Friday

Pretty decent week overall. Shane was on call and got called out almost every evening. I think he had like 25 hours of overtime. Today was a pretty busy day at work for a Friday. My co workers let me go to an appointment at public health in the afternoon to get vaccinations for Peru. I ended up getting 4 shots. My arms hurt pretty good. I'm hoping I won't feel fluish from the yellow fever vaccination and no headaches. Got home and had to walk a couple blocks to my house because of all the construction. When I got inside I realized hunter was acting funny, but I just thought it has something to do with his tummy since he gets stomach problems sometimes. Shane got home around six and I had him take a look around his tail since he was acting like it hurt. Hunter yelped out in pain and that's when Shane realized how swollen the proximal part of his tail was. I called the vet and she had us go in. Alpine knows my dogs and I quite well as we are unfortunate frequent flyers. A couple months after I got Hunter he broke a toenail so bad he had to get it declawed. Took several weeks to heal and it was a disaster. Then he was brought in by me many times for bad gasterointeritis and associated allergies including bad ear infections and sensitive paws. Then Bounty decided it would be cool to cut open his leg on a barb wire fence which also required surgery and took a couple weeks to heal. And now poor Hunter was diagnosed with swimmers tail. The vet said it can happen with dogs who are excessive tail waggers or when they get their tails stuck in a door or some other kind of injury. So now I am in bed laying with my poor puppy who is on pain meds for the next week. Laying here with sore arms and a puppy with a broken butt. Sigh. I did get in my new sleeping bad from Cabelas that I got for my trip. Heading to bed early as I work tomorrow. 

Monday

Quite the boring weekend. Friday I got off a little early from work, and went home and hung with the pups. Shane ended up being on call after all, and was gone most of the weekend. He got called out at 2:30 in the morning for someone's water heater that was leaking. He didn't get home until 6:30 that same morning. I did a lot of cleaning on Saturday, and did more trip planning. I also stalked Hunter around the house trying to get good pictures of him. Here was my result.



I thought the lighting was perfect in this one.

Bounty being a dork. Toofer.  

 

My favorite. Evil eyes, but notice he was also wagging his tail.

 

 Yesterday I sat around watching TV. Shane was gone on calls, so late afternoon I figured I should try and do something with myself, so I made dinner. Homemade meatloaf, mashed potatoes and a salad. Turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. Shane and I watched the ACM's, and then off to bed it was. Now it is Monday, and it is still snowy. Going to be a somewhat slow day. I wish I could stay in bed with the pups all day.

 

Ode to the Terra Firma

I used to love writing poetry. I found some of my favorite ones, so I thought I would post them to share.

ODE TO THE TERRA FIRMA

 

You restless site of light and dark,

I was sent permanent witness to your every shape of time.

I stood created even before your first signs of physical life,

before the gods left matters out of their hands, before you stayed to make your mark.

I remain as a neutral judge, though I am aware of every fault and vice,

of the birth the happiness the strife the (sweet madness) the love... the end.

(Oh! if only you could take witness to what I perceive, for I see through your masks!)

I know of every motive behind every action, and of every thought you shall entice.

I catch the wandering eyes that turn above to meet my countenance:

These are the eyes that crave for understanding, and wish to be understood in return.



 

I hover above you, in the correct spot every hour,

in the changing shapes and present phase I am created to expose.

Chapter one I uncover little; I recoil behind clouds of ignorance.

Laid out before you represents a lack of power,

a burnt out light that is thought to convey

a peaceful radiance, a false glow of hope.

What you appreciate is the little I allow you to see.

What you see is a what lack of knowledge is causing me to portray.

Time was taken to amend this thinking;

This chapter remains part of the story, but I transform.

 

With realization comes apprehension, a new sense of wonder.

However with this sensation comes a stalemate, in which the mind is separated between

old and new knowledge, troubled with questioning thoughts.

Chapter two I begin to question inwardly, my thoughts torn asunder.

I have reached halfway. I know the past,

but I can also see what lies ahead.

It is here that I have the choice to remain mundane, or

take the risk of identifying identity.

