Why I'm not allowed to have children...

Reason 1. Letting a 6 year old weed wack. To my defense, he wanted to mow lawn but I wouldn't let him...mostly because I like to mow...and that if his mother found out she would probably kill me. Adam did do a good job wacking weeds...lots of nice circles all over the back yard...

Reason 2. I let Adam play with lots of water...swimming in the wagon, water balloon fights, water gun fights, hose fights... lets just say we had a lot of fun with water even though it was only about 70 degrees.

Teaching an old dog new tricks

After 8 years I finally gave in and enrolled my dog into a basic training class. She is the oldest dog by 7 years. With three weeks of class under our belt, Ellie May can do a sit/stay, down/stay, heal and about turn. Although these all happen in her time and when she wants to do them. I think she just likes to go to because it gives her one-on-one time with me, and she gets to go for a car ride once a week. As for me I'm learning a lot. I always new Ellie May ruled me and I let her get away with things because she's cute and I love her. Now I have the instructor telling me I have to be firmer and make her listen to me.

Ellie May has always been a pretty good dog. She goes potty when I tell her too, she isn't a destructive chewer (unless she's mad at me and I have something with a zipper or buttons laying on the floor), she sleeps most of the day, she very gentle with the old folks when I take her to work and well...she just plain cute.

I guess the only thing I'm hoping for with going to class is that she'll learn to love Russ and play with him (she doesn't really care for other dogs, she likes cats) and that we'll graduate in August.

What happened to May?

What happened to the month of May? Seriously I don't remember it, but I'm sure having fun in June. I got to meet my cousin, Mara, from Australia. I have been in touch with her for about a year over facebook and I was so glad to be able to put a personality and voice with the pictures. She spent last weekend with me. I gave her a nice tour of the cities, although I had no idea where I was going and I got lost with the detours. I was able to take her to the Walker sculpture garden, the Dome, the new Twins stadium (from every direction!), midway stadium, a cement plant, Lake Nokomis and probably a dozen other places that I can't remember right now.

We went out on Friday night with my sister Katie and a couple of her friends to the VFW in St. Paul...good country band there and we danced a lot and we also went to Pickle Park to ride the bull. Saturday night, Tonya and I took Mara downtown for a night of gay bar hopping which turned into spending most of the night at a drag show at the '90's. Mara had never seen one before so we had fun getting watching the performers and then getting pictures with them.

Sunday Mara came to my softball games. She had never seen a softball game and I was able to work it so she had a chance to hit and do a little fielding...natural talent, must run in the family!!
I also took her to Maple Grove for some shopping and Cold Stone ice cream before we headed to Edina to pick up my aunt/her mom, Martha and drive them to Hastings.

Now that June is half over, I can finally get to some projects done around the house. Today I mostly finished the patio ( I ran out of pavers), mowed my lawn and the neighbors lawn, weeded the garden, watered my dead flowers in the hopes they'll come back and gave Ellie May a good brushing and trimmed her nails. What will I do tomorrow? Oh yeah, the folks are coming to watch me play ball. Should be fun!

Loving the Job...

I know I have only been working there for a month so my feelings could change by this time next year, but I really do love my job. First of all I can't complain about the hours...7-3 Monday- Friday. There aren't too many jobs in health care that have these hours, so I'm very fortunate. Secondly, I love working with the elderly. They are so funny. I laugh everyday by what someone says. I hope that as I get older I'll just speak my mind too! I can see why my Mom worked in a nursing home for 20 years.

I think it's funny when people ( classmates and instructors) ask me me "where do you want to work?" and I respond with "in a nursing home." I get some odd looks. I don't know why because its a place where you have the most job security. I may not get paid as much as a nurse that works in hospital, but I have job security. That to me is more important than money. Ok I just like working with the elderly and that's the most important thing overall.

Getting back to the job...I'm still getting used to working daylight hours. That's the biggest change for me. I'll eventually go back to nights once I finish school. But for now I'm glad I get the opportunity to work during the day. I also like only having six residents to care for. I do miss working in a larger facility...ok I really miss working nights at URC. I had a really good experience there and worked with some really great people.

