Exhaustion Sets In

It is 2:21a.m. eastern time and we crossed through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado today. We are in the worlds skeeziest Super 8 Motel but we are happy. It’s 12am mountain time… where we are now.

We’re almost there and it finally feels real. Meanwhile I got a hold of my good friend Wendie (whom I have very much respect for in many ways) and she says that if the shelter does not get rain dog then she will swing by and pick him up on her way home to Colorado in June. Finally I feel a little more at peace with that! I just need closure with the whole thing!

So that’s the scoop. Tomorrow morning we will get up, get some breakfast and try to clear Wyoming & Utah and make it into Nevada. Hopefully… stay tuned! 

Rain Dog

This story breaks my heart - and it’s totally true and from today.

 

While driving through down pouring rain in Indiana today we decided to pull off the highway and fill our gas tank, despite having at least a quarter tank of gas left. Tristan & I pulled into the “Country Cupboard” in Lynnville, IN off highways 61 & 68. The rain is almost blinding and we pull up to the pump, I get out of the car to go inside and see this little fellow.

 

 

 

He’s adorable, smallish, black and soaked to the bone. His fur is matted, he is emaciated beyond anything I have ever seen, and the sadness in his eyes breaks my heart. I call him over to me and he follows me around the gas station lot. When I went inside I inquired as to whom the dog belonged to and this is the word for word response I received from the gentle southern woman.

“Oh that thing? We call him ‘The Rain Dog’ because he only comes around in the rain. If he’s here, and it’s not raining, it sure as shit will start raining. Some people say he’s been abused or neglected and try to feed him but tell everybody if they feed him they own him.”

This story enthralled me. This poor dog appears out of nowhere in this middle of nowhere town every time it rains and nobody pays any attention to him? I frantically searched the backseat for someplace to put this wandering dog. Someplace that I can save him, name him Rain and call him my own. Unfortunately moving across the country offers no such room so I was unable to pick him up and take him home. (Wherever that may be)

I take several more pictures of him as he follows me around and I feel my heart breaking. Not just out of not knowing how to help him, but there is something special about this dog. The feeling I get from him, the look in his eyes. He is so sweet and trusting and his eyes are sad and lonely. Oh Rain Dog how I wish I can save you! 

I called every no-kill animal shelter in the area and left messages for them to help this dog. I don’t know what else to do. I balled like a baby all the way to the hotel over Rain Dog. I feel so helpless. I have always fully believed that everything happens for a reason so why did I get off the highway here? Why, in the rain, did we stop HERE? Why did I see him? Why did I feel such a connection to him? What is the message here!?

So now I am in the hotel, having a hard time dealing with this. I’m taking it very personal and I feel very helpless. I am day dreaming of the shelter picking him up, taking care of him and restoring his health and then me flying out to Indiana to pick him up & adopt him taking him home with me, naming him “Rain” and starting my own animal shelter named Rain Dog Shelter or something like that… Tristan is being very sympathetic and my mom is trying to reassure me I’ve done all I can. But I don’t believe them… I think I should have done more I just can’t figure out what the message is and why I met Rain Dog and why he felt so powerful to me.

Tristan believes this dog is a ghost, a folk story and a being of another realm…. if he hadn’t licked my hand and put his head in my lap I might have agreed… I have to do something to help this dog.

Can everybody please just think happy thoughts and happy endings for this poor dog. (It could be a she, I don’t truly know but it felt like a he) I just want a happy ending. I really want to adopt him and have the storybook ending but I just don’t know how I’m going to do so.

 

Here are the rest of the pictures of “Rain Dog” from Lynnville, IN - I have to post them somewhere. (Click to enlarge) It’s just too powerful for me to understand right now…

 

 

 

PICTURES!!!

*Edit* I had this perfectly laid out in my live writer but when it published all the pictures & text got skewed so bare with me while I try to fix it! Click on pictures that get cut off to view the entire thing - I don’t know why I can’t just get it to work! ::whimpering::

As promised here are the pictures my posts have been so desperately missing!

