My to-do list even strikes myself as odd. 1 week to tie up lose ends and saddle up for the month of April. April will bring my current, fairly casual daily schedule of homework, exercise and "tending to the homestead" (dog and chickens) into a chaotic overdose of physical and mental stimulation. This includes finishing 3 online grad school classes; plus the classes and physical fitness of the Academy; while trying to find time for things like showering and relaxing in between.
To-Do:
- Fitness: Running, sit-ups, push-ups and pull ups; but not too much. Fitness test the first couple days at the Academy!
- Scholarly endeavors: Complete a term paper.
- Homework.
- Homework.
- Homework. Yeah, I'm a little behind; even if I wasn't, I'd still be up to my ears in California tiger salamanders, rangeland management, prairie dogs, cattle and plant responses to defoliation.
- Eat local: Use up my latest produce box from Outer Aisle Foods CSA. New adventures in cooking: rutabaga, green garlic, more leeks, artichokes and braised greens! What the heck are braised greens!?
- Move the "funny farm": dog and the chickens to the ex boyfriend's house. That in itself just sounds weird. It is.
- Put together a chicken coop: Since I don't have tools or ambition to construct something myself, I ordered a small, portable coop from GardenEggs.com. It probably won't arrive before the Academy but when it does arrive, I need to drive 3 hours to Tim's to put it together. Contrary to what the chicken lady at the feed shop told me, the chickens ARE ready to go outside after 2 months old.
- Little Suzie Homemaker: The worst chore - not only laundry, but I have to IRON MY UNIFORM! GAG!! I'm anti-ironing as it is. The fact that I have to wear a fake clip-on green tie also... At least I got some very cute shoes.
- Oil fire boots.
- Be prepared! Fire gear, that is. Red bag and line gear, with all the firefighting essentials. Nice, shiny, obnoxiously new gear. Kindof want to roll in the mud, just to tone down the screaming bright yellow!
Plus, April is my birth month! I was supposed to go to a Punch Brothers (Chris Thile) show in San Fran with Tim but since the break-up, who knows if we'll be speaking or if he already gave the ticket away. I don't usually speak so candidly about my relationships on my blog but oh well, life goes on. I'm just lucky he's still taking the "kids" (Logan, Peeps and Nugget) while I'm stuck in a dorm for the month.
As always, I'm way behind on my journal; I hope to reinvigorate it with stories of excitement, adventure and travel now but, then again, I'm on an apparently slow fire district and probably won't get out much. The best chance is filling in on the fire use module that is also based up here on the Calaveras District.
I never did write about Tim's puppy as promised. But after he didn't even mention to his friends the fact that I moved to Cali, yet alone that I had moved in with him... but talked at length about "his" puppy (that I cared for and he barely saw while he worked overtime for 2 weeks straight) and his career and all that was new and important to him... leaving me out totally - well, a girl can take a hint! So, not much to say except Neota is a very smart, very good dog with a lot of potential as long as her owner provides positive reinforcement, training, and adequate physical and mental stimulation! She isn't always given as much credit as she deserves; guess he's used to Logan being such a good dog, he forgets that Log is an adult and she is only a puppy!!
