Life's a Challenge

Life's a Challenge...

and I don't mean that in a bad way, at all.  But I have been thinking about how I haven't done ANY of my Sixty by Sixty challenges in ages.  The List remains incomplete and unused.

BUT.  I have challenged myself a couple of different ways recently.  So maybe my challenges are just going to be more internal for a bit rather than activities or places.

My most significant challenge has been asking for, bargaining for and finally getting a much needed pay increase.  It's taken a few months and means I will have to change employers (although not actual jobs which is confusing but that's the way it is...) but it also means that not only am I getting a pay increase, but so are the two nurses that I work with.

The view out my work window.

A good reason to love my job.

I realized at my yearly review that I better be happy with the standard 3% increase as no one was going to say "Great job! We need to give you 20% more than you are already making."
At least not unless I asked.  
And I was NOT happy with 3%. I work my tail off, I'm a great employee and I have gone above and beyond this past year. So I said, no,  don't think so, I need more and outlined why in an email. A lot of back and forth but finally they came up with an agreeable amount.
Lessons learned?
Know your value.
And the one I always tell the kids: If you don't ask, the answer is always "no".


The other thing that I have had to challenge myself with is driving in the snow. I mentioned in the last post how Colorado was kind to me last year. Not so this year. There have been a few good snows, some ice and tons of cold weather. Over New Year's Eve I drove to Denver to stay with my friend Diana. It snowed all day on New Year's Eve, with about 2 or 3 inches accumulating in Denver.  BUT! At the cabin the inches of snow were piling up. Fifteen of them at least.

Snow from Diana's deck in Denver. 

An inch or so....manageable.

On New Year's Day I had to make the decision... drive home through the passes or through the canyon? Two ways to get from Point A to Point B and I had to weigh the pros and cons of each.  I've had scary drives going both ways. Drives that involved cars going off the road, cars going into the river, cars going into the mountains. Part of me wanted to just say "Eh, I'll wait and drive back to the cabin on Wednesday when the snow has melted." But my time off is limited and I needed to be brave.

Snow at the cabin.

Deep.

The mountain pass won and guess what?  It was a piece of cake. The anticipation of the drive was WAY worse than the reality. Roads were clear, snow packed in a few places, but the most dangerous part of the trip was pulling out of the Stop and Rob after getting gas. By the time I arrived home there were close to 18 inches of snow on the ground but my driveway had been cleared by the neighbor.
Lesson learned?
Like Nike™ says "Just do it."

Food. Salmon and brussel sprouts to be exact. Both über popular and neither my faves. I have tried salmon  many many times in an effort to acquire a taste for it, but nope.
It's ubiquitous.
People like to make it for meals. It's good for you. Ugh. I just couldn't.  But like a good girl, I've kept trying.

Finally, at my favorite restaurant in town, I tasted my companion's maple glazed salmon and then tasted again.  And again. Surprise! It tasted good.  Have my taste buds changed? Not sure. Have not had the opportunity to try salmon again but I'm willing to give it a go.

An acquired taste, I think.

But these were pretty good. 

Same with brussel sprouts. They really DON'T taste that great but I've had them prepared creatively enough that I can tolerate them. I recently had Brussel sprouts with bacon, parmesan, and cashews. YUM. Maybe it was the bacon that elevated them. Isn't everything better with bacon? They were so yummy that I made Brussel sprouts for dinner last night . Mine had balsamic vinegar and honey. Again, they were pretty yummy.
Did my taste buds change? Maybe.
Lesson learned?
Tastes change. For many things. Never quit tasting. Or experimenting.

So. Challenges. Not on a list. But little mountains to climb. And plant my flag on top.

My mountains.

My flag. 

Six Things From April...

Six Things from April....

What can I say?
It's been over a month since I've written.
Why?
I'm not sure.
I came back from Texas and I've been busy?
I've been living life instead of writing about it?
It's been beautiful outside and I can't stand to be in?

I think the answer lies somewhere amongst all of these excuses reasons.

What have I been up to?

1. I had put the word out at the dump that I was looking for a gate. I love my dump. Every Saturday I drive to the little dump/transfer station where I hand over my money and my trash. I had asked them to keep an eye out for some gates as Carlos needs a fence and I wanted a functional gate on the back deck. Not two weeks after putting that bug in the dump owner's ear, I pulled up to see the perfect little gate waiting for me.  For TWO dollars!!  (The mirror that matches my vanity also came from the dump. It's a treasure trove of cast offs.)

Is that a perfect fit or what? 

