The Hunt...so far

Well, I think it's official.... I am behind in my harvesting this year at the ranch. One of my sisters has taken 2; my other sister 1. My mom has taken a nice trophy buck scoring in the high 180s (B&C); my dad took his trophy this past weekend weighing in at B&C 190 3/8! I have sat in the rain, the chill, and through the mosquitoes feasting on every exposed limb I have only to see whitetails worthy of shooting with my camera and not my .270. Soccer games, birthday parties, Halloween...why must all these things get in the way?

Birthday Bliss

Well, after turning 30 for the 11th time I'm feeling good. The kids greeted me in my undergarments singing Happy Birthday (thanks to Daddy calling and reminding them!). I enjoyed lunch with my friend Shelly (thank you for lunch, the gift, and your friendship most of all!) to celebrate the day before. On my birthday, Amelia and I ate at Chick-Fil-A with my sister and my nephew (thanks for all the chocolate - there's still some left!!!) Piano lessons for Amelia, then off to Ceramics by Tess to paint a pumpkin with one of Amelia's new friends. A nice visit with my parents in the afternoon (their new dog Niki gifted me by peeing in my kitchen - thanks, Niki). Luckily, Michael didn't have soccer practice so we actually went out to eat - Chicken Fried Steak at Willie's Ice House...yummy! Then, my favorite night of TV. Birthday Bliss!

"Nibbles"

A week and half ago, our cat Sweet Pea brought a baby squirrel into the garage and we caught her "playing" with it. Luckily, it was unharmed and seemed good to go back up the tree to mama. However, the next day Sweet Pea brought it back. Guess she thought we needed another animal to add to our zoo!

Nibbles enjoys substitute milk, unsalted peanuts, multi-grain bread, bananas, and especially grapes. She's learning to climb around the (bird) cage she is currently calling home in our garage. She first curled up in Michael's fleece-lined croc, but now snuggles up to a discarded stuffed animal of Amelia's. Amelia is the "squirrel whisperer" of the house - Nibbles calms right down anytime that Amelia is holding him. Here he is eating a grape and enjoying being whispered to.

Felt so "Out of Touch"

When you really look at how long "wireless internet" has been a part of my everyday life we're not talking that long, yet when it goes out, it sends me into a panic mode. No internet, no e-mail, no Facebook? That would mean I would have to do laundry, or clean toilets, or something else I avoid when I have my computer in my lap.

It took me over two hours of plugging and un-plugging cords, then cleaning out behind the desk (since I had pulled it out anyway), sorting through all those darn cords behind the desk figuring out what connected to what that I realized....I need to call AT&T because this problem seems to be beyond my scope of my repair capabilities. Picked up the phone to call, and no dialtone. Ah-ha!

I remembered that I had listened to the sound of the neighbor having his gas-line connected all day yesterday and my mind magically jumped to the conclusion that they did it. So, picked up the cell and called AT&T.

First thing off the bat, "Press 1 to continue in English...." WHAT? I live in the United States where we speak English, right? Have the English speakers become such the minority that I now have to press a certain number to continue in my native language? Then, the computer system couldn't recognize my voice commands. Probably because I was screaming at the phone I was so insulted, and using a few expletives because talking to anyone in person these days is impossible. So, the robot said, "I'm having trouble understanding you, let's try this another way. Press 1 to continue in English...." Seriously?!?!?!?

I Love My Neighborhood

Last night was National Night Out and it was a great success! We had 7 families out on our street corner, hanging out and running interference with all our kids. Our wonderful constables came by, passing out stickers and candy to grown ups and kids alike. Yes, my kiddos got to bed a little late, but it was well worth it. I love our little neck of the woods.

Can't believe it's only Wednesday - I'm just plain ole' tired. Mike is hunting with my dad and brothers-in-law and this single-mom thing gets old quickly. Plus, working on the yearbook for the boys school has geared up and has me busy for a few hours each week. I enjoy it, and would much rather work on that than laundry, but I'm not sure how the socks are going to get clean if I don't get off my duff and wash them.

I'm looking for some motivation -- have checked at Walmart, Target, and the grocery story without any luck. I have so many boxes sitting in my garage that have been there since the day I walked away from teaching that I still need to go through. Plus, our "spare bedroom" that Mike let me turn into my "craft room" (aka "crap room") is a disaster. But, until I find some motivation, those boxes and crap room are just going to sit there. I strive to be the super-organized, neat, have it all together woman, but it just isn't happening.

First Blog

Well....thought I would give this a try. Some of my friends "blog" and I thought, "why the hell not?" If nothing else, it will be a great place to vent! It's Tuesday, but feels like Friday already. Mike left this morning to go on a 3-day hunt with my father and two brothers-in-law. For those of you who know Mike and I well, this is a role reversal for sure! He's off for the comraderie, and wants to try a little bird hunting. We will see what he comes home with, especially since he didn't take a cooler :-) I hope one of them took a camera. I didn't think to send one with Mike, and even if I did, I doubt he would have remembered to use it. I always look forward to this time of year - fall. But, just where is this cooler weather? Heat index is supposed to be over 105 today....that's just not right! Hard to get motivated to get in the attic and pull out the Halloween and fall decorations when you are sweating and cursing the heat. Maybe this weekend, when the weather is supposed to be cooler....