Starry night on the prairie

Another long travel day.  We slept in a bit this morning and then went down for breakfast.  We walked one last time to the Opera House area.  Nicole got a pair of Ugg boots.  Walked back to the hotel and chilled in the room for a bit.  We boarded the bus for the airport at 10:45.

Our flight from Sydney to Cairns left at 2:00.  It was a three-hour flight but we went back an hour so we landed at 4:00.  After everyone in the group claimed their luggage we were taken to the hotel.

This is the first bad hotel.  Our room smells like mold.  It gave both of us an instant headache.  We complained but the place is fully booked and they can’t change our room.  Not sure that would help as the whole place is old and a bit run down.

We met our tour leader at 5:50 and she led us on a walk downtown to point out restaurants, shopping, etc.  She was tired and distracted and it was hard to follow what she was saying.  Cairns is a small town and it is easy to find what we need.  After a bit we split away from the group and headed out on our own.  We were hungry so we found some where to eat.  The food was OK.

We walked around their night market for a bit and then came back to the room.  It is only 8:30 but feels much later.  I think we both hit the wall tonight.  Travel days seem to drain us.

I am looking forward to going to the Great Barrier Reef tomorrow and going snorkeling.  We will go to the inner Reef for two hours first.  It will take a 50 minute boat ride to get there.  Then we take another hour boat ride and go to the outer reef for three hours.  We should get home after 5:00 tomorrow evening.  Hopefully we won’t get fried in the sun.

My ankles swelled on the three-hour flight today.  I drank a lot of water with dinner so hopefully the swelling will go down by morning.  Feeling a bit rung out tonight.  Thinking the excitement of the trip caught up with me today.  Trusting my energy level will return for tomorrow and we will have a wonderful day in the water.

Grateful for another safe travel day, grateful for the heat and beauty we found in this city (it was 90 degrees when we got here today), and grateful this day is almost over!

This has been a long day full of adventure.  We boarded our bus at 8:00 this morning and headed out to the Featherdale Wildlife Park.  It was about a two-hour bus ride to get there.  We made a quick scenic stop and had one potty stop.  The Wildlife Park was small but full of animals and birds.  We fed the Red Kangaroo, saw Koala, a wombat and lots of other animals and birds.

We had lunch at a little village not too far from the wildlife park.  Then we drove up into the Blue Mountains and went to the Katoomba Scenic World.  After riding a cable car across a mountain valley we got into a cable car and went down a steep mountain.  We then took about a one mile walk through the forest.  Along the way were dinosaur eggs and replicate dinosaurs.  At the end of the trail we rode another cable car back to the entrance.  We then had over a two-hour bus ride back to the city.

Another long day sitting on a bus!  It felt good to get to walk a bit during the day.

We had dinner at a restaurant close to our hotel and then walked down to the Opera House to see the light display they put on after sunset.  While we were waiting for the light display I saw the moon!  It was a windy evening but not very cold.  We walked back to the hotel after the eight minute light show.

I am ready to take a bath and go to bed.  I hit overwhelm again today after being in a bus for so long.  I feel like a herded cat!  It was good to get out tonight on our own for a bit.

Tomorrow we travel to Cairns which is over a three-hour flight.  We fall back another hour again.  Thursday we will get to snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef.  Friday we have a full day adventure riding the Kuranda Train and going on a rainforest tour and ending the day at the Koala and Wildlife Park.  Saturday we travel to Melbourne and Monday head for home.

Grateful for another safe travel day, grateful for all the sweet animals we saw today, and grateful for the beautiful weather we had today.

We met our group at 8:00 this morning for a short meeting with our tour guide.  We boarded a bus at 8:45 and toured around Sydney.  We made a stop at Bondi beach – I could have stayed there all day.  We got our first good glimpse of the Opera House and Bridge.  Went out and around the city seeing the sights of Sydney.  We ended the tour with a stop at an opal store.

Nicole and I then walked and took in the sights.  We walked across half of the Sydney Harbor Bridge, walked around and into the Opera House, walked through the Botanical Gardens,  took a ferry ride out into the harbor, saw a Dali art exhibit, and more.  We walked over seven miles if not more.

Came back to our hotel room and rested for an hour then went back out for dinner.  Walked back down to the wharf area and had a burger – it was really good.  Walked back to the hotel and we are in for the night.

The weather was absolutely perfect today.  Mid 70’s and bright blue skies.  The tour guide remarked about how clear it was today.  Our group was overdue for a picture perfect day and today we got it.

Tomorrow we go up into the Blue Mountains and to a wildlife preserve where we will get to see the kangaroos, etc.  It is an all day adventure.  Wednesday we travel to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef.

We are over halfway through this trip.  We head for home a week from today.  I was homesick a bit yesterday but did better today.  It was nice to have the afternoon free and not be herded in a group.  My feet are sore tonight but worth it.  I liked Sydney much better than Rome or Paris.  It is a city that has over 5 million residents but it doesn’t feel that crowded and busy to me.  Certainly busier than the cities in New Zealand but not like Rome or Paris.

What an adventure we are having.  Hard to believe this farm girl from Kansas is in Sydney, Australia with her daughter.

Grateful for the beautiful weather we had today, grateful for the chance to move my body today, and grateful for the beauty we saw today.

I skipped the morning tour of the city. I was starting to need some empty space and was getting tired of being herded. Instead I took a long walk by myself. Found a little park and sat on a bench in the sunlight. That felt so good.  Across the street their was a group doing Tai Chi outside. They were so graceful in their movements.

Came back to our room and took a short nap. I feel human and like I can people again. Nicole came back from the city tour and we went out to find lunch. Ate at a little diner nearby. The food was excellent.

Next up is a peninsula tour to see sea lions and penguins.  We will also see a castle and then take a one hour wildlife cruise.

The sun was out this morning but is hiding behind some clouds now. No rain today!  Low 50’s for the high.

Tomorrow we leave at 7:00 for a long bus ride to Christchurch and then a three hour plus flight to Sydney. We have a two hour time difference to deal with. May be a long day as we don’t get dinner until 7:30 which is 9:30 New Zealand time.

Left the hotel at 8:15 this morning in a 4WD vehicle.  We went to the backcountry with our final destination Skipper’s Canyon.  It is the most dangerous road in New Zealand.  Lots of wind, fog and rain today so the views were not as spectacular as they might have been on a clean day but still impressive when the fog lifted.  Lots of hair pin turns and steep drop offs on the side of the road.  It is an area where there was a gold rush in the late1800’s.

We had the chance to pan for gold but I stayed in the vehicle as it was very windy and was raining hard at the time.  There were a few brave souls in the group that tried their hand but no one found any.  The river is about twice the size it normally is right now due to the rain they have gotten the last several days.

We stopped for morning tea at a one-room schoolhouse and stopped so we could take pictures at another spot.  We all blew the fog away and it lifted a bit.

It was nice to get out into the country side and away from the city.  The outback here is very rugged.  There was a river flowing at the bottom of the canyon that we could hear all the time and had glimpses of it occasionally.  The waterfalls were really flowing again today.  At one point on the road th slate rock was tumbling down onto the road.  It is a place that gets rock slides frequently and the road gets blocked from the rock slides.  It was a relief to make it out before another rock slide happened today.

Beautiful countryside! Homes were few and far between.  The driver expected it might even snow on us for a bit in the high country but it didn’t.  We did have rain all day though – sometimes a light drizzle and sometimes much heavier.

It was nice to get back to the hotel and find some solid ground underneath my feet.  We had three hours before our next adventure to get some lunch and take a short nap.  Since it was raining we ordered room service and stayed in where it was warm and dry.

At 3:45 we left the hotel for our lake cruise aboard a steam-powered boat built in the 1920’s.  I sat at the front of that boat and listened to a guy play the piano.  He was good and it was relaxing.  We got off after about a 30 minute ride at a farm on an island.  We had a nice buffet dinner and then watched a guy demonstrate how they shear sheep.  The weather was too cold for him to actually shear the sheep though.  He had his dog bring down some sheep from the pasture behind him.

On the way back on the boat our whole tour group sat by the piano guy.  They had a sing along.  There was a big group from China there that started taking our pictures. We held up the song list in front of our faces.  One of the guys in our group started taking their pictures.  We all laughed until we were crying and snorting.  Our tour guide said he had never had that happen before.  Maybe we are famous and we don’t know it!  Never could figure out why they were so interested in taking our pictures.  One of the ladies even asked them but didn’t get an answer.  I told her some questions don’t have answers.  It was a quick trip back.  My stomach hurts from laughing so much.

Tomorrow we have to have our bags outside our door by 7:30 and be down ready to board the bus by 8:30.  We are headed to Dunedin via bus to spend the next two or three nights and then will drive to Christchurch and then fly to Australia.

Grateful for a safe 4WD experience today, grateful for the laughter we shared this evening, and grateful for all the memories Nicole and I are making!

This has been a long day!  We left the hotel at 7:00 this morning.  Lots of beautiful views along the way.  It took a five hour bus ride to get to our destination of the day – a cruise on Milford Lake.

Last night we had a meet and greet with our tour group followed by a group dinner.  There are 20 people in our group so a very manageable size.  No singles in the group.  There is a mother/son couple and everyone else besides Nicole and I are married couples.  The average age is probably 70.  Most are retired and pleasant to visit with.

This morning we went to the Auckland Museum and viewed an impressive collection of artifacts of the Maori people.  We saw a Maori Cultural Experience at the museum.  Seven talented young locals sang and danced for us. They were fun to watch and their dances told stories.

This afternoon we took a smaller bus on a West Coast Wilderness Experience.  We went to the Arataki Centre and enjoyed the panoramic views of the ocean and countryside.  We hiked through the rainforest.  The guide stopped frequently and pointed out the habitat and named the trees and plants we were seeing.  It was really good to get out of the city energy and get out into nature and take a long hike.

I got to see the tea tree bush that the bees eat from to make Manuka honey.  Since it is spring here the tea tree bush is starting to bloom.

We then went to see a beautiful tall waterfall.  The rainforest gets over 8 feet of rain a year and the waterfall is the run off of all that rain.  We went to a black sand beach and watch the waves come crashing in.  The waves were an impressive size today.  Our last stop was a beautiful view of both the sea and the ocean from atop a hillside. The guides this afternoon were fun and made the day enjoyable.

We got back to our room around 5:30.  We rested for a bit and then walked down the street to find dinner.  Ended up eating at a Mexican restaurant which was good.  Came back to our room.  I have a load of laundry washing in the machine across the hall from our room.

We have to have our bags outside our hotel room door by 9:00 tomorrow morning as we will be taken to the airport at 9:45 where we have a two hour flight to fly to Queenstown.  After we get checked in at our hotel in Queenstown we will have the rest of the day free to explore.

Nicole and I had commented Sunday that New Zealand reminded us of Japan.  There is a zen-like vibe going on here.  The locals are very friendly and accepting.  Found out today that their population is over 20% Asian now.

The weather was low 60’s today with partly sunny skies.  If you don’t like the weather here wait five minutes and it will change.  Had very light sprinkles for about one minute today.  The wind was brisk in places though.  I was glad I had a jacket with me when I got in the wind.

Auckland is by far the largest city in NZ.  It has over 1.7 million people.  It doesn’t have a big city feel to it though.  I have felt very safe out walking around.  It feels like it is a young city – I see lots of people in their 20’s and 30’s – not very many my age or older.  The cost of living is very high here though.  Minimum wage is $16.75 an hour. They have socialized medicine.  Property costs are very high as in the average house costs $900,000.

By the way Monday is a very good day!  By the time you wake up and start your Monday I will be doing my Tuesday!  The timey whimy thing kinda blows my mind a bit.

No nap taken today.  Trusting we will both get a good night’s sleep.  I got really tired for a bit this afternoon but am doing OK for the most part.  Most meals I am finding the right type of food to eat although I struggle to get enough veggies.  Doing the best I can – my main goal is to continue to avoid flour and sugar.  The rest I have to eat what is available and decided not to worry about it.

Grateful for a hike through the rain forest today and a chance to get out of the city energy for a bit, grateful for the beauty all around me here, and grateful the hotel has a laundry room right across the hall from my room.

We missed out on Saturday.  Left on Friday and arrived on Sunday.  The long flight was long but we made it.  I was able to get a few hours of sleep during all three flights so am feeling pretty good this afternoon.

I had pretty stinky feet though.  I didn’t think to take my shoes off on the plane.  I took them off once to see if my ankles were swelling – they were but not too bad.  I put my shoe back on.  About 10 minutes later I was smelling the stinky feet smell.  The lady in the aisle across from me had her feet sticking out and I thought it was her feet.  I finally smelled my hands and found the smell!  I had to go wash my hands to get rid of it.  Yuck!

The flight landed on time.  It was nice to get out of that plane after being in it for over 13 hours.  Immigrations was a breeze and no line.  They didn’t even stamp my passport.  My bag came right out but had to wait for Nicole’s bag for about 30 minutes.  The customs line was long and slow.  We finally made it through and met our tour director.  We boarded a nice bus and got to our hotel about 30 minutes later.

Luckily our rooms were ready for us so I was able to take a shower and put on clean clothes.  No more stinky feet!  We went to a nearby food court and had Chinese food for lunch.  I was craving veggies and the food was good.  Came back to the hotel room to rest a bit and then we are going to the Sky Tower.

It was so nice to leave the airport and get some fresh air.  We have either been in airplanes or airports since 1:00 Friday afternoon and needed some fresh air.  It will be good to get out and walk around town in a bit.  Both of us feel bloated and swollen and need to walk it off.

We have our first tour group meeting and dinner tonight.  Tomorrow we are going to the Auckland Museum in the morning and to the rainforest and the Arataki Centre in the afternoon.

They had a big storm blow through last night.  It is a touch windy still but beautiful blue skies and temperatures in the low 60’s.  What we have seen of Auckland so far I have liked.  Seems to be fairly clean and the people are friendly.  Looking forward to seeing more of it.

Grateful we arrived safely, grateful our luggage arrived, and grateful we were able to get into our hotel room early.  We are off to a great start on this adventure.

Sitting at the KC airport waiting for our first flight. We got here early so we could get our bags checked all the way through to New Zealand.  The clerk was very helpful and was able to accommodate us.  First victory of the trip!

I left home at 9:00 this morning so am 5 hours into my 28 hour travel day.  Only 23 hours to go before we arrive in New Zealand.  I think I can…..  I think I can……

I didn’t sleep much last night so am trusting I can nap on the flight.  I rarely can sleep on an airplane though.  Have enough trouble sleeping in my own bed.  Good thing I don’t require a lot of sleep.

