Wednesday May 1 & Thursday May 2, 2024
Dear Diary,
I woke up at 7:30. I made my bed and went downstairs. Everyone was still asleep. I put my clothes in the dryer and fed Bits. I made a smoothie with the last of the ripe bananas and wrote on my blog. Angel and Trish woke up. I made Angel breakfast and we sat at the dining room table to do school. I wrote my blog in between helping Angel with school. She stayed focus for the first bit of school but after she took a break she dragged the last part out and took 2 hours to do 4 pages. I felt myself getting frustrated with Angel. She kept pretending like she didn’t know how to do things that she really does know how to do in hopes that I will do it for her. There’s something about playing dumb that really triggers me. I noticed I was being triggered. I decided to sit with my frustration on the drive to Missy’s to let the chickens out and see what my frustration had to show me. I prayed for clarity and rested in the feeling.
Angel finally finished her school. It was almost 11 am and there was a homeschool meet up at 12:30 pm I wanted us to go to. It would take me 45 minutes to drive to Missy’s and back so we still had time. Trish asked me if I could help her with a quick bath before I left. I said yes and got the bath ready for her.
At 11:30 am I left to let the chickens out. Angel stayed with Trish. I called Christopher when I started out driving and talked to him about being frustrated with Angel not cooperating with doing her schoolwork. That didn’t help me with get clarity on my frustration at all. It actually seemed to feed it as we swapped frustration stories. I let out the chickens and got off the phone. I got on the road again, this time I sat with my frustration and received clarity. The frustration was from lack of patience and compassion. It was from seeing things from my viewpoint and not Angels viewpoint. Angel didn’t want to do school and was being forced into doing it because it is important to me that she is educated enough to know how to read and write and do mathematics. None of that is important to her. I fell like my priorities trump Angels because I’m the adult and I know what’s best. I do know what’s best for me but do I truly know what’s best for Angel? Angel knows what’s best for her. Maybe I could spend time finding out what kind of education she wants. Maybe both of our priorities could be met through cooperation and understanding.
It was 12:15 pm when I pulled up to Trish’s. I went inside and told Angel it was time to get ready to go. She was ready in 5 minutes and we went to the library. I walked while Angel rode her bicycle. The library is only 5 blocks away and we got there in 10 minutes. I tried the door and it was locked. I looked at the sign on the door and the library is closed on Wednesdays. Hmmm…there were a bunch of cars parked there. I tried the side door and it opened. The room was full of a bunch of “older” ladies. They all looked at me and Angel. I said that I assumed this wasn’t the homeschool group. They laughed and said “no, they are way beyond that, this was the bunco group”. I wished them a good bunco game and shut the door.
Angel and I rode to the thrift store instead. Angel had been wanting waffles and I was in search of a waffle maker. They didn’t have a waffle maker but I got a new purse and some reading books for Angel. Angel found a couple of toy unicorns she wanted. When I went to pay I was told the toys are free and the books are free. He was going to throw in the purse for free too but it was marked $1.00 and I told him I’d pay it anyway.
At Trish’s, I wrote my blog and got caught up on Monday and Tuesday. Just as I was finishing up, my nephew Christopher L. arrived. We all greeted him and as he was getting settled in, I received a text from one of my coaching clients asking if we were still doing our session today. I looked at the time and realized that I had still been thinking I was on Texas time. Being on Mountain Time our session should have started 15 minutes ago. I immediately called her and apologized for the time mix up. We had a great session and I got a lot out of it as well.
When I finished up, I sat at the table with my nephew and we chatted while we worked on the new puzzle. Angel wanted to go on a bicycle ride with me and I told her I would. I got out my bicycle and tuned it up a little. I aired up the tires and adjusted the gears. Angel I rode all around town. It was a really nice evening, warm and sunny. It felt good to be out riding. Little Bit went with us and ran beside me on his leash. He’s a fast little dog and had no trouble keeping up with us. We weren’t riding fast but we were going a pretty good pace for a little dog. I noticed Angels brakes weren’t working very well and I attempted to adjust them but I needed tools and will have to do it later.
