Living With Grandma

Last fall when Boyfriend and I started looking for places to move to, Boyfriend brought up an idea to me. To move in with his Grandma. That way we could afford to rent a house with a couple acres. His Grandma was living in an apartment complex which was becoming overrun with extremely rude college kids BBQ-ing at midnight and serenading the complex from the hot tub room at 2am.

I agreed that we could all help each other out, so to speak. And in all fairness, Boyfriend did tell me his Grandma could be a terrible person. He did warn me.

Again the old adage is true - you don't know someone until you live with them. Nor can you know or understand their insanity.

It started about two weeks after she moved in. She called Boyfriend a bully and told me what a horrible housekeeper I was.

I'm no "Suzie-Homemaker" by any stretch of the imagination. However, I clean house once a week - this includes cleaning the kitchen, vacuuming, dusting, and mine and Boyfriend's bathroom. I keep a decently clean house. Is it perfect? Not by a long shot. But then again, I was working 7 days a week. We're all just lucky I had the energy to do anything. As for Boyfriend, he's not a bully and I'm not sure where her insinuation came from.

Things were okay for a little bit. Shortly before Christmas, Boyfriend brought home a kitten from one of his employees. The poor thing was only about 6 weeks old. Boyfriend bought a litter box for him and some canned food to get him through a few days. I bought some kitten chow, a collar, and a few other things for him. Eventually the kitten started pooping behind and underneath the Christmas tree. Grandma had said we should put the litter box under the tree. I made a comment about how I'd rather the cat box not be under the tree. My thinking behind that was that I'm the one who cleans the damn thing, I don't want to climb under the tree to do so. Ten hours later, she completely blew up at me and threw my apology back in my face so hard I'm pretty sure I got whiplash. She said it was obvious that I didn't know how to raise a cat because of the one that hides in my bedroom.

Now, pretty much everyone has been told how I came to be Miss Harriet's human - she was dropped off at a Petco in Sacramento. One of my friends that worked there took her home and hounded me until I took her. Miss Harriet is the kind of cat that prefers to be the only animal in the house and prefers to have only one human in the house. More than one human means it's too noisy and whatnot for her and so she'll often hide. Whatever her issues, she's a decent cat and I've had relatively few issues with her. I had to get used to her neuroses and learn to live with her. And whatever her faults, she's been my cuddle-bug for the last 9 years and something I can come to.

(now come to find out the previous owner of the kitten had the litter box under the damn Christmas tree. had I know that when we first got the cat . . . . oh and once the tree was gone? Kitten stopped pooping in the corner under/behind the tree.)

Boyfriend kept telling me to not take anything that Grandma said personally, but I can honestly say it was very hard not to do so.

Christmas turned into a fiasco where Grandma wouldn't sit with the rest of us at the movie theater - I'm pretty sure she didn't want to see near me because she still wasn't speaking to me.

Things were okay after the new year for a short bit and suddenly Boyfriend's mom told us the things Grandma was saying about us. We were terrible to her, wouldn't talk to her, stopped talking as soon as she came in the room. She was convinced I was sneaking into her room and opening her bedroom window to freak her out. I'm still a terrible housekeeper and I'm not good enough for her grandson. His poor mom got thrown smack in the middle of everything.

Last week Grandma gave her 30 days notice and is basically sticking us with $1600/mo rent. And we found out about her leaving by accident. I was home alone and answered the phone to find out it was a local retirement community calling her in regards to her "interest" in their community. I left her a message about it. When she got home I could tell she was pissed. Pissed that she got caught plotting behind our backs. She didn't talk to either one of us for two days. But his poor mom heard about it.

So, Boyfriend decided he wanted to buy a house. He has a lot of money saved up for it and he'd like to move up to the area he now works, about 45 minutes west of Redding. We've looked at one so far and we're hoping to look at another one or two this week. He's working on getting a loan, so hopefully that will come through. The only thing that could prevent anything is that he's only been at the water company for two months.

There were a few days where Grandma treated Boyfriend like crap and I was her BFF. Now it's the opposite and she won't speak to me. Again.

We had tried to help her get out of an aggravating situation. Now we're just "using her for her money" and "ignoring her" and all sorts of things. Boyfriend and I are both very upset as to how all of this turned out. I'm not excited about moving again as it's only been three months since we moved in. I've already started packing a few things, but it's hard to know what to pack and when until we find out about the loan.

Until then, we are trying to get through each day. Trying to be quiet enough for her, trying to not piss her off somehow, you name it. It's a pretty sucky situation. Lucky for Boyfriend she's apologized to him as to how things turned out. I doubt I will get one so I'm not going to hold my breath. She's yet to accept any apology from me, so it's pointless to keep trying. I am sorry to see things go south and I'm upset by what she now thinks of me. I take it personally even after Boyfriend's mom says that she (Grandma) has interfered in all of Boyfriend's past relationships in a similar fashion. I just hope that someday, she won't feel that way and things will be as they were before we all moved in together.

So, here's to moving. Again. And keep your fingers crossed about that loan. We need all the good loan juju we can get.

