Lots of excitement

Song of the day: “A-Team” by Ed Sheeran. Cute little song, if terribly sad, when you think about it.

So it’s been an incredibly busy week, which started for big brother and me on Wednesday, where, after normal work, we were hired to pick up seven dogs, three of which were sick to bring them to a new location where they would be cared for. It was going to be a long day (12 hours, yikes!) First there was the place to prepare. It was a rental so the fencing had to be improved, rooms needed to be emptied and instructions given to the young man who was going to be caring for them. Nice kid, but definitely feeling out of his league, which wasn’t surprising. He was terribly young, and he was not familiar with the intricacies of working with so many dogs (semi-wild ones to boot). Unprepared by the one who hired him, for sure, and sure enough, the next day we got to hear that he wasn’t going to manage and that we had one day to find a solution…well, not us, actually, luckily, in this regard we were just the grunt workers, so for us it was waiting to hear what we were expected to do.
Bad thing is, the day before we’d had a lunch appointment, which I rescheduled to a dinner, which I then had to reschedule to the next day. By the time we were done, I was so friggin’ tired I went home, ate (very little) and basically passed out for the night…since we were so late getting home, I still hardly had seven hours of sleep, which meant that we were still running a bit on fumes the next time when we had to start all over with the move to a new location.
This time it took a little less time (11 and a half hours in fact), and the dogs behaved perfectly, for as far as I was concerned. When I arrived, I was afraid that it was going to take hours to catch then, considering that the rental owner was all worried about them being uncatchable (apparently they’d been trying for quite a while) but the worry was unfounded. Within fifteen minutes I’d caught them, and we had them settled in the cars. Another fifteen minutes later everything was loaded up (or so we thought) and we were on our way.
It took some time to arrive at the new place. Way more comfortable this one, also the owner and agent were very helpful, not to mention crazy about the dogs that we let out the moment the gates were closed. I was so proud of the lot of them. They were real troopers…best thing is that I don’t think that they were overly traumatized by the whole thing, in fact within an hour of unloading they were lounging about in the shade as if they’d been there forever.
Did have to bathe two of the sick ones, the one who was sickest had been treated at the vet’s but the other three still needed their baths. Only had time for two, though, since it was getting late, but no matter, the two boys needed it most.
The next day we did work in record time, because afterward we had to drop over at the place with the dogs to bring some more supplies before heading out to Ronda for our dinner appointment.

Gawd did we need some relaxation…and we got it. Were welcomed by Chris and his girlfriend Valetine, and a friend of theirs who’d been staying there before traveling on to Tarifa where he was going to do some kite surfing. Played with the two dogs on site, talked and gossiped under a tarp while it rained, and then went out into the veggie yard to gather our food and anything that the two of them couldn’t use themselves for our doggies. More sitting and relaxing, and then, approaching twilight, dinner was ready to be eaten. Very nice, but regretfully the day was rapidly coming to an end and we still had a two hour drive home ahead of us.
Didn’t get home until after midnight either, with me having nodded off several times. Good thing big brother did have a good night’s rest.

Been under some stress lately, which showed the other morning when right after breakfast my stomach decided that it had enough of all the commotion (loads of work, hardly any sleep) and chucked it all up again. It’s been a while since that happened, so I am not really surprised. I just call it remnants of an unhealthy lifestyle.

Part of yesterday was spent taking care of certain obligations in town, along with some groceries and gassing up. Also stopped at Decathlon to get a couple of training pants. Mine are starting to fall apart, so it was getting to be necessary. Took longer than expected, meaning that a nap was short-lived (my head was too full with…gawd knows what) followed by a cooking session. Made Buckwheat burgers, which were splendid. And a hard vegetable (red beets, carrots, cauliflower, white cabbage, onion, leek, whole sugar peas and red bell pepper) salad with small cubes of feta in it. To finish that off a cottage cheese and yogurt dressing that made it downright yummy. The fact that the dish had olive oil and Sicilian herbs in it, also helped. Hah.

