Thank goodness Jason’s folks helped us with demolition and replacing plumbing parts. They are the unsung heroes behind all our home remodeling projects and we owe them BIG TIME!
This is how the blue bath looked when we moved in, July 2006.
This is what it has looked like since Aug. 2006!
A “typical” day for a Main Street manager:
Noon - Lunch meeting with a different group of dedicated volunteers to discuss another project or event
I love my job. It is challenging, rewarding, creative and I work with the most amazing group of volunteers… but it is exhausting! I haven’t been home from work before 7 p.m. but ONCE this month! I’ve put in 25 hours of overtime since June 1 and this is just the beginning of the summer rush of promotional events. Sigh.
Thank goodness what I do is so much fun. Each day is varied but includes a lot of coordination, collaboration and information sharing. I’m a “clearing house” for everything downtown. I love being in “the know” and using my empathetic people skills as a “Chat Kathy” to build relationships for the betterment of all involved.
I’m not a party planner, (thank goodness for my volunteers who excel in that area) but I do enjoy marketing all the fun events that go on downtown.
In the coming weeks, I’ll be involved in the following activates:
Update of the Downtown Development Plan
Relaunch a new website for Main Street
Farmers Market
Historic Walking Tours
… To name a few and that is only one component of my job. Besides events and promotions, I coordinate historic preservation and beautification projects downtown, welcome new businesses, help expand existing businesses, fundraise, educate, recruit and train volunteers, manage a budget, attend board meetings, coordinate projects with other non profits, etc. etc. etc.
I’m exhausted again just thinking about it! So now when you see me on the streets dragging my feet with a big smile on my face, you know a little bit about my day. (And why I’m so behind with this blog!)
Warmer days, vacation in New Mexico, a shopping trip with Erin, Historic Preservation Conference, coffee cake at Night Heron, long walks in the park with Jason and Shelby, Thursday date nights and weekends!
We’ve got our taxes filed and vacation planned! Jason and I are headed to southern New Mexico for our five-year wedding anniversary. We are doing a mix of hot springs, historic sites and green chili. I’m most excited about exploring the old haunts of Billy the Kid and the UFO Museum in Roswell.
I can guarantee there will be lots of fun photos!
In preparation, I’m spending a lot of time on New Mexico’s Tourism website and reading, “To Hell on a Fast Horse: Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, and the Epic Chase to Justice in the Old West”.
What are you looking forward to?
I don’t like March. Not only does it come in like a lion and out like a dragon in Wyoming (we had gust of winds up to 60 mph yesterday) but something strange and dramatic always happens in March. From massive migraines, to vehicle accidents, to sick dogs, can we skip March next year?
About two weeks ago our hound dog, Tillie started to act funny. She wasn’t eating and was having accidents in the house. We took her to our local vet (who is amazing by the way) and the first theory is that she had a tumor in her tummy. After two sets of X-rays, the tumor was ruled out but there was still something amiss so we opted for exploratory surgery. Turns out Tillie’s intestine was backed up. After the vet “unplugged” things, Tillie had a difficult recovery. She was in so much pain that she started having seizures. Jason and I took care of her round the clock for about a week. She’d show signs of improvement, eating again, good blood work, cancer was ruled out, then, as if she had a stroke or picked up a virus, she adopted some strange mental behavior. She would walk in circles for hours, only turning to the right. After the vet suggested a change in medicine and a lower does of pain pills, she seemed to get better again than bam, 36 straight hours of pacing, pacing, pacing… She stopped eating and drinking and would cry and wine if we tried to get her to lay down or sit still. She wouldn’t sleep. She was burning calories at such a fast rate that her ribs started to show through. After many sleepless nights and inefficient schedules, we made the very difficult decision to say our final goodbyes. In the end she didn’t seem to recognize us anymore and would have starved to death had we let her continue to pace.
Tillie was cremated and we have a special spot in mind to spread her ashes.
Some playful moments
So after a week in hell, it was a nice surprise to experience some moments in heaven. We said goodbye to Tillie on Monday and by Tuesday it was like God had his hand on the nitro button for positive energy (at least for me, Jason’s schedule was still quite hectic). From Tuesday on it has been blessing, blessing, blessing! Complements from coworkers, a job well done, free lunch, an interview on Channel 5, a good night’s sleep, successful work products, time to walk and reflect with Shelby (even if it was windy, it is finally warming up here with temperatures into the low 50s) and, although short, quality moments with each other.