2013 Year-End Review

How is it possible for a year to fly by and simultaneously drag on? Because that's what 2013 has been like. A weird trick on the mind. The last few months I feel like I just haven't had the time to blog like normal, nor keep up with reading everyone's blogs. No . . . wait. That actually happened. I strive to keep up in 2014. At least better than I have as of late.

Boyfriend is currently snoozing on the couch after a long day at work, while I'm sitting in my recliner after a long day at work. Our dinner was random leftovers, and I'm wanting cookies for dessert - but I already ate them all. Must mean I need to make more. That's what I'm going with.

So, here's my 2013 Year End schpeel. Let's see what happened:

The start of 2013 found me working for a veterinary office that turned out to be a horrible fit for me. I was so unhappy it actually physically affected me. I literally felt ill driving to work every day. I had also signed up for online dating again (at my mother's urging to "give it another whirl"). I met a guy named Dan and it turned out he had zero personality. I gave him 3 dates to make sure, but nothing improved and it just fizzled on it's own.

My birthday (I turned the big 33) started the Pam Tillis song All the Good Ones Are Gone playing over and over in my head. I emailed a guy from the dating site and we made it to the phone call stage and he neglected to call on his turn. After a week I emailed him to politely let him have it and of course, never heard from him again.

March brought on a whirlwind of changes. I "separated" from the vet's office that I was so miserable at. The Office Manager, or The World's Biggest Bitch as I like to call her, fired me, stating that she had "taken too many chances with me". No matter what I did, I could not please her because she thought I was something I wasn't. She thought I was a licensed tech, which I told her I wasn't before she hired me. I couldn't answer the phone correctly.  My personality was all wrong. Everything I said was inaccurate. Nothing was ever clean enough when I did it. No matter what it was, I did it wrong. I'm surprised she didn't tell me I did the whole breathing thing wrong. Right about the time I breathed a huge sigh of relief and left that hell hole, I "met" another guy online. We quickly began texting during all waking hours and even into the sleeping ones. We texted all. the. time. Mom started playing "Where's Waldo?" as he was truck driving and we never knew where I'd find him the next day. I also began the extremely fun step of getting unemployment and the incompetence of it all.

On April 1st, I met Boyfriend for the very first time. We met up for lunch and wound up spending the entire afternoon together (which I've never done with anyone I ever met from online dating). I finally had to break the day off as I had to cook dinner for Mom's birthday. That weekend he was back in town for what ended up being 9 days and we were totally inseparable. He went back on the road for a week and quit his job. He hasn't left my side since. (insert adorable "awwwww" here)  I also found part-time work thanks to a cousin who ran a wedding rental business. He also gave Boyfriend a job for the summer, too.

May brought about my parents 5 week road trip to baseball parks and national parks. I managed to not burn the house down and Boyfriend and I got a taste of actually living together. 

June brought my parents back home (finally!). I continued the job hunt for full or part-time work to no avail. Job interviews led to rejection letters. Boyfriend and I killed time and relaxed on the lake(s) on the boat, also escaping some of the horrid Redding heat. Oh and the douche-nozzle that neglected to call me when it was his turn? Guess who emailed me with this, "how's miss sexy j.day?" Are you effing kidding me? I emailed him back and told him I had met an awesome guy. Which was totally true.

In July, Boyfriend applied to the City of Redding and the City of Sacramento for water jobs. My hunt still continued. Breakdowns from the stress of it all were on a fairly regular basis. Regular lake visits were made. I took Boyfriend on a road-trip to Burney Falls and the Subway Caves, showing him where I grew up. I also took a trip to the Bay Area to see BFF and attend her county fair and a concert. Boyfriend and I also attended the wedding of the cousin who gave us part-time jobs.

In August, Boyfriend had three interviews and wound up getting rejected from all three. I started my weekend Pet Nutritional Consultant job and I had an interview at the end of the month which resulted in a full-time job - with benefits. Celebrating in the kitchen followed. We found out that Mom's dad, Papa D, was not expected to live much longer. The medicine that had helped to keep his heart pumping had done a number on his kidneys and there was nothing else the doctors could do for him. Mom and Dad went up to say good-bye. K told me that she didn't want my last memories of him to be like this.

On September 16th, I started my new job. On September 17th, Papa D passed away. Boyfriend started looking for places for us to move to. The Clover Fire decimated 8,000 acres; the evacuation line about a mile from my parents house. I met "Bubbles."

In October, we finally got to say good-bye to Papa D by spreading his ashes on his ranch. His beautiful, beloved ranch. We finally got to meet one of his sons from his first marriage and his family. I met cousins I didn't know I had. We had a lovely time sharing stories - surely making Papa D smile. I am now Facebook friends with my new cousins and aunt. Boyfriend found places for us to look at. One of my good friends was also married this month. The weather forecast for weeks leading up to it called for no rain whatsoever. Mother Nature decided to throw out a random and powerful downpour for about twenty minutes.

November 1st, Boyfriend and I moved into a 3 bedroom house on a few acres. He bought chickens on the first day. While putting  the water bill in his name, he was told of an open position for a water district west of Redding. He looked into it and is now their Operations Manager. We hosted Thanksgiving for both our families. We also discovered that our neighbor across the street is an asshat who rewards bad behavior in his dogs. And Mom and I bought new phones - spending three hours at the Verizon kiosk in the mall. Boyfriend and I went to see Catching Fire - awesomely done by the way.