Here is the turn left that goes onto the canal road from Route 130 Sandwich - I have dubbed this “The Left Turn to Happiness” We are still on Cape Cod at this point but not far from leaving!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have enlarged this one because I think it’s important to point out the road sign in Tristan’s Mirror. It has an arrow pointing to Sandwich & Mashpee, a place where we will not be returning to anytime soon! Tristan is clearly pleased with this!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ahh, the Cape Cod garden that I know Wendy is oh so fond of. It’s beautiful right? Just makes you want to hop, skip, and leap right over the bridge and onto Cape Cod. Excuse my sarcasm when I say this is the highlight of Cape Cod. Now you know why we are leaving!  If you’re car/truck has ended up in this picture please excuse me but honestly, what are you thinking getting in my shot? I had to take one from the window of the IHOP just to get a car free photo! 

This is Tristan’s attempt at making an IHOP commercial. You know the ones, they perfectly hold their companies label proudly to the camera, which is obviously awkward to drink anything in that manner! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh that IHOP coffee is so good! Take it in Tristan, you’re driving most of the way! (My husband is cute isn’t he!?)

Now that we are stuffed on IHOP we are finally going to go over the bridge.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have enlarged this photo because I want to highlight the “Desperate?” sign, there is a lovely group of volunteers known as the “Samaritans” that my sister in law worked with for a weekend maybe and it’s all for depressed Cape Codders who need some support. Do other cities have this or is Cape Cod that depressing? Here are some statistics for you. The state average is 6.2 suicides per 100,000 people. The Cape and Islands suicide rate is 9 per 100,000 people.

Now that you’re all paying attention here are some happier photos.

The Cape Cod Canal - (Trailer parks.) 

Oh what a lovely view… Going over the bridge.

  Mr. Bear is enjoying the view! 

 

 

 

 

 

 Too many photos!! I’m trying to drag & drop in the correct spots… we’ll see how this goes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry if there are too many Canal/Bridge photos but hey this is a momentous part of the road trip! ;)  

 

Finally nearing the end! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had vowed to take a picture of every state sign but the minute we passed Rhode Island I missed the rest of them… there goes that idea.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did get this one though, so you can use your imagination as to what other states we crossed between Cape Cod & Atlantic City, NJ.

We have a few more Bridge pictures of the George Washington Bridge in New York because Tristan has never seen New York and we got a glimpse of the skyline so I will post them here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zee Bridge! Not the Tappan Zee but the George Washington Bridge. More and more pictures of bridges, I really don’t like them but what the hell here are some more!  Right side of the bridge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tristan pointing to the NYC skyline which I obviously didn’t get a picture of because Hello! He’s pointing to it after the skyline. Oh sadness.

 

And last but not least… the Brooches!! Here are all the sneaky pictures I could sneak. Enjoy!

 

 

This is the front of the display, I had to sneak in after hours to get this picture since she wouldn’t allow me to take photos but just imagine underneath all of those clothes thousands of brooches. THOUSANDS! Here are some others with actual brooches.

This is the Holiday section of brooches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you see what originally caught my eye? The thousands of Dragonfly brooches! SO MANY DRAGONFLIES!!!  Just remember that this is each a different section of the BACK of the display, so imagine the front for me okay?

 

 

 

That’s it! (So Far) I hope you enjoyed!

Opening Day in Reg Land

Greetings from Reg Land - Atlantic City office! Today is opening day of the show and it’s been pretty steady but it’s finally starting to quiet down.  It is an extremely small & quiet compared to some of the larger shows I’ve done; but it’s okay because I get paid the same

 

