Falling from Home...

I stayed home from church today.

I am just in a blah type of mood and really don't feel well. I have been working SO much these days that it seems the only thing I have the energy for is Pinterest.

I love Pinterest. It is harmless. It is inspiring. It is mindless and relaxing. I have more boards filled with other people's creativity, dreams and projects. Which is totally depressing because I am SO tired I cannot even inspire myself off my favorite overstuffed comfy chair to accomplish anything but the basic necessities of food, clothing and sleep.

Fall has always been my favorite time of year. I love everything about fall. The colors, the scents, the weather that is always tinged with expectancy. Big changes always happen for me in the fall. This year was no exception. A new position in a new company. A new truck (and a new truck payment. ick.)  A new thyroid medication...the list goes on. I look at my home that is usually not just my pride and joy, but my sanctuary, and I cringe. Where is MY creativity? I want my home to reflect the beauty of the seasons! I want my home to be my place to recharge and reconnect with that which is vital and important! I want my energy back!



This year, the rehab group will be doing Halloween costumes with a theme. We are going as characters from The Wizard of Oz...something the older people in the facility will recognize and enjoy. I, along with my trusty therapy dog Scarlett, will be going as Dorothy, with Scarlett tagging along as Toto.

 

Okay. So she will be Toto on steroids... Trying to find a light blue gingham fabric in Kingman, Arizona is totally impossible. I even went to the local quilting shop and alas! They had no light blue gingham! Neither did WalMart, which is pretty much the only other place you can get any type of fabrics. However, they DID have a navy blue gingham check fabric, so I bought that. I shall be going as the 'Black and White" KANSAS version of Dorothy with the exception of some very colorful ruby slippers.

 

 

 

 I shall post photos of us when I get the costume done. It ought to be a fun day. Now today, I am supposed to be SEWING this costume as I only have 5 days before I have to wear it. And I have NO energy.

 

And then there is the matter of cleaning house, not to mention the barn...oh my! I hope my thyroid meds kick in REAL soon!

 

In the meantime, I hope your Sunday is filled with good things, for as we know...

 

Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow.

James 1:17 NAS

 

 

And fall IS perfect! Happy Sunday, my friend!





Hilarious dog photos

Okay. Let me preface this with this comment....

THESE ARE NOT MY DOGS!

 

But I had to share these because I laughed so much when I saw them, I almost broke a rib! Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Happy Saturday, my dear friends! Hope your weekend holds lots of doggy kisses and is simply GRAND!



Sunset....Moonrise

Scenes like the above, make the drive home bearable, even when the road is Unbearable...

I love where I live!



A time for everything...

 

 

 

 

'Nuf said......



Promises, promises, PROMISES

I have had a difficult time these past few months in keeping up with my life. Whomever said that life is what you make of it, spoke the absolute truth.

I came here from Colorado with hopes and dreams to be fulfilled and while I see so much of that coming true, I still face disappointments such as we all do. The grass is INDEED greener here for me here but recently I sort of.....uuuummmmm....scorched some grass.

I signed with a certain rehab company and it was a wonderful deal for me. It got me to Arizona, although 3 of my horses and my goats remain in Colorado waiting for me to come and get them. But with the job that I have currently had any sort of outside of work life has been pretty much obliterated. And I like BALANCE.

If I come home from work and am SO stressed that I spend the rest of the time either A: soaking in a bathtub trying to unwind or B: sitting in front of Pinterest so I can do something mindless and unwind or C: eat everything in site to relieve the stress, SOMETHING is not right. When I get up in the morning and find myself getting to work later and even later because I dread going in? It needs to change.

I have HORSES for crying out loud! I should be loving on them and riding them on a regular basis! I don't even COOK any more because I am too stressed to actually plan a meal.

So I started praying about all of this and all I have to say is...be careful for what you pray for. I prayed that God would allow me to see if what I had chosen was where I should be. And? Through various situations that literally slapped me in the face, I began to rethink. Every time something happened, I'd get enraged (inside), calm down, (inside) and think..."oh it isn't THAT bad"(inside).

But you know what? IT REALLY WAS THAT BAD.

So I thought..."I'll see what my options are in the job market around here" and before I even finished that thought, (honestly), I was presented with a new position. WITHOUT LOSING ANYTHING BENEFIT WISE. Only God can do those sort of things! I decided that I would give the expected 30 day notice (typical for therapists), but before I could do that another situation occurred that made me rethink and think that maybe 2 weeks would be a better thing. Before THAT could happen, 2 MORE incidents occurred that made me say, "Know what? I can't do even that.

Right now? I am happy with where I work. This week was an absolute delight and I remember why I got into being a rehab therapist in the first place. To HELP people recover. My patients are not just numbers. They have names. And lives they want to return to. They have my respect and my attention and if I need to spend extra time with them, I can because I am not SO overloaded with people who cannot tolerate 72 or 120 minutes of therapy, but have to be seen to make those numbers. I have missed this.

I hate like heck to not be able to keep my promise to my former company, but enough is enough. Life is about more than numbers. And sometimes you have to stand for what you believe in, regardless of the cost.

Which for me, in this situation, was absolutely nothing because my Father stood in the gap and kept me safe.

I wish it happened like this all the time. But now? I can have a life OUTSIDE of work because I am not hiding in the bathtub. I am however still spending an inordinate amount of time on Pinterest.

Oh well. One cannot have everything, eh?!

cate

Rise and SHINE!

Fall or Autumn? Whatever name you call it by....don't you just LOVE it?

 



 

Even if you do not live in a place that has tons of maple and aspen trees and the sumac is not visible any place but in your minds eye, you can FEEL fall! The air holds a magic quality of expectancy and you just KNOW everything is teetering on the brink of change. Even when the sun reaches down to warm you, the warmth is all that more special because you can feel that tang in the air!

 

 

 

 





Throughout my life fall has always been a time of big changes for me and I can feel a change coming soon! I am excited, of course, but stepping out in faith sometimes is a tad difficult for me. Okay. Sometimes it is MONUMENTALLY difficult for me. And even though I am moving forward, albeit in trepidation, I am praying along the path and know that where I go, my God goes before me. He will, in His timing, give me the wisdom and courage to handle this change with grace.

 

Yesterday, I got out of the house and did a little site seeing. Not much, but just enough to make me realize how closed off I have allowed myself to become lately. Part of that was because of a vehicle that was less than safe, and I did not want to take on the commitment of a *gasp* car payment. But when The Beast bit the dust, I just did not have any choice! And I really AM in love with a truck I now call "Gaston"! So yesterday was a real treat!

 

 

Arizona is so beautiful in the fall! The sunlight has a quality in October that defies description! I had forgotten that until I went out into that beautiful Arizona fall day!

 

 

 

Everything is changing....

 

 

 

God is up to something good. Something REALLY good!

 









Helloooooooo Prince Charming!!!

Good bye Beast. You have served me well and I appreciate your time and your service, but all good things must come to an end. Especially since you have no back lights and have developed a stinky, no good habit of leaking gas.

 

 

Helloooooooo Prince Charming! I know this is shallow, but I LOVE the way you look! Handsome, sleek, LEATHER interior and best of all? 4X4 and tow package! My heart is yours! 

 

 

But honestly. I really am NOT a materialistic girl. I just have expensive exquisite taste and demand  prefer good performance. Besides. I am SO worth it.

 

I shall name you.....Gaston`.