Congratulations Amy!

Back in March, I did a post, "Everyone needs a Judy".  I am grateful, that in spite of her health issues, she was able to make it to the Gracie Awards for her daughter Amy, who is part of the Bobby Bones Show.


Here is Amy getting her award.  Truly, the apple does not fall far from the tree.  Judy has given her daughters, Cristi and Amy, and her grandchildren, a godly heritage.  All these women are true blessings.

Housesitting at Julie's

I have taken care of Julie's animals for many years, although not as often these days.  These days it means up at 4am, out to feed, then clean up to be to the office by 6am.  Julie does not have a computer at her house that ties into my office stuff so I cannot do my work from the house like I do at mine before I come to the office.

Thought I would share a few pics of the friendly faces I feed.

 

Meet Bob.  He loves red grapes.

 

 

One of the barn cats.

 

 

 

Roxie (in the back), Lulu (black) and Porky (white)

 

 

This is Big Girl!  She showed up one night during a severe storm last year.

 

 

A few of the chickens

 

 



 

I have been gathering about 4 dozen eggs a day!

 

Some of the guineas.

 

 

The catfish pond.  Of course, turtles live there too!

 

 



The start of the feeding frenzy!

 

 

Some of the sheep!

 

I am now housesitting Gus, I little Schnauzer.  I love Gus but he has really bad breath.

 

 



 



Chick on a stick

Julie has one chicken who is adamant about roosting on the fence instead of instead in the coop, which gets locked at night to prevent wild critter raids.  A chick on the fence is likely to become someone's dinner so every night, I have to hoist her down.  The first two nights, I dealt with being beat by her flapping wings while I tried to unclench her claws from the fence.  I am 5' and the fence is a little over 6' so it is hard for me to "lift and separate" her from the fence.  I decided to see if I could poke her, causing her to let go of the fence and jump down, at which point I could easily corral her into the coop.

What did she do instead of unclenching her claws?  She grabs hold of the stick.  I lifted her down and seriously, she rode all the way to the coop.  This has happened for several nights now.  Last night, I took my cell phone with me and snapped a pic of "her highness" riding her stick to the coop.

Chick on a Stick

 

 

Housesitting

I started housesitting on Saturday, right after getting back in town from working my part time job. I only got a little over 4 hours sleep before driving 2 hours to get back to tend to the animals.  While I was so tired, I instantly became refreshed when greeted at the door by 3 dogs and 2 cats just waiting to love on me. OK, it was actually to get treats but I am going to believe it is because they have missed me and just wanted to show me how much.

I did a post a number of years ago about Julie's animals and how they truly see me.  The dogs see me as a bag of dog food, the chickens see me as scratch....  They do not see me the person, they see what goodies I bring them.

Added to Julie's menagerie of animals is a new dog.  We had severe storms one night and she showed up at Julie's house.  Vets were called, notices posted etc, no one claimed Big Girl.  She is a Great Pyrenese who is so loving.  I would say gentle but when she nudges me as I walk to go feed, she actually pushes me.  I have bruises and sore legs where she just wants to play.  I just love her.

Julie sold off some of her sheep so there is only about 10 to feed.  The catfish in the tank are ready to catch and eat.  I have been gathering 4 dozen eggs a day.  Nothing beats fresh eggs for breakfast, and these are truly fresh.  It takes about 2 hours at night to feed and water the animals, gather the eggs and then clean them.  Tonight, I will add watering the plants.  Thankfully, the watering should only take about an hour as I only need to do the small plants and the potted plants.  Years ago, when I first started housesitting for Julie, the potted and small plants alone took 2 hours.  Julie watered the orchard before she left she I will not have to do it and she has not yet planted her garden, which is a HUGE 2 hour time saver for me.

Sadly, since the last time I housesat for Julie, some of the old cats have passed away.  Lucy is a cat Julie found abandoned at her ranch in Doss.  She was about a week old and had to be bottle fed. I helped bottle feed Lucy, let her sleep on my chest and this once very hyper kitten is sleeping most of the day away.  Seriously, this kitty was running and jumping non-stop all day long and part of the night.  It breaks my heart that her time on earth is getting shorter.  I pray it comes when I am not there.

Julie does not have internet at her home which means when I go home at night, I can't take work with me.  I start another housesitting job this Friday night (overlapping with Julie's).  I will not have internet there either.  It is nice to have a reprieve from the computer.

And speaking of computers, the work I normally do on the weekends is awaiting me. I am ignoring the emails with "where are my reports".  They can just deal with it today.

Have a blessed day!

New packaging

Over the last years God has been working to heal me from the inside out.  It has been very painful and while there is still healing on the horizon, I am in a much better place.  I have gone in and out of depression and found my energy level to be very low.  These past few years have also been a time of God growing me in my walk.  And no, I am not any taller but silly me thought I had to grow the outside of me to accommodate the inside growth. 

