Killin' Time

I'm sitting in my patrol car behind an abandoned white Chevy car waiting for the tow truck to arrive. My necessary paperwork has been filled out so now I just have to wait for the tow guy. Ho hum!!

It's been exciting day - I'm going on a road trip. In September. I haven't been on vacation in a while and I actually will get one this year because I have a big person's job with benefits and everything. I decided to take off the second week of September. I figure the last traveling rush of summer will be over after Labor Day weekend and all the annoying kiddos will be back in school by then!!! That and Radio Man and mine's 3rd anniversary lands in the middle of the vacation!! Perfect!

Tow truck guys have arrived!! YAH! BAck to work, I go!

Cats and dogs

It's definitely spring time!! It's been raining for two days now! I love it! Everything should start really turning green and all of the flowers should be blooming soon. I love April showers! I'm not a huge fan of working in them but oh well, makes the day interesting. I'm sitting here at 10:47 in the AM, drinking coffee, and watching it rain. Not too shabby of a life!

I had a long day yesterday. It started off right from my parking lot with an abandoned vehicle call. Then I had a stolen vehicle recovery which dragged itself out through most of the day. Collecting and logging evidence is time consuming! I had to swab a syringe found in the vehicle. That was nasty. Gives me the willies just thinking what that person must have looked like and what they did to themselves. After I got done logging the evidence, I had to get right back out on the street because the accidents were rolling in. I didn't get lunch break which makes me a grumpy CSO. I went to two accidents and then had a short break. Then I worked on the report from the stolen vehicle recovery and was sent to an accident with 15 minutes left in my shift. It was pouring rain!! Someone should have issued a small cat and dog warning! I hurried through the accident, er, I was efficient. Then I headed back to PD to turn in my paperwork. I slept very well last night!!

Oh, and I've just decided I need to buy an umbrella - so I can take Brink for a walk when it's raining like this!

The Unlikely Disciple

Kevin Roose writes an entertaining and informative book in the The Unlikely Disciple. As a student at the uber-liberal Brown University, Roose decides to do an experiment with journalistic motivation. He transfers, for one semester, to Liberty University, the uber-conservative Christian college founded by the infamous Moral Majority leader Jerry Falwell. The book follows Roose through his semester, from telling his Quaker parents about his plan to attending the funeral of Falwell a week after the semester ends. Its an enlightening book and not in the spiritual sense. Roose shows that putting yourself in another's shoes can open up your eyes to your own narrow mindedness. If anything, The Unlikely Disciple provides an insider's look at a unique university, evangelical culture, and Jerry Falwell himself.

In other news... on to another book. My schedule change has been wonderful. I've been taking morning walks with Brinkley Miles and reading. The work day is a little strange. It's more quiet than normal. I've been given the north end of town as my area so I probably won't see as many accidents per day as I would have had I been given the south. I try to keep myself busy by writing parking tickets to college students who don't understand the logistics of angled parking in a residential area.

Even more news... I have sprouts! I planted some basil seeds a week or so ago. And I have sprouts!! They are little and fragile but they are growing with gusto!! I just need to keep from naming them or I won't be making any fresh pesto!!

Goodbye 5 AM, I will not miss you!

It is a great day! At least the first 45 minutes have been...I don't have to wake up at 5 again for a long time! Last day of training!!! I'm so glad it's here. It's been a long five months since my first day on the job. I may not know everything there is to know, but I have the tools in the toolbox to get me through whatever may come my way.

I'm still incredibly bummed that I only get two days off every week. I'll adjust. It will be nice to know that I can schedule weekends with friends again!

Sigh. I suppose I should get ready for work!

Montana 1948

Sometimes I go to the library and just wander. I'll walk in with no plan at all and walk out with nothing in my hands. I'll browse. I'll go down every aisle, pick up books, flip through them, and put them back. I'm not one to judge a book by its cover. Picking the next book the read is quite the trial. I have to be in the right mood or I'll have heartedly start a book and never finish it. I went to the library a few weeks ago and found this gem - Montana 1948. It was on the Staff Pick shelf. The cover caught my eye, then the brief synopsis on the back. I started it and could hardly put it down. It was a short, quick read, but very powerful. Small town Montana, a young boy, his father the Sheriff, and an uncle who is caught molesting Indian women. It's a book with an underlying moral to the story that is reminiscent of To Killing A Mockingbird or Summer of the Monkeys. I was so impressed with my Staff Pick that I picked up another at the library today. This one is written by a local author and has Colorado/Wyoming as the landscape!