What followed was cleaning out the car. Considering we had transported infected dogs with it (these weren’t actually sick, but they’d been with the ones who have mange) there was quite a bit of it that needed doing. Took everything out, swept dirt from the corners, used the vacuum cleaner where we couldn’t reach and then mopped the who thing out with bleech.
That was when we had to leave for the airport to pick up Walter, who was coming in from the UK to take care of the sick dogs we’d transported. The plane was late, of course, which had me in a full-blown stress-out because I was afraid I might have missed him somehow, but then there he was, me squinting at him trying to match him up with the picture I had, and him seeing the sign in my hand and miming “Sam?”. Phew.
Within a few minutes we were on our way to the rental where we did a quick run through of the meds, handing him some salad and burgers to eat, and then off we were to arrive home after midnight again. He was a nice bloke, though, I think he and the dogs will get along well enough.

Labhana is not doing well, I fear. Her walking is getting worse by the day, and she’s hurting. I can see it in her expression, notice it in how she looks at me wanting to follow me around, while her joints won’t let her. Also, I think that her cancer is raging rampant, meaning that her time is running out.

And today…well, today is work-at-home day…after sleeping in for about an hour or so. Plenty to do, not to mention that I’ve been postponing computer work for way too long. Still that doesn’t mean that we can neglect our health, so after some cereal this morning, I went outside to my old terrace where I did a short workout, which was splendid, albeit not as long as it could have been. But okay, better a bit than nothing, all the joints are loose again, and the head has unwound a little…which brings us to the end of today’s blog.

The need to please?

Song of the day: “Things” by Robbie Williams and Jane Horrocks. I know it’s not the original, but what can I say, my mind has a mind of its own, and apparently it likes this one better. Hah.

So yeah, events have been at a bare minimum lately, so there really isn’t all that much to tell about any of that, much to my regret. So what can we talk about today? My mind has been tumbling a lot lately, and I am trying to sort through it all. So, rather than keep it all in, let’s see if I can create some order in the chaos.

What is the problem…I am not entirely sure if it is a problem, I just know that this supposed problem doesn’t work well for me. You see, I have this somewhat compulsive “need” to please. Not just one person, or two. No, basically I don’t want to disappoint anyone, and as you might start to comprehend, this can be a slight problem.
Realistically speaking there is no way in heck that anyone can please everyone, and therein much of my turmoil nests…okay, that is a strange turn of phrase, I know, but it seemed to fit at the time. Hah.
I mean, think about it, you want to be fair and do this and that just right, but in the eyes of the other person that can be just the wrong thing (subjective opinions and all that) while you try to do this and that just so for the other person, who then in turn doesn’t agree with it either. Puts you kind of in the middle of something, doesn’t it?
Very frustrating, and it can get you into knots for sure. I would have sworn that my ulcer was returning this past week. Luckily all this sorting in my head is slowly shlogging me back to my previous equilibrium. Almost there. *sigh*
But anyway, knowing in your head that you can’t please everyone, doesn’t help either. I’ve known this to be a truth for ages, and yet I often find myself feeling poorly just because I disappointed someone who, as it turned out, had higher expectations than I was able to live up to.
Does that mean that I did something wrong? Does that mean I didn’t do my best.
No.
Luckily I have come to a point in my life where I can take enough distance of these whacky mind wobbles and look back upon my actions fairly.
I do my best, and no one can realistically expect me to do more than that. If they do, that is their problem.
Which brings us to my previous problem, doesn’t it. My need to please. Grrr.
I don’t just want to say “f**k you and your expectation”, I mean besides finding the-need-to-please vastly annoying, nothing is worse than bad manners. Seriously, if you look at the world today the main problem you see basically anywhere is bad manners…but I’ll get back to that later. Another thing that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.
Where was I…right: What to do?
How does one find balance between doing your best and making yourself sick with trying to bend over backwards to please others.
It’s a pickle isn’t it?
Supposedly I could go to the other person(s) and demand that they not have such high demands of me and that if everyone just does their best life might get a lot more pleasant for everyone involved, but seriously: This is MY problem. Expecting others change would be just as unrealistic as others trying to change me.
I do like the phrase that you cannot change anyone or anything except yourself, and try to live by that . So how can I change. How can I get to a point where I can take a moment to look at my actions and decide whether or not whatever turmoil I experience has the right to be there.
Wouldn’t that be grand?
To me it would be, which is why these thoughts have been tumbling through my mind for days. I think that I have come to that point where I can handle it again and say “I won’t care about things that I cannot change.” Instead I will focus on finding that balance within myself where I can do my best and then let go the consequence of how this is perceived by others. I have no control over the latter so I will look upon it as the adventure of “cause and effect”. I’ll do my part in this dance called life and try to enjoy the steps along the way without expectations.
If nothing else, it will be less wearing on the soul that way, won’t it? Hah.

