In the Heat of the NIght

It is so freaking hot these days and nights.  A fan helps, but so would a drop in temperature of about 10 degrees.  I was talking to a friend today who just got back from vacation.  She and her hubby went to Calif and she said it was cold.  I was actually jealous.  She needed a jacket in Monterey.  It sounds delightful.  

We have been overdosing our chix.  They were supposed to get a pill once a day, but I am certain the girl at the Vet's office said twice a day.  Blackberry's comb is wilted over to the side, which is not normal for her.  At first I suspected the heat was just making it wilt, like a plant.  Then I read the bottle of pills and it said one pill per chicken per day.  So, they got double dosed on Saturday and Sunday. I suppose we are lucky they haven't died or something, but we will follow the dosing instructions from here on out.  I don't know if too much Baytril will make a chicken's comb wilt, but it might.  Oh well, at least the e. coli is going away, I hope.  

news

Our chickens are sick.  One of them died the week after Father's Day.  The others are skinny, so we assumed that they had a parasite, but after having their stools (that's chicken poo) examined, the vet told us that they have E. Coli.  Now, because humans have e. Coli in their intestines, I just assumed everyone had it, but I guess not.  I am told that dogs don't have it either.  I asked Tori if she had been using the backyard as a  potty and she gave me a weird look.  Speaking of weird looks, Tori was the gatherer of chicken poo for the vet.  She wore rubber gloves that almost came up to her elbows, and had several zip-lock baggies with plastic forks to do the gathering and storing of the the poo.  It was quite a sight to see.  So now Tori has to give them antibiotic pills twice a day.  A couple of the girls just peck the pills and take them, but a few of them are suspicious and we have to hide the pills in bread or grapes.  One of the girls got greedy and ate two loaded grapes before Tori could stop her.  I just hope that they get over this and get to feeling better.  They are still laying eggs, but I hate seeing them so thin.  I don't think the hot weather is helping them either.  

I had one of my recurring dreams the other night.  It's the one where I realize that I never got married and don't have any children.  In my dream, I have been so busy with my work that I haven't been dating for years and am really out of practice.  My friends keep telling me that I need to go out more.  The main feeling with that dream is that I am really lonely.  Usually, as I am waking up, I realize that I did get married and had children, but the loneliness sort of hangs on for a few days.  Dreams are weird things.  

I am supposed to be reading "Mere Christianity" by CS Lewis for bookclub, but today I bought "The Memory Keeper's Daughter" and I am looking forward to starting that tonight.  The heat is wearing me out.  It's too hot to do anything outside, like yard work or riding, and it's very tempting to just nap all day.  That's no good either.  

I have a new crush.  His name is Mark Cavendish and he is 23 yrs. old, from the Isle of Man, and won 4 stages of the Tour de France.  He is so cute and seems really smart about his bike career.  He already rode in the Giro de Italia this summer and is  on the Olympic team, but I don't know for which country.  I assume for the UK, but he is currently on the US Team Columbia in the Tour.  They need to make a poster of him with his bike.  I would buy it and hang it in Tori's room.  LOL.  It would be weird to hang it in my room, but okay in my 17 y.o. daughter's room.  He just went pro last year, which is what Mike is trying to do, probably next year.  And he is only a year older than Mike, so it gives me hope that Mike could make it.  It would be so exciting to have a pro racer for a son.  I love going to Mike's races, especially when he does well.  I am so proud of what Mike has accomplished with his racing.  

My new book is calling me, so off  I go!

What time is it?

After going back and reading my post on insomnia, I realized that my time stamp didn't make sense with what I was saying.  I had originally set my time stamp to be Rarotonga time, but I realized that it is a little obscure for most of my friends.  So, I changed it to my time zone.  Originally, I had set it at Rarotongan time because that was a really cool place I visited once and it was like setting the time at "island time".  But, since I am the only one who knew that, then I decided to change it back to reality time.  Yuck!  

A working fool

Here I am again at work. I am not going to whine, I am not going to whine....I have lots of plans for tomorrow, but mostly I am going to rest. (I will not whine....) I was thinking the other day about how much my life has changed since the dreaded thyroid surgery. Before I had that surgery and the subsequent emergency surgery, I planned on someday trying out for the opera, but never got to it. Then, when I had no voice to speak of (LOL) for 2 mos. afterwards, I realized how precious my voice was to me. I promised myself that if I got it back, I would audition and pursue the opera thing until I got it. And now, 6 years later, I am starting my third season with the opera. I got to thinking about my challenges with my knee and being told not to run anymore. I remember last year, when I was prepping for the Wasatch Back and feeling the awakening of the lean, strong woman inside of me. I really liked that feeling, however brief it was. Of course, I was looking forward to reviving her this past winter and spring, but the knee problems stopped that. I have been encouraged by my dr. to ride a bike for knee flexibility and exercise, and he also, very diplomatically, suggested that my knee would last longer if I could lose a few lbs. I immediately snapped back at him that I was planning on doing that this spring, but the knee thing stopped those plans. He quickly agreed, so as not to make me mad. But since then, I have been thinking about getting a bike. Money is, of course, an issue. And the last time I sat on Dana's bike seat, the pain was discouraging. The other day, I sat on Tori's bike seat and realized that it might be doable (is that a word?). So, I have been mulling this around in my head....Could I find the lean, strong woman in my body by biking? I think I might. I am afraid of looking like a fool until I get used to riding, but I suspect I looked like a fool at first when I started running again. I ran a lot at night, after dark, so that no one could see me. I am not sure I would want to ride a bike after dark, but maybe early in the morning. Hmmm...... Sue