Also on the list of recent library selections is Unlikely Disciple, Eiffel's Tower, and Tallgrass!

Last 3 day weekend!

With all the joy of being done with training and finally being on my own also comes sadness. I'm the low CSO on the totem pole which means that I get stuck with the crummy five day work week schedule. That means this is my last three day weekend for a long time. It's very sad. I've been loving my three days off. It will take some time to adjust to the 12-8 schedule. Hopefully it is a blessing in disguise. I won't have to wake up early!! Brinkley should get morning walks!

Tomorrow is Easter for my family. Too many people were working last Sunday so we're making tomorrow our Easter. It should be fun. Moxon should be old enough to be a blast when it comes to hunting eggs.

Yawn! Long week...ready for bed now. Maybe I'll just call it a day and head that way! Zzzzzz.

A Worm's Word spinoff???

Another day of no work means another day of thinking up random ways to pass the time. One way that keeps coming back is thinking about the future. I like to think about the future. Not because I don't like the present - it's just I think the future is going to be a blast. One day, Radio Man and I will own some land. That's the plan. We'll somehow manage to build a house and then the fun really begins. I get to have chickens. Brinkley Miles gets to have a yard. And Radio Man gets a big workshop and his own radio tower. It really is an idealistic type vision that I have in my head. The vision may not include a white picket fence but it does have a trout pond and a perfectly sized kitchen for entertaining. It's a life that includes city money to pay for a country living. And I think the whole process of Brent and I essentially becoming homesteaders (minus the free land, of course) could be quite entertaining.

I envision myself herding chickens, or being cornered by chickens, while Brent laughs from a rocking chair on our back porch. It all sounds very domestic, but not in the 1950s Donna Reed Show variety. It's a hybrid of the 1870s and today. I won't have to pee in an outhouse, but I'll bake my own bread!

The thought of making our homesteading adventure into a blog crossed my mind. We'll see. The learning process has already started - Radio Man is learning about green building and I've already read up on raising chickens and organizing a root cellar. Bit by bit it will come together. Anywho, like I said, I like thinking about the future. I look forward to the day that I can dip my toes into my own pond or make scrambled eggs from eggs collected from my own hen house.

Scrappin' soothes the soul

I can't remember exactly when but I remember telling my mom that I would never get sucked into the scrapbooking craze because everything cost so much and I didn't have time or money to waste on such a thing. That was probably 6 or 7 years ago. My how time can change things!! I'm addicted! I love scrapbooking. Even more, I love scrapbooking with my friends! There's something very soothing about pouring over pages and pages of paper to find just the right design or pattern that sparks inspiration! I'm close to finishing my 2008/2009 album for Radio Man and Me. Then it's on to some Brinkley Miles pages. I have a HUGE stack of adorable Brinkley photos to put in his scrapbook so that project may take a while.

I'm off again today so I'm going to keep on scrappin' through the day. And watching The West Wing. And drinking coffee! Perfect day!

Shopping....

I have a huge urge to be a kid again. I have a plan...ride my bike to work, which is a mere two miles away. Easy peasy exercise and a great way to get in touch with the kid inside me. I've missed that little kid lately - life has been pretty stressful. I'm ready to be reminded of the fun and simple things in life! So tomorrow I'm going bike shopping for a cruiser bike. Can't get much easier than one gear!

I spy...Daffodils

I took another walk with Brinkley Miles today! Two days in a row - woohoo! Now that's a step in the right direction (pun intended) for getting back into some type of running routine! There were no signs of tulips yet, but I did spy some daffodils popping up so that made me happy. Spring is coming! (I'll ignore the snow in the forecast for now!) I noticed a big difference in sleep last night. I had a night without dreams (bad dreams, especially) in a very long time. I have hope that tonight will bring the same! Or even better ... a night full of dreams about beautiful tulips!!

Sweet Dreams!

Castle Tonight

My Tuesday was kind of blah. Nothing too exciting happened. I survived another day of FTO. My day brightened when I made it home and took Brinkley Miles for a quick walk. And then it really brightened when I realized that it's Monday and Castle is on tv tonight. I think it's the season finale. I'm loving my 40" tv and I'm sure I'll love it even more while watching Castle!

