investing

i was sick for about a week there. was feeling better going back to work but it proved to be too much for me and i was feeling pretty crummy after working five days in a row including one double shift. but now i have three days off in a row. this is my second one of those. all i have now is the cough but that finally seems to be going away. i went out to the rehab barn for the horse rescue this past weekend too and took some pics of a volunteer for the aarp. i think they're going to use the first pic for publication. i'm going back out tonight to help clean horses and stalls. i'm glad this actually happened. looking back i seem to get a lot of ideas of things to do but don't always go through with them. so i'm happy this did. gareth and i tracked down the soundtrack to where the wild things are and i've been listening to it non-stop as i do with the few cds i listen to. it helps put me in my own imaginary world. my rat pete has been getting old lately. i've thought he was going to die soon for the past few weeks. his bumblefoot came back and he wasn't eating or drinking for a little while there. i was too sick and busy myself to give him the kind of care he needed but now i'm fully attending his needs and he seems to be doing better. he's still two years old though so i know he won't be around a whole lot longer. as long as i can make him comfortable until then i'll be doing my part. budd still hasn't laid the last three eggs. i don't know what to do about that. pets are so investing. of time and worry and money and attention. it's a good thing i love them. it's hard to imagine the horses that are rescued from people who failed to do all of those things. i'm glad i can help.

sick

despite all the good food i ended up getting sick this week. and i had to open on the first full blown day. i felt awful. i really don't know how i made it through. but i was lucky to have the next two days off to recover. this is the second of those days and i'm feeling better but still not healthy. i'm hoping another day of rest and meds will have me on my feet for the working weekend ahead. i had a good day last sunday going home. my dad and i went to see where the wild things are. he liked it too. then we went out to chilis. it was an adventure to get there as we were both surprised to see that the mall was under construction. there's always something under construction back home. i finally finished my alaska album. now i have florida to do. i've enjoyed these past few days spent at home. although uncomfortable i was able to lie in bed and i've almost finished my book. call of the wild. not the jack london one but another about a man who went to alaska to live in the wild. it's pretty good and helped wisk me away into another world. i always enjoy those.

imaginary

so suddenly it's fall. feels more like winter. we've turned on the heat for the first time here and i pulled out my coat the other day. i like the cold weather. at least a little of it. i'm sure i'll be glad when spring arrives again. i've been on a cooking spree lately. made sweet potato and squash soup the other day. and lentil spinach walnut salad last night. i've been feeling a little under the weather this week but i think the good food's helped me not to get completly sick. gareth's been pretty sick these past few days. and he was up late last night seeing where the wild things are. i went with him for the midnight opening. it was sold out. and well worth it. i really enjoyed how beautiful the imaginary world they created was. we still don't have a manager. another manager came by this week and showed me how to do some more things around the store. the district manager said she'd let me know what was going to happen next week. i asked if i was going to be staying at the store and said that i preferred to do that. but that i'd looked forward to that raise we'd talked about awhile ago. she said she thought i'd be staying there and that any raises weren't going to happen until the first of next year. so i guess i'm staying and i'll find out who comes soon.

running

our manager left a week ago. he'd put in his two weeks notice before i left for my trip so they had three weeks to figure out how to cover his absence. and i still don't know what's happening with that. i've been pretty much running things in the store. and trying not to go into overtime. it's been exhausting but i kind of like being in charge of getting things done around there. i'm in the middle of making peanut butter and jelly cookies. they smell and will hopefully taste delicious. at least they're coming off the cookie sheet unlike the last bench i attempted. gareth didn't see any movies this weekend. last week's was zombieland. another one too bloody for me to see on the big screen. i'm excited about next week's new movie. where the wild things are. i'm going with my family to see it. on my only day off next week. i hope they figure out who's going to be in change soon. hopefully it will be a situation where i can ask for that raise. i think i deserve it. i miss vacation. hopefully i'll get another one soon.

cool

the rest of the trip went well. there were lots of birds at the beach. and we got a nice sunset. we also went fishing on his dad's boat two nights in a row. the first night we were out for about five hours and they only caught about a dozen fish. the second we were only out about an hour but they caught about two dozen. no sharks though. they were dissapointed but i was alright with that. i'm both scared of and scared for them. we also went and played mini golf at night. it was much too hot to do anything but swim during the day. so it was quite a shock to come home the other evening and find it was sweater wether in virginia. i'm alright with that though. i'm working all weekend now. but i still have some paid time off so i'm hoping to take a few days off the end of the month and head to the mountains. that's my kind of vacation. i've also been looking into joining the local ymca. my favorite banker just joined and said she loves it. i need something to do when gareth's not around to get myself out of the house. and with my income it would only be twenty two dollars a month. i think it's worth it especially with winter coming. i won't be taking my turtle for walks anymore. not like that's much exercise. she laid another egg while we were gone. only three more to go.