Had to get patted down coming through security.  Finally figured out today it is because I use powder and the machine picks that up.  Man I am slow sometimes!  I have been getting patted down regularly and just figured out what caused it.  Sometimes when you travel you have to find cheap thrills!

Found the sweetest card in my bag from my Marine’s wife wishing me safe travels.  Thanks Kathleen!  I love you two too.  I am so grateful they found me and are going to take care of my house and critters for me while I am gone.  By the way, I think I left my bedroom window open.  Would you please check and close it for me – thanks!

We are off to a good start.  Trusting the rest of the trip will go smoothly.

Grateful 5 hours are over, grateful the clerk was helpful and grateful this adventure is officially underway.

All my bags are packed – I’m ready to go.  Leaving on a jet plane tomorrow.  Won’t be home again until November 19.

Have had a busy day doing last-minute things getting ready to leave tomorrow morning.  Did the laundry, picked up eggs, dumped the recycling material, filled the car with gas, did some cleaning, made a to-do list for the house sitters, etc., etc.,  I have my suitcase packed and locked so I will quit adding more stuff to do.  Think I am ready to go!

I am meeting Nicole at her house at 11:00 tomorrow morning.  We will go get lunch and then a Uber driver will pick us up and take us to the airport.  We want to get there a bit early as we need special assistance getting our bags checked all the way through to New Zealand.  We are flying in Group 5 from KC to LA and can’t carry on our bags.  Trusting all three flights will be on-time and we will have smooth flying.

I still need to pick out a book or two to take and download another book or two on my iPad.  I prefer the book in hand to reading on the iPad but need to have a back-up on the iPad in case I finish the hard copy books I take.  Nicole and I like to read the same stuff so we will exchange books.  I remembered my headsets so I can watch a movie more comfortably as another option to pass the time.  Trying to get in the head space of surviving over 12 hours non-stop in an airplane.  I did it going to Japan so I’m sure I can do it again.  Time to suck it up buttercup!

I checked my packing list twice and have everything on the list.  Guess if it wasn’t on the list I didn’t need it.

Tomorrow morning I need to wash the sheets on my bed and one of the guest beds and then get them made up.  I’ll do some last-minute cleaning tomorrow morning while the sheets are washing and drying and then take off for KC a little after 9:00.

I’m so grateful for Internet as it will keep me in touch with back home and makes things like banking easy while I am gone.  I blacked out dates on the Airbnb calendar for the rest of November and the first two weeks of December.  It felt like too much to have new guests as soon as I get home- especially with cooking Thanksgiving dinner that week.  I have a feeling I will need some down time when I get home to recover from jet lag.

I am feeling much better today.  Am a bit more focused and my energy level is rising again.  I was feeling pretty crummy Tuesday and Wednesday.  My urine was “dirty” according to the nurse – must be a new medical term.  They are going to grow out the culture and will see if the doctor chose the right antibiotic.  Too bad if he didn’t as I will be long gone before the results come back in.  Glad I went in and got something instead of trying to ride it out and possibility getting into trouble while I was gone.

I haven’t heard the results from the Ultrasound I had last week which is unusual – she usually gets right back to me.  Guess that will have to wait until I get home too.  I’m sure if it was bad news I would have heard something by now.

It will be nice to get away again and experience a new culture and two new countries.  The people I met from Australia and New Zealand on the Camino were fun people to visit with.  The guests I had from New Zealand were delightful.  So looking forward to going to where it is spring time and everything is green and warm.

Grateful my suitcase is packed and locked, grateful I am feeling better already today, and grateful this next adventure is beginning very soon.

Woke up feeling crummy this morning.  Went to the doctor – I have a UTI.  I normally would have given it a day or two to see if I could make it go away on my own but with the trip coming up Friday decided not to mess with it and went in.  Got a prescription. Hoping to get this stopped quick so I am going strong by Friday.  I got a bit dehydrated on the seven mile hike Monday which probably caused the UTI.

I talked to my doctor about my weight. He isn’t concerned yet.  He told me to come back in if my BMI gets below 19.0. It was 19.8 this morning so I’m still good!  That makes me feel better.  Someone had told me I am starting to look a bit gaunt.  I still have trouble seeing the weight loss in myself and don’t want to get myself into trouble by loosing too much.

While I was in town I picked up the two bags of dog food I needed to get.  A clerk helped me load them into my cart which I appreciated.  I struggled to get them out of the cart and into my car but I did it.

It is a cloudy day on the prairie today.  I noticed the trails at Tallgrass are closed today as they are burning.  So glad we were able to hike Monday and it was a beautiful day.  I could see the smoke as I was coming home.  I’m not used to fall burning.  More and more ranchers are experimenting with it as it kills different weeds than the spring burn does.

Started laying out clothes for my trip.  I need to try on some pants and make sure they still fit.  I will only take four outfits and then will wash them out at each hotel.  I don’t pay much attention to what I wear so I can wear the same thing several times on the trip and it won’t bother me.  The less I take the lighter my suitcase is to transfer around.

I think I have everything on my list so it won’t take me long to finish packing tomorrow.  Still need to call my banks so my debit and credit cards will work.  I got some cash while I was in town today.

Trusting I will be feeling better by tomorrow so I can start getting excited about the trip. Only have one more day at home to get things ready.  I can do it – I can do it!

Grateful for modern medicine when it is needed, grateful for airplanes that make it possible to travel to the other side of the world, and grateful for my little corner on the prairie to come back home to.

Quiet day at home today after all the fun Sunday and Monday.  I had trouble sleeping last night and have felt slow and foggy today.  It is cloudy outside which suits my mood inside today.

Haven’t gotten much done today other than making a phone call to straighten out a bill situation.  The company had been notified by the post office that I had moved and sent the bill directly to Kathy’s new address.  What a mess this is turning into.  Haven’t received the packet of bills Kathy mailed back to me and am still not receiving much mail here.  My mail is caught up in limbo.  Trusting I can get it all straightened out before I leave Friday.

Still processing the 24 hours I spent with my Match guy.  He has a lot of good points going for him. I haven’t been with someone before that can hear me like he does.  He can listen to me express myself and then feed it back to me in a way that I know he heard what I didn’t say too.  My mentor can do that for me.  The two of them are a lot alike in other ways too.

We can sit in silence together without it feeling awkward which I also appreciate.  We both need silence in our day so we can fill out own souls.  Nice to have someone that allows silence.

He has a wicked sense of humor that makes me laugh.  He can laugh at himself too.

He is a mainly retired college professor and is a deep intellectual man.  He thinks – I feel.  We are on opposite side of the range on this one.  I appreciate both sides of it and see the value in both.  We are both on the liberal side of politics.  He is more engaged in being aware of what is happening in the world than I am.

Not sure where or if we are going in all of this.  Time will tell.  Maybe it is a good thing I am leaving Friday and will be gone almost three weeks to give us both time to decide if we want to take another step together.

I am so new to all of this dating stuff.  It still feels a bit awkward to me and am not sure of myself.  It will all become clear what the next steps are – or aren’t over time.  Another good lesson in patience and trust for me.

Feeling a bit queasy today. I did manage to eat most of my lunch.  I was tempted to skip lunch but decided to try to get down as much as I can. I have lost another pound and really don’t want to lose anymore weight.  If I lose much while I am in Australia I will have to go see my doctor when I get home.  Trusting I won’t do so.  I didn’t lose any weight while I was in Italy this Spring although I lost six pounds very quickly after I got home from that trip. I don’t have six more pounds to lose this time.  Who knew stopping the weight loss would be such a problem?  At least the first round of blood tests all came back showing I am healthy with no immediate medical needs.

Need to get busy and get some items crossed off my to-do list.  Just don’t have any motivation to get anything done today.  I get up to go do something and forget what I got up to go do.  Just one of those non-productive days I guess. Maybe I will go take a nap and forget about getting anything done today.  I still have two more days to get things done – right?

Grateful for a day full of empty space so I have time to process the last 24 hours, grateful for all the love my friends have been sending my way, and grateful for non-productive days as they remind me to stop and listen to my heart.

Had a delightful evening last night with my Match guy.  After he got here we went for a two-mile walk so he could stretch his legs after the three-hour drive. We had dinner when we got back from the walk. Luckily the pot roast was delicious.  We then went out and sat in the swings and watched the stars come out. Had to take a blanket out though as it got cold after the sun went down.

This morning after breakfast we went to the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve and took a seven-mile hike.  We stopped at the look-out point to rest and enjoy the beauty of the Flint Hills.  I did well on the hike even though I hadn’t walked that far since the Camino.

He left for home around 5:00 this evening.  We had a fun time together and will be spending more time together after I return from my trip to New Zealand and Australia.

I am tired this evening.  That long hike wore me out.  Thinking it will be an early bedtime for me tonight.

I have lots of things to get done the next three days so I am ready to go on my next adventure Friday.  I have a list so thinking I will get it all done.  Hard to believe it is almost time to leave.

I need to call a plumber to replace a faucet in the garage.  It drips at times and I can’t get it turned off tight enough.  Need to get it done before it freezes.

Need to get the guest room cleaned and reset tomorrow.  I don’t have any guests coming before I leave but I like to leave the rooms ready.

Grateful for a fun 24-hours with my Match guy, grateful for being able to hike for over seven miles today, and grateful for another absolutely beautiful fall day in KS.

A friend and I went to see War of the Worlds last night at the Strong City Opera House.  Aliens from Mars attacked the world.  The guy got his girl at the end of the movie and all is well!  Fun to watch a movie that was made the year I was born.  Special effects have come a long ways in 65 years!

Woke up just before sunrise this morning and watched the sun come up.  I love that time of the morning.  The fall sunrise colors are absolutely beautiful.  Such hope and promise in watching the sun rise.

Went into Emporia to get cat litter this morning.  I wanted to change their box so I dumped it out and then realized I was out of litter.  I was going to get dog food too but didn’t have room in cart for it and I didn’t want to go back in.  I will need to go to town later this week and I will get it then.

Did my weekly house cleaning chores today.  I didn’t get to them yesterday so had to do them today.  My Marine and his wife have been gone all day so it was a good day to get some cleaning done.

It has been another absolutely beautiful fall day today.  Mid 60’s and bright blue skies.  It is to reach the 70’s tomorrow.  I love this time of year. The stars were incredible last night.  Trusting they will be the same tonight.

I’ve got a pot roast in the crock pot cooking.  The house smells divine!  Not sure if we will eat before or after the sun sets.  Want to be outside to watch it set.  Guess it will depend on what time my date shows up. He text me to let me know he is on his way.  I invited my Marine and his wife to join us for dinner.  I’m going to fry some apples and heat some dinner rolls and call it good. I dipped strawberries in chocolate for dessert.  Nice and simple meal that will be easy to serve.

Starting to wrap my head around the fact that I am leaving Friday for New Zealand and Australia.  Other than the getting there and the travel to get home it will be a wonderful adventure.  Trusting the jet lag won’t kick my ass too bad. New Zealand is 18 hours ahead of Kansas time.  I will preview tomorrow for you while I am there and let you know how it is!

Sitting with great anticipation this afternoon.  I’m excited to meet this guy.  Working to keep my expectations in check and to allow things to be what they are.  This will be my fourth face-to-face Match date.  Trusting it will end better than the other three did.  I knew almost immediately when I met the other three that we weren’t going to have a second date.  Looking back I think I knew that before they showed up.  It was good practice for me though to have lunch with a guy.  Maybe they showed up to help me prepare for today.  Stay tuned to see how this one goes.

Grateful for another beautiful fall day, grateful for the chance to meet this guy, and grateful for the beauty of the prairie during this time of year.

Went into music last night for a bit.  As always it is a fun way to spend the evening.  They had a bigger than normal crowd last night.  Some of my favorite musicians were singing.

Went into Emporia this morning and got 6 sacks of chicken feed and 2 bags of dog food.  I wanted more dog food but that was all Bluestem had.  I still need cat food and litter so will get more dog food when I get that.  I dumped the chicken feed into the containers so it is ready to be taken down to the coop.

What an absolutely beautiful day today.  A perfect 10 fall day.  The forecast calls for two more days coming just like this one.  Doesn’t get much better in KS than this.

Spent three hours on the phone with my Match guy today.  We are both looking forward to meeting each other tomorrow.  It has been a long time that I have felt this comfortable talking to someone.  I also haven’t laughed this much in a long time.

I’m going to the movie War of the Worlds at the Strong City Opera House tonight.  I am actually going out three nights in a row!  Wow!  Not sure why I am all of a sudden able to get out but it has kinda been fun.

Need to go fix dinner so I can be ready to leave on time.  The afternoon went by very quickly!

Grateful for this beautiful day, grateful for the possibilities ahead of me, and grateful for the fun that is appearing in my life right now.

I went into Emporia last night to watch my granddaughter’s music program.  Ellexia had to talk into the microphone saying a memorized line and she nailed it.  It was fun to watch the kids perform and both grandkids seemed happy to see me.  Tagen even let me give him a hug in public.  Score one for G.

After I got home my Match guy called me on the phone.  We had a two-hour conversation that was delightful.  Still not sure where this is going but it is fun for now.  He is coming to meet me Sunday.  Maybe I’ll know more after that.  Working hard on allowing it to be what it is without any expectation of what it might become.

I had taken a nap yesterday afternoon and paid the price for it last night as I don’t think I slept much at all.  It was a long night!

Went to Topeka this morning to have an ultrasound done on my neck.  It has been a little over a year since I had my thyroid removed and the cancer was discovered.  I won’t hear results until mid-week next week.  Certainly not expecting anything other than everything looks great.

A friend had recommended a certain type of wine for the dinner I am making Sunday night for my Match guy.  I couldn’t find it in Emporia but found it at the second liquor store I went to in Topeka.  The friend knows wine so will trust it will be good.   Sometimes I wished I drank wine.

Took a very short nap this afternoon.  My neighbor called and woke me up which I am grateful for.  If I had slept very long I probably would just repeat what happened last night.  I got enough sleep to knock the edge off without sleeping really hard or very long.

Tonight is music night in Cottonwood Falls.  I have been going the last several weeks.  Working on getting myself out more.  I enjoy the music once I get there – it is getting out the door that stops me sometimes.

Another neighbor bakes the most wonderful pies.  I happened to see her post offering pies for today and mentioned it to my Marine.  He had me order a lemon and a chocolate one.  I went over and picked them up for him this afternoon.  I bet they will enjoy them this weekend.  His wife is coming back this evening.  She went home so she could work in their hometown this week.  I enjoy having her around so it will be good to see her come back later today.  They are hanging around here this weekend.

