Friday August 15, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for trees.
- Thank you for grace.
- Thank you for self control.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 7:30 AM. I made tea and a smoothie. My jaw was hurting me a lot and I realized that getting that wisdom tooth pulled didn’t fix my jaw problem. Oh well, the tooth had a big cavity and it has bothered me off and on for years, so it needed to come out anyway.
I got ready and went to a cleaning opportunity. When I finished, I drove to Donnelly to pick up a dog to watch overnight. It was a nice drive and I listened to a funny audiobook called The Unhoneymooners. On my way through McCall, I filled up on gas at Maverick and got some groceries at Natural Grocers. I got the dog and hearted (headed) back down the mountain. The dog was a young dachshund named Norman and he was really sweet. His owner told me that he would bark a lot but he didn’t bark much at all on the way home. We even got stuck in a long like of cars on the outside of McCall. I wasn’t sure what was causing the traffic jamb or how long I would be sitting in that line. I thought about taking the dirt roads over the Mountain but there’s a fire up there right now and I still had my spare tire on my truck from getting a flat tire going camping. Even if the dirt road wasn’t closed due to the fire, I wasn’t willing to risk going on the dirt/rocky roads with my cheap tires and no spare. So I took a few calming breaths and waited in the line of cars listening to my audiobook. I looked at all the beautiful pine trees and smelled the lovely smell of pine on the air.
After a half hour or so, the line of cars started moving. Up the road a ways, right before getting to the canyon I saw a truck with a wide load on it pulled over. That’s what had been going on. They had closed the canyon so that truck could bring the wide load through. I bet that was a really tight fit going through the construction zone in the canyon.
When I got home, I was really late for my next cleaning opportunity. I called my clients and told them about the traffic problem and we rescheduled. I got Normal settled in, then I drove to the tire shop to see if my new tires had arrived yet. The delivery truck with the tires on it was just pulling in as I drove in and parked. They got my truck in right away and put the new tires on. The new tires came out to $1,200.00…ouch. I wanted to keep my other cheap tires and sell them since they only had 8,000 miles on them but the one that had the flat couldn’t be repaired, so I only had 3 tires to sell. I couldn’t put the tires in the back of my truck because I had my cleaning supplies there, so the tire store set them out front for me to pick up tomorrow if they didn’t sell.
Angel called and asked to stay the night with her friend that she had spent the day with and I said that was fine. I cleaned the church and the bank and stopped by my older sisters to get my mail. Then I took the dogs on a walk to M&W to refresh my gratitude sign and say goodnight.
When I got home, I talked to Aaron on the phone and got ready for bed. I goofed around on my phone for a while and went to sleep at around 10:30 PM.
Saturday August 16, 2025
Morning Prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for early morning phone calls.
- Thank you for health.
- Thank you for fresh produce.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
I awoke at 6 AM with the phone ringing. It was my friend Sarah calling from Texas. The phone ringing woke me from a dead sleep and I didn’t get the phone answered in time. I let the dogs out and made tea and a smoothie. Then I called Sarah back. We talked for an hour and it was great hearing her voice.
When I got off the phone, I drove to my friend TJ’s. I checked on the chicks, watered her yard and did some weeding until it was time to leave to go to a cleaning opportunity. I enjoyed cleaning and organizing for my clients. They also had me water their outside plants which I love doing. I brought both dogs with me and they had fun running around and my clients enjoyed them.
Later, back at home, I talked to Aaron on the phone, then Normans owners came and got him. I felt sad to see him go. He was so much fun to have around and Little Bit enjoyed playing with him.
I emptied out the back of my truck and went to the tire store to get my other tires that were still sitting out front. I had a lady that messaged me saying that she wanted the tires but wouldn’t be able to get them until tomorrow. When I pulled up to the tire store, I saw some big boxes sitting on top on my tires. I tried to lift the top box off but it was too heavy for me. I walked over to the shop and asked for help. A young lady that works there came to help me and I was thinking that we would lift the boxes off one at a time working together. She walked up to the boxes and titled all five of them up with one hand. I was not expecting that! This lady must be Wonder Woman with super powers. I pulled the tires out from underneath and she set the boxes back down. We loaded my tires in the truck and I thanked her for her help.
I drove to my friend Chad’s, I had talked to him earlier and he said that I could leave my tires there. When I pulled up to his house and got out, he had a cheeseburger costume that he wanted me to put on. I wasn’t about to put that thing on and started unloading the tires. Chad saw my pool noodles in the back of the truck and wanted to have a sword fight with them. I had a quick sword fight with him and finished unloading the tires. I got in the truck to leave and Chad stood at my window talking to me. I thanked him for letting me leave my tires there and went to pick up Angel and her friend and her friends brother to take them swimming at Zim’s.
