He Was Murdered!!!

Hello everyone!  Some of you will not like what I am going to say here today and I am truly sorry about that.  However, it must be said and everyone out there must pay close attention.  There was a very important man who was murdered last Saturday.  His name was Antonin Scalia and he was a Supreme Court Justice.

Now I know what you are saying.  He died naturally and that is that.  Well you can all think again.  He most certainly was murdered and the President of the United States had his dirty hand right in it up to his evil elbow!

There were too many important votes coming up that the Justice most likely would have affected and there are people in the United States and all over the world that wanted to see those votes turn a different way.  What better way to do it but to rid the court of one of the steadfast conservatives?

This man whom we call our president has an evil agenda and that agenda is to take away our freedom as we know it and turn this country into a Socialist nation.  He undermines the rights of Christians in favor of Muslims and people of the "other" persuasion.  He does not want us to have our first or second amendment rights and what we work day in and day out for he wants to give to those who do not work at all.  Those citizens who basically "suck off the troth".

President Obama is an opportunist.  He saw the chance to take Justice Scalia out and he took that chance with little or no regard for anyone else but HIS own agenda.  Don't let anyone tell you this low life scum didn't have anything to do with this situation.  They would be lying to your face.

Congress now has a job to do.  It is to stonewall Obama every step, every turn and every move he makes.  He must not be able to have anyone nominated to take over Scalia's post.  It must wait until the new president takes office.  Our lives depend on it.  If another liberal judge gets in, life in this country will change forever.

It shakes me to the center of my soul to know that someone in such a position of power can just snap their fingers and kill a sitting justice like that.  Obama may have not "pulled the trigger" but he certainly "gave the order".  No,  that dear man did not die of natural causes.  He was murdered in cold blood, in his sleep, to keep him from voting.

Say what you will about me but mark my words.  The truth will come out because God is angry and when He get's angry, things get discovered.

Rest in peace Justice Scalia.

As always, Freedancer

Just Call Me Leftie!

Well hello everyone!  Freedancer here catching everyone up on the latest news!  On the 12th of Jan I had the first of several surgeries that are on the books to be accomplished.  Right now as we speak, my dominant right hand is in a very attractive bright pink cast.

I underwent the first of my CMC joint surgeries and am happy to say it went very well.  The pain was actually quite minimal but the real challenge was learning to do everything with my left hand.  It is amazing how difficult that simple action is.  Don't let anyone tell you it is easy because it is not!

I was lucky to have a fantastic hand surgeon, Dr. Smith, from the Billings Sports Medicine Clinic. I was very worried that when I was under the troughs of anesthesia that I would yell out "Danger Will Robinson or Oh the pain...the pain" but lucky for me I behaved myself.  I also was lucky to have the anesthesiologist that I had for my shoulder surgery in 2012.  I was so happy to see him.  I will be in this cast for 4 weeks and then the VA will take over my PT.  I have everything great to say about the VA.  The new ARCH program paid for my surgery for me and they were just fantastic!

My beautiful daughter came up from Belgrade and assisted me for 4 days.  She brought my little grandson with her.  He is so sweet and getting so big!  He is 7 months old and has eyelashes to die for!  I've been off work for two weeks now and of course all that time was vacation so there goes this years vacation.  I go back to work this coming Monday part time and the next Monday will be full time.  I think I am ready and my retired hubby said he enjoyed having a taste of what my retirement will be like in a couple of years but is ready to dive back into his solitude again!

We took a trip up to our cabin getaway yesterday and I thought it would be a good time to put the new feather mattress topper on the master bed.  As I was taking off the blankets, I noticed a bunch of the mouse poison pellets down in the corner of the blankets.  It  dawned on me and I finally knew where all the mouse pellets were going, the little ratturdes were bringing them all the way up from downstairs and stashing them in our bed, to get back at us!  Those are some pretty smart and obviously very vindictive rodents! Well, I got rid of it quickly after I showed my hubby what was going on.  The war is on now and it wont be pretty!!

The break at the cabin was kind of nice.  We ate pop tarts, drank coffee and watched North by Northwest on the DVD player.  Great movie!  So that is my story for now.  I am actually typing with one hand and 4 fingers and not doing too bad.  Cheers!  Freedancer

2015 is Gone and 2016 has Arrived

Hello everyone!  Well, 2015 is history and 2016 has made its entrance.  I wonder what God will bring to us this year?  For me, I was able to spend some time at Christmas with my daughter, son in law and grand babies.  How quickly they grow!  My granddaughter is already on her way to being age 3 and my grandson is 6 months old.