Lost another pound today.  I have only lost three pounds since a month ago so the weight loss is slowing down.  I had been averaging losing 6 pounds a month.  I’m 7 pounds below goal weight now.  All the blood tests I had done came back really good so don’t think anything weird is going on.  Am trying to remember to add 1 oz of nuts to each meal as nuts are calorie dense and are easy for me to get down.  If I need to I will increase the amount of nuts each meal.  If I remember right, I now weigh what I did when I graduated from High School.  Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would see this number again.  Bright Line Eating Plan works if you work the plan!  It has been over 8 months now since I had any flour or sugar.  I eat three meals a day, don’t snack and I measure or weigh the portion sizes.  That’s all there is to it!

Think I will go out and take a long walk.  I haven’t moved my body for several days and am feeling the need to do so.  It is absolutely beautiful out this afternoon and a great day for a long walk.

Still sitting in my peaceful valley with a quiet mind.  I feel like I am floating down the river of life and easily navigating around the rocks along the path.  I never know how long I can stay in this energy so have learned to enjoy every moment I am in it.

Grateful for grandchildren and the chance to spend time with them, grateful for my Match  guy and the fun he is bringing into my life in this moment, and grateful for my peaceful valley of life and all the joy and peace it is bringing to me right here, right now!

A rainy day on the prairie today.  Good napping weather so I took a nap this afternoon.  I wsan’t tired but had nothing else to do.  I didn’t expect to fall asleep but I did.  Lazy type of day!

Went into Emporia this morning to run a few errands and get some groceries.  Couldn’t find the wine I was looking for.  I have to go to Topeka tomorrow to have an Ultrasound done so will look there for it there.  The liquor store owner had never heard of the wine I was looking for.  Maybe a bigger city will have a wider selection.

Tim let me know Ellexia has a music program tonight.  I will probably run into town to see that.  It is hard to get out of the house though with the rain.  I’ll see what I decide to do.  I’ll need to leave in about 30 minutes if I am going.

My Marine spent the day at home as he got rained out of work today,  He took a nap this afternoon too.  He had ripped a tear in one of the pockets of his tool belt and I suggested he take it in to Bruce to have him repair it.  I was going to take it in today for him but since he was home he did it.  Bruce did a nice job fixing the tear.  Love local service shops like his.  We might not have fancy wines but we have better service shops than the big cities do.

Got four loads of laundry done today.  My student isn’t coming out tonight so got her sheets washed up for the week.  I’ll pull the sheets off my Marine’s bed tomorrow morning.  Not sure what his plans are for the weekend.  His wife is coming here for the weekend and sometimes they stay home all day on the weekends and sometimes they are out and about.  This way I will have that job done for the week.

I leave for New Zealand a week from tomorrow.  Time to get serious about getting my list of things I need to do before I leave done.  I need to get five bags of chicken feed and four bags of dog food this weekend.  It takes a bit of time to get the chicken feed put into the containers I use to carry in down to the coop as needed.  Not my favorite job to do so I have been procrastinating.  Time to get it done.

Need to get the chore list written up too so everyone knows what they need to do.  I have a rough draft started so that won’t take too long to complete.

I had ordered two more pair of trail pants and they came in Wednesday.  I was able to get to the box before the dogs did this time.  They fit as did the two blouses I ordered.  Now I have everything I need so just have to fit everything into the suitcase.  Looks like rain is in the forecast most days there so will have to take my rain coat. I can always wear it if it doesn’t fit in the suitcase.  I only take a carry-on so have to be careful how much stuff I take.

Sitting in a quiet space tonight.  My head is quiet and the monkeys in my brain must still be napping.  The air is fresh and clean from the rain.  I’ve had the fireplace on part of the day.  Cozy, lazy day on the prairie.  Just what my soul needed today.  I have a busy couple of days coming up and needed today to refill my soul.

Grateful for cozy, lazy days on the prairie, grateful for sleeping monkeys in my head, and grateful for an upcoming weekend full of possibilities and new experiences.

Just had a bit of a head trip.  I could have sworn I blogged today but went to check it and nothing is there.  Hmmmmm…..

Went into Cottonwood Falls this morning to vote.  Feels good to get that out-of-the-way so I don’t forget to do it before I leave for New Zealand.

Went to a class last night on dry skin brushing.  Interesting concept.  I didn’t buy a brush as I know myself well enough to know I doubt that I would continue doing something like that long-term.  I’ll sit with the thought of it for a bit and see if I change my mind.  I know the lady that taught the class so can change my mind and get a brush from her later.

We got a sample bottle of a face oil mixture that I am enjoying using,   If I continue to use it I will go get some more.  My face seems to like it so far and I enjoy the smell of it.  It is made with essential oils so is light and not greasy feeling.  I have not done a good job of taking care of my skin and need to start paying a bit more attention to it.

The lady that introduced me to Bright Lines was there and I was able to talk to her a bit.  She joined the additional program after the boot camp ended and listens to the coaching calls on a regular basis.  She recommended I add nuts to each meal if I continue losing weight.  She told me that is what the experts recommend to others that are experiencing what I am.  So far I haven’t lost any more weight for a week now so maybe I have bottomed out.  If not I will try additional nuts for a meal or two daiily for a week and see if that ups my calorie intake enough to stop the weight loss.

I rented the barn to some neighbors and they came this afternoon to put a boat in it for storage.  They swept the floor and cleaned up the barn.  How cool is that?  I will enjoy getting to know them better as they come and go from the barn.

Other than taking a nap this morning I’m not sure what I did all day.   I didn’t sleep much last night so went back to bed this morning.  Trusting I will be able to sleep tonight.

Got my mowing done for the year.  I do need to push mow the little fenced area one last time this year.  I had forgotten about that area.  I don’t think the grass will grow much more this year as we got a hard freeze a week or so go.  I need to remember to get my mower taken in for service sometime soon.  If I wait until spring they get backed up and it takes a long time for them to get to it.

The guests that had booked for Saturday night cancelled already.  Good news for me is I still get paid for them coming.  Love when that happens!

Had a very interesting text exchange with my Match guy this afternoon.  I was able to say some things I don’t think I ever imagined I would say to a guy.  Wow!  He may be coming to meet me this weekend.  I’m anxious to see what he is like in person.  Hard to tell when you can’t see into someone’s eyes what they are really like.  I now understand what his purpose is for me and it may be an interesting weekend.  May be fun!

The Strong City old opera house is showing the 1953 War of the World’s movie this Saturday.  I am going with a friend.  Not sure why I am feeling the need to get out more now but I am.  Feels good to think about going out now.  Guess I am ready to do things differently on several levels now.  Exciting even!

I am feeling the effects of another big shift that has happened internally again.  I never am sure when these shifts happen or what the final straw was I let go of to make them happen.  I just realize all of a sudden I am able to do things differently then I did in the past.  I have a level of inner freedom I didn’t have before.  Thinking it has something to do with the class I took from my mentor last September but not sure.  The weight loss has freed me too somehow.  Wherever it came from I am grateful!

This weekend has the potential to push open yet another range I am in and have been stuck in for years.  Exciting times for me.  So far I don’t feel any fear about it.  I’ll see what happens!

Grateful for the privilege of voting and trusting my vote will matter, grateful for getting the barn space rented out to such nice people, and grateful for the possibility of breaking another range wide open.  I love learning new things about myself and experiencing new things.

Spent two hours texting my Match guy last light.  Had a good conversation.  Probably should have shifted to the phone but we didn’t.  He sent lots of photographs in between the word texts.  Was a fun evening.  Not sure where it is going but am allowing it to be what it is for now.

I am taking a lazy day at home today.  I even went back to bed to see if I could take a nap but didn’t have any luck.  I got two texts from other people and then the pest control guys showed up early.  Guess I wasn’t supposed to nap today.

Got three loads of laundry washed and put away this morning.  Have the guest rooms refreshed and the house work I was going to do today done.  Nothing else on my calendar until evening.  I may go in and advance vote this afternoon. I want to get that done before I leave for Australia and don’t want to forget to do so.  It is beautiful out and a good day to get out and do that.

I may go out and mow one last time this afternoon.  It needs done and it is a good day to get out and do it.  Not too many nice fall days left this year.  More rain is coming in later this week and I want to get it done before it comes.

Just had a couple book for Saturday night.  They are only staying one night so it will be easy.  The room is ready for them so nothing will need to be done to get ready for them.

Only 10 days before I leave for New Zealand.  I have a checklist full of things I need to get done before I leave.  I think preparing to be gone is the hard part of a trip.  If I didn’t have so many critters it would be easier.

The student that stays with me during the week is going home tonight to KC as her classes were cancelled.  She will be back tomorrow and Thursday night.  My Marine will be here tonight though.

Having a quiet day was just what my soul needed.  I feel more grounded and centered this afternoon than I have been for a bit.  More options seem to be open to me right now.  Feel like I am floating in the river of life and life is easy right now.  Love when that happens!

Grateful for this beautiful day, grateful for guests booking, and grateful for the peace and ease in my life today.

My Marine and his wife got home last night.  It was good to see them – I had missed having them around.

Went to KC this morning to help Nicole with her project.  We ran a lot of errands and finished up part of her project.  I couldn’t help her finish the rest as I didn’t know where stuff went.  I don’t envy her the job in front of her but they will get it done.

On the drive home I had to pull over and snap a picture of a partial sundog.  There was one on both sides of the setting sun but I only captured the one on the left.  I don’t see them very often so had to stop and take a picture.

Had a bit of stop and go traffic coming out of KC but luckily it cleared out pretty quickly and I made good time coming home.  City energy wears me out.  It is always good to get back to my quiet little corner on the prairie.

Not much on my calendar for the next three days other than the normal Airbnb hosting duties.  I hope tomorrow is as nice as today was so I can go for a long walk.  I love this time of the year and want to take advantage and get outside and enjoy it.  The trees are turning in KC and some were beautiful.  I don’t have many trees around me so I really notice them when I go to town.

I have a quiet mind tonight – or maybe it is just tired.  I am enjoying listening to the night sounds tonight.  The moon is almost full and is shining brightly on the prairie tonight.  All is well on my corner of the world.

Grateful to spend a day with my daughter, grateful to get to see a partial sundog tonight on the drive home, and grateful for a safe trip to and from KC today.

I had a date today!  I met a guy for lunch at Radius.  We had lunch and then drove out to my house.  Spent the afternoon together.  He was a nice man but not the one for me.  I thought I was a minimalist but he takes it to a whole new level.  I felt like a hoarder.  He does like to travel in his RV stateside, is a pilot and has his own plane.  But he is very frugal – to the point it would not be comfortable for me.  He also seemed to be adverse to hugging which is a requirement I have.  Good practice for me though.

His wife died less than a year ago and I think he needs some more time alone to process his grief.  He talked a lot about her.  Maybe he just needed someone to listen to him.

My overnight guest left around 6:30 this morning.  He had to drive to Hillsboro to pick up his son’s friend and then go to the KC airport.  We had a nice visit last night for a bit.  I alway enjoy returning guests.  He ate the partial bag of party mix I had on the counter.  I ask him to taste test it for me – he gave it his approval.

I was up early this morning and got to see the sunrise.  It was spectacular!  Fall sunrises and sunsets are the best I think.

Got the room downstairs flipped and cleaned and ready for the next guest to come in.  Don’t have anyone booked for that room for a bit.  I had blocked off most of November for my trip and keep blocking off next weekend and then put it back on the calendar and then take it off again.  I don’t even remember which way I have it right now.  I will have my two long-term guests this week so I don’t really care if I have weekend guests or not.

Still texting the college professor.  He still has potential!  We haven’t shifted to phone calls yet but he likes to write and so do I.  We mainly converse using email but have started short texts during the day.  Fun!

Had a guy with the profile name of BigandHard contact me.  On his profile he says his sex drive is in over-drive.  I chose not to communicate with him.  He looks like he is trying to act like he is 16 instead of 65.  I don’t need a boy toy!

I’m going to KC tomorrow to help Nicole with a project she is working on. Other than that I have a rather quiet week ahead of me.  Friday I go to Topeka for an Ultrasound.

I need to call and find out why I haven’t received the results from the blood tests I had done Friday.  She didn’t take much blood and I am wondering if they only did one of the three tests ordered.  I got the results on one of them back but not the other two.

It was an interesting day.  Kinda fun to go out to lunch with a guy.  He did buy my lunch but only left a $2 tip.  Did I mention he is frugal?

Grateful for the dating practice, grateful for a returning guest and our conversation, and grateful for learning another attribute I do not want from a man!

My guest arrived around 1:30 this morning.  I didn’t get up to greet him as he has been here before and knew where his room is.  We had a nice visit this morning.  Always fun to see returning guests.  I may not see him again as he won’t be home tonight until late and he has to leave early tomorrow morning.

Made nine gallon bags full of Party Mix this morning.  I always give each of the kids one at Thanksgiving time and wanted to get it made and in the freezer before I left for Australia next week.  Sure smells good!  I won’t eat any of it this year – not on my food plan.  The kids enjoy it though.

Need to go into Emporia this afternoon and pick up a few groceries.  I need to stop by the Verizon store and add international service to my phone for November so I can stay in touch back home while I am gone.

I ordered two more pair of trail pants for the trip.  I only had two that fit and don’t want to have to wash them out every night.  We stay three nights at most of our hotels so will have time to wash out at each hotel.  I also ordered two more blouses.  I had gotten two skirts but didn’t have a blouse to wear with them.  Think that finishes up my list of things I wanted to get for the trip.

Put on my calendar for next week to stock up on critter food.  I don’t want to forget to do that.  I’ll need almost three weeks of critter food on hand before I leave.  That will be a car full when I get all of that.

It always seems a bit complicated to plan for everything so I can leave the country for a bit.  Luckily my Marine and his wife are going to take care of things around here most of the time I am gone.  A dear friend is covering for a weekend.  So very grateful for all of them as it makes it possible for me to get away.

Still exchanging emails with the same Match guy.  He is an interesting man and we have the love of the land in common along with other things.  He requires lots of quiet and solitude like I do.   I’ll see where it goes.  At least he dosen’t appear to be a fraud at this point!  Progress?

Another beautiful Kansas fall day today.  I may go over to the Prairie Preserve and take a long hike.  I haven’t done that for a bit and am feeling the need to move my body this afternoon.  It is a bit windy but not too bad.

May get out and get the mowing done this afternoon.  The grass is starting to turn brown after the frost we had a week ago.  I want to trim it all up one last time and then get my mower taken in and tuned up so it will be ready for the spring.  Sure was a short mowing season this year.

Sitting in a quiet space this afternoon.  My head is really quiet and doesn’t have much monkey chatter going on today.  I enjoy days like this except I find it hard to get things done as I can’t remember what I was thinking about doing.  I like the empty space internally though.