So I went to peruse the “Variety Merchandise” that this show boasts and was rather disappointed, it’s mostly Dollar Store finds but I happen to be next to a booth with those fancy pants moving pictures that elicit tropical bird sounds so at least it’s a relaxing sound! I did however find a booth that only sells Broaches. Brooches. How do you spell that? Inside I was giddy with joy thinking of my fellow writers & readers joys of such finds so I snapped a few pictures (illegally) and I will post them on here later! I wanted to take a picture of the front but I was told not to because they are not allowed so I had to sneak pictures of the rear of the display. You will be so excited when you see them all! I was about to order a brooch that said “Write On!” With a pencil on it for all of us here on WordPress but   she told me that I had to place a minimum order of $100. At the wholesale price that’s a lot of brooches! What caught my attention was the dragonfly pins! They’re beautiful. Anyway I don’t have my camera cord here but as soon as I get back to the hotel I intend to update with pictures. Meanwhile you can check it out at their website… www.lauren-spencer.com

 

Well I think that’s all… I’ve written a finely worded letter of complaint to Sheraton for my fabulous stay, we’ll see if anything changes. Stay tuned!

Six Things Meme

Okay so I haven’t been tagged for this but I wanted to play too so I copied this from Little Miss Sew n Sew - If you want to play too feel free to copy this because I’m not going to tag anybody because I think everybody is already playing!!!

Here are the rules:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post by posting links to their blog sites.
5. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their site.
6. And let your tagger know when your entry is up.

So, here are six things about me.

1. I have two totems - one is lilies. I love lilies. Lilies of all kinds, especially stargazer lilies. They’re beautiful  & for some reason I have to have them all around me. If you ever want to send flowers - send lilies. The second totem I have are dragonflies. I also have to have them all around me. Almost everything I own has an icon of a dragonfly somewhere on it. I have a dragonfly tattoo and I want to get more as soon as I decide where else I’m putting them. These totems are so special to me for reasons I truly can’t explain.

 

1. I am currently having a life crisis of sorts - I’m at a crossroads where I don’t know where I’m coming but I’m not     looking back anymore. I’m starting over and I can’t wait to see what happens next, I just hope it’s good. I am in the process of moving across the country from Massachusetts to California and while I’m terrified (this is the first time I haven’t had a job since I was 13) I am also pretty comfortable and excited to start over. My husband, Tristan is by my side every step of the way and I can’t wait to see where we end up.

 

1. My favorite author is Augusten Burroughs. His memoirs often hit close to home and his sarcastic extroversion is just what I need. I own all of his books and would love to meet him some day. Augusten are you reading this?

 

1. I dream of gardens. At any time of any day you can ask me what I’m imagining and it’s usually some elaborate garden.  This painting here is something I took from the internet and is nowhere near where I’m imagining but hey, it’s something. My gardens are rustic and country filled with romance and overflowing with visual stimulation and intrigue. Ever nook has another nook with a magical secret. The garden itself is remote but not hidden, it follows a winding path, usually made up of moss and is absolutely breathtaking. Someday I’ll build this garden. For now, it lives in my head and on occasion in these pages.

 

1. I have no desire to travel outside of the country - except maybe for Costa Rica. I can’t help it but the thought of going somewhere that I don’t know, I can’t understand the language, and is overpopulated scares the piss out of me.  One of Tristan’s top 5 places to go is Japan and the entire idea terrifies me. All the masses of the people that I can’t understand and they can’t understand me and I can’t even read where I’m going -and where’s the beauty in the city? No, no, no! Plant me in the ground in some rustic country area and let me spread my roots. That is my dream. Someplace solid, someplace where I can plant and grow and thrive, nothing temporary. I don’t want anything temporary!

 

1. I didn’t like how close the numerical bullets placed them so I had to list each one as number one. That works well for me because none of these things are in order of priority. I’m a little nutty about symmetry and how things appear so yeah, number one for each one.

 

 

That’s about it, I don’t think I’m going to tag anybody because everybody has already done this. Well except for Merrissa, maybe this will give you something to blog about!!!

Driving - Part 1?

Hello! On Wednesday Tristan & I drove from our little house in Sandwich all the way to Atlantic City! Tristan was a trooper and drove the whole way so I could finish my Tom Robbins book - he’s so good to me!

We pulled out of our driveway for a final time and could not have been happier about it! His parents took rediculous pictures of us so that should be fun to see later on. We stopped off at IHOP for a celebratory breakfast and I took a picture of that lovely Cape Cod topiary that I will post later just for my friend Wendy because I know how much she loves it!