I am back to work, starting last Thursday. My knee was surprised to be walked upon so much, but did okay with some stretching exercises that evening. The people at Physical Therapy sure know how to find your weaknesses. And then they give you exercises to strengthen you. My problem, and I am sure I am not alone, is that I don't seem to be able to find the time to do the exercises. The stretching exercises are the best to decrease the swelling, but I really need to do the strengthening exercises. I don't know how my legs got so weak. Gripe, gripe, gripe.
I have revived an old hobby. I am going to start doing counted cross-stitch again. I used to do it almost non-stop, but then I got tired of it. Now, after doing crocheting until my eyes are crossed and knitting until my fingers are sore, I am going to do some cross-stitch projects. I wish I could inspire Tori to do some of those kinds of projects. She liked doing the knitted caps that she made, so hopefully I can get her interested in cross-stitch. TTFN Sue

Our Yellowstone trip

We just got back from Yellowstone, a day earlier than planned.  I am so glad to be home.  Yellowstone is amazing, but that was a really bad camping experience.  Because of the bear issue, we couldn't leave anything related to food outside.  I pride myself in keeping a clean campsite; dishes washed and drying, food put away in boxes and coolers, tidy tent, etc., but up there, you can't leave anything out that has touched food, so no table cloth, no toiletries, no dishes drying, etc.  All we could leave out was fuel sources, so propane lamps were ok, and chairs.  The camp stove had to be put away whenever we weren't in camp.  It was like setting up camp everytime you came back to camp and then taking it all down when you went to bed or left to do sightseeing.  We literally lived out of our cars.  ANd the mosquitos, oh my gosh.  I haven't seen mosquitos like that.  Even with deep woods repellant all over my face and hands, they would dive bomb my face.  I have bites along my part in my hair, in my hair along my neck and on my ears.  I even have some that they did through my socks.  I was too hot to wear my hooded sweatshirt, so I was constantly fighting them off.  They were fierce, even in the middle of the day.  It was hot during the day and cold at night.  We were quite close to the bathroom, but not close enough.  I sort of had a breakdown on Sunday, after sitting in the Old Faithful Lodge for about 5 hours, cell phone dead, camera battery dead, couldn't find the car, trying to drink enough but not succeeding.  I was so exhausted from poor sleep for 2 nights and it was so crowded with tourists and hot.  They don't air condition the buildings up there.  There was no where to nap except in the car and it was too hot to sit in the car and I couldn't find it anyway.I walked, or rather stumbled, around the parking lot 3 times, crying and looking for the Prius.  You can't believe how many silver cars there are in the world.  Dana and Tori were off sightseeing, but with a dead cell phone I couldn't get in contact with them.  My knee was stiff and achy and the only thing I had to read was a *%#@!! book about Yellowstone that had supplemental CD's and DVD's, but I didn't have a CD player (couldn't find the car) or a computer to watch the DVD's.  Note to reader, they don't sell newspapers or magazines in the Gift shops at Old Faithful Inn or Lodge.  Only stuff about Yellowstone.  I finally literally stumbled across the Prius, so I dug out the Newsweek that I had already read and re-read about Cindy McCain.  I think that saved my sanity, at least for the moment.  When we finally got back to camp, I told Dana and Tori that I was going home the next day and was trying to sort out which pots and pans and food they would need and what I could take home in my car.  Finally, they told me to go to bed.  They offered me some dinner, but my headache was SO bad that I wasn't hungry.  I just tried to sleep, but that was hard too, because I worried about making it to the bathroom.  Anyway, the next morning, Dana booked us a cabin at Mammoth Hot Springs and we drove up there, stopping along the way to look at stuff and take pictures.  When we got there, the cabin wasn't quite ready, so D and T went sight seeing and I laid on the lawn in the shade of a tree and rested.  When the cabin was ready, I walked in and thought I was in heaven.  2 beds, a shower, toilet and sink and windows with screens to keep out the mosquitos.  And on top of that, it had a cute porch looking out onto a lawn where little ground squirrels were playing.  I almost started crying again.  It was so beautiful and peaceful.  The next day, we did some more sightseeing along the way home and got home last night at midnight.  

Several things that I learned:  1-I can't camp at Yellowstone ever again.  I like Richardson Grove camping.  2-I need some sort of camp cot, because getting up off the ground in a tent is too hard.  3-I now have more understanding of homeless people.  I have heard that the biggest problems are chronic fatigue and feeling demoralized because you are dirty and smell bad and can't do anything about it. At least on my "homeless day" at Old Faithful Lodge, I had some money, so I could eat and I had showered just that morning, so I looked presentable, but I was so exhausted that I couldn't think straight and so sweaty that I know I smelled bad.  Given another day or two of that life, I would have looked like a homeless woman. 4- I will save money to stay at Mammoth Hot Springs cabins again.  The one we had, B7, was delightful and I told Dana that if I had a radio, I could stay there for a long time.  I could learn to live without TV, but I need a radio to know what the news is.  So there it is.  Now I am home with tons of chores to do and starting back at work tomorrow.