Grateful for a returning guest that feels like a friend came to visit me, grateful for a perfect fall day today, and grateful for empty space and all the ways it comes into my life and the gifts it has to offer me.

It has been a productive day so far.  Went into Emporia at 8:30 to get my blood drawn.  I got gas but forgot to stop and get groceries.  Went to Strong City and Cottonwood Falls before I came home.  Stopped to talk to the Postmaster about the mail forwarding situation.  He recommended Kathy cancel the forwarding request and I send her the mail weekly.  He said there is not much he can do and he has seen situations like this before and they rarely are able to fix them,

I dumped my recycling containers and then stopped at KS Graphics to pick up the missing mailing piece.  After I got home I ate breakfast and then finished the mailing.  I took it into the post office in Strong City so it will go out today.  Always feels good to have that project complete.

I have been working on doing laundry and resetting two rooms downstairs.  The third load of laundry is washing and only have one more load to throw in.  When the sheets get dried I will make the beds and clean two bedrooms and bathrooms.

Lost another pound today.  I hadn’t lost any for a bit so trusting I am close to hitting bottom.  I’ll find out later today if the blood tests show anything is amiss.  I keep trying to add more food but struggle to eat all that I am to eat already.  If I keep losing I will try to add in a fourth meal and see if that will help.  Not sure when I would add it though as I don’t get hungry.  Maybe the trip to Australia will help.  I didn’t lose any weight when I went to Italy.

I’m tired today.  I slept two sleeps last night but didn’t get my sleep tank filled.  It is cloudy and misty out and thinking that is causing me to be sleepy.  I need to get up and go clean and move my body and wake it up.

Quiet weekend ahead.  Although I will have a guest he won’t be around much.  May see if the grandkids want to come out and a bit.  I haven’t seen them again for several weeks.

Feels good to have had a productive morning.  I was feeling like I was behind this morning when I got up as I hadn’t done the dishes before I went to bed last night.  Got my to-do list done though and it is just barely past noon.  Not sure why some days I can get lots done and other days I can’t seem to do anything.  I even made two business phone calls this morning!

Grateful for a productive morning, grateful my to-do list for the day is completed, and grateful for completing my service project of the day.

I had the most delightful evening yesterday.  I sat out with my guests in the swings last night and watched the sunset and the stars pop out.  We turned the fire on and must have sat outside for two hours visiting.  We walked around to the east side of the house after the sun went down and enjoyed the after glow of the sunset.  Mother Nature painted a beautiful sky last night.

The husband came up this morning and we had another deep conversation.  I got the sense of being in the right place at the right time doing my deep soul work with him today.  I love when I know what I am doing is absolutely what I am to be doing right now.

After they left this morning at 9:30 I drove to KC to help Nicole with a project.  We got done by 4:30.  We did an errand and then went out to dinner together and then I drove home.  The trip home went fast tonight but I am tired now.  I woke up this morning a little after 6:00 and couldn’t go back to sleep so got up and took my shower.  I worked on the mailing I am doing for Pioneer Bluffs.  I am missing one piece or I would have finished stuffing the envelopes.  I will pick up the missing piece in the morning and get that project finished up.

Tomorrow morning I have to run into Emporia first thing and have a blood draw.  I have to be fasting so will do it as soon as I wake up and get dressed.  I need to stop and get a few groceries while I am in town.  Then I need to go into Cottonwood Falls to drop off the recycling stuff and pick up the missing mailing piece.  I have four loads of laundry to do tomorrow as well as cleaning two bedrooms and bathrooms.  My guest coming in tomorrow won’t get here until almost midnight so have all day to get the room ready.

I have been carrying on conversations with three different Match guys today.  I told one about my plan to drive to all 48 states and spend one night in each state in a National Park.  He asked me if I was inviting him to go with me.  Then he told me he slept in the nude but would accommodate me if that bothered me.  I asked him if he snored.  He responded that he only snores when he is drunk which is most of the time.  I then told him it wouldn’t work for him to go with me as I needed a back-up driver and if he was drunk all the time that wouldn’t be much help.  Man!  Hoping he was joking but who knows!  He looked a bit arrogant in the picture he posted.

Another one immediately sent me his phone number and wanted to switch to texting.  I told him I was too busy today to text but would try to remember to do so tomorrow.  When I checked his profile tonight it is unavailable.  Think I will forget to text him tomorrow as I haven’t had good luck texting someone who’s profile disappears like that.

The other one is a college professor.  The message he sent me yesterday made me smile as he talked about the Flint Hills.  He said “the Great Plains are subtle.  You must gaze.  And they grow in you slowly.  And soon you are blessed by being in them and with them.  And if you stand quietly, even on the rare windless day, you can hear the land”.  Does he get the Flint Hills or what!  Love how he put that.  This one has potential!

Kathy sent me a text today.  She had forwarded her mail and received a bunch of my mail.  I’ll have to go to the Post Office tomorrow and see if I can get that sorted out.  I wondered why I hadn’t gotten much mail the last week or so.  May have to cancel her forward request and I will just send her a package of mail weekly instead.

Have a quiet weekend planned.  I will have a guest here all weekend but he won’t be here much.  My Marine and his wife will be back Sunday evening.

I need to get myself organized for New Zealand.  I leave in two weeks.  I am going back to KC Monday to help Nicole finish her project.  I need to double-check and make sure I have everything I need as this will be my last chance to get something in KC before my trip.  I need to try on two pairs of pants to make sure they still fit.  I had gotten two skirts but not sure I have blouses to wear with hem so need to check that out too.

I am tired tonight. Trusting I will be able to sleep good tonight.  I did a lot of moving around today which was good.  Sitting in my peaceful valley tonight.  Still feeling the warm glow from the guests that left this morning.  I love when I can have deep conversations with my guests.  Feels like I made two new friends today.

Grateful for the work I do with my Airbnb, grateful for being in service today, and grateful for the fun I am having with my Match guys.

It has been a busy day so far on the prairie.  I slept for my normal 3 hours then woke up around 1:00 this morning.  Finally got back to sleep around 5:30.  I sure didn’t want to get up when the alarm went off at 7:00 this morning.

Did chores and ate breakfast and headed to town.  I had a haircut at 8:30 and then volunteered to help with the Friends of the Library Book Sale from 9:00 – noon.  Came home with one more sack of books – this sack was only $5.  They are having a very successful sale this year and we emptied a lot of boxes this morning.

I have guests coming sometime late afternoon to spend one night.  Trusting they will leave fairly early in the morning so I can get to KC and help Nicole with her project.  I know my guests are going to ride the bus at the Reserve at 11:00 tomorrow so maybe they will leave early for that.

My student guest didn’t come out last night and won’t be here tonight.  She is planning on coming tomorrow night.  I need to send her a message and let her know I may not be home until late.

Sent a note to my primary doctor and ask him to add checking my lipid levels and potassium to the blood draw I am having done for my thyroid antibody test Friday.  He agreed to do so.  I have been having lots of leg and foot cramps the last several weeks.  May need to decrease my blood pressure medication again as it is getting too low at times again.  Yeah!   I would like to go off the cholesterol medication too.

My hairdresser asked if I was OK health wise today.  He could really tell I had lost more weight.  We had a discussion about weight and how we view our bodies.  I alway feel like I have had a counseling session when I get my hair cut.  I suggested possibly changing my hair style and he talked me into keeping it the same.  He knows I do not like to mess with my hair and the way I wear it is about as easy as one can go.

Need to take the recycling stuff into Cottonwood Falls and dump them.  It is so nice out today I am looking for things to do outside.  I carried several sacks of books for customers while I was working the sale just so I could get outside for a minute.  Wish it was dry enough to mow today but I still see some standing water.

Dumped a couple of boxes of old business records in the trash bin before I hauled it down to the end of the driveway last night.  Since I have been the only one here I didn’t have much trash so took advantage and got rid of a couple of boxes and filled the trash bin.  Some weeks I don’t have enough room to do that.

Sure want to take a nap this afternoon.  Am going to do my best to stay up though so maybe I can sleep tonight.  Going to and from KC in one day always wears me out.  Good news is I have nothing on my calendar for Friday other than flipping the guest room as I have a guest coming in Friday night.  He won’t arrive until almost midnight so I will have all day Friday to get the room flipped.

Just remembered I have a newsletter to fold and stuff for Pioneer Bluffs to do Friday.  I may get part of it done tonight and tomorrow morning before I leave for KC.  I’ll see how fast I can go.  It doesn’t have to be done until Monday so no real pressure to go fast.  I will have to go into Emporia Friday morning for a fasting blood test.  Guess I do have some things to do Friday!

Only got one egg from my girls yesterday.  I gave them their first warning.  Three warnings and I will seriously consider doing away with them.  Their food is expensive if I don’t get anything in return.  They are starting to molt and will probably not be laying much for the next 8 – 12 weeks.  Must be sabbatical time for them.  The slackers!

Just a little over two weeks before I leave for New Zealand and Australia.  I did start my packing list last night.  I need to arrange international cell service for the time I am gone too.  Gotta keep up on my Match communications and the Airbnb reservations.  Probably wishful thinking on both parts of that!

Felt good to be in service today.  I really would like to find a non-profit that I could spend some good quality time with each week and feel like I make a difference by showing up.  I enjoy volunteer work and want to add more of it to my schedule.  I like short-term commitment projects better than every Monday for the rest of my life type of commitments.

Sitting in my peaceful valley today.  Tired yet content.  Feeling more grounded, centered and more confident again.  I am getting clearer in my head what I am looking for on Match.  I reworked my profile today and feel it captures me better than what I had before.

Grateful to have been in service today at the library, grateful for guests arriving this evening, and grateful for this beautiful fall day.

Finally got some good sleep last night.  It came in three parts but I will take what I got.  Nights go by faster when I sleep most of it.

I went to the library book sale this morning and got three grocery sacks of books for $30.  I am helping with the sale tomorrow so will probably pick up another sack or two then for $5 a sack.  Hard to beat that price when new books are often over $10 per book.

Drove to Wichita after I shopped for books.  I needed to do a Costco run.  It seemed to take a long time to get to Wichita this morning for some reason.  Thankfully the trip home went fast.  I got off at the Cassoday exit on the way home and stopped at the  gas station there to see my friend.  She gave me a tour of the new kitchen they are putting in.  I got the car unloaded when I got home and things put away.

I have been messaging with a guy from KS the last two days.  Think I will stop the conversation though as he seems to be as boring as watching grass grow.  I’m sure he isn’t what I am looking for!  His idea of a grand adventure and mine are worlds apart.

Got another scammer message.  I recognized the pattern they use now so I reported him.   Not sure it does any good to report them but it makes me feel better.  Sure wish the scammers were for real as they are really good-looking.  But I reminded myself this morning I don’t have to settle for the really boring ones either!  This is a lesson in patience for me.

Made an appointment to get my hair cut.  He can work me in before my shift at the library tomorrow morning but that means I have to leave the house by 8:00.  I haven’t had to be up and out of the house that early for a bit.  May need to set my alarm tonight.  Now that I eat breakfast I’ll have to be up by 7:00.  I have to take my thyroid pill 30 minutes before I can eat.

The Endocrinologist is not going to change my prescription level right now.  I am a bit higher than she likes to see but she decided to ride it out and see what my levels do over the next couple of months.  If they are high again next time she will change my dosage.  I am to have it rechecked in December.

It has been a week since I lost any more weight so trusting I have hit bottom and won’t lose much more.  She recommended that if I lose another three pounds I am to go see my general practitioner and see what he wants to do.

It has turned into a beautiful day in KS today.  Temperatures are in the low 60’s and the sun is shining nice and bright.  It is a touch windy out here on top of the hill on the prairie.  We got a good hard freeze last night.  It was really pretty this morning when the sun came up and was shining on the frost on the ground.  Looked like a winter wonderland for a bit.  If it was dry enough I would go out and mow but I still have water standing in places in my yard.

Nothing I have to do for the rest of the day.  I am ready for the guests that are coming in tomorrow evening.  I picked up some Worcestershire Sauce at Costco today so may get the Chex Mix made either today or tomorrow.  Want to start making my Christmas baking list so I can start picking up a few things at a time off that list.  That way it doesn’t feel like it costs so much. !  Ha!

Christmas is not my favorite time of the year.  I am not a good gift buyer and the whole commercial part of Christmas wears me out.  I do need to start thinking about what I want to give the kids and grandkids for Christmas this year.  Maybe I will get inspired and think of something really cool.  Not holding my breath though.  I rarely come through that way.

Sitting in a good place today.  I had a pep talk with myself on the way to Wichita and reminded myself to be patient.  Good things take time!  I do need to make an effort to get out more.  Sometimes that is a real challenge for me.  I usually enjoy the day when I do get out but it is hard to put my feet out the door to go.  Not sure where to go sometimes.  I hate small talk and going just to go.  I much prefer a purposeful adventure.

Grateful for our local library and their book sales, grateful for my Endocrinologist and her prompt response, and grateful for the chance to learn yet another life lesson and open more ranges.  Sometimes the process feels yucky in the moment but I alway appreciate the lessons afterwards.

Sent a note to the Endocrinologist last night about not being able to stop my weight loss.  She responded this morning and wanted me to go in for a stat blood draw.  I drove into Emporia mid-morning and had the blood drawn.  Just got the results and my TSH is higher than it should be but not in the dangerous range.  I was concerned it was too low and my metabolism was too fast.  I haven’t heard from her office to see what she wants to do.  I’m thinking she will increase my medication dose to suppress my levels but she may take a wait and see approach.  I appreciate the way she responds so quickly to my messages.  My primary doctor doesn’t do that.

I must have more blood drawn Friday to check the Antibody levels.  Wish they could have done both today but insurance wouldn’t have paid for it as it was four days too early!

Glad to know it isn’t low thyroid levels causing the continued weight loss.  Low thyroid levels is what caused my thyroid storm way back when all this started over a year ago.  It can be life-threatening in not caught soon enough.  Back to the drawing board trying to figure out how to stop the weight loss.

Did some cleaning downstairs this morning.  Found two light bulbs burned out which led me to clean some light fixtures in the bathrooms.  I get distracted easily!  Still need to do the floors and the house will be ready for my student to return tonight and the guests coming in Wednesday night.  My Marine won’t be here this week so no use cleaning his room until next weekend.

Got a dusting of snow overnight.  Most of it is gone already as the sun is shining very brightly this afternoon.  We are to have a hard freeze tonight.  It is too wet to mow so will have to wait and mow one last time after things dry out a bit.  I am not ready for winter yet!  Glad I will be gone during November – maybe that is when most of our winter will happen his year and I will get lucky and miss it.