For two days we were privileged to have them here.  Since I had to work on the 24th, we had out Christmas on the 23rd.  I was able to have the kids to myself for several hours on the 23rd while the kids went shopping.  I so enjoyed them!  Little baby Micah is such a sweet baby!  I cuddled with him and could hardly put him down the whole time.  Lydia was told that she had to take a nap before we opened up Christmas gifts.  When I went downstairs to check on her, she was still awake.  I explained that I had spoken with Santa Claus and he said that she had to have a nap before he would put the very special gift that he had brought to her under the tree.  I left for about 15 minutes and she fell fast asleep.

This year, I had been collecting things to put into a very special doll house for Lydia.  We got the house over the net from a family in Florida.  While waiting for it to arrive, I had spent a lot of time purchasing some very special trolls to go in the house.  I had many of them when I was a child.  They had the most adorable scrunched up faces and fly away hair of many colors!  The only problem was is that they were naked!  I spent some extra time finding some clothing for them and lots of furniture to put in the house, making sure it was large enough to prevent choking. I got it all ready and purchased a small suitcase from the local Good Will for Lydia to put all of her little toys in when she was not playing with the house.  I them wrapped them all carefully and put them in the laundry room.

We opened all of our gifts and we were all sitting there in the living room thanking each other for the thoughtful things they purchased for us.  I then looked over a Lydia and asked her if she was ready to have the very special present from Santa.  Her eyes got big as saucers and she was grinning from ear to ear!  I told her to close her eyes tight and we put the gifts on the floor by the tree.  That little girl lit up like a firefly in Summer!  She was so excited about the house that she barely could keep from screaming.  Of course she had not ever seen a troll before but fell in love with them.  There were baby trolls, sister and brother trolls, mommy and daddy trolls and a very special grandmother troll.  She had so much fun putting the house together and didn't want to put it away when it came time to pack up to go to her other grandparents house in the Billings Heights.  The suitcase thing was a great help.

After they had headed out to Grandpa Bears house, we sat in the rubble of papers and ribbon and thought about all the excitement of the last two days.  I wouldn't have given it up for the world.  It was all it should have been and more.  My hubby's sister was on her way over with her gifts and we quickly cleaned up the living room for the next round.  The kids would be headed to Circle Montana to see his parents tomorrow and they would remain there until after the 1st of January.

I took a few moments to think about the true meaning of Christmas.  Sure, it was great to see all the family and to watch the kids faces light up at the presents and tree but how much had I thought about the little baby in the manger who was the true Light of the world?  I was humbled by the feeling of gratefulness at what Jesus had done for me so many years ago.  How I longed to just touch his robe like the woman did when he dragged the cross through the city to the spot where he would be crucified.  She had such faith!  I want that kind of faith!  I want to know that when I close my eyes for the last time that when I open them I will see the face of God looking back at me.  This remains my desire and will be my desire until I draw my last breath on earth.  Please!  If you do not know Jesus as your personal savior, please ask Him to fill your soul this very minute!  Heaven will be a wonderful place and to see you there will make even more wonderful.  It's a free gift and no amount of money or other wealth can pay for it.  All it takes is for you to tell Jesus you believe in Him and ask Him to save you.

In another week I will be having surgery on my right hand to repair the CMC joint.  I have researched this carefully and watched a video of it.  If you are to have this done, don't watch the video...it is somewhat brutal!  However, the success rate is an impressive 96% so I am fired up and ready to tackle this challenge. The recovery time is quite lengthy so I will not be getting a vacation this year again unless my hubby pays me for it!  I hope to get completely well as I need my hands to work on my jewelry and other crafts.  My part-time business has done very well this year.  I even accomplished a custom made bracelet for a client and it turned out really nice.  I have sold quite a few photo's, especially the ones that I have assigned numbers to.  I am now armed with a fantastic new camera which can do most anything.  Funny story here was that my last camera that I purchased after I broke the one on vacation, quit working.  I sent it in for repair and was told it would cost as much as I paid for it.  I ended up retiring that one and purchased the newest one.  I ran across the old camera in the craft cupboard and put new batteries in  it just for giggles to see if it would work.  Well, it did work and now I have a back-up camera which is just fine with me!

