Hmm-mm-mm-mm...

Did you know that hummingbirds are LOUD?

They are. I promise.  I know this personally.

I mean, they're not, like, "Oh my gosh, my ears are bleeding!" loud. They're more like, if you're sitting on your deck and they're half a deck below you at a feeder, you could hear them. And at first, if you've never heard one before, you might be like, What the heck is that?! It almost sounds like a really loud mosquito, but the pitch is off... it's actually more like a light saber, but... and then you might see the bird itself fly by and then you'd be like ohhhhhh, that's what it was!  Damn, that little thing makes a lot of noise!

Or you might not.

It's kinda handy if you're sitting outside relaxing in the vicinity of the aforementioned feeder, though.  As in, on the same level as the aforementioned feeder, and not half a level above it.  That way, you just have to listen for the humming and then look over at the feeder to see the tiny little helicopter bird, instead of staring at the feeder itself.

Yep.  It's only Tuesday and it's been a loooooong week already.  The hubby is out of town, out of state, out of his mind (ha ha, just kidding) chaperoning the church youth mission trip.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, I do NOT make a good single lady.  I don't like being responsible for everything.  I don't like making decisions.  I'm kinda looking around for the adultier adult...ha ha ha.  No, it's all good. It's going fine.  The house is still standing, the dog hasn't run away, and I've been getting some yard work done.  

And I've watched some hummingbirds :) 

I can't believe we've lived here almost, what, 8 months already?!  Going into the 8th month.  I definitely like summer out here better than winter.  It's weird, though, going back to the boy's place now.  (Which I still have to do because the horses are still there.)  He has a roommate now, so the house inside looks and feels even less like the home it was when we lived there.  Which I'm not complaining about -- that's the goal, right?  It's not my home anymore, so it shouldn't look and feel like my home anymore.  

IDK.  I mean, I do love where we live now, but sometimes I miss living on the little farm, too.  I miss my horses.  I miss the cats.  (This is NOT helped at all by the fact that, shortly after we moved, my cat Bo disappeared and hasn't been seen since.  I know, I know; he was a farm cat, it happens.  Plus, he had been diagnosed with feline leukemia a few years ago.  But he was my Bocephus kitten and I miss him, even if I was going to let him stay at the boy's place.)  I don't mean to sound like I'm sorry we moved, because I'm definitely not!  I think I just needed some quality time to make this place more our own, which I definitely got this weekend while working in the gardens.  Getting to know the land better.  Well, the landscaping, anyway.  I'm tempted to put my super-water-resistant wader boots on and go out into the back 4 again, like we did last winter, and see what the marshland looks like now in full bloom.  

Oh! The other night I was laying in bed, playing on my phone before falling asleep, and I heard an owl hoot!  It was SO FREAKING COOL!!  It sounded like it was right in my backyard.  I didn't get my glasses on fast enough to see where it was, but man, that was awesome.  I hadn't seen any owls since this winter, so it was nice to hear it.  I haven't seen any eagles for a while, either.  I need to find a way to identify birds by their sounds.  There's probably an app or at least a website for that.  It actually makes me want to go to the MN Zoo and hit up the local animal exhibits again.  I remember listening to the owls there when we were kids.  They sounded so cool, I never imagined I'd get to hear them in my own backyard, from my own bedroom window.  Elementary-school-aged me would have LOVED to have known that!

Elementary-school-aged me would have LOVED to have known a LOT about my life right now, most definitely.  

But, I digress.  Speaking of my bedroom window, it's just about time for me to go to bed.  Even though my hubby is out doing wonderful things God's name, I'm stuck here at home doing regular things in God's name.  Ha, ha.  Which means I still have to work.  Luckily, I get to work from home most of this week, including tomorrow.  So! I'm gonna sign off and get to bed.  Soon.  Adios!

Hello, sunshine...

One amusing side effect of being me is having bizarre, recurring dreams.  Once upon a time, the recurrenceness (if that's not a word, it should be) of them bothered me to what seemed like no end, but now I find it amusing. After all, it's not like they're prophetic, or anything; just the by-products of my goofy mind.