It took a bit of searching for the hinges but with a little help (i.e. I held the hinges in place while someone else drilled the holes and screwed them in place.) I managed to get the gate installed. The latch part took about 4 trips to the True Value and lots of brainstorming.  After 7 years of having a sideways fence piece held up with twist ties and closed with cinder blocks, I now have a functioning, opening, closing, latching gate.

A Carlos-proof latch.

Next project is the second door on the shed. Neighbor Beverly was over on Sunday and we figured out how to make the current unattached door work without using any major power tools. Yay. Stay tuned.

2. I visited some fossils and dinosaurs. Love a good museum and the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland Park delivered. Tons of dinosaur bones, many from the Colorado area. Their signage could use a little work and the Houston Museum of Natural Science is bigger and better in the dinosaur department, but for an afternoon of entertainment- this worked.  (Also, the difference is tiny town private museum and fourth largest city in the US and lots of funding.)
Also visited the redwood fossils near Florrisant, Co. Had no idea there used to be redwoods here...but the trunks are there to prove it. Sadly most of the  fossils and trees had been carted off as curios, but a few remain and are now closely guarded. It was a beautiful day and the one mile trail around the tree trunks was a perfect way to kill an hour.

A huge redwood stump. 

So sad that most of the forest was carted off as souvenirs.

3. For a few years now I've dreamed of an outdoor table. Nothing fancy but I KNEW I didn't want plastic or traditional outdoor stuff. My plan was to buy an inexpensive wood table at the local Caring and Sharing (or somewhere along those lines) and just stick it out in the  yard, surrounded by an odd assortment of chairs. The budget was no more than $50 for the table and no more than $10 a chair. Knowing wood will not hold up for long unprotected under the Colorado sun I fully expect the life span to be maybe two years.   I found the perfect table at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Buena Vista and it was $40.  Even better, it came with not one but TWO leaves so there can be a party! My original thought was to put it on the side yard but one day it hit me. Out front it is level and exactly where the table needs to go. So it did. I found a few chairs at the Amish thrift store in Cañon City and Beverly is donating a few too in exchange for a  "seat at the table" come summer dinners. The whole mess is  going to be painted with chalk paint and it may or may not be sealed. No matter what it is going to look darling and be the perfect spot for summer breakfast lunch and dinner.

It's a start. The table will be almost navy.

Chairs will be shades of blues and greens. 

Doesn't it look like the perfect summer dining spot?

I'll have to teach the deer not to poop in the dining room.

4. I've been to some new restaurants, mostly in Buena Vista. BV is a little town past Salida, exactly an hour from the cabin and since I work there on Wednesdays, I've had the opportunity to explore. There are some really wonderful restaurants...I'll do a review or two soon. For Labor Day Dierks Bentley is doing a country music festival (Seven Peaks Music Festival) there and I am thrilled to be so close. Hoping to wrangle some tickets like I did for the Gentlemen of the Road show a few years ago.

5. And mostly? I've been working. Love my job but it is going through a "transition period" to say the least. Doctors are changing and while the current doctor is out, no one seems to know who will be replacing him. There is no schedule beyond mid June which makes scheduling a challenge and overall there is a sense of confusion. Not a very comforting position to be in but I am confident it will all work out.

 My little desk with no counter space. 

We have been BUSY!

And some of my favorite patients:

 Bailey (L) belongs to a doctor as does Wynn on the right. 

They stay down in oncology most of the day. 

 Tucker (above) and Ringo (below) 

are therapy dogs. 

6. And last but not least, look what I got! 

A fishing license!

The waders are on order. I'm going to learn how to fly fish for real. No. 58 is going to be completed!

So maybe for the summer posts will be once a month. Maybe there will be a hiatus. Maybe I will get back to weekly.
Who knows?
In the meantime...get out and live your life. Get off the computer and the phone. That's what I have been trying to do.

Monday at 8:29pm

Monday, 8:29pm

Well, the plan was to do a post on finding my voice, on learning to speak up for myself, on making myself heard. And I can hear the moans from my mother, among others...."O Lord, that girl does NOT need to find her voice."  But. But. I guess I really could not find my voice. Or find the right way to get the words on paper so they made sense and made a point.

Because it is something I am working on. I've been told more than once recently that I am "too nice". I've caught myself smiling and nodding when my brain is thinking "Hell, no! You did NOT just say what I think you did."   Part of that is being at work where I am paid (meagerly, but paid none the less) to be the smiling face at the door that greets people. Part of that is my nature. And I have realized recently that a lot of it is how I was raised. Not to say I was raised meek, but more raised in the ways of the times.

Me. On my birthday.

Smiling and greeting all the patients. 

And being agreeable. 