All in all, I love old people and I'm looking forward to living in the home.

blogging late at night...

2009 is off to a great start. First of all I got a job. That was the most important thing I wanted to happen since I had such great luck finding one at the end of 2008. I was a little scared after I interviewed because:
1. I only had two rejections and we all know the rule of three's.
2. I wasn't nervous going into the interview.
3. This was the first time in a long time that I didn't have any "pull" on the inside.
4. I didn't remember applying for the job.
5. I only applied to this place once

So I was extremely happy when they called me back and offered me a job. I am now employed at Legacy Care Home in Minnetonka. I was offered the lead CNA position (I have some great references!) It will be a change for me since I'll be working Monday thru Friday 7a-3p. I have a job with normal hours! YAY! Although deep in my heart I'll always be a night shifter.

I'm not one to really say that one year is better than another, because 2008 was a pretty good year also. I mean, not everyone can take six months off! I like to think of it as a blessing in disguise. I got to spend a lot of time with my family in '08 that was long over due. I have worked so much in the past that I believe that God was telling me to slow down and focus on what matters.

Twenty days in the back country was what I needed to get my mind ready and to become at peace with myself and creation around me. Spending three months living with my parents is what I need to form and better understand my relationship I have with them. I no longer feel uncomfortable when I go home. During my time at home I also got a taste of what life is like with kids. I had the opportunity to pick my nieces and nephew up from school, play with them, make supper for them and make sure they did their homework. It's hard work and I only had to do it for two months. I have a lot of respect for single parent households. I know I could never do it...thank god I'm gay!

These last three months I became closer to God. I learned to lean on Him and to trust Him. I learned that patience is not that hard as long as you trust in Him. There were so many times that I wanted to give up and I was ready to give up, but this little voice kept telling me to hang in there, something will happen. Well my sisters also kept telling me that God has a plan for me and that He will put me where he wants me. They have been a pillar of strength for me these past few months. I guess family is always there for you no matter what the distance.

With 2008 being over I guess I would say it was pretty darn good. I grew as a person and that's probably the best thing that can happen over a year. Now I'll be up for learning new skills in 2009.

Oh and before I forget...I did get a third rejection letter. Always believe in the rule of three's!

My voting expirence

I never thought voting could be so difficult. I went to my polling place this morning, stood in line for a really long time (45 minutes) only to be told that I was not able to vote. The reason why, I have not been a Minnesota resident for more than twenty days before the election. The lady was really nice though so I really can't say anything bad. She let me use my bank statement as proof that I live in Robbinsdale. But according to my yellow slip of paper that is currently my MN drivers license, I have only been a resident for 16 days. Rejected...

I was feeling a little bummed because I also missed the deadline for the absentee in South Dakota. But I got over it, and thought you know it really doesn't matter if I vote because I know nothing about the candidates (except for the presidential ones) in MN, and they are the ones that I really should vote for. I haven't lived in this state for about ten years; I know very little about politics and don't understand half the stuff I do know about. The only things I know about the people running for Senate and Congress is from all of the negative ads on TV that I usually mute. I know its bad of me, but seriously should I really be voting for people that I know nothing about?

I did go back to the polling place tonight with Tonya to try again, and I got registered. The guy that made me fill out the paper work just looked at my address on my yellow paper and confirmed my name with my SD license. Good thing I was wearing a red shirt...wait that only works in SD. Anyway I did my part and voted...for all the independents cuz they need votes too.

I heart Amy Ray

My first night here and I get to see Amy Ray. How do you top that? Tonya and I saw her last night and all I can say is AMAZING. Every time I see her perform I am taken away. I love the Indigo Girls and I've always had a thing for Amy Ray and loved all the songs she has written (except for Faye Tucker, I really don't get that song.) So seeing her solo and live is like a dream come true.
We had great seats at the Fine Line and the food was awesome. The service wasn't the best. It took forever to get our drinks and then the waitress took them away before we were even done. It was really odd. Maybe she thought that two beers and a water was too much alcohol for us...who knows. I really didn't care, I was there to see and listen to Amy.
All in all it was a great way to spend my first night being in the cities and that I passed my MN drivers license exam.

I heart Amy Ray!