December has brought some ups and downs - details will have to come later. But they include a restraining order, court, slashed work hours, increased work hours, learning how not to call in sick, having a moment of knowing how an extreme couponer feels at the register, Boyfriend hiring a guy at his job who happens to the husband of an ex-girlfriend and of course, the trials and tribulations of having Boyfriend's grandmother as a room-mate, and of course the holidays.

I interrupt my unscheduled break

Well hello blogosphere! I'm baaaaack. And yes you should be scared. I am.

Shit kinda happened all at once and blogging sorta kinda fell by the wayside. Mostly because I didn't have internet. Seriously, what did people do before the internet? While I wasn't completely without it because I have it at my full-time job (but I'm pretty sure they'd frown on me blogging while there), I was without it at "home" and it was rather frustrating.

Anyway, more details to come, but the reason I was without internet was because I moved! Boyfriend and I found a house with some acreage, looked it on a Monday and moved that same Friday. It was somewhat of a clusterfuck of a move - between the move, looming deadlines, and having to get all our utilities set up at the last minute, not to mention my computer trying to die because of viruses and Best Buy wanted to gouge my pocket book before they even looked at it and having to learning how to use Boyfriend's Mac - all of it about ready to drive me nuts.

I may not get all caught up on previous posts y'all have posted just because that's a lot to read after a couple weeks of being gone. But I will try to get back in the swing of things.

Also, Boyfriend and I are planning on hosting Thanksgiving this year (this will be the first one I've ever even thought of hosting because I'm not a cook). If everyone on the list comes, we're sitting close to 20 people in total. Yikes!

But eventually there will be pictures and details, I promise. Lots of ground to make up around these parts.

My new home actually has wheels under it LOL

I'm all moved and getting settled in. As settled as one can get in a 5th wheel, anyway. My clothes are spread between some spare space in Granny's closet and the spare room closet. Fortunately for me, Granny didn't part with one of her dressers, and it's been sitting empty in the spare room. Now it's being used, with the rest of my stuff.

Much of my stuff wound up out in the barn. And a few things are in the garage.

Miss Harriet has been having a rough time of it. Poor cat doesn't travel well. At. All. About 45 minutes into the drive to Redding, Miss Harriet decided she needed to poop and stink up the car. Had to pull over and hold tight to her as I used hand wipes to clean the poop out of the carrier (until then, I rolled the windows down so that I didn't suffocate). Luckily she hadn't smeared it around the carrier. Fifteen minutes later the drool started. By the time I reached McArthur she looked like Vampire Kitty with the drool fangs. Once at my parents house, I stashed her in the spare room until we were unloaded. At least it gave her some time to stop drooling and realize the world was no longer moving at 70mph. Or twisting and turning through four mountain passes.

We didn't help her acclamation today either as my parents needed to use the nail gun to put the valance over the bed in the 5th wheel. Miss Harriet decided the closet was the safest place. Until about 2pm when I finally enticed her out from the closet with some canned food. I don't think it helps that her new "home" rocks and shakes just by shaking your head. Poor lil' kitty.

Tomorrow morning (Monday), I'm off to the vet clinic that Dr. J called about last week. Keep your fingers crossed that I walk away with a job!! 

Just another reason why Dr. J is AWESOME

Yesterday (Wednesday) marked my final day with Dr. J at the Sticksville clinic. The morning started off a bit slow, but picked up as usual. He told me he wanted to take me to lunch, but that we'd have to go early as we had to euthanize an old dog with a tumor growing between its eyes at 12:30.

We got to the restaurant and started visiting. We discussed the new girl, who is doing okay, but her biggest issue I think is her maturity level and lack of experience. I think she'll do okay, but she needs time and practice. Time is not something the clinic can offer a lot of, and practice unfortunately comes with time. Dr. J had a meeting with her that morning and told her he was going to give her a few more weeks to see how she's catching on. Working at a vet's office is a lot to throw at someone who has no background in the job.

Also, during our lunch we visited about my job hunting. Which, until I move isn't progressing as quickly as I want. I told him I'd sent my resume to a couple of places and he asked if I had contacted a large/small animal clinic around Redding. I hadn't yet, but it was a place that I worked at during college and had planned on talking to them after I moved. Dr. J said, "I should call them. I'll call them now."

He put down his hamburger and dug his cell phone out of his pocket, looked up the number and called.

I sat there staring at him thinking he was just completely crazy.

He asked for one of the doctors that owns the clinic, and he apparently is out of town until next week. So he asked to talk to the gal that runs the office. He spoke to her about me saying, "I've got a gal that's worked for me awhile and she's moving back to Redding this weekend and is looking for employment. I wanted to call and put in a good word for her. I had wanted to talk to Dr. G, but I understand he's out of town, so I wanted to talk to you. . . She's not a licensed tech, but she assists us in exams, handles prescriptions, does reception . . . She's been running our satellite clinic in Sticksville and also works at our main clinic in Town. . . . On Monday? I will tell her. Thanks a lot."

