hqueen's collection of Far From the Usual stuff.

[hqueen13]

@baymule that is appreciated!! A lot of people who shouldn't be driving do drive in the snow here, too, and it is frustrating to have to work around them when they have issues. Of course half of the trouble is employers not wanting employees to stay home, so people feel pressured to drive, and they really shouldn't be. Thankfully the boss now is much more realistic about that since he lives north of here and it's always worse up there. I end up driving anyway for the most part, unless it's like serious black ice, since I've got to get to the barns and take care of the animals, plus still make it to the office. We'll see what this next round of weather brings tomorrow. I set Cowboy and Coyote up with 4 bales this morning, which should be enough to last them until after Wed at least, so that will be less work during the worst of it. I'll set the chickens up pretty good tonight and tomorrow morning. I was thinking that I might even see if I can bring in an extra waterer and just not open it up so that I have it in the coop when they need it instead of having to lug it through the weather on Wed. I'll have to ask SR if he thinks that will work. I don't think it's really going to be that cold, so I don't think it will freeze, which is the only thing I'd be worried about. Other than that, the chickens might poop on it, but even that isn't the end of the world, I can slosh some water over it when I swap it out and that should take care of it.

Not a whole lot else to report. I can't wait until I'm done with the chickens. I'm SO grateful for the big fat pay check that is coming with all this work, but dang, it's a lot of work. And Cowboy and Coyote's owners are away through Sunday, so that means that I won't get to have a break this weekend, which kind of stinks, too. Oh well, it is what it is.

It was nice to realize this morning as I was watching a gorgeous full moon set on my drive between farms that the light is returning. It is SO much nicer not to have to feed and do chores in the dark. The moon was amazing setting over the valley, too, I got some pictures, but I know they won't do it justice.

 

[sumi]

A lot of people who shouldn't be driving do drive in the snow here, too, and it is frustrating to have to work around them when they have issues. Of course half of the trouble is employers not wanting employees to stay home, so people feel pressured to drive, and they really shouldn't be.

When we had that snow storm here last year a lot of businesses closed, schools closed and people were asked to stay off the roads as best they could. The snow wasn't very deep, or anything like you guys get annually, but very few people here had experience driving in conditions like that! The hospitals housed their nursing staff and others in hotels as close as they could to the hospitals, so they didn't have to travel to and from work by car, which I thought was really great of them.

I was surprised to see our local supermarket open at it's usual late hour in the evening when we were getting hammered by snow. I nipped over to see and found the owner by himself, manning the shop. He sent all his staff home and stayed open for whoever needed something. I told him he needs to get home himself before the roads get too bad and he just smiled.

 

[baymule]

I am glad that we are now retired and don't have to jump up, run, run, run, no matter what the weather. We absolutely do not go out in snow or ice and can pick and choose on rainy days. We both sure paid our dues, and it is so nice now to be able to do what the hell we want.

 

[hqueen13]

@baymule I'm looking forward to that sooner rather than later, too!! I don't plan to wait until I retire, I plan to make that happen as a way of life! But it's not here yet, so here I am.
SR got home, and I got the check from him, which was nice. That helped get March's bills squared away. Although, I just realized this morning when I entered that into my budget, I fat fingered it and accidentally put $740 instead of $470.... GAH. That messed me up for a bit, but I've got another job coming in tomorrow, and then the expo next week and another job right after that (and cowboy and coyote's owners will probably be away by then again, too...), so things are ok at the moment.
This weekend did not go so hot, though. I was driving down to Cowboy and Coyote, and was going to do some grocery shopping after that, and on the way down I got a warning light in the truck that said "service NOW". I was like is that like NOW now or just soon now? I was REALLY glad the BF hadn't come with me when I went to get back in the truck to drive straight home (hoping it was soon now) only to find it out it really meant NOW NOW. So I went and curled up on the couch in my friend's house, and waited for the BF to arrive with tools. It was what I thought the problem was, the same issue I'd had with it a couple months after I bought it. I was SO grateful that the BF wasn't with me, it was a Saturday, and I didn't have anything else demanding going on. So he arrived, and figured out it really was the part, and then we drove up to the auto parts store. I paid for it, since it's my truck, and the guy was nice enough to give the BF a super discount on a better quality part, so that was helpful. Almost $300 later we drove back and he put it on (which went WAY faster than the first time!) and we headed home.
Got home and decided to go grab lunch and do the grocery shopping to get that out of the way. Spent way more than I had budgeted, but I needed food for the expo, so I couldn't really avoid it. Came home, and then we took a break for a little while before heading back to Cowboy and Coyote's and then getting dinner. We beat most of the rain, it started out as drizzle anyway.
Overnight it POURED. It was still raining pretty good when I got ready to leave in the morning again. I didn't get TOO wet taking care of the horses, but it was more wet than I like to be. It was also colder than I expected, so I was chilly almost the whole time. I did miss getting rained on when I dumped the wheel barrow and right after that it started raining really hard again. I love it when I time it that way! I finished, and the rain had pretty much stopped, and so I zipped by Cowboy and Coyote's again before going home.
We made lunch, and then I started cooking the beef stew that I'll take with me to the expo, and then we took a nap. The BF didn't want to leave the pot on the stove unattended (even though I accidentally left an eye on low with a cast iron pan on it all night ), and so we napped together on the couch, which was nice. I got in the tub and soaked, and then we showered off, and then I headed back to Cowboy and Coyote's for the last time. The BF started chili and mashed potatoes while I was doing my running, and we ate when I got back. We decided to head to bed early since both of us needed to be up early and the BF had a bit of a headache, probably from the front rolling through. The wind was supposed to blow most of the day, but it didn't kick in until we were getting ready for bed. It was ROARING all night.
This morning I managed to get the horses out without too much trouble, and then as I was trying to get to the office I got rerouted TWICE, from what I assume is trees down. I was zipping along some crazy back roads trying to get to the office. I was only 15 minutes late, but I'm going to ignore that fact.
I have to stop by the store one more time this evening, and I have a call at 6 for a program I'm in, so I really have almost no afternoon/evening to work with. The good news is I can go straight home after I get done at the store, so that helps.
Crazy busy, but what else is new?!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Holy Cow! I can’t keep up with reading all you do so I sure don’t know how you live it!

