The Pack Trip that Almost Wasn't

For months (literally since April 1), I've heard talk around the ranch of, "When we go on our pack trip, we'll..." The pack trip was supposed to leave at 4:30am on Friday. At 5:30am, when Jason woke me up - again - and dropped off his suitcase in our cabin, I knew that something had happened. You should go read his account of it, because it really was a no good, very bad day.

It was even bad for me. I was happy to have Jason around for another day, but really, I was totally bummed that the boys weren't gone, might not even go and I would lose the chance for a couple of days of peace and relaxation which I desperately needed. (WOW - talk about a run-on sentence!)

Fortunately for me (and Jason who REAAAALLLLY wanted to go), they finally left on Saturday morning after a drastic change of plan and shortening the trip by two days. They rode out from the Ranch about 10am, headed up the Deer Creek (aka Widow-maker) trail into the Thoroughfare, where three rivers meet and flow down to form Yellowstone Lake - at least to my understanding.

Me? I saw them off, and then hauled butt to get ready and go to town for a haircut, which I desperately, DESPERATELY needed.

Then I proceeded to HULU myself (and Indy) to death for the rest of the day and this morning, catching up on the last four weeks of So You Think You Can Dance (which I love). Indy was not as enthused about the dance show as I was, but I think he enjoyed the snuggle time. :) And when he wasn't snuggling, he was chasing flies, so I'd say he's pretty happy. Personally, I took a break to Skype with Solange and to sleep. Otherwise - it was about 8 solid hours of dance. Love it. :)

Me? After a day and a half off, being totally irresponsible and watching WAAAAAAAAAAAY too much TV, I feel... GREAT. :)

Back to work tomorrow!

Approaching 30

We made it through the madness and to a day off today. :) Things will be quieter from here on out, although we still have a few groups of guests coming through. This last group of guests was great - really friendly - and the party was a big success! One of the guests handed me a couple of her magazines as she was leaving for my "day off reading". This afternoon, I dived right in.

In the August 2011 copy of Glamour, I read THIS ARTICLE on Turning 30 - what a big deal all of us women make about it, and how stupid we all are to do so.

I'll be honest - I have one year and two months left before I turn 30, and in truth it has made me very nervous. I've always thought that 30 was this magical age where I'd have it all together. That I'd have made a success out of myself and could say, "See, I did it!" But, if I turned 30 tomorrow, I wouldn't have achieved half of my teenage dreams. And let me tell you - at 18 I could really dream big.

You see, I'm still figuring it all out. Waiting to see what my place in the world will be for the next ten/twenty/thirty/forty years.

You know what? The fact that I haven't yet accomplished those goals I set at 18 doesn't make me unsuccessful. Along the way I've done so many other things that have been worthwhile - things that were never a priority for me when I set my goals at 18. And truthfully - What the heck did I know about life at that age?

So yes.... my husband and I do not have a home. Instead we're living in a borrowed cabin on a ranch in Wyoming where I work as (GASP) a gardener and housekeeper. If only my 18 year old self could see me now! I certainly never planned on this.

But you know? This is so much better than anything I had planned. We have each other. And guess what? We've paid off our debt (except those pesky student loans), and we have money, (real, substantial money) in our Savings account. That's a hell of a lot better financial standing than most couples our age have.

We'll never look back at this time and say, "What if...?", because we jumped at the opportunity to make a change others only dream of. After all, life is FULL of surprises.

If I can't appreciate that as I approach 30, then I'm delusional.

Besides, who says we have to have it all figured out by 30? The husband, the home, the kids, the career... I have the husband, and he's amazing. The rest? It can wait until the right time. Forcing it now wouldn't be right. Plus, it gives me something to look forward to in my 30s and 40s and 50s and 60s. (And hopefully 70s and 80s, too!)

So, watch out 30 - I'm coming for you. And this next decade is gonna be GOOD.

Buried in Tomatoes

Yesterday I opened up my email to find the sweetest message from my dear friend Jessi who wrote, "I hope the blog absence means you're just crazy busy and off having adventures, and does not indicate that you've been burried under pounds of beautiful tomatoes or lost in a sink of sudsy water in dirty dish purgatory." I just started laughing since I actually have been buried under pounds of beautiful tomatoes and lost in dirty dish purgatory.

All that goes to say that the last three and a half weeks have been INSANE here on the ranch. We're exhausted. And that's the truth. The good news? We're in the home stretch of madness, with a party that starts tonight (Friday) and ends in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

Yes - you read that correctly. This is a 36 hour party. Needless to say, our bosses can throw a serious shindig.

But after that shindig? This group of guests leaves on Sunday, and then we have a couple of guys trickling in slowly throughout next week, getting ready to leave on their pack trip next Friday.

