Author: Kay Krause

We arrived in Barcelona around 9:45 this morning.  After we went through immigrations and customs we looked for our driver.  He wasn’t there so we called his company and the driver showed up about 10 minutes later.  He safety took us to our hotel.

The flight was long but uneventful.  I sat by the cutest three women.  They were dear friends and travel a lot together.  One said she was over 80 and the others were close if not older.  They spilled coffee, water and juice.  They needed an adapter for a plug in and extra blankets.  It was fun sitting by them and helping them out.  They were going on a two-week cruise which will end up in New York City May 22.

While we were in the airport in Newark we talked to a couple from OK.  They were going on that same cruise.  The wife in particular was interested in our past travels.  They have walking the Camino on their bucket list.

I slept a bit on the plane – probably two or three hours total.  Nicole slept less than I did.  We are both wiped out this evening.

We left our luggage at the hotel front desk as our room wasn’t ready and went for lunch.  There is a row of restaurants on the same street as the hotel.  At the last one I found roasted vegetables with ham.  They were good although they had a few more green peppers than I would have preferred.  Felt good to eat on plan though.  Nicole had a wood stove pizza.

After lunch I tried to nap on the couch in the lobby of the hotel.  Nicole figured out the bus schedules and how to get us to our tour for the afternoon.  We got into our room a bit before 2:00 but had to leave right away to get to where our tour started.

We ended up calling Uber to take us.  He dropped us off by the church but not the tour company office as we requested.  We got to the tour office and luckily there was a man outside the door as the office address had moved.  The man gave us directions but they weren’t very specific.  We walked back to where the Uber driver had dropped us off and ended up having to call the tour office as we couldn’t find the office.  They were rather rude and told us we had three minutes to be there or they were leaving.

We finally found it and ended up waiting for them for five minutes.  We went to the Basilica de Sagrada Familia.  It is under construction but had some amazing features to it.  I loved the stained glass in it.  It was certainly not as ornate as some of the cathedrals I saw in other parts of Spain but was impressive.

We were both so tired the tour group tested our patience.  There must have been 25 or more people in our group.   The cathedral was crowded and people felt pushy. After the tour of the cathedral we were to have gone somewhere else with the group but we were both too tired to go.  Nicole had figured out the subway system so we rode two trains and then walked 1/2 mile to our hotel without getting lost.

I ate some pecans I had brought from home when I got back to the room and that may be dinner.  We both missed a night’s sleep last night and are exhausted.  Plan on taking a shower and going to bed early tonight.  Trusting we will both sleep good and be ready to hit the streets tomorrow to see the beautiful city of Barcelona. I walked over 8,500 steps today!.

Grateful for a safe trip, grateful for nice people we met along the way, and grateful for a bed to sleep in tonight.

 

First leg of our adventure arrived over 30 minutes early in Newark.  We are delayed departing for Barcelona however.  So far they are saying we have a two hour delay.  That will solve what to do in the morning when we couldn’t get checked in to our hotel if we arrived at our original time.  Trusting we will still get out tonight.

Struggled to find veggies at the airport restaurants.  Luckily I had bought two salads at the KC airport thinking I would eat both for lunch but couldn’t do so.  I had the extra one for dinner here.  I will need to search some more and find some food to take on board the next flight.  Have plenty of time to look as we still have four hours to wait.  ‘

This is a big airport with lots of shops and people.  It is interesting what people wear these days. Can’t believe how many people travel these days.  Lots of airport announcements regarding lost and found items.

Well this adventure is off to a delayed start.  I’m sure all is in perfect alignment and is designed for a reason and purpose.

Off to search for veggies for a midnight meal.

Packing day!  I need to leave the house by 8:00 in the morning so my goal for the day is to have everything packed and loaded in the car before I go to bed tonight.  We have a 12:25 flight tomorrow so need to be at Nicole’s house by 10:00.  So ready to get this adventure started.

Took a two-mile walk yesterday morning and plan on doing the same this morning.  Need to remember to wear a hat though as the sun gets hot.  Not sure I am ready for summer temperatures.  I like that the house gets a bit chilly at night with the windows open.  I am not a big fan of AC so won’t turn it on until the house doesn’t cool down at night.

Forgot to stock up on chicken lettuce so after my walk I want to run into town and pick some up.  May look for one more top to wear with my skirts.  I tend to spill things down my front so an extra shirt might come in handy.

Tim said he would come out and mow for me while I was gone.  He can listen to my mower and decide if it needs to go in for a check.  It sounds at times like it cuts out to me but I don’t know much about mowers.  I have been able to get it started without using the magic spray.  Thanks Tim!  That makes a nice Mother’s Day gift!

I have been watching some barn swallows nesting in a light fixture just out my south door.  They sure get noisy and protective when someone walks on the deck.  I think I see little heads poking up out of the nest now but am not sure.  I need to get a ladder out and take a peek.

Another beautiful KS spring day – although it will feel more summer like by mid-afternoon.  It is to reach close to 90 again today.  When I came out of Prairie Past Times yesterday the thermometer in my car said it was 93.  Not a big fan of hot weather.  It has been easier this year tolerating it though as I am not sweating near as much as I did last year while I was hyperthyroid.  I did sweat a bit after my walk yesterday but I wasn’t dripping like I would have been a year ago.

Lost another pound today so am now over halfway to my goal weight!  Sure trusting I won’t blow it while I am on vacation.  It is harder to get back on the wagon if I fall off than it is to stay on.  I am really determined this time to stay off flour and sugar as I know my very life depends on it now.  Flour and sugar feed cancer and I need to do my part to make sure the thyroid cancer doesn’t come back.  The heart issue I am having reminds me to take better care of myself too.

A lady contacted me about her and her boyfriend staying here for two months starting July 5.  I haven’t heard back from her so not sure she is going to book.  I have mixed feelings about it anyways so if she decided not to I will know it wasn’t meant to be.  Two months of having someone living in the house is a long time.  She had good reviews from her other hosts on Airbnb but I like my private space.  I would be willing to try it once to see how it went though.

Got a call from someone looking for a room the weekend of the DK and rodeo.  I already have all three rooms booked that weekend.  They may bring their camper out and plug it in down by the barn.  They have a horse so they weren’t sure what they were going to do with it.

Grateful for new baby birds on this beautiful day, grateful for Tim and his willingness to mow for me while I am gone, and grateful that it is packing day and my adventure starts tomorrow!

I think it is finally sinking in that I am leaving Tuesday morning for Italy!  Going to Italy is on my 70 things to do before I turn 70 list.  I met the cutest man on the Camino who was from Italy.  Lots of eye candy to look forward to if others look like he did!

Yesterday I got the last of the old McDonald’s records from 2011 put in a trash can that will go to the curb Wednesday morning.  I used the new electric leaf blower to sweep the floor while I was down in the barn.  The new leaf blower is much more powerful than the battery operated one was.  One more load of junk to put in the trash when I get back and the barn will be cleaned up and records I could get rid of gone.  I still have two totes of records in the basement to haul up and out but I don’t have any more trash can room this week so they will have to wait until I get back.

Doing laundry today so I will have everything washed up so I can get packed. Need to get a couple of protein items weighed up and bagged to take.  Decided to trust I can find what I need and not take too many.  Usually there is chicken on a menu and trusting I can find enough veggies to go with it.  That is all I will need.  Two eggs and a piece of fruit and a small bit of cheese works for breakfast.

Still need to figure out what food to take with me on the airplane.  I have eaten enough airplane food to know they won’t meet my needs.  Trusting I will have time in Newark to get something to take with me for the flight to Barcelona. If not, I may go hungry for a bit.

Another beautiful Kansas day on the prairie today.  It is to get to the upper 80’s today.  Almost think summer is here but it was nice and cool this morning early.  I want to get out and get a nice long walk in before it gets hot.

The baby chickens are getting braver everyday.  The big one still protects the little one.  I haven’t seen them apart yet.  They are growing so they must be finding something to eat.  They don’t come running like the others do when I scatter oats and sunflower seeds in their yard.  I try to find them and give them a few too.

Planning on going into Art Day at Prairie Past Times this afternoon.  Have never considered myself an artist but they have a broad definition of what that is.  I usually take knitting to do.  I have a shawl I am almost finished with so will probably get it finished this afternoon.  I knit in spurts these days.  I can go weeks without picking up my needles and other times I make a shawl or blanket a day for several days in a row.  Have a full tub of completed ones I don’t know what to do with.  Always feels good to get yarn used up though.

Got my pill-box filled with three weeks worth of pills yesterday so it is ready to go.  I feel like such a drug user these days. Trusting I can get off of some of these pills after I get back and have the stress test completed.  Did find out when I was checking to see where I was at with my medical deductible that if I have to stay on the blood thinners a three-month mail order supply is cheaper than a one month supply from the pharmacy.  I would rather not have to take them but if I do I will switch to mail order.

I had picked up two new t-shirts when I was in KC last week.  I got size small thinking they would probably be too small for now but I would be able to wear them later this summer.  I tried one on this morning and it fits.  My mind doesn’t see my body as a size small yet.  Wonder how long that will take?  Wonder what size I will wear when I lose the last 21 pounds?

Grateful for a clean barn, grateful for another perfect KS spring day, and grateful my trip begins Tuesday.

Got the yard all mowed up yesterday.  Found Roxy’s shock collar which I didn’t know was off of her.  That was lucky!  I didn’t even mow over it first.  She hadn’t run away. Wonder if I can trust them to stay in the yard without their collars on now? Don’t think I will risk it yet.

Had the nicest two guests last night.  They were a young couple celebrating their second wedding anniversary.  They went into town to have dinner at Radius and then came out and sat in the swings with the fire on and watched the stars for a long time.  She loves dogs and my dogs joined them for the evening.  They left a little after 8:30 this morning to go hike the prairie and see the buffalo before they headed home.  I have their beds made up and am waiting for the towels to dry.  That was easy!

Ran into Emporia this morning after they left to pick up a prescription and I thought I was going to go get a pedicure.  The battery for my leaf blower I use to clean out my riding mower bit the dust so I priced an electric blower.  It costs just a bit over what a pedicure cost so decided to get the leaf blower instead.  It will last a lot longer than a pedicure will.  I doubt anyone will notice my toenails aren’t painted!

I think I have everything I need so I can get packed up Monday.  Still have all day Monday if I decide I can’t leave home without something.  Nicole loaned me a small purse and a carry on bag that I can use.  I tried the small bag today and it works perfectly.  Need to remember to snap the extra security hook as I had been told by several people that it is easy to encounter a pickpocket in Italy.

Lost another pound today so I have released 20 pounds so far!  21 to go so almost halfway there.  Am working to remember to let go of the fear of what I am going to eat while on vacation.  I will do my best and reboot and refocus once I get home.  I only get to go to Italy once – right?

I am having a hungry day.  I could have eaten breakfast again when I was finished eating this morning.  Not sure why hungry days happen and some days I can barely finish my meal as I get so stuffed.  I have learned not to trust what my stomach says and just wait it out as another meal comes soon enough.  I haven’t died yet of starvation although my stomach makes me believe I am about to sometimes.

It is another perfect day on the prairie.  The house was a bit nippy when I got up this morning as I had left the windows open all night.  It is warming up outside and inside now.  There is a gentle breeze with bright blue skies, the birds are singing their songs and lots of sunshine.  I got kissed by the sun yesterday when I was mowing.  Started my farmer’s tan!  My arms look funny when I wear a sleeveless shirt as they get really brown from mowing and I usually wear a t-shirt with sleeves.

Nothing on my to-do list left except for packing.  Getting excited to get this adventure started.  I got international cell service and my bank cards approved for travel yesterday.  Got my last needed prescription this morning so should have enough drugs to get me through 16 days of being gone.  Can’t think of anything else I needed to do before I leave.  Maybe tomorrow can be a rest day for me.  I have a fun place to go Sunday afternoon if I feel up to it.  A fun rest day sounds good to me right now.  It has felt busy and a bit chaotic lately.  Nice to slow it down for a day or two and enjoy my empty space.

Grateful for easy guests last night, grateful for an empty to-do list, and grateful for 20 pounds released!

I got the main floor cleaned and the guest room downstairs ready.   Now to play the waiting game until the guests arrive.  They haven’t let me know what time they expect to arrive.

Need to run into Cottonwood Falls to drop off the recycling material and get gas for my mower.  With the rain we got this week the gas has decided to grow.  I would like to get it all mowed up before I leave Tuesday morning.  May have to have someone mow it for me while I am gone.  I’m sure it will be really tall if I wait until I get home the 24th of May.

Feeling a bit weird today again. Not sure what is going on.  I have a knot in my chest and waves of icky feeling goes out from the knot.  No real pain though.  My heart rate is in the lower 50’s so not thinking it is Atrial Flutter.

The Cardiologist assured me yesterday I do not need a Pacemaker.  That was good news!  My family doctor has been telling me I probably need to consider having one put in.

I was able to get my blood thinner medication refilled.  I had to call the Pharmacy and ask them to call the insurance company to get a travel exception so the Pharmacy could fill it early.  After my guests leave tomorrow I will go in to Emporia and pick it up.  I want to get a pedicure before I leave so I will take care of that too.

Need to do one more walk through the house to make sure I have everything ready for guests.  Hard to find the motivation to get it all cleaned since it is only for one room and one night.  They deserve a clean house too though.

Going to be a beautiful day and weekend in KS.  Mid 80’s tomorrow and Sunday and bright blue skies with not much wind.  Doesn’t get better than that.  My guests wanted to do some star-gazing tonight and they should have a perfect night to do so.

Kathy told me the baby chickens were out and about with the big girls this morning when she went down to check on them.  Good news!  Trusting they will continue to play nice together.

Still need to make a few calls and get a travel advisory placed on my credit cards and to get international service for my iPhone.  I hate talking on the phone and have been procrastinating doing so.  I’m running out of time so need to get that done today.

Felt a bit discouraged when I went to the Cardiologist and got weighed.  According to his office my BMI was between 25 and 26 and he considered me overweight.  I had lost 3 more pounds since I saw my family doctor on April 18.  My scales show my BMI has dropped to below 25.  Oh well, it is what it is and will soon enough be below 24.  My goal is 23.0.  There is conflicting information on what a person of my age should have as their target BMI goal.  One source says 25.0 is perfect and I shouldn’t go below that.  Other sources say 23.0 is what the target should be.  Wonder who is more correct?  Wonder who paid for the studies that were done and what their motivation was?  Sometimes I think our health care recommendations are designed to keep us sicker and need more medication.  Hard to sort them all out sometimes.

Once my guests leave tomorrow I will start packing.  I have my list ready and just need to pull out things.  It makes such a mess I wanted to wait until after my guests leave to get started.  Hard to focus on the trip until they leave too.  First things first!

Grateful for the beautiful weather today, grateful for a clean house, and grateful the chickens are playing nice.

Happy birthday daddy!  I think of you often and miss you.  I feel your presence though, especially then I am trying to fix something.  I hear your laughter when I do something stupid and feel your pride when I succeed.

Went to the Cardiologist today.  Left with more questions than answers again.  That seems to happen to me a lot!  He looked at the report from the ED that diagnosed me with Atrial Flutter.  He didn’t understand why they reached that diagnosis other than that is what the machine said.  He said the strip didn’t show that.  Did I have it or not?  He isn’t sure.

He is requesting more information from the ED to see if they have any other proof of their diagnosis.  He seemed surprised they sent me home without putting me on a blood thinner.  He almost took me off of the blood thinner my doctor had put me on five days after I was in the ED but decided to wait to see if the ED can provide more confirming information.  He did order a Nuclear Stress Test to be done.  That will probably not happen until I return from my trip.

His office is to call me with the results of the Stress Test and if it is negative and the ED has no more information he will let me go off the blood thinner. If I didn’t have Atrial Flutter he really didn’t know what might have been happening.  I have a follow-up appointment with him in August.

Not sure what to think of all this yet.  Maybe I was given a reboot and the medical field doesn’t understand how that works.  It would be great news if it wasn’t heart related although that leaves me not knowing what did happen.  As long as it doesn’t happen again I guess I am good to go!

Didn’t do any shopping in Topeka.  I tried on the skirts I had gotten last year and they fit so I have what I need for clothes to take to Italy.  The shirts hang lower than they did but I have no trouble keeping them up so I am good to go.  Glad I didn’t buy something new yesterday.