He turns back to me and says, "Sounds like they're looking for someone. Head on over there on Monday." With a smile on his face.

He truly is a nice guy. I never expected him to call some place for me ahead of time. I knew he'd give me a good reference if people called after I'd turned in a resume, but this was just plain crazy cool of Dr. J. I'm really going to miss working for him.

Please keep fingers crossed that something good happens. I really don't want unemployment. If this just fell into place it would be AWESOME.

Today is the day that I have to get the last minute stuff done: take in my recycling, wash my sheets and pack them and the rest of my bedding (so I spend the last nights in my sleeping bag), and just get all the odds and ends packed up leaving only the bare essentials for the next couple of days.

My last day of work at the vet center is tomorrow and they will be getting a Subway platter for everyone as my "good-bye lunch". I'm already getting tears in my eyes, thinking of saying good-bye. Saying good-bye to several of the customers has been pretty rough already.

Dammit. Pass the Kleenex.

 

It's Official

I will be moving in about a month.

I have given notice to everyone.

I have been asking myself for a very long time if being up here in Sticksville is the right kind of life for me. I enjoy the ranch work, but when I am completely honest with myself, I don't think it's something I want to do for the rest of my life. Same thing with publishing.

I never would have known for sure had I not uprooted myself from Sacramento to try it. Both things were things I had really no experience with. My grandparents gave me a wonderful opportunity to stray out of my comfort zone and try something new. I have enjoyed learning from them and spending time with them. Before this I was lucky if I could come up once a year to visit.

It will be hard to say good-bye to all the wonderful people I have met since moving up here.

This was not an easy decision to make. I think I agonized over this more than choosing to move up here.

My friend and family support me in my decision. And my Redding friends are excited that I'm finally "moving back home" so they can see me more often.

I will be job hunting - my mom is scouring the want-ads and I'm checking online. I already have a few jobs to apply for. And I will be looking for a place to live - once I have a job, that is. I have "room offers" from friends, my parents are currently offering up their 5th wheel . . . being that my room is now Granny's room! lol

So, if I'm not commenting as regularly or posting as regularly, it's because I'm packing and trying to lighten my load by doing some major cleaning out of things. But I will still be reading your blogs because I do so enjoy it. Just bear with me and I will back to normal in no time.

Something slightly new

So, earlier this week I was told by Dr. J that they had had to let one of the receptionists go. Apparently there were a few complaints, and that's all I was told. What I do know is that Dr. J then told me that he and Dr. R had been talking and wanted to offer me a couple extra days at the main clinic in Town - Mondays and Fridays to be exact. In addition to my three days over at the Sticksville clinic, and my Saturday at the main clinic in Town.

I was a wee bit floored. Really hadn't been expecting that. I had recently inquired about the possibility of a couple extra hours by filling in for people on vacation or something, but it was more of a reminder that "hey I'm happy to fill in if you need me" sort of thing. So I wasn't expecting to be asked to work two extra days. I told him I'd think it over and discuss it with my grandparents and would let him know by today (Thursday). He had asked me to fill in today and tomorrow to help the receptionist that is still there.

So I went in to work at the main clinic today and wasn't sure what to expect. Usually I'm alone up front on Saturdays. So working with another receptionist was kind of a new experience for me. I was a bit worried, mostly because everyone is different in how they work or want things done, or where they want everything on the desk.

E and I know each other, we've just never worked together. So, we spent the morning talking things over and moving a couple things around. She took the spot I usually sit in on Saturdays, so now two days a week I'll have to work in her old spot, which is not exactly conducive to efficiency. But I kept playing with it throughout the day and came up with something that was okay. It will probably be tweaked even more as time goes on. We did a bit of cleaning house up front and reorganizing.

My thing was that I never knew why the weekday receptionists did what they did, or changed what they changed, and so forth. They don't work weekends and I work alone on weekends. I just always moved things around to suit me and how I worked and at the end of the day, I put things back, usually in the place they were before . . . but not always. I'm not perfect. (Shocker, I know). So, E and I also spent the morning with her telling me who was the mastermind behind the changes that had next to no logic; and being that she didn't want a fight up front, she just kind of went along with said changes. So for one thing we both hated, I simply asked, "So, what you're telling me is that I can toss this and no one will care?" She said yes, and I tossed it and moved on to the next. I asked about something else and she said, "Oh that was the first thing to go!" And lastly, the other gal had decided on making duplicate files for clients from our two satellite clinics whenever they came in to the main clinic. Well, in some cases, there's already a duplicate file for the main clinic in with the regular files. If there's not, we just sent paperwork over that satellite clinic and the person there files it in their files. So I asked if she would mind if I filed the duplicates that didn't already have a duplicate buried with the regular files and toss what was already duplicated. (Yes I'm aware this makes no sense). And that any loose papers that didn't have a file over here would be sent to it's satellite clinic for filing. She agreed and I cleaned up that mess for her.

E showed me how they do paperwork for surgeries now since I don't do that on weekends. And she showed me how to some phone stuff that I've never had to do on weekends because it's already set up for me.