We drove through with almost no stops but did pass “Voluntown” which Tristan says is a town where everybody works for the self satifaction and make no money. Har-Har! We pretty much drove straight except for filling up the tank in Swansea and got to Atlantic City around 2:30pm. I found out that my favorite band ever (Third Eye Blind) is playing here tomorrow and I thought that was rather serendipitous but we will not be going because that’s a lot of money! Maybe I’ll get a t-shirt…

Yesterday we went to the mall that the world has forgotten about, there was NOBODY in there… I thought it was closed momentarily. We did eat at Johnny Rockets which gets my favorite award. I never get what I want at restaurants but Johnny Rockets made my day!!

So that’s about it… i’m at work right now and bored out of my skull. It’s rather boring so far! Hopefully it gets more exciting, otherwise this is going to be a long week!

The Garden between the Worlds

This post is based upon a prompt from my friend Joan Harvest - to see the original blog & comment that spurred it go here.

Imagine the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. It takes your breath away, you stand back and try to take it all in. Your eyes dart from image to image like a dragonfly that soothes your soul. At every turn there is a new discovery. You linger over scents that infiltrate your space and bring you into another plane of consciousness.  Where are you? I am in my garden. My garden lives in my head for now, I will try to give it a physical manifestation on this blog until I can come up with the proper means for my dream garden, the proper space, the proper attention - but it exists just as real to me as anything else; and this is my description. 

In my lush & verdant grassy yard I have painstakingly created a mossy path. I often find myself out on the deck enjoying a cup of tea following the path with my eyes. I amble down through the yard and meander barefoot along the mossy path slowly, I take in all the sights and smells. I feel truly alive in this space. Everything hums with energy and I am grateful to be here.  The trees arch above me and create a hallway leading me through the corridor to the magic garden. The garden that despite being in my backyard, is still another world away from me. The rest of the world slips away when I am here, the worries, the stress, the noise, it all just fades away and I am completely serene and at peace.  In the hallway the light dances on the mossy floor, the sun peeks around branches and plays up the softest parts of the path.  As I reach the end of the path there is an old garden gate. The gate is not made up of hard materials, it is not brass or metal or anything cold. Instead, it is made up of old limbs of laurel trees - shaken down and left to be recycled. It is twisted and bent to look like a gate, beautiful and strong it is the keeper of my world, my serenity - my magic garden. 

The laurel gate doesn’t creak when I open it, it swings open and free like an old friend guiding you the way. It leans into the magic and invites you to take a tour and relax, to stop and let the world fade away. This is the garden that lives inbetween worlds. The mossy path ends here, but moss is not gone - it stays in the corners and the shadows offering soft seating for any who wish to visit. There are arbors and pergolas enlaced with the fragrant climbing wisteria and roses, there are beds of ground coverings made up of Ivy and periwinkle that take over the moss here.  Here the soil is rich and fragrant, the dirt is soft underneath my bare feet and every which way offers a new sight, a new smell, a new experience to be had. Butterflies and dragonflies dance in the air and beckon for you to follow them to their own majestic spot - but you will find your own. For my garden is bountiful with corners and private nooks. 

… To Be Continued

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” 

Where do I go from here?

Today is my last day of work and I’m sitting here eating my minestrone soup listening to Mark Lanegan wondering - “Where do I go from here?” 

I’m at such a quintessential time in my life and I can feel something momentous coming down the pipeline but I don’t know what it is. I feel as though I am at a crossroads, a time that I can finally reinvent myself and do what I want, the only question left to decide is what do I want?