After our ride, I drove to Missy’s to put the chickens in for the night. Christopher L. and Angel went with me. Angel told us a story on the drive there. When we arrived, the chickens hadn’t gone in their coop yet. We petted the neighbors horse and mule and walked around looking at things while we waited for the chickens. After about 45 minutes, they went in their coop and I shut the doors. Coming home, we played an alphabet game and eye spy with my little eye. It was a lot of fun. Christopher L. is really good with kids and has a son that is the same age as Angel.
At Trish’s, Angel took a bath. Then we had story-time in Trish’s room and I read 4 chapters from The National Park Mystery Series book 4. Trish really liked the book and I’m going to attempt to get the book finished while we’re here. After reading I took a bath and went to bed.
Thursday morning I woke up at 7 am. I had planned to leave to go visit friends in northern Idaho at 7 am. I chose today to go because my nephew will be here all day with Trish and she won’t be alone. Her recovery is going well though and the pain is getting better everyday. I messaged my friends saying that we will be arriving later than planned. They were fine with it. I had planned to write my blog before I got up but that wasn’t going to be happening. I got up, made my bed and fed Bits. I fed Angel breakfast and made my smoothie. Trish and my nephew were up and we chatted while we went about our morning routines.
Around 10 am, Angel and I left to go visit my friends. I was debating whether to drive south to Missy’s to let the chickens out since it was 20 minutes the opposite direction of where I was heading but the thought of leaving them cooped up didn’t sit well with me. I drove south and let them out before turning around and heading north. The drive to my friends was absolutely stunningly beautiful. I hadn’t been that far north in a long long time and I enjoyed every minute of the 3 hour drive. We followed rivers and went over mountain passes. On one mountain pass we stopped at a historical site to take in the view and read about the history of the Nez Perce war that occurred in the valley below. We drove through fields of lovely yellow flowers and followed numerous streams and rivers.
We were welcomed with a warm greeting when we arrived at my friends. It was a beautiful piece of property nestled between 2 mountains. The view of the mountains from their back balcony was breathtaking. They had baby chickens and baby rabbits that Angel played with. The babies were so cute. Little Bit wasn’t sure what to think about the rabbits. He couldn’t figure out if they were playmates or something to eat. My friends fed us homemade yogurt with fruit, nuts and honey. We had fun conversations while we ate and toured the property.
We stayed for a couple of hours before we headed out. I stopped at a park in Kamiah, the nearest little town, so Angel could play. She played for a while and then we walked over to the Clearwater River. The water was crystal clear and cold. I picked up a rock along the river bank and carried it to the truck. I want to bring some rocks home to put in my fairy garden. Our land in Texas has no rocks, it’s sand and clay.
The rest of the drive south was just as breath taking as when we drove up. At one point we stopped at a gorgeous waterfall along the Little Salmon River. I took pictures and a video. I was so happy to be experiencing the beauty of Idaho. The land is calling me home and I’m torn between my life in Texas and the calling of my heart. I’ll get clarity on how to unite them both and everything will work out perfectly.
When we arrived at Trisha’s, we all sat around in the living room for a couple of hours. At 8:15 pm, I drove to Missy’s to put the chickens away. Angel went with me. On the drive I asked Angel what she would like to do to make school more enjoyable. She said she wanted more brakes. I said I would do that.
At Missy’s, the wind had blown the door shut on the chicken coop and the chickens weren’t able to get in. I opened it up and they ran in. Tomorrow when I open it up, I will prop the door open so the wind won’t blow it shut.
As soon as I got to Trish’s. Angel and I took a bath. Then I read 4 chapters from The National Park Mystery Series out loud to everyone. We went to bed at around 9:30 pm.
Thank you for reading my blog and being a part of my life. I dearly appreciate you.
Love,
Victoria
P.S. This blog post was inspired by the Holy Spirit.