Jason and I have a routine each month were we post our schedules on a dry erase board on the fridge. This month is so “hectic”; we just completed this task last night.
Looking at it, I realized that one of us has an evening meeting almost every night this month except for weekends. This leads me to be very jealous of our time together.
Maybe for Lent we should give up saying, “yes” to everything? Yes to longer hours at work, yes to additional volunteer responsibilities, yes to moving and housing strangers…
But that would be very un-Christian like.
So I haven’t decided what I’m “doing” or giving up for Lent (except enjoying evening church services on Wednesdays) and milking every minute of the weekends and my time with Jason.
Although, downloading the Bible on my Kindle would be a good start J
What are you doing or not doing for Lent?
This week I have to say goodbye to my good friend, Carlen and her two daughters, our goddaughters. It seems as if we just met in church and now they are headed home to Washington. While we are happy to see them reunited with their extended family, it is also hard to watch them go.
We are already hoping for a summer reunion in Yellowstone!
Work is nuts with a ton of administrative tasks due in late Feb., early March. I’ve got grants to apply for, City money to beg for, conferences and training to register for and accreditation paperwork to complete.
I was hoping Jan./Feb. would be slow after the hectic, but fun activities surrounding the holidays but no luck… With the snow on the ground, downtown shopping has slowed but my schedule is just as busy.
March 15th will mark my one year anniversary with Main Street. Maybe then I’ll feel like I know what I’m doing! J
Outside of work, I’m answering emails about museum conferences and putting together the annual banquet for the local historical society.
In between work and volunteer duties, I’m still trying to “learn” my new computer and camera. I’m wishing I had the luxury to just “play” and not feel guilty about not working!
Here are a few photos from last weekend that I shot in RAW and JPG (a first for me working with RAW files). We had a nice outing; above freezing with little wind so Jason and I snuck out to one of his hunter management areas and let the dogs run.
WEDDING:
Rocky, our rescue kitty from New York passed away this morning. He was a big 12 lb. cat who LOVED to eat. Earlier this week, when he didn’t let me know his food bowl was empty, I knew something was wrong. (He typically cries VERY loudly when he is hungry!) I made him a vet appointment last night and this morning, when I got ready to put him in his carrier, he cried when I picked him up. He was very uncomfortable. Turns out he had a large mass in one of his kidneys.
The vet was great, she was gentle and kind and did everything she could to help him. In a short 30 min. we went from planning surgery to remove the infected kidney to discovering that both kidneys were failing. Even though he was in a lot of pain, Rocky sat very still for X-Rays and blood work. Afterwards, he was visibly grumpy. He is typically a very sweet, mellow cat that lets our friends’ children pet and play with him. He was also a VERY good snuggler. This was a very sudden event but Jason and I are grateful that we got to say our goodbyes in person and that our vet is a warm, caring individual. Rocky did not have to suffer long and he was loved and appreciated by many. Even the dogs will miss him! 
Rocky came to Wyoming in the fall of 2004 and spent time with me at the Territorial Prison. While there the entire staff spoiled him with extra food and attention. Within a few months he was at his “fighting weight”! 
Rocky was rescued in the summer of 2004 by our dear friends Alana and Alex, who at the time, were living in New York City. They found him starving on a roof top in Rockefeller Plaza. Thus the name “Rocky”. 
Alana flew out with Rocky in October of 2004 and it was love at first sight. Rocky was “my first kitty” – the first cat that I was responsible for caring for and who I could call mine. He rode with me the 4.5 hour roundtrip every weekend to Casper when Jason and I were dating. He taunted Jason’s dog, Tillie until we moved into our house in Laramie where they called truce and have put up with each other ever since. He endured being licked and chased by Shelby and was never tempted to eat our fish. He enjoyed spending time with Jason’s parents in Elk Mountain and grandparents in Wheatland. Rocky was well traveled and well loved.
Someday this white cow will be picked up by a UFO...
And someday soon, this cow is going to catch a fish!
