Sunday, Puppy Sunday!

Ok, I know it is Tuesday, but the latest episode in my life that makes things go “Kersplat!” happened on Sunday.

Daniel came over to visit. He was here at 520 for a few minutes and then left. He came back with my “late birthday, early Yule prezzie”. I should have been afraid, very afraid. My prezzie was…. drumroll…. a puppy. Not a little puppy, but a 4-6th month old puppy. Not a little puppy, but a 40 pound puppy. Lab, chow, husky and goodness knows what. Feet the size of soup can bottoms. Oh, and white. Brown eyes and black nose. So, I named her Blanca.

Blanca and Brandy
Blanca and Brandy

Keep in mind that while Blanca is 4-6 months old, Brandy is as year old. Blanca is going to be a big dog! She is a very sweet natured dog which is a good thing. Oh, and clumsy too! Does not know what to do with her feet.

It is going to be a very interesting few months.

Work has been interesting this week too. We had to cancel the Christmas party as no one had bought tickets. I think that the economics are just against things like expensive parties. Plus, La Veta was having their party the same day at no cost to attendees. Ours was $20 a person. So, we are going to have our regular meeting on the 11th, with refreshments. Or, in other words, a small party that doesn’t cost $20 a head.Chris Galvan and I are going to make some savories and hopefully, someone else will bring some sweets. I am planning to make the cheese sticks that I made for Thanksgiving. If I can keep Dan out of the dough! Gads! He is addicted to them. (teeheehee)

Tomorrow I’m going shopping in Pueblo with John. Wheeee…. We are having to borrow Erin’s car to do the shopping. My poor little car still has issues. Oh well.

Ludlow Memorial Service

94 years ago, on April 20th, in the Ludlow tent colony, life changed forever. Between 1913 and 1914, the coal mines of Colorado were immersed in a war. The Great Coal Fields War. Miners were on strike for better conditions and the right to unionize. The owners of the coal companies wanted the miners put down. Pinkerton men, milita and miners and union men clashed.  The tent colony of Ludlow was at the center. Gatling guns fired across the colony, tents were burned. Men, women and children died. It became known as the Ludlow Massacre. It forever changed how unions and strikers were seen in the eyes of the world. To read more about it, follow this link.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludlow_Massacre

For me, Ludlow is part of my family history. My great grandparents were coalminers in the camps. Grandpa Sudar remembers being put on a train car with other women and children and sent out to stay away from the camps for 4 days until it was safe. They were evacuated with many people from Ludlow.

Today, John and I went to the memorial service held by the UMW. Senator George McGovern was the Keynote Speaker.  It was a very interesting two hours. Part church service, union rally, history lesson and political rally. Fine if you were democratic or open minded. John of course is a republican, and at one point, Buffy McFadden made a joke about the crowd being good Democrats, with maybe one or two Republicans out there and John felt like he suddenly had a neon hand pointing straight at his head. 🙂

When the train full of coal cars went by on it’s way to some power plant to the north, there wasn’t a person in the crowd with a dry eye. It reminded us all of the sacrifices made by those miners and their families 94 years ago. It was a very emotional event.

Ludlow Memorial

The memorial.

Brian and Senator McGovern

Brian Orr (L) and Senator McGovern (R) before the service.

Senator McGovern speaking to the crowd.

Senator McGovern wrote a book entitled The Great Coalfield War. It is one of the definitive works on the massacre.

Afterwards, there was a luncheon. We didn’t stay for it though as there was shopping to do in Pueblo. Sigh… there are days I just don’t want to go all the way to Pueblo to shop. Oh well. It was a good trip. Had lunch at SouperSalad and dinner at Taco Bell. We also had fun at Petsmart shopping for Daniel’s puppy.

It was so weird to buy puppy food for a dog that small. We also got him some toys. A chew toy and some tiny tennis balls. It was funny!

Off to bed now. Have to get up early and cut John’s hair and trim up his beard. He’s going back to his goatee for the summer. Afterwards, it’s off to work at the DA’s.

A not so lazy Saturday

I did manage to sleep in, but after a week of late nights, an extra hour or so isn’t much. Ah well. Went to sleep last night with Daniel’s new puppy in my arms. He was out being a boy and the puppy needed company. Somewhere around 2am, Daniel came in and got the puppy. I really wish he’d hurry up and rename him. I don’t like the name Fatty for a dog. I’d rather call him Baby for the rest of his life. Oh well.

I showered, dressed, hauled laundry off the clothesline with Morgan’s help and threw more in the wash. Then I headed over to 520 to get some stuff done. Mostly clean up. In a bit, I’ll be moving desks around. I am loosing my office with a corner view. Needed to happen so that we can lift the porch up and make it level. It has about a 5 degree cant which means that I always feel like I am sliding down hill. Ah well. I get the next spot in the living room, just across from the door. Not a great view, but it will have to do for now. We have to do something fast as the front door doesn’t want to latch correctly. The house is built on a hill that use to be riverbank a few million years ago, so it constantly shifts…. Downhill!

Once I get all the stuff moved, Dan will have to do some rewiring. sigh… He only just got it straightened out from removing the office stull. I’ll have to be very sweet to him since I’m making extra work for him.

I’m still a bit of a wreck from the events of the week. I’ll be just fine and then something will remind me of Tirion and the tears well up. It probably seems sort of silly for someone that I only knew through lists, email and chat, but… it isn’t.

Combine that with not getting the job at the D.A.’s full time and my stress meter is just about pegged. Sort of hard to qualify what bugged me about it, but Dan just about hit the nail on the head. It isn’t that I couldn’t do the job or didn’t do it right, but that I did above and beyond expectations, improved the office and did do an excellent job of it. However, for the woman choosing the new secretary, it wasn’t enough. Nothing I could have done would have been enough. That’s what hurts. She was condesending, and didn’t even want to tell me that I didn’t get the job. Pattie had to force her to do her job! Oh well. Dan also said that if they didn’t choose me, they screwed up. I guess we will see. Now I have to wait and see if I get the Housing Authority job or if I call Marge Durham.

I guess I’ve played around on the computer long enough. I need to get these desks moved. It’s either that or curl up in a ball and cry.