Well, that's all for now everyone.  I will write more again later on.  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and wish for all of you  a fantastic new year!  Cheers!  Freedancer

Last Vacation of the Year was Our First!

Hello everyone!  Well, we managed to get a vacation in for the year even if it was short.  We traveled to the Southwestern areas of The Colorado National Monument, Canyon Lands National Park and The Black Canyon of the Gunderson.  All of these areas were breathtaking to say the least.

After spending most of the Summer months working on apartments and watching a new grandson enter the world, we needed a break.  I ended up having to take leave without pay which wasn't too bad but did put a little dent into the finances.  We made it work however, as I needed the time away from the job which I had been at steady for over a year without a vacation.

I don't see how anyone in this world could see as much beauty we saw on this trip and honestly say there is no God!  Everyday I saw more and more fascinating and awe inspiring country.  The colors, the makeup of the lands and the mysteries that they held were intoxicating.  I found myself thinking of how the deep valleys and tall mountains were formed and  I learned of the explorers who traveled down the undiscovered rivers.  I just sat motionless, there in the soft breeze, listening and taking in every moment.  I heard the voice of our loving God telling me, "This is the world that I made for you. Love, listen and learn all that is here for you".  How I love Him!  How grateful I am that He loves me!

My husband's illness is fairly under control now.  However, he did have a few periods on this trip where he just stayed in the car while I hiked the trails out to the view points.  He wishes he was up to hiking again but realizes that those days are probably a dream.  He tires now in about 4 hours.  He used to work and play for hours and still have energy but this unfortunate deck of cards are the ones he was dealt and although we wish we could turn them all in for another hand, we must play the cards that we were given in this life.  I love him dearly and losing him is something I think about but hope doesn't come about for a long time.

My grandson is 4 months old already!  What a joy he is to our family.  He loves to snuggle and laughs and coos in my arms.  If I try to put him down for a moment, he scrunches up his little face in a way that melts your heart.  My beautiful granddaughter is spunky and sweet all at the same time.  She tests mommy and daddy to the limit on a daily basis as she navigates this crazy life!  I adore her and can't wait until she can spend the night with me.  Oh the fun times we will have!  I will be spoiling her greatly and that is a promise.

I face several surgeries over the Winter months.  I will soon be getting my CMC joint on my right hand repaired so that I can regain some use.  It is to the point that I can barely grasp items, open doors or work on my jewelry projects.  The thought of being pain free is all consuming right now.  I am so allergic to pain medication that I dread the after affect of the surgery but I know that the pain I will have from that will slowly go away.  I will also be having throat surgery to repair a skin area in the back of my airway that slams shut when I breath out through my nose.  This has caused a great deal of trouble when I sleep and makes using my CPAP machine almost impossible.  The doctor stated that it will be a painful surgery at my age of 60 but thinks that he will be able to correct the issue.  This will be a great blessing!  Of course the local fire station #4 will be getting their yearly treats a little early this year as I will not have use of my hand at Christmas.  I'm pretty sure that they won't mind.  I looked back on this service that I do every year and realize that I've been doing it for 14 years!  My, how time fly's when you're having fun!

I probably won't get a vacation now for another year or so as I will have to use my PTO days for the surgeries.  Our office no longer has sick days and we end up having to use vacation days for surgery or sick days.  In about 3 to 4 more years however, I will be retiring from the Mental Health Center Case Management Team.  I am going on my 16th year now.  I am starting to weigh the possibility of retiring at 62 or 64 depending on how I feel.  I do know that I will be cutting down my hours as soon as I am able to do so.

I did a stellar job at the 2015 Montana State Fair this year.  I came back with several blue ribbons and many others.  I also received Best of Show again for my wind chimes.  Two of my items sold in the Art Hall which is quite wonderful.  I enjoy entering things in the fair.  It makes one feel quite accomplished.

Well my friends, I will close this blog for now.  I hope you have enjoyed hearing about my little life.  Always remember, your life path can go any direction.  Make sure the road you take is one that will be honoring to our gracious Lord.  He gave you this wonderful life.  If you need help steering the course, just ask Him.  He will be happy to help you paddle!  Cheers!  Freedancer

I Told Her it was a Boy!