Got some groceries while I was in town today.  I picked up a few things for our Thanksgiving Dinner.  I always make the kids Chex Mix and send a gallon bag home with them on Thanksgiving.  I picked up the stuff to make a big batch but forgot Worcestershire Sauce so can’t get it made until I go back to town.  I make it ahead and freeze it.  I used to love that stuff but won’t be able to eat it this year.  That stuff is getting expensive to make!

May go to Wichita tomorrow and go to Costco.  I am almost out of chicken tenders and a few other things.  Thursday I am getting a late start to go to KC and am not sure I will have time to go while I am in KC.  Anyone want to ride along tomorrow?

Have some more cleaning to do today.  I didn’t sleep much last night as I took a nap yesterday.  I am really tired today but am going to attempt to keep moving and not give in to taking a much-needed nap.  It starts a cycle that I don’t like!  Nights sure are long when you can’t sleep.

Have you ever noticed the synchronization of the memes that are on your Facebook wall?  I get many of them from different sources and am always amazed how they carry the same message – especially when it is a message I need to hear.  Today they all seemed to be saying to stay true to myself and to keep my standards high.  I needed to hear that today!  Thank you Universe.

Grateful for the prompt response from my Endocrinologist this morning, grateful for the way the Universe sends me messages so I can hear them loud and clear, and grateful for the bright sun shining today.  My soul needed that today!

Quiet day at home today.  I finally got some sleep last night.  My first sleep was about three hours long and my second sleep was about the same.  It has been several weeks since I got six hours of sleep in one night.

It is rainy and cold outside today.  I thought about going to Costco in Wichita today but I don’t like driving in the rain.  It is to be nice both Monday and Tuesday so will wait and go then.  Think I will stay tucked inside today and be a hermit for the day.  I need my soul and body to sync up and sitting in the peace and quiet of my little house on the prairie helps me do that.

My Marine and his wife dropped off a vehicle this morning.  I was still in bed.  I’m glad I knew they were coming by or it might have scared me to hear them come in.  They are headed to AZ for the week so my Marine can go to class.  It will be a quiet week here without them.

Watched a movie on Prime Video this morning.  Worked on some embroidery work while I watched the movie but it didn’t hold much interest for me.  Not sure if it is the pattern I am working on that I don’t like or if I am done with embroidery work for a bit.  Maybe I burned myself out on it doing so much earlier this year.  If it starts getting cold I can start knitting again and get some more yarn worked up.  I want to get the tub of yarn in my closet worked up this winter.  Have more downstairs too but can’t get to it right now.  I gave away all the dish rags I had knitted to family members last Sunday.  Need to get started making another big pile of them.

Wonder if we will get the snow predicted for later today.  Sure seems early to get snow.  What happened to fall?  Thinking we might have a real winter this year.  We haven’t had a really hard winter for some time.  Not my favorite time of the year with the long dark nights and short days.  I gather my energy from the sun and that is hard to do in the winter time.

Got the heat lamp hooked up for the chicken coop yesterday.  I need to bring the water containers that are outside in the pen up to the house so I can get them cleaned out and stored for the winter time.  I closed the windows so the chickens can stay a bit warmer and drier.  Need to take some fresh straw down and scatter in the coop so they can stay warmer.

Wednesday two guests are coming for one night and Thursday I am going to KC to help Nicole with a project she is working on.  Friday a repeat guest is coming in for two nights.  One of my long-term guests will be here next week too.  So grateful for my guests as this house feels mighty big and empty with just me here now.

Friday I will need to go into Emporia for a blood draw.  Time to have my thyroid levels checked.  I want to send the Doctor a note on Monday to see if she wants to add any blood tests to what she has already ordered.  It crossed my mind that maybe the reason I am having trouble stopping the weight loss is because my thyroid levels are not in balance.  Not sure what tests she ordered so I want to check and see.  I may need a medication adjustment.  The thyroid controls your metabolism.  I’ve lost 17 pounds since I saw her in June.  I have an ultrasound scheduled for the end of October.

The Emporia library has their fall book sale going on.  Bag day is Tuesday so will go in and get four or five bags full so I have reading material for the winter.  I am helping with the book sale on Wednesday morning.  Last spring I was glad I had paid the $10 a bag price as they were pretty sold out by the time the bags were only $5.  I probably should go in today and pay the $1 – $3 a book price but I’m too cheap to do that.

I need to call and make an appointment to get my hair cut.  Trying to wait to get it done until the week before I leave for New Zealand but it is really bothering me so may go ahead and get it done this week.  Less than three weeks before my next big adventure starts.  Time to make a packing list and make sure I have everything I need.  I need to try on a couple of pair of pants and make sure they still fit.

I get home the week of Thanksgiving and want to do most of my Thanksgiving dinner shopping before I leave.  I’ll have to have my Marine set the turkey in the refrigerator while I am gone so it will be thawed so I can cook it on Thanksgiving.  I’ll buy everything but the perishable stuff before I leave so my list will be fairly easy to get the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.  The stores get so crowded I hate to shop then.  Once my list is complete it always feels like the hard part of fixing dinner is done.

Feels like I am having a life course adjustment.  I took the wrong path for a couple of weeks and feel like I am back on the right path again.  Not sure what is over the hill I am climbing but trusting it is exactly where I am to be.  I learned on the Camino to take one step at a time and to stay fully present.  That helped make the climb possible.  The present moment is all we ever have.  I plan for  the future but there is no guarantee I have a future.  This moment, right here, right now, is all there is.  I kinda like my peaceful moment of today.  I am attempting to secure in to it and lock in this feeling so I can return to it if needed.

Still need to do some work on securing “we”.  I can only do that work when “I” is secure.  I got rattled a bit and need to come back to “I” before I can do “We”.  One step forward and one back!  It is all good!  I love learning about myself and my habitual patterns.  Discouraging at times yet I have to look back to where I was a year ago and can appreciate the progress I have made.  You can’t eat the whole elephant in one setting!  One bite at a time!  One day at a time!  Sometimes one moment at a time!.

Grateful for my guests that come stay, grateful for the wisdom of my higher self, and grateful for the teachings from my mentor.

Damn!  My Match guy turned out to be a fraud.  I had started getting suspicious a few days ago.  He followed the same pattern the other guy had followed.  His profile disappeared as soon as we made contact.  A quick trip turned into an unexpected additional long trip overseas.  Only a brief phone conversation and a delay in meeting face to face.  This one was so cute I was hoping my intuition was wrong but I pulled the plug this morning.

I am surprised what I am feeling is relief.  I guess my higher self knew what was happening and helped protect my heart.  This guy was just too good to be true.

The quiet of the house even feels differently today.  There is a peace to it today that hasn’t been here for two or three days.

I reactivated my Match account but not sure it holds much interest to me right now.  Thinking I will take a break until I get home from my trip in November and decide then if I want to proceed.  I need to figure out why I am attracting the scammers.  At least now I know their pattern.

Went into Cottonwood Falls for the Fall for Chase County Event that is being held this afternoon.  The sun was shining and it felt good to get out of the house and walk up and down Main Street for a bit.  Stopped in at Prairie PastTimes and a lady was singing.  I had heard her before and she is really good.  Sat and listened to her for a bit until my ass got sore from sitting on a wooden chair.  Saw several friends as I walked up and down the street.

Came home and got the two beds made up.  I was able to salvage the sheets the dogs opened the package they were in.  One of the flat sheets has some light grass stain on it but it is the back-up set anyways that probably won’t get used.

Only got four eggs from my girls today.  I need to get the heat lamp hooked up yet today while it is fairly nice outside.  We are to get a hard freeze this week and I don’t want to have to thaw water.

While the Match experience is disappointing I did learn some new things about myself.  That is always good!  I have been surprised at myself that old thought patterns still activate and run when I get insecure.  They don’t feel like my truth anymore but they sure can get me headed in the wrong direction for a bit.  It is getting easier to stop them and turn them around but I do have to stay awake and alert to do so.  I also need to work on some of my insecurities and the way I view my body.  Not good enough came back into my mind again.  I still struggle to see my new body shape and when I get insecure all I see is the loose skin and wrinkles.

Life is an interesting journey isn’t it?  Full of life lessons if I am awake and ready to learn them.  Knowing and trusting when I am ready the right partner will appear and I will wonder why I even thought it would never happen!

Grateful for my high self and the wisdom it gives me when I listen to it, grateful  for all the friends I have in Chase County and the hugs I got today from them, and grateful for life lessons and the ability to grow and expand my ranges – even when the lessons suck!

Happy birthday Mom!  Hard to believe you would have turned 89 today.  You always lived your life as if you were 20 years younger than you were.  I think of you everyday and am so very grateful for the time we spent together and how we became best friends.

This morning I worked on resetting the two guest rooms.  My guest that was to come in for the weekend cancelled so I will have the house to myself this weekend again.  Good news is I will still get paid for the weekend stay even though she won’t be here.  Now that is an easy guest!

I went to Pioneer Bluffs late morning to help do some data entry.  Ate my lunch and then attended the Board meeting.  Only one more meeting to go!  Found myself in the observer role at the meeting today.  Interesting to watch the dynamics at play between other board members.

When I got home I found the package of new sheets I had ordered in the yard.  One of the two inner packages had been totally opened and the sheets and pillowcases were in the grass.  The other inner package was still mostly intact.  Two of the pillowcases had holes in them.  I treated the sheets with a stain remover and threw them in the washer.  I’ll see if I was able to salvage them.  Seriously need to teach my dogs some better manners.  It is rude of them to open someone else’s packages.

My Colonel (match guy) is on his way out of the country for a work assignment.  He had WiFi on board so we have been texting this afternoon.  I realized on the way home I had been holding some fear about fitting into his life style.  I also realized I will be asking him to make some major life changes to fit into my life style too.  That seemed to help me release the fear I was holding.   So far I haven’t found much to not like about this guy.  He is helping me get outside my comfort level and is helping me find ranges I need to open.  I always appreciate that!  I am really looking forward to meeting him face to face when he comes to visit me the end of the month.

My Marine won’t be here next week as he is going to AZ for class.  It will really be weird not to have him around in the evenings.  I don’t even want to think what it will be like when he moves on after the first of the year.  I have come to love both him and his wife.

I am going to KC next Thursday to help Nicole.  I had forgotten to book off Wednesday and Thursday night so guests wouldn’t book.  I had a couple instant book for next Wednesday night.  I’ll still be able to go to KC but won’t be able to leave very early unless the guests get out of the house early.  I seldom have mid-week guests so didn’t think about blocking the time off.  Sometimes I forget I work!

Another quiet weekend by myself.  Not sure what I am going to do tomorrow.  Have laundry to finish and some cleaning that needs done but other than that nothing on my to-do list.

May need to break down and turn the furnace on this weekend.  It is to get down to the mid to upper 20’s both Sunday and Monday nights.  What happened to fall temperatures?   We went from summer directly to winter!  Not ready for cold weather.

Sitting in my peaceful valley tonight.  I’m grateful I figured out I was sitting in fear and able to release it.  Funny how a little mind shift can help.  I have been observing my monkey mind chatter and attempting to quiet it when I play a self-doubting old mind tape.  I can spin out of control pretty quickly with my thoughts.

Grateful for my mother and all the ways she cared for me, grateful for figuring out where my fear was coming from and being able to release it, and grateful for knowing the chatter in my mind is no longer my truth.

In honor of the third anniversary of walking the Camino de Santiago I am going to repost my entry from October 11, 2015

500 miles traveled mainly on foot! My journey on the Camino is finished!

I left this morning a little after 8:00.  It was just barely light enough to see the ground as I traveled down a tree-lined path.  Thankfully there were not a lot of big rocks I had to walk around.  It was cloudy but dry this morning.

I walked slowly all morning, savoring the last miles of the Camino.  I knew I couldn’t be there for the noon mass so decided to walk slowly.  As people passed that recognized me we would stop and give each other a hug.

It started sprinkling late morning but never did rain hard today.

About two miles away from Santiago my feet were really hurting and I needed to sit down for a bit.  There was an outdoor restaurant and I thought the building next to it was the inside part of the restaurant so I went inside.  It turned out to be a simple little church.  As I walked in I felt a wave of emotion flood through me.

I found a pew and sat down.  I immediately started crying.  Relief, sadness, you name it and I felt them all flood through me.  There was a man beside me and when he got up to leave I stood up so he could get out of the pew.  He gave me a hug as he left as he could see I was crying.

His hug felt like I was hugged by God.

When I finally stopped crying and came outside he was gone.  I walked the rest of the way alone into Santiago.  The trail was empty at this point so I got to walk in silence and alone!  Perfect for me today!

I saw an Italian restaurant and decided to stop and have lunch before I reached the cathedral.

Inside the restaurant was one of the ladies I had met a day or two ago that rode a horse yesterday.  Sitting beside her was the man from the church!  We had lunch together and I was able to tell him how much that hug meant to me.

His name is Daniel and he is from Ireland.  His wife died of cancer 12 years ago and he raised his four children by himself.  The youngest will be starting college soon.

He ended up walking into town with me and we got our Compostela together.  He shared his story with me on the walk into town.  We shared tears and hugs after we received our Compostela.

It was a beautiful ending to my Camino.

While I was at the church this afternoon I got a deep sense of coming home to myself.  Camino complete!

I didn’t sleep much at all last night.  Stayed in bed late this morning trying to wring out one more hour of sleep.  Probably should have just gotten up and given up.  Sometimes sleep just can’t find me.

Went into Emporia after I ate breakfast and ran some errands and got groceries.  Glad those things are crossed off my list.  Don’t have much else that has to be done today.  Since the sun is shining today maybe my energy level will rise and I will get motivated to do something.  Need to move my body today and warm up.  It is in the 40’s today outside.  Only going to reach the low 50’s for the high of the day.  More rain is in the forecast starting tomorrow and through the weekend.  May bundle up and go outside for a long walk. I feel like I haven’t been outside much lately due to all the rain.

Just had the best surprise of the day.  The friends I met on the Camino from California FaceTime with me.  It was an absolute delight to see their beautiful faces and talk with them.  I love technology when things like that can happen.

Made tentative plans with my Match guy last night for us to meet towards the end of October.  He is going out of the country on a work assignment for 14 days but when he gets back we are going to arrange a way to meet before I leave for New Zealand on November 2.  Trusting we can make this happen.

I am not sore today after my fall yesterday.  Very grateful for that!  I had fallen after tripping myself in a vine that was growing around the water pump by the barn.  I had filled a five gallon bucket of water for the chickens.  Thankfully the water went one way and I bounced the other way.  I went all the way down and landed on my shoulder first.  I was able to carry the bucket of water down to the chickens after the fall and I used that arm to carry it with so I knew nothing was broken.  I got lucky!