Even to the jerks.

Of course I also believe I am extremely independent and a decent writer and very capable and also very tall.   Some of the above facts are not actually true. They are "alternative facts."   That's ok. Apparently alternative facts are just as good as real ones these days.

So...instead of writing about how I haven't found my voice but am trying to, I will update you on my most recent project: Painting the vanity and mirror.

It was going to be a charcoal gray to complement the light gray bed. Then Neighbor Sue mentioned how much she liked the original color and how well it went with the gray. And Neighbor Sue is the Queen of Color. Mostly PINK!  That got me to thinking. The teal is really pretty and one of my favorite colors. It plays nicely with the gray and would be happy with some pink and navy thrown in.

The starting point which is going to be pretty similar to the ending point. 

Only better. 

An almost identical teal was found at Lowe's. The mirror has been painted and the first coat of wax applied. The top layer of wax will be darker to bring out the grooves of the wood.
The plan is to paint the wall behind the bed navy. Friend Liddy's suggestion. (This is decorating by sorority. A sorority with no dues. Ha! As if.)   That should make the light gray bed pop.

Imagine the wall behind the bed is navy. 

Pretty, yes? 

Hey! The whole room might get painted navy. It's a big space with maybe enough light to pull it off.
Anyway, I'm painting away IN  THE BEDROOM because the basement is just too chilly. Drop cloths have been strategically placed over the carpet and running up one wall. Paint is applied with care.

Then.

I learned a lesson.

If you are going hold the paint can, make sure you have a really good grip on it.

Otherwise, this happens:

 Yep. 

That's a stripe of teal paint on the wall, the wall heater, the drop cloth.

And a puddle of paint on top of the vanity. 

 But not on the carpet.

The paint can slipped from my hand, dropping straight down about 10" to  the top of the vanity. And splashed. All the way over to the wall.  The vanity top now has a fairly heavy coat of paint on it. And the wall will definitely be painted navy sooner rather than later. Miraculously the carpet is still beige.

In spite of my carelessness, the painting is coming along nicely.

Soooo, even though that was a big mishap and now there's a great big line down the wall, it got me to thinking.   Can't find my voice, but I can give some solid advice:
Hold on tight.
Take that as you wish.

••••••••••••••

I also spent the morning/ day trying to get tickets to see Hamilton in Denver. I followed all of the rules, logging in at 9:00am to get in line in the virtual waiting room. At 10:00am I was given the number in line of 71,415. Googling the number of seats in the theater, multiplying that by the number of days the show would be running and well....there would be no tickets for me. Determined to hang in there, I switched from the big computer to the iPad and somehow lowered my number in line to 27,271. That sounded possible. Maybe some people would give up. Or miss their spot, as once your number came up, there was a 15 minute window to order tickets.  But no.
Instead I got this:

It's definitely been a Monday.  Maybe I should just call it a day and go on to bed. 

The End, the Beginning...

The End is also the Beginning....

In less than a week I will turn sixty. Wow!

Mentally it doesn't compute. I look in the mirror and still see my 18 year old self...I know,  I know. 100% delusional.   I pretty much feel 18.  Certainly no more than 30.

                        

18.                     almost 60. 

(Carlos looks embarrassed to be in the middle....)

And my list will not be completed. Some might see that as a failure.  I see it as an opportunity to continue learning and doing.

Twelve items on the list weren't done at all. Two have been worked on. One is scheduled. I've done a couple of extras.  When I made the list I could not imagine the turns my life would take in the coming years. I made the list while living outside the fourth largest city in the United States. I'm finishing up the list living in a tiny rural area in Colorado two hours from anything.  Number 20: MOVE!! was put on there as a lark. Mostly I was thinking move houses. Not move cities. Or states.

So those 12 items will be moved to Project 90x90. Maybe. I may rethink a couple of them.

And  until I get that 90x90 website up and running, I thought I would share a few things I've learned in the last three years.
Or maybe the last 60 years.

1) Food is love.
Maybe I've seen too many chef/restaurant movies or maybe I have just finally figured out that food is not just food.  Good food feeds your body. Junk food junks up your body.   I still have my fast food cravings (Chick Fil A anyone? Jack in the Box tacos?) and I am looking forward to Tex Mex but I know that the healthy stuff makes me feel better.
Beyond the actual health benefits of eating real food and healthy food, though, I have learned the joy  in making a meal and sharing it with others. In being the guest at someone else's table. In sharing my banana bread with some grateful young men. In making cookies to give away as thanks.
Food is love.

Food. Feed your body. Feed your soul.

