Saturday October 26, 2024
Dear Diary,
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for sleep.
- Thank you for clear roads.
- Thank you for faith.
- Thank you for my family.
- Thank you for the earth.
I love you!
I woke up at 1 am and wrote my blog. I fell asleep again at 3 am. At 6 am, I woke up again. It was our last day of traveling and I was ready to get it over with. Angel woke up and we put our stuff in the truck. The hotel offered a continental breakfast and we went to see what they had. Angel ate cereal and muffins while I used hot water to make my tea. Then we were on the road.
We had a 7 hour drive. We finished listening to Lassie Came Home and then listened to The Call of the Wild. Twice we stopped to fill up on gas and use the bathroom. I had planned to stop and briefly visit my mom while going through her town but I was feeling run down and tired. Plus she was teaching a sewing class that we would be interrupting. I messaged her and told her we would come visit another time when we were well rested and when we could all spend quality time together. She said thank you.
When we came down from the high desert into Boise, the valley was covered in smog. It was still good to see my home town where I had lived most of my life. I’ll always have a fondness for Boise even though I don’t want to live there again. It is full of memories, I explored the city on my bicycle throughout my teenage years. Then at the age of 35, I chose to live bicycle only again. I was in fantastic shape and rode 10 to 30 miles a day for 7 years until I decided to move to Texas. Those 7 years were some of the best years of my life. It takes strong will to get on a bicycle on cold winter mornings to go to work but I did it. When I am determined to do something, I have the willpower of solid iron. It felt good to be firm in my will, it felt good to be that healthy.
We arrived at my older sisters at 1 pm. I was glad to be done traveling. We went inside and greeted my sister. Then I sat on the couch zoned out while Angel rode her bicycle and my sister played Animal Crossing on her TV. When Angel came back inside, we walked to the store. I needed a good walk in fresh air to clear the cobwebs of exhaustion out of my head and the walk did just that. The little grocery store in town is tiny but I was impressed with the produce section. I bought some beautiful red leaf lettuce and discounted ripe bananas. I felt delighted that this would be my new grocery store. I felt delighted that I had actually officially moved back to Idaho. I was here! I was home!
Back at my sisters, I rested on the couch while Angel played Animal Crossing with my sister. Then I mustered up some energy and unloaded the truck. I put all our food from the coolers in the fridge and found a place for our dry food. I brought our suitcases upstairs and then rested some more. I called my friend Brett, who lives 45 minutes away, to let him know I made it. He said he was in the car going on a drive. I suggested driving to Council and he said he would be there in an hour.
I continued to sit on the couch in the recliner and attempted to take a nap but ended up chatting with my sister instead. When Brett arrived we went on a walk and Angel stayed with my sister. Walking through downtown, there was an event going on. There was a hay ride and kids running around in costumes. I asked someone what was going on and they said it was the Harvest Festival and would be going on until 7 pm. I called my sister to let her know. She said she would ask Angel if she wanted to go. Brett and I walked to the Weiser River Trail. We walked up it until we got to the baseball fields and playground. Then we cut across and I showed Brett the town pond.
My sister texted saying that her and Angel were at the Harvest Festival and the owner of the local newspaper was there. I had talked to the owner of the newspaper a few weeks ago while I was in Texas. Through a contact of my sisters I had gotten word that the newspaper route was opening up and I had called let him know I was willing to take it over. He said to contact him when I got into town. I had planned on calling him Monday but talking to him in person would be even better. I messaged my sister back saying that we would be right there.
Brett and I walked downtown again which wasn’t far. It’s a really small town with about 950 people. I found my sister and she said that Angel was on the hay ride and she didn’t know where the owner of the newspaper had gone. She looked for him but couldn’t find him. We stood around people watching until the hay ride returned. Angel got off of the wagon and at the same time my sister saw the owner of the newspaper. She pointed him out to me and I went right over and introduced myself. He remembered me calling him and said that he was training a person to do the paper route that he knew really needed the work but said they were looking for someone to write articles and wanted to know if I was interested in writing at all. Am I interested in writing??? Writing is one of my passions!!! I told him about my blog and he said he would look it up. He told me he would get in contact with me when they needed an article written but the pay wasn’t real good. I wasn’t concerned about the pay. Getting paid anything to write is amazing to me. I also suggested I could be a substitute for the paper route and he said he had been thinking the same thing. We chatted for quite a while. My sister went home and Angel and Brett were getting restless. We ended the conversation and I look forward to hearing from him again.