I got a notification that the shoes I had ordered had been delivered.  I went outside looking for them last night but couldn’t find the package.  Sometimes they take my packages to my neighbor’s house.  As I left the house this morning I saw my package in the front yard – opened.  Lucky it didn’t rain last night and ruin the new shoes.  They were completely out of the box and have dog slobbers on them.  I think I can clean them up after they dry.  I am going to have to teach the dogs how to read – I didn’t see their name on the package!   Thinking I will give them each some wrapped, empty boxes for Christmas.  They love to open packages.

My Note From the Universe today reminded me of the beauty of sitting in uncertainly.  The timing of that note was spot on.  Lots of uncertainly in my world right now.  Doing my best to allow it to be what it is and sit with it.  Goes against my habitual pattern to  do nothing with it.  At times it feels good to be able to do so and other times my practical brain wants me to throw in the towel and do something.  Reminding myself to stay out of resistance and action and to sit with the uncertainly and allow it to be what it is.

I also have a habit of going to the worse case outcome and assuming that is what will happen.  When I catch myself doing that I stop, pause and say a positive mantra.  I have so many habitual patterns to break.  Love when I discover them as it is hard to change something you don’t know about.  It is getting easier and easier for me to break out of the habitual pattern.  The hard part is recognizing them for what they are.  For some reason the Universe is giving me lots of opportunities to break my ranges wide open right now.  Sometimes it feels overwhelming but when I can stay grounded and centered it feels right and easy.

Grateful for FaceTime and the chance to see and visit with my dear friends, grateful for the bright sunshine today, and grateful for the ranges and habitual patterns that I am breaking open in my life right now.

My two guests last night arrived around 8:30.  I showed them their room and didn’t hear anything from them until this morning.  They had been driving all day and were ready to crash.  They came up this morning and fixed breakfast and then left.  Easy guests to have around!  This was the first time they had stayed in an Airbnb.  They booked another one for tonight so they must have enjoyed their visit.

Have been working on laundry and cleaning today.  The guest that was coming in this weekend cancelled so I will have the house to myself again all weekend.  My Marine is going to AZ for training Friday and won’t be here all next week.  Nothing on my calendar to do this weekend.  Sounds like it might rain again and be a bit cold so not thinking being outdoors will be something I will want to plan to do.

A friend came over for a business lunch today.  Always nice to have company to eat a meal with.

My Marine took me with him looking at the flood water yesterday afternoon.  He was looking for deer but we didn’t see any.  We had to turn around twice as the water over the road was either running too fast or was too deep to drive through.  The hills are beautiful right now with the shades of gold and red appearing.  Lots of water in the ditches.  Nice to see the creeks running and the ponds full.

The water that was coming up through the floor in the closet has stopped coming up this morning.  I am leaving the fan on it to help it get dried out so I don’t develop a mold issue.  The water ban in Chase County has finally been lifted.  So grateful the water tables below ground are full again.

I slept better last night than I have been but am very tired this afternoon.  Seems like when my body finally gets some sleep it wants more and more of it.  Not sure if I will give in and take a nap or not.  I need some groceries and may run into Emporia today to get them taken care of.  If not today, then I will have to go in the morning.

The wind is sharp today.  It is to get down to 33 tonight and there is a freeze warning out.  Not sure I am ready for winter – what happened to fall?  More rain in the forecast for the weekend.  It may be a bit before I will get to mow my yard again.

Got a phone call from the Pharmacy about the grievance I had filed.  Not sure I bought his story but got the medication discontinued so it won’t get refilled.  My Doctor had sent new prescriptions when I switched to the new company and then the pharmacy I had before transferred the prescriptions.  Somehow when one or the other scripts were entered the permission to fill box was checked automatically, even though my web page didn’t show that.  Sounds fishy to me!  Still may look to change prescription companies when it is open enrollment time to do so.

Dropped another pound this morning.  I am now five pounds below goal weight.  The weight loss has slowed down so am trusting I won’t keep losing weight.  My BMI was 20.3 this morning and I don’t want it to get below 20.0.   I am slowly starting to see myself as a thin person although I don’t think I am completely there yet.  I have added food to each of my meals and can barely eat all of them so not sure what I will do if I keep losing weight.  Who would have thought I would have this issue?  Wow!  I have been eating the Bright Lines Way for eight months now.  Rarely do I get an urge to cheat or really even think about cheating.  My body seems to like what I am doing.  Have lots less aches and pains and have lots more energy than I did when I started.  I have lost 46 pounds in 8 months and 66 pounds since a year ago.

Sitting in my peaceful valley but feeling a bit restless today. Had a caution flag wave at me yesterday and need to process it.  I have learned to stop, ground and center myself when those come up for me.  Sometimes I am just cranky and tired and they don’t need anything done about them but sometimes I really need to pay attention.  Stopping and listening to my wiser self tends to work best when I am grounded, centered and well rested.  I’ll see how this one plays out.  I am very aware of my impulsive habit and am giving it some attention so I can break that pattern.  Thinking the restlessness is due to sitting with the urge to do something NOW about it instead of pausing.  Always something new to learn about myself.

Grateful for easy guests, grateful for finding the Bright Line Eating Plan, and grateful for the teachings of my mentor.  When I pay attention my life is easy flowing – even when it sucks!

Received a request for two people to stay for one night.  They will be arriving this evening and checking out in the morning.  They are traveling from Boulder to St. Louis and wanted to spend some time at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve tomorrow morning.  Hopefully the rain will end and they will get to walk some of the wet and muddy trails.

Dumped out 4.25 inches last night from my rain gauge and already have over 2 more inches in it with the forecast showing rain all day today.  My back yard looks like a swimming pool.  I have a little bit of water coming up from the floor in the back closet in the basement.  I mopped it up last night and put a fan on it.  Had to mop up even more this morning.  Thinking the water table below the house is finally full.  The good news is there is no water in the hiddy hole room.  That used to be the room that leaked.  Some guests sealed it for me and it has held nicely since.  Thanks Robin!

My Marine went to work this morning but returned quickly as his work day was cancelled.  He is taking a nap and then is going to go out and look at the flooding around the area.  Typical KS behavior during floods!  Lots of roads are closed around here and I bet more will flood by the end of the day.  It is hard for the ground to absorb six to eight inches of rain in a short period of time.

My Match guy had to go to DC today.  He got called yesterday and received a request to come.  He sure lives in a different world than I do.  I can stick my head in the prairie and ignore the world’s troubles for the most part.  He is directly involved in some of the nasty stuff.  It will be interesting when I finally get to meet him and hear more about what he is doing – at least the part he can share.

Got the guest rooms cleaned for the guests coming in this afternoon.  Due to the rain lots of spiders and other bugs are coming in to find dry ground.  Swept them all up.  Once the towels are dry and put away the rooms will be ready for them.

Nothing else I have to do today.  The guests won’t be here until after 7:00 so have all day free.  May take a nap again as I didn’t sleep much again last night.

Star, my pure breed Great Pyrenees turned two years old today.  She is finally considered full-grown.  Guessing she weighs close to 100 pounds if not over.  She is the trouble-maker of the three dogs.  She needs to learn some manners!

Just noticed my socks are wet and don’t match.  My feet were cold this morning so I put on my thick hiking socks and no shoes.  When I went down to mop the basement I must have gotten them wet.  It is nice to finally be able to go barefoot.  Before I had my feet operated on I couldn’t go without shoes as it hurt too bad.  The new Birkenstock’s I got have been very comfortable.  I ordered some lined croc like shoes that should be here tomorrow.  Hoping they will be comfortable too.

Sitting in my peaceful valley today.  I can feel myself opening new ranges all the time.  When I am well-grounded it feels good to do so.  Change is the one constant in this world.  Reminding myself to go with the flow and stay out of resistance.  I sometimes want to figure everything out ahead of time and have found that wastes my energy.  I have to trust myself more and ride the waves.  Life is a mystery and I’m not sure we are to know all the answers.  Sometimes sitting with the question is much more productive for me.  Answers eventually find me – or not!  The Universe has its own sense of timing and when I can match timing that life is easier.

Grateful for guests, grateful for my Match guy, and grateful for being able (at least in this moment) to embrace change and open new ranges within.

My rain gauge has over 4 inches in it.  I haven’t dumped it this weekend.  More rain is in the forecast.  The gauge only holds 5 so I will need to dump it to make room for the additional rain headed my way.  Grateful for rain!

My Marine got home last night.  He got slowed down due to the rain.  I was tired and didn’t wait up for him.  I must have slept good for a bit as I didn’t hear him come in.

Woke up in the middle of the night and found an email from my pharmacy.  The email was notifying me that a prescription order was being processed.  The only problem was I hadn’t authorized the refill and I no longer take the medication.  I called them although I really wasn’t expecting anyone would answer.  They did and I explained the problem.  The clerk said she would request the order be caught and cancelled but there was no guarantee that would happen.  I ask to speak to her supervisor.  She wasn’t very happy with me but transferred me to a different person.  That person told me the same thing.  When I expressed my disappointment in her answer she did some more investigation.  She found out that the medication was not on automatic refill but that someone had requested it.  When I insisted I had not requested it she mentioned something about a grievance I could file if the medication was shipped.  I told her I wanted to file a grievance now.  She finally cooperated and wrote up the paperwork and gave me a case number.

This morning I received an email telling me the order had been cancelled.  Not sure they would have caught it if I hadn’t file a grievance.  Wondering if I should change prescription companies at the end of the year.  I am not impressed with their service.

I was more concerned about the insurance cost getting charge to my account and putting me in the donut hole for a medication I wouldn’t be able to use.    I trust the grievance will uncover what happened and how the medication got approved to order.  I’ll see how it turns out and if I am not satisfied in their response I will change companies.

I went into Emporia this morning to go to Walmart.  I needed a few more pair of jeans.  A few pair I had are too big for me now.  Trusting I have hit the bottom of my weight loss journey and the jeans I got today will be the ones I will be able to wear all winter.  I picked up a new shirt.  When I went to checkout I discovered the price tag was missing.  The clerk came over to help me and punched in numbers to make it $5.00 after I told her I would get it next time.  What a bargain!  She also found a coupon for me as I had purchased three greeting cards.  I don’t usually see that type of service at my local Walmart.

This is an empty space type of day.  Am doing some laundry and cleaning but other than that nothing that has to be done.  My whole week is like that.  By Friday I may be going a little stir crazy.  Anyone have something they need help with?  Lunch anyone?  Hit me up!

Still texting with the Match guy.  I kinda thought he would call yesterday afternoon but didn’t.  He seems to take two steps forward and then pulls back.  It is kinda scary to move forward together.  I feel like I have been doing the same thing.  Am I ready for a relationship?  Still not sure but that has never held me back before.  I’m not sure I am ever 100% ready for something new.  Sometimes one just has to jump and see what happens.

May go back to bed for a bit.  I slept hard from 9:00 to midnight and then only off and on the rest of the night.  I’m glad I woke up though as it got the medication order stopped.  I am overdue for a sleep crash.  It has been several weeks since I got more than three or four hours of sleep in one night.  My sleep tank is running on empty.

The sun is trying to come out and play for a bit.  It is nice to see it.  It has been on vacation for several days.  Nice of it to check in on the prairie.  I always feel better when the sun is shining.

Still in my peaceful valley today.  The empty space feels healing to me right now.  I feel the need to do a deep meditation and deeply ground myself to Mother Earth.  More change is headed my way and change is always easier for me if I can stay centered and grounded.

Grateful for rain on the prairie, grateful for getting my medication stopped, and grateful for empty space that feels healing.

Just got home from the reunion.  Had a smaller than normal crowd today with lots of food leftover.  I took a chocolate sheet cake, a meat loaf and roasted vegetables.  Gave away most of the cake and meat loaf.  Saved a bit for my Marine.

It is always a delight to see my two remaining Aunts.  Both are finally starting to slow down a bit and look closer to their age.  Still can’t believe they are in their 80’s.  I love them both dearly and so appreciate them.

It has been a foggy and rainy day on the prairie today.  Got another inch of rain overnight and today.  Rain continues to be in the forecast for the next couple of days. The ground is getting soggy for the first time all year.  This will help fill the ponds for the winter time and hopefully fill the water table below ground too.

I had to turn the fireplace on this morning and again when I got home to take the chill out of the air.  Not used to 50’s yet.  Like them better than the 90’s but not sure why we had to swing so quickly to them.  What happened to the 70’s?

I was going to go to Pioneer Bluffs tomorrow to help clean up but they decided we didn’t need to do so.  I now have been gifted a completely empty space type of day for tomorrow.  I have a meeting to go to Friday afternoon if my guest doesn’t plan on arriving early.  Other than that this week is empty space!  That hasn’t happened for a bit.  I will have my normal Airbnb hostess duties to do but nothing else that has to be done all week.  Sometimes when I have lots of empty space I can find trouble to get into!  Trusting this time I will cherish the empty space and find something productive to do with myself.  Anyone need some help?  I’m free!

Thought of Mom today.  I used her recipes to make the chocolate sheet cake and meatloaf.  Felt like I took her with me to the reunion by making her food.   My Aunts are so much like her when I spend time with them I feel like I got to spend time with Mom.  I felt her with me today.

Both of my baby brothers came to the reunion today.  It was nice to see them.  We live so close yet rarely spend time with each other.  There were two babies that had been born this year at the reunion.  The family continues to grow!

I have a quiet mind this afternoon.  The roller coaster I had been on earlier seems to have leveled out.  Found my peaceful valley again.  Trusting with the empty space week ahead of me I can secure myself into this space and place and hold my center.

Grateful for the family that gathered today and the love and laughter that was shared, grateful for a week ahead of me full of empty space and that it feels like breathing space to me, and grateful for my peaceful valley and the peace of heart it brings to me.

Just got home from the Pioneer Bluffs Fall Festival.  I did the chicken chores when I got home.  Didn’t need to take lettuce to them as they were already roosting since it is dark out.  Only got 6 eggs today – the slackers.

I went to Pioneer Bluffs around 10:30 this morning.  I didn’t have anything I needed to do here and decided I might as well go early and help.  Set up tables, chairs, etc helping get ready for the Festival.  We lucked out and the rain held off until the very end of the day.  It was a tad bit chilly in the barn but as long as the doors stayed closed it was bearable.

Not sure how many people showed up – guessing a little over 100.  People came and went all day long so it was hard to get a good estimate on numbers.  This Festival was very different from what we have done in the past.  Seemed more authentic and true to our purpose this year.