(image from the movie: Burnt)

(And if you want to see a good movie with gorgeous food and gorgeous Bradley Cooper, go see Burnt. )

2) Change is good.
Really.
It can be uncomfortable. Scary. Even unwanted.
But every time you have to face a fear, make a change, deal with the world changing around you, well, you grow. You learn something new. Brain cells connect . Maybe your heart expands a bit. Your eyes widen.   Learning new stuff is cool. And good for you. Even if you think you didn't want to learn anything new, you just wanted to stay in your little shell. Change. It's good.

Make your brain happy.

Embrace change.

(image: here)

3) Friends are the Bomb.Dot.Com.
Honest. My friends are awesome. They have come through for me so many times and in so many ways. I try to be a good friend back. Some days I'm awesome, some days I fall really short. I'm whiney. I complain way too much.  I think it is my way of working through stuff.  But O! My friends have been such great sounding boards. I have some super smart friends. I learn stuff new from them all the time.
Friends are family you get to choose.  Make some. Nourish your relationships.

From this...

to this. 

I'm happy to say I have friendships 

that have almost crossed this time span. 

(I say "almost" because I'm not that old yet.)

4) Money is Power and Freedom      and
5) Work is dignity.
Money. Love it. Hate it. Worship it. Never enough, is there?
But here is what I know. A little money in a secret stash is important.  If you have your own money, no one can tell you what to do with it. That is empowering and freeing. I've been trying to impart this bit of wisdom to my girls. And especially to the boy.
Number Five goes along with Number Four because the most common way to get money is to work for it. And working gives you purpose and structure. A feeling of accomplishment. O! And a paycheck. So Four brings us to Five and Five brings us to Four.
I love a full circle.

Like I said, 

change is good.

Sooo...I'm signing off this website at the end of December.  And what posting I do between now and then will be even more random than it has been, if that is possible. I have a birthday, a friend's son's wedding and a 1000 mile move all scheduled in the next ten days. And then comes Christmas which I am woefully unprepared for.  Belle will be arriving in Colorado from Florida with a friend boy in tow.  They will help get Bunny back to Texas. A quick check last night resulted in a resounding "No" when I asked if there was a Christmas tree awaiting me in Texas.
Basically my life for the rest of the month will be herding kittens through Jell-o. Can't wait.

Join me in the New Year here:   PROJECT 90x90

Surfacing...

Back...sort of.

Did ya miss me?  

I'm surfacing again after a week or so of being bogged down.  

For one I suddenly started working full time at the coffee shop which, while lovely and fun,  also has been a huge shock to my system.  I haven't worked full time in TWENTY THREE YEARS!!!

Me and the espresso machine. 

Best buds.

I've been exhausted. And poor Carlos is left at home alone so I spend the hours when I come home playing fetch and "drop it" and all those other fun dog games.

"Throw dis for me mama, please."

Carlos is modeling his Thundershirt. 

Amazingly it works. Keeps him from totally panicking when it thunders.

If you were in a car when it was hit by lightning, you might have a fear of thunder and lightning too.

There was high school graduation- no one in our family but certainly plenty of the girly girls' friends. So presents and cards had to be procured, graduation outfits shopped and, of course, attendance at the actual event. It was just as fun as last year.  Congrats to all the 2015 Salida High School graduates.

Hey Ruth! Hi Kelsey!

Good job everyone.

And I am doing nothing, nada, zippo towards completing my challenges.

Hardly even thinking about them.

This weekend I go to Denver.  Seeing a play on Saturday night. Meeting up with Bunny who will be flying home from a week with her sister in Florida. Picking up a car that  has been worked on in Colorado Springs.

I'll get back to the list eventually.

Until then, bear with me.


Happy Summer.

Perseverance

Perseverance: I Think I Can, I Think I Can

Back in October I wrote about "doing it like I mean it" and looking for a job.

I kept looking for jobs, had a couple of interviews and basically accomplished nothing.

Then about five weeks ago a little coffee/decor shop opened up about 5 miles down the road from the cabin. I had watched this building being renovated and set my sights on working there.

The very first week they opened, I went in, ordered a mocha espresso and told the owner that I wanted to work there.   She looked at me like I had two heads.

This machine makes a lot of noise.

It's scary.

But I persevered.

The next week I went in and the owner's son was there. I repeated my request. I want to work here.
He looked slightly more interested, but no jobs available, they were just getting started.  He told me to maybe call his mom.

The following week, another employee was there and I told her I wanted to work there because  "don't you want to take some days off?".  I left my name and number, again.

Again the next week. Declaring my intentions, leaving my name and number.

I pretty much had given up.

BUT.... Hope springs eternal.