Got some heavy rain for just a bit last night.  The wind was pretty strong for a bit too.  Only have 1/2 inch in my gauge.  It was a pond filler type of rain though as it came down fast and hard.  Grateful for every drop.  Missed the rain that was in the forecast for today.

The baby chickens survived the storm.  I thought about checking on them just before the rain hit but I wouldn’t have made it down to the coop and back up to the house before the heavy rain started.  They are still hiding out.  Trusting they are figuring out a way to get something to eat and drink.  Not sure if they went in the big house last night or if they stayed outside.

The rest of the day and tomorrow morning I will spend cleaning and preparing for the guests arriving tomorrow evening.  They are only spending one night so won’t be here long.  Almost not worth cleaning for only one night and only two guests.  Will be nice to leave knowing my whole house is clean though.

Don’t know anything more than I did before I went to the Doctor today.  Next time I come to earth I need to remember to read the medical book so I can present with issues that the medical staff can understand.  I seem to not follow their protocol and rules.

Grateful for the rain we received without having any damage done by the high winds, grateful for skirts that fit and that I didn’t buy anything new yesterday, and grateful for a safe trip to the doctor and home again.

A quick trip to KC today.  I didn’t find the main thing I went for which was a dress or skirt for my trip.  We went to Kohl’s but the only one I liked they didn’t have in my size.  I’ll figure something out I’m sure.

Had Lunch at Panera.  I was hungry and didn’t take my time ordering and ask the right questions.  The salad I got had a dressing on it that had sugar in it.  I took one bite of the salad and didn’t eat the rest.  It was way too sweet.  We looked up the ingredients on-line and discovered the second ingredient in the dressing was cane sugar.  I had ordered a bowl of black bean soup so ate that.  I didn’t get my veggies in for lunch.  I got a fruit cup with my salad and ate over half of it.  Got a headache from the bite of sugar and too much fruit.  Learned a good lesson though!

Went to Costco and picked up a few things.  They didn’t have two of the things I was looking for.  We went to IKEA and I got some lamps and a round table for the library.  I’ll have to put them together when I am not so tired.

Got home around 3:30 so it was a quick trip up and back.  Always good to see Nicole. She loaned me two purses for me to use on our trip.  I took her a printed copy of all the vouchers and tickets we will need in Italy.  She is better at keeping track of that stuff than I am.

We moved the two baby chickens into the big house last night after dark.  They were huddled in a corner of the coop yard this morning and this afternoon are hiding between the dog crate and the chicken coop.  The big one stands over the little one to protect it.  Trusting all will adjust and things will settle down soon.  The little one sure is small.  We had to lower the feed container so she can reach it.

Tomorrow I have to be in Topeka by 9:15 for my Cardiologist appointment.  Anxious to hear what he has to say.  Best case is I will get off the blood thinner medication and he will take a wait and see approach before he does anything else.  Can one have Atrial Flutter a few times and then not have it again?  Guess I will find out tomorrow.

Storms are moving in.  We are under a tornado watch for the evening.  Sure is quiet and the air is heavy right now.  I want the rain that a storm may blow in.  Radar doesn’t look too promising that we will get much.  Time will tell.  Glad I beat the storms home today so I can watch them from inside my house and not on the highway.

When I get home tomorrow I will need to clean house for the guests that are coming Friday evening.  I have the beds made in all the bedrooms so will just have to dust and do floors and clean the bathrooms.  Maybe if we get some rain tonight the dust won’t blow in so quick and things will stay clean longer.

Need to call and get my international phone service ordered as well as notifying my banks that I will be out of the country.  Need to get myself organized and ready to go.

Feeling a bit ungrounded today.  City energy tends to do that to me. Right now the wind is calm so may go out and take a walk and see if I can get re-centered.

Grateful for a safe trip to KC and home again., grateful the baby chicks are still alive, and grateful I learned a good lesson on how to eat out and the need to ask questions.

Took a dip in the muck pond yesterday for the first time in several months.  Not sure what drove me there.  Probably overwhelm from the recent medical issue.  So tired of dealing with doctors, paying medical bills, new medication, etc.  It is what it is and I was able to step out of resistance fairly quickly and walk out of the muck pond.

I didn’t sleep very well last night.  Had a hard time falling asleep and then I woke up several times during the night.  Feel a bit hung over this morning.  Might be a nap day!

Have my list ready for KC tomorrow.  Need to do a Costco run as well as pick up a few things for the Italy trip.  I’m going to go into Emporia today to do a critter food run so all the critters will have feed while I am gone.  Have two or three things I need to get for myself too.

Thursday I go to the Cardiologist.  His office called yesterday to tell me the Holter Monitor didn’t pick up any Atrial Flutter.  I could have told them that as I haven’t felt any since the day before they put it on me.  My heart rate varied from 40 to 153 while I had the monitor on.  I expected the 40 but not the 153.  Will be interesting to see what if anything he recommends.  Sure hoping I get off the blood thinner.  I have felt “off” since I started taking it.

I finally met my out-of-pocket medical deductible of $3,200 for this year.  I have a $1,000 bill to the Doctor’s office to pay for the ultrasound and a doctor’s visit and will have to pay part of the ER cost and then insurance will start paying everything else.  No wonder my cash flow has dropped since the first of the year.  Man!  Hard to get ahead when I have to pay out $3,200 for medical expenses.

Started looking at my Medicare options.  My monthly expense will go up in August but my out-of-pocket expense will decrease.  Should come out ahead if I have another medical issue.  Trusting I am almost done with those.

Today is day 80 on the Bright Line Eating Plan.  I have lost 19 pounds so far.  22 pounds to go.  Eating the Bright Line way is becoming pretty automatic for me right now.  I don’t get tempted to eat something not on my plan.  I do have hungry days but I distract myself and get through without eating off plan.  I am a bit nervous with the trip coming up.  Decided I am not going to ruin my trip by being overly concerned about eating on plan.  I will do the best I can and get back on track if needed when I get home.  The biggest thing I want to avoid while in Italy is flour and sugar.

I haven’t broken my Bright Lines yet.  I don’t trust myself to do so.  I’m afraid one bite of flour or sugar would lead me down a dark path.  I do much better avoiding it all together.  I don’t seem to do moderation well.

The clouds are rolling in today.  We are already under a thunderstorm watch for tonight and tomorrow.  First hint of possible tornado activity for the season.  I love watching thunderstorms roll in.  Trusting I won’t have to drive through them tomorrow though.  I prefer to watch them from my house and not be in my car when they roll through.  Trusting I will get some nice rain from the predicted storm.  I could use several inches at least.

I leave for Italy a week from today!  Time to get moving and get things crossed off my list.  Guests are coming Friday but leaving Saturday so will need to get the house cleaned later this week for them.  I will have Sunday and Monday free to pack.

Grateful for being able to walk out of the muck pond fairly quickly this time, grateful  my Atrial Flutter has stopped, and grateful for the promise of rain on the prairie.

Went into Emporia first thing this morning to have my blood drawn.  I had to wait to eat until I got home as I was required to be fasting when they did the draw.  Made a quick stop at Walgreen’s  to pick up a prescription and then went to Walmart to get lettuce for the chickens and veggies for myself.

Still need to run into Cottonwood Falls to go to the bank and drop off recycling stuff.  Nothing else on my agenda for the day as I got the bedrooms put back together again yesterday.

We moved the baby chickens into a dog crate and set the dog crate inside the coop fencing with a tarp on it yesterday.  The babies seem to be liking their new digs.  I will move them into the big house Tuesday night.  Trusting by then all will play nice and the babies will survive the transition.  Last time Michelle brought out a baby to integrate into my flock it died within six hours.  Don’t want a repeat of that!

It is a beautiful day on the prairie although very windy.  The wind is to blow in a thunderstorm for Wednesday and Thursday.  I’ll take the rain and tolerate the wind if it helps make the rain happen.

Got another night booked for June.  I will have another full house for several nights during the first ten days of June.  Nothing yet booked after that though.

Made a shopping list for Wednesday.  Also got my packing list started.  I had a discussion with the girl who drew my blood today about packing.  I told her I would only take a carry on bag for the 16 day Italy adventure.  She told me she had four full closets of clothes plus more in the basement.  I told her I only own six shirts and six pants right now.  She said she was going to go home tonight and fix a bag of clothes to give away.  Sure glad I broke the habit of shopping and having too much stuff.  Life is simpler with less stuff!  The house is a lot easier to clean too.

Need to find something productive to do today.  I have been sitting for too long again.  Ellexia came out and played for a bit yesterday afternoon.  It was fun having her here as I hadn’t seen her for a bit again.  Tagen was at his dad’s house so he didn’t get to come.  Maybe this summer I will see them more.

The full pink moon last night was breathtakingly beautiful.  My guests have reminded me how lucky I am to live where I do and I have a front row seat to Mother Nature’s show each evening and morning.  I listened to a podcast yesterday.  The speaker said to help your body heal a trust issue you need to watch a sunset three times a week and be fully present for it.  No wonder so much healing can happen in this space.

I leave for Italy a week from tomorrow.  Don’t think it has sunk in yet but I am starting to get excited about the trip.  I love exploring new places and pushing my boundaries by being in new places.  I always learn something about myself.  Trusting the lesson will be gentle this time.

Grateful for getting the baby chickens out of the house, grateful for Ellexia and the fun we had together, and grateful for a day full of empty space so I can refill my soul.

 

Nine days and eight nights of guests completed.  The last guest left this morning.  I sure enjoyed my guests and the time they spent with me.  I feel like I made several new friends.  Most left with promises of returning again in the future.

Learned a lot too.  It is much easier doing the Airbnb than doing retreats.  I like that the guests are out and about during the day and mostly just here during early mornings and evenings.  I love that I didn’t have to fix food!  I have another long stretch booked June 1 – June 12.  After that group leaves I will make some decisions about any changes I am thinking may need to be made.  I also need to see if any more bookings come in.  So far I don’t have anything else booked after June 12.

One of my guests was a smoker and although he didn’t smoke inside the house or in his room I will need to wash all the linens in his room to get rid of the smell that he brought in on his clothes. I need to get some no smoking signs to post and an outside butt can.

As I have guests coming Friday night I will wait to clean part of the house until Thursday and Friday morning.  This house really does clean up fast.

Finally lost a pound today.  15 days of weight lost drought has ended.  Glad I was able to stick to my Bright Lines and trust the program.  19 pounds gone – 22 to go!  almost half way to my goal.  Finally dropped below 25 BMI.

Tomorrow I have to go into Emporia first thing in the morning to have a fasting blood test done.  Will do a few errands while I am in town.  Wednesday I am going to KC to pick up a few things for my Italy adventure and Thursday I am going to Topeka to see the Cardiologist.  Guests are coming Friday night and leaving Saturday morning.  It will be a busy week.  I leave May 8 for Italy.  May will be here and gone before I know it.

Gave the chickens fresh linens yesterday.  The weather forecast is for rain and wind this week and yesterday was so nice I decided to get that project done.  I love to watch the girls nest in the new straw.  They so enjoy their fresh linens (aka straw).

The cats and dogs enjoyed all the extra love and attention they received from my guests last week.  They all behaved themselves as far as I know.

I slept really good last night.  I was exhausted as I hadn’t slept well the last several nights.  I so appreciate getting a good night’s sleep.  I was in bed before the sunset last night so was up early enough this morning to watch the sunrise.  I had left my bedroom window cracked open and my bedroom was chilly this morning.

Thanks to all that have liked and shared my Airbnb Facebook page.  It helps get the word out.  Trusting I will soon have all the business I want to have.  Not sure what that number is yet but am trusting I will know when it comes.  I need to make sure I have lots of empty space too.  This is such a learning experience for me but one I am really enjoying at this point.

Other than laundry and some cleaning I don’t have much on my agenda for the day.  Time to sit and enjoy my empty space.  I have some videos I want to watch.  Several I tried watching last week and kept getting interrupted so gave up.

Grateful for a successful nine days of guests, grateful the last one left today, and grateful for breaking my weight lose drought.

 

Went to the Scotty McCreery concert at the Granada Theatre  last night.  Craig had given Kathy and I tickets to it for our Christmas present.  I can’t say that I had lots of fun. I am not a big country music fan although I enjoy some of it.  Every seat was full so there were lots of people there.  The music was way too loud for my liking.  The lights were flashing off and on.  Just not my scene.  I told my guests when I got home I enjoyed sitting around the fire pit the night before watching the sun set and the stars pop out much more than I enjoyed the concert.

I did enjoy spending time with Michelle and Kathy at the concert last night.  They really enjoyed the concert.  I also enjoyed the personal stories Scotty told.  He seems like a very nice person with a gentle soul.  The lady sitting next to Kathy had been to 30 of Scotty’s concerts.  She knew the words to every song he sang.  Safe to say she has a bit of an obsession with him.  She must have been in her 60’s or 70’s.  She had driven up from Texas to see him.

Sometimes I need to remind myself of the things I don’t like to do so I can more fully appreciate the things I do like to do.  Staying home and enjoying the free show Mother Nature puts on every day and evening is much more my speed these days!  I felt a bit old at the show last night.  Funny that I enjoyed the Deva Premal and Miten show and there were at least three times as many people at it.  More my type of music – not near as loud and their type of music was much more gentle.

One guest has already checked out this morning.  Two others are out and about already and will be back.  One is still here as he has a late tee time.  I’ll probably wait and clean house after the last one checks out tomorrow.  I think he is driving to Texas tomorrow so hopefully he will get an early start.  I’m ready to reclaim the quiet of my house after having guests here since last Saturday.  The June stretch is an even longer stretch.  Need to figure out a way to find a bit of balance in all this.

The next guests come this Friday but are only staying for one night.  That will be easy.  Then I don’t have anymore scheduled until June 1.

My weight lose drought continues.  I haven’t lost weight for over 15 days now.  Thinking I need to change-up something but not sure what so I will continue keeping to what had been working.  I will change things up big time when I go to Italy and eat out all the time.  I keep reminding myself a year from now it won’t matter how fast the weight came off.

Still thinking with my thyroid issue that I may have to further restrict what I am eating to be able to lose more weight and keep it off.  I’ll wait until I get back from Italy to make that decision though.

I took a 30 minute walk yesterday down V Road.  A semi truck full of cattle came by me while I was walking.  The driver had seen me out walking and slowed way down as he passed me so he wouldn’t throw dust and gravel on me.  I so appreciated that.

Didn’t get the baby chickens moved yesterday so need to get that done today.  I want to go in and watch some disc golf today.  Also noticed a bank is having a shred day so I want to take some more old employee files to drop off to be shredded.  Glad to be getting to the end of that project.

Another beautiful Spring day on the prairie.  Rain is coming in next week so want to get out and enjoy this beautiful day.

Grateful to remember and more fully appreciate the type of music I love, grateful for the simply beauty of Mother Nature and remembering it gives me much happiness, and grateful for the new friends I have made from the guests that came to stay.

Had a delightful evening last night.  Took the cover off the fire pit and turned the fire on.  We all sat outside and watched the sun go down and the stars pop out.  It got a touch cool before all the stars showed up so we went in.  The moon was so bright it took a while for the stars to be seen.

One of the guests turned 60 Tuesday so most had a piece of birthday cake around the fire pit to celebrate.  I took stuff out for s’mores and a few enjoyed those too.  I was good and was able to say no to both.

Had another guest join us last night.  He had been sleeping on the floor in a basement somewhere and one of my guests invited him to share his room.  I had invited my three guests to invite others if they ran across someone who needed better accommodations and if they didn’t mind sharing their room. The more people who come see the Airbnb the better my chances of getting future bookings.

Two of the four guests were up and gone before 7:15 this morning.  They both had early tee times today.  One came up and fixed some fresh country eggs for breakfast and then took off around 8:30.  The newest guest is still here.

I have two of the three bedrooms refreshed.  Still need to do a bathroom, the last guest room and the coffee-room.  I’m waiting to wash towels until I can do the last bathroom.

Kathy, Michelle and I are going to see Scotty McCreery in concert at the Granada tonight.  Craig had given us tickets for our Christmas present.  I told my guests to make themselves at home tonight as we wouldn’t be here.  Glad I can trust them!