I have to do some studying tonight for my Phase Two test but I think I'll be ok. I don't know. Phase Two trainer sucks and really didn't review anything with me.

An uneventful afternoon on patrol...

This will probably be the one and only time that a blog from a patrol car - reason being...I'm riding along with another officer today. I'm responsible for nothing in particular today. I'm just here to observe and help out when I can. It's been an uneventful day of driving around and looking for parking violations. It's a beautiful day in town. I wish I could be outside...running. I want to be running - without the painful pains of getting back into running. I'm not really looking forward to those pains - where all of the little nerves start to tingle and make my legs itch, the stiffness that makes walking and bending the next day a bigger task than it should be.

Anywho, ready for next weekend. Scrapbook fun with my UW girls. I've already got tons of paper, stickers, and photos ready! Hopefully I can get Radio Man and My's second year scrapbook done!

A delightful reminder of the joys of blogging.

As one who loves to cook, and at times blog, I really enjoyed Julie & Julia. It's definitely a movie worth adding to the collection. If I had the time I'd be tempted to take on the same challenge that Julie did in the movie - making every recipe in Julia Child's first book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" in 365. That's 524 recipes in 365 days! Considering I make about one recipe a week, it would one heck of a challenge to try Julie's. I'll pass, but the movie was inspiring. It at least goes to show that some people may be reading a blog even if the writer doesn't know it. Real life Julie's blog is still up - see The Julie/Julia Project and read what started it all.

As for the rest of my day off... I'm headed to the dry cleaners, doggie day care, and Hobby Lobby. Later today is bowling with VBaca and definitely some photography fun!

A little of this, a little of that.

I used to really enjoy the whole blogging thing. It was an odd, quirky documentation of my solo life with my dog and cat. My how things have changed since day one of this blog. I'll be the first to say that my life is still odd, but it's no longer just me, the dog, and the cat. It brings back fond memories to read the first few posts I wrote and remember my mini-battle back into the running world. The blog helped me focus on that, and to some degree, made running more fun. I've gotten away from blogging...and running. It's too bad really because my life has held some pretty random, trying, thrilling, and hilarious moments over the past few years of infrequent blogging.

I won't exactly say that I'm turning over a new leaf or anything, but I'm going to try and make a decent effort at returning to both the running and blogging world. Things are starting to settle down a little bit in the new job/training world and the Worm/Radio Man world so I'll see what I can do.

Spring keeps teasing me. Boo. I'm ready for tulips!! Forget this 60s one day, snow the next crap!! I've been scrapbooking the last few days - camping trips...makes me want to go camping very, very soon. Or hiking. Actually, anything that doesn't involve a parka or gloves sounds great to me!

Where did 2009 go?

Holy crap! It's hard to believe that it's two weeks into the new year already. Life has been crazy busy here with Brinkley Miles and Radio Man. The holidays were great. We're spoiled, both materially and with unbelievably cool friends and family. There was no grinch this Christmas!!

I can't really say that I've started the year off with any specific resolutions in mind. I'm focused on doing well with my new job so that takes most of my mental energy and I haven't had time to really think about other stuff. My week of defensive tactics training nearly killed me. I was so incredibly sore at one point that even getting in and out of bed took what seemed like every ounce of will power and energy I had to move. I didn't even know that I had most of those muscles that were sore. DT was a good incentive to keep going to the gym. Eventually, I'm going to meet with a yoga instructor within the department to help me become more flexible. And I'm back to running on the treadmill again. Everything is slow and steady right now because I don't want to get injured but this job will keep motivated for quite a while.

Brinkley Miles is doing great. He's earning his keep. He woke me up the other morning at 3am because people were out in the parking lot. Turns out, the police were in the parking lot because of some freak little man waving a knife at his roommate who happened to be on a date with someone she met online. Turns out he's married and has kids. Brink's growl and bark was exactly what he should have done. He knew something was not right! I love my dog! So much that I'm now paranoid about what he's eating. I googled Beneful. Bad idea. Now I'm researching dog food to find out what's not going to kill him and give him cancer. He may end up getting a mixed diet with all fresh meat and stuff. We'll see.

Happy New Year!

Damn you, Bob Harper!