I cast my light into the unknown.

A journey has begun whereupon the ultimate evaluation of the absolute balance is searched for.

 

Chapter three you look up and see a forward transformation in place.

You are unsure of the credibility and integrity of this new vision.

My light shines brighter, with a new sense of clarity.

Those faces who care to understand accept the traits I choose to efface.

Astute eyes recognize an inward change,

while blind eyes fail to recognize the greatness of confidence and authority.

I am stronger in character, now glowing with subtle conviction, with an

increasing capacity to recognize self-reliance, to stand and self-arrange.

Eyes do not look up to meet my gaze, nor do I look down to find theirs.

My light shines level upon those who ask, rather than who believe they deserve.

 

How does one define or even determine the end?

Chapter four and I realize, there is no such event.

Time is spent shedding that which was identity, and now I briefly overshadow the light.

Pain remains, but what I do not carry is your weight. I preserve the ability to amend

the paths I walk down, accepting but not forgetting (you.)

The end does not end, for there is no ending cycle of life.

Identity is what is and what is not identifiable; the questions and

inward thoughts of consciousness are the start to answering

one of the deepest questions an individual has: Who am I? 



Snow

Pretty long but decent day. I kept thinking about there being a 9 pound fish in my freezer at home, so I thought I would post a picture of his big rainbow trout that he caught. I guess it is the biggest fish he has caught, so he will be getting it mounted eventually. Until then, it shall remain in the freezer.

It was a female, so it was full of eggs which was slightly creepy, but cool.

 Happy boyfriend

 

It's currently snowing outside. Like heavy snow. Just this weekend Shane and I were out sweating because it was so hot. Still waiting on getting Machu Picchu tickets for our trip. 67 days until I leave. Still seems unreal. I've been working on finding research materials on the Cajamarca culture, which is the Peru cultural period we plan on exploring. Turns out, there has not been much research done on it before. I hope this means that I will be a part of "discovering" a whole new archaeology while in Peru. I'm also hoping I am inspired and find ideas for my eventual masters thesis. Can't wait!

Another pretty decent weekend for me. Friday afternoon I had 2 people deliver me Starbucks as a surprise! I can never have too much coffee I suppose. Lynn came up for drill, so she stayed every night at my house. I was able to get off work early on Friday, so Lynn and I took the pups to the dog park, and then hung around until she left for the armory. I ended up French braiding her hair and made it look all awesome into a bun, and apparently she ended up getting a bunch of compliments on it. If only I could do more cool stuff to my own hair. Sigh. We all hit the hay pretty early that night, as Lynn had to do PT in the morning, and Shane and I were going turkey hunting.

Woke up slightly later than planned, but Shane and I drove up to the Guernsey/Wheatland area for hunting. I have never shot an animal before, but I felt like I was ready. Took a couple of hours to get up to a spot, and we mostly drove around scouting. We finally got out of his truck and decided to walk over a river, which I fell into twice. My shoes were waterlogged, but I kept on trekking anyway. We ended up seeing and hearing quite a few turkeys, but weren't able to call them in. Shane said they were jakes, and he wants to wait to shoot a bigger one. We both got hungry and left to head back home. Didn't do a whole lot the rest of the day, Shane watched the Rockies game and I ran some errands with Lynn.

Sunday was a rather boring day. Slept in for a while, and eventually got up to get ready for the day. Lynn was at drill again. Shane spent literally 3 hours mowing our backyard. We have a little less than 1 acre. He really wants to get a tractor to level it all out. It currently looks pretty bad just because everything is dead, but it's not bad. I just like having so much room for the dogs to run around. Claire and I did a lot more trip planning. Bought our domestic flights for Peru, and reserved most of the hotels/hostels we will stay in. I'm getting so excited to go. It still seems unreal that I will be there for so many weeks. I keep dreaming about the kinds of things we will find. Today we will buy our train ticket and Machu Picchu tickets. They only allow a specific number of visitors to the site and it books up really fast, so I hope we aren't too late.

Long week of work ahead. Best part about the weekend was finally getting another good picture of Shane and I. He looks a little... out of it, but I still like it. : ) I wish he would shave his dang beard.