I extended their check-out time for tomorrow.  They won’t know what their tee time for tomorrow is until later this evening.  If they have an early tee time I told them they could come back after their round and gather their stuff up.  One is staying until Sunday but the other three will leave tomorrow.

I’m sure Kathy will be happy to get her private bathroom back.  I need to figure out a way the bathroom doors can be locked.  Someone would have to lock both doors when they are in the shower though and remember to unlock both of them.  Not the best arrangement but for short times manageable I guess.  Most times I will only have two or four guests and it won’t be an issue.

It has been another great experience having Airbnb guests.  Still learning the differences between running a retreat center and the Airbnb.  So far I like the Airbnb better.  Interesting that I have only had male guests so far.  I do have a different mix coming in June so that will be interesting to see if it is different having more women than men.

Need to fix up the baby chicken pen outside today.  Other than that I have nothing else that has to be done once I finish refreshing the rooms.  Kathy works this afternoon so I might even have the house to myself for a bit today.

Got some mowing done yesterday.  The mower sounds funny to me and started to smell hot.  Not sure if it was burning off the oil that was sprayed on it last year or if something is wrong with the mower. I may have Tim come out and take the mower to be checked out.  I might go out and see how it does today.  I have one more small section to mow.  Not enough green yet to move the whole yard. Felt good to be out on the mower for a bit yesterday.

No more Atrial Flutters!  Sure trusting that little episode is behind me and what ever caused them has settled down and won’t be an issue for me again.  I see the Cardiologist next Thursday so will find out then if anything else needs to be done.  I sure hope he lets me discontinue the blood thinner medication.  Nicole was a bit concerned about me being on a long flight with a heart that is misbehaving.  I’ll make sure the Cardiologist knows I will be flying to Italy so he can advise me of any precautions I need to take.

Another beautiful spring day on the prairie.  Bright blue skies and mid 70’s today.  Not even much wind.  A perfect day to be out playing disc golf.

Grateful for a beautiful sunset last night, grateful for being able to move the chickens outside today, and grateful for seeing the beauty of my place through the eyes of my guests.

Got the Newsletter finished before noon today.  Kathy helped me yesterday and both Lynn and Kathy helped this morning.  Always glad to have that project completed.

All my guests had fairly early tee times this morning so were gone early.  Not sure if they will hang around Emporia this afternoon and evening or come back to the house to rest.  They each play again Friday and Saturday.  I want to go watch them one of those two days.  I have never seen anyone play disc golf.

After I finished the Newsletter I had lunch and then ran into Emporia for some groceries.  Going through lots of fruit in the fruit bowl for my guests and lots of coffee pods.  I needed fresh produce for me too as I hadn’t been to the store since Sunday.

Some man came to my door yesterday.  He had a framed picture of my property taken from the air.  He tried to make me an offer I couldn’t refuse.  I didn’t buy his line.  I told him I didn’t remember giving him permission to take pictures of my property.  He left shortly after I said that.

Got my order from LL Bean this morning.  The Small sized raincoat barely fits.  It is almost to snug in the hips but I have decided to keep it as I still plan on losing another 20 plus pounds.  I haven’t tried the pants on yet.  The raincoat is a different type of fabric than the one I had gotten from them in 2004.  I liked the older one better but this one will work.

Friday night Kathy and I have tickets to go to a concert at the Granada.  I had an extra ticket so Michelle is coming with us.  Should be a fun evening out.  Glad the schedule with my guests worked so I feel comfortable not being here.

Nothing else on my schedule for the next couple of days except the concert.  I will need to refresh bedrooms and clean them as my guests leave but that never takes long.  Nice to have empty space return.  I do plan on getting out and doing some mowing either Friday or Saturday but the whole yarn doesn’t need mowed yet.  I’ll need to go into Strong City and get some more gas before I can mow. The weather is to be beautiful the next couple of days.  It will be fun to get outside and enjoy it.

My next set of guests arrive May 5 for a one-night stay.  I have a busy week next week as I am going to KC Wednesday and Topeka on Thursday.  I’ll need to remember to plan some time to clean the house for the guests arriving next Friday.  I blocked off the days while I am in Italy so no one can book so Kathy didn’t have to bother with guests.  June 1 – June 11 I will have multiple guests 11 days straight.  Nothing else is booked after that though.  Trusting some more guests will book soon. If not, I will enjoy the break.

Only have 11 days before my trip.  I still haven’t started my packing list.  Maybe after my last guest leaves Sunday I can start focusing on the upcoming trip.  Getting excited about going away for a bit.

Grateful the Newsletter is done and that I had some help to do it, grateful for the nice guests that are staying with me – I have really enjoyed them, and grateful for some empty space so I can recharge and refill.

Had a delightful evening talking to two of my guests last night.  It is fun meeting new people and sharing our stories.  Fixed some hard-boiled eggs for one of them.  Not sure what they are eating or when but it is nice not to have to worry about it.

I had another deep conversation with one of them this morning.  One left before 8:00 this  morning but the other two slept in.  One left around 10:30 and the other one didn’t leave until almost noon.  Got their rooms refreshed and have a load of towels washing.

Two board members from Pioneer Bluffs are coming by in a bit so we can finish up our little project.  I will be getting the supplies I need to get the Newsletter ready to mail when they come.  That will give me something to do this afternoon and tomorrow.

Kathy and I may go into town tomorrow and watch my guests each play a hole or two.  The sun is to return and be a beautiful day.  I would like to see what Disc Golf is all about.  It has been fun listening to them talk about it.

It rained most of the night but I didn’t get much in my rain gauge.  Not sure if it has a leak in it or if it didn’t rain hard enough to accumulate much rain. The grass grew overnight though so by Friday or Saturday I will need to mow for the first time this year.

When the wind shifted to the west yesterday afternoon the smoke from the pasture my neighbor just burned blew in.  It looked like a dust storm for a bit.  Grateful for the rain that made sure the fire was out and quieted down the ash.

My neighbor usually burns the grass on my property when he burns his but this year didn’t do so.  Not sure why.  If I had known he wasn’t going to I would have found someone to do it.  Too late to find someone now.  I’ll need to call a rancher and find out if I need to mow the tall grass or if it will be OK to bale without it being cut.  I’ll have to find someone to cut and bale it for me this year as my neighbor used to arrange that for me and then he took the hay the cutter didn’t take.  Anyone know someone?  They can have all the hay they bale.  I have no use for it.

Still on my weight plateau.  Feeling OK with it and trusting the program.  My pants feel looser so I know something is happening even though the scale isn’t moving.

Rainy, cloudy fireplace on type of day.  I will welcome the sunshine back tomorrow.  May need to ride my bike instead of taking a walk today to get my steps in.

I got a real sense of being in the right place at the right time when I was talking to my guest this morning.  We were talking about energy and my Philosophy of life.  It was affirming that doing the Airbnb was the right choice for me right now.  Not sure how long I will want to do this but so far, so good.

Grateful for the gentle, soaking rain we have received, grateful for the opportunity to share my life stories with my guests, and grateful for a service project to do this afternoon and tomorrow.

My second guest arrived yesterday afternoon.  I am so lucky to get the nicest guests!  He is another very kind and gentle soul.  He is a friend of my first guest so they are hanging out together.  Both are so quiet and polite.  They went out last night together to play some disc golf and came home after I went to bed. I didn’t hear them come in.

The third guest arrives this afternoon.  Once I get him checked in I will feel a bit more free to come and go.  I need to run into town and get some more fruit.  Both the  oranges and apples I had gotten last week have gone bad.  I offer a fruit bowl for my guests to snack on and the guys are enjoying it.  Also need to get some more coffee pods.

I refreshed the two guest rooms and coffee-room downstairs this morning.  Have a load of bath towels in the dryer.  I haven’t learned yet how often I need to do a refresh when guests are staying more than two nights.  I had time today so decided to do it.  My house rules tell them I will do it every three days.  I don’t want them to run out of fresh towels as I dislike using a towel twice myself.  It doesn’t take long to empty trash, refresh the coffee area and fruit bowl, and gather up dirty coffee cups and towels.

I went for a walk down V Road last night.  A truck drove by and the guy stopped to make sure I was out walking for pleasure and didn’t need a lift somewhere.  He was cute – if I had thought fast enough I would have had him give me a ride!  I wasn’t very far from home though.

It is another beautiful spring day on the prairie.  I want to get out and walk again today.  I set a goal of going at least 10,000 steps a day for myself.  I really do feel better when I am more active.  After I get down to goal weight I also will need to add in some strength training.

Still haven’t broken my weight plateau.  It has been over two weeks now.  This hasn’t happened to me before.  A good lesson on trust and faith in the program I am in.  Wondering if adding the blood thinner medication has anything to do with my weight lose stalling out.  I will keep on keeping on and see what happens.

Cleared out my egg supply thanks to Kris today.  I am back to getting over a dozen a day so they add up quick.  I told my guests they were welcome to help themselves to fresh eggs for breakfast but so far they haven’t taken me up on it.

I slept really good from 8:30 to 1:30 but didn’t sleep much after that last night.  May be a good day for a nap if my guest arrives early enough.  I’m really tired today.

Another day full of empty space.  Other than taking a long walk I have nothing that has to be done.  I love that my house is all clean and there is no housework that needs done.

Saw a post on Facebook from a local guy that is looking for stuff he can haul away for free.  I sent him a text and asked if he wanted to bother to come get the water cooler I need to go away.  He said he will come get it so I went down to the barn and moved it outside for him to pick it up.  That was easy!  The rest of the stuff will gradually fit into the trash can.  Love easy solutions!

Craig came out this morning so he could talk to me.  I hadn’t had a chance for conversation with him for a bit.  It was nice to see him.  He has a beard and is letting his hair grow back out.  I almost didn’t recognize him.

Sitting with an awareness of how much I have changed since we divorced three years ago.  It has been a grueling three years in some aspects and a delightful three years in others.  I like where I am now.  Lots of self-healing has happened on many levels.  I am much more comfortable with myself and able to use my voice much better now.

Grateful for my easy Airbnb guests, grateful for starting to move my body more, and grateful for the deep soul work I have done over the last three years and the place it has taken me to.

Guest one of three arrived yesterday afternoon.  He is the nicest young man.  Had a wonderful, deep conversation with him this morning.  Very considerate, wise beyond his years and a delight to have as a guest.  Guest number two should be here sometime this afternoon.

Other than doing my laundry I haven’t gotten anything done yet today.  As soon as my guest gets here  and gets checked in I want to go for a thirty minute walk.  Time to start moving my body again.  It is to warm up to the low 70’s by late afternoon.  There is little wind today so I need to get out and enjoy the day.

I was asleep yesterday before 8:30.  Not sure why I get so tired in the evenings but I seem to lately.  Woke up at midnight but was able to get back to sleep and slept off and on the rest of the night.  I have a book I wanted to finish reading last night but couldn’t stay awake enough to read it.

Have gone 10 days now without losing any more weight.  I lose a pound, gain a pound, lose a pound, gain a pound over the last 10 days.  This is the longest I have gone since I started Bright Lines Eating without permanently losing a pound or two.  Going to stay the course and trust my body will start releasing weight again soon.

Didn’t get the two sacks of books to the Earth Day Celebration yesterday.  It was too cold and wet to take them.  I will put them in my car and either drop them off at the library in Emporia or see how many I can fit in the free library box in Strong City.

Got the results of the Echocardiogram.  Most of it was normal although I have one thing that was abnormal but it is a grade 1 so not serious yet.  Sounds like the treatment is more walking exercise and possibly taking a beta-blocker.  Haven’t heard the results of the Holter Monitor yet. Good news is I haven’t had any more episodes of Atrial Flutter.  Maybe this was all just a kick in the pants to tell me to start moving my body more.

Kathy helped me give the two baby chickens fresh linens yesterday.  I will be glad to get them outside later this week.  Think I will put a tarp on the dog pen and set the pen inside the chicken pen and have the baby chickens hide out in the dog pen for a couple of days.  It might help their transition to the big house go smoother.  They sure seem small and I am not sure they can hold their own with the big girls and rooster.

Our guest enjoyed watching us change their linens yesterday.  He said it reminded him of visiting his grandmother’s house.

Empty space for me most of the week.  I may do the Pioneer Bluff’s Newsletter if it gets printed this week some time.  Other than that I have lots of empty space.  The house is clean so I don’t have any cleaning to do other than refreshing the guests bedrooms.  That doesn’t take long.  Need to find a project to do.

Time to start a packing list for the trip to Italy.  It will be here soon.  Not sure what clothes I need to buy so need to give that some thought.  I did order two pairs of trail pants and a raincoat this weekend.  Trusting they will fit although I think I have time to return them and get the right size if they don’t.  Need to do a Costco run while I am in KC too.

Enjoying the beautiful sunshine today and the spring temperatures.  More rain is to come in later this week so better get out and enjoy it while I can.  Feeling like I have slipped back into my peaceful, quiet valley.  I am full of joy and contentment today.

Grateful for the conversation I had with my guest this morning, grateful for empty space and the feeling of contentment, and grateful for this beautiful space I get to call home.  My guests help me realize how beautiful this space really is.

And my first set of Airbnb guests have come and left. I couldn’t have ask for a better set of guests. They were polite, clean, and easy to talk to. They weren’t around much as they left about an hour after they checked in and then didn’t get back until after I was already in bed. They fixed themselves breakfast this morning, cleaned up and left right at 11:00 a.m.

I got tickled at them this morning. The two brothers did the cooking. They had a box of pancake mix and added what they thought the directions called for. The pancake batter was way too thick. They added some milk but couldn’t seem to get it thin enough. I looked at the box and the directions had called for one cup of batter instead of the whole box. They finally added more eggs, oil and milk and fixed lots of pancakes. They ate most of them.

After they left I quickly stripped the beds and threw a load in the washing machine and then went into town as I needed some groceries. Came back just as the washer was done. Gathered up the towels and started the second load. Ate lunch and then made up for the four beds and cleaned the bedrooms. The house is reset for the guest who should arrive anytime now. The next guest comes in tomorrow and the third one comes in on Tuesday. Two leave on Saturday and one leaves next Sunday.

Having guests when I don’t have to cook is so much easier! So far I like doing Airbnb much better. My guests did give me some useful suggestions this morning. I have a sheet in each bedroom that has my house rules on it. I had forgotten to update them from when I had the Retreat Center. Got that taken care of this morning.

They used the coffee-room to play poker in last night. They ended up moving some of the comfy chairs into the coffee-room. They recommended I have a lamp or two in there so they didn’t have to turn the bright over-head lights on.

I may need to rethink not having much furniture in the great room. I had intentionally kept it mostly empty when I had the retreat center as that room was used in so many different ways. Now it may make sense to turn it into a living room type room so the guests have a private space to relax in. I’ll wait and see what type of guests I am attracting and how much they are here before I decide to invest in more furniture.

Both brothers suggested I take lots more pictures of the rooms and the little things I offer. Both are the type that look at every picture and read everything I wrote about myself and the house. Both told me I offered lots of little things that really made their stay more comfortable and that I need to market that to my advantage since I am offering those things anyways.

Trusting they will write a review for me and post it on Airbnb. Not sure how that works yet. They told me they almost didn’t book as the price was so low and there were no other reviews.

After I get my guest checked in I have a couple of errands to do. I forgot two things while I was in town. I even had them on my list but forgot to check my list. I want to go by the Earth Day Celebration at Mill Street Inn for a bit but am not sure when my guest is coming. I need to figure out a way to get my guests to commit to a time or else I am going to be hanging out waiting a lot.

I did change my check-in time to 2:00 instead of 1:00. I need three hours to get the house ready between guests if they arrive on the same day others check-out.

I am on a learning curve learning the difference between running a retreat center and a Airbnb. The differences are not obvious but energetically I can sense them. I trust by the end of this week I will figure most of them out and make my adjustments.

Have a bit over an inch of rain in my gauge. Grateful for every drop. The grass around the house has already greened up. Looking forward to mowing this week.

Grateful my first Airbnb guests had a great time and enjoyed themselves, grateful for the rain, and grateful more guests are headed my way.

Rain has arrived on the prairie.  Almost 1/2 inch in my gauge and the forecast calls for it to rain all day and evening.  Yeah!  It is a nice soaking rain that will surely help the grass start to grow and turn green.  I may get to mow next week!  Hallelujah!