Part of our rebranding is to become the Ranching Heritage Site for the Flint Hills.  The entry room of the granary was remodeled as part of that effort and two new kiosk were added that tells our story.  People seemed to be impressed with what we had done.

We were short volunteers for the afternoon.  I was greeting, serving desserts, keeping an eye on the coffee and water and selling calendars.  Not sure I did anyone of them well.  I have forgotten how to multi-task.

Got rid of both pies and both pumpkin pie cakes.  Got several comments on them – they were well received.  Glad I haven’t lost my baking touch.  It had been a bit since I had baked a dessert.

Got a chance to talk to several of the guests and other volunteers.  It was a nice day for me.  Time went by quickly as I stayed busy most of the time.

Late afternoon I got my first phone call from my Match guy.  We have been texting up to this point.  Was nice to hear what his voice sounds like.  We didn’t get to talk very long as I was busy and he was getting ready to go to a dinner meeting.  Betting we spend more time on the phone tomorrow.

Last night I took a dip in the muck pond for a bit.  Didn’t stay in it very long.  Had a good cry and felt better.  Not sure if it is the new moon, all the political shit happening, all the change that is going on around me or what but I got pulled off-center for a bit.  I didn’t sleep much again last night but am doing much better today.  Sometimes I think I just need to hit bottom so I can kick off and climb higher afterwards.  At least this time I recognized immediately what happened and was able to immediately surrender and climb out quickly.  I used to live in the muck pond.

Felt good to be in service most of the day today.  Hoping the physical activity I did today will help me finally get a good night’s sleep tonight.  I look forward to my soaker bath tonight to warm back up again.

Tomorrow I have a family reunion to go to.  This is one of my favorite days of the year.  My mom had three sisters and this is when the four families get together.  We keep growing in numbers every year.  I will need to get up and going in the morning as I will need to fix some food to take.  At least I know what I am going to take – that is always the hardest part.

Monday I am going back to Pioneer Bluffs to help clean-up.  Everyone was tired tonight and decided it could wait until Monday.  The rest of next week at this point is fairly empty.  I have one new guest coming in Friday and staying until Sunday.  Two of my long-term guests will be back Monday evening and staying until Friday morning.

I have less than a month before I leave for Australia and New Zealand.  I need to make a list of what I want to take and make sure I haven’t misssed anything.  May need to make one more trip to KC to finish up before the trip.

Grateful for a fun day at Pioneer Bluffs and a chance to be in service, grateful my trip into the muck pond yesterday was short-lived, and grateful for the rain the prairie received last night.

It has been a productive morning.  Have the last of five loads of laundry washing.  Made up two beds with fresh sheets.  Moved one of the twin beds out of a room and moved the recliner into that room.  This way one of my long-term boarders will have more room in her room.  She studies at night so thought the recliner would be more comfortable for her than laying on the bed.  Set out the heaters in each room as it has been getting cool at night.

Baked two pumpkin pies for the Pioneer Bluffs Round-up tomorrow.  Am going to also bake two pumpkin pie cakes this afternoon to take.

The house is empty except for me until Monday evening.  It has been a while since I had the whole house to myself for more than a day or two.  The house feels mighty big and empty to me today.  I am remembering why I want to find a life partner.  I enjoy empty space and an empty house but not sure I want to live like this the rest of my life.  Feeling a touch lonely today for some reason.  That doesn’t happen often.  Thinking it is because of the guy I am texting with.  I find myself projecting into the future with him.  Not sure that is a wise thing for me to be doing.  Way too early for that!  When I catch myself doing so I come back to my breath and the present moment.  Right here, right now is all I have and know is true.

Got the chicken coop cleaned out yesterday.  The girls love to rearrange their fresh linens.  Wish it made them lay more eggs.  Only got four eggs yesterday.  They are slacking on the job!

I went through my files and pulled the bills from 2017.  I will box them up and take them down to the barn for storage.  Sure doesn’t take long to do that task now – when we had the stores that task was an all day project.  Almost time I can start getting rid of the 2012 records.  That will only leave the 2013 records which is the year we sold the stores in April of that year.  The shelves in the barn are starting to get emptied out.  Feels good to get rid of that energy from the past.

May take a few minutes and update my tax records for this year.  I do that quarterly and if I stay on top of it I can get that task done in 30 minutes or so.  Sure makes tax prep at the end of the year easier.  I do want to call my accountant and check in with my projected income numbers to make sure I don’t need to pay an estimated income tax payment this year.  I think I am good but wouldn’t hurt to check.  I hate paying penalties for stuff like that.  It is hard to estimate the sales number for the Airbnb.  I think I can come close for the year now though.  Having to replace two roofs on the rentals will help at tax time too.

Not sure what I am going to do this afternoon.  Haven’t finished all the cleaning I wanted to get done but have a good start on it.  Hopefully the urge to get that finished up will hit me and I can cross that off my list.  I love having  a completely detailed clean house.  Wish I didn’t procrastinate on getting it done.

Sitting with curiosity as to why I feel lonely today.  Allowing it to be what it is.  Knowing it has something to teach me.  Softening my heart and allowing energy to flow freely in and out.  Knowing all is well.  I have been curious about the self-doubt thoughts that have been surfacing lately.  Many are old tapes that seem to be playing again.  So far I haven’t fallen for my old stories about myself.  When one pops up I have been replacing it with a positive mantra.  Being grounded and centered helps make that practice easier.

Grateful for a burst of productivity today, grateful for having learned some practices to keep myself out of the muck pond, and grateful for being able to allow my feelings to be what they are.  They dissipate much quicker when I can do that.

What a difference a day makes in KS.  Only in the low to mid 50’s today after hitting 90 yesterday.  Got almost 1 1/2 inch of rain overnight.  It was so nice to hear the thunder echoing over the hills last night.  The wind blew hard for a bit at times.  More rain is in the forecast through the weekend.  I welcome every drop.

Got three of the four bathrooms cleaned this morning.  Still have my bathroom to clean.  Have a couple more little housecleaning projects I want to get done this afternoon.  May get down and get the chicken coop cleaned out.  It is nice and cool out and a good day to get that project done.

Went into Emporia this morning to get groceries.  It is supposed to rain most of the day tomorrow and decided to get groceries while it was dry out.  I am making some desserts to take to Pioneer Bluffs Fall Round-Up Saturday and I needed stuff for that as well as for a meat loaf and roasted veggies to take to the family reunion Sunday. I was going to get a new trash can while I was in town but filled my car with groceries and didn’t have room for the trash can.  The wife of my Marine was going to town this afternoon and offered to pick one up for me.  How sweet is that?

It is so nice to have lots of empty space right now.  I thought I had collected the bits and pieces of myself yesterday but they scattered to the wind again today.  I feel them slowly coming back in as I stop and Be for a bit.  I need to slow way down and allow all of me to get in sync.  Too much change happening around me too fast.  I need to catch up by slowing down!

I didn’t get my appreciation letters written yesterday so that is on my schedule for this afternoon.  I needed to slow down and gather my thoughts so I could write them.  I was too scattered yesterday to do so.  Maybe this afternoon the words will come to me.

Ordered some shoes yesterday.  I had gotten a catalog and happened to see a pair of black flats I can wear with dresses.  I usually don’t like to order stuff like that as returns can be problematic but decided to take a chance.  I don’t want to drive back to KC next week just for shoes.

My insurance agent called this morning and finalized the insurance for the new investment property I had purchased Monday.  I have another company I had used for the other three but decided to go with the agent that has my personal house insurance for this property.  She is easy to deal with and was willing to call my property manager and get the details fo the property from him.  I wasn’t sure the other company would do that without a hassle.  Her rate was a bit higher but not out of reason.

This sure feels like it may be a nap day.  For some reason I am sleepy today.  I got some sleep last night – although not much in a row.  I had opened my bedroom window and it got down right cold in my bedroom during the night.  Had to turn the electric blanket on.

Need to get the dog collars charged today.  It is nice and cool outside and I haven’t caught them in the garage yet.  These dogs love cold weather!  They don’t even seem to mind the rain.

I managed to change the light bulb in the high living room ceiling by myself yesterday using the extension pole.  For some reason I was able to hit the hole on the first try and had no issue at all.  I looked like a professional changing it.  I get ridiculously proud of myself when I can do a simple job like that with no issues.  Doesn’t happen very often!

Slowing things way down today to gather myself back together.  May or may not get more housecleaning done.  One thing I have learned about dust is that it waits for me!  Refilling my soul and taking some time to completely gather myself feels more important to do today – especially since I have to be around people all weekend.  If I don’t go into the weekend with a filled soul I will be completely drained by Sunday evening and it will take all week to recover.

Grateful for the rain and thunder the prairie received last night, grateful for empty space so I can refill by soul, and grateful I have finally figured out how to practice self-care and allow myself the space to care for myself.  That hasn’t happened much in the past!

Got a bit more sleep last night than the night before.  I had turned the A/C back on so it was nice and cool in my bedroom.  That helped some.  Looking forward to the cold front coming in tonight so I can turn the A/C back off.

Hand mopped the living room floor this morning.  Wore a blister on my knee.  I washed the woodwork and found lots of dirt.  Feels good to be sitting in a very clean living room now.  I also got the front entry way cleaned.  I’ll do some more cleaning this afternoon.  Hope to get the entire house cleaned by Friday.

The wind is howling today.  Glad I got my mowing done last night.  It is dusty and dry again.  Came in from mowing with grass stuck in places on my body it didn’t belong. The high for today is to be 90 and the high for tomorrow is to be 59.  Gotta love KS weather.

A year ago tomorrow I had my thyroid removed.  Hard to believe it has been that long.  What a roller coaster ride that whole thyroid episode took me on.  So grateful everything turned out the way it did and it now feels like the drama of all of it is behind me.  I will go have another ultrasound later this month along with another panel of blood work.  Next year I won’t have to be followed so closely.

Found out my Match guy was an accountant in the Army.  That explains some of his behavior to me.  Things he has texted make more sense now.  It feels like I have known him much longer than I actually have.  He is easy to text with and has a wonderful sense of humor.

Another light bulb burned out in my living room.  Think I will wait and have my guy replace it when he gets off work tonight.  It only takes him two minutes to replace the bulb and it takes me 30.  He makes it look easy.  Nice to have a guy around the house that is handy like he is.

I am lots more focused and can stay on task today.  Yesterday I had one of those days where I couldn’t remember what I got up to do.  My mind was racing yesterday but kept changing tracks.  Today it is much calmer and quiet.  Grateful!

I’m already behind on my Gratitude Project for the month.  I’ll need to write two notes today to catch up.  Attempting to send a note each day during October to someone who has made an impact on my life.  I think sometimes we forget to tell people how much they mean to us.   The Mr. Rogers documentary I saw inspired me to start this project.  I am also working to secure “we” and am thinking this project will help with that too.  I have realized I have had to be independent for so long that I forget about others and the way they helped me and would help me even more if I would allow them too.  We aren’t meant to live life like a hermit – we need each other.  It is too easy for me to become a hermit and not deal with others.  If I want to allow a partner in to my life I need to break that pattern and habit.

Allowing this day to unfold at a slower pace.  When I get that hurry up rush I stop and do nothing for a bit.  It is helping me to re-ground and find my center again.  My peaceful valley of life is slowly coming back to me.  My bits and pieces seem to be coming back together and I am not so scattered.  Grateful I have three days in a row with nothing on my calendar so I can pull myself back together again.

Grateful to get the house cleaning project started, grateful the thyroid cancer is quickly becoming a thing of the past, and grateful for finding my center again.  I miss it when I can’t access it.  Life is much easier when I can access my easy button – which is being grounded and centered.

Had a delightful evening sitting out in the swings with my guests last night.  It cooled down nicely and it felt good to have the fire on.  The guests from New Zealand were so fun to visit with.  When they left this morning they told me to get hold of them if we have a free day in one of the cities I will be in while visiting New Zealand and they would drive up and take us out to see the country outside of the tourist spots.  Not sure we have a free day in that city but if we do I just might take them up on their offer.

I didn’t sleep much at all last night.  Sometimes that happens when I take a nap and sometimes it doesn’t.  I am really tired this afternoon but I will stay up today and hopefully be able to crash tonight.

Went to Pioneer Bluffs after my guests left around 9:00 this morning.  There was a meeting of about 65 people being held at Pioneer Bluffs and I was asked to help serve the lunch.  The guys we served were very polite and gracious.  I could tell a bunch were from OK as they called me Mam.  I felt old!

When I first got to Pioneer Bluffs I could smell a dead mouse.  One of the other volunteers could smell it too.  We decided we needed to find it and get rid of it as it was close to where we were going to be serving the desserts.  I looked under the sink and opened a box and found it.  It was a rat about the size of a fist.  YUCK!  It had been dead for some time.  There was a guy there and I hollered for him.  He picked up the box the rat was in and took it to the tree line and dumped it out.  I could have done it but decided to take advantage and ask the man to do it.  I thanked him a couple of times for his service.  The smell got stuck in my nose hairs.  I was glad when the BBQ arrived and I went over and took a good whiff of the BBQ to get the dead rat smell to go away.

Came home a little after one.  The guy I have been texting had sent me a box of a dozen chocolate dipped fruit pieces.  How sweet is that?

Am working on doing laundry and cleaning the room that the guests from New Zealand used.  I need to get that room cleaned so one of my long-termers can move into that room this week.  Then I will use the two connecting rooms for short-term guests.

Still feeling like I am running a bit behind since I got home from the city.  Thankfully I have three empty space days coming up so should be able to get caught up.  My upstairs needs cleaned badly as does the great room and kitchen downstairs.  I should have plenty of time the next three days to get everything cleaned up.

Saturday I will go back to Pioneer Bluffs to help with the Fall Round-Up from 1:00 – 7:00.  Sunday I have a family reunion to go to in Marion.  I do need to get to the grocery store one day this week to get stuff so I can make  food to take to the reunion.  I’m going to make a meat loaf and roasted veggies – that way I will have something I can eat.

I hid my Match account for a bit.  I want to see where the Match I have been texting is going.  I can’t talk to two guys at the same time.  A couple of others have sent messages over the last few days.  I really like the guy I am texting with now and want to give him my full attention.  Still not sure where it will go – if anywhere – but I want to give it a chance to work.  I will open the visibility of my account back up if this Match flames out.

Struggling to stay focused today and get things done.  Probably from not sleeping much last night.  I feel like I have a lot to do yet I’m not sure that is true.  There is an internal pressure inside telling me to go faster and faster.  Usually when that happens what would really serve me better is to stop and do nothing for a bit.  Thinking my body is struggling to keep up with all the changes happening around me lately.  The pieces of me don’t seem to be in sync with each other.

