Workamping Long Hours

I survived the longest night when winter solstice passed through here last night.  Today I am surviving what seems like the longest day, because I did 8 hours workamping yesterday and today I am doing 16 hours. 


It's 3:30pm which means I have been up 12 hours, since 3:30am. I am oh so tired and fighting off the grouchies. I still have 4.5 hours left to work. I just want to curl up and rest. 


My wheel estate is a wreck, the laundry is piled up. I did manage to cart off the garbage. I have a mountain of paperwork and other personal messes to attend to at some point soon.


I spoke with a workamping volunteer coordinator this morning about their spring openings 800 miles north of here. Everything they had to offer involved me buying a car (impossible!) or me turning into a couple (inconceivable!)  So it was all rather depressing. 


But Christmas is around the corner.  I received a surprise package in the mail!  I guess Santa Claus figured since I didn't have a chimney for him to slither down, he would simply use the post office.  I haven't opened it up yet. Might as well wait until Christmas. It's fun to stare at the box and wait. 


Harley will be two years old on Christmas!  I bought him two little gifts. He will be thrilled.  I'd tell you what they are, but he might read the blog and find out. 


This morning he pretended not to notice me getting ready for work. He scrunched up into the tiniest puppy ball trying to disappear into his bed. When it was time for me to leave, he did leap out of bed at the very last second. 


However we were both shivering so badly, that I had to put his little doggy coat over his sweater after we got to work. He curled up to go back to sleep inside the check station shack while I greeted the 5am hunters outside, with a cheery smile. I wasn't feeling cheery at all, but my big smile hid this nicely. 


When I had a chance, I speed walked back to my wheel estate to kidnap the coffee pot. I placed it on top of the oil filled radiator to keep it warm inside the shack. 


Life is good all around, but I so look forward to collapsing in bed when this shift is over.  If I remove the "f" from shift...  I can truly explain what I think of working 24 hours in under 2 days time...


Oh the things I do to make this tiny budget stretch so far. But hey, it's a life, I'm alive, I'm fed, I have a surprise box for Christmas and a silly little dog to celebrate his birthday with on Sunday.


I was thinking about when my mother died, one of her friends got up and spoke about her sense of humor. She said my mother threw a birthday party for her dogs, inviting some of her 2 legged friends to help celebrate. She served  them canine cuisine such as Salty Dog drinks with hot dogs and pupcakes for dessert. Each guest went home with a doggy bag of treats too. 


She played music in the background such as  "Puppy Love", "Who Let th Dogs Out", "How Much is That Doggy in the Window", and "BINGO".


Doubtful I will have the energy for any of this, but what the heck,  maybe I will come up with something funny between now and then.