I had a rough night’s sleep last night.  Slept good for two hours but the rest of the night was very hit and miss – mainly miss.  I even took a sleeping pill but it didn’t do any good.  Must have been the weather system moving in.  My feet hurt all night long.  I really don’t enjoy nights like that.  Feel a bit hung over today.  I might go back to bed to see if I can get some more sleep in a bit.

A dear friend went to a garage sale this morning and brought over some size Small and Medium clothes for Kathy and I.  That started my day off on the right foot!  How very thoughtful and kind of her.  Thank you so much Sharon!  I love you.  I scored a skirt out of it and a down vest.  I picked out several things that looked like Kathy would like.

Have the fireplace on this morning.  It is 44 out with the high only to be 49.  Keep thinking I won’t have to keep the furnace on anymore but keep turning it back on.  I will need to check my propane level and make sure I have enough to get me through the summer time.  Come on warm weather – I am ready for you to come and stay.

On day 70 of Bright Line Eating.  I have lost 17 pounds so far.  Haven’t lost any this last week.  I expected to start hitting a plateau and have done so.  There is something called a Woosh Factor where you go for at least a week or more at the same weight than all of a sudden drop two to five pounds in one day.  Trusting I will soon get to experience that.

I keep reminding myself there is no real rush to get to goal weight as nothing really changes when that happens other than I start adding food so I don’t drop more weight off.  Have a feeling with my thyroid condition I won’t be adding much food to my plan.  What I eat now is enough for me and most days I wouldn’t want to add more food.  However if I get more physically active I may need too.  I’ll cross that bridge 24 pounds from now.

Cleaned the garage out yesterday.  We still had the dog pen up in the garage but with the shock collars weren’t using it anymore.  I collapsed the pen and carried it down to the barn using the wheelbarrow.  I will hold on to the pen for a bit to see if I can find a use for it.  It would make a nice baby chicken pen if I decide to do baby chickens again.  Have lots of room in the barn to store it in.  Someday I need to finish cleaning the barn out.  Nice to have the garage cleaned out though.  Found lots more stuff to add to my throw away pile.  May need to borrow a pickup and take a load to the dump after all.  Have one or two things that the trash man won’t be able to take that need thrown away.  Made lots more room in the garage for Kathy to park.

Next Friday the baby chickens get to be moved to the big house.  They will be eight weeks old.  They sure look small but trusting they will be able to hold their own with the big girls and rooster.  It will be good to get them out of the house.

My locksmith came yesterday and installed the door handles with a key lock on them.  Great timing as my first guests arrive today.  I stopped and got some key rings for the guest keys.  Now I need to figure out a way to remind myself to ask for the keys back.  I don’t lock the house but some guests might want the privacy of a locked bedroom door.  The third bedroom doesn’t have a lock on it as it connects to Kathy’s room and it seemed pointless to put a lock on it.  It will be interesting to see if the guests even bother taking a key.

The house is all cleaned and ready for my guests to arrive.  Still not sure when they are coming but I have no plans today so guess it doesn’t matter when they get here.  Need to make sure I have sent directions to the three people arriving the next three days.  I need to set up a copy and paste directions sheet so I don’t have to type them out each time.

Grateful for the rain on the prairie today – I can hear the earth drinking it up, grateful the house is cleaned and ready for my first Airbnb guests to arrive, and grateful for a dear friend that surprised me with a gift of small-sized clothes today – I feel cherished and loved!

Quiet day at home today.  The sun is shining and the clouds are moving out.  It is to rain all day tomorrow so I will enjoy the sun while it lasts today.

The house is all clean!  Just need to touch up tomorrow morning.  There was a lot of burning going on around me yesterday and the ash blew in.  Hard to keep it out.  My guests are arriving either early afternoon or late afternoon. They are to let me know tomorrow.

I haven’t had any more Atrial Flutters.  Maybe I just had a reboot and I am done with them.  I have a light pressure in my left upper chest but it has been here for a long time.  Not sure what causes it.  Too insignificant to pay attention to but in light of what has happened this week maybe it is important.  I am getting the million dollar work up so I’m sure if something is there they will find it.

I have noticed my heart rate is not as low as it was for a bit.  Night time it only drops to 44 now instead of 38.  Daytime it rarely gets below 50 now.  I haven’t noticed it getting high and staying high for long periods of time.

Nothing on my to-do list today.  Feeling a bit restless today for some reason. Maybe I am just anxious about the guests coming.  Need to find something productive to do and move my body to shake it out and let it go.  Might go into town today and do some clothes shopping.  I doubt I lose more than two or three pounds before I leave for Italy.  I also still need dog food.  My car was too full to get it yesterday when I was in town.

Have a raw spot on my knee from hand mopping the floors.  Kathy said her toe was black and blue from hand mopping downstairs.  Who knew house work was so dangerous!

Need to run to the bank in Cottonwood Falls.  Think I will drop off the yarn when I go.  I also need to take a load to the recycling trailer.  I have some cardboard that the canvas frame pictures came in I need to get rid of as well as the normal recycling stuff.

I haven’t joined the Chase County Chamber this year yet as I wasn’t sure I was going to do any business.  Since I decided to open the Airbnb I probably should stop by and pay my membership fee.  They do a good job of marketing the small businesses in the county.

Noticed my business cards have Spiritual Retreat Center on them.  May decide to get them reprinted with the same design but replace Spiritual Retreat Center with the Airbnb site link.  Not sure I use them enough to bother with that though.  They still have my old website address on them too.  I’ll wait and see if I start using them again.

I created a page on Facebook with the Airbnb link.  Not sure it will produce any bookings but it is free so worth putting a page together.

Got all three canvas pictures hung.  It wasn’t easy but I got it done.  Not sure why things like that are hard for me to do.  Seems like it would have been a simple project but I have a way of turning simple into complicated sometimes.

Starting to let little things bother me again.  Not sure why!  Must be getting ready to climb to another level of higher vibration.  I have enjoyed the peaceful valley I have been in for the last several months.  Things would roll off my back like water off a duck.  Maybe this step up will be graceful and easy.  Need to remember others are teachers and not the reason for my agitation and unease.

Always grateful after I reach a new higher level but I don’t always remember to enjoy the climb up.  Life is a balance – the good and the bad – the beauty and the ugly.  Can’t have one without the other.  How would you know something was hot if you don’t understand cold?

Allowing what is to be.  Very aware today of resistance and remembering that resistance prolongs the agony of the climb.  Letting go!  Releasing!  Allowing!

Grateful for the peaceful valley I was in for several months, grateful I am climbing the vibrational ladder of life, and grateful for the awareness I have today.

Got the Echocardiogram completed yesterday.  It took an hour to do the test.  The man who did it was very kind and gentle.  I should have results sometime next week. I was given permission to stop using the heart monitor.  Not sure it recorded a heart event but the nurse said I could send it back.  Got a different prescription for a blood thinner.  This one had a free 30 day trial card.  The girl at Walgreen’s  had trouble getting the card to work but this time she asked the pharmacist for help and he got it to go through.

This will give me enough medication to get started before my appointment with Dr. Chow on May 3.  Maybe he will let me stop taking it.  If not I will have to remember to ask him what I am to do while I am in Italy as I will run out during the trip and I won’t be able to get a refill before I leave.  Hopefully he will have a supply in his office that can fill in the blanks for me.  Sure hoping I won’t have to be on this medication very long.  If I hadn’t had the free 30 day trial card it would have cost $410 for a 30 day supply.  I need to call my insurance company and see what my cost will be once I hit my out-of-pocket deductible.  That should happen before I need to have it refilled.  If I have to pay that much I will switch to a cheaper alternative when I get back from Italy.

Went into Emporia this morning to get chicken feed, oats, sunflower seeds, baby chicken feed, lettuce for the chickens and cat litter.  Also took the heart monitor to Staples so I could return it.  Stopped at the Vet Clinic to get flea and tic medication for the cats and dogs.  Spent more on the critters today than I did myself.  That seems to happen frequently.

Have moved the chairs and tables out of the dining room so I can get that floor cleaned.  I may hand scrub it today.  It has been a while since I have done that.  Next up will be the living room and kitchen floors.  Tomorrow I will do the hallway, entry way and the laundry room.  Love a clean house!

Another beautiful day on the prairie today.  Bright blue skies and little wind!  Only to be 60 for the high today but without the wind it will feel warmer than that.  Love days when the wind doesn’t blow!

Got a note from the guests coming Saturday.  They wanted to bring firewood so they could have a fire outside Saturday evening.  I had to tell them no as this area is still in a burn ban.  Maybe if we get rain Saturday the burn ban will be lifted.  I don’t even like to use the propane fire pit burner as dry as it is.

Got the canvas frame pictures I ordered in yesterday.  I am very pleased with two of them.  I hung one in the dining room this morning and it looks really good there.  Need to get the other two hung this afternoon.  I will order some more after I figure out how many I still need.

Going to enjoy my empty space today and tomorrow as I will have to “work” for the next nine days.  Glad I don’t have to leave home to work.  This will be a good test for me to see if this is what I want to do.  Good news is most of the guests will be out and about for most of the time.

I realized I may not be able to go to Earth Day as I have guests leaving Sunday morning and one coming in Sunday afternoon.  I will have to get a bedroom ready for him and be here when he arrives.  Maybe things will line up so I can make it to at least part of the afternoon.

Grateful for a low wind day today, grateful the critters are stocked up, and grateful my house is almost cleaned.

And my medical saga continues….I took the trash down to the end of my driveway in my car yesterday as I had extra boxes of trash to take down.  When I got my car unloaded I decided I was halfway to town and might as well run into town and pick up the prescription (Don’t you love my logic?).

I presented the $10 co-pay card to the young girl at Walgreen’s.  She ran it and told me without the card my out-of-pocket cost for the prescription was over $400 and with the card it was $525.  Yikes!  I told her thanks but no thanks.

Came home and called the $10 co-pay card company.  They told me they had received an error message as the girl had not entered the card correctly.  They had me call Walgreen’s back and tell them to run the insurance card and then the co-pay card.  They also told me I had qualified for only paying $10 out-of-pocket for it.  I called Walgreen’s and the girl told me that is how she had run the cards and there was nothing else she could do.

I sent a note to my Doctor’s office and asked for a different type of medication.  I am not paying over $400 for a medication when there are cheaper alternatives.  May have to take the one that requires lots of blood tests.  I will be gone for 16 days during the time they will be checking me closely but oh well.  It is what it is!

I haven’t had an episode since I have had the heart monitor on.  I hand scrubbed a bedroom and bathroom floor this morning and detail cleaned both rooms.  Wanted to try to trigger an episode but no luck.  Figures that when I want to have an episode I don’t have one!

I have my Echocardiogram this afternoon at 3:00.  They will check my monitor and if I still haven’t had an “event” as they call them, I will have to wear it another 24 hours. I haven’t gone 48 hours without an event since the first one yet so hopefully if I am going to continue to have them they can get one recorded.

The good news is with this latest medical episode I will meet my out-of-pocket deductible and will have no more medical expenses I have to pay until I switch to Medicare in August.  Not sure if I have to meet another deductible with that change this year or not.

Guests are coming Saturday so have another two days to finish getting the house clean and ready.  All three bedrooms and two of the bathrooms are done and will just need dusted Saturday morning.  I’ll get one or two rooms done upstairs today and do some more rooms Thursday and Friday.  Kathy said she would work on the basement great room and coffee-room.  Starting Saturday we will have guests in the house for over a week straight.  Four coming Saturday and leaving Sunday, another one comes in Sunday, another on Monday and another on Tuesday.  The last one leaves a week from Sunday.  They will be out and about during the days so probably won’t even know they are here.

The wind has returned to the prairie today.  It is to slow down by evening.  Only to reach the mid 50’s today.  The forecast still shows rain for Saturday and Sunday.  Trusting that will happen.

A friend came over and got some yarn yesterday.  She sent me a note this morning that one of the artist at Prairie Past Times will take the rest of it.  Yeah!  I will take it Sunday as that artist is to be working Sunday.  Good to get that out of the house.  My storage room downstairs is looking less cluttered already and I still have a few more totes to go through to see if I can get rid of more stuff.

One more week of taking extra trash down to the curb and the trash pile in the barn will be gone.  Still need to sweep the floor in the barn but it is almost clean.  Have lots of extra garden hose I need to figure out what to do with.  Some of it needs thrown away and some of it can be spliced and still used.  If I can get a nice warm day without much wind I will tackle that project.

I need to get my garage cleaned out too.  Doesn’t do much good to sweep it out with this wind though as I leave a door to it open all the time and stuff seems to blow in.

Feeling a bit frustrated with this latest medical setback.  I am working so hard to clean up my eating and improve my health.  Guess I will keep my head down and stick to my eating plan and ride this latest episode out and see where it goes.  I continue to lose weight and can feel my body continue to heal and change.  I can only control what goes in my mouth.  My body will do what it needs to do!

Grateful for medical options, grateful for guests coming, and grateful for clutter leaving my space and allowing for empty space to enter.

Went to Emporia for my 10:30 Doctor’s appointment.  They were running over 30 minutes behind.  The Doctor finally came in around 11:15.  He agreed to order the Echocardiogram, Holter Monitor and a anti-coagulant.  I waited in the room for another twenty minutes while his staff worked to figure out how to get those tests ordered. Finally a nurse from the Cardiology Department came and got me to take me to the room where they could get the Holter Monitor connected up.

There were three nurses from Topeka down for the day working with three nurses from the 2nd floor Doctor’s office in the room with me.  Took them over one and one half hours to do the paperwork so they could place the heart monitor on me.  Evidently they still use the old system from before the Doctor’s office merged with Cotton O’Neil.  Took three different people to figure out how to get it to work right.

I have to carry a phone they provided with me at all times.  I have already pulled off one of the leads.  The phone beeps at me when I do that.  I was able to reattach it.

Tomorrow afternoon I go in and have the echocardiogram done.  They will check then to see if the heart monitor recorded an “event”.  If so, I will return the heart monitor to a company via UPS.   If not, they will have me continue to wear it for another 24 hours.

Got home a little after 1:15 and didn’t do anything else in Emporia.  I need to get a prescription picked up but my insurance company needed more information before they would approve it and I decided to get it tomorrow since I have to go to town then anyway.

Medical paperwork!  I had my fill of it today and the delays it causes.

The Doctor gave me a discount card to use in filling the new prescription.  I called and got that verified and now need to call the pharmacy and let them know about it. It may help get the insurance to approve the drug.  The other drug requires lots of blood tests and since I am going to be gone for two weeks during the time I am on it the doctor decided not to use that one.

I did get a note back from my Endocrinologist saying my thyroid medication and levels are really good and no adjustment is needed.  She didn’t think the Atrial Flutter was caused by my thyroid.

I had scheduled a meeting with a fellow board meeting from Pioneer Bluff’s to do a little project for tomorrow afternoon.  Luckily she is available to come this afternoon instead so we can get that project done. We were to present a proposal at the May Board meeting but I will be in Italy then so she will have to do it alone.

I was in Atrial Flutter off and on all morning but of course now that I have the Holter on it has stopped.  Maybe that is how I fix this issue!  Not sure I want it to come back but if it is going to continue to return I hope it does while I have the Holter on.

Man!  Tired of these medical situations.  I kinda liked my peace and quiet and easy living.  At least I was able to get these tests done much quicker than I expected.  Trusting this issue will get resolved rather quickly and easily.

Kathy is in KC taking Bow to the airport for her return flight home.  It was nice to have Bow here for a bit but Bow was starting to get homesick and it was time for her to go home.  She was missing her television!  It is always nice to get back to normal – what ever that is these days.

I didn’t feel very good yesterday.  I think I was experiencing Atrial Flutter off and on most of the day.  I ate but was never really hungry and felt a bit nauseous off and on.  I’ll be glad to get to my primary doctor later this morning and see what he has to say.

The Cardiologist nurse called me back yesterday afternoon.  I have an appointment to see a Cardiologist on May 3.  I am to have the Holter Monitor test and the echocardiogram test done before I see him.  I was hoping to have all this resolved with a permanent fix before I left for Italy May 8 but not looking like that will happen.  However, maybe it will just go away on its own!  One can dream anyways!

Filled the house for the Glass Blown Open week quickly and have had several more requests for rooms.  I ask some of the other local people who rent space if they have vacancies and have been referring the requests I can’t fill to them.  Love how we all work together to help each other stay as full as possible.

