January 30-February 2, 2024
I woke up at 3 a.m. and started to drift back to sleep. Then my mind said…must write blog. I forced myself awake and wrote my blog until 5:30 a.m. I edited it and posted it. Yay! I was caught up. I had been days behind. Happy with myself, I drifted back to sleep for 45 minutes until it was time to get up. I prayed my thanksgivings and gratitudes.
- I am grateful for money. Thank you for the food and luxuries I can buy with money.
- I am grateful for my sister. Thank you for our wonderful connection.
- I am grateful for fresh juice. Thank you for the light it brings to my body.
- I am grateful for smart phones. Thank you for the convenience.
When I went next door to Christopher’s house, Angel was already up and ready. I was grateful to be able to focus on getting myself ready. I made lime water and a smoothie, got dressed and we headed out. Christopher had a job to do this week so Angel came with me.
Angel did her schoolwork at my first house. She did a really good job and her reading is improving. Phonics has helped her a lot with that. I enjoyed cleaning and meditated while I made their house sparkling clean.
The next house I cleaned is where Chance lives now. It was wonderful to see him so happy and well loved. They are great people and are giving him a wonderful life. I talked to my friend Kim a little before she left and Angel played with their grandkids toys while I cleaned. I told Kim I was thinking of joining the local gym to help with the depression I’ve been feeling. She said if I joined, she would join too. I’m going to look into that in the next couple of days. I’m grateful to have a friend who wants to do stuff with me.
Angel listened to her audiobook at my 3rd and 4th house. She is currently listening to Pollyanna, which she seems to be enjoying. My 4th house was really challenging and I was tired by the time I finished. I have been wanting to stop cleaning this house for a long time but I know they need help and I keep on cleaning it. It took longer to clean than usual and when I finally finished cleaning I was grateful to be headed home.
Shortly after arriving home, I started a bath and relaxed in the warm water. Angel joined me after a while and I helped her wash her hair. She has really long hair that is hard for her to wash by herself. When we got out of the bath, Christopher had dinner ready. I had a big yummy salad. I love salads so much. They are delicious, satisfying and make my body feel vibrant and alive. We all shared what we were grateful for while we ate. After dinner, Angel and I washed dishes together, which was a lot of fun. She really gets into it and does a good job.
We all met in the banana hut and I read 2 chapters from Hank the Cowdog book 8. We said our good nights, Angel slept on the trundle bed and we fell asleep around 8:30 p.m.
Wednesday morning, I woke up at 3:00 a.m. I goofed around on my phone and fell back asleep around 4:30 a.m. I wasted a bunch of time when I could have been writing my blog. I woke again at 5:30 a.m. I woke Angel up, we made our beds and got ready to go to town. The first house I cleaned is where Little Bit’s mom lives. The dogs played together while I cleaned. Angel was really motivated doing her schoolwork and did double the amount she normally does. She completed the next 50 pages in her workbook and earned a movie privilege.
After I finished cleaning, we picked up Ms. M and drove to the library for story time. Ms. M enjoyed watching the kids and listening to the stories. When story time was over we went over to the Rockdale reporter. The papers were later than usual so we all hung out and visited until the papers arrived. When the papers arrived, Angel stayed at the Reporter while Ms. M rode along with me. It was a beautiful sunny, 70 degree day and it was nice to be out and about.
After delivering the papers, I got Angel, took Ms. M home and cleaned one more house. Angel watched a horse movie while I cleaned. When I finished, we drove home and arrived just in time for me to do a life coaching phone call with a client. The session went great. I’ve been coaching this client for many years and we’ve established a good relationship. One of the things I love about life coaching is that I get just as much out of it as my clients. Having clarity for my clients also gives me clarity on things in my own life.
As soon as I got off the phone, Angel and I headed back to town. There was a new yoga class starting up that I wanted to go to. We arrived 4 minutes late but I was able to join in. Angel started to do yoga with us but didn’t last long and instead played with toys in the corner. I really enjoyed the class. It’s been many years since I’ve been to a yoga class. When I lived in Idaho I did a lot of yoga classes and even had private yoga lessons for a while. This class was definitely a beginner class but I got a lot out of it regardless and any stretching is better than no stretching.
After class, we went to Gatti’s pizza where I had a big salad from the salad bar and Angel played in the game room. Then I took Angel to the Cowboy Church for Wednesday night Bible study and I met up with friends downtown to practice a skit. I am in a skit that will be performed on Valentine’s Day in the evening. We had a great time practicing and it will be a fun performance. I picked Angel up from the Cowboy Church at 8 p.m. My friend Rachele was coming out of the church as I arrived. I was glad to see her because I had a birthday gift for her. I gave Rachele her gift and we talked for a bit while Angel played on the playground.
When we arrived home, we went straight to bed and fell asleep at around 10 p.m. listening to Anne of Green Gables.