I went in last week and the owner's son said "O! I was going to call you today. Can you come in on Wednesday?"

Hallelujah!!!

I've worked one day. I made espressos and chai teas and sold some coffee mugs. Business is slow to start- this is a seasonal area. But the ski area opens Thanksgiving weekend so possibly things will pick up.

The grinder for these guys is also scary.

But I still have my fingers!

I go back on this Wednesday.

It was fun, I learned something new, I persevered.

Hey! Isn't that the entire premise behind Project Sixty by Sixty?
Yep.

A Wrap Up: One Thing I Should Have Done

A Wrap Up: The One Thing I Should Have Done 
(and maybe one that would have been a good idea)

For the most part I have got to say "No regrets" about the almost year spent in Colorado.
Even though I was away from most of my family and friends, missed my horse and cats (and the chinchilla, turtles and fish), and endured more than my share of car problems and plumbing fiascos, I loved the entire time there. Loved the weather. Loved being out in the country. Loved the mountains.

BUT.


The one thing I should have done is the one thing my expat friend has said about moving to any new place.

"No matter how long you think you will be staying, you should approach ANY move as if it is for the rest of your life."

Think about that.

Another friend's motto is "Do it like you mean it."

Basically I think both friends are saying the same thing.

And what did I not do?

Get a job.

Fortunately the hubs financed this expedition. I've pretty much been a Stay-at Home mom since the Big Guy was born. Twenty two years now. In that time I've volunteered at the schools some. And then a couple of years ago I got a part-time job.   Loved working again. Loved the people, the mental challenge, the routine. But I left that little job to go to Colorado.


I thought about getting a job once we got settled and school had started.  But I felt bad.  What if someone hired me and then I left three months later? Even if it was part time, that wouldn't be fair. Besides, the Fall was busy with friends coming to visit and weddings and holidays and the girls were cheering. So it just seemed easier to NOT get a job.  And I was going to be leaving mid-December.

Well, if you've been reading this blog then you know what happened. The girls decided to stay in Colorado for the entire school year.

And when January rolled around, the routine of a place to go would have been nice.  Because there were no more visiting friends or holidays or excursions planned. Just the day to day snow and cold.

Once it looks like this outside, a little diversion is welcome.

Even if it is work. 

If I had gotten a job (even a volunteer one- this really isn't about money but about becoming part of a community-although the money would have been nice) then I would have felt more connected. Would have met more people. Would have put down some roots.

Yes, it would have made it harder to leave. But it also would have opened up more opportunities.

So there's my regret. Not working somewhere.


And another little "maybe we should have".

Gotten a place in town. Just a little apartment or loft or tiny house. We talked about it but it seemed silly. And expensive.  But considering that it ran about  $7.00-$8.00 round trip every time one of the cars went into town...and we had three cars... and many days those cars went round trip twice and sometimes three times. One really bad day I even made that trip four times. Well, it all added up. I think for the three of us our gas bills ran about $700-$800 a month. Maybe more. (Some things you just don't want to know for sure.) The mileage on the cars certainly added up.
Definitely if we had been in town we would have felt more a part of the community.
And probably those girls would not have gotten away with as much as I suspect they did.
(Because really...when you are fairly certain they aren't where they say they are, but it requires a 30 mile round trip drive to check, things tend to slide.)

A little loft along F Street would have been nice. 

(Photo via here.)

So.... some things to think about. Do it like you mean it. Do it like it's forever.

Good advice no matter what.


And.

Everyone think some happy thoughts for poor Carlos.
He managed to survive ten months of running wild through the woods, avoiding the bears and mountain lions and gun-toting neighbors unscathed only to come home and slice his paw on a piece of metal in the back yard. I went outside this morning and he was covered in blood and licking his hind paw.
A panicked trip to the vet got him bandaged him and sedated.

Carlos's big adventure. 

Love Dr. Knox and First Colony Vet. 

Thursday morning he gets stitches.
Then he gets to wear one of those big party hats for a bit. How embarrassing.

Bunny gets the award for being the calm mommy of the day. She sat in the back of the car with Carlos on the way to the vet, talking sweetly to him. She sounded just like me.
"It's okay, Buddy, we're just going to have the doctor look at that foot. He'll probably put a Band Aid on it. No big deal. You'll be fine. You may need a tetanus shot. It's okay. Just sit down. Everything will be fine." No panic. No squeamish-ness. Just calm in the face of pools of blood. Seriously. It looked like there had been a murder. On the back porch. In my car. At the vets.
So proud.
Can't wait for the big dog to be home tomorrow. The house is too lonesome without him.