Hello everyone!  Well, we have a new little one to add to the family.  He arrived on July 16th 2015 and weighed 7lbs 13oz.  His name is Micah Josef Wittkopp.  I was privileged to assist his coming into this world and it was a new experience to be on the outside watching it all.  He is already 1 month old and over 10lbs.

Having a grandson is so different from a granddaughter.  There is just a different feel in the air and "daddy" acts a little different as well.  You can tell just by looking in his eyes that he is anxious to start teaching this youngin all the things boy's need to know.  Sure, Lydia will always be daddy's little girl but a son carries on the name and there's a lot of pride in daddy's eyes.

We haven't figured out who he resembles yet but I can see a little of my daughter's father there...at least the bald head!  I wonder what he will become as he grows and learns about this world?  I hope he can take some good from it and bypass the bad.  I hope the world gets a little better and that the evil that has been running wild is calmed.

I hope that I can be around to see him grow and start school, graduate high school and college and marry a great gal.  I pray I am here to see his children.  For right now though, I just want to cuddle him and talk to him, make him feel safe, have him get to know me and know that I will spend the rest of my life, loving and praying for him.  He is a precious little bundle from God and we are trusted to teach him life's lessons but mostly, teach him to love Jesus as much as we do.

As always, Cheers!        Freedancer

Shake, Rattle and Roll

Hi everyone!  Holly cow, have you been following the earthquakes and erupting volcanoes around the world lately?  There is something going on big time and I think we are in for some dicey action very soon.

I have been learning all about Geology lately.  I've been checking out books and CD's about volcanoes and have found them to be fascinating! I have also been following some of the earthquakes rattling  the areas around the world.  We have a ton of volcanoes going off all around the world.  One of the most beautiful is located in Iceland.  It is located under a glacier and the glacier ice in and around the crater is slowly melting.  The lava from this volcano doesn't have a huge amount of silica so it has been putting on quite a show.

There have been some earthquakes in Southern Oregon as well that the scientists are keeping an eye on.  I wonder if we will soon see a big quake there or some other form of activity.  Only time will tell.

We were to have gone on a Big Foot hunt a few months back but it never got to take place.  I had some health issues that came up and the new cabin or should I say "money pit" kept us here in Montana.  We have been spending a great deal of time up there working on it, laying carpet and cleaning up.  The roof was seriously damaged by a hail storm and needed to be replaced.  There was so much to do at the cabin that we had a long talk and decided that we would stay home this year.  It is looking quite nice up there but be have had a very difficult time getting someone to work on the roof of the cabin and the pole barn.  Two companies pulled out at the last minute and left us without a new roof.  Then, just a few days ago, the temperature plummeted and we had snow.  None of us were ready for this to happen.  It has been bitterly cold here and we have been staying close to home.

My company sold our building and moved us across town to a cleaner and more secure location albeit we are now sharing offices 3 to 4 to a room.  It has been a challenge to not step on toes and get used to working together.  My office mates are all great and one will only be with us until January.  She has been with the Mental Health Center here in Billings Montana for over 28 years and will be retiring.  Work has been quite difficult lately.  I've had to deal with some very sick individuals and it is sometimes very hard to keep them stable.  It wouldn't be so hard if I didn't like them so much.  I have some very intelligent clients with whom I can have some very wonderful conversations with when they are stable.  Unfortunately, when they are not stable, they are very hard to manage and keep safe.

I haven't been making jewelry lately as my CMC joints are pretty messed up.  I have to wear braces at night when I sleep to keep the swelling at bay and I have to have injections every three to four months at the base of my thumbs to help with the pain.  It affects my grasping of small items so it is very hard to work with the beads and makes tearing apart the old pocket watches very painful.  Hopefully, I can get back to normal soon so that I can work on my hobbies again.

I have had some great times with my little granddaughter and there is word in the wind that another may be on the way.  We don't know for sure right now and my daughter is being closed lipped about it all.  I suspect that we will know for sure around Christmas.

We are hoping to take one small trip before bedding down for the winter. Not sure yet where we will go but we know it will be someplace warm.  The house sitter is  ready to roost as soon as we give the word.