Got some mowing done last night and will go out tonight when it cools down and finish that job.  I got started mowing late as my guests had come up and wanted to visit.  Hopefully I’ll get started a bit earlier tonight and have time to finish the rest of the yard.

Grateful for the guy that helped me out and dumped the dead rat, grateful for the gift the Match guy sent me, and grateful for knowing what my body really needs and that I have some empty space days ahead of me so I can get back into sync.

Signed papers purchasing my fourth investment property today.  Closing took all of five minutes.  Called the insurance lady and she is arranging insurance for the property.  She has to call my business partner to get the details of the property as I haven’t been in it yet.  My business partner sure makes it easy for me.

Stopped and got a few groceries while I was in town.  Cleaned out the pantry a bit.  The pantry is feeling crowded to me so need to do some more work in it.  I really need to go through every shelf and find what I haven’t used for a long time if ever and get rid of it.  It may just be crowded because I buy guest stuff in bulk and have the shelves pretty full right now.

Took a nap this afternoon.  I needed to get caught up with some sleep from the weekend.  Being in city energy drains me faster than anything I know.  For some reason I sleep best in the middle of the day.

My guests have been in and out today.  They are very nice and I have enjoyed having them around.  She did some laundry today but wanted to hang it out on the clothes line instead of using the dryer.  She was excited to see that I had a clothes line.  They leave tomorrow morning.

Still texting the same guy.  We haven’t moved to phone calls yet.  We do exchange a lot of texts a day though.  Still not sure where this is going but am having fun.  He has a wonderful sense of humor and I am enjoying that.  He is a big romantic guy too.  Not creepy romantic like the last guy.

I am doing a personal challenge for October.  Everyday during October I want to send a different person a note – either handwritten or through email – letting them know how much they mean to me and how they helped change the direction of my life.  I am working on securing “we” and this challenge may help me do that.

I sent my first note via Facebook Messenger to the leader of the Spirit Plant Retreat I attended last December in Peru.  I let him know all that has happened to me since that retreat and how much I appreciate him.  In his response he said he had been talking with someone just a few days ago about me.  He shared with them how I had used the barf bucket to shit in during the second ceremony.  I wrote back that I guess that is one way to get him to remember me!  That retreat was one of those pivotal events in my life.  I was ready to release a bunch of stuff that I was holding on to that no longer served.  Between the plant medicine and the parasite did I ever release.  I do believe though that is what made room for all the good stuff to come into my life now.  Hard to pick up and carry something new if your arms are full of old stuff!  It was past time for me to release all the stuff I had picked up and had been carrying at that point in my life.  No wonder I have lost 45 pounds since the retreat!  Talk about a physical symbol of my inner work – they do go together.

Two more days of summer heat on tap and then it turns to more seasonal cooler weather.  I am so ready for the heat to be gone.  I will have to turn the air back on so the house is cool for my lineman tomorrow night  He works out in the heat all day and needs to come home to a cool house.  The wind has been blowing today and there is dust everywhere again.  Next time I buy end tables for the living room I need to get some that won’t show dust.

Tomorrow I am going to Pioneer Bluffs to help with a private event that is being held there.  Not sure what time my guests will leave.  Official check-out time is 11:00.  The event at Pioneer Bluffs got moved up a bit so not sure I will be much help to them if my guests don’t leave until 11:00.  I had warned the person that asked me to help I might not be able to be there until noon.  Sometimes my work gets in the way of life! I still have trouble remembering this is work though.  It is so easy to have people stay here I forget I get paid for it.  I have trouble remembering to collect from my long-term boarders now.  They feel more like family and it feels weird to charge them for staying here.

I don’t have anything on my calendar for Wednesday, Thursday or Friday other than normal guest chores.  I will be gone both Saturday and Sunday though so it will be good for me to have three empty space days.

I will either get out and mow tonight or take a long walk.  If I don’t mow tonight I will need to do it in the morning.  I want to get it done before the rains start.  I also need to get the chicken coop cleaned out.  I try to do that around the first of each month.

Took a three-mile walk last night.  It seemed to take a long time to walk it last night for some reason.  First time that has happened since I starting walking again.  I think I was just still very tired from the weekend.  I had intended to add some distance to my walk last night but only ended up walking to W Road on 240.  Didn’t go any further than I had the last time I had walked.  I’ll see how it goes tonight if I walk tonight instead of mowing.  Sure feels good to be out moving my body again

Time to get dinner started.  Sure feels good to be back on plan and eating my regular foods.  My energy level stays much more level when I eat at home instead of eating out.

Grateful for the sleep I got this afternoon, grateful for the guy I am having fun with, and grateful for the leader of the Spirit Plant Retreat and all the releasing that retreat allowed me to do.

Finally got some sleep last night.  I was up between 2:00 and 4:00 but slept both before and after.  Got up early enough to watch the sunrise this morning – it was beautiful.

Started laundry last night and am finally finished with it.  Got the two beds made up and the rooms cleaned for the guests coming tonight.  Still need to do the main floor but that may wait for another day or two. I work for a bit today and then rest for a bit.  My rest periods are getting longer than my work periods though.  May take a nap.

Not much more I have to get done before the guests arrive this afternoon.  Still need to swish some toilets and mop one more floor downstairs.  That won’t take long.  Feels good to get the house back into order.  I feel like I have been running behind for the last several days.  Not caught up yet but getting close.

Tomorrow morning I have to go to town to close on the new investment property I am buying.  I need some groceries and decided to wait until I go to town tomorrow to get them.  That way I can stay home all day today and reground myself.  I have some where I need to go Tuesday too but then I should be able to stay home for several days in a row.

Noticed I will need to mow again this week sometime.  May go out this afternoon and get that done.  I need to get outside and move my body – mowing does that for me.  I have to stay inside though until I get the house ready for the guests that are coming this afternoon.

The guy I have been texting with sent me a video he made for me of him lip syncing to a song.  His facial expressions were priceless!  Talk about romantic!  How fun is that?  Trying to think of something I can do to send him but am stumped.  Hard to beat what he did.  So far this guy has possibilities – I’ll see where it goes.

Only have one thing left of my list of things I wanted to get for my trip to Australia.  I think I can find what I need in Emporia when I have time to go shopping.  Just need a pair of shoes to wear with the dresses I bought.  I can always use my flip-flops if I can’t find what I am looking for.  The problem is I’m not sure what I am looking for.  Guess I’ll know if I see a pair.

Didn’t gain or lose weight while I was in KC.  I expected to gain as I didn’t get to walk either Friday or Saturday.  I ate pretty much on plan but when I eat away from home I never know for sure.

It is a cloudy, windy day on the prairie.  Looks like Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday will get warm again before a cold front comes through on Thursday bringing some good chances of rain for the next five or six days.  I’ll have to get my mowing done by Wednesday.

I am feeling the effects of all the change that is happening.  Feels like even more big changes are coming my way.  Doing my best to ground into the present moment and stay out of resistance to change.  Adding a dose of fun into my life right now is helping with that.  It is easier for me to surrender and accept change when I can keep my mood light and playful.  Still in my observer role.

My mentor helped me understand my next growth will come as I learn how to redefine “we” in my life.  I have had to be independent for so long that I forget sometimes about “we”.  I’m not just talking about allowing a man in my life – it shows up in many other areas of my life too.  Feels like this will be a big shift for me. I keep reminding myself there is nothing I have to do to make it happen other than giving it some of my intention and time each day.  Then I have to stay out-of-the-way and allow it to come in.  Another old habit of mine to break open the range on.  Love when I discover and can name them – makes it easier for me to accept and change them when I can do that.

Grateful for all the fun that is showing up in my life these days, grateful for all the change happening around me and the life lessons it brings me, and grateful for all the “we” people in my life and those that are still coming in.

I am home from being in KC overnight to attend a class with my mentor.  I am exhausted after being in the city energy for over 24 hours.  I got some shopping done Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.  Hopefully I won’t have to go back to the city for a bit.  Found a few dresses and skirts to take to Australia.  Found two sweaters and a cute jacket.  Still need a pair of shoes to wear with the dresses and my list will be complete.  I wore the new Birkenstocks boots I had gotten earlier this week.  They are very comfortable and haven’t hurt my feet.

The class was good – I am embarrassed to say I fell asleep during class this morning.  I didn’t sleep much last night.  Finally took a hot bath around 2:00 and got warmed up.  That helped me fall asleep around 3:00.  Woke up before 6:00 – there was a dog in the room next to mine that was barking and a car alarm going off in the parking lot.  I missed my quiet corner of the prairie!

Not sure yet what I learned in class.  Guess if I had stayed awake I would have learned more!  Some day soon I will have an experience and realize I reacted differently than I did before and that is when I will know what I learned.

It is always fun to get to visit with the other people in the class and touch base with them.  Some I hadn’t seen for a bit.  One of the women in the group has the exact same pair of glasses that I have.  What are the chances of that happening?  We are a true tribe!

I have been texting another guy I met through Match.  He has been fun to text with.  Not sure where it is headed but I am having more fun with all of this than I have had in a long time.

Am working on getting the house ready for the guests that are coming in tomorrow.  Found out one of my long-term boarders got transferred to his new site starting Monday so he won’t be back for now.  There is a chance he will come back to this project again though.  Still have several loads of laundry to do but have it started.  Ran a load of dishes and need to clean three bedrooms and two bathrooms tomorrow morning.  Also will need to clean the guest coffee-room and the upstairs living room and kitchen floors.  Not sure what time the guests will be here so will need to get at the cleaning first thing in the morning so the house is ready whenever they get here.

Grateful my guest did my chores for me while I was gone, grateful Kathy arrived safely in Kentucky, and grateful to be back home on my quiet prairie.

I drove to Manhattan today to visit some dear friends.  I was going to do an errand for a friend in Manhattan but turns out my help wasn’t needed.  I went ahead and drove over anyways and had a great visit with my friends.

I was low on gas and forgot to stop in Manhattan to get some.  I almost turned around and went back to get some but decided to try it.  When I hit the lake north of Council Grove my gas gauge started flashing and it showed I had 0 miles of range left.  I called on every guardian angel around me to help me get to the gas station.  It worked and I made it.  I put 7.954 gallons of gas in my car.  I have an 8 gallon tank.  Cut it way too close for my comfort.

Some friends organized a farewell dinner for Kathy this evening.  We went in at 5:00 and didn’t get home until 8:00.  It was a fun event filled with lots of laughter and friendship.  Kathy touched a lot of people in Chase County while she was here and will be greatly missed.  My guys staying with me came and joined in the fun.  They made some new friends by the time the evening was over.

Tomorrow morning I am going to KC.  I told Nicole I would be there around 10:00.  I need to get myself organized and things pulled together yet.  I have a list so hopefully I won’t forget anything.  Only staying one night so won’t need many clothes.

I didn’t get to take my walk today as we got home after dark.  Doubt I get to take a walk tomorrow or Saturday either.  Next week looks promising though as I don’t have a lot going on.  I will need to do some housecleaning Sunday morning as I have guests coming in Sunday late afternoon.

Grateful for dear friends and the richness they add to my life, grateful for the friends that showed up to support Kathy tonight, and grateful for my guardian angels helping me not run out of gas.

Went into Emporia this morning to get my tires rotated.  I timed it perfectly at the tire store as I was only there five minutes.  Quick service today!

Went to the shoe store and got a pair of sandals to take to Australia.  I also got a pair of Birkenstock low boots for everyday use this winter.  It is fun to buy cute shoes now that my feet don’t require I only wear SAS shoes.  Still need to get a pair of slip on lined slippers of some sort to wear around the house for the winter.  I found a pair in the LL Bean catalog I may order – concerned if they are wide enough and I hate returning on-line stuff.

One of my long-term guests checked out early this week as her classes were cancelled for Friday.  I have her sheets washed so need to get her bed made and her room cleaned.  No rush as she won’t be back until Monday.  I do have two guests coming in Sunday afternoon so will need to get a room cleaned for them when I get home Saturday evening.  I will put them in Kathy’s old room.  Kathy cleaned her room yesterday so I shouldn’t have much to do to get it ready for the guests.

Haven’t heard yet when one of the long-term guests is leaving for good.  He is to be transferred to a different work site soon but he hasn’t found out when yet.  When he leaves I will transfer the student to the room down the hall and keep the other two rooms that has a bathroom between them for my Airbnb guests.

While I was in town I picked up veggies to take to KC to oven roast for the pot luck dinner we are having Friday evening.  I will make a meat loaf and take it to bake too.  I will have the veggies all cut up and the meat loaf in a pan so all I will need to do is throw them in the oven.  That way I will have what I need to eat that night.  Both things are easy to throw in the oven and then serve.  I hate to ask my hostess to bake them though as when you are hosting the last thing you need is to have a guest cooking at the last-minute.  I was going to cook the stuff at Nicole’s house until I remembered her oven is broken.

Remembered to transfer funds to pay for the new rental property I am closing on October 1.  My business partner called yesterday to tell me the sellers agreed to my request and we are good to go.  I do need to call the bank back today as I’m not sure they handled the transfer correctly and I am on a tight deadline as I need the funds available next Monday for close.  Hopefully the person did it correctly but it doesn’t appear like she did on my account statement.  This is the one disadvantage to using an exclusive on-line bank – I can’t just go in the bank and get a cashier’s check directly from them.  I”m sure it will all work out OK – it usually does.

Nothing new in the dating world.  I sent a few messages to several different guys – most haven’t been read yet.  I can’t tell if accounts are new and used or not.  Three have read my message but so far have chosen not to reply.  I have had several messages from people I wasn’t interested in and just block them and haven’t replied either.  Not sure city guys are interested in someone who lives in the country.  Not many country guys on the site!

I am getting a clearer picture in my head as to what I am looking for.  But I do get tired of window shopping!  I keep telling myself not to settle for just anyone.  I need to stay patient and if it is meant to be the right guy will come forward.  I’m really not in a hurry to find someone.

Nothing I need to get done the rest of the day.  May take a nap as I didn’t sleep very good again last night.  It sure was nice and cool during the night – love nights when the room gets cool with the windows open.  It was too windy to walk last night.

There was a beautiful sunrise this morning.  I think fall time has the prettiest sunrises and sunsets of the year.  Last night the sunset was pretty spectacular too.  Mother Nature sure knows how to paint!

Feeling more grounded and centered today than I have been.  Back into being the observer of my life and not so emotionally attached to the outcomes.  I like this space – when I can find it life feels like it has more grace and ease to it.  Don’t seem to be able to stay here for long but am grateful for when it shows up for however long it lasts.

Grateful for the beautiful art work of Mother Nature, grateful for foot surgery that was a success, and grateful for this space I find myself in today – may it continue to be available to me and may I live my life with grace and ease.