Gratitude Journal

It’s as big as a human! CNN story, with picture.

We switched to Spectrum for a few months, to get faster speed, but it turned out not to be worth it, because it wasn’t reliable. So we went back to Frontier, with more speed, for less money! Can’t beat that.

I was getting something out as we were preparing dinner (Lucky Pork and Beans) and somehow I caused an avalanche. Which led me to pulling everything out of the cupboard, dejunking, cleaning, and putting everything back there in a way that makes it much more usable.

The week of camping and being disconnected made me realize how much more I can do if I’m not frequently using social media and news. I didn’t look at CNN at all and Facebook just a few times while we were gone. Less of that means more time for work! And I’m able to concentrate a bit more.

Yay!

Our friends Scott and Rachel are moving in together, and they found the perfect house in our neighborhood.

Last weekend, I made a HUGE dent on the stuff in there, recycling a bunch, throwing some away, and reclaiming things. It’s going to be a place where undisturbed work, and art, can happen.

And so I don’t forget, here’s one of the many reasons we would like a work space: Why You Need an Untouchable Day Every Week. If I could do this, it would be really good for our business.

He bought it to practice on, and his plastic welding skills are coming along nicely.

We saw monkeys, manatees, alligators, fish, turtles, and birds. Plus the company was great and we found a groovy restaurant for dinner. Details.

Almost every day, I’ve been peeking in on them. Barred Owl Cam

We went over to our friend’s house for dinner, and they have lots of critters, so I was able to give and receive lots of cuddles and patty-pats.

Last week, I started exercising again. I’m really out of shape. Getting a little better every day, though.

Tyler wanted to spend some time with us while he was home on leave from the Marines, so we borrowed Rachel’s single kayak and went on a trip up the Weeki Wachee River. We didn’t really plan how far we were going to go, but once we got more than halfway, we said the heck with it, and decided we would go to the top. I wanted to quit a few times (out of shape), but I had made a comment earlier in the day about other people we went with being wimps and not wanting to go all the way, so Trav held me to to my word and we went as far as we could go, which is almost to the springs. It was an 11 mile trip and poor Tyler had sore arms the next day. It was way worth it, though. On the float down, we had the river to ourselves, and we saw lots of fish, turtles, birds, and a small manatee.

While our friend is out of town, we’re helping to give him his subcutaneous fluids. He’s very calm, and today, he rested his chin on my arm. Awwww.

Greg got us J hooks for Christmas, and they work great! It’s a bit of a struggle for me to get the blue kayak on and off, but that’s OK. I’m going to start working out again and then it shouldn’t be a problem.

On the way to pollworker training, I took the backroads route to Dade City, and there are many cattle farms along the way. One field was spectacular, with lots of cows and a bunch little calves. So cute!

Every morning, I check the black bear cam and the Cornell bird cams. The bear cam has mostly just been a black lump, but today, the baby poked its head up and moved around for a few seconds.

I have been playing cribbage with our friends Clyde and Carol, and their son is visiting. After we got done with the three games, he got out his guitar and one of the songs he played was a nice rumba, so Clyde & Carol danced, and I did, too. It was lovely.

My new cigar box project is making little tables. I tried Elmer’s glue for the first one, and it came apart. I asked Rachel (our artist friend) what is the best glue to use, and she said ES6000. I remembered we had a tube and when I checked, I discovered that it’s still soft and flowing. Yay!

Weird find of the day was a mannequin torso. This is at Aripeka Sandhills Preserve. We went there last week for a night walk and were appalled at the amount of garbage, so when our friend Theresa said she wanted to go pick up trash, we knew where we should go.