It's The Little Things....

I had a stressful day. Work, family, yada yada yada....

When I got home I checked my e-mail and had this from my friend, Kim. It helped to put everything in perspective:

"So, I went to the XXXX office today to apply for a new card. Got to talking with the woman helping me and her sister just turned 40. She told me about all the great gifts she got! I told her all my birthday gifts went to a charity – and then explained about the 3 day walk.

She gave me $20!!!!

Can you believe that!?

Just a really nice gesture. I was in shock. But in a good way.

Really really nice."

How can you not smile at that?

St. Michael's Day Dash Part 2

This may be one of the most moving photos from the race. On the other side of the bucket were large emblems with the badge numbers of the officers who were killed in February.

Anything else I say is inadequate.

St. Michael's Day Dash

This morning I ran the St. Michael's Day Dash, which was 5K through the community in which I live. At the downtown starting area, the pre-race memorial included a Police Honor Guard and a Pipes and Drum bagpipe band. A fire truck was on hand and had lifted a large US flag with the badge numbers of the two police officers who were killed in the February shooting.

Even though I was registered I almost backed out. I really don't enjoy racing, though I do like the race atmosphere. I just put too much pressure on myself to finish well. However, I did decide to go and am thankful for having done so. If nothing else it was a reminder that this "race" was really not a "race" at all but rather a way for our community to continue to offer thanks to the five people who were killed in February for all they did for us.

In my race packet was this note:

St. Michael, the Arachangel - Feast Day - September 29....St. Michael is the patron of police officers.

"Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the Divine Power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits, who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen."

Yes, I Really Can Do Things

My weekend includes a 5K. I had sworn off such things, but then this came up. It's called the St. Michael's Day Dash and will be held in my own downtown. In February we had one of the most awful events that could happen in a small town at our city hall and the proceeds from this race will benefit Backstoppers and the victims of the tragedy. Even if I weren't a runner I would support this effort.

Now on to lighter subjects....

For several years I was told, with a good amount of frequency, about the things I couldn't do. Now I'm learning about the things I can do.

Over the summer, I had an interior dog fence taken out of my backyard. All the fencing and posts were nicely lined up so all I had to do was get them to the curb and then call someone to take them away. Getting the fencing to the curb was no problem. The posts were something else (concrete-encased beasts that they were). I saw a neighbor kid outside, a former h.s. football player, and hired him to move the posts from the backyard to the front. I left, came home, and voila - the posts were on my curb!

That night, at roughly 8:30, I posted a picture on craigslist with an ad that the scrap metal was free to whomever would pick it up, but they had to take everything. By 9 I had three or four e-mails; by 9:15 I was on my driveway talking with two guys with a pickup truck who were taking away the metal. I asked them, "You are taking the posts as well, right?"

"Well, we weren't going to, no."

"The ad said you take everything and I don't have a way to get rid of them."

Long sigh. "OK. We'll take them." I stood on my driveway and watched as they took everything. Forty-five minutes is my craigslist record! I was very proud.

But after all was said and done, the yard looked like this. A previous owner had put in the dog run with rock and landscape carpet and now it looked awful.

I got a couple of bids to get it all replaced - rock and carpet gone, dirt and sod laid down. I hemmed and hawed (decision making is not a strong suit and I hate parting with my money), and finally hired a company to clean things up. These photos show the progress.

I LOVE my new yard! I splurged and went with sod instead of seed since I knew Jake-the-wonder-dog would wreak havoc with seed and since a friend had assured me she had done seed and wished she'd done sod just to have it all finished. It's so awesome! Nights on the patio will be better than ever!

And finally, a couple of weeks ago I found that I had "critters" in my house. Yuck. So I called the critter patrol (which is not a cheap adventure) and they set traps this week. Success! I won't go into detail or share the photo, but let's just say at least one critter is gone. (Trust me, I was going to let them be then I started to worry about chewed wires, fires, etc. And they were driving Jake nuts and he, in turn, was driving me nuts.)

Last but not least, meet Jake!

First Attempt

Happily Single is my attempt to help all believe that yes, there is life after divorce and yes, you can do it on your own and yes indeed, happily single is a good life choice. There may be tough days or fragile days or lonely days, but those days come whether you are single or not. For me - for now - happily single works quite well thank you.

I doubt I will post often and I'm certain I won't have much to say that will make people stand up and say, "Wow, she's a wise woman." But that's ok. I want this to be an attempt to share with family and friends that I'm doing well on my own.

And I'm happy about it!