walk in the park...

I took a walk today, down to Panera. I don't have a car and I'm tired of being stuck in the house. As my brother pointed out, it is not that far down to Panera. So this afternoon I packed up my 'puter and headed out of the house. Now, the walk down is just that, down. It isn't far, and I enjoyed the walk. I even treated myself to some yummy baked potato soup and a chicken salad sandwich. I wrote for an hour and then packed up around 6 as the skies were overcast and I wasn't sure how long it would take me to get home.

Now, if you remember, the walk to Panera is down. That means that the walk home is up. Sometimes it really stinks to live at the top of a hill. So I had to think about all the possible routes home and figure out which one is the least steep. Granted, I have to go up the same amount, but some ways have more steep parts than others. I choose to walk to N. Carefree first (rather than S. Carefree, which was right there) and then head up. It took a bit longer as I had to cross all the store fronts, but it proved to be a non-taxing walk. My knees thank me.

Well, I've crossed the 50,000 word mark on my current novel. I think this is the longest work I've done to date. I usually stop shortly after this mark and I'm now at over 52,000! I think it will be another 20,000 or so to finish it up, we'll see.

Did I ever tell you about my resolution for this year? No. Shame on me. Well, let me tell you now. I'm planning on reading at least 75 books. New books, old books, long books and short books. So far, I've read just over 20. I've discovered new books and enjoyed some old favorites. I have to pick up the pace, though, as I'm falling a bit behind. Maybe in a little while I'll post my list so far.

Well, it's late and I need to prep this room for painting. Go, leave a comment (come on, a complete stranger left me a comment, so those who know me should be able to write something!) and have a great day.

the shameless plug...

In one month, I will turn 29. So it is time for the shameless birthday plug. I think that 29 is a bigger milestone than 30 because, if you think about it, it marks the start of my 30th year of life. See, we don't get an age until AFTER we have completed the year around the sun. This is my last birthday of the 20's, and I plan on celebrating big time.

So how can you spoil me on my birthday? I always love a good gift certificate. Favorite stores are Borders, Bath & Body Works, Panera Bread and Target. Or if you want to be really nice, a zoo membership to Cheyenne Mt Zoo would be lovely. Dinner at my favorite restaurant (Mirch Marsala, best Indian food ever) would make me a very happy girl.

And lots of birthday wishes. Send those greetings my way. I would love to get cards and emails and phone calls all day long.

Okay, end of plug.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program. Thanks for tuning in (and leave the comment, it won't kill you, I promise!). To entertain you, please enjoy these photos!

Me at Muller State Park, last fall.

My hammock.

And finally, the view you see when you are in the hammock, looking up, of course!

good deed done...

It's been a productive day and it is not even 11 am yet! And I didn't get up early. Well, I was out of bed before 8 to feed the dogs (I'm housesitting) and let them out into the yard. As I still felt tired and didn't need to be up yet, I climbed back into bed. But I heard a scratching sound around my room. I knew that Cisco (the small dog) was sleeping upstairs in his carrier and couldn't have gotten out and Sanchez (the big dog) was out in her run. Then, I heard flapping. So I went to the window and pulled back the curtain. In the window well sat a beautiful gray morning dove.

Thinking she would get out eventually, I went back to sleep and dozed for an hour. Then I heard the bird again, still stuck in the well. I lounged around for another hour and then heard the bird again. I decided to get up and go see if I could figure out why it was still in the well. Turned out the well was too deep for her to fly in and she banged her wing trying to get out.

As there were no appropriate lengths of wood in the yard and no suitable apparatuses in the garage, I figured it was going to be Sara-intervention that would finally get the bird out. So I found a large towel, climbed down into the window well (there was an escape ladder for easy human access) and went to work. I gently dropped the towel over the bird, scooped her up and set her free on the ground above. She must have banged her wing pretty good (but it looked okay so I don't think it was broken) because she proceeded to walk all around the yard. When she tried to fly she only got about a foot or so off the ground. I chased her to the side of the yard that has a bush and other things to hide in and then went inside. I'll have to keep an eye on the dogs for a day or two, but I think the bird has a good chance.

Other news of my life include finding a CS Lewis book I didn't know about (The Dark Tower and other stories). I'm thrilled! The main story is a fragment of a tale that relates to Lewis's space trilogy. It is missing two pages. I never knew how absolutely frustrating it could be to lose two pages of someone else's work. I hate to lose my own work, but there is something deeply tragic about losing two pages of Lewis. I want to know what he said. It's almost as bad as Margret Mitchell burning the sequel to Gone With the Wind. But even with two missing pages, it is a great story.

I found out that a package I sent to my friend, Kate in Tanzania, took over 3 months to reach her. All the others got to her in 3 weeks. Crazy! But she sent me a nice letter that brightened my day.

Well, I have to get going. I have a job cleaning out the drama closet at church. Lots of stuff to organize and toss out. Hope your week is going well. Leave a comment to let me know you came by!

If only...

I thought I had better post before a whole month goes by and someone starts yelling at me. Not that any of you would yell, but you do send snide emails and give me funny looks sometimes. Stop acting surprized, you know you do!

Life is pretty mundane at the moment. I'm still working in the nursery and looking for more gainful employment. Hard to do when I don't have a steady car. Once I get a car I should be able to actually find a job that I can commit to. And then I can make dinner arrangements with all of you that I have wanted to catch up with. I haven't forgotten you.

I have this great idea for a blog post but it's not ready just yet, have to think out a few more things. And Miss Pottenger didn't help with her distracting entry about hot donuts. I miss Krispy Kream.

Anyway, let me know how things in your world are going. I love to hear from you all via comments or email :).