Angel had some money with her and wanted to look at the toys in the grocery store across the street. We walked over there with Brett and looked at the toys. Angel didn’t have enough money to buy the toys she wanted. She hemmed and hawed about buying a toy she didn’t really want. One of Brett’s cousins happened to be in the store and we talked with her and her husband while Angel was deciding. Finally Angel decided she was going to wait until she earned more money and buy one of the toys she really wanted. Good decision!
We walked back home to my sisters and Angel played Animal Crossing. Brett and my sister got in a discussion about politics. They were both really enjoying their conversation and I was glad my sister had someone to talk politics with because she likes talking politics. I would rather throw myself off a cliff than talk politics but it was fun watching how much they were enjoying their conversation. After a while, I wandered off to the kitchen and washed dishes. Brett went home shortly after that and I fed Angel dinner and got her in the bath. I took a shower in the other bathroom and when I got out, I sat next to my sister on her bed while waiting for Angel to finish bathing. Little Bit was sitting on the bed next to us and I noticed a strange looking spot on his belly. I turned him over to take a closer look. I knew exactly what it was the second I turned him over…ringworm! My mind was saying this couldn’t be so. Where would he have gotten it from? Arg!!!! My sister and I both freaked out. I grabbed Bits and ran upstairs. I put iodine on the ringworm and sprayed down the entire house and furniture with apple cider vinegar. My sister took the blanket off of her bed and we separated the dogs. She has a chocolate lab named Huckleberry. I quarantined Bits in my room and put down towels for him to lay on. Poor Bits didn’t know what was going on and thought he was in trouble. I told him that he was a good boy but he still was upset and confused about being quarantined.
Angel got ready for bed and I read her a story. Then I went to bed. What a day! I was exhausted. Bits wanted to get under the covers with me like he always does. I told him he had to stay on his towel. He stayed there but kept looking at me with sad eyes. I turned out the light and fell asleep right away at around 9:30 pm.
Sunday October 27, 2024,
Dear Diary,
Good morning God,
- Thank you for challenges.
- Thank you for guidance.
- Thank you for health.
- Thank you for my sister.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
At 1 am I woke up. Little Bit was still laying on his towel where I put him. I researched different ways to get rid of ringworm. My stomach was in knots with concern about the ringworm spreading. A couple of years ago, Angel got ringworm from some kittens given to us. It got in her hair and it took a year to get rid of it. I don’t like ringworm at all.
At 4 am I fell back asleep and woke again at 7 am. Little Bit was still on his towel with sad eyes. Angel woke up and told me that she had seen ghosts in the night. I told her they wouldn’t hurt her and it was probably her ancestors watching over her. She thought about that a while and said that she would tell her ancestors that they didn’t need to check on her.
We went downstairs, I put iodine on Bits and let him eat and go outside to use the bathroom. Then I put him back in quarantine in the bedroom. My sister was up and had started the laundry, washing anything Bits might have touched. Angel wanted waffles for breakfast. I made her some and made tea for myself. Then I vacuumed the entire house and made a smoothie with bananas/cherry juice/tangerine juice. Angel got ready for church while I went to the dollar general store and the grocery store. I bought a fungus killing disinfectant, empty spray bottles, more iodine, hydrogen peroxide and athletes foot spray. I didn’t find dog anti-fungal shampoo which I was hoping I would find. When I got back, I put a mix of the disinfectant, hydrogen peroxide and iodine in the spray bottles and sprayed down the entire house with it.
That afternoon, after church, I had planned to meet with a lady that I was house sitting for through the winter for 5 months. It wasn’t a paid house sit. It was just a place to live for free and I would only pay for the utilities. My sister and I had a discussion about it yesterday and she really wants me to stay with her through the winter. Also I have a feeling my younger sister will want me to do some house sitting for her because she travels a lot and she lives 20 minutes away. Plus, when I get long term pet sitting opportunities that I get paid for, I want to be able to take them. So I decided to not do the free house sitting opportunity and I sent the lady a message letting her know. She said that she understood but would still like to meet me. I was happy to do that and agreed to come over later in the day.
