My Life.Feeding 3 dogs & 11 fish

I am really not journaling enough and I am really not accomplishing a lot! It is summer and being back on an accademic schedule of sorts I am multi-tasking at its worst.

First it has been very hot here and I am reluctant to go out in the heat. I walk in the early morning and late evening, 7:00 AM and 8:00 PM and hibernate during the day.

Second I have lots of things to do...a new responsibility with my volunteer work for the SCHOOLS group (Sun City Helping Our Outstanding Lincoln Schools). I am now in charge of providing volunteers to the five Lincoln elementary schools. It is a new job with a large learning curve. I see it as a challange that will eventually get easier!

JCCARE (Japanese Chin Care And Rescue) has also kept me busy. I am on my third home visit and my second foster. I am not complaining, just busy! It was very interesting vacationing (an Oxymoron) with four dogs! I am happy to report that Tychee is settled into his forever home!

Ira is traveling a bit having just returned from Chicago and leaving on Sunday for a Golf Tournament. He traveled when I had the four dogs and that was very interesting. I have to make a point of going out and being with people.

Did I mention Summer School. I volunteered in the first grade and the fourth grade twice a week and now that summer school is over, I miss it! But it was also my responsibility to staff the summer school volunteers and that kept me busy!

It is Yoga that has definitely saver the day. I have made the time to attend class four or five times a week. I am bummed that I could not go today due to the fact that I await a shipment from UPS that requires a signature. My body, mind and soul missed this day of Yoga!

I love shopping the internet but having to be around from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM to await a shipment means that I have to keep busy at home. We actually ordered a set of Patio furniture on line and Fed Ex delivered it right to our garage.  That day I had two deliveries and the second deliver arrived after 7:00 PM.

Next in line of to do's is my by-weekly column in the Lincoln News Messenger. My last column was a piece of writing was on our Oxymoron Vacation to Lake Tahoe with four dogs. It was a bit cathartic for me as loving and letting go of Tychee was difficult and rewarding at the same time. He was a sweety but he really disrupted our family of dogs. His attatchment to me turned into aggression towards my other dogs, especially Taiko and it took Taiko several weeks to both forgive and forget.

This week I wrote an article about a local band. I started writing after lunch and when  I finished I it was about 4:30. Writing with the aid of a computer is so much easier than writing with paper and pencil. The editing is so much easier. I continuously write, read it out loud, and edit. When I think I am finished, I read the entire piece three or four more times, changing as I need to.

When I am confident that it is my best work, I email it off to my editor. She does some editing and it appears in the paper the following week. I am very happily suprised with the amount of people who tell me that they read my column, "The Heart of Lincoln". I focus on positive aspects of life in Lincoln!!

What else is going on?? Well we purchased the patio furniture for our new front courtyard. This is a job that has gone on way too long. The contractor who is also our landscaper is a multi-tasker at it's worst. He is working on three projects at one time and not successfully completing any of these projects.

The big question is.....Will the project be complete before we come back from Alaska? The answer is yes or no. Yes will be great and no will cost the contractor money! I will keep you posted!

That leads me to Alaska. We are going on an Alaskan Cruise, leaving from Seattle. It is a family affair as it was organized by my sister Janet. Her family, my brother Andy and his family and my parents are all cruising with us.

The cruise departs from Seattle and Alyssa, Vince and Blake are joining us at the home of Sheryl Heath and Hirsch for a pre-cruise weekend.  The Ackley's are hosting a Saturday evening barbeque for all of us!

This is our third cruise on the Alaskan Inside Passage! It will be wonderful to see my family and spend an entire week together and as the time to leaves grows nearer I am really getting excited.

The inside passage is indeed "eye candy" to the soul! I can't wait to depart. Each time we cruise Alaska we find amazing excursions and this time is no exception to that rule. On the last two cruises, we flew and landed on the Mendenhal Glacier. We have been Salmon Fishing and Whale Watching. On the last cruise about four years ago, we ended up walking into the wilderness to canoe on a Glacier Lake. Rule number one, don't stand up, rule number two, no swimming. If you don't break rule number one , you won't break rule number two!

Just yesterday, we booked out excursions for this cruise. Ira recently  bought a very fancy camera and it will get some great use in Alaska. All but one port of call is a new port, Sitka was replaced by Skagway and so we will revisit Juneau, Ketchikan and Victoria.

I can't wait to visit Ketchikan and the shop where I purchased my beautiful stained glass!! I can't wait to take a buggy ride so that the guide can tell me that when looking for a man in Alaska, "the odds are good but the goods are odd!"

We have booked an excursion in Juneau. Ira will definitely use his camera on this Land and Sea Photography Tour. Our guide will be a photography expert and his/her expertise will be fabulous!

In Sitka we will join another water/land tour, a Sea Otter Tour that promises that we will see all kinds of animals. Even better, we are joining my  my sister and her family.

So I begin my process of getting ready to leave and I think I will wish this week away. I need to get the dogs settled in with their new dog sitter. I need to get their food ready. I have already started to gather items that I need to pack and mostly have my wardrobe (adventuresome for day and nice for evening) ready to go!!

The list goes on but I am in that state of anticipation! But what I love about cruising is the fact that once we board, I can breath a big, big, sigh of relief and relax!  I can't wait!!!