When E and the other gal were working together, one was always "check in" and the other was always "check out" and they never strayed from that unless one of them was off or something. Well, that just doesn't seem like a fair split of the job duties. So E and I discussed how we should do this . . . I suggest that we both just do what needs to be done. If there's three people waiting to be checked out, I'll help check out. If there are multiple people waiting for check-in, then we'll both jump in and do that. We both file, pull files, and help customers shop, answer phones - whatever needs to be done, we just do it. And it ran pretty darn smoothly. I grabbed a file holder and told her I would put my charges in it and she had one for hers. She didn't want the letter stand, and I like having it, so I took it. She moved certain things to the middle of the counter in between us for easy access. And so on.

 I walked into this last weekend. Did not make for a happy J.Day.

After I was done with it 5 minutes later. That's all it took.

We got along pretty well, had a few good laughs, lots of teasing, and in general we worked well together. Not to say we always will, but we're off to a good start. We're both the kind of people who like to have our work-space organized and clean. We both have to learn to work with someone new and it will be a learning process, but we're off to a good clean start.

Not to mention all the techs are excited to have me over at the main clinic two days a week. I rarely get to see them unless I pop in to get my paycheck or something. Even the office manager was happy to see me filling in.

Basically what these two extra days mean is that I won't be feeding on the ranch as often as before. Probably a couple days a week. I will still be writing for my grandparents publication, but on a slightly more limited scale - I won't be able to go on the road to help pick up ads or really to do much delivery. I don't know if all of this is the right move, but I enjoy working at the vet's office and picking up a few more hours sounds good to me. If in a few months, I find that I'm just too exhausted, then I will talk with Dr. J and cut back to my old routine. My grandparents left this decision up to me and my parents are shocked about the extra hours offer but they are happy that the vet's office wants me to work - it means they like me. (I don't know why they do, but I'm not going to question it! lol)

 

April Blog Challenge: Q is for Quitting

It's been over a year now since I quit my job in Sacramento and moved to the middle of nowhere. I'm glad I did so.

I was so afraid of quitting because I was giving up my benefits. I'm a worry-wart, so I figured something would happen the second those benefits were gone. Luckily nothing did. I also worried because I was giving up my 401k.

But quitting was worth it. I was so stressed and unhappy. I'm not saying life up here in Sticksville is perfect. The stress is different and nowhere near as bad as my last job. Ranching can be a stressful way of life - it's a 24/7 job. Hay prices alone are enough to give a rancher a heart attack. Putting out a monthly publication can be stressful - you need advertisers in order to pay for printing costs, gas prices alone are enough to give you a heat attack right at the pump, and any kind of glitch that could possibly happen. The vet's office can be stressful - dealing with distraught pet owners, people who just walk in and expect to be seen right away, animals peeing on the floor, people constantly telling you they helped pay for the remodel because they spend so much on their pets.

But the stresses here don't make me hate where I live or any of my jobs. They make me appreciate a day off, my family, my friends, my co-workers. I've learned a lot since quitting my job city job, and I don't regret one iota of that decision.

Sometimes, quitting really is the best thing you can do.

Donkey Basketball

I kid you not, folks. I. Kid. You. Not. This truly exists.

Last Friday I was sitting on the couch playing some horrifically stupid yet addicting Facebook game around 4:30 p.m., when I got a text from our new vet, Dr. A saying, "are you going to donkey basketball at the school tonight? we are coming over and then having dinner if you're interested."

I kind of just stared at my phone for a minute. Donkey Basketball?! WTF? Are the donkey's playing basketball? Are people playing basketball on donkey's? Is it real donkey's??

So I sent a text back saying, "donkey basketball?! never heard of it!"

She replied with, "ffa fundraiser at 6:30."

Of course I replied with "see you there." I mean, who would not go and witness a possible total absurdity. It's not like you'd see something like this in the big city.

I drove to the high school (whose initials are SV which totally works for my made up town of Sticksville!) at 6:30 which is just a few blocks from my house and drove by it to find parking and saw a line out the gym door. There wasn't a place to park for three blocks in some cases. I found one about a block away. I paid my $9 to get in and found Dr. A and her friend L. A couple other gals from work were also there, E and C. Oh, and for those of you who are unaware, FFA stands for Future Farmers of America; it starts in high school and there's also a collegiate form as well, promoting ag education and all that jazz.

The gym was full. They had to set up folding chairs on the small stage for people because the bleachers were full. And there were still people standing. Evidently, this is quite the popular event, but I don't think it's necessarily advertised very well. I guess this happens every year, a basketball game between girls/boys varsity and the faculty and it's an FFA fundraiser.

The basic rules were thus: One person from each team was in the center circle - they had to keep at least one foot in it at all times. A player could get off the donkey to get the ball, but had to take their donkey with them (which is much harder than one thinks, trust me). To shoot the ball the player had to mounted on their donkey.

And then it happened. A side door opened and in trotted donkey's with high school kids and faculty. And thus the laughter began. And continued until the game was over. I laughed so hard I cried.