I got ready for church and walked there with Angel. It was only 4 blocks away. I love being in town where I can walk places. The church is called River of Life and they meet at the senior center. We are going to spend the next couple of months visiting all the churches in town before deciding upon one. There are 7 churches total.
We arrived at church 5 minutes early and were greeted by 3 people but most of the congregation ignored us. I thought the service would last an hour, from 11 am to 12 pm, but I was told it would last until 1 pm. I was meeting a guy in McCall at 1 pm to buy some studded snow tires and said we would have to leave early. The service started and the first 45 minutes were spent singing. That was a lot of singing. I’m particular to singing hymns. I love singing hymns. These songs weren’t any that I knew and were up on a screen. After singing, the kids went off to children’s church and I listened to 15 minutes of the sermon before it was time for us to leave. I liked the 15 minutes that I heard but I’d have to stay for the whole thing to really get a feel for the message.
After going back to the house, changing clothes and putting Bits in his pet carrier to go with us. We hearted (headed) to McCall, which is 45 minutes away. I called my friend Brett, who lives in McCall and he said he would meet up with us when we got there. I planned to get the tires, then I had an hour and a half before going to meet a lady and her cats to do cat sitting December 20-30. It would be a once a day drop in to feed and check on the cats.
We met up with the guy to get the tires. Brett showed up and looked at the tires with me. The tires looked good but the rims they were on didn’t fit my lug nut pattern even though the tires are the same size as mine. I will go to a tire shop this week sometime and get the tires swapped out and put on my rims. I paid the guy and Brett helped me put the tires in my truck bed. Then we went on a search for dog anti-fungal shampoo for ringworm. McCall is bigger than Council but it is still small with a population of 3,500. It’s a resort town though, so it has a lot to offer for a small town. We checked the grocery store, the pharmacy store and the pet store. None of them had the shampoo. I will have to get some at the local vet tomorrow.
Brett invited us to his house for lunch and he made bean tacos. He got real fancy and cut up a tomato and some onion and an avocado to go with our tacos. While waiting for the food to cook, I let Bits out to use the bathroom. Then he sadly went back in his pet carrier. He doesn’t understand why he had to be in there.
We didn’t stay at Brett’s very long since I had to meet the lady with the cats. Her house was difficult to find. It was way out in the country and google maps led me to a dead end but I figured it out. Angel stayed in the car with Bits and played on her phone while I went inside. I met the lady and her family. The cats were outside hiding under the deck so I didn’t get to meet them but I saw them under there. The family had just moved to McCall from Texas so we had a lot of talk about. They lived near Houston their whole lives and were not sure how they would survive their first Idaho winter in the mountains in an area that gets a lot of snow. They were already feeling cold. My advice was to dress appropriately and buy studded snow tires and they would be fine. The lady and I talked for quite a while and bonded right away.
On the drive back to Council we listened to Swiss Family Robinson. Before going to my sisters we stopped and met with the lady I had canceled house sitting for. Her and her husband were wonderful people and I thoroughly enjoyed visiting with them. They asked if they could hire me to stop by every couple of days to check on their place for the 5 months they would be gone. Yes! That would be ideal plus I would get paid to do it. They said if they don’t find someone to stay there full time to house sit for them before they left on November 11th, they would hire me.
We got home at 6:30 pm. I unloaded the tires and put my cleaning supplies in the bed of the truck. I had a cleaning opportunity to do in the morning. Angel took a bath and ate oatmeal for dinner. I let Bits run around outside, then put him in my room and put a sheet over the bed for him up lay on. I took a shower and talked with my sister. Angel picked out a book to read and we all gathered on my sister’s bed and I read the story. I tucked Angel into bed and put on a sleep meditation for her to listen to. I folded the sheet on my bed in half for Bits to lay on. Then I got in bed and wrote down blog notes. I fell asleep at around 9:30 pm.
Thank you for reading my blog and being a part of my life. I appreciate you.
Love, Victoria
P.S. this blog post was inspired by the Holy Spirit.