ArizonaButterfly

During my first winter here, I encountered my first gopher when Lucy brought one onto the porch. It was early one morning and I didn’t have my glasses on, and to me it looked like a mouse. I remember grabbing the broom and going after the thing, all to protect Lucy. (ha ha)

Since that fateful morning I have became embroiled in a bitter battle to rid my yard of gophers. Now the boys took care of any backyard gophers: when they pop out of a hole and see one of the boys, they seem to have a heart attack and die instantly from fright. That’s the only thing I can think of because there is never any blood or sign of any injury to any of the myriad gopher carcasses I have seen over the past years.

So the gophers moved to the front yard. They seem intent on destroying it. I am fixated on getting rid of them. I’ve tried everything: pouring bleach down the holes, putting the hose down and running water, human hair, mothballs, and gopher pellets. I’ve even considered borrowing a gun and shooting down the hole at them. (Not that I would ever do that in reality.) Really, there have been so many of them that the ground sinks a bit when walked over.

Nothing is more irritating than sitting on the front porch and having one of them peering at me from a hole, my throwing a rock or another object at it, and then it coming back up to look amused at me.

When gophers came up threw my front flower box, breaking a hole through the mortar on one side, I knew I had to do something, and so off to the hardware store I went to find something to take care of the gophers.

I returned with a solar Sonic Spike guaranteed to repel gophers with 7500 feet of the spike. I installed it and watched, eager to see the gophers move on to another yard.

When the first new mound of dirt appeared, I tossed aside my immediate doubts about the magic of the Sonic Spike and attributed it to the fact that it hadn’t had enough solar time to become fully charged and functional.

Two weeks later, I am throwing up my hands in defeat. I swear there are more gopher holes than I’ve had at one time before. Maybe the damn thing is attracting them instead of repelling them? I don’t know.

Maybe it’s also time to just give in and set traps for them before they totally destroy my front yard.

A snippet from my horoscope today: Life is a balance between ugly and pretty, soft and hard, sweet and sour.

Today was my first day back at work following the holiday. I’d been dreading it since the meeting last week. As is often the case, I allowed myself to dread in vain. The day started out fine, everyone seemed fairly happy to be getting back into the normalcy of routine, and overall it was a quiet day.

That’s not to say I’m unaware of the undercurrents, because I’d have to be dead and in a lead lined casket not to notice them. My challenge for the next19 weeks is going to be not to allow myself to be drug into the fray needlessly, and to protect myself as necessary from fall out. There are undoubtedly going to be moments that are not pretty at all.

Nevertheless, I still choose how I respond to them. What I’ve done too often in the past is turned it internally trying to figure out what was wrong with me that caused whatever. The reality is most of it may not actually have to do with me, or anything I’ve done at all. People who choose to be unhappy look for reasons to attack and blame, but ultimately I choose my response. If I allow myself to become paranoid and upset continually, then I have no one to blame but myself.

Now, there have been some very mean-spirited personal comments and attacks in the past six months. In my opinion, there’s no excuse for that type of behavior anywhere much less in the workplace. Since I cannot control what another person chooses to do, my focus has to be on protecting myself from situations where I might be the recipient of such things in the future. No doubt this is easier said than done, but I still be a large portion depends on how I allow myself to respond to situations and comments.

How’s that for some serious thinking on a Monday?

Well, I didn’t get the kitchen painted during the break, but plan to do it during the next long weekend. My house was built in 1942 and the walls are plaster. Around the (back) door frame in the kitchen some of the plaster has cracked and so I really do need to repair that before painting.

So I worked in the yard yesterday instead, and it was a beautiful day to be outside. 70F and sunny, the only problem I had was the dogs running through the piles of leaves I’d so carefully raked to be disposed of. They had a good time, though, and all three of them slept really well last night so it *might* have been worth it. I noticed that the warmer temperatures and the rain already have the grass trying to green up already. My neighbor actually mowed last week, although I couldn’t figure out why. There’s plenty of other things to be doing in the yard this time of year.