 

Oh and you bet your blogging asses I took video. Even though my phone battery was dying, I totally took video. Unfortunately, you'll hear me and L laughing our butts off (okay, so it's probably mostly me). And don't worry, the donkey's had rubber cushions attached to their hooves so they couldn't slip on the gym floor. This first one is mostly the warm-up lap.

Now, this second video will feature a, um, "cheerleader". In fact, in the first half of the game, he was part of the pooper-scooper team (one carried a shovel, and the other carried a broom to sweep the gym apples and they wore ponchos and sombreros. I'm so not kidding. The second half was a bit wilder than the first . . . in the sense that the antics from the folks in the center circle, as the pushing got a bit rougher, and then cheerleader guy started trying to mess with the faculty guy in the center, so that the students would win the game.

In the end, the students one, 24-22.

After laughing so hard my stomach and my face hurt and my face was also streaked from the tears of laughter, four of us went to dinner - myself, Dr. A, E and L. Where we laughed even more. I'm so proud of myself for having two social engagements last week. They are pretty much the only two I've had since I moved up here that were technically not work (i.e. cattle vet office) related. I had so much fun!

And I'm sooooo going again next year!

 

Small Town America

Small towns are a slightly different atmosphere when it comes to holidays. Case in point - I just celebrated my first 4th of July here in Sticksville. Now, being that Sticksville is quite small, major festivities like fireworks are actually closer to  45 minutes away. However, I doubt the cities of LA or NY would basically shut down for a 4th of July parade. They shut down for no one and nothing.

Here in the tiny ranching and farming towns of America, it's a different story. It's quite simply a very different way of life. And I for one, like it.

Last Saturday, I went to my Job 3 like usual. I was told about an hour later, that we were closing not only for our normal lunch hour, but that we would be closed for four hours. So the few of us that work on weekends could go to the town of Alturas for their Fandango Days and enjoy the 4th of July Parade and festivities afterwards. Apparently this a big draw for this part of the state! At 10:30 I drove through all the detours and finally found a parking spot. The Parade had already started, but since I drove to the end of the route, I hadn't missed anything yet. I walked down until I was in the crowd. My grandfather had thought I could make there on my lunch hour to snap a few pictures of the classic cars that would be at the park. But little did either one of us know that I would have four hours available so I was able to wander around like a lost puppy with a camera.

Many of the shops had closed for the festivities. Only one restaurant closed. But still, where else do you find that? Half the town at least shut down so everyone can enjoy the day. Awesome, I say. Awesome.

I took pics for me and for him. So basically I shot everything. Here are a few highlights from the Parade.

Old fire truck and new fire truck.

Sheriff's Posse

They got a big round of applause - and deservedly so!

You know you're in a small town when the cheerleaders stop the parade for two cheers. And get introduced one by one. lol

1930s CHP car and a 2011 Crown Vic CHP car.

I spent about 3 of my 4 hours chilling sweating like a dog, taking pictures. Managed to get a tiny little sunburn in the shape of a 'V' from my smock, and on my right forearm. Everyone headed over to the park where the old cars in the Parade were set up for show. There were also food booths, pony rides (I, unfortunately, was too tall), and vendors of all kinds. I bought a t-shirt, it's really cute. I also got a nice big Tri-Tip sandwich from the Fire Department.

For the actual 4th of July, I woke up early and went to feed and irrigate as usual. Apparently ranch work doesn't stop just because it's a national holiday. Weird, right?  ;)

After our morning of sweaty and dirty work, K decided we should do something fun. They threw around some ideas about going to lakes that I hadn't been to. Actually, places I hadn't heard of. So, we decided to take a day and drive to a place called Blue Lake. (and before you ask, yes, it is blue) K fixed us sandwiches for the road and off we went. Well, first off we did shower and get cleaned up.

On the way there, the scenery is much the same - sage brush and desert all around. We dropped into a valley and it was so lush. It was green as far as the eye could see. Or rather, the length of the tiny valley. We decided to see some falls first before going on to the lake. K and I hiked to the falls. It was probably a 1/4 mile, but it felt like more. Because it was pretty much all uphill and I was in flip flops. But the falls were beautiful!

Mill Creek Falls

We had our little picnic lunch at the day use area at Blue Lake. The lake was still well hidden behind trees, but we could still look down on it while we ate. It's a small lake, actually. There's a footpath around it and no real "beach" area. There is a boat launch, though.

After Blue Lake, we took the dirt roads to yet another valley. Thank God none of us had to pee because it would have been sheer torture. Luckily, once down into the valley there were actual paved roads! We eventually made it home for the super dinner K cooked up - a mean pork tenderloin, corn on the cob, baked potato, and salad. And of course, dessert. K's mom made a rhubarb crisp and we also had brownies and ice cream available. YUM.

Random lush valleys in the high desert!

A valley called Surprise Valley? Guess those settlers weren't expecting it!

My remoteness.

I kinda wanted to show you guys how remote an area I now live and work in. I know some of my followers/readers are from smaller states or smaller countries, where if you drove 10 hours, you'd drive straight into an ocean. Which, as we all know, would be a bad thing.

The largest city I deliver the Publication to is Redding, which is around 90,000 people. It just goes down in population from there. Quite possibly the least populated town I deliver to is population 20 (on the sign on the highway).