I think Tristan & I have both been feeling rather introspective since we decided we were moving because we’ve been a lot more at peace with the chaos around us and both have been writing rather frequently.  He is so talented, I can’t wait till he decides he’s ready to share his writing with the rest of the world. For now he’s blogging privately on wordpress. :0)

I find myself floating around on the internet, browsing job postings and wondering if I could do this or that, and then day dreaming about what I would really LOVE to do. I’d love to garden, just garden all the time, garden for myself and garden for other people - but I’m not sure how lucrative that would be. I love to write and I love to read what other people right so I’d love to be some form of editor or writer for a magazine. Something Hokey and fun like Cottage Living or something but how do you start on that path? Do you need formal education? Is my obssesive proofreading every where I go enough? Do I have the skill to be a writer? Would anybody hire me? I find myself talking myself out of these dream jobs before I can day dream too much. I want to be a dreamer and a doer, I dont want to just think about the things I love, I want this to be the first day of the rest of my life.

As of 5pm today I am no longer gainfully employed and I have the freedom to do what I want. So what do I want? What do I do?! I wish somebody had the answers for me… Meanwhile I’m going to work on my writing. So here is my call to you, my loyal readers, submit some writing prompts for me! I think it would be a great creative exercise to answer to all different types of prompts so submit them on this blog and I’ll post them when i’ve completed them! Want to play? We can do a Meme of sorts but I’m not going to tag anybody because everybody can play too - join in on the fun and lets see what we can come up with.

 

Finalizing Plans

Hello Again!

 

See I’m getting better at this whole updating thing! So we are finalizing our plans to drive across the country and move to California. However, the plans have changed!

April 29th is my last day at work and then April 30th I’m going to Atlantic City to work a show as a contractor which basically means I get a raise but the hours aren’t guaranteed. i’m pretty pscyhed about it! So Tristan and I will leave Cape for the last time April 30th, drive to AC where I will work the week and have a mini vacation with my husband and then May 6th we will leave Atlantic City and drive across the country to California and land… happily ever after.

 

I still need lots of ideas for pit stops and sight seeing so keep em coming!!!

 

Love love love!

My Office Snafu & Why I’m An Idiot

Here is what happen when you press REPLY ALL instead of reply:

 

From: My Boss
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2008 3:59 PM
To: Aimee H
Subject: RE: Business - Five principles can help managers improve

 touche

 

From: Aimee H

Sent: Friday, April 25, 2008 3:58 PM
To: My Boss
Subject: RE: Business - Five principles can help managers improve

Well I suppose that would make me the one team member that was fearless in stating the truth!

 

From: My Boss

Sent: Friday, April 25, 2008 3:48 PM
To: Aimee H

Subject: RE: Business - Five principles can help managers improve

 Don’t be, you caught a typo, which for the topic was amusing.  I was also kidding, I don’t think they really meant “manger”.   

 

From: Aimee 
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2008 3:46 PM
To: My Boss
Subject: RE: Business - Five principles can help managers improve

 I’m really sorry – that’s really embarrassing I didn’t mean it to sound rude at all more of a thing in jest and it came out all wrong and was inappropriate and I am quite embarrassed.

 

From: My Boss
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2008 3:41 PM
To: Aimee H
Subject: RE: Business - Five principles can help managers improve

 Actually I think that word is spelled correctly, you know, away in a manger.  Surround your manger with people.  Get the visual, a crowd of loyal shepards…

 

From: Aimee H
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2008 3:29 PM
To: My Boss; Registration Managers (15 of my co-workers)
Subject: RE: Business - Five principles can help managers improve

 I don’t know that you should be following something that can’t even spell Manager J

  

 

—–Original Message—–
From: My Boss
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2008 3:21 PM
To: Registration Managers
Subject: FW: Business - Five principles can help managers improve

 

Interesting, as we look to change the culture.

 

—–Original Message—–

From: One Manager

Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 7:40 AM

To: Dl-Manager’s Group

Subject: FW: Business - Five principles can help managers improve

 

I found this a bit interesting. 

 

 

Debbi

 

—–Original Message—–

From: tips@publicus.com [mailto:tips@publicus.com]

Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 7:37 AM

To: More Managers

Subject: Business - Five principles can help managers improve

 

Debbi thought you’d be interested in this story from the CapeCodOnline.com web site:

 

Story Title:  Business - Five principles can help managers improve

 

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080422/BIZ/804220309&emailAFriend=1