I decided to take the dirt road up through Lost Lake reservoir on the way to Zim’s. I wanted to try out my new tires. When we got on the dirt road, I drove slowly and let the kids hang their heads out the windows. About halfway to the lake, I saw a neat waterfall and a swimming hole. I pulled over to look at it. It was down the mountain a ways and Angels friends little brother JJ walked down a trail with me to check things out.
When we walked back up to the truck, a young couple had pulled up and were getting ready to walk down to the waterfall. I asked them if they were going to jump in. They said they were and I said that I wanted to watch. All the kids came this time when we walked down to the waterfall. The guy did a back flip into the water and the girl just jumped. I would have jumped in too but my ears got messed up from cliff jumping so much when I was in my 20’s. I will come back another time though with my swimming ears plugs. I want to jump into that water so bad.
After watching the show, the kids and I continued driving to Lost Lake. As we were driving next to the lake, a police truck passed us. The kids were still hanging out the windows and I was sure he would pull me over. Instead he just waved as we slowly went by each other. Phew.
When we got to PineRidge, we took the highway the rest of the way to Zim’s. We swam for a couple of hours and the kids had a lot of fun. After swimming, I took the highway back to Council and dropped off Angels friend and little brother. At home, I fed Angel and we got ready for bed. I was too tired to read and we went to sleep at 10 PM.
Sunday August 17, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for community.
- Thank you for joy.
- Thank you for life.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 4 AM. I wrote my blog and went back to sleep at 6 AM. At 8 AM, I heard Angel get up. I got up and made tea while she ate breakfast. Then I made my bed and talked to Aaron on the phone. When I got off the phone, I got ready for church. Angel and I went downstairs to get our bicycles. Church was at a park this morning. Four of the seven churches in Council were having a community church service together and I was excited to go.
Angel got her bicycle and I walked over to my neighbors carport to get mine. My bicycle wasn’t there. I called my neighbor and she said she had noticed that it was gone yesterday. I told her that it had been stolen. She came outside and wanted to report it to the police right away but I told her I needed to leave to get to church on time since I was now going to walk. I said we could do it after I got home from church.
Angel rode her bicycle while I briskly walked to the park which was a mile away. We made it there on time and I saw my nephew Christopher chatted with a few people. I said hello to him and greeted a few other people before the service started.
The singing was fantastic and was lead by students that drove up from Northwest Nazarene university. The sermon was given by one of the pastors from the community church. It was a wonderful sermon about living by faith rather than following a list of rules that define you as a good Christian. It was exactly what I needed to hear.
When the service was over, there was a community potluck. I walked behind a building and called my older sister because I thought maybe I had left my bicycle over there. She said that it wasn’t there, so I posted a picture of it online in the local Facebook groups. There weren’t any other fat tire bicycle in town so I know if it was stolen by someone local, they would be spotted riding it around.
I joined everyone at the potluck. My jaw was starting to feel better and I was actually able to chew again without it being too painful. So I was glad I was able to eat a salad. I’d been craving salad.
At home, I went over to my neighbors and we called the police. A police officer came to the door shortly and we went out on the porch to talk to him. I showed him a picture of the bicycle and he asked if that was the bicycle sitting in the carport. What?!?! My neighbor and I looked at each other confused. We walked over to the carport and there was my bicycle parked right in the middle. Someone has brought it back. The tires had “goat-heads” in them and my bicycle tools had been taken out of the bag but otherwise the bicycle was fine.
My neighbor wanted to bicycle fingerprinted and charges pressed but I told her that the person had brought it back and that was good enough. She said that she was mad and wanted to person caught. The police officer was on my side and said it was my bicycle so it was ultimately up to me. I said that I didn’t want to press charges or get the bicycle fingerprinted. The officer got a call about an accident, I thanked him for his help and he took off.
My neighbor was nervous about me leaving the bicycle in her carport again and there wasn’t anything to lock it to. So she let me lock it in her shed and gave me a key. I thanked her and told her I appreciated her offered a safe place to keep it.
After all that excitement, I was tired. I went home and took a long nap while Angel played in her room. I slept deeply for 2 hours and it felt amazing. When I woke up, Angel went to her friends and I talked to Aaron on the phone. Then, I drove down to Ontario, Oregon to do some shopping. When I got back to town, I stopped by Aaron’s and we hung out for a few minutes. He showed me some neat rocks he had found down in Owyhee county. Then I went over the storage unit that I share with Aaron and got my kayak. I drove over to pastor Amy’s and we loaded her kayak in the back of the pickup next to mine. She gave me a fresh peach and some beans to eat. I left my truck with the kayaks in it at pastor Amy’s house so that they wouldn’t get stolen from in front of my apartment building. I didn’t want to have anymore stuff stolen.
