Time is flying

I had a wonderful time on San Juan Island, with perfect weather. Little blessings do happen sometimes, yes? The Monday before Memorial Day Weekend, the nice folks at Lakedale Resort called me with a proposition. They had overbooked the resort, which includes not only the glamping sites, but cabins, a campground, RV sites and a beautiful lodge. Since I was traveling alone, they wanted to know if I'd give up my wonderful canvas cabin for a room in the lodge. At first I thought, yeah, but at what cost? I had already made the $200 deposit for my glamp site, so they said, how about what you've already paid, plus tax? Seriously, the lodge room they gave me normally is $279 a night, and it had a jetted tub, deck overlooking the lake, fireplace, wet bar with fridge and a wonderful bed. So, I was not glamping - I was in the lap of luxury!
The ferries were so full going over Saturday, I didn't get into Friday Harbor until 6 p.m. I went to a new place since last year, called Cask and Schooner, and had a wonderful dinner of risotto with scallops, and a couple glasses of wine. But as I thought about it, if I left Monday as planned, I'd have to be in the ferry holding area by just after 8 a.m. giving me only one full day on the island. So, I talked to the boys at the front desk, and yes, I could stay an extra night at the same price! I checked in with the Wiggle Room, where Miss Abbey was having her own little doggie weekend, and they said no problem, so I stayed until Tuesday morning and avoided the crowds. I'm so glad I did.
Sunday morning I went to town to Pelindaba Lavender, the store that sells all of the lavender products from the farm of the same name on the island. I love their stuff! I bought several gifts, and some lotion, tea, foot soak and what not for me! I hit it off with the very nice lady, Jacke, who was working there. She was very interested in my story as her dear friend has been dealing with cancer. We ended up having dinner together that night, and exchanged contact information. She grew up on the island, moved off for some time, and plans to stay now. Just a really neat person. We ate at a place called The Downrigger with a great view of the harbor, but just okay food.
Sunday afternoon was my great zip lining adventure, with Zip San Juan. At first I thought, oh Lord, what have I got myself into now, but I'm sold! I want to do it again - everywhere! It's so much fun, and such an adrenaline rush. This company has a 40-acre playground, with several lines in a pattern that brings you back to where you started.
They start with a baby run so you get used to the gear and how to steer (sort of). I never felt unsafe. Then you hike a little ways to the first one, which was pretty high. I stood there for a few minutes, sucked in some air, then sat down in my harness and off I went. It was great! You go through several runs, and each one is a little different; the last one is the longest, about 630 feet, and you fly over a pretty pond. The only part I didn't like was having to walk over one of those hanging bridges. You are still harnessed up, but it just freaked me out - I would have preferred just flying! So, I have another first under my belt!
I spent Monday exploring the two former military camps on the island and learning about the Pig War, which is a war that never really happened. It all started in 1859 because both the British and the United States claimed the San Juan Islands due to a boundary dispute. An American settler shot a boar that belonged to a British guy because it was foraging in his garden. Well, tensions rose, and soon both countries had established camps on opposite sides of the island prepared for war. But they eventually chilled out, in fact the two camps were socializing with each other before it all wound down in 1872.
Both former camps are now national parks and it's really a very interesting, weird piece of history, that largely was ignored because the Civil War was going on at the same time, so no one on the east coast even knew about it. A German arbitrator came in and as we know, the islands were granted to the U.S. Both camps were nice, but the English clearly had a more protected and scenic site. I ended up hiking quite a bit, so I was pooped. But I went back to Lakedale, rented a paddle boat for half an hour and paddled around the little lake, before taking a relaxing bath then going to dinner at The Place, another culinary delight. This time I had a black bean ravioli with large shrimp with cilantro and salsa - it was splendid. There, I met a nice couple from Seattle, Katherine and Mike, and had a nice conversation with them.
I got home Tuesday and had just a little time to get Abbey, clean up, and then meet my sister Cheryle, and my brother-in-law Jerry at a restaurant by the airport for an early dinner. They were heading back to Alaska after a long weekend with his sister and her husband in Shelton, across Puget Sound from me. It was so great to see them.
Today I'm feeling a little lost. I still haven't found any work, not even any calls. I am now concerned that I won't find anything because my surgery is now less than two months away. Who is going to hire me now if I have to tell them, "oh, by the way, I have to take two to three weeks off soon?"
Maybe this is God's way of making me take time to figure some things out. I have so much work to do on getting my head right again after all of this. I need to get to a point to where I'm okay with the lady in the mirror.
I'm reading a book that was recommended by both our group leader in my After Breast Cancer class and my therapist. It's called "Crucial Conversations." I hope to gain some wisdom from it.
I don't have much going on the next few days, so I guess I'll keep scoping out jobs and reading. The weather isn't the greatest today nor will it be tomorrow, so it's a good time to work on myself.
I continue to get physically stronger. I was surprised how well I did zip lining because you have to have your arms up holding on to the strap, so clearly my range of motion is getting better. And I went to Pilates this morning and it felt good.
Seattle is in mourning today, too, after a mentally ill man named Ian Stawicki went nuts and shot and killed five people yesterday before taking his own life. The shootings were in the University district, then downtown, but he ended up in West Seattle where the police cornered him and he shot himself. So awful. I could see the helicopters hovering over where they found him. It was surreal and sort of nerve wracking. What is wrong with this world? Crazy people shouldn't have guns.
I started taking the new estrogen blocker yesterday, and so far I feel okay. Time will tell if this one makes me feel bad. If that happens, Dr. Kaplan said to stop taking them and call him, which is exactly what I'll do.