Sunday morning I took on The Biggest Loser: Cardio Max DVD and now, 24 hours later, am still feeling the burn. I selected the easiest selection on the DVD too! Most of the workout consisted of lunge type maneuvers so my thighs and hamstrings are killing me! If I keep this up, I will, like Bob says, be able to bounce a quarter off my ass! It's hard not to want to scream at him on the screen, bouncing around, being all cheerful and encouraging. Damn you, Bob Harper and your lunges!

In non-painful news... the healthy eating has been going well. I've been eating lots of fruits, veggies, yogurt, and lean meat. Saturday night I went to Chucky Cheese with the family and didn't partake in the greasy pizza. It was salad bar for me, including spinach with salad! Go me! Last night I baked some chicken and made extra for today's lunch!

Also, I started my LHOTP adventure. I'm almost finished with Little House in the Big Woods. I'm enjoying it so far. I love how each of Pa's stories has a moral to it, more or less. I will say this, I don't remember all of the drawings from the first time I read this series. Garth Williams rocks!

OUCH!

My week of the "new me" has gone well. I alternated pilates and Tae Bo each morning this week. So now that it's Saturday my calves are so tight that I'm hobbling around. I know there is an adjustment period before things will feel good and not painful after working out. I've been trying to eat more protein to help my poor, unsuspecting muscles recover faster. I'm taking today off from the working out. But tomorrow I'm back at it! I bought three new DVDs last night for half price as Barnes and Noble. Billy Blanks kicks my butt, yes, but he's also kicked my butt many, many times over the last ten years and I thought I needed something new to look at and motivate me. With options, I'm more likely to get out of bed in the morning to do this!

And I skimped on the reading last night. My box set is buried in the garage and I ran out of daylight before I could go digging. I will dig it out after work tonight, before I go to Chucky Cheese with my mom and nephew!

Correction!

My LHOTP obsessed friend (she's the one that used the acronym) informed me that in my previous post I have the first book wrong. It's NOT Little House on the Prairie. The first book, which I will start tonight, will be Little House in the Big Woods. My apologies. :-P

Returning to the Little House on the Prairie

I'm not sure why my mother challenged me. Maybe she was disappointed in my school system or irritated that I hadn't used my Christmas present, but one summer she came to me with a challenge. If I could read my entire box set of Little House on the Prairie books, she would buy me a TV for my room. I was 12 or 13 and probably too obsessed with television for my own good. I accepted the challenge and slowly began my adventure with Laura and all the others. It took all summer, but on the last day of freedom, sunshine, and swimming pools, I spent almost the entire day finishing up the last book of the series. I got my TV and continued my television obsession. (As exciting as it was, that it came with the remote was the coolest part! It didn't take much to excite us in the early 1990s!)

Fast forward fifteen years...I'm cleaning out my garage and find one of many boxes from my childhood. Deep in the bottom is my neatly packaged and cared for Little House on the Prairie box set. After a nice flashback to that summer of reading, I tucked the box safely back in storage and continued on my way. I'm no longer as television obsessed, and after completing graduate school am shocked to find that I still have a passion for reading. So a couple of weeks ago I found myself perusing some bestseller lists a few days ago and thinking "What should I read next?"

Well, my mother would be proud of me. I'm going to dig that box set out of my garage and take that journey to the West one more time! I vaguely remember bits and pieces of the books but not many so it should be a fun and enjoyable experience. Do you care to join me? I'll be starting this evening, Book One - Little House on the Prairie. After each, I'll post a review!

A cloudy day in the neighbor.

It's a cloudy and chilled morning in the neighborhood. Brrr. Makes it obvious that fall is quickly approaching. I love fall. LOVE it!!! It's my favorite time of year. And it's going to fly right by. All of my weekends are booked already, and there's not too much fun mixed in. But it's all okay. Why? Because I don't have to go back to school and will squeeze in my fall fun the best that I can. I'm already looking forward to some fall time decorating, baking, and a trip to Harvest Farms for some corn mazing, kettle corn eating, and pumpkin launching!

I completed morning one ... well, half of morning one. I couldn't finish. I was completely sapped of energy about 25 minutes in and my legs felt like 200 pound blocks. I don't even want to know how much I didn't finish. If my recollection is correct, it's about 20 minutes worth. I definitely can't do that everyday so tomorrow morning I'll take Brink for a walk and do pilates. Baby steps.