A hunting we will go...

Well not "we", but him...

my strong silent mysterious man is off for his 1st hunting trip of the year.

He has been mentally preparing for a month now. But in his "guy like" manner he began physically preparing last night. That was when he realized he only had 2 arrows.

I guess he is feeling really lucky, because it didn't slow him down a bit! And at 3am this morning he was off....

The dogs hoovered (except Rudy who was still asleep warm and sound in his bed) in an attempt to get to "go" (that would be Taylors middle name)... but they aren't trained for hunting yet and would probably be chasing the deer away instead of helping to hunt them out, so no go, sorry pups.

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I am still educating myself through many experienced friends who are wives of hunters, on the whole "keeping the fires burning" at home while they go out hunting. And also on all the best things to do with the meat when they bring it home. I vote to take it all to the butcher and let him hand me over a big batch of nicely hand wrapped meat packages with labels... and then I will hunt down all the coveted deer meat recipes and cook him up. But there is all kinds of advice from the time the arrow hits until the meat is on your table... so that might be a few blog posts later; to share how the story really goes down.

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I am still such a "city girl" but in an attempt to try and live in a county world here in Idaho... I am warming up to the whole thing slowly but surely.

I have surprisingly found some things I really love... Cowboys, boots, big shiny belt buckles, pictures of the critters living in the wild, hunting dogs, my strong silent mysterious man in camo.

Some things I am not sure I will ever warm up to... dead animal pictures, men packing guns on their belt around town, dead animals on the wall, and sneaking around in the woods.

Morning motivation...

I used to have such productive mornings, but lately I haven't been so motivated.

I am normally up at 530am with my boys getting them off to school and work, and I used to go right into my office afterwards and get to my own work or get some housework or laundry done, but for a couple of weeks now, I have been going back to bed and setting the alarm for a normal hour to wake up. Well needless to say, I didn't realize just how much I was getting done between 530am and 8am, until it wasn't getting done.

So today I made myself get moving! I headed out as soon as the boys were off; and went to Wally's to get my grocery shopping done and it was still dark when I came out!

And raining! I love the rain!!

I came home and unloaded the groceries, and since it is garbage day I had a bright idea to dump all the garbage cans around the house into the big outside can and it would all go away at once! (novel idea huh!)

So I began dumping all the little cans around the house the bathroom, the office etc. and found a tiny little piece of what was left of a stuffed toy Morgan had gotten several years ago for Christmas. Aunt Fay had given her two of them and they were just alike. The first one she played and played and played with and tore it to bits almost immediately (and carried a tiny piece around like a security blanket for months... I finally had to sneak it away from her one day), and the second one she kept in perfect pristine condition for the longest time....

then along came Taylor and all toys were fair game. She love the stuffed Christmas toy just as much as Morgan did the first one, and they play together with it all the time... tugging and pulling on it. It is quite tattered and worn now.

As I was dumping the garbage, I found a tiny small bit of fabric from the toy and decided I better get it dumped out now, before I have a problem with it being the security blanket I have to take away... it sounds cruel, but really it is for their own good.

So I grab it and dump it in the garbage, and sweet little Taylor sees it and grabs it immediately out of the garbage and tries to run with it.

"Hey, get back here with that!!"

I managed to trade her for the big piece that was a little more intact, and she runs and plays with it... until she sees me heading for the garbage with the little piece...

Then it's an all out war to get it away from her!
(I have got to learn how to use my new camera... it's so handy to grab and shoot, but I haven't read the book on setting it up yet, so everything is a big blur, but you get the picture).

It was such productive morning up until this, my strong silent mysterious man doesn't believe me when I tell him our dogs are like children, and they take allot of time to care for and love and attention during the day sometimes when I don't get too much done and blame it all on them.

I hope I can stay motivated and turn a really rainy wet day into a really productive one!

Basketball Jones...

Last night "the boys" went to play basketball at the church.

They play with a team of some of the guys my strong silent mysterious man works with... which I might say are all much much younger than him.

And while he was hesitant and knew he would fall victim to all of their old man, and hip replacement jokes; he agreed to play with them... something about his competitive nature wouldn't let him say no I guess; that and I think he is a glutton for punishment.

The teenager goes and fills in when they are short a man.

He loves it! Getting to rub elbows with some older boys, and showing off some of the skills he "thinks" he has over them, being the youngest and tallest of them all.

I hate to tell him, I really think he has bricks in his shoes at times... it looks like he can jump really high, but he barely gets off the ground. But I will just keep that to myself, since I couldn't do much better.

I might have been better to stay home and rest and take care of my fragile head... but I really just wanted to be with my boys. I didn't want to be home alone without them. I have been feeling so badly about how I have acted towards them over the past few days. And I just couldn't bare being away from them.