I put a notice on the DK200 Facebook page that I still have two rooms available and I think I have filled one of them so far.  Might as well have a full house as opposed to just renting out one room.  I am full the weekend of the Symphony the following weekend.  Love weekends that I can fill every bed.

Got my Medicare Insurance card in the mail yesterday.  It isn’t effective until August 1.  I thought I had to go to Social Security to get it but it happened automatically.  I will need to shop for additional coverage when I get home from my trip. The paper work they sent me enrolls me for Part A and B unless I do something to opt out.  That was easy!  Still having trouble believing I will be 65 in August.  I certainly don’t feel that old.

Have four guests coming for Saturday night this weekend so will need to get  some cleaning done this week.  Lots of prairie burning yesterday since the wind was quieter and have a coating of ash in the house this morning.  Glad I didn’t clean yesterday – it would have been a waste of time.  These guests leave Sunday and the Glass Blown Open guests start arriving Sunday.

Went through my fancy yarn yesterday and filled three grocery sacks and a tote with what I need to find a new home for.  A friend is coming over later today to go through it to see if there is any she wants.  Think I will take the rest of it to the Earth Day Celebration Sunday to see if I can find a new home for it.

Need to head to Emporia and go to my doctor appointment.

Grateful for bright blue skies and warmer temperatures today, grateful for three full weekends of guests, and grateful for the love and support I receive from my family and friends.

Spent an enjoyable couple of hours at Prairie Past Times yesterday afternoon.  Always fun to have good conversation with like-minded women.  I took some yarn and started a shawl while I was there.  Decided against winding the yarn I had picked out to make a sweater.  It wasn’t the right type of yarn and I came to my senses before I started it.  I would not have liked the yarn made up in the pattern I choose.

Have decided I need to get rid of all the fancy yarn as it is just all odd skeins and I don’t have enough to make anything out of them.  I don’t even have enough to make color coordinated shawls.  I hate weaving in ends and the only shawl I can make with the odd skeins would have me changing colors every other row.  Anyone want lots of single skeins of good yarn?

Called for an appointment with a Cardiologist this morning.  They didn’t give me an appointment yet as the nurse said she had to do some shifting with the schedule and was going to do her best to find a spot for me in the next two weeks.  She said they have had a huge influx in the amount of new patients lately and were fully booked for several weeks.  What is up with that?

She did advise me to go to my primary doctor and have him order an echocardiogram, a Holter heart monitor and have a discussion about going on a blood thinner as a precaution until I can see the Cardiologist.  She is to call me back sometime soon.  She was going to put in a request for my records from the ED in Emporia from Friday.

It usually takes two to three weeks to get a thyroid ultrasound done so am not expecting to have an appointment to get the echocardiogram anytime too soon.  I will be lucky to get it done before I go to Italy.  She wanted both the echocardiogram and Holter tests done before I see the Cardiologist.

The world of western medicine is a hopping business these days!  Lots of sick people in the world these days.  I have been doing my best to clean up my act and not be one of them.  Frustrating for me to have this set back and have to reconnect in a big way to the medical profession.  Delays, testing, and waiting some more all seem to be part of the game you play with them.  Must have needed another lesson on patience.

Empty space on my calendar today.  Feeling a bit uneasy with it.  I have reached the point of having too much empty space and need to find something productive to do today.  Not sure what that might be though.

A guest messaged me last night asking questions about my place.  Her husband and son are driving coast to coast and wanted to stay here tonight.  Her first text came in just as I was about to fall asleep.  Every time I would answer one question for her she would ask another and another and yet again another.  Finally at 9:00 I told her I was going to have to be off-line for a bit and would check back in after midnight.  She still sent me three more texts after 9:00.

By then I couldn’t sleep anyways so finally answered her sometime after 10:00.  She finally decided they weren’t going to stay here as both men are over 6’4” tall and I only offer single beds.  If she had read my listing she would have known that in the first place!  I’m glad it worked out that way as experience tells me when people are that picky upfront it only goes down hill from there.  Now to figure out how to more quickly stop the conversation when someone drags it out like that without being rude.

I finally got to sleep around 2:00 and slept off and on until 7:00 this morning.  I hate nights like that.  Good news is I didn’t have another episode of Atrial Flutter to my knowledge last night.  Not feeling the greatest this morning but think I am still tired and frustrated more than anything.

I peeled my fingernail off that was loose yesterday.  One small part of it was not ready to come off but did so anyways so now I have a sore and torn fingernail bed.  Put some Manuka honey and a band aide on it last night.  Looks better this morning but it is still tender to the touch.

No wind on the prairie today and the last few remaining clouds are to clear out in the next hour or so and it is to be a beautiful day on the prairie.  Maybe I will get motivated to get outside today and soak up some Vitamin D.  I might go get some gas and mow my yard even though it doesn’t need it yet.  The movement on the mower will help bounce out this restlessness and irritation I am feeling today.  Worth $10 of gas to accomplish that!

Grateful for no wind today, grateful for a guest that made the decision not to stay, and grateful for another lesson on patience – (not really but working to allow what is)!

Another windy day on the prairie.  Forecast calls for wind all week long.  One could be tempted to go over the cliff from the sound and effect of it.  Getting close to the edge!

Going to Prairie Past Times Art Day today.  I was going to wind some yarn and start a new knitting project but I can’t find a place to hook my winder to.  This must be the first time in this house I tried to wind yarn.  I’ll take the winder and yarn with me this afternoon and see if I can find a place to use it at Prairie Past Times.  Maybe this is my sign to get rid of the fancy yarn I have.  Most of it is single skeins and most projects I find I want to do calls for multiple skeins of the same color.

It will do me good to get out and people this afternoon.  I haven’t been out of the house since Tuesday except to go to the ER Friday.  Time for me to be in the world and not so isolated.

Had another short episode of Atrial Flutter last night.  This time it didn’t scare me.  I remembered years ago I had a very fast heart rate due to a reaction to a medication. The ER staff then had me bear down as if to push a baby out and it helped slow my heart rate down.  I tried that several times last night and it worked to convert me back to normal rhythm.  I had done that in ER on Friday without prompting from the medical staff.  Thinking that is what converted me back to normal rhythm then.  Glad to know I can deal with it on my own.  I will call a Cardiologist Monday and get an appointment.  I see my primary doctor Tuesday morning.

I find it strange that it occurs during the middle of the night.  I am not up running around and doing anything strenuous – just laying in bed trying to sleep.  Makes me think it is an electrical malfunction in my heart as opposed to a heart disease type of thing going on.

The hospital released my blood tests results.  My TSH was over 2 so it wasn’t as low as it had been as last time I had it checked it was 1.11.  Over 2 shouldn’t have caused the Atrial Flutter.  Maybe my heart was damaged from from the thyroid storm I had last September?  Who knows – my body doesn’t present textbook style very often.

My liver is still showing signs of being unhappy but the numbers are coming down so it must be healing.  I was surprised my glucose was 100 as that is high for me.  With the good foods I have been eating lately I expected it to be lower than that.

The balance the body works to achieve amazes me sometimes.  Unfortunately for me the thyroid plays a big part in achieving that balance.  Medication helps but doesn’t do the same job as the real thing.

Find it interesting that my heart is out of rhythm now.  Internally I am finding a beautiful rhythm in life that I hadn’t experienced in a long time – if ever.  Wonder what my heart is trying to tell me?  Physical manifestations are the last to show up and the last to heal so this may be from something earlier in my life that is just now showing up.

The three different times I am aware of going into Atrial Flutter were accompanied with a bout of several very loose stools.  Haven’t been able to find anything on the web that relates the two situations yet.  I notice the flutter first and then the loose stools start.  Obviously in the energy world loose stools represent letting go.  Trusting whatever I am letting go of is in my best and highest interest!

Medical mystery for sure!  Trusting the doctors will be able to pin point the cause and find a permanent solution for me.  I have a big trip coming up in May to Italy and I intend on being able to fully enjoy it without concern for my health.

Grateful for a fun place to go to this afternoon, grateful for simple ways to convert my heart back to a normal rhythm, and grateful it is to warm up this week.  The wind is easier to tolerate when it is warmer outside.

No more episodes of Atrial Flutter during the night!  Yeah!  Got two sleeps in.  One from 9:00 to midnight and another with the help of sleeping pills from 2:00 to 7:30.  Feel much better today and well rested.

Snow flurries have arrived to the prairie.  This is the middle of April!  I am so confused as to the date as the weather doesn’t give me good clues anymore.  85 earlier this week and now snow.

I need a few groceries but am going to wait to go until tomorrow.  Need to tucker in today to regroup and recover from yesterday.  Kathy gets to stay home today too and not go open Pioneer Bluffs as they decided no one will want to come visit today.  Good day to stay home and allow myself to be filled with the grace of empty space.

Have the fireplace on again today.  May run out of propane yet!  Someday soon it will warm up and stay warm.  We may go straight to summer this year and bypass spring.  Hard to know what tricks Mother Nature has in store for us this year.

Did some research on Atrial Flutter and found a connection with it and the thyroid.  Treatment consists of medication and or an ablation to fix the electrical system in the heart.  Will be interesting to see what the Cardiologist recommends.  I would prefer a permanent fix rather than taking medication.  When the hospital portal releases the results of the blood tests I had while I was in ER I am going to send the results to my Endocrinologist to see if she wants to adjust my thyroid medication.

So hard to know which doctor to ask what to.  Trusting my primary doctor will be the overseer and help me sort out the different causes and effects the other doctors recommend.  Sometimes I wish my body had read the rule book before – I seem to present with unusual situations.

Feeling a bit restless today for the first time in a long time.  Probably a reaction to yesterday.  Will work on getting myself grounded and centered today.  Resisting the urge to find something to do as a distraction.  I need to sit with all that is happening and allow it to be what it is.

Grateful for a good night’s sleep, grateful for the grace of empty space, and grateful I have a warm house to be in out of the snow, wind and cold.

This day didn’t go as planned. Ended up going to the ER around 1:00 this afternoon. That weird feeling I had wasn’t going away. Turned out I was in Atrial Flutter. It stopped on its own while I was in the ER. They aren’t sure what caused it. My potassium was low and it is possible that caused it. The other possibility is when I had the thyroid storm back in September it damaged the electrical system in my heart. The ER Doctor recommended I go see a Cardiologist and get a complete work up to see if they can figure out the problem.

I have had a slow heart rate for years but since I had the thyroid storm it is lower than ever. Most days my average resting heart rate is 51 with it going as low as 38 at night. My primary doctor was OK with seeing if it would recover on its own but not sure that is the wisest option now. I’ll go see him early next week and get a referral to a Cardiologist. I won’t let him put me off this time. I had asked my primary doctor if I needed to see a Cardiologist when I had my physical in October and he said I could but he didn’t think it was necessary. I should have listened to my intuition then.

Feeling back to my normal now. Glad to know what has been happening so if it happens again I won’t be so panicked. Trusting I can now figure out what has been causing this to happen and find a permanent solution.

Ready for this medical stuff to stop! I have had my fill over the last six to eight months!

Working on embracing the wind!  Man!  The wind is in a big hurry today.  Trusting it will blow in some rain and the snow in the forecast will go around us.  Not ready to go back to winter after having two days in the 80’s.  I am on the edge of the severe storm warning area so may see my first thunderstorm of the season this afternoon.

Sent a request to my Doctor today for a referral to a Cardiologist.  I have been having some weird symptoms that I’m not sure I can even find words for.  Intuition tells me I need to see a cardiologist.  I may be wrong and it isn’t necessary but with my big trip to Italy coming up I don’t want to take a chance.  Trusting I will hear back from his office today with an appointment date for sometime next week.

Today and tomorrow is empty space for me.  Nothing on my to-do list.  Have some cleaning I can do if the mood strikes.  I did get my bathroom and laundry room cleaned yesterday.  Still need to do my bedroom.  Too early to clean for the guests that are coming next weekend.

Six bookings so far through Airbnb.  Another guest called me today to book for one night.  Two of her friends are staying here the weekend of the Symphony so she is coming to join them.  I will have a full house that evening as two other guests have booked that night through Airbnb.

Had trouble falling asleep last night.  Finally took a sleeping pill and then was able to sleep good for several hours.  One of these days that will happen without the need for a pill.

Sitting with a bit of unease today.  Thinking it is the wind as much as anything.  These weird symptoms I am having have me distracted too.  Wish I could define them better.

Grateful for bookings, grateful for the freedom of empty space, and grateful for the beauty in the clouds today.

Had a nice visit with a friend from Wichita who came up and spent the day with me. We had lunch together and then I did a healing on her.  Always nice to spend time with someone whom you can have a deep conversation with.

Another windy day on the prairie.  It is over 80 and still climbing this afternoon.  Possibility of strong storms coming through tomorrow afternoon and it is to be 38 for the high on Saturday.  No wonder the trees are confused about budding out.  I unplugged the heat lamp in the chicken coop but left it down there so I can plug it back in for Saturday.  One day soon I hope to be able to remove it and not have the water freeze overnight.

Found out the volunteer job I was going to do Sunday at Pioneer Bluffs is no longer needed as they cancelled the event.  Now I get to go to Art Day at Prairie Past Times.  Love how that worked out.

Nothing on my calendar for tomorrow and Saturday.  May try to get some housecleaning done.  Noticed this morning my bedroom and bathroom need a good cleaning.

Called a locksmith this morning to order door knobs that can be locked for the two Airbnb bedroom doors.  The knobs on their now do not have a lock on them.  Somehow it felt necessary that they lock with the change from a Retreat Center to Airbnb.  I don’t lock the outside doors but city folks like to lock their bedroom doors.  Trusting I will remember to recapture keys when guests leave.  Not sure when the locks will get installed as the locksmith had to order the parts.

The dust is getting thick in my house today as windows and doors are open.  Feels so good to get the house aired out from the stall winter air inside.  Need to make peace with the dust and allow it to be.  Hard to get motivated to clean when the dust blows in so fast.  Maybe we will get some rain tomorrow and settle the dust down for a day or two.

Thought about mowing today but the grass just isn’t long enough yet.  I don’t like mowing when I can’t tell where I have mowed.  Seems like a waste of gas.  I picked up bones and dog toys out of part of the yard yesterday and need to do the other half  before I can mow.  Thankfully now that the dogs are contained they don’t drag so many bones into the yard.

Finding myself with lots of empty space again.  Haven’t gotten my old restlessness feeling so far.  Not sure what I do with myself during the day but time seems to pass and I don’t get bored.  Don’t feel too productive most of the time but guess there is no requirement that says I need to be productive.  Looking forward to being able to add in physical exercise soon.  My body is starting to tell me to move which is a good thing.

Grateful for a good conversation with a friend today, grateful for fresh air blowing through the house today, and grateful I can relax into my empty space and tap into my inner peace and contentment without doing anything.

When I went down to check on the baby chickens last night I discovered the floor drain had backed up yet again.  I called my plumber this morning and he is here now fixing it for me.  He can’t understand why this keeps happening.   Wish we could fix the problem for good.  He got it unplugged – said it was about eight feet down the line.  He couldn’t recommend anything for me to do to prevent it from happening again.  Thinking the house was plumbed wrong to begin with.

Kathy and Bow went to coffee this morning in Strong City.  Wished I could go but I don’t enjoy events like that.  I love most of the women that come but just don’t function well in groups talking small talk.  Drains my energy and I do better staying home alone.  Much prefer small groups of one, two or three people.

Kathy took my egg stash to coffee to hopefully get rid of them for me.  Someone had requested two dozen so am thinking she will come home empty-handed.  With six of us eating eggs daily my stash has been slower to build up lately.  The chickens went on a mini strike due to the unseasonal cold weather and have not been laying as good either.  They are ready for spring to come and stay too!

Had a rough night last night.  Woke up in the middle of the night feeling weird.  Not sure what was going on.  When I laid on my right side I really felt bad.  Finally went to the bathroom several times.  Checked my blood pressure and it was very high.  I had run hot all day yesterday but all of a sudden I started shaking I was so cold.  About an hour later I fell back asleep and felt better this morning.  Wish I knew what happened.  Felt bad enough for a few minutes I thought about calling Kathy and having her come up and check me out.  My blood pressure was fine this morning when I checked it when I woke up at 7:30.

