Saturday, September 7, 2024
Dear Diary,
I woke up at 4:30 AM and wrote my blog until 7 AM. I prayed my gratitudes: Good morning God, I am grateful for ice-skating. I am grateful for new wonderful opportunities. I am grateful for my body. I am grateful for breath. I am grateful for books. I am grateful for smoothies. I am grateful for smart phones. I am grateful for sunshine. Thank you. I love you.
Angel woke up at 8:30 am and was hungry. She wanted toast with honey. I made her breakfast and made myself tea and a smoothie. My smoothie had 8 bananas, turmeric, cacao, homemade almond milk and fresh pineapple/wild apple juice. Angel and I were going to my sister Trish’s today to hang out. My other sister Missy will be there too. I was looking forward to spending time with my sisters.
We got ready to go. I wanted to leave a little early so we could stop by the farmers market in McCall. Angel was distracted getting ready. She played foosball in the game room until I asked her if she was ready. She ran upstairs to get dressed and spent a half hour in the bathroom. When I asked her, what in the world was she doing in there. She said she’d be out in a minute. She finally came out and had put her hair into 2 ponytails. It looked cute. Ever since I cut her hair last week, she has been taking really good care of it. She combs it all the time and puts it in a ponytail. This was her first attempt at 2 ponytails and she did a pretty good job. Finally she was ready and we left later than I had planned, we wouldn’t be going to the farmers market. I gave the dogs I’m pet sitting each a chew treat to chew on while we’re gone.
When we started driving down the road, Angel asked if she could ride her bicycle with her friends when we got to Trish’s. I said she could but we didn’t have her bicycle with us. We turned around and went back. I put her bicycle in the bed of the truck and we hearted (headed) out again. I messaged Trish, letting her know we would be a half hour later than expected.
Angel told stories on the hour and a half drive. The drive is beautiful, on a winding mountain road. We drive through 3 mountain towns to get from Donnelly to Council. The first one is Lake Fork and it’s tiny, then McCall which is a fancy pants resort town and lastly New Meadows which is a cute little town. I love driving in the mountains. I love driving through little mountain towns. I love the scenery of rugged cliffs and pine trees and canyons and clear water creeks. I’m thrilled to be living in the mountains.
We arrived at Trish’s a few minutes before Missy. Trish was standing out front with her brown lab Huckleberry. She looked so cute standing there wearing a summer dress. I got Angel’s bicycle out of the back of the truck. She put her helmet on and took off to find her friends. Missy pulled up and we all sat out front talking. Missy had gotten home from Japan last week and shared her experience of having the worst jet lag she’d ever had. She couldn’t sleep at night and would finally fall asleep in the early mornings just to get up a few hours later to work. She had refused to take naps so that she would sleep at night but then she still wouldn’t fall asleep until early morning. She did that for four days until she crashed on Friday and barely made it through the day. She had finally gotten a regular nights sleep last night and was feeling normal again. I was amazed at her ability to push through and still work all week. She’s got some strong willpower.
Angel came back from riding her bicycle and asked Trish to put her hair into 8 braids. She had asked me earlier if I would do it and I told her to ask Trish. Trish said she would and we all continued to talk while she braided Angels hair. Angel was happy with her braids and went off on her bicycle some more. After a while, we all decided to check out a yard sale going on across town. Missy and I walked, Angel rode her bicycle (we noticed she had already taken her braids out 😂) and Trish drove her side-x-side. Missy and I had a fun conversations on the walk there about different ways people raise children in other countries. Missy travels a lot with her job and has been to a lot of different countries. I’ve only been to Canada, Mexico and Costa Rica. My favorite out of those 3 is southern Mexico.
At the yard sale, I bought scissors and a skinny dresser that can fit in the motorhome. Trish bought a tool set and Missy bought a bunch of miscellaneous stuff. Angel wanted some shoes but she already has too many shoes and I didn’t buy them for her. She did get a brand new (still in the package) toothbrush though and she was happy with that.
When we got back to Trish’s, I drove my truck over to the yards sale to pick up the dresser I had bought. I put it in Trish’s garage temporarily until I get my motorhome from Missy’s moved over to Trish’s. Then we all walked downtown to eat at a restaurant. We had fun talking and eating together. I love spending time with my sisters. I enjoy them immensely. My heart was full of joy being with them.
After eating, we stopped at the Mennonite store. I had messaged my friend Rita earlier asking her to call me. She called back while I was in the store and I went outside to answer the call. It wasn’t a conversation that I wanted to have. I had agreed to pet sit for them October 6 through October 22 in Texas but I needed to cancel. I had pet sitting that I needed to do in Idaho during that time and I didn’t want to be in Texas that long. I need to get back earlier, so I can get my motorhome winterized and I want to get settled in here before the cold set in. I had been feeling called to cancel since I got to Idaho and I chose to honor that intuitive feeling even though it would mean that my friends would have to find another pet sitter. Rita took the news hard and I assured her that they would be able to find someone else. They still had a month to find someone. I didn’t like canceling on them. I rarely cancel on people because I like being reliable, it’s a good way to live. Sometimes I do have to cancel though. I will leave for Texas September 13th and do a pet sitting opportunity from September 22-October 6. Then I will be coming straight back to Idaho after that.
After my phone call, Missy and Trish were at the cash register paying. We walked to Trish’s and I was restless to get back to the dogs I’m pet sitting. Angel wanted to stay the night with Trish and Trish said she could. We discussed going to Zim’s hot springs together tomorrow. We all thought that would be a lot of fun and I could get Angel from Trish then. I received a message from a lady in McCall asking if I would be willing to clean for her once a month. I talked to her on the phone and it sounds like a perfect cleaning opportunity that will be a lot of fun. Opportunities are already starting to happen here. Yay!
When I got off the phone, I hearted (headed) back to Donnelly. I listened to a great podcast on YouTube on the drive:
On the way, I stopped in McCall to pick up some free ice-skates a lady was giving away. She had left them out on the curb for me. I didn’t know if they would fit but I figured if they didn’t I would donate them. One pair was brand new in the box and they fit me. There was a pair that would fit Angel and 2 more pair that I think will fit my sisters. Perfect! It’s amazing how much free stuff people give away in McCall. I think it’s because it’s a resort town and people buy stuff on vacation and then decide they don’t want it.
The dogs were happy to see me when I arrived at my pet sitting house. The first thing I did was take them on a long walk around the neighborhood. It’s great walking through the pine forest. The trees are really tall and smell so good. We had a great walk and came across a book exchange box. I found a fiction book that I thought would be good to read called Wish You Well by David Baldacci. I will go back to the book exchange box tomorrow and put in The Christmas Pig book that Angel and I finished.
When we got back to the house, I made tea and went to bed early. I goofed around on my phone and read a few chapters of my new book. Then I turned out the light and went to sleep around 9 pm.
Thank you for reading my blog and being a part of my life. I appreciate you.
Love, Victoria
P.S. this blog post is inspired by the Holy Spirit.