Getting a Handle on Today - Hiring A House Helper

Daily I balance people, priorities, and possibilities. On good days, they all keep moving in the right direction.  On some days, they get overbalanced and crash around me. Learning to delegate has been an issue - but, I hired a house helper (aka Housekeeper)

An awesome young lady who loves to clean and has experience with elderly dementia patients. She is going to be in our home 4 days a week - 3 hours a day. Long enough to do laundry, mop the floors, make beds,  make sure Pops has lunch and his needs are meet.  We have even discussed her starting a few crockpot meals for us....

Yes, I am delegating items to someone else.
This awesome young lady can clean better than I can, has more time than I do, and actually has better housekeeping skills than I will ever have.

Many of us know and often say the Serenity Prayer:
Lord, great me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference

This is me - I cannot change some things in my life, things like having an 87 year-old father with dementia who needs to be with us or having a son who has become disabled and needs financial help, opening a boarding kennel before I knew I would be caring for my dad, or imagining my family practice taking off packed with patients. 

Do I know the difference - yes,  I can change how I spend my time and what I allow myself to feel guilty about.

Do I feel guilty - NO!  I am taming the tiger of time, "my time". Having someone to help in our home, will lessen my guilt over a dirty house, unmade beds, and laundry.  Hiring someone is going to allow me to have time to pursue a few pleasures that I need - yes need to pursue pleasure to be healthy.

Planning on running at 5 AM, followed by kennel duty - so that I can be in the clinic by 8:30.  Yes my Awesome House Helper will be her by 8:30 so, I know the breakfast dishes will be washed, the laundry folded and put away, the beds will be made and Pops will have lunch.

Tomorrow is a long day - planning on ending the day with a grandson's baseball game at 8 PM tomorrow night...but I am not stressing, instead I am taming tiger time, with an Awesome House Helper.
How do you tame the tiger of time?
~ Connie ~

Finding my motivation

It has been months since I ran consistently.  Granted my life is busy, with a new family practice clinic, a new boarding kennel, running a free health clinic, moving my Dad in with us, caring for 14 rescued fur-babies and just the general everyday family obligations, but I still feel guilty about not running.

Not running is like a dark cloud that followed me around everyday - why not run today? are you going to run?? running? 

I have been reading several books lately - Make it Happen by Lara Casey, Women Who Do To Much by Patricia Sprinkle and the Fringe Hours by Jessica Turner. Each of these authors have been speaking directly to me with each page I finish...quit making excuses, find the time, make it happen.

Well Sunday I answered the question - I got on the treadmill. I wouldn't exactly call it running maybe more waddling, but I got on the treadmill and moved my legs.
It felt great - no not really, my legs hurt, my hip hurt, I was dying of thirst...but I did it.!

Guess what I got back on the treadmill on Monday.  This time, I finished with patients early so I used my lunch time to go to the gym.  Once again, It felt great - nooooo not really, but I did it.
Now to find the motivation to keep doing it... to keep moving....to run.

This is MeMe - 16 years old and still running

Stay tuned see how I do.

~ Connie ~

Saying Goodbye is Hard

Today we said goodbye to our sweet girl, Angle.
She was 16 years old

 

Several years ago, my niece called and asked if I would keep her four-legged children. She was in the middle of a divorce and having to relocate.  The only other option would be an animal shelter in a large city -where they would end up a statistic. So, of course, these two sweet faces came to live with us. They were 10 years old.  

Oreo and Angle

Oreo and Angel - they waltz into our crazy life.  We already had 10 rescue dogs of our own, but these two were bonded and needed to be together.  Oreo is bossy, he doesn't like other dogs - but he loved his Angel. 

Angel was happy to sit in the swing and watch me read. She never barked - not even when Oreo was pushing her around.  She never worried about getting dirty she would roll and roll in the grass (I always wondered what she was rolling in).  She loved a home-cooked meal or fast food - she simply loved food. If I was eating it, it had to be good and she would gladly share.

She developed renal failure a few months ago - I knew we were starting the walk towards the Rainbow bridge, but she pulled out of the renal failure and continued to be her happy self.

Till Monday - on Monday she was back in renal failure - Dr. Cato, my friend and four-legged babies doctor tired to make her better, but her worn out kidneys just could not be restarted.

This morning she was trying so hard to hang on - for me.  she kept looking at me, like I am trying Mom, but she was struggling for each breath.

So with me,  The Big Man, Dr. Cato and his awesome staff we said good bye.
I know my sweet Angle is running in heaven, rolling on each patch of grass she can find. 
Oreo and I will miss her greatly - my hope is that when I get to heaven I will see her again.

Life is short - It is hard to let go of someone you love...
Hug the ones you love

~ Connie ~