I went to bed at 8:00 and woke up at 10:30 thinking it was morning.  Got some more sleep before I woke up not feeling good and then slept some more afterwards.  One of my life goals is to be able to sleep eight hours a night straight through without waking up.  Some day it will happen!  A girl has to dream anyways!

Nothing on my calendar that has to be done today.  Tomorrow a friend is coming to visit for the day.  Sunday I have an event at Pioneer Bluffs I volunteered to help with.    Nice to have things spread out a bit with empty space in between events.

Supposed to hit 81 today and 84 tomorrow.  With the high wind it is hard to want to get outside and enjoy the warm weather.  Possibility of rain on Friday now.  That will make the wind tolerable if it blows in a good spring shower.  Only to be 38 on Saturday.  Mother Nature is bi-polar these days.  Poor trees don’t know if it is safe to bud out or not.

Set out three more boxes with my trash today.  My throw away pile in the barn is starting to get low.  Three or four more weeks and it will be gone.  Glad to have that little project almost done.

Two more weeks and the baby chicks can go out to the big house.  I’ll be glad when they are outside.  They seem to make a mess inside.  They still haven’t flown over the little pen yet so counting that as a win for me.  Trusting the rooster will not kill them when I take them outside.  Still thinking at least one of them is a rooster – if not both. If so I will have to eliminate one or both as I only can handle one rooster.  They are both part Ameraucana so they will be green egg layers if they are hens.  May keep one of them and get rid of the other rooster as I like green eggs.  My other rooster is a Buff Orpington.

Next week I will need to clean the whole house as I have four guests coming April 21 – 22.  Two bedrooms and two bathrooms have already been detailed clean so will just need to spot clean those four rooms.  Have another guest coming April 24 and staying until April 29.  I will get two bookings out of one cleaning!  Love when it happens like that.

Grateful my plumber responded so quickly and got my drain unplugged, grateful I am feeling better this morning, and grateful I have a day full of empty space and can do whatever I want which may be doing nothing!

60 days on the Bright Line Eating Plan.  16 pounds released.  39% of the way towards my goal.  25 pounds to go!

The scale is only one measurement of the changes my body is making.  The more important ones include 60 days with no flour, no sugar and no processed foods in my body.  I am noticing a significant decrease in brain fog and mood swings.  Few of the clothes I was wearing when I started fit now.  Down two sizes in pants and one size in shirts.

I like knowing what I am going to eat each day.  I have broken my bad habit of skipping meals and then eating what ever I could put my hands on.  I no longer snack between meals.  Grocery shopping is much easier as I buy the same things every week.  Eating out is getting easier but I still prefer to eat at home.  Cravings have gone away.  My taste buds continue to evolve and I am enjoying trying new to me vegetables and expanding what I like.  My BMI has dropped to below the overweight category.

Still feeling like this is a plan I can stay on the rest of my life.  When I get to goal weight I will add more food, one additional food at a time each week until I find the quantity that will maintain my weight at goal.  After I stabilize my weight and no longer need to add food I then start adding in exercise.  It may be that I will need to add food to compensate for the additional exercise I add in.

If I continue losing as I have been I should reach goal weight some time this summer and by fall be eating the way I will the rest of my life.  Looking forward to the freedom that will bring to me.

I haven’t broken my Bright Lines yet.  I did take some medication one day that had sugar in it and learned I don’t want to use that medication again.  Other than that I have had no flour, no sugar, no eating between meals and I either weigh and measure every meal or use the one plate method.  Still feeling a bit like an alcoholic and don’t trust myself to eat just one bite of a food not on my plan.  I don’t want to fall off the wagon and go down a path not good for me.

I get hungry occasionally but have learned my stomach is not the best judge of true hunger.  Usually when I get hungry I am either thirsty or upset and uneasy with something.  Luckily there is always another meal coming soon and I am learning to ignore the old habit of eating when hungry.  I have yet to be hungry between dinner and breakfast so I never go hungry very long.

Feeling a deep peace and contentment with life these days that I contribute to Bright Line Eating.  I know the inner work I have been doing plays a big part in it too but being off flour and sugar has helped a great deal.

Grateful I found this plan and it is working for me.

Spring has returned to the prairie!  High in the 60’s forecast for this afternoon.  Bright blue skies but some wind to go with them.  Got a fire warning text this morning.

Went into Emporia this morning to run some errands.  Got a letter from the KS Dept of Revenue regarding my KS income tax return so dropped that off at my accountant’s office.  Went to the library book sale.  Could only find two sacks full of books to buy. Glad I went today and didn’t wait until tomorrow as they were pretty picked over already.  Bought an end table for my new library space.  I converted it to a library instead of a healing treatment room so my guests can have a private space to sit and visit.  The table fit into the back of my car but I will have to wait until Kathy gets home to get it into the house so she can help me carry it.  Went to Walmart and got groceries.  I had oven roasted a big tray of vegetables the other day and they were so good I wanted to get some more veggies to roast.

Kathy and Bow went to Wamego to the Wizard of Oz Museum today.  They invited me to go with them but I felt like I needed a quiet day at home.  Now that my errands are done I can stay home and enjoy the peace and quiet.

Took a nap yesterday and as a result I got very little sleep last night.   I am really tired today but am going to do my best to stay awake and not get a nap cycle started. I so enjoyed the two weeks or so when I was actually sleeping.  Not sure why sleep is so hard for me.  Feel a bit weak today for some reason and kept getting hot while I was running errands.  I am cold more than hot these days so not sure what is up with that.  My body is changing and I struggle to keep up with the changes sometimes.  Maybe it is the bi-polar weather that has my body confused.

Managed one of two phone calls I needed to make.  Still need to contact Airbnb with some questions I have.  Need to do some research on one of my questions before I call them.  The office I need to call to do the research is open this afternoon so may go and see if someone can help answer my questions.

Sure wish I could go out and mow this week.  Not sure it is worth the gas to do so though as my yard hasn’t started growing much yet.  It is still too dry for the grass to grow.  Mowing it would clean it up a bit though.  The rancher hasn’t been able to burn my outer yard yet and not sure he is going to this year.  I will need to find out if I should mow it or just leave the tall grass alone.  Not sure how long it would take me to mow 20 acres.  There are a lot of hidden rocks in it so it isn’t easy mowing.  Want to reduce the fire danger more than anything.

Continue to enjoy the space I am in right now.  Things are not pulling me off my center and I am able to pause before I react to life situations.  Not sure how long this will last but I am going to enjoy every moment of it while it does.  It has been a long time since I have felt this much deep peace and contentment.

Grateful for the peace and quiet this day has offered me, grateful my errands are done, and grateful for inner peace and contentment.

 

I am ridiculously proud of myself today.  The light bulb in Kathy’s ceiling fan burned out.  I looked at it yesterday and had never seen a light bulb like it before.  I tried to take it apart and couldn’t figure out how to do so.  I came upstairs and sat with what am I going to do.  I remembered my brother is an electrician so text him a picture of the light bulb still in the fixture.

We drove into town today and went to talk to my brother.  He enlarged the picture I had sent him on his phone and showed me how the bulb comes out.  Went to Sutherland’s and found a bulb.  Came home and I was able to get the protective cover off, take the bulb out, put the new bulb in, replace the cover and the glass cover.  And it was easy!  Things like this are not usually easy for me.  Made me feel good that I was able to do it.

I only had one possible glitch.   Chad had cautioned me to make sure the power to the light fixture was off.  I turned breakers off and checked to see if the bedside lamp would come on.  When it didn’t I assumed the power to the ceiling fan was off.  I didn’t check the fan switch to make sure.  When I got the light bulb pushed in correctly it immediately came on.  Oops!  Luckily it didn’t shock me.

Didn’t do any of the other errands I have on my list to do while I was in town.  I am going back in tomorrow to go to the library book sale and will take care of them then.  Need to make two phone calls this afternoon if I can do so.  Sometimes making a phone call is almost impossible for me.  Not sure why that is like that for me.  When I am in the right mood I can do them and they are easy but many days I can’t even attempt them.  It is what it is!

Finally found some time this morning to watch my Bright Lines Boot Camp modules that I had received Saturday.  I usually watch them the day I get them but I had a busy weekend.  I cast on a shawl and knitted while I watched the modules this morning.  They are usually about an hour long so got almost one skein knitted up today.  Some weeks I get a lot out of the video’s but no so much today.

The blue skies are returning to the prairie today.  It is cloudy and sprinkled for a moment this morning.  Nice to see the sun return today.  It is to be in the 80’s later this week – bring it on!

Kathy helped me give the baby chickens fresh linens yesterday.  It is a two person job as I need someone to hold the trash sack open while I picked up the old stuff.  Ellexia helped me with it last time I changed them.  Three more weeks and I can take them outside.  I am surprised they haven’t flown over the pen they are in as it isn’t very tall.

I didn’t sleep very good again last night.  May take a nap today.  I got a big adrenaline rush when I was able to replace the light bulb easily and it drained me.  You would have thought I solved a world problem by the way I reacted.  Things just usually don’t go easy for me like this did.  Have to celebrate the little things in life sometimes.

Think I will run into Cottonwood Falls this afternoon and take care of a couple of things on my errand list.  The rest of the things on the list will wait until tomorrow when I go back to Emporia.

Realizing how many things are changing in my life these days.  The domino effect of not eating sugar and flour and processed foods is really growing – and in a good way!

Grateful for my little success in changing a light bulb today, grateful for the faith my brother had in me, and grateful life is easy for me right now.

What a difference a day makes.  Today is winter weather icky!  Sleet, snow, rain and a cold wind.  Come on Mother Nature let us enjoy Spring.

Went to Pioneer Bluffs this morning around 9:00 to stuff the bags for the Bridal Crawl they were hosting today.  My fingers were ice before I was done.  Went over to the heated building to warm up before the brides started arriving a little before 11:00.  Left before 11:30 as most of the brides had checked in and they didn’t need me there any longer.  Stopped at Cottonwood Falls on my way home to drop off a box and to put a note on a door.  The business was supposed to have been a stop on the Bridal Crawl but somehow there was a communication failure and no one was scheduled to be there.

Went into Emporia to buy some groceries and then headed home.  Good to be tucked in for the afternoon with my fireplace on and my feet up in my recliner.  On a windy, cold winter’s day there is no place like home.

Still need to do some more housecleaning but it may wait another day or two.  The dust won’t go anywhere.  I didn’t sleep much at all last night and I am tired this afternoon.  After getting cold to the bone earlier today, I don’t have much energy left to use to clean.  May start a knitting project or do some reading or I might take a nap.

Nothing on my calendar for the next three days except going into Emporia to go to the library book sale either Monday or Tuesday.  A friend is coming on Thursday for the day to visit.  Nice to have a few empty space days ahead of me.

Ordered some canvas prints of some pictures I have taken of sunrises and sunsets on the prairie to put up in the bedrooms.  I was looking at artwork at Prairie Past Times  and decided I had some really good pictures I could use instead.  Much cheaper ordering canvas prints than buying framed art work.  Hope they turn out some what decent.  Still need to get two more ordered to decorate the third bedroom.

Decided to add the third bedroom to the Airbnb site.  The site charges a premium per head for over two people.  Might as well maximize my space and get the maximum amount per night possible.  With Kathy here the guests that stay in the third bedroom will have to share the bathroom with Kathy but she is easy to share with.  The other two bedrooms have their own private bathrooms.  Not sure how much use the third bedroom will get but it may attract some bigger groups.

Still haven’t figured out how to double book when only one or two people book the space.  I’ll send Airbnb an email when I am not so tired.

The chickens were anxious to get outside when I went down to feed them a bit ago.  They didn’t stay outside very long though.  When I went down to lock them up last night I played chase with two hens for a bit.  Round and round the coop we went until they finally went inside.  The sliding door was stuck and when I went into the coop to hand push it close two had escaped outside.  Drives me batty when they do that.

It is to be 80 on Wednesday and 83 on Thursday.  Talk about a yo-yo weather pattern!  Gotta love Kansas and the wide variety of weather we get in a week.  Frost bite today and sunburn on Thursday!  Sure wish we had gotten some real moisture out of the weather today.   Got only a trace of snow and moisture.  We need inches to help fill the ponds and the cracks in the ground.

A month from today Nicole and I leave for Barcelona and then on to Italy and France.  The trip will be here before I know it.  Will need to go clothes shopping the week before so I have something that fits to wear.  All I have right now that fits is jeans and t-shirts.  Jeans don’t dry very fast so I prefer to take pants that do.  I only take a carry on bag so will need to hand wash clothes a couple of times during our two-week adventure.  We stay two or three nights in a row at each hotel so will have time to get things dry before we have to pack up and move on down the road.  If I get really lucky the hotels will offer a 24 hour laundry service and I won’t have to hand wash.  Not sure if any of the places where we are staying does that or not.

There was a Great Pyrenees dog at Pioneer Bluffs today when I got there.  I am so grateful I found a way to keep mine home.  I’m sure my neighbors are glad I did too!

Grateful to be tucked in my cozy, warm house this afternoon, grateful for the empty space ahead of me, and grateful warmer weather will return this week.

 

 

Got another Airbnb booking today. This one is for five nights later in April. He is coming to play in the Disc Golf Tournament that week. Need to remember to mark off days when I have plans as guests can book without my approving their requests. Each time someone books Airbnb raises the rates for a night’s stay. Inching my way up to get to where I want to be charging for a stay.

A friend came this morning for the day. At 1:00 we went into Prairie Past Times to enjoy the special music they had for their open house. The lady singing wrote her own songs and they were incredible. I had tears in my eyes during several of the songs as they touched me deeply.

We drove down to Matfield Green for The Bank Space art opening. They had special music too but it was so crowded and noisy you couldn’t hear the music. I got a bit claustrophobic and had to leave early. Saw some friends I hadn’t seen for a bit so it was worth the drive to go down.

My friend left around 5:30 this evening to go home. She had thought about spending the night but the winter weather is to return tomorrow and she wanted to get home before the weather moves in.

Lots of prairie burning going on today. May be a beautiful night on the prairie tonight. I love seeing the night prairie burns. The air is thick though with a strong smoke smell. Glad it is too cold to have the windows open so the ash doesn’t blow in.

Tomorrow I am going to Pioneer Bluffs in the morning to do a little volunteer project. I think the event ends around 1:00 so should be able to come home early enough to get something done. Haven’t gotten anymore cleaning done the last two days as I have been busy. I do have free time next week so I should be able to get the rest of the house cleaned then.

Need to remember to pack my lunch to take tomorrow.

Empty space returns to me Monday. I am ready for it to return! I like having things to do but wish I could spread it out so it doesn’t happen for three days in a row.

Monday or Tuesday I want to go to the public library in Emporia for their Spring book sale. I like going on bag day and getting a bag of books for $5. I still have books left over from last fall’s sale but not enough to get me through till October.

Feeling tired again this evening. I went to bed before 8:00 last night as I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Not sure why I am so tired all the time now. I have energy to do things during the day but sure get tired around sunset time or before. I had two good sleeps last night with a two-hour wake up time in between.

Grateful for the friends I ran into today and the one that came to visit me today, grateful for the beautiful day after a snowy start, and grateful to have signed up with Airbnb and getting some bookings.

Burrr…. it is cold this afternoon on the prairie.  The wind is in a hurry!  So glad we didn’t get the snow that was originally forecast for today.  Still a chance for some on Sunday.

Drove to KC this morning.  Met Nicole at Costco so we could renew our membership. Picked up a few groceries while I was there.  Went to Sprouts which was nearby and picked up a few more groceries.

Met two dear friends for lunch.  We ate at Ya Ya’s.  I had never eaten there before.  I had a big bowl of roasted vegetables with a piece of salmon on top.  It was delightful!  Not sure I ate the correct portion size but couldn’t finish eating all the veggies.  I would go back any day and eat there again.

Took Nicole some eggs and grabbed the sack that only had two dozen eggs in it.  One of the women I met for lunch wanted two dozen too.  I meant to give Nicole four dozen.  I was disappointed in myself for doing that.

Had a great lunch conversation.  It is always nice to meet with like-minded people who can all share their truth.  It always amazes me how much alike we all are.  I forget that sometimes.

Scheduled another booking through Airbnb last night.  Four people are coming for one night towards the end of April.  I really like how easy it is – I especially like that I don’t have to fix food for them!