For instance, every so often I have dreams about going back to work at previous jobs.  Not every previous job, just specific jobs.  Namely the hospital, or Wards. I have had a dream or two about going back to work at the humane society, but usually it's the hospital or Wards.  Sometimes they merge together -- one of the last times I had that particular dream, the hospital was laid out just like Wards (like with the clothes racks and everything, and the cashier station was the nurses' station. It was too weird.).  Thankfully that was too bizarre to be realistic, obviously.  But some of them are realistic enough that I wake up feeling bad because I forgot to get room 1101 a new pitcher of water before I woke up...but wait a minute, where the heck would room 1101 even be?!? There was no such room 1101 when I worked there.

That's usually what the hospital dreams are like. I show up for report (usually late, which stresses me out greatly) and I can't find my favorite report sheets so I grab whatever I can find, but by then report is over and I'm running around trying to find out what my assignment is while everyone else is going out and starting their first set of vitals and assessments and meds and such, and I'm completely lost because I'm at the new hospital and I've never been there before and I don't know where anything is and my password isn't working and it's not day shift so no one is around to reset my password.  And I don't know anyone because I'm not a regular there anymore, I'm just a PRN.  Then, once I get my assignment, I don't know where any of the rooms are because the numbers don't make sense to me and I can't find the vitals on a sticks, and other people are asking for help so I'm helping them and the next thing I know it's meal time (so it must be PM shift, lol) and I haven't laid eyes on a single one of my patients.  That's usually when I either wake up, or my dream changes, although sometimes at that point in the dream I'll go down to the ER instead.  Which is even more of a clusterfudge because it's set up like a maze, literally.  

But then, when I end up going back to Wards, it's a clusterfudge, too.  But my password at least works there (WTF?!), I just can't remember which menu to go to for refunds or exchanges. And then when I get a quick break from ringing up customers and I look at the schedule, I get annoyed because the manager has me scheduled for daytime hours, and I can't possibly work daytime hours because I have my day job as a nurse, and I specifically told her I wasn't available during the day! 

Yep.  Dreams are can be fun.  

OK, so, I know I told you about the deer and the fireflies, but did I mention the hummingbirds?!  Oh em gee!! I had never seen a live hummingbird (well, any hummingbird, really) in real life until a few years ago, at our old place. I thought it was super cool and kind of instantly felt bad because I didn't have a hummingbird feeder.  So, my dearest darlingest son got me a hummingbird feeder that Mother's Day. And I never saw another hummingbird out there again.  :(  

Earlier this spring, we were working down in the basement (or outside in the back yard or some combination of the two, I don't remember) and you can probably imagine my excitement when I saw a hummingbird back there! I hadn't put up my hummingbird feeder yet, but that very day you better believe I did.  And it wasn't long before I saw an actual hummingbird actually using my feeder.  Which I still just think is the freaking coolest thing ever!  I never realized I liked birds so much, but man, I could sit down there and just watch them at the feeder (I have another feeder, one with bird seed etc. in it) for a long time. If it wasn't a construction zone down there, still.  Although, last week I did bring a couple of the chairs that were still on the deck at the boy's house over and put them down there, so theoretically I can sit down there now and watch the bird feeders and the back yard...but now I'm out of bird seed and also need to refill the hummingbird feeder... 

Anyway, our basement is almost finished and it's going to be awesome!!  Well, I mean, it was finished before, but it was one big room and now it's divided into one big room with a couple of medium-sized rooms.  And instead of the walls being dark purplish-brownish, they are a light, cheery, bright yellowish color.  It just needs new carpet. The carpet that was down there didn't look that bad, but man, once the hubby started pulling it up...I don't think there's a clean spot on it (the previous owners had cats, and I think a dog at one point, too).  Yecch!  So, nope, not going to try to save the carpet.  I tell you what, though, it is nice and cool down in that basement...might need to relocate my office once we get that bad boy finished...at least for the summer :)

Speaking of work, lunch break is over, I should get back to it. TTFN!

 

Happy Friday! Wait, what?

Such a creature of habit, I am. 

I usually go to my parents' on Thursdays after work.  
This week, I went on Monday after work.
Every day since Tuesday has, therefore, felt like it should be Friday.  

Hmmmm, maybe that's why I'm having such a good week.  I've subconsciously tricked myself into thinking every day is Friday, at least for a few seconds.  

It's a theory, anyway.  

