a fortune. It was farther away but was only a half hour from Crystal hot springs, a hot springs with the highest mineral content in the world. It’s the hot springs I usually go to when I visit the Salt Lake City area. When I heard someone up and about downstairs. I came down and made tea. Delany was up getting ready for work. Scott woke up a little later and gave me the keys to his big old van named Ruby that he fixed up. He was letting me drive it while I was visiting so I wouldn’t have to rent a car. I was a little nervous about driving the old van in the ice and snow. I was out of practice for icy driving and I wasn’t sure how hard driving the van would be. The kids left for work and I got packed to go. I had borrowed ski pants, goggles and gloves from Scott and Delany and had everything I needed to stay warm. The drive went good. The van handled great and I remembered how to drive on the ice. I stopped and got a smoothie and a açaí bowl on the 2 hour drive to the ski resort. I figured that would hold me over until I was done skiing.
Skiing was great fun. I rented the skis and started out doing the green runs to see if I even remembered how to ski since it’s been over 20 years since I last skied. I did a few runs before I knew I still had the skills and moved on to the blue runs. I could have gone on some of the black runs too but was content sticking with the blue. I had way over dressed and kept unzipping my coat to cool off. It was better than being cold though. I asked a guy that was stopped on one of the runs if he would take a video of me coming down. He was happy to and went down before me and took a video of me skiing down. I skied for 3 hours before my leg muscles were feeling the burn non stop. I wanted to ski longer but knew I would regret pushing my body too much. I felt grateful that at 51 (52 on the 26th) I still have a body that is able do all the physical activities I love to do.
When I got to the van, it had been sitting in the sun and was plenty warm inside for Little Bit. I had put a coat on him and left him a blanket in case he got cold but he had taken his coat off and was toasty warm. I drove to the hot springs but I was hungry. I looked for a place with salad along the way but there wasn’t anything so I ate a Lara bar that I had brought with me and that was enough.
I soaked in the hot springs for about an hour. I got super hot and put my head under an ice cold waterfall coming into the springs to keep them from getting too hot. One time I even got out and laid on the cold cement to cool off. So much for being cold in Utah. I’d been hot since I got here other than at night but I like to sleep warmer than most people. It’s actually going to be colder in Texas than Utah until Monday when I come back. 😂
I left the hot springs and headed back to Scott and Delany’s. I arrived just as it got dark. Scott and I went to the store and get something to eat. I was super hungry. I’m sure I had burned a lot of calories. We stopped at a Mexican restaurant. They didn’t have any good salads so I ate a veggie burrito. It’s wasn’t that great and I didn’t finish it all but it filled me up. When we got back we all went to bed. I was glad to snuggle up in bed and fell asleep instantly around 8:30 p.m.
Thank you for reading my blog and being a part of my life. I dearly appreciate you.
Love,
Victoria