Tomorrow a friend is coming for the day.  We are going to Prairie Past Times open house as my friend has things she sells there.  It is their spring open house and many of the artists will be there that day.  She may spend the night depending on how long we are there and what the weather is doing.

Sunday I am helping with the Bridal Crawl at Pioneer Bluffs.  I need to be there at 9:00 to do the job I volunteered to do.  Trusting the weather will cooperate and it will warm up to 48 as forecast.

Had trouble falling asleep last night.  I finally took a sleeping pill and was able to fall asleep.  Not sure why I am having trouble sleeping again.  I kinda liked sleeping 8 – 9 hours a night.

Noticed I haven’t been hungry today.  The last two or three days I could hardly wait until it was time to eat.  My hunger has disappeared but it came back strong for several days.  Grateful it has diminished today.  Maybe I was busy enough today that I didn’t notice it.

Grateful for good friends, grateful for a safe trip to and from KC, and grateful I was able to get a Bright Line friendly meal today that tasted wonderful!

 

 

Kathy and her friend arrived around 3:15 yesterday.  They have been settling in and getting unpacked.  Her friend brought her little dog – can’t say the big dogs and her dog have made friends yet but they are working on it.

Nicole made it home a little before noon today.  She had two flights to KC cancelled on her and ended up spending the night in Houston.  Makes a very long ending to a trip when travel delays happen.  She was glad to finally be home.

Got another request from someone from Airbnb.  She wanted to come last night and meet a friend from KC here.  I told her I could meet her requests but she never answered back.  Third time that has happened with guests from Airbnb.  I wish they would at least let me know they decided to make other plans rather than keep me hanging.  All three are new to Airbnb and I don’t think understand the whole concept yet.  I’ll see how this plays out.  The two that booked and confirmed didn’t have special requests like these three did.  Maybe that is a clue for me.

Cleaned the upstairs guest bedroom this morning.  Hand mopped the floors and washed down the woodwork.  Moved two chairs from the great room up and put in the room.  Makes it look more homey.  Realized today I need to get some art work for the walls.  I had intentionally left them blank when it was a retreat center but now that it is an Airbnb I need to put something up.

The girl who wanted to come last night wanted a private space where she and her friend could have a glass of wine and talk privately.  I moved two chairs and an end table into my energy treatment room.  Makes for a nice, private intimate space.  I moved an end table from the living room last night to make do.  Next time I go shopping I will look for one to put in there and will keep it set up like that.  I don’t use my treatment table very often.  This makes that room much more useable for my guests.

Need to finish cleaning the guest bathroom upstairs and then those rooms will be ready in case someone wants to stay with little notice.  With Kathy and her friend downstairs I think I will use that room to have guests stay in if anyone wants to stay before Kathy’s friend leaves.  Glad I have lots of options in this big house.

What a glorious spring day.  Mother Nature decided to tease us with a nice day before she brings in snow for tomorrow.  Gotta love Kansas in the Spring time!

The friend that was going to come today postponed her visit until next week.  Since I have a couple of busy days coming up it is nice to get an unexpected empty space day for today.  Going to KC tomorrow unless I chicken out due to the snow coming in.  I can always stay with Nicole overnight if I get caught in the bad weather in KC.

Adapting to having housemates again.  Nice to have the company but I forget someone else is here and when I heard a door open early this morning I got a bit nervous for a moment until I remembered.

Feeling more productive today and taking advantage of it to get some cleaning done. Would like to get another room or two cleaned this afternoon but I’ll see if the urge continues or not.  I might go out and take a walk and enjoy this rare spring day.

Grateful Kathy and Nicole both made it home safely, grateful I got another two rooms deep cleaned, and grateful I figured out a use for the treatment room that will allow that beautiful space to be used more.

Finally got my blog site up and running again and they were able to do so without losing any data!  Yeah!

Went into Emporia this morning to get my hair cut.  Had quite a conversation about my skunk’s streak that is on top of my head.  My hairdresser was surprised to learn I didn’t like it.  I thought my hair was getting really thin there but he told me white hair is clear and looks thinner but it isn’t.   When I mentioned I wished my hair would just go ahead and turn all white I was told there was little to no chance of that happening until at least my mid eighties if then.  Learn something new everyday!

Stopped at Walmart and got a few things and then came home. Someone through Airbnb ask some questions about staying here for this weekend and I needed coffee and half and half just in case they book. Haven’t heard back from them so not sure they are coming. They were not sure of their plans yet. They seemed to want a queen sized bed instead of two twins.  Might need to consider putting a Queen sized bed in one of the bedrooms to accommodate couples better. I’ll see what happens over the next month or so and go from there.

Ordered a new pillow for my recliner but it is too small. The one I have has holes in each corner and keeps leaving me feathers to pick up. Will have to look some more and see if I can find one I like.

Kathy just posted on Facebook she had stopped for lunch and is three hours away. The weather sure is better for driving today than it was yesterday. Will be good to see her make it safely home.

The sun is shining again today. It is to continue warming up during the day. It was only 28 when I went to town this morning. Good news is the wind isn’t in such a hurry today. Bad news is more winter weather is headed my way by Friday. Can it just be Spring already and stay spring for longer than two days in a row? I noticed the peach tree is blooming. Will trust the weather won’t stay cold long enough to kill the buds.

Nicole is making her way home today too. She has a 23 hour travel day today. It is always good to hear from her as she journeys home and arrives safely.

Tomorrow a friend is coming to visit for the day. I love having friends come visit – especially those that like to have deep conversations. Friday I am going to KC, Saturday another friend is coming and Sunday I am helping with the Bridal Crawl at Pioneer Bluffs. Busy four days ahead of me. Best I enjoy the rest of my empty space this day has to offer as I won’t have any more until next week.

If the guests book for this weekend I will have to do some housecleaning and get ready for them. I require a one day notice so I still have time to get it done if needed.

Eggs are piling up again if anyone needs some. Have at least five dozen and will probably have six by this afternoon. The cold weather hasn’t slowed the girls down from laying. Need to remember to take some to KC Friday.

Quiet mind type of day. Enjoying the beauty of the blue skies and bright sunshine. Enjoying the peace and quiet of the prairie. Nothing really I need to do. Good space to be in.

Grateful Nicole and Kathy are headed home, grateful my blog is back up and running, and grateful for a haircut – it always makes me feel better.

Called BlueHost and was told they are still working to fix my blog site. Trusting they will be able to fix it today without losing all my posts. Grateful I have a paper copy of most of them.

It is a windy, cold day on the prairie. Got just a bit of moisture this morning but unfortunately most of it went around me. Kathy is driving through lots of rain today. Maybe she will bring it home with her. Snow is back in the forecast for Friday and Sunday.

A passenger on the cruise ship Nicole is on went overboard this morning. The ship cancelled one of the port calls it was to have made and is headed back to Barcelona. I don’t know if Nicole will get in early or not. They hadn’t told her what was going on. She had noticed the ship was going in circles and had come to a stop in the middle of the ocean. I found an article on-line and sent it to her so she knew what was going on. Scary! Glad I didn’t find the article until after I talked to Nicole.

Got an unexpected email from my mentor last night. He was checking in on me. Always nice to hear from him and happy to be able to report I am in a really good space right now. He has been teaching a year long webinar on “Happy”. I told him it must be working as I am feeling happy most days right now.

Remembered to call to get an appointment to get my haircut. It is in the morning so will go to town for that. Have a couple errands to run while I am in town. Think I will stay home today as I don’t like to have my little car on the highway when the wind is blowing this hard.

I am really tired today for some reason. I got two sleeps last night but seem to still be very sleepy. May give in and go take a nap. No reason not to.

The guest that ask to bring a dog must not be coming. There is a 24 hour limit on how long someone can hold a booking and not take it with Airbnb. I got a notice today that he let the booking go. He may still come back and book it. I almost hope not though as I don’t think it is a good idea for someone to bring another dog here. Not sure how my three would react.

If this cold weather keeps up I will need more propane soon. I still have some prepaid on my contract but only enough for one more partial fill. May have to cough up some more money for my summer fill. I have the fireplace on today as it is only 36 outside and the wind chill makes it feel like 23. Burrr…….

Cleaned out my closet today and removed the Large sized shirts and all the pants that are too big. Not going to buy anymore clothes until I get closer to goal weight. Still expecting to go down one or two more sizes and no use buying clothes I will only wear for a month or two. I will have to buy some clothes to wear in Italy but I will wait until the first week of May to do that.

I will need to order a new rain coat as the one I have is almost 20 years old and is an EX Large size. I hate to get rid of it as it has been a very good rain coat. It is so big on my now that it almost hangs to the ground and is very sloppy looking.

When I go to KC Friday I want to buy a new pair of shoes that I can wear with a skirt. For years I have had to only wear SAS shoes as they were the only shoes that my feet would tolerate. I want to find a cute pair of shoes for a change! My feet still bother me from time to time but nowhere close to the way they did before I had the Neuromas removed. They ache when a storm system is coming in now which they didn’t before.

Will need to drag the trash down to the curb this afternoon. May wait to do it till morning so it doesn’t blow all across the county. Supposedly it is to be 67 tomorrow but the forecasters have missed the high for the last several days. I’ll believe it when I see it!

Feeling a bit restless today. I’ve had five days at home with little to do. Tomorrow is my last day of empty space for a bit though so will do my best to embrace the empty space and allow it to be what it is. Balance is sometimes hard for me to find.

Grateful my blog will be fixed soon, grateful for my mentor and teacher, and grateful for deep peace and contentment within.

Mother Nature is still playing an April Fool’s Joke on us as the weather is still icky. It looks like it might clear up yet this afternoon. I don’t like icy weather!

Broke down and took the chickens down their heat lamp last night. Their water was starting to freeze up and I didn’t want to mess with thawing it this morning.

Went into Emporia this morning as I was out of grapefruit and salad lettuce. Also needed to get some pants to wear to a funeral I am going to this afternoon. My old clothes do not fit anymore! I don’t want to buy very many new clothes as I still have over 20 pounds to lose.

Need to go feed the chickens but decided I better wait till I get home this afternoon as I have my new clothes on. I have a tendency to spill things these days and don’t have a backup set of clothes to put on if I spill something. The wind is nasty and cold right now so hopefully by the time I get home later this afternoon it will have warmed up a bit.

Had a third request for a booking through Airbnb this morning. He wants to bring his dog. I told him I had three untrained outside dogs and if he was willing to deal with that he could bring his. I haven’t heard back from him. He wanted to know how far Park City was from here. Not sure why he didn’t use Maps like I did to find out. Maybe my address doesn’t show up for him until he confirms the booking.

Kathy had a late start this morning so probably won’t be home until Wednesday. The East Coast got yet another snow storm overnight and this morning. Hope she doesn’t bring the snow home with her. Rain I want but I would prefer the cold and snow stays away until next winter.

Haven’t heard from my blog company yet. Found a back door into my blog site through WordPress. It skips the JetPack and BlueHost site. Sure wish I understood how all that works together.

Took a two day break from my Fitbit. Still haven’t decided if I like wearing it or not. I haven’t worn a watch for years. The Fitbit gives me fitness credit for knitting so I don’t get a very accurate picture each day as to how active I really am. It tries to tell me I have walked over 10,000 steps each day when I know that is not even close as I sit in my chair most of the time.

Need to put a reminder on my calendar to pay my property tax bills before I leave for Italy in May. They are due while I am gone. I hate late fees for anything as it is a waste of money but I don’t want to pay a month early either.

My restlessness from yesterday seems to be gone today. Getting out and seeing people this afternoon will be good for me. I have stayed home for the last three days and haven’t have a conversation with anyone other than FaceTime with Nicole and Ellexia. I really have to watch how much I isolate myself at it would be easy for me to go many days in a row without having much real contact with others.

Grateful for the warmer temperatures headed my way, grateful for a friend that is driving me to the funeral this afternoon, and grateful my house is toasty and warm this afternoon.

Spent an hour on the phone this morning trying to get my blog site up and going again. No luck. The issue was escalated to a higher level tech support group. WordPress sent me to JetPack who sent me to BlueHost. Sounds like it is something on their end but the lady helping me kept getting error messages she had never seen before. She said it could take up to two days to fix it. She was very nice and made the call easy for me by keeping her technology terms simple. Maybe by Monday it will be up and going. Grateful I have a paper copy of most of the entries in case this wipes things out.

Cleaned out some more of the office closet while I was on hold during the long call. That closet is finally starting to look better. I had cleaned it out some in January but needed to finish the job. I have one box of old bills I need to take down to the barn and a have a pile of old paint-by-number paintings to throw away.

The sun has disappeared behind clouds again today. The wind is in a big hurry to blow in a cold front. The high tomorrow is to be 33 and the low is to be 22. May need to take the heat lamp back out to the chickens so their water doesn’t freeze. It will warm up some again next week.

Got one bedroom and one bathroom downstairs deep cleaned last night. May try to do another room yet today. It takes less than 30 minutes to do a room – not sure why I just don’t get them done. I decided not to wash all the linens as they have not been used much, if at all, since I washed them last September.

Got my first Airbnb listing today. The guests won’t be here until the first weekend in June but it is a start. A friend looked at my listing and let me know I had a few typo’s so got those fixed. I need to check my listing again to make sure I caught them all.

I went with the pricing that Airbnb recommended which is significantly less than what others in the area are charging. I may need to go back and raise the prices. I’ll see what happens with where they are now. One thing I need to figure out is to see if I can book more than one couple when they only want one room. I would prefer to have two rooms booked at a time, even if the couples aren’t together.

I need to have Nicole come down with her nice camera and take some pictures of the outside of the house and bedrooms so I can add them to my site. I used what I have but some need updating and I didn’t have any pictures of the guest bedrooms and bathrooms. I tried taking some with my iPhone but they didn’t turn out very good.

Need to remember to figure out a top to put on the baby chicken pen. The biggest chick looks like he is big enough that he could fly the coop if he decided to. He is almost twice as big as the other one. Four more weeks before I can take them out with the big chickens. I probably need to change their linens out today too.

Day 49 today on the Bright Lines Eating Plan. Seems pretty automatic to me by now. I like knowing what I will be eating everyday. I still forget to lay meat out to thaw for dinner but have several things I can fix when that happens. I have lost 13 pounds so far. If I keep this pace of losing up I will be at goal weight in 100 more days. Don’t expect that to happen though as I will probably slow down losing the closer I get to goal weight. I also have the trip to Italy in there and not expecting to lose weight while I am gone – I trust I will not gain too much though!

Grateful I found the group that can fix my blog after three attempts, grateful I got my first Airbnb booking, and grateful the snow has been removed from the forecast.

Happy Easter and Passover to all. I can’t remember Easter being on April Fool’s Day before. I think Mother Nature is pranking us with this blast of winter weather today.

Three years ago today Craig and I signed our divorce papers. Someways it feels like a different lifetime ago and in other ways it feels like yesterday. I have grown so much over the last three years and have found the deep abiding peace and contentment I was searching for.

For some reason today has been a difficult one for me. I feel restless in a way I don’t recognize. Have been hungry which is unusual too. I took a sleeping pill in the middle of the night as I couldn’t fall back asleep. I slept really hard after I took the pill. Woke up later than normal and have felt off all day. Feel like I could go to bed already and fall asleep and it is before 6:00pm. Maybe I have a sleeping pill hangover. I have taken them before and this hasn’t happened but my body is changing and maybe it is reacting differently today than it has before.

Trusting by tomorrow this will have passed and tomorrow will be a good day. I need to go be around people tomorrow somehow as I have had several days at home alone and haven’t really talked to anyone for several days now.

Nothing on my calendar to do until Thursday when a friend is coming to visit. Friday I am going to KC to have lunch with some friends and will hopefully get to see Nicole after that. Next Sunday I am helping with the Chase County Bridal Crawl at Pioneer Bluffs in the morning.

Need to put some boots or skates on and go down and check on the chickens. We got a thin layer of ice earlier and it looks slick out. I took the heat lamp out of the coop when I was cleaning the coop last week. Need to go down and make sure the water hasn’t frozen up. I guess I can drive my car down so I don’t have to skate downhill to the coop.

My bog site is still down. Trusting they will get it up and running Monday.