Weekend in Denver

I think this past weekend was one of the best I have had in a while. Friday I got off early from work, and spent the afternoon cleaning and hanging with the pups. Shane got home early which is always nice, and we just hung out for the rest of the evening. I ordered my usual Thai food that I have become so addicted to. Went to bed early so Shane and I could get up early on Saturday to go turkey hunting. I have a tag this year, and I will hopefully get my first animal.

I ended up waking up around 6:30 that morning wondering why we were still sleeping. Turns out Shane's alarm went off at 4:30 but he hit the wrong button instead of snooze. Whoops! So, we just made breakfast while we were deciding what to do. Turned out he wasn't in the mood to go hunting, but thought we could go fishing. Blah. My brother was actually supposed to go with us, but he didn't end up wanting to drive up to Laramie, so I was just planning on meeting up with him later that night. We drove out towards Wheatland to a pretty lake, and hung out there for a bit. It was really windy, so it was difficult to cast out. Ended up leaving and driving out towards Guernsey to a lake out there. Turned out to be one of the prettiest lakes I have been to. There were no other people, and absolutely no wind. Shane and I still didn't catch anything, but for once I was able to enjoy myself because the weather was perfect.

Took about two hours to drive home, and as soon as I got home at 5 that evening I grabbed my purse from my room and left to drive to Littleton. Traffic was god awful, and people drive so fast down I25. Ended up meeting my brother at the Woestes, where we hung for a little and just chatted with everyone. Then Andrew and I met up with Lynn at Tokyo Joes for dinner. Andrew and I walked around the mall, and I bought a new purse, perfume, and a Rockies T-shirt and ammo box for Shane. I'm a bit of a compulsive spender in case you couldn't already tell. Ended up going back to the Woestes and playing yatzee, and then going to bed early. Slept through the entire night, which hasn't happened in a while. I didn't bring Hunter down with me, so he wasn't there to wake me up at all.

Ended up sleeping in a little bit on Sunday, then meeting with Lynn and Andrew at Lynn's apartment. I'm jealous of how nice and new everything is at her apartment, but she has to pay 1200 for a one bedroom, and we only pay 675... with a backyard haha. We went to get Starbucks, and then to the bookstore where I didn't end up buying anything surprisingly. We then met up with Andrew and Nick at my Grandparents house so we could celebrate Easter and my brothers 21st birthday. It was fun, we stayed for about 4 hours. Just hung out on the back porch and talked. We then left and went back to the Woestes, while Lynn and Andrew went to Nick's parents house. Just overall had a nice time hanging out with different people. Left to head back to Laramie at 7, and got back at 9:30 last night. Shane had been at the lake all day long fishing with the dogs, so they were all tuckered by the time I got back. Off to bed everyone went.

Snow

Just when I was getting used to being outside with it actually warm enough to give myself a sunburn, it decides to snow. Not just a little. Sitting in a staff meeting (no I'm not blogging during the actual meeting part) and I can't see out the window because of the snow. Good atmosphere, but I ate too much so I left a little early to go down to the break room and lay down for a few minutes. I also feel a headache coming on, so I'm hoping to combat it. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, we are only supposed to be working half a day. I'm sure I'll spend it cleaning the house or running errands with the dogs while Shane works to the late hours. Andrew was supposed to be coming up tomorrow to visit but the weather may hinder that. The plan was to go turkey hunting Saturday morning and then drive back down to Littleton for the rest of the weekend. Lynn will have a full house at her apartment, and I'll probably be sleeping on the floor. Andrew is 21 now, so of course he wants to go out and celebrate that. I remember those days, I used to go out and drink every night and miserably drag myself to work in the morning. I'm pretty sure it's been more than a year since I've drank that much. Shane and I tend to enjoy the boring person life, and we usually go to bed around 9. I do at least. Shane will fall asleep on the couch because his insomnia will kick in and he will watch tv. I for some reason can't fall asleep to the tv. Welp, back to work. I wish I could go home now and clean some more. The house is never clean enough.