Well everyone, I hope we won't be dealing with fire and ash here in the United States but it's all up in the air right now and with all the earthquakes and mountains going off, who knows?  Alaska is getting their fair share as I write this with Pavlof tossing her cookies!  I hope all of  you have a great Christmas and a very happy New Year!  Cheers! Freedancer

Well, happy 2014 everyone!  I thought I'd better get to blogging so you all don't think I got buried under all this crazy life has to offer.  Much has happened since the birth of our new granddaughter.  She is already a year old and gaining an attitude.  With two teachers as parents, she is one smart cookie if I do say so myself!

We have a new cabin now.  We spent much of 2013 looking around at many different cabins and locations.  We ended up three miles away from our one that burned down!  This one is much nicer and.....wait for it....has indoor plumbing!  Yes my savvy friends, not one but two bathrooms!  It also has four bedrooms which will allow us to have guests over.  It is truly a genuine log cabin.  We have been steadily working on it every chance we get, tearing out carpet, painting and decorating.  I have a tremendous amount of bare walls to hang my photos.  We ended up keeping the burned land as we now have two wood stoves to gather wood for and the seared wood will burn just fine after knocking off the blackened outer shell.

My husband finally sold his ranch near Miles City Montana.  He had been wanting to sell it for years but couldn't get his sister to agree.  She is part owner.  Finally, she stated she wanted to sell and my hubby jumped at the chance.  He has been cleaning out the old ranch house as the new owners are going to strip it to the 2X4's and rebuild.  There are some nice antiques there and my hubby has been bringing them home.  We will put a few of them at the new cabin to give it a little character.

We have purchased some furniture for the new cabin with the insurance money that my husband received for the one that burned down.  I actually found a couple of second hand chairs that really were very unique. I found a stellar rocking chair with a beautiful pattern on the head rest portion.  We also found a wonderful chair at a used furniture store that is fairly old fashioned but in great condition.  We have a couple of other older chairs that we are going to get recovered and repaired.  One is a rocker from the 1800's!

You have to understand a little about this new cabin to get the jest of the type of furniture that we want to decorate with.  This cabin was built in 1983 so it really isn't that old.  In 1992 it was purchased by a man and his wife who basically wanted to reside there "off the grid" so to speak.  This man was not a friend of the US government and he did not believe in paying his taxes so the IRS took ownership of the cabin in 1993.  However, no one would go up and get the current squatter out of the cabin so he kept living there.  In late 1993, the man had three other men move in with him.  His wife had left him so he had lots of room.  The four of them started a movement in Montana called "The Montana Freemen".  They resided in the cabin until September of 1995 when they moved out and went up to Jordan Montana where the "Freemen 81 Day Standoff" took place.  So as you can see, we purchased a little piece of Montana History!  I have spent some time researching what went on at our new cabin during those years they were there.  There was quite a bit of counterfeiting and had they all stayed there, the Freemen Standoff would have been at our cabin instead of Jordan.  They named our cabin "Redemption Township" and the Jordan Montana location was named "Justus Township".  It's kinda cool knowing our cabin had a history even though I would never condone or believe what the Freemen preached and lived.  We actually purchased the cabin from a retired minister and his wife who resided there for 12 years before they decided they wanted to move into Billings.  We actually had gone and looked at it once before we looked around for a while more.  However, we were both drawn back to this quirky cabin and just knew that we had to have it.  Although my hubby constantly states "there is nothing square in this cabin" as he measures spaces and thinks about what he wants to do with them.

We have quite a few plans for this new cabin.  We are hoping to make it a place that we can go if the "you know what" hits the fan some day.  My hubby is going to have his ham radio tower there and we are going to try to install solar and wind power as alternative emergency power sources.  We are excited about this endeavor and I will keep you well informed of our progress.

We are planning our first and only trip of 2014.  My hubby has gotten to know a man from Washington State who knows a great deal about Bigfoot.  Now my husband is quite sure that these creatures exist.  He believes that he heard one at one time and has had a bucket list desire to go on a hunt.  He has been invited to join this man in Washington to do a little hunt and we are very up for this!  After all, one can combine two favorite pastimes, Geocaching and Bigfoot hunting!  We are only taking one trip due to the fact that we have a lot of important work to do on the cabin and cannot afford to let it sit too long.  We want to have wood cut and all the improvements done on the inside by the time Winter rolls around.

Well, that is my update for this year so far.  I am sure there will be many other interesting things to report as the rest of the year flies by. I truly hope all of you have a great Summer and a safe one as well.  Cheers for now!  Freedancer