Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Feeling Behind

Wow!  I am feeling behind on all my updating.  It's been a whirlwind here.

First of all...stuff happened.  Namely, my boss telling me out of the blue, "if you feel lonely or scared by living out in the woods by yourself, then you can get a dog."  I promptly told him that I did not want a dog, because those things live longer than goldfish, and I already hit my commitment quota by joining a gym.

Later, someone else teased me about getting a puppy.  And then I promptly told God, "People keep bringing up this topic, but you know I am not going and getting a dog.  If you want me to have one, you just have to drop it in my lap."  One Saturday morning, I was rushing out the door and, yep you guessed it.  A puppy...a little 4 month old hound/lab mix was just looking miserable at my doorstep.

She was so covered in fleas that as she scratched, she would whine because it hurt.  I just cried.  I knew I couldn't take care of a puppy, but I just couldn't leave her in that state...so I said, one step...I will just take one step.  So I washed all her fleas off.  Then I called my friend who owned a kennel and told her I didn't know the next step.  I wasn't keeping her but I needed help.

Well my kennel friend showed up with puppy supplies, and that dog ran right to my side for protection...apparently she already adopted me.  So now, I can't imagine life without her.  It's been a full month and I love my baby Jade so much.  We are doing all the right things with the vet and I am reading more about puppy training online than I am school work.  But she does make my heart smile.

This is Jade playing with her husky friend who likes to visit.


Other than puppy and school, the most recent excitement was a trip to the mountains.  My mother has a birthday this week, and it being labor day weekend, we had a longer one than normal.  My mother said in passing, "oh I wish I could come down and see you...."  And between the two of us, within 48 hours we had her plane ticket booked and a cabin in the woods rented.  We spent an awesome weekend grilling out, visiting the small mountain town of Blue Ridge, sampling chocolate, visiting a winery, and hiking to a waterfall.  I had a great deal of rest and enjoyment with her, and brought her back to the airport.

Unfortunately, my car broke down about an hour away from home, so I am even more behind on the many things I should have done this weekend...but I wouldn't change it for the world!

One topic that keeps coming up in my Quiet Time is the need to breathe.  To just rest, to not have to do all the time, despite the fact that doing gives me a semblance of control...but just to be.  To rest, to breathe...to truly trust that all my needs will be met, that not every single thing has to be in order for me to move forward, and to rest.  So I think in lieu of giving myself an ulcer...I should breathe and rest.  SELAH!  :-)