Bad blogger, bad!

So, I return to my blog after a month hiatus. I feel really bad that I haven't written....I have heard from many of you about your desire to get me to write more because you feel like you don't know what is going on with me. Well, now I will update you on life!

1) WORK. Work has been dominating my life, mind, body, and spirit in HUGE ways in the last two months since I've started, especially in the last month. From national entertainers and several-thousand $$ performers, learning a sound board and light board, to planning for H1N1 on campus, to helping 30+ student orgs get their feet on the ground for the school year, and oh yeah supervising a residence life operation and many staff.....whew, I have had work up to my ears and beyond! We've had Spirit Week and Homecoming happen here, Greek rushing and pledging, and in the meantime I am still trying to learn which end is up.

Needless to say, I haven't had a whole heck of a lot of time to focus on anything but work since its been so busy. With this comes SO much learning, and SO many challenges, frustrations, joys, concerns, and more learning....it is really hard to know where I fit in with stuff. I would be lying if I said things are going great....I am struggling a lot and wondering if UMM is the place for me, and if I really like doing what I am doing as much as I thought I did....but I am just trying to take it one breath and one day at a time....anything more than that is too damn much.


2) BETTY THE CAT. This has been another huge piece of my last month. Unfortunately, the feline love of my life passed away on Monday, September 14th. I had to have Betty put to rest then because of a badly declining health and she lost control of her systems. It was a really hard decision for me to make that took me a few weeks to sort through. I appreciate all the phone calls, emails and support from Marissa, Stephanie, my sister Sara and husband Brian, my parents, my grandmama, and my friends out there for the help in coming to this decision. Betty really was a life companion to me for the last 7 years and really was a right arm to me in all of the adventures I've had. Fortunately for her she had 20+ years of an awesome life, and I hope she thinks back on the last years with me and has all of the positive feelings I do. I have had a really hard time being without Betty the last few weeks, and am hoping it will start to get easier sometime soon. My apartment still smells like her, even though I've put her things away to save. I know it is weird to some people, but I am having Betty cremated. I just want to do the best by Betty as I can because she meant (and means) so much to me. A lot of people don't really know how to react to me around the issue of Betty dying because she was so important to me....and because I am still pretty upset about it. I just try to take it one day at a time. So, I thought I would share some pictures of Betty from her last couple months with me.

Pre-Betty & I moving to Maine:



It's important to have your cat's approval in your choice of girlfriend!




Betty & I in Maine:




I miss my Betty.

3) DAD CAME TO MAINE!!! My dad just came to Maine this last weekend since he was on a business trip to DC during the week. YAHOO! It was really awesome to visit with him since I hadn't seen him since....Christmas?!? It was a huge exciting thing to have him "swing" up here (two flights to get here just from DC) and stay for the weekend. He got here around 1am Friday night/Sat AM (it takes about two hours to drive from the airport to where I live)....and we played tourist all weekend. He got to see Fort O'Brien, UMM campus, Machias River, bald eagles, Eastport, a minke whale, many seals, East Quoddy Head Lighthouse (from a schooner), herring nets, salmon pens, West Quoddy Head lighthouse (and foghorn!!) and tons of other neat nature things around here! We even went over to Canada to Campobello Island to see the FDR family cottage for an hour! NEAT! (which means I got to use my official Passport Card for the first time!!). Here's some pics from that (dad took 350 pics, so I can't share all of them here!).
ABOVE: Machiasport, ME harbor.
ABOVE: What we think is a bear print at Fort O'Brien State Park driveway. The best (worst) part: it is right next door to a middle school. That's dad's shoe next to it.
I just think this is a neat photo....the focus and non focus on the flowers. Papa's new camera is great!
Dad doing the Fitch Family pose at Bad Little Falls Park in Machias.
ABOVE: This is my church, Centre Street Congregational UCC. Just a couple blocks from my place.
ABOVE: The view outside the Machias Motor Inn as the tide is low.
BELOW: East Quoddy Head Light on Campobello Island, New Brunswick, CAN. A herring net setup as well. You can see how strong the currents and whirlpools are here (this is near Old Sow, the largest whirpool in the western hemisphere)
BELOW: Big outgoing tide current. You would think we were in a river....nope, that is in the middle of a HUGE bay.
BELOW: The minke whale we saw! One of many pictures!!
An up close shot of one of the smaller whirlpools next to our schooner.
BELOW: Papa helped to raise the sails!

ABOVE: Dad's new dream boat, complete with seating for old men.
BELOW: Me getting ready to go on the boat...that's right, I have my winter coat, hat and gloves with me (and needed them!)!



Seals!!!!

I have many more pictures to share from my weekend with my dad, but I think that is all for now.

I will try to be better about updating the blog....I think for a long time I didn't want to update because I was so upset about Betty being gone and things not going nearly as positively here as I thought they would....but now, I think....this is part of life and its my job to make sense of it and figure out what I can and cannot handle....

Til next time...