As I stated in earlier posts when I was preparing to move to Sticksville, we have no chain stores. No chain restaurants. No Wal-Mart (Thank God), no Target, no fast food, nothing. There are a couple restaurants and a cafe, a book store, one main grocery store (I've met the previous owners and the current owner - the previous owner's daughter), a smaller grocery store, one gas station, a small hospital, a Post Office, and an auto part store. Many of the buildings are historic - I really should take some pictures of them.

Many of these small towns and communities are similar in that they have a local grocery store and if they're lucky a gas station. This region of NE California is primarily ag related - cattle ranching, farming, that sort of thing. If you need a Wal-Mart, the nearest one is at least two hours or more in any one direction. Same for a Costco. Same if you're craving any of the main fast food chains. Many of these little towns (including mine) don't have a physical bank in town. My nearest bank is 30 minutes away. Around here, we do things in bulk. If one of us needs to go to Town to the bank, we ask if someone else needs to run any errands in Town. Being that gas has been sitting $4.39/gallon for two months, you don't make wasted trips anywhere.

Also, as a side note - the vet clinic I work for (as job 3), covers more ground than any clinic I've ever seen or worked for. They pretty much cover an entire county, and filter into neighboring ones as well. They operate a total of three offices - the main one in Town, one in Sticksville and one about an hour in the opposite direction of Town. A vet is in those offices one day a week, and a receptionist an additional two days to sell merchandise and make appointments. The main office in Town is open 6 days a week with a vet there each day. It's quite a busy business.

Anyway, here are some random pictures I've snapped while driving around. Hope it puts it into some perspective as to how spread out it is up here.

Out on a road called Grasshopper Road. Basically, the middle of nowhere.

Coming into the Fall River Valley.

Manzanita Lake in Lassen National Park.

After I've left the cities - about a half hour or so outside them.

Somewhere on a highway. Sometimes there are trees on this highway, but not a lot.

I found this guy in my back yard after dinner the other night.

And this is him on the way out of my yard and into my neighbors yard.



I hope this helps you picture the region of CA that I live in, which is the least populated county in the state, I think. It's kind of beautiful in is desolateness.

April Blogging Challenge: Q is for Quiet

There is something about the country life that I love, and that is how quiet it is. Yes, I my house is on the highway and I hear trucks drive by or even the stray tractor. Or, as it happens - a cattle drive. But there is no real noise pollution out here.

It's quiet. It's peaceful.

It's totally flipping awesome.

Living in Sacramento there was always noise. Cars on the road or freeway, sirens blaring, neighbors fighting, delivery trucks beeping. There was always something to hear. There was always something to assault my ears. If you were in the store, people were on their cell phones or kids running amok like they owned the place (yes, Wal-Mart, I'm referring to you). There really is no place to go where you can have total peace and quiet.

Enter the country. Every morning when I'm out feeding the cows, that's what I hear - cows. Okay, and the feed truck. It's peaceful out here. I am currently sitting in my house and it's completely silent, except for my keyboard. I'm serious. The TV is off, there's no music on. There's no traffic, no car stereos thumping from 5 miles away, no sirens blaring in every direction, no neighbor noise.

Nothing.

Nada.

And let me tell you how nice  it is. How relaxing it is. I love it.

Silence really is golden.

Enjoying My New Life

In the past couple weeks a few people have asked me how I like living in my new town of Sticksville. Even my grandparents have asked.

I am actually enjoying being up here. I'm enjoying the fresh air and the work. I didn't really enjoy my little shitscapade, even though I did laugh over it. I mean, the only alternative was to be pissed, but that really wouldn't have gotten me anywhere but deeper in shit. Um, literally.

It's cold here in the mornings. My first week on the ranch it was snowing and windy and just plain freezing. In some cases it was about 10 degrees, maybe a little cooler. Yeah. That's cold. More recently it's been a nice warm 20-something in the mornings. Still cold, but better than 5 degrees.

The thing is, that unless it's really bad weather, I'm walking to my job. It's about a block to my grandparents house. I love the feel of the cold air on my face, it helps wake me up. This morning I had snow flurries falling on me as I walked. I'm working outside. Yes, it's a damned dirty job and it's not easy. I admire my grandparents for having done this for 20 years. My grandfather has actually been doing it a lot longer - I mentioned in another post that my parents were married in the late 70s at the ranch at it's previous location.

Do I miss my co-workers? Yes. Do I miss my volunteer gigs? Most definitely.

Do my muscles hurt? Some of them, yes. Do I have a few bruises? Sure. Have I gotten myself stuck in cow mudshit and have to be rescued? But of course.

I'm not afraid of hard work. I enjoy working with animals. I enjoy being outdoors.

Every morning I wake up around 6am. I sit on the couch and read, or I'll check my email. I open the front blinds and I look out on my grandparents ranch. I'm on the ranch by 7:30, more than likely having walked there. It takes us about an hour to feed all the cows. Papa D and I take buckets of grain into the bulls. K takes grain to a cow that they are nursing back to health. A bucket of grain goes to the heifers. We then take a truck into where the Spring cows are (and we check for new calves - none yet, we're hoping the cows are waiting for better weather!). K and I haul hay off the truck in increments for the Spring herd. Papa D and I go to feed the Fall cows, while K feeds the full grown bulls that are kept in separate pens. After the Fall cows, I test the electric fence and then climb over a fence to put hay in the calf feeder for the Fall calves. Then I ride on the tractor with Papa D to feed hay to the young bulls.

