Blizzards in the cold...

My friend and VT partner is moving away. It will be sad to see her go, but I am really happy that she will finally be reunited with her husband and 2 sons.

He had been working away from home for several years and were only together a couple of weekends a month.

She has adjusted to being a single mom well, but went back to school 2 years ago with the end goal of getting a job teaching so her husband could look for different work and they would finally be together.

So he ends up getting another job on the other side of the state earlier this year, and she didn't want to lose all the credits she had earned from her schooling here, so it has kept them apart trying to finish up he degree and tie up all the lose ends.

She called me last night, and he house here is rented, the new house over there closed and she is leaving before Christmas to finally be reunited with her family.

So we went to get blizzards to celebrate together! After all I have experienced with my family being apart and reuniting... I have felt so much compassion for her, and she always seems to know when I am in the dumps and need a pick me up and just shows up with a treat... even when we don't talk for days or weeks. It's a really fun bond, and I will miss her, but I am happy for her situation to get better.

These guys were just happy to get a treat!

Why is it ice cream and cold treats taste even better when it's cold outside?

YUMMMMM!!

The Lunch Crowd...

My Strong Silent Mysterious Man works close enough to our house, to come home for lunch most everyday. And yesterday we had received a letter from one of our Nephews who is serving a Church Mission. So he sat down to eat, and read the letter... and this is what he has to put up with... the dog begging for a bite:) It's really his own fault, because she already knows he will share with her. But she is getting dangerously close and he is not paying very close attention! Have mercy if she is ever brave enough to sneak a taste without permission.

Cookie Day Rules....

When I go to Seattle for a quick visit with my family in December, I plan on attending my SIL annual family "cookie day"! They are a super fun group and have annual get togethers at least once a month during the year... sometimes many many gatherings in a month depending.


So for cookie day you bring all the ingredients and tools to make a big batch of whatever cookies you like (or candy or fav holiday treat) and meet the family at one house on cookie day and make your treats and then everyone takes home a variety of everything that was made that day.


I was able to attend "Annual Kite Day 2007"... but I remember it came with some rules. So I emailed my brother to clue me in on all the rules of cookie day, as not to make any big mistakes or offend anyone while I was joining in on all their fun.

They were hilarious... so I thought I would post them to share.

Cookie Day Rules
1) No crying on cookie day
2) If it falls on the floor, don’t tell Kelli Jo
3) You break it, you eat it
4) Or give it to Spike
5) Check your diet at the door
6) Speak softly around Suzie (she has a hangover)
7) Messes are allowed
8) Burns are not, so be careful around Lanette
9) Burned cookies go to Maggie, I'm not sure why
10) Krumkakes are to be fully filled with whip cream before you "Quality Control" test them
11) Be prepared to make your favorite cookies (BYOD)
12) Have fun
13) Eat soup (it will help balance out the sugar)
14) Take a picture of someone taking a picture of you
15) Any picture of you with your cheeks full of cookies will be used against you at some point in time
16) If you are not covered in flour, chocolate, frosting, dough, batter, and sprinkles, you are not having enough fun
17) Malinda is really pregnant, so it’s ok to ask
18) Building a ginger bread house requires an engineering degree
19) Frosting cookies does not
20) The smoke alarm is not an oven timer
21) The fire extinguisher is no longer white
22) No candles in the bathroom
23) Take cookies home with you
24) We all love you very much

Good Luck Charm...

My Strong Silent Mysterious Man took the day off to go hunting yesterday. It was his last final attempt for the late Archery season which ends on Friday. He has been into arrowhead hunting this past year and rigged up one of his finds onto a leather necklace and declared it to be his good luck piece. It was lucky in that he saw more big bucks than you would normally see out there in a day, but it proved to be even more lucky for the bucks than for him to shoot one of them. So everyone wins in my opinion. I know that was not the original plan... but I am very happy, he loved the trip, saw some amazing animals in the wild, got to spend a whole day up in God's country and make it home safely! Who could ask for more luck than that?

I don't think I have a specific good luck charm. I am not really superstitious... but at times I do things or avoid things that could be deemed superstitious... just in case.

Last spring when I bought some new arrows to go with my bow, one of them was fleched backwards with the logo on the tip end, instead of on the feather end.... it really bothered me, but it wasn't really a flaw in the arrow and I didn't want not buy it because of something that would be seen as only cosmetic, because in the Archery world, that would be just silly! So I call it my lucky arrow and use it first. In the beginning it was because if I lost it, then it wouldn't bug me anymore... but since I have never lost it... now it is my lucky arrow!

Do you have any lucky charms?

Are you superstitious about anything?

Are you what I call a "hunters widow"?

A Long Holiday Weekend...

We had a really nice Holiday Weekend... My Strong Silent Mysterious Man went back out hunting, it's working out perfect so far... Bambi has avoided his evil arrows, he is truly loving being outdoors and seeing all the critters (even if he can't hit one) and I am getting some alone time, whether I needed it or not.

Of Course there was the annual Turkey Bowl at the church... Two J's and his friend Conor had a blast!

It was freezing cold!

But they have a philosophy that nothing warms you up quicker than hot cocoa and a nice game of virtual football. They could do this for literally hours on end.

Two J's had taken on a few jobs over the weekend, feeding animals while families were out of town....

It was so fun watching these guys each day as they became more and more familiar with us coming over to feed them... they really like to eat.

He is not a "farm boy" but he does get in there and get the job done.

They had 3 dogs that needed some love and attention along with their food too.

There was the leaf raking job...



And yet another family with 3 more dogs to love and feed!

Our favorite "hair" lady... Katie!

And still more practice at driving... hey keep both hands on the wheel!!

I didn't get pictures, but this kid even got up at 4:30am with me on Friday and went out shopping! We just had a few things to try and scoop up, and with his help we were successful... he should be trained very nicely for some young lady one day.

I had several really hard days with my computer... but I am BACK! I will be catching up on all the events of the Thanksgiving weekend here very soon.