Sorry about the unexpected expense on the truck- but glad bf was able to fix it.

Have fun at the expo!

 

[hqueen13]

Thanks FEM.
The expo was good, it ran very smoothly, with a couple of very minor exceptions. I was pleased with how easily everything went through. She let me go an hour early, and while I hated to loose the time, I was relieved that I was able to start down the road before the roads got bad from the snow storm that was rolling in. I called the BF to let him know I was on the way to the barn, and he told me to let him know when I was about 30 minutes away and he would come down to help me. I would never have asked him to do it, because I know he doesn't want to be in that barn, but I was so so grateful that he offered. We stopped for dinner on the way home, and then I was able to get home early enough to take a shower and get some things unpacked. I'm still exhausted today, but all things considered, I'm doing ok. I think I'm going to leave the office earlier than normal, so I can go home and soak in the tub and do some laundry and catch up a little bit more. I found a blister on my toe this morning so I definitely need to stay off my feet for a bit as much as possible.
The show was good, and ran as smooth as it ever has, with only one real bump in the road. They did a "rescue to stardom" competition where trainers worked with a rescue horse to get them started and show off their skills. It ran WAY longer than it should have, but everyone that I was working with was super about having to wait and work with the time that things were supposed to be happening. I was very grateful for that! We only had a couple snafus with people being rude, but most of them came around by the end of the show (thankfully generally by the next day!). I even got some time to shop on Sunday, which was really nice. One of the early days I actually sent a friend out to get some pants for me that were in the clearance bin. I got a pair of Back on Track therapeutic pants for only $25! They're mens cut, but I don't really care, they were cheap! I wore them Saturday and Sunday, and I think they really helped. My feet hurt, so now I need their socks, too, but my knees were much better than the first few days. I also splurged on myself on Sunday and bought a Ukoala purse/bag thing. It's one of those that goes around your waist and has a strap around your leg, too. It's really nice, and I think I'll be able to carry it easily, I just have to figure out what to put in it to replace my other bag that I carry all the time.
While I was gone, the BF did a bunch of stuff for me, too. He did some cleaning, which was nice, but they he made me a zipper pouch to hold my computer cords for my laptop for work, and a sleeve to put the laptop in. It's adorable with foxes on it! He even lined both of them with a matching fabric, and figured out how to put the zipper in by himself! I was super impressed (I don't even like zippers! LOL). He got total brownie points for this weekend for sure!
I haven't heard from my friends that are always out of town, but I expect I will by tomorrow. We'll see anyway, but that will probably pick back up again. So it goes. I have the bills covered for March, and should have enough to order the new boots in a week or so, I have to wait to get in touch with him once they are back in NY at their home base where their warehouse is. He said he'll search for odd boots to see if he can find me a matching pair.
So good stuff, but now I need some recovery time!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

You deserve some recovery time after all that!

 

[baymule]

Your boyfriend sounds like a keeper!

 

[hqueen13]

@baymule yes he is!! He really surprised me this time, which was so lovely! He doesn't always do things like that, so it was really nice and way out of his way to help me. I'm so grateful that he did! And I love my little pouches and stuff for my laptop, it's so cute!

I paid his credit card yesterday for the entire balance since his tax return had hit the bank. I'm SO thrilled to have that DONE! It's amazing to log in and only see a balance of $45! And everything that he's charging at the moment is completely budgeted for. Oh, and while I was gone he got a letter from the credit card that has his last balance on it, they increased his credit limit! That's his ONLY outstanding debt at the moment. I told him that I'm not all that interested in paying it down any faster than we need to since it's a zero interest promo until Feb of next year. I'm going to keep adding to it every month, and then when we hit the end of that promo, I'll roll it onto another card that offers a zero interest promo again and we'll just keep doing that until it's gone. That frees up about $150 in his budget that he'll have to work with, so we'll be able to make progress on things again, and not feel SO strapped. I'm so tickled to feel like we're moving forward again. Now to get my finances moving in the same direction!
It's fun to be a normal human this week. I don't have any farms to care for at all. I may not even need to leave the house tomorrow, which would be amazing! We'll see if that's the case or not, I have to figure out whether or not I REALLY need to make a grocery trip out, or if I can wait and do it later. I may try to do a quick one on the way home today (since I don't have any farms to go to!), but I'm not sure yet. We'll see how I feel. I'm still trying to get caught up from the trip. I managed to get all my clothes and things put away yesterday, and I got the dishes done, and the dish washer run, so I have to fold the clothes and run one more load of laundry, which I can probably do this afternoon when I get home (depending on the grocery trip or not). Then tomorrow I can focus on some other cleaning, and get caught up on my business stuff again. I'm SO close to having a couple projects completed.
So anywho, that's just about all that's happening here at the moment. I hope I can make this a productive week!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Yay for credit card paying! Try to enjoy your week without all the extra work...they are rare!