Sunday morning, when I tested the fence in the Fall cows field, I didn't get a reading. I had to run up to the house to get K to help me figure out what the problem could be. Papa D was on the tractor loading hay onto the the trucks for the next day. She and I took one of the ATV's  out and circled the pasture 3 times. We never could figure out what the cause of the problem was. But we made some cow mudshit go flying. Always a good tip on a ranch: "Keep your mouth shut." Even if you're the only one on the ATV, shit goes flying. Just sayin'. K had to jerry-rig the wires to make the fence work all the way around.

By the time we're done, I've worked up a sweat and I'm definitely ready for a nice HOT shower. And as in the case of Sunday, I got a bit muddy. Flying cow shit and all.

So, yes, I am enjoying it in Sticksville. The people I've come across have been friendly and have welcomed me to their town. I'm learning a lot, and I know I still have tons to learn. Will I be any good at any of it? Who knows for sure, but I'll give it a shot.

But I will take the job that allows me to see the sun rise every day. Well. Weather permitting, of course. 

My First Week of My New Life

My first week of being in my new town of Sticksville, USA was rather busy. I'm pretty sure I mentioned this is one of the previous posts I've written regarding my life alteration, but my grandparents put out a monthly publication as well as run a cattle operation. I moved up here just when the paper was sent to the printers, so they had that weekend to help me get settled.

We picked up the paper on Tuesday. A nice scenic two hour mountain drive. There is a lot of history in this area that I have yet to learn. I grew up in and around the area, but there's always that local history that's not often taught in classrooms. There's also a lot of tourist-type things around here that I haven't seen. I'm hoping when the weather gets better, I might be able to slowly start frequenting those places and provide all of you with beautiful pictures of the things to see and do in Northern California.

Anyway, I digress. The printer is actually in Oregon. I was able to walk into the room where the printing press is. It was huge. Like, two story huge. I would actually like to see it in operation, but I doubt that will happen.

After picking up the paper, it was time to get me outfitted for winter ranching. We bought me some long-johns, wool socks, work gloves, two work coats, a hat, and a pair of insulated muck boots (or Bogs is the brand name I think). They also bought me a small microwave for my house as the one that was in there wasn't quite up to snuff.

On Tuesday, it was time to start distributing. I've learned all the routes except for one. Bad weather was supposed to hit by Thursday, so while my Grandfather and I did one route, my Grandmother did another. Once the bad weather passed, my Grandfather and I did the last route, which I believe will become my "regular route". Not only do my grandparents write stories for this publication, they sell the ads, put it all together, send it to the printers and pick it up . . . but they also distribute it themselves. We have a delivery van that is packed with bundles upon bundles of the paper. There are lots of stops, some towns have more than others. Plus my Grandfather likes to stop by many of the advertisers to hand some off to them so they can see their ads and maybe pass a couple out.

Luckily, my "regular" route is Redding, and I know that town pretty well. Considering I grew up there.

However, there are several small California towns that I hadn't been to, until my Grandfather and I went to deliver papers. It's beautiful countryside. I will divulge some of the towns we deliver to, but for now, I will be keeping Stickville's real name under wraps. Here are some pictures from our drives. Enjoy the rustic scenery.

On the way to Susanville.

Eagle Lake

Between Old Station & Shingletown (my old stomping grounds)

Same road (Old Station/Shingletown)

 On the days that we delivered the papers, I didn't help on the ranch. We had to be ready to go early, like 8am, so trying to teach me the ranch stuff, then let me go shower and dress was basically out of the question. I am a girl, after all, and I have primping to do.

So, it wasn't until Thursday that I finally had to get out and help feed the cows. Now. Let me show you a picture of my town the day before I went to feed. *ahem*

This continued for about half of the day it was taken, all through the night, and well into the next day. That "next" day was my first day on the ranch. My first day on the ranch was about 25 degrees with a nice brisk wind, snowing, and about a foot of snow on the ground. I was able to snap a couple pictures on my cell phone. I wish to inform you my fingers nearly froze off just taking the pictures. But I'm willing risk it for my peeps.  :o)

Yes. It's as cold as it looks. I promise. And just so you know, even though my Grandfather had the heater on, the windows were cracked so we could hear my grandmother say "stop"/"go" as she was pulling hay off the flatbed behind us.

You can't see it, but there are icicles on the cows. I. Swear. To. God.

And now, I give you the best picture I've taken thus far. Everyone has enjoyed it. Thoroughly, I might add. I'd like to remind you, that yes it was as cold as it looks. 

So. Without further ado . . . *sigh* Here is the best picture. Ever.

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I know you're laughing. And that's okay. Why? Because I knew looked funny, and then I laughed my ass off when I saw the picture of myself. So, I want you to know it's okay. Keep laughing.