What am I going to do when all the guys head off for their week long pack trip? Sleep. Water plants. Clean slowly. Get a massage and a hair cut. And spend some quality book time in a hammock.

Can't wait.

In the meantime? I offer this as proof that I am actually buried under pounds of beautiful tomatoes. I harvested two HUGE baskets of the suckers today. Here's one of them:

Thank God Tony likes to use lots and lots of fresh tomatoes. :)

My snack break is over and it's back to work I go with the help of another cup of coffee. (Hi-ho!)

End of July

I cannot believe that it's the end of July. We've been here for four months, and are about to start our fifth. It's really crazy!

We are two weeks into our busiest stretch of the season. We still have two weeks to go, and then all the boys leave for their pack trip which means... SPA DAY FOR ERIN! Seriously... I can't wait. We just have a lot of ranch activities planned before I'll get to go.

In other news, Indy now hunts trout. Go check out Jason's Blog for the full story - I wasn't there, so I really can't tell the story like he can!

I was really stressed out a few weeks ago, when I thought that I was going to be alone doing ALL of the gardening and ALL of the housekeeping when Savannah and Robbie both leave in the next two weeks. I was seriously freaked out - I hate feeling like I'm always running to catch up on something, and that is exactly what I was headed for without help. Fortunately, we now have Kim on the ranch - she works really hard and is super detail oriented. AND I don't have to check up on her work, so she's really taken an enormous amount of stress off of my shoulders. I'm so grateful that she's here. Our new wrangler (to replace Savannah) will arrive this weekend, just as Savannah gets ready to leave.

The days (and weeks) are long, but the guests have all been really nice people, so that makes it easier. I can honestly say that I'm still seriously sick of doing dishes, but there's no hope for that, and I'm certainly not doing as many as I used to.

And that, my friends, is the end of July wrap up! Hello, August!

Sailing my Ship

“I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.” (Louisa May Alcott).

Read that quote today, and was totally charmed. I'm not in any sea of trouble right now (literally or metaphorically), but it did give me pause and make me think that some of you, dear readers, might be as encouraged by it as I was.

Isn't that what it's all about anyway? The journey instead of the destination? Not about where you're going but in HOW you get there? After all, life is lived in the journey - the good and the bad. And the journey is always better when we don't take it alone, but take it with the ones we love - our families, our friends.

So, may you face your storms head on this week, whatever they may be. Past this storm, may you find a great adventure that brings you laughter, joy and a greater sense of self-worth. May you live your adventure, all the ups and downs, with your whole heart and have no regrets for the life you've lived.

Enjoy the Journey!

Indy's Independence Day

July 1 is Canada's Independence Day. July 4 is America's Independence Day. July 21 was Indy's Independence Day.

Yep - you read that correctly. Indy the escape artist and accidental steer herder has finally learned how to behave himself off-leash on the ranch. Mostly.

For the last three days, he has accompanied me (free of a leash) everywhere on the ranch where he is welcome. To the berry garden, to the kitchen (where we waits in the grass), to the laundry room, to dead-head flowers, to get the mail... You get the idea. He's been a very, VERY good boy. Except for the cat chasing incident, in which I had to crawl into the brush, haul him out and carry him back to the cabin. But all told, he's spent about 3 or 4 hours of each day out and about with me.

He likes it so much that yesterday he decided he'd been alone in the garden for too long, jumped into the compost bin and from there jumped out to freedom. God knows how long he was out. Maybe an hour. Jason and I panicked, thinking he'd be long gone.

Nope! He was in the tack shed chasing ground squirrels. Easy to find, and doing J.W. a service at the same time. More importantly, he was not lost in the wilderness or causing a steer stampede.

Good boy, Indy! Your independence has been a long time coming, and well earned.

I suppose it doesn't hurt that I always have dog treats in my pockets these days, too, and I make sure he sees me put them in there. :)

Love Me Some Yoga

Last night was Tuesday night. Which also means it was YOGA night! The night that Heidi and I escape from the ranch and go have some "me" time at the J-9 (Pronounced Jay Bar Nine) Ranch.

Danielle (who coincidentally used to have my job here at the Hawkeye for two years) is a certified Yoga teacher and offers a Tuesday night class at the Ranch where she currently works.

This was the second week that I got to attend.

Yoga is awesome. Danielle is awesome. That kind of stretching and conditioning and strength training is exactly what I need - I'm using muscles that I've ignored since we arrived in Wyoming. And let me tell you, after three and a half months of no dance or any real core training, my balance is shameful. SHAMEFUL. But I'm working on it.

My body is sore - but it's good sore. The kind of sore that let's you know that you had a good work out.

Did I mention I love Yoga? Can't wait until next Tuesday!