Thursday morning, I woke up at 4:30 a.m and wrote some of my blog until 5:30 a.m. I woke Angel up, we made our beds and got ready to leave. We headed out at 6:30 a.m. and drove to do a pet sitting job. The job with the mean goat. 2 weeks ago when I checked on the dogs and goats, the goats had gotten onto the porch and knocked over the dog food feeder and made a mess. I had rigged the porch door so the goats couldn’t get in and I was happy to see that it had worked. The goats had not been able to get on the porch but the dogs were still able to get in. I fed the dogs and gave the goats some treats, even the mean one. As long as I have a big stick in my hand he won’t charge at me and I had a talk with him about being friends. He even let me give him scratches on the head, probably because I had a treat in my hand 😂.
Next we went to riding lessons. I did not get a chance to ride but Angel did and she is doing really good. She is much more confident than she used to be. When the lessons were over, I picked up my grandson Finn and then picked up Ms. M and went to the homeschool co-op. This week we did art and learned how to do some origami. We made a fox, a cup and a butterfly. During show and tell we learned the differences between a moth and butterfly, which I didn’t even know. Then the kids played outside and I sat in the sun with Ms. M. It was another beautiful sunny warm day and it felt so good to be outside. I chatted with Ms. M and some of the other moms while we watched the kids. The big topic of the day was about an 8 year old girl that had gone missing from a nearby town last night. I had looked up the story and very few details were being revealed about how she had gone missing, which clued me in that the police were being vague on purpose to not let the suspected abductor know they were on to them. A lot of the other moms were scared for their kids and talking about all the bad things that can happen. I understood the reasons they were scared but I couldn’t join in with the fear talk. For one, I wasn’t scared, Angel and Finn were not put in situations where they could be abducted. I did pray that the missing girl would be found safely and later that day I saw that she was found. I had a feeling she would be from reading the vague missing child news briefs.
When co-op was over, I took Ms. M to her house and drove home. The kids played in the yard, while I gave the ducks fresh water in their kiddy pools. They love fresh water in their pools. I sat in the sun and watched them. Before I even realized it, I fell asleep. I kept dreaming I was too hot in the sun and in my dream I would move to the shade but then I would still be hot. When I woke up, I was hot and sunburned. I stumbled into the banana hut, drank some lime water and laid down until I cooled off. Then the kids and I went for a walk to the gulley. I had fun watching the kids play at the gulley. They got filthy dirty and were having a blast.
When we got back to the house, I ate a salad, took a shower and headed to College Station to attend a presentation about native medicinal plants by Dr. Mark (Merriwhether) Vorderbruggen. I had read a lot of his stuff and used his website https://www.foragingtexas.com/?m=1#google_vignette often while teaching myself about wild edible and medicinal plants. I was really excited to meet him in person and refresh my mind to get ready to give wild edible plant tours this spring. I love knowing about wild edibles because they take no effort on my part to grow. They do it all themselves and all I have to do is ethically harvest from them. Plus wild plants are much more nutrient dense than domestic plants.
I thoroughly enjoyed the presentation and learned a lot. I want to download all of his knowledge about plants and put it in my brain. He is absolutely brilliant as well as a great speaker. I’m looking forward to creating my own medicinal concoctions this spring. One plant in particular that I haven’t studied yet because it only grows in the hill country is called agarita. It is good for motion sickness. I want to harvest some agarita leaves and have it on hand for next time I fly or am a passenger in a car or boat. Motion sickness is no fun and I’ve gotten it easily since I was a young child and it seems to be getting worse as a get older.
I arrived home from the class around 9 p.m. and went straight to bed. Christopher and Angel were asleep in his house and Finn’s other grandma had came and picked him up shortly after I had left for College Station. I was still feeling high from the presentation and wasn’t able to fall asleep until 11 p.m.
I woke up Friday morning at 5:30 a.m. I made my bed and went in Christopher’s house. I greeted Christopher and made lime water. Angel got up and got ready to go with me. I drove to my friend Rachele’s and dropped Angel off. Then I drove to town and did a life coaching session on the phone before going to my leadership class. I was feeling like I wanted to quit the leadership program. The year program was almost over and I would have to miss the last 2 classes, including the graduation because I had other commitments. The people that showed up to class said I wasn’t allowed to quit regardless of if I could make it to the last classes. I was glad I had made it to the class that day because it was a fantastic class. A lady named Veronica Seever who is the president of the Chamber of Commerce in Elgin put it on and she did a great job. I got a lot out of it and we all had a lot of fun.
The class ended early and I was grateful because it gave me time to drive to the DMV in Cameron and get the title for my pop-up camper. Thankfully, I had everything I needed and the process went smoothly. Yay! Now I just need the right plug to attach it to my truck and I can take it out camping. I’m already making plans and bought a Texas state park pass for the year. Next I went to a friend’s to get some free chickens she was giving away. I had planned on getting 8 but we were only able to catch 5. I’m sure it was a funny sight watching us catch them. Those chickens are fast!
I drove to Rachele’s to get Angel and I sat and talked with her for an hour before heading home. We made it home around 5:30 p.m. I took a bath while Christopher and Angel ate dinner. It felt good to soak in the hot water. I wasn’t hungry, I had eaten a big salad for lunch and drank my entire 64 oz. smoothie on the drive home. When I got out of the bath, I went in the banana hut to write my blog and instead I fell asleep at around 7 p.m. I was tired.
Thank you for reading my blog and being a part of my life. I dearly appreciate you.
Love,
Victoria