Satisfying Sunday

I stayed up until 11:00 last night watching a movie starring Valerie Bertinelli on Hallmark Channel last night. Went to bed and was still wide awake. Didn't go to sleep until around 1:00 am. I was having a dream, don't really remember what it was about, but I do remember there was a “glimpse” of Ben in it. I remember seeing him standing in a hallway. He had on one of his signature blue stripped shirts. I only saw him for a second and then he was gone. Got up around 7:00 am and made breakfast for Keith and myself. The weather was so nice this morning that we went out and sat on my patio for awhile. Keith told me how sleeping in the living room with Ben's ashes “freaks him out” for some reason. He said he used to sleep really well here at my house, but now he has strange dreams and keeps thinking about the ashes being there. I told him I'm here all day with them and never even think about them being there. Keith and I headed over to The Gentle Barn around 10:00 am. They have their open house every Sunday. As soon as we got there, I asked them how I go about volunteering. They gave me a form to fill out and then I spoke with Ellie the founder of The Barn. She seems to be a very nice lady. She said the need “Barn Buddies”. For this “job” they have shifts available Monday through Friday, either mornings (9:00 am to 1:00 pm) or afternoons (1:00 pm to 5:00 pm). I would prefer the mornings. As a “Barn Buddy” I would spend 4 hours in the “petting” area with the pigs, goats, sheep, llamas, chickens, turkeys, peacocks and emu. Basically the job consists of petting them, hugging them, brushing them, talking to them....just pretty much letting them know they are loved. Ellie told me that someone will call me tomorrow to confirm I will be coming to the volunteer orientation on Tuesday morning, then I guess I will decide what days I will do my volunteering. After leaving The Gentle Barn, we headed over to some of the local pet stores to see if they had any adoptions today. At PetCo, there was this sweet Australian Cattle Dog named Dolly that I liked. She is only a year old, so still kind of in the “puppy stage”. They told me she is housebroken too. She loves to walk on her leash, so she would be great for a hiking partner, but I'm still not ready because I want to get some trips out of the way before I get a dog. It would not be fair for me to get a dog and then start traveling and have to board it. I want to be able to let a dog get used to me and it's new home and taking some small trips I would not be able to do that. Keith left to head home around 2:30. Hated to see him go. I emailed my brother Ron and told him Keith had just left and then the phone rang and it was Ron. He said that since Keith just left and I was alone, he thought he'd call me to talk and keep me company for a little while. So I had a pretty good weekend.