I walked home and ate my peach and green beans on the way. Before going up to my apartment, I refreshed my gratitude sign at M&W and said goodnight to everyone. Angel stayed the night at her friends so I had the place to myself. I got ready for bed and wrote my blog notes. I fell asleep at around 10 PM listening to an audiobook.
Monday August 18, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for my bicycle.
- Thank you for honesty.
- Thank you for friends.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 6 AM. I had slept deeply through the night. I wrote my blog and posted it. By that time it was time to get ready to go kayaking with pastor Amy. I made tea and a smoothie and walked over to her house. She was ready to go and we hearted (headed) up to McCall. It was a beautiful sunny day and would get warm later but it was 62 degrees in McCall when we arrived at the Meanders. The Meanders are where the Payette river flows into Payette lake. The river meanders around and is a popular kayaking area for people that like relaxing kayaking adventures, which I do.
The water was crystal clear and not that cold. I could see all the way to the bottom of the river, even in the deep spots. We slowly meandered through the Meanders. The scenery was gorgeous and I basked in the beauty of it all. I took pictures of flowers and enjoyed the incredible rock formations on the surrounding mountains. Pastor Amy did some fishing and caught a rainbow trout. There were quite a few other people on the water which was surprising on a Monday. Little Bit rode on my kayak with me. He didn’t like it at first but he got used to it after a while and seemed to enjoy himself. Time flew by fast, it seemed like we had only been out there for a short about of time but when I checked the time on my phone, 2 hours had gone by, then 2 more hours. By the time we got back to the truck we had been on the water for 5 hours.
When we got off the river, we went into McCall and ate dinner. We went to a Mexican restaurant next to the lake and I had some guacamole. For being an expensive fancy restaurant, their guacamole wasn’t very good. It had way too many onions in it.
Back in Council, I dropped pastor Amy off at her house and put my kayak back in storage. When I got home, I went through my files to get Angels birth certificate in order to get her passport renewed. We had an appointment in Weiser tomorrow to get that done. While I was getting the birth certificate, I came across a story I had written in college about a summer afternoon spent with my best friend when I was 12 years old. The story was fantastic and maybe I’ll share it on here one of these days.
I walked over and cleaned the bank. When I got back, Angel came home from her friends. We noticed that there seemed to be a lot of bruising and bleeding where Sweetie Alabama got spayed. Each day it seemed to get worse and I decided to cancel the passport appointment in the morning and instead take the cat to the vet to get looked at. I walked over to M&W to refresh my sign and Aaron called. I sat outside the store on a bench and talked to him while I people watched.
When I got off the phone, I walked home and showered. Angel and I went to bed and I read a couple chapters from The National Park Mystery Series book 5. We went to sleep at around 10:30 PM.
Tuesday August 19, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for kayaks.
- Thank you for friends.
- Thank you for sunshine.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 6 AM. I did my regular routine of making tea and a smoothie for myself and making breakfast for Angel. I spent the early morning at my friend TJ’s. I watered outside, did laundry and cleaned her house. Then I enjoyed foraging blackberries and strawberries and cherry tomatoes. Yummy!! Fruit is so beautiful and colorful and flavorful. God gives us many delightful delicious and nutritious gifts from plants and trees. Thank you God!
When the veterinarians office opened up, Angel and I walked over there with Sweetie Alabama. The bruising from getting spayed was spreading and a little blood had come out from where her stitches were. Sweetie Alabama got looked at and we were told she was fine. That was good news!
We brought Sweetie Alabama home. Then I walked to the post office to check the mail and the library to print out a return label. At home, I vacuumed the house and walked our recycling to the recycling center. Then I picked blackberries and apples from my neighbors yard and cleaned for her. More fresh produce!!
Next I went to McCall to do a cleaning/organizing opportunity. Angel played with my clients daughter while I vacuumed The floors and helped my client rearrange her daughter’s bedroom. In the process of rearranging, my client gave me a cute corner shelf that will look nice in my entryway. She also invited me to pick cherries off her tree in the backyard. Yay, more beautiful fresh fruit!
Aaron come over after we got home and helped me bring the corner shelf upstairs. It fit perfectly where I wanted it to go. Aaron and I talked briefly and he read the story I had found that I had written in College. After he left, I put some of my rock collection on my new shelf and reorganized my entryway. I like how it turned out.
I walked to M&W to refresh my gratitude sign, put laundry away and got ready for bed. I read a couple chapters of The National Park Mystery Series book 5. Then I wrote my blog notes and went to sleep at 11 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
P. S. S. This was August 15-19. A lot has happened since then. Stay tuned,.