Let's face it, not having an internet connection at home is just killing this journal!
This is what my days consist of lately: Wake up at 5:45 am, hit snooze once and then let the psycho mutts outside before 6 am. Get ready for work, try to play ball with the muttskis for about 15-20 minutes and walk to work. Sit in front of the computer and try to make a respectable, official program out of our newly formed hazard tree crew; this means researching OSHA regulations, coming up with a training schedule, researching other training besides boring OSHA crap, teaching people how to fell trees, working on the tree spraying logistics, helping hire my other term for the west side, and just up to my nose in paperwork. Throw in the wildland fire refresher, pack test, physical, CPR, and in-house meetings and training. I did manage to get out and drop 19 trees one day out of the past 3 weeks I have been working. :) Get off work at 5:30, arrive at home and promptly let the dogs out; walk them or take them to the dog park, since they're all wound up from being inside all day. After they're exercized, it's my turn, and off to the gym with Tim for 40-60 minutes. Get back home and shower, look at mail, eat dinner. At this point, it's usually past 8:30 pm and I still haven't sat down and relaxed since 6 am. Repeat this Mon-Thursday. All other days of the week, the dogs consistently start rough-housing in my bedroom (sometimes ON my bed) around 6 am, so I let them out and try to sleep in; however, they like to get tangled up and start whining that they're strangling themselves. I let them back in, and there's just no rest for the weary. Loud and rambunctious! Plus they're shedding EVERYWHERE no matter how much I brush them, so everything I own is covered in dog hair. I've had something going on pretty much EVERY DAY and getting online has not been a high priority lately.
Yesterday, I dropped Tim off at the airport; he flew out to California for a week long Trails Management training. I went to REI and used up the rest of my dividend on backpacking and kayaking gear. Today, I dropped the dogs off at the kennel because I am going to Grand Lake tomorrow (Monday) through Wednesday to mark pines to be sprayed; set up our new cache/workshop; drop some trees; yadda yadda. So today is the perfect day to start packing up my cottage over here in Estes, clean the house, clean the truck, read a book, maybe go for a hike in the park without feeling guilty about not being able to take the dogs!
Those are the boring stupid details only my mother could probably appreciate, and explain to her why I haven't been good at calling her lately!
My highlight was going to the Red Wings-Avalanche game 4 in Denver last Thursday! WOOOO!!!!! Tim and I endulged and got club level seats, I'm so glad he loves hockey as much as I do... and is a Wings fan despite being from Philly! Our friends were apparently all at the bar watching the game, half expecting to see Tim and me kicked out of the game or dragged away by the cops for fighting with Avs fans... to our surprise though, nearly 1/4 of the people at the Pepsi center were sporting Wings jerseys! We were surrounded by Detroit fans in our section also. We wanted to bring brooms with us, knowing Detroit would sweep Colorado, but we both realized that neither of us own brooms... and bringing a dust-buster or a Swiffer Wet-Jet really didnt' seem as convenient. ;) Tim and I both screamed and cheered enough that my throat was still a little hoarse two days afterwards. I absolutely love being a Wings fan out here, and lately I've been quite the jack-ass and take every opportunity to shove it in my Avs friends' faces. LOSERS!! Ha ha ha!
The Park did end up coming through for me with regards to housing in Grand Lake. They weren't going to provide anything except possibly a bed in a shared bedroom in a shared house; and I wouldn't be able to have my dogs. Which isn't even an option in my book! So they came up this: I move into the "weight room" house for about a week with my co-worker Ruth. May 23rd, our cabins at Green Mountain are supposed to be ready; however, it sounds like the snow is still pretty deep and they won't be able to turn the water on by then. Which is fine, because I have to be back in Estes the following week for the S-212 Wildland Fire Power Saws chainsaw class, and I'll stay in my place one last time in Estes. Then back over to Grand Lake, and hopefully my cabin will be ready. However, they turn the water off in September, so I'll have to move into the main housing area for the winter, and move back out to the cabin in the spring.
Yeah, that sounds GREAT. (sarcasm)
In the meantime, I'm getting a storage unit in Estes and just stashing all my crap there, since the cabin is furnished. At least having a place in the park will give me time to find something affordable that I can live in year-round. It's more expensive in Grand Lake than it is in Estes, yet we get paid less per hour (the locality rate is different and, frankly, so NOT RIGHT it's not even funny). Maybe I mentioned this before, but I'm contemplating buying some land and building a YURT. Pretty easy to build and a neat idea that my friend Tara gave me... and pretty much the only thing I can afford!
So I'm down to my last two official weeks in Estes, but there's a lot of back and forth over the next two months for various reasons. Still waiting for the trails supervisor in Grand Lake to sell his house so Tim will at least have a chance to apply and possibly live over there. We shall see...!!
Oh, and I have a turkey hunting tag, and the season goes until the end of May, so my friend Tate took me out one evening to show me how to call them, and where to look. His gun was wayyyyy to big for me so I'm borrowing my friend Mark's gun next time, but will try to go out possibly on Friday morning. The toms are all call-shy and probably run onto private land by now, but it's always fun running around in the woods. I even bought my own camo this time, and I look like a little kid dressed in big clothing. I even wore camo-green eyeshadow. ;)
That's the boring update. Lunatic Coyote (Luna) is still spastic and drives me up a wall. Raising a traumatized rescue puppy is much harder than training Logan ever was. She is a "nervous pee-er" and well, everything makes her nervous. She's probably up to 30 lbs but is still pretty tiny but with big teeth. I'm still dreadfully allergic to her. I just don't have enough time in the day or energy to ever wear the little bugger out. Some days I think I should find a new home for her, other days she's a sweet little angel. She looks like a coyote, maybe I can just let her loose and free?? Just kidding, but I'm happy to have a mini-vacation from sneezing. Thank goodness I have health insurancenow! Allergy shots! Never thought I'd be so psyched to get poked by needles.
GO WINGS!!
