Sweeping revelations...

Reader be warned: This entry contains boring content and you may wish to save yourself right now and click away from this blog :-)

Still here? Well, on with it then...

I like to sweep floors. That's a good thing because the entire first floor is hardwood. It's the persistent rhythm of going forward as the broom moves to and fro. And it's the feel of the broom stroking the soft wood surface. It's a meditation in itself. A clearing out. Now, doesn't that make you want to find a broom and get at it? Get a life, you say? But that is the life and I'm glad for it. Besides, when I finish I've discovered what amounts to a small dog hiding all over the floor. Why isn't Zoe bald?

I have been on my own for most of the week while John has gone to the Bay Area. So, I have done a bit of this and a bit of that and the week has flown by. I have "worked" in the traditional (though nontraditional telecommute) sense and completed some boxes that needed to be checked. What I like about this mode of working is that I can do it in spurts, doing an hour or several hours at one time as my time, energy, and focus wax and wane. Getting the technology to make it happen seamlessly can be a bugger though. But the IT Dept. in Sacramento and Palo Alto are just at the other end of my phone (and sometimes on my computer by the wonders of remote access). And my co-workers are here in email and phone as well. So, I can't (and don't) complain.

The deck and the porch are finished and ready for the wet weather to come. Maybe a little of that will appear this coming week. The rain slickers and the wellies are waiting in the garage. I will have to get comfortable with Zoe being off-lead when I am on my own and she needs to go outside as the days are starting and ending a little darker and following her around (wait....is that why it's called a lead? Because she "leads" me around?...hmmm) gets more treacherous when I can't see where I'm stepping. This was my realization at 5:15 this morning, tramping after her bleary-eyed and half-asleep around trees and through the long grass by the woods where she insists on going every trip out. Following her around in my robe and clogs can only last a short while yet. And I need a great big flashlight.

No sign of that pesky shrew that was in the garage. I had thought perhaps I would allow Zoe off the lead (let me off?) this time while John was away as I am less concerned than I was about her running off through the woods confronting bears or finding the road. That thought lasted until the end of the first day when she went into hunting mode and found a furry creature small enough to fit inside her mouth (a shrew??!!) and blatantly disregarded every whistle and word from me in order to "play" with it. Thankfully when she did finally decide to come in the house, she didn't carry it with her. But that ended her reign of unadulterated freedom for these few days. The dog whisperer will be back tonight.

In between work, house duties, and family I'm alternating mornings with Jazzercise and yoga. Slip in a little sweeping and I've got the full body/mind/spirit experience! Namaste....