Have I mentioned yet that there are a lot of deer where we live?  Like, a LOT of deer.  It's like that movie, Field of Dreams.  "If you build it, they will come..."  Someone named the town Deer Park, and allllllll the deer decided it'd be a nice place to hang out.  😆

Honestly, I've seen more deer in the last 6 months than I had in the entire 40-some years prior to that.  And the vast majority of them have been alive, much to my delight.  It's pretty cool.  The other morning I rolled out of bed (almost literally) actually kind of quickly because my bladder sort of functions inversely to the Maverick gas gauge: it'll seem fine, and fine, and fine, and then all of a sudden, BAM!, you (or, in both cases, I) better make alternate plans like now because it's either about to be really full or really empty, respectively.  So I sort of jumped up (yeah, right...I sat up a little faster than usual) and when I did, I saw a flash of tan and white go by my bedroom window.  I gracefully and smoothly placed my glasses delicately on my face (yeah, right...I fumbled to grab them from the bedside table and pushed them on my sleepy face on the second or third try as usual) and looked outside, and there was a deer standing in the yard, looking up at my window and flipping her (?) little tail at me like, WTF is going on up there?!  So what did I do? I layed (lied?) back down to see if it would come back by the window again.  

Yeah.  It did not.  It precariously walked away, flipping it's tail and glancing back at the house as if it had just seen a crazy person, or something.  Pfffft. Fine with me, I had to empty my bladder anyway.

(This is probably why I don't, or shouldn't, hunt. I would try to talk to the deer.  I would whisper, "OK, come over here, just a little more, no! Wait!  Come back!!"   It wouldn't go well.)  (I mean, it would go well for the deer...)

When I got back to my bed, though, there were two more deer in another part of the yard.  That was pretty cool.  And then?  Later that same day? (At least I think it was the same day...they are all blending together now, and there have only been three of them! And I know it wasn't today so technically there are only two of them!!) I was out in the yard with Max. This was on the super hot day, so it must've been yesterday. Anyway, we were doing the Perimeter Stroll. I was taking pics of plants to upload to the plant identifier app, and he was sniffing literally everything, as he does.  For once, I was ahead of him, and I got to the corner and heard a whoosh sound in the leaves followed by little hoofbeats running away, and I looked up and there had been a deer just on the other side of the trees from where we were -- maybe 20-25 feet away. Maxwell House didn't even notice, bless his little heart.

Yep, seeing deer is awesome. As long as they're not sliding into the side of my car.

Another amazing wonderful thing I discovered out here very recently is fireflies. Oh my gosh!  This must've been Monday night.  Now, usually I'm asleep by the time it's dark out (don't judge, I get up early in the morning! Not as early as my hubby, but still early, and a girl needs her beauty sleep!) but on this particular occasion, I had to, well, I had to empty my bladder.  (Yes, I do that a lot.  No, I'm not having urinary problems, I just drink a lot of water, okay?  I've cut way back on the diet Dew and am drinking more ice water instead.)  When I put on my glasses so I could actually see, what I saw out the window was just breath-taking.  It was literally sparkling outside with fireflies!  When I got back to bed, I kept my glasses on for a while -- I am quite literally blind as a bat without them -- just so I could watch the light show.  I tried to decide if I liked "fireflies" or "lightning bugs" better, and I decided I don't like either term, because flies are ewww and bugs are Volkswagens.  Actually, it just occurred to me now that Bugs are Volkswagens (shhhhh, don't tell my hubby or my Dad that it just occurred to me NOW) but still.  I can't think of a better name for them, so I guess I'll go with fireflies.  

The things you miss out on, living in the city.

I think that's all I've got for now.  I'm actually kind of tired today.  This morning I got up early, even though I was working from home, and went to White Bear Lake for a blood draw and a semi-doctor appointment. It wasn't a real doctor's appointment, but I still had to get weighed and vitaled and I got my 2nd Hep A vaccine, too.  Then I came home and worked from home, but it's been a gloomy, stormy day.  Storms give me headaches, now, so I've had one of those off and on all day, plus something I ate (I think it was either too much sugar yesterday, or the apple juice I drank this morning after having my labs drawn at the doctor...) disagreed with me. Whatever, you don't want to hear about that, so I'm gonna be like a tree and leaf.  TTYL!

One of those weeks...

It's been one of "those" weeks, alright, and it's only Tuesday evening!

I can't wait to see what the rest of the week brings!