As to manners. Gawd, call me terribly old fashioned, but I have a sincere dislike toward folks without basic manners. And I don’t mean the old rules of “good morning” and “good evenings” and “thank you, ma’am”s, but the basic manners of not treating others different than the way you want to be treated.
Have you noticed how so very few people maintain common courtesy in the face of what I can only describe as simple laziness. “Can’t be bothered” seems to be the overall attitude, which is a pity. It makes life a lot less pleasant than it can be.

I could talk on about that particular subject endlessly, even give you fine examples, but that’d just be preachy, wouldn’t it.

So what else can we talk about? Dogs? Well, at the moment they’re not doing badly, but I don’t want to jinx it, or anything. Let’s just say at the moment there is nothing massive going on with the dogs either, which I’m going to see as a blessing. Hah.

Finally went on a run again last night. It was really necessary for my own state of mind (have you noticed how taking stuff personally can mess you up completely?) as well as Knight II who's been more than a little bonkers lately just because he doesn't get enough exercise. So I ran (he trotted) a wonderful stretched out run that was going so perfect that was I was smiling most of the way...right until I went down the slope and had to catch myself on my bad heel. Yep. That hurt. Bad! Almost went flat on my face, but didn't. Caught myself, limped a little, did some stretches of the friggin foot and managed to finish the jog at a slower pace, (running on the front of my feet) and with pauses to stretch in-between. Sure, last night I could barely walk, and this morning wasn't any better, but it was worth that stretched out run I started with. I was flying, baby...and not panting like a moron while I was at it. Hah. Nah. I'll do my stretches, keep walking right, and take this slight discomfort like a man...gladly even for that experience. Yay.

The weather has turned from springy, to downright summery. Seriously, last week I’m still wearing flannel blouses, and now I’m at a point where I’m seriously pondering bikini tops just to get some coolness on my skin. Hah. Blast the fact that the pool isn’t functioning…stupid pump and filter died on us, meaning that either we’re without a pool this year, or we have to splurge on a new system. We’re still considering our options.

Cooking lately has been about filling my stomach rather than anything else. Am going for veggies every day, but it is nothing to write home about, so to speak. Time…tis the bane of our existences, isn’t it?

Well, that’s it for today. I’m thinking of making patties tonight, which should see us through the next few days with proper nourishment, eh?

Einstein hair?

Song of the day: “A new day has come” by none other than Celine Dion, of course. Don’t have her in my head often, do I? Anyway, gorgeous song.

So I survived…sorta anyway. The “sleep! A kingdom for sleep” feeling has eased to bearable levels, the cough is minimal, Einstein hair has been tamed (don't ask, don't imagine it; it's pure horror me with Einstein hair) and the nose is leaking only a little bit now. Yep, that’s got to mean that I’m still alive. Whether I want to be, is the question however. Hah.

Seriously, though. I had a wonderful workout today. Am weak, wobbly, and after punching the bag twelve times, I had to catch my breath for a solid five minutes, but I went through the whole routine (took forever) and was wonderfully sore afterward. The weather is getting more summery, so the temps were excellent for my workout. Yay.

No work for me today…other than stuff at home, of course. Everything is a mess, and the majority of yesterday morning was spent sorting through clean laundry, and cleaning up the corner that I call my room at the moment. It took some doing (it was a gawdawful mess, I tell ya) but it is semi-clean again.

