RAIN (literally and figuratively)

Okay...enough is enough.  Three inches of rain last night.  The herd of elk have moved on from my property to drier pastures or woods this morning.  But, it sure was fun to see them all standing in my driveway last night.  I now know Champ's ALARM bark :0)  That was a huge surprise when he made his run down to the lower yard.  Ha!  I was hoping they would bed down by the pond, but I don't see them through the rain this morning.

I'd like a wide angle lens :0)  

I spent some time calling a few friends and wishing them a Happy New Year.  Makes me feel at peace that Wayne got home safely.  Some people said, "How could you possibly let Kilt and Trouble go with him? I could never do that."   All that did was make me feel badly.  That would be like me saying, "How could you farm your dog out for months of training?"  Almost thirteen yr. old Trouble and 10 yr. old Kilt are with my husband.  They are with family.  They looked great while they were here.  He took good care of them. Only thing I did was trim their toenails :0)  Wayne needs the friendship of the dogs in Calif.  He likes to hike with Kilt. It helps me not to have 5 dogs here in Wa.  While it may not work for you, it works for us.

Sometimes people just don't think.  We are all just fine apart.  I hadn't seen my son for over three years while he was overseas.  We were just fine and it was a happy reunion when he returned home.

A lovely Holiday reunion :0)

 Wayne will be coming up here in August.  Yes, I will be going on an Alaskan cruise with my girlfriend.  He will be just fine.  It will be like a bachelor's vacation in the PNW.  I'm sure there are worse things!  I bought him crab pots for Christmas.  I introduced him to local friends.  He met the breakfast club and joined them by himself while I was trialing over the holidays.  I had all of the neighbors over for Champagne and appetizers to get to know Wayne before Christmas. 

Wayne and Philip Mendicino

Wayne's retirement was moved up from age 55 to 60 where he works.  He will not be 60 yrs. old until March of 2017.  Finding a "senior" job to transfer up to entails a lot of luck.  Yes, there are jobs, but he would take a big pay cut.  No thanks. We still have lots to take care of in So. Calif.  We don't have the house on the market yet.  It's not like it has to be a big rush to put it up for sale.  Plus, we have some other things we need to do to simplify.

I am always happy for my friends when they do well at trials.  But, sometimes you find out who your TRUE friends are when you do well by some zinger comments or no comments at all.  Thankfully, I'm at the age where I can just put that behind me.  If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

I am spending this rainy day going through my 2015 calendar trying to see if I can give Champ some experience at some trials in Calif. along with stopping in at our home there for awhile to assess what will be needed to put it on the market (eventually).

Nothing is permanent.  Life is so very difficult.  How can we be anything but kind.

When I went to the Kirchgessner trial, I felt good about handing out one of my 'homeless kits' to a young lady standing at the freeway exit, very pregnant, and in the rain.  I was in the next lane over.  I called her to me and gave her my little package.  It was the least I could do.  She didn't unzip it and grab the $20 in the kit, but I watched as I pulled away with the green light as she carefully went through all of the toiletries in the kit.  It made me feel good.  Give back.

I have no cause for anything, but gratitude and joy.  I apologize for the few negative thoughts in this post.  I really don't need to explain myself or my life.  You can only lose what you cling to....so good-bye to those who brought a little rain into my world.  I wish you the very best in 2015!