You probably think I'm being sarcastic.  Because I usually am.  This time, though, I'm not kidding.  It has been a simply amazing week.  Literally.  There have been so many simple (as in small, non-dramatic, easily overlooked or taken for granted) things to marvel over in my little world, it's just...I don't know how to explain it yet.  

It's been a very nice difference, for one thing.  I've been feeling overwhelmed lately with life, and work, mostly with work, but that spills out into life because when I'm behind in work I spend more time there both physically and mentally, which takes time out of the rest of my life.  I know, I know; this was covered long, long ago in Adulting 101.  These things ebb and they flow and eventually the pressures normalize again.  

On Sunday, the hubby and I went out to breakfast at our favorite place by our old house, and someone paid for our breakfast!  I won't say who it was here, but I literally am still just completely touched and honored by their thoughtfulness and generosity.  And so very humbled.  That act of extreme kindness really has set the tone for the week.  THANK YOU "MYSTERY" BREAKFAST BUYER!!!  You are such a blessing!

Then, after that, we were at church. Do you ever just get hit with random thoughts at church that utterly and completely blow your mind and make you feel like crying out of pure joy?  If that ain't the Holy Spirit reaching right out and slapping you upside the head, I don't know what is.  As a little background here, I didn't grow up going to church.  I was baptized, and I went to Sunday School once or twice, but as a family we didn't go to church.  Come to think of it, I don't know how I even knew we were Christians (much less Lutherans); I suppose because I saw the pictures of my baptism and asked questions about it, and because we had a Bible and a decorative plate with the Lord's Prayer, and a few other various religious-type things around the house when I was little.  I went through some really crappy stuff in my teens that forced me to do some serious soul-searching, and that is when I guess I, as they say, "found" Jesus.  *shrugs*  I don't know, it wasn't like some big epiphany or anything, it was just that I needed my higher power and realized it was there all along.  Then, fast forward a few years or so, and I married my hubby who was brought up in an active church-going environment.  I started going to church on a regular basis after we got married. Actually, after our son was born.  I'm learning all of the stories and the parables and the "rules" if you will.  It's like my head has to catch up with everything my heart has known most of my life, if that makes sense.  

ANYWAY, for reasons I can't explain, we were sitting in church on Sunday and it just hit me like a ton of bricks (or a ton of feathers, take your pick) how utterly amazing it is that God forgives us of all of our sins; that He loves us unconditionally, no matter what we've done in the past.  I seriously wanted to just fall down and start crying.  There are so many times when I don't feel worthy, by He says I am.  So many times, even to this day, when I let the opinions of others hurt me or anger me; but why?  It's not worth it.  With all of the beautiful and amazing things in the world today, God also thought the world needed one of me.  I'm one of those beautiful and amazing things, too.  And anyone who doesn't think so can suck it.  *ahem*  Alright, alright, I can't keep the enlightened and sappy thing going for too long, or I really will start to take myself too seriously.

So. As I was saying...

Yesterday I went to my parents' house after work, for our weekly dinner date and errand running excursion.  (Which reminds me, I have to log off in a few minutes so I can order their groceries.)  I'm not sure why, but my Dad was having a tough day walking yesterday.  He's been doing great (for him) lately, but yesterday he could barely make it from the house to my car.  Anyway, as we were walking to the car, there were some young ladies (like mid to late teens? I'm such a bad age guesstimator, everyone looks 12 to me) going door to door, and they stopped at my parents' house and invited us to a block party happening later this week.  We did the polite thing of taking their flyer and listening to their invitation, and then after they walked away we kept motorvating toward the car.  A minute or so later, one of the girls came walking back toward us and . . . asked if she could pray for us.  My parents both looked shocked but I immediately answered, "YES!!" (hopefully not yelling it like that, though I felt like I was in my head.)  So this young lady, who was like 15-16 or maybe 17 or 18 years old, stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and prayed for us, specifically for my Dad, that God would heal him and take away his suffering (actually I was like WHOA there, could you rephrase that, I want to keep him here on Earth for a while longer, kthx lol) and watch over us all.  ALRIGHT I'M AN EMOTIONAL SAP NOW.  It was very touching.  You just don't see that, especially in their neighborhood.  I prayed for that young lady and the others who were working with her.  I also prayed that I might be more like her, more willing to share my faith with others no matter where I am.  

This seems like a good place to stop for now.  Time to go order some groceries! TTYL.