Yesterday…oh my gawd. A complete day ruined on bureaucracy, thank you very much. You see, that whole debacle with grandpa’s drivers license, it just kept dragging on and on, and on. We had to go to Malaga for it, again, to get a temporary one, again (this is like the fourth, or fifth time that the real one has been “lost” in transit, somewhere) only to hear that we had to go to trafico (governmental building that handles anything that has to do with traffic, duh) to check if maybe, just maybe, they had finally managed to get a hold of it. So we went there. Big brother is feeling poorly at the moment (flu, we’re thinking) so grandpa and I went inside and ended up standing in line for more than a friggin hour…and that while it wasn’t even a busy day. Apparently they changed some sort of rule meaning that you can no longer just go there, but that you have to make an appointment either by phone or their webside. Aaaaargh. Almost weren’t helped at all. Luckily they quickly understood the ongoing problem, and finally at after 2 in the afternoon we finally came to the counter where I once again explained the problem
We were asked to “wait a segundito” and then, finally, finally, finally the guy returned with grandpas license in hand, actually cracking a joke. Nice guy at least.
Anyway, the only thing that bothers me now is that nine months from now grandpa will need to go through the entire mess once more to get his next license (above a certain age, you have to renew every two years. Aaaaargh!) The fun just never stops, does it?

But anyway, by the time we got back to the car, it became clear that there might be something wrong with it. Underneath the hood a nice puddle of black-ish liquid was on the ground. I had already felt that the brakes were a little odd during the course of our ride there, so with the proof of something wrong right there to see, I made a beeline for the garage where our mechanic suggested we hitch a ride home rather than risk driving in the car some more. He was going to need some time to figure out the problem, he said. So our baby is over there, waiting for its turn to be fixed, and we’re without proper transportation. *sob*

Ah well, a good excuse to stay home with the doggies, isn’t it? They're doing relatively well, by the way...although Knight licked his foot open again this morning, bloody eejit.

Nothing nice to mention about cooking. Didn’t do all that much of it, only for nutritional purposes and then only on the run, since whenever I had a moment, I’d try to catch some zzzzzs . Still recovering, and all that.

Didn’t do much of anything writing wise, my head just isn’t screwed on right, if you know what I mean. Might get some done tonight, if nothing wonky happens…no reason there should, but don’t it always happen that when I plan on writing on any given day that something will happen to stop me from doing so. Grrr. So we’re going to wait and see. Keep yer fingers crossed for me.

Well, I can’t think of anything remotely interesting to write right now, so this will have to be it. Gotta go.

Out and down

Song of the day: “Que Cera Cera” by Doris Day, of course.

I would like to say that lots of exciting stuff happened this past week, but nope. I’ve been sick as a dog, and when I say sick, I would had myself put down just to be rid of the misery. Jeez. It started with a simple throat ache, which spread to my nose, then started sinking into my lungs…which I just barely stopped with some meds, thank you very much…at which time all I was doing was sleeping. And when I say sleeping, I’m talking 14 to 16 hours a day. Not in one piece, mind you. I did seven or eight in a row, then naps while the world around me kept spinning and tilting. It was weird, I tell ya. A nice bug for sure. Powerful, too. Took me five days to overcome it to the extent of being able to go back to work (little sister covered for me). Tried at four days, but when I got up to get ready to leave, I was about ready to drop down on my knees and cry for more sleep. So little sister went again, and I went back to bed. Slept four more hours and then spent the majority of the day reading a bit, sleeping some more, actually writing a bit, some writing and cooking supper four out of five days. Yay.

Yes, I am not completely useless…just a little. Hah

The doggies, for one, did fully enjoy my sickness. Seriously, Knight, Labhana, Dax and Sitabah spent the entire five days plastered to my side snoozing the day away, right along with me. If I hadn’t dragged my sorry behind out into the sun at least once a day they’d not even gone out for more than a pee, silly doggies.

Though little sister and middle sister both had the bug, it didn’t hit them as hard, and big brother got it last, and he is just feeling a little uncomfortable, nothing like me, so apparently I was the lucky one. Hah.

No matter though, today I was almost back to normal, so we can just forget all about the stupid flu.

As to writing. I did two to three pages, yay, which is bringing the “Gun” story one tiny baby step closer to completion. Characters are developing nicely, despite them being decidedly wonky. It should be fun seeing how they come along further up in the story. Right now it’s still up in the air.

Well, seeing as there is not all that much to tell, I’m going to leave this one short. Nothing of interest happening anyway. I’m going to bed soon.

Keep you posted.