So I grabbed my camera and thought I would try and learn how to take indoor action shots with my camera. I know there must be a trick to it, because when I had the shutter speed slow enough to let enough light in, everything was a blur. So I tried a few different settings but never did master anything before the end of their practice. I guess I will have to keep studying up and learning.

(I did think this shot was kind of funny... looks like he has wings and is fluttering above the ground, he he he)

It was fun to watch them. I was very worried my strong silent mysterious man wouldn't be able to get out of bed this morning... but he seems to be among the living and able to walk.

Doesn't he look like it really hurts here?

I enjoy being with my boys, I am glad they never mind me hanging out with them... it's just where I want to be most of the time. I am so thankful for my family and that we can be together and share even the simplest of things.

Happy Veterans Day ~

I loved the tribute Google has on their logo today!

I was really touched by some information I received about the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and thought this would be a good day to post it.

TOMB OF THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER
Interesting facts about the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Sentinels of the Third United States Infantry Regiment "Old Guard"

Q: How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the tomb of the Unknowns and why?
A: 21 steps. It alludes to the twenty-one gun salute, which is the highest honor given any military or foreign dignitary.

Q: How long does he hesitate after his about face to begin his return walk and why?
A: 21 seconds, for the same reason as answer number 1.

Q: Why are his gloves wet?
A: His gloves are moistened to prevent his losing his grip on the rifle.

Q: Does he carry his rifle on the same shoulder all the time, and if not, why not?
A: No, he carries the rifle on the shoulder away from the tomb. After his march across the path, he executes an about face and moves the rifle to the outside shoulder.

Q: How often are the guards changed?
A: Guards are changed every thirty minutes, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.

Q: What are the physical traits of the guard limited to?
A: For a person to apply for guard duty at the tomb, he must be between 5' 10" and 6' 2" tall and his waist size cannot exceed 30".

Other requirements of the Guard:
They must commit 2 years of life to guard the tomb, live in a barracks under the tomb, and cannot drink any alcohol on or off duty FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES. They cannot swear in public FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES and cannot disgrace the uniform {fighting} or the tomb in any way.

After TWO YEARS, the guard is given a wreath pin that is worn on their lapel signifying they served as guard of the tomb. There are only 400 presently worn. The guard must obey these rules for the rest of their lives or give up the wreath pin.
The shoes are specially made with very thick soles to keep the heat and cold from their feet. There are metal heel plates that extend to the top of the shoe in order to make the loud click as they come to a halt. There are no wrinkles, folds or lint on the uniform. Guards dress for duty in front of a full-length mirror.

The first SIX MONTHS of duty a guard cannot talk to anyone, nor watch TV. All off duty time is spent studying the 175 notable people laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. A guard must memorize who they are and where they are interred. Among the notables are: President Taft, Joe E. Lewis {the boxer} and Medal of Honor winner Audie Murphy, {the most decorated soldier of WWII} of Hollywood fame. Every guard spends FIVE HOURS A DAY getting his uniforms ready for guard duty.

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In recent history, while you were sleeping, the teeth of hurricane Isabel came through this area and tore hell out of everything. We had thousands of trees down, power outages, traffic signals out, roads filled with downed limbs and "gear adrift" debris. We had flooding and the place looked like it had been the impact area of an off-shore bombardment.
The Regimental Commander of the U.S. Third Infantry sent word to the nighttime Sentry Detail to secure the post and seek shelter from the high winds, to ensure their personal safety.
THEY DISOBEYED THE ORDER!

On the ABC evening news, it was reported recently that, because of the dangers from Hurricane Isabel approaching Washington, DC, the military members assigned the duty of guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were given permission to suspend the assignment. They refused.

"No way, Sir!"

Soaked to the skin, marching in the pelting rain of a tropical storm, they said that guarding the Tomb was not just an assignment; it was the highest honor that can be afforded to a service person. The tomb has been patrolled continuously, 24/7, since 1930.

Very, very proud of our soldiers in uniform!

HAPPY VETERANS DAY!

Oscar the Grouch...

He's back... I have been Oscar the Grouch all weekend!

What is up with that?

I hate being grouchy... and it was MY special weekend too!

My poor boys... have put up with all my grouchiness.

I know some people stress about getting older, but that wasn't it!

It really doesn't bother me at all.... I tried to assess what was going on, and just couldn't find an explanation. I tried to turn it around and be cheerful... but it wasn't' working.

I started getting really bad headaches, but I was grouchy before they even started.

So I don't know what was going on with me... I was being a selfish ungrateful little snit all weekend (the 1st step is acknowledgement right?)

Banana peels help me out with the headaches!
They take them away, but for some reason I keep getting them back and they are turning migraine on me. So now I'm grouchy and my head hurts!
Stay clear, it's not pretty... but this too shall pass!