When Lucy woke me at 4:30 this morning to let her out, I realized that come Monday I’d have to get up when she did so. I briefly (very) considered getting up then, but instead went back to sleep when they came back in. Monday morning could be hard. Now that we’re through the darkest point of the year the mornings will continue to get lighter which always makes it easier to get up.

The neighbors who burned down their tree abandoned their house. Dick the shirtless neighbor from across the street is “watching” the house. Part of this apparently entails his sitting at the back of their carport where he can watch into my backyard. I learned this yesterday when he was standing at my back fence talking to me without my being aware of his coming, which means he’s done it enough that the boys have gotten “used” to him being around. Happy I am not about this little turn of events. Now, Lucy tried to kill him through the fence, as she should. He commented that he didn’t know I had three dogs; another clue that’s he’s been loitering more than he should near my house.

Yes, this is the same neighbor who complains about holiday lights and the like. The same neighbor who is not allowed to pass out treats on Halloween because of the inappropriateness of the ones he used to pass out. The neighbor who apparently doesn’t own a shirt because in four years I have NEVER seen him with one on, and let me assure you, it isn’t a pretty sight.

He creeps me out for the most part, although I’m sure I could take him out with one punch. I projected enough discomfort with him being so close however that the boys became a bit agitated with him at the fence as well. In addition, I assured him that all three dogs probably would bite if they felt that the house or I was being threatened.

I’ll be getting some lattice to give a little more privacy from that end of the patio as soon as possible as well.

Banana walnut muffins, chocolate croissants (very easy recipe I might add!), and cinnamon rolls are on the menu for brunch in a few minutes. We’re also having breakfast casserole, hashbrowns, fruit and Bloody Marys, with coffee to round it all off.

A nice way to start the new year: sharing good food with great friends!

I hope your 2009 is filled with love, good health, and prosperity!

John stopped by after work yesterday. He and Cotton had a moment together. Cotton was actually sitting up until he slid to the floor. Usually it’s Luke who claims John’s attention, and while he had a few moments of it, he chose to come sit on the sofa with me afterward.

The meeting Monday morning left me a bit unsettled for various reasons. First, we only met because one of our colleagues insisted we should as everyone else on an educator’s contract (which each one of us is on) has every break OFF. So really we didn’t need to meet.

It was apparent at the meeting who has each other’s backs. One of the persons sitting around the table has no one’s and it was a little obvious with the sullen behavior, bad attitude, and disappearing that occurred. It was a sad realization for me.

I also learned that part of the plan is to make my current position a ten-month one. This panicked me a bit because I was worried about loss of income for those three months, but then I learned that my salary could not be reduced as a result at this time. I think I can say with some certainty that they’re not going to pay me more for working less, and so, I left fairly confident that I’ll remain a 12-month employee.

After the meeting, I had a little get together to discuss my future. I’m not supposed to discuss it yet, but let me just say it was good. I didn’t realize how aware the other person was about some of the shenanigans and nastiness that’s been going on in the office since last July, but the person was. (I have, however, been documenting.) Mostly it was nice to realize that I’m being seen as an individual and not just a part of what’s going on, no matter how hard and how painful it has been to separate from some of it at times.

The first time I woke up this morning I didn’t feel well. Since I am on holiday break, I went back to bed after taking care of the dogs. I felt a great deal better when I woke up the second time. I debated whether or not to paint the guest room today, but since I had done all the prep work last night, there really was no reason not to paint. After having breakfast and shooing the dogs outside (they can’t seem to keep out of the paint pan), I began.

It took a few hours, but it looks very nice. The color is called “Lake Placid” and it’s a teal color with light gray undertones, which will look very nice with the silver headboard coming later this week, as well as the cream of the curtains and bedding. Maybe I’ll end up sleeping in there from now on when Luke tries to hog the bed.

My plan is to paint the kitchen on Friday, and then the entire inside of the house will be complete and I can move outside. The paint I used today was an inexpensive (cheap) brand and I could really tell the difference between it and the paint I’ve been using in the rest of the house. Thankfully, the paint for the kitchen is of higher quality, which really does make the job a bit easier.