Gratitude, Oh Yes in Everyday Ramblings

It was windy, it was cold but man was it beautiful here yesterday. We went walking south of Portland in mostly reclaimed farmlands in an area with expensive homes and some really nice parkland. Mrs. Sherlock had hiked there with a group earlier in the week and she wanted to explore some more and I am always game for new places to hike.

Where we parked there was an amazing dog run full of a lot of big energetic dogs (most of them purebreds) and we took Frida over to run first before our walk. She ran around a little with a Shepherd but only enough to take care of business and then to my chagrin, she came over to me standing outside the run fence and basically wanted to hang out.

I think this may mean that I am (unofficially of course) an honorary dog.

Or she is a dog that prefers hanging around with human inner ponies. :)

Saint Joe came home Saturday and yesterday logged in and worked for two hours off the clock. Sigh. I tell him it is so unfair for the person who is going to replace him because if he works off the clock there is no way in regular business hours his replacement can seem to be doing a comparable job.

This happened to me once, I replaced a woman who worked all the time and my boss could not figure out how I wasn’t getting as much done as her. He was disappointed in my performance. I was working so hard and trying to do things efficiently but one day I asked her and she told me she did a lot of stuff on the weekends “when it was quiet”. Arghhh!

Have I mentioned in the last 5 minutes how much I am looking forward to being done with this job?

I ordered a new audiobook and a Kindle novel to go with the cozy mystery (by our very own Deborah Garner) to read and listen to over the long holiday weekend.

My hair person called to cancel our last appointment about three weeks ago because he was sick and I have not rescheduled.

I am going to let my hair grow so that I can just get it trimmed every now and then after I retire. So I need to go through that awkward stage of having it look cruddy for a time.

The other thing is that I have been blonde my whole life but I am not blonde anymore. My hair is this weird dull brown that has a golden tint in certain light. I have no gray at all.

So I have a request out for a trim and natural highlights at the end of the month at a more convenient salon. Boy am I looking forward to that even though I really dislike going to salons. It brings up a whole bunch of insecurity and body image issues.

Once my hair grows out I will only need to go maybe three times a year for a trim. There is a very hip barbershop that I walk by on my way to class that is relatively inexpensive and I can go there. It is all part of retirement planning.

After we went hiking we stopped by a nursery so Mrs. Sherlock could pick up some Japanese Grass. She has been letting her chickens roam around a little and umm…

We were led all the way to the very back by the owner and I stopped in the indoor shed with the flocked Christmas trees. It was very pretty.

I think I am going to enjoy Christmas this year.

I hope though in the meantime as a nation we can come together and help all those that have been displaced by fire and flood and hurricane know that they are supported and cared for in a deep way and that together we can find a way to address the housing crisis that is visible everywhere.

There is so much to be thankful for in the meantime for those of us unaffected by these disasters physically.

Last updated November 19, 2018