Was that Long Winded Enough?

I guess it has been a while since I last updated. I would have sworn I posted a blog the weekend after Thanksgiving but I guess not. If I did it would be there. Oh well.

Work is going well. Going on week three already. Time is flying by. It's a good office to work in and the ladies I work with are all pretty cool. It's a good group of people and not a bad place to come to work every day. And I have my own little office with a window. Can't complain about that. With how long it took to find the job and how tough the economy is I'm so freaking thankful to be working!! What a relief!! I don't let my job create my identity but it does help give some sense to self. I was feeling a bit useless (thus why I busied myself helping my friend Kirk out so much) and now that has gone to the wayside. I'm looking forward to the rest of the winter and to summer now. This will not be a job that eats up my summer so I should have the ability to go hiking, kayaking and camping like I want this summer. I'm thankful for being able to work last summer and for getting to see all that I did but I'm really looking forward to this summer.

We've gotten pretty cold and it's snowed quite a bit lately. Last night it was -30. Supposed to be the same tonight. We had a couple of nights like that last week. On Tuesday when I got home after work I realized the cabin was quite cool. It had been -20 all day. I looked at the heater and it wasn't working. I tried to get it started and it wouldn't start. So I checked to make sure I had heating oil (I'm on the auto full and know I had it, there is NO WAY I could have gone through 300 gallons in a week) and I also checked to make sure the heat tape on the pipes outside was working. It was. So I called my landlord and he gave me the number of the heater fix it guy. He also told me where he had some elec heaters in storage. I called the heater guy and he said it would be around midnight before he could get there but he'd keep me posted. I went and go the elec space heaters and they were such a waste. They did nothing. The heater guy called back and said it would Thursday before he could get back. I was able to get the heater to kick on so I told him that would be fine. Well 10 minutes after we got of the phone the heater quit working. Ugh. I used the space heaters and they didn't help. I slept with one on a stool three feet from my bed and it did nothing to keep me and Clara warm. It was 45 degrees in the cabin when I woke up.

I ended up dropping Clara off at Missy's while I was at work. That way I knew she wouldn't be a pup-cicle while I was at work. At one I hadn't heard from the heater guy so I called him. He said he was still on a service call. I let him know that the heater had stopped working again and he said he'd get out as soon as he could. By the time I was done with work, he hadn't called to tell me it was fixed so I got a room at the hotel for the night (good thing I work for a hotel!). I went home to get a change of clothes and check on things. He thought he identified a bad sensor and was replacing it. I hung out for a bit until he got it replaced. Guess what? It didn't fix it. So I stopped by to see Clara for a bit then came to the hotel. After I got to the hotel the heater guy called and said it was fixed. He said he had stayed around a bit and was still working. I stayed at the hotel anyway.

When I got off work Thursday, I picked up Clara and went to the cabin. When I got there, guess what? The heater had stopped working and I couldn't get it to start again! UGH!!! I called my boss and she got me a room at the hotel again. I called the heater guy and he said it would be Friday before he could get back out. I called my landlord and left a message letting him know I was having to stay at a hotel and that he needed to cover that. He called and left a message saying he'd pay for the hotel so that was good.

On Friday the heater guy went out with someone else and said they kind of got it running but that they were going to install a different heater. It's not a brand new one but newer than the one that was in the cabin. I didn't care, I just want a heater that works that I can rely on. He said he'd be back Friday afternoon to get it installed. Well at 5pm Friday, nothing yet. He finally called and said he'd be there at 6:30. Well at 8pm he finally showed up. It took him all of 30 minutes to install it. It's been working ever since. Thank goodness!!

The heater guy did tell me that while he was at the cabin during the day that there was a momma moose with her baby in my yard all day. He thought that was pretty cool. I do too but they need to not be so comfortable there! I do not want to run into them when going to the outhouse!!

It snowed several inches over the weekend so I've been out shoveling snow. The snow is really light and pretty easy to shovel if you keep up with it, which I have. Did laundry and went to hockey game Saturday night. That was about the extent of my weekend. I spent the day with girls yesterday and we did our usual Sunday dinner and watch Desperate Housewives. They are really in to the show. I've just started watching it because of them. Anyway it's our usual Sunday routine and I enjoy it.

When I was running errands with them I had to stop at the pet supply store to get treats for Clara. I've started giving her treats when she comes in from outside. This is to encourage her to be expedient about her business and to come when I call her. I don't know that it's working all that well but we do it anyway. It's funny because she thinks that when I come inside she's supposed to get a treat as well! She's too stinking cute!!

Anyway, that's not where I was going with the story. When I was checking out I noticed they had these led lights that you can put on your dog's collar so you can see where they are when it's dark out. Well since we have our shortened days, it's always dark when I let her out. I've always been squinting my eyes to see if I can see her black dot against the white snow. If I turn my head I can lose where she went. So I spent the $5 on the light. Oh my gosh, why didn't I do this sooner?!?! It's so easy to see her know! DUH!!

We are down to just over four hours of daylight. Winter solstice isn't too far around the corner tho and our light will start building up pretty quick. The sun is coming up about 10:30 am and going down about 2:30pm. We still have light for at least an hour before and almost two hours after. It sounds worse than it is. And like I said, solstice is almost here and we'll start gaining pretty fast. By the end of January we'll be back to "regular" hours of daylight.

Wow was that long winded enough? Congrats if you made it through to the end!