Blog-venturous

Here we are again. Let me follow-up on a couple of things.

Adventure #1: Went to the store again this evening but missed yoga. Dangit! Moving intentionally wasn't my thing today apparently. Almost left the house without my carefully prepared lunch for today as well. A salt-water taffy accidentally made it into my mouth before I could even think of what I had done. Oh well. I'm not drinking decaf either. My friend Keith is going to be texting me each day to support me which is cool. And he bought a special beer for when I am done with the 14 days. Yay! I am really too lazy for all of this but I am really trying to do it the right way.
Adventure #2: Did I mention the supplements? Oi! The timing is complicated with my schedule and need to cook. My next naturopath appointment is on the 9th (as is my next coaching session). One thing I did do is make an acupuncture appointment for next week. I have had this pain in my thumbs for at least 5 years and I did try some physical therapy at one point but even when I was doing the exercises regularly it didn't seem to help much. It definitely affects my comfort and ability in doing yoga poses with hands on the floor. I am hoping that this will help.
Adventure #5: Goat Wrangling. Here's some background. When I was a tot living in NH with my hippie parents and even more of a tot brother, they thought it would be a good idea to have a goat. A fixed male named J.D. Watson - google it - my dad is a scientist and named the goat. We lived in an old farmhouse up the side of a mountain with a barn garage, blackberry bushes, a garden, an old building for small animals, tons of trees including sap maple trees and, apparently, marijuana plants in the back of the lot. Whilst my mother started volunteering for the National Organization for Women there in Darmouth, she was also shopping the Co-op, making pickles, cooking up granola, doing home-made yogurt, jamming & preserving, sewing matching mother-daughter outfits befitting of the early 70s - and we had good ole J.D. running around. My dad made maple syrup in the spring and our cat had kittens in the top drawer of my dresser. That time wasn't easy for my parents but I am pretty sure that my brother and I had a hell of a time. I hitch-hiked for the 1st time at age 6 when the school bus didn't take me up the hill and then I was so scared I ran in and told my mom immediately. J.D. died a horrible death as a result of an attack in his little barn by wild dogs. I think we had company that night and I just remember being really sad and scared.
Fast forward a bit....My father's brother lives in a now sub-division in nearly rural PA which was way more rural when he and my aunt had their 5 kids. I believe that all of them raised goats as part of 4-H and had a more-or-less good time with them. A couple have even seemed to bask in memories when I bring up this idea of mine.
Fast-forward more....My dear friend Juliet and I spend a day each fall at the Puyallup Fair just south of Seattle. It's an early fall ritual for us. Both of us love the livestock, the newborn or nearly born piglets are ALWAYS the first stop. One year I had a goat thing going on and got myself a little souvenir stuffed goat which has been on my bedside table ever since.
Nearing the present....At some point in the past year I found out about this outfit called "Rent-A-Ruminant" which turns out to be a woman with a herd of goats that is hired to clear brush and bramble from all kinds of hard-to-reach and not so hard areas. I "friended" R-A-R on Facebook. And you can too. At the beginning of this year I was super stressed at work and I found myself saying that "all I want to do is hang out with the goats."
Then there was the post.... On a really bad day at work I see her (Tammy - the Goat Wrangler) post about becoming an Affiliate. Say what???? I go look it up and it seems as if a lightbulb has gone off in my head. The skies have parted and the sun is shining! I have been ruminating (pun intended) for 2-3 months seriously about what I need to do about my life, career and everything. And then this appears. I tell Juliet. She tells her husband but for the most part I'm not telling anyone as I think about this. I think Lyn got in early too. I get the information from Tammy. I think. I go to visit Tammy and the goats. On a bad day it turns out as a number of the goaties have gotten into some hidden toxic brush. I hang out with the goats, see her administer some meds, help her move away the offending brush she has cleared and feel calm in the midst of all of this. I love watching the goats get up in a tree to get the good stuff. I love the way they press their foreheads to you to scratch them. I love the way they follow Tammy along the fence line as we move the toxic brush out of their reach. She burned out on trauma medic/ER stuff 6 years ago after 20 some years and is now getting famous with her eco-clearing. I am elated when she tells me she thinks I would be good at this.
The present....I have now brought Lyn, my father and Juliet to see the goats in 3 different locations. Every time I see them they make me smile and I feel at ease. I have no freeking clue what I am doing but it feels right. Even if I do it part-time. She has about 124 working goats and does mainly big jobs now but still gets lots of requests for smaller jobs. These would be mine. The plan is to have my own business with 15 goats and be able to ride on her fame in this area as an affiliate and do the smaller jobs. Perfect! And overwhelming. I'm not sure how all this will look but it is something that I am excited to try.

Whew! Long post. More to say about where my thinking has gone with all this and what is happening with my current occupation. But I shall leave that for another day. I need to cook.