Back into the icebox!!!

At least that is where it feels like the world has been for the last few weeks. We get teased by a warm day and frozen the next. Brrrrrr!!! I am so ready for Spring!!!

Over the last few weeks I have… chopped down a tree, gone on a walk with my Dad and Dan and brought home a bag full of fossilized clams, done lots of laundry and school work, had fun at KnitWits and tried not to stress too much. I think I’m making progress on the stress, but some days it is in the wrong direction! Oh well.

I passed my computer class with a perfect score. No surprise there. I’m now in the middle of two business classes. yawn.. big frustration for me is that the classes are aimed at the 19-24 year olds. Sorry, but I already do most of the stuff they are talking about or… see no use for it in this economy. Oh well. 6 papers to go and I age a week off.

Let’s see…. Dan went to Denver this weekend to talk to the Government about this idea he’s had for unemployment. One meeting on Friday and one on Monday. He’s up in a hotel for the weekend. When not up to his eyeballs in papers, he has gone out with our friend Caron a time or two. 🙂 I’m glad she is willing to show him around. Denver can be fun or a nightmare, depending on how well you know it.

Today, I started out the morning slow…. Slept in a bit. Then the phone started. First my parents. Just a hello type call. Then Dan and I chatted for 30 minutes and I got caught up on his day. After that, I got a call from the Census office. An interview via the phone and then 30 minutes later, a job offer!!!! I’m going to be an assistant crew manager. Wheee!!! I could really enjoy a paycheck about now. While the Huerfano Journal has been the cement holding all the bits together most days, it would be nice to have a little more in my pocket. Plus, all the other job offers are still in the wings with no firm offers yet. sigh…. I start training on the 8th of February.

After all the phone calls, it was off to a gardening meeting. The community garden is gearing up. Wheee!!! Funny bit is that I have spinach in my bed from last year!!! Salad in a few days if it doesn’t freeze too hard. 🙂

Heatwave!!!!!

It was nearly 65 today!!!! It was soooo nice to open doors and let the air flow through the house. I did a bit of housework and general tidy up. It really needed it. I had to restack the wood pile too. Why? Because I needed to get to the cat carriers.

A friend of Morgan’s lives on a ranch up in Gardner. Liz and her grandparents wanted some barn cats. Now, I know that it helps when you can send a mom and kittens. I had been looking for someone who’d be willing to take seven cats. Then Spike, Daniel’s pit bull which lives with us started targeting Five, our cat. This meant that we had two choices. Confine Five to a life on the front porch, or find him a new home. Liz’s grandma said that they would take all 8 cats. So, today we drove up with them to Gardner. It seems odd not to have the cats and kittens in the den, but there are the two little tomcats that come to the door each morning for breakfast. I will just get my cat fix with them.

I’m plugging away at two classes this session. Personal Finances and Principles of Business. The most frustrating thing is that most of this stuff is aimed at the 18-25yr olds. sigh….Trying not to get bored or cheezed off with the class.

The rest of life is quiet. Dan is working on our website for LoboSavvy. I probably ought to read or do some knitting. Just feel a bit at loose ends at the moment.

Three Cups of Tea

Over the holidays I finally got a chance to read this book. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Great book! Wonderful book.

It first got brought to my attention a few years ago when Gardner School was doing a Pennies for Peace drive and had the short synopsis of the story available. I emptied my pockets into the jar that afternoon. I tried to get the book at the library and had no luck. So, I bought it. Did I have time to read it at first? No. sigh… So it sat on my shelf and waved every time I passed the shelf.

I finally picked it up on Yule. (December 21st) The story is about Greg Mortenson, a mountaineer and high altitude climber. He was climbing K2 when a team member needed an emergency evacuation. On his way down, he gets lost and ends up in a small Baltistan village called Korphe. The villagers take him in. “Here ( in Pakistan and Afghanistan) , we drink three cups of tea to do business; the first you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, and the third, you join our family, and for our family we are prepared to do anything—even die.” Haji Ali, Korphe Village Chief, Karakoram Mountains, Pakistan (Moretenson & Relin, 2006, Penguin books)

Mortenson realizes that so much depends on education, and that was one of the biggest things missing from the small villages. He promises to build a school. Working on that epiphany, he returns time and again to build schools for the small isolated villages in Pakistan and later Afghanistan. The book is about his struggle to achieve this.

The book struck cords on many levels. First off, I’m a daughter of a mountaineer. I spent every weekend as a child either hiking, camping or waiting for my dad to come down off of the high peaks. I understand the climbing culture and the drive that some people have to be out in the mountains. It took me years to understand that when Dad talked about God, he meant Great Out Doors.  I share that love of the mountains and high places.

Next, education. I live in a rural area where education is a struggle for so many. I’ve been on the local school board and shared the joys and frustrations that go hand in hand. Especially when it came to raising money.

Most of all, this is a wonderful story about what a person can do if they try. Greg Mortenson is a beautiful human being. Three Cups of Tea is worth the read! http://www.threecupsoftea.com

Saturday, here in the ‘burg…

Trying to get back into sync with the world.

2010

December went out quickly. Here is Morgan as one of the three kings. She is the one in the purple cloak. It was avery nice production.

Yule was nice. Dan and I had a quiet morning watching the sun come up while sipping our tea.

We did the last of the train performances on the 23rd. Reconnected with an old friend, Caron Bressan. She stayed for dinner and we talked all night. 🙂 She came by another day and once again, we visited for a long time.

December 29th, John called around 10am. Morgan, my DIL had her baby at 9:36am. 8.1 pounds and 19.5 inches long. Ewan Nicholas.

New Year’s Eve, we spent with Caron watching movies, eating and giggling. She finally headed home around 4am.  I think we slept most of New Year’s Day. And of course, I’m trying to get caught up on everything so that when classes start tomorrow I am ready to go. I got to see Ewan for the first time today too. He is a cuddly small armful.