But enough is enough.  I am 70 lbs overweight and being only 5' tall, that is a BIG problem.  My being overworked for 18 months is no excuse for my obesity.  So starting Saturday, things are changing.  The new inside of me is going to get new packaging. I figured if I blog about it, I will have some accountability to myself to keep me on track.  My 2 single friends are single no more and it is harder to find someone to hold me accountable.

I start a housesitting job Saturday, which means I will be getting more exercise while feeding the chickens, sheep, dogs, fish etc.  More activity is a very good thing, especially since I have lived at a computer for 18 months.  There is no junk food in Julie's house so unless I buy it, I will have no cause to nibble.  My mom keeps an abundance of junk food at my house and my willpower is non-existent, especially when I am exhausted. Honestly though, my biggest downfall is Dr. Pepper.

I have tried to start walking at work but the weather has not been that cooperative.  We have our first hummingbirds so I think most of the cold weather is behind us.

Now is also a great time to start changing my eating habits.  I am a salt-aholic.  I have low blood pressure and in my mind, eating all those dill pickle sunflower seeds and vinegar & salt chicharrones is OK.  I am going to be 58 this year and procrastinating on taking care of myself is no longer an option.

To ice the cake, I just went through a bad 3 weeks with my anemia.  I was barely able to make it through the day and once I got home, all I wanted to do was sleep.

Now that my energy level is improving and I have a good place to start on the new me, it is a go. After I finish at Julie's, I have another housesitting job (no junk food there either) and then I will be back home.  Mom leaves on April 3 for a month long vacation.  All the junk food will be thrown out while she is away.  By the time she returns, I hope to have my energy, as well as my willpower restored.

Pray I stay strong and encouraged.  A lifestyle change is very needed and now is the time to do it.

Everyone needs a Judy

My friend Judy is going through her 3rd time with cancer.  Amy, her youngest daughter works for the Bobby Bones show.  They talked about Judy's choice to have joy through cancer.  The Bobby Bones show shared Cristi's, blog about her mom. Cristi is Amy's sister.  When you have the opportunity, please read this.  Also, take a listen to Amy share on the audio bit they have on the website.

http://www.bobbybones.com/articles/what-we-talked-about-457650/blog-the-blessing-and-the-mess-12102468/

In the audio bit, they talk about Pimpin for Joy.  Here is a Pimpin for Joy video, starring Judy.  I hope you enjoy it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tcv-y6ZI2sU&feature=sharecontrol


 5 times, the doctors thought I had breast cancer.  5 times, I did not. I am not sure I would have chosen joy. Had I actually had cancer, I pray there would have been a Judy there passing out a good dose of joy along with the chemo.

Judy was my mentor when I first became a Christian.  She walked with me as I dealt with a lot of hurt and pain. Judy, being Judy, kept speaking truth into my life, kept pointing me to the cross, kept battling for me on her knees.  I am honored to know her and privileged to have been mentored by her.

Everyone needs a Judy in their life.

Updates!

I finally had a weekend off.  Almost 1 1/2 years with only one full day off.  Yessiree, I enjoyed the weekend.  Most of Saturday was spent just piddling around the house, tending to way too many neglected chores, etc.  Sunday I had to drive an hour away.  Got in my car and started jamming with Jesus!  An hour up and an hour back = 2 hours of praise and worship.  Sooooooo good and refreshing.  Got back home and spent the afternoon reading, watching a movie and dozing. 

I did not realize how exhausted I was until I stopped.  I pray that soon my energy levels are back up.  I have lots of quilts to make.

Out of the Shoebox Bookkeeping is officially open for business.  I have 2 clients so far, a handyman service and a lady who owns a cupcake shop.  They are small and between the 2 of them, it will take about 2 hours a month to do their books.  A CPA from Austin has some clients that I can help.  Most of them just don't want to sit at a computer and do the books, which is good for me.   I have some time to grow my business before I am without a steady paycheck.

Within the last 2 weeks, 2 of my neighbors have died.  Orville was such a precious man of God.  His wife of 65 years will miss him, as will so many others.  Cleo was single, her Floyd died a few years ago.  She had been married 4 times, outliving them all.  She was so funny, always cheerful.  She will be missed.  After informing my boss I had another funeral to attend, my boss tells me I better be careful.

We have had one of the worst winters in about 15 years; weeks of wet weather and freezing temps.  I know it was nothing compared to places that got buried under snow but for us, who are not used to this long winter, it was bad.  There were days we did not get out of the 20's.  We did not get any major rains, just light moisture.  Drought conditions are still severe.

Spring has arrived.  Temps in the 80's some days or like tomorrow, we will barely get out of the 30's.  Bluebonnets are popping up, mom has put in her garden, and we have seen some pregnant does.
So grateful for spring.

I will be getting to spend some time with a friend this Friday.  I decided to ask for off part of Friday, head over to Fredericksburg for an annual rummage sale before going to work at Davey's.  It will be so good to spend time with Rhonda before she has her knee replacement surgery and can't go places for awhile.

Having a life again is awesome!