Got a second booking through Airbnb. This one is for five nights in June. Wonder where this is all going? I’ll have to make sure I book some days off so I don’t have guests all the time at this rate. Need to figure out how I can double book when only one room gets booked. I would prefer to have four guests at a time instead of only one or two. This second booking comes in the same day as the other guests leave and then they leave the same day I have other guests coming in. 10 nights booked so far in June!

Got the ends woven in for the throw I knitted. I was listening to a Bright Line recording and kept my hands busy so I wouldn’t get so bored with the call. Wasn’t able to listen to all of it. Not sure why I find those a challenge to listen to. Now I need to decide if I am going to try to knit a side border on the throw or just leave it the way it is. The pattern had me knit the whole thing in stockinette stitch which makes the throw roll inwards on the sides. No real reason it has to lay flat and it is wide enough the ends rolling in won’t matter. Think I am talking myself out of doing the side borders!

Grateful for my fireplace on this cold day, grateful I have made it through the day without breaking my Bright Lines, and grateful this day is almost over!

Oh what a beautiful day! The sun has returned from its long vacation and it is glorious out with bright blue skies and no clouds. It is 51 and on its way up to 60. Spring has returned to the prairie. My soul is singing today.

Nicole text me this morning. Nicole had met a woman that remembers meeting me once. Nicole is in Spain touring around. I am not sure I remember the lady she met today but that lady did mention a mutual friend we have. It is a small, small world!

Worked on getting my Retreat Center converted to an Airbnb site instead. Still have some work to do on it but my site is up and listed. Need to get a good face shot of myself to put on the site. I don’t have many pictures of myself. Good news is I don’t have to create a website. Yeah!

Struggling with my blog site today. I contacted Word Press and they referred me to JetPack. I hate when that happens. Just sent an email support note to JetPack to see if I can get this straightened out. Sure wish I understood who does what and when. Technological terms and I don’t speak the same language.

Bought a pair of size 6 jeans in Manhattan yesterday. I didn’t think I would be able to get them on but they fit! Wow! Wonder what size I will be when I lose the 23 – 28 more pounds I need to lose to get to goal weight? Down 13 pounds so far but the hard pounds to lose are still in front of me.

Got the chicken coop cleaned out after my lunch today. It wasn’t very hard to do but I worked up a good sweat. Had to take my sweatshirt off. Removed the heat lamp and extension cord from the coop. Supposed to get down to 22 next week but will trust the water won’t freeze overnight. As long as I keep the windows closed to the coop it stays pretty warm. May have to drag it back down there if it gets cold and stays cold for two or more days.

The moon was so pretty last night when I was up during the night. It will be full tomorrow night. I thought I had left the living room lights on as it was so bright out. It has been so cloudy lately that I haven’t seen much of the sun or moon lately. Nice to have them back and shining brightly on the prairie.

Have been reading all the stuff about Facebook and privacy invasion. I did go through my settings and eliminated all the data sharing apps that were open. Have decided not to do anymore of the silly quiz’s and tests that are offered. Most of the data apps that I had open were a result of those. Not even sure what this all means and what the consequences for myself might be. I tend not to think of worse case scenario in cases like this. I enjoy more of what Facebook has to offer than the things I don’t like. It sure helps me stay connected to others and keeps me somewhat informed of what is going on with them. I have managed to get most of the political posts main sites blocked from my page so I see very few of those now. I have also unfollowed several people who have different political views than I do and who like to post those views often. Once in a while I can handle but not daily or even weekly.
Facebook is a fun place for me – not one I go to get triggered with negative posts.

I can feel the energy of the sun pouring into my soul today. I sure missed the bright light during the day. I have more energy today than I have had in several weeks.

Grateful for this glorious, beautiful spring day on the prairie, grateful I got my Airbnb account set up, and grateful for my upcoming empty space weekend.

Went to Manhattan today to visit two dear friends.  Left at 10:00 this morning.  I stopped at a store in Council Grove to get a new egg skillet but they didn’t carry what I was looking for.  Drove on to Manhattan and went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and found what I was looking for.

My friend and I went out for lunch.  I ate from the salad bar that had kidney beans, chopped eggs, and cottage cheese for protein.  Probably ate too much protein and didn’t get enough veggies.  I was satisfied and didn’t get hungry until dinner time.  When I eat out I do the best I can and then let it go.

Stopped at JC Penney’s on the way home to get another pair of jeans.  The rest of the drive home went smoothly but seemed to take a long time this afternoon.  The ride up went fast.  Nothing different – just my perspective of time was different.

Did chores when I got home.  My girls gave me 16 eggs today.  I was surprised there were that many as it is a cloudy, cold day on the prairie.  Only got to 45 degrees today.  I am so ready for spring to return.

I am really tired this evening.  I didn’t sleep very good last night.  Finally took something around 2:30 and was able to sleep then.  How did I ever manage to function on three hours of sleep most nights?  Betting my lights will be out shortly after the sun goes down tonight – if I can stay awake until then.

No plans for the weekend.  Still need to get downstairs cleaned and am running out of time to get that project done as Kathy and her friend will be home no later than Wednesday.  I half expect them to roll in Tuesday night.  Maybe if I get those rooms cleaned I will get inspired to do some cleaning upstairs too.  Then again, maybe not!

Almost done knitting the throw.  Only have 10 more rows and then the bind off row to go.  Still need to figure out how to do the side border and will need to cut and add the fringe edges.  Lots of little ends to weave in too.

The sun is to return from its long vacation tomorrow and the high will be 61.  Yeah!  I am so ready for a sunny day.  Trusting I will get the chicken coop cleaned out tomorrow if the wind isn’t too bad.

Need to do some banking business tomorrow.  I have a CD that is up for renewal and need to decide what to do.  I am not good at knowing what to do with things like that.  I tend to ignore them and just let them auto renew.

In another month or so I will need to look at my Medicare options and get signed up as I turn 65 in August.  I am getting solicited by mail almost daily.  Someone must make money off of selling Medicare plans.  I have looked at the process and what some of my options are but have trouble knowing what choice is the best.  At times like this I need  a crystal ball that will tell me how much I am going to be accessing medical care.

Grateful to have a couple of days full of empty space ahead of me, grateful to have had a nice visit with my friends in Manhattan today, and grateful I can go to bed as early as I want to tonight!

Went into Emporia to get chicken feed and water softener salts this morning.  I lifted the four 50 pound sacks into the cart but asked for help to unload them into my car.  The guy that helped me lifted them like they weighed 10 pounds each.  He told me he lifted them all day.  I ask him if he ever had to go to the gym – he laughed and said no.

There was a house being moved down Highway 50 in front of Bluestem.  It slowed me down a bit but my timing was good and I only had to go slow for two blocks.  I remember the day when my parents moved the house to their property back in the 60’s.  We went from a two bedroom house to a four bedroom house after the new house was finished.  Big change for a family of seven.

Another foggy, dreary day on the prairie today.  I am so ready for the sun to return from its’ spring break.  Starting to get a bit depressed from the lack of sun.  If it is going to be cloudy at least let it rain!  I have almost two inches of rain in my rain gauge from this last week.  Still in severe drought conditions so need six to eight more inches to fill the ponds and the cracks in my yard.

Managed to get over eight hours of sleep again last night although I was awake for eight times during the night.  Loving that I am sleeping more without the use of sleeping pills.  Working on sleeping for longer stretches at a time.

Had sauerkraut and chicken apple sausage for dinner last night.  It did not agree with my tummy and gave me pretty intense diarrhea for a bit.  It finally stopped around 11:00 last night.  I feel cleaned out and a bit weak today from it.  Not sure why my body likes to release like that.  Working on drinking lots of fluids today to make up for what I lost last night.

Haven’t gotten the guest bedroom and bathroom downstairs deep cleaned yet.  My guest is arriving early next week so need to get it done and stop procrastinating on it.  Maybe the urge will hit today and I can get it done.  Considered cleaning out the chicken coop today but felt a bit weak yet so decided not to push myself and do it today.  I’m sure by Friday I will be back to normal and can get it done this weekend.  Emptying the 50 pound chicken sacks into the feed containers was enough physical labor for the day.

Considering changing the retreat center to an Airbnb instead.  What I don’t like about the retreat center concept is the expectation that food will be provided.  It is too much work with little financial return to fix five meals for six or more people for a retreat.  I also think the name Retreat Center implies that it is not a place to come stay for a night or two unless you are part of a group.  I didn’t think when I started it I wanted guests one or two at a time but I have found them much easier than doing a full retreat.  Kathy has taught me how to share my kitchen so I don’t think having guests using it will bother me now.

I let my retreat center website go as I couldn’t find the motivation to organize a retreat.  If I change it to an Airbnb I may look at putting up another website.  People don’t like to talk to people and prefer to book through a website.  I sure like doing it that way better.  I will have to check and see if Airbnb provides what I need without adding a website.  Seems like when I looked at their site two years ago they did but I can’t remember for sure.  That would be nice if I could skip the expense and work of putting together another website.

Grateful for changing my sleep habits at long last, grateful all critter food is stocked again, and grateful for another quiet, peaceful day on the prairie – it refills my very soul!

Went to Pioneer Bluff around 11:00 this morning to help serve a lunch.  I had fun giving the lunch guests a tour of the grounds and serving and cleaning up after the lunch.  I took a salad to eat so I didn’t sample the yummy food that was served.

Sent a message to my doctor’s office this morning about my low heart rate and they wanted to see me today.  I went in this afternoon for that appointment.  The doctor is not going to do anything right now as I am not symptomatic at this time.  He thinks it is just my thyroid slowing it down and it will improve on its own.  If I get symptomatic I am to come back in.

I spent most of the time I was with the doctor talking about international travel.  He has traveled a lot and is always interested in where I am going next.

I was going to have the doctor check out the fingernail that is falling off but I forgot to mention it to him.  It doesn’t bother me and so far I haven’t caught it on anything and pulled at it  Michelle told me to keep it trimmed short and let it do what it is going to do.  So far that is working.

Glad I went in as now I won’t worry about my low heart rate.  It was dropping lower than normal for me and I just needed to make sure I am good to go for another 20 years or so.

Stopped at Walmart on the way home and picked up some groceries.  I need chicken feed but decided to get that later in the week.  I’m tired and didn’t feel like lifting 50 pound sacks of feed.

I have a free day tomorrow and then Thursday I am going to Manhattan to visit some dear friends with a stop on the way in Council Grove to get some new pans to cook eggs in.  Need to decide if I want to organize something for Easter dinner.  I’ll see if the urge hits me – it hasn’t so far.

Have started the last repeat on the throw I am knitting.  It will take me a couple more days to get it done.  The pattern calls for me to pick up stitches along the sides and knit a border.  I’ve only done that one other time and not sure I remember how to do it.  May need to find someone to help me do that.  Last time I used this pattern I didn’t do a border but I had made the first one much narrower than the one I am working on now.

It was interesting watching myself interact with the guests today.  I was able to step up and engage them in conversation and not feel uncomfortable doing so.  It sure helped that I had several quiet days alone before today and I went today feeling well grounded and centered.  I have had days where I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did today without coming home totally exhausted.

Grateful to have been of service today, grateful to have gotten a green light on my low heart rate, and grateful for the rain we received today. The sun returns from its short vacation tomorrow!

 

 

Lazy, rainy day on the prairie today.  Woke up in the middle of the night to a hail storm.  Haven’t noticed any damage yet but it is still misty and foggy out so haven’t done a walk about yet.  Got 1/2 inch of rain.  Still may get some more rain today and tomorrow early morning.

I had trouble getting back to sleep after the storm woke me up.  Texted with Nicole for a bit as she is seven hours ahead of me.  Finally got two more short sleeps in for a total of 8 hours of sleep spread out over 13 hours.  I didn’t get much deep sleep during the night last night so I’m pretty tired today.   May need to take a nap.  Rainy days are good napping days.  The more sleep I get the more sleep I want.

Finally the scale showed I dropped another pound today.  It had been over a week since I had lost weight.  Down a total of 12 pounds so far.  Loosing about 2 pounds a week.  I expect that to slow down to 1 pound a week soon.  With my thyroid missing I will take that decrease as it is hard for me to lose weight.  My metabolism works very slowly these days.

I had an app that charts my weight.  It tells me I have lost 26% of the weight I want to lose.  It helps to see it on a graph and see the downward trend overall.

Had someone come pick up two dozen eggs today.  We had the best conversation.  She is one of those people who I was able to go deep with quickly.  I had only met her one other time but feel like I made a new friend.  Love when that happens!

I am amazed how many like-minded people I keep meeting that live in Chase County.  Something is calling us to this sacred place.  Sure helps to have the support of others in times like this with all the nation’s issues.  Maybe we are to hold each other and increase the amount of space and love we are able to send out to the world.  Some days that doesn’t feel like enough but other days I know in my bones that is what my purpose is right now.

Nothing I need to do today.  Knitting and cleaning are on my agenda for the afternoon.  Tomorrow I am going to Pioneer Bluffs to help serve a lunch.  I will need to make a grocery store run sometime over the next two or three days.  It is hard to keep fresh produce in the house as I eat so much of it and I can only buy it so far in advance.  I am starting to use more frozen vegetables as they give me more time to use them up.

Grateful for the moisture we received on the prairie overnight, grateful for making a new friend, and grateful for this quiet, foggy day full of moisture.

I am almost afraid to write this as I don’t want to spook myself.  My Fitbit tells me I have gotten 8 hours of sleep (or more) five of the last seven nights.  I can’t even begin to tell you the last time that happened.  I am still waking up five or more times during the night, sometimes for minutes and other times for hours.  However, the fact that I am able to go back to sleep and get more sleep is amazing.  My deep sleep periods are increasing each night.

This almost feels like a miracle to me.  I am no longer taking my sleeping pill and am considering stopping the non-prescription sleep aids.  The only thing I am doing different is eating the Bright Line Eating Plan.  Can sugar and flour have been the cause of my insomnia for all these years?  Beginning to think so.  That provides me a lot of motivation to stay on plan.

I started Bright Line Eating to get off sugar and flour so my cancer wouldn’t return.  Sugar and flour feed cancer.  Between that motivation and now the bonus of fixing my insomnia I think I have found an eating plan that is right for me.

A quiet day at home on the prairie planned today.  Nothing that needs to be done other than starting spring house cleaning.  If the mood hits I will get that started today.  Otherwise I will knit on the throw I am making some more.  The chicken coop will need cleaned out sometime this week but think I will wait for a sunny day with little wind to do that.  Trusting one day this week I will get a nice day.  The no wind part is the hard part.

Nicole made it to Barcelona where she will be boarding a cruise ship.  Our first stop in May for our Italy adventure is Barcelona.  She took a tour of the city while waiting for time to pass this morning so she could board the ship.  She was going to scoop out the city so she can figure out what we are going to do for our two or three days we are there in May.

No rain yet today but it looks good that I might get some overnight tonight.  I eagerly await its arrival.  I am in the mood to mow my yard but I need it to turn green and grow first.  Need rain to make that happen.  With the fire danger so high it scares me a bit to have the yard surrounding the house be so brown and dry.  I need a fire barrier around the house.  Not going to water through as I don’t think that is a good use of water I have to pay for.  Besides I can’t even imagine how long it would take for me to water to get a big enough barrier around my house.

Remembered to buy some starter fluid so I can get my mower started.  I went in the hardware store in Strong City and ask for some magic spray.  It took me a minute to realize the real name for it is starter fluid.  My old mower had issues starting and when my brother gave me a can of starter fluid and taught me how to use it the mower would start at the first turn of the key.  I thought it was magic!  That is what the guy that came out a month ago to start my mower used too.

I saw a recipe for a blend of essential oils that is to calm your tummy.  I tried it and it works.  My tummy rumbles a lot now – it doesn’t hurt but the sound of it bothers me. The blend immediately calms it down. I put some on Ellexia the other day when she complained about her tummy hurting and it worked for her quickly too.  The blend uses 2 oz of almond oil as the base to which you add 5 drops of grapefruit essential oil, 5 drops of lemon essential oil, and 5 drops of cypress essential oil.  I put my blend in a little spray bottle and spray it around my belly button and then massage it in.  Highly recommend it!  Supposedly it is to help melt abdomen fat too.  If it does that it will be a bonus.

Grateful for longer periods of deep sleep for the first time in years, grateful for essential oils and the comfort they bring to me, and grateful for magic and the many ways it shows up in my life.