Winter's Comming

Its been a while since I blogged so I thought I would do some catching up. In July we traveled to Alaska on the cruise ship for 7 days and then spent another two weeks traveling around Oregon, and California. It was a great trip and I took a ton of photos. Upon our return, my spouse began his retirement. He's been busy fixing up his apartments and doing all the "Honey-do" chores around the house. I must say that seeing him finally complete a project from start to finish is exhilarating! Now if I can just get him to clean up after himself in the kitchen, I'll have it made in the shade! In September I received some rather depressing news. Seems as though I have been tossed the Diabetes gene and now have Type 2 Diabetes. I really don't understand it all yet but testing my sugar is sort of a pain in the butt! I'm not fat, I eat healthy and no...I don't do a great deal of exercise but some of that is not totally my fault. I have a bad foot that gets in the way of walking daily and I recently had it shot with Cortisone so I could get some relief of the pain. It lasted for a while but now is slowly returning and I will have to get another shot. Yes...I know that is no excuse but I'm using it for now. Our planned cruise to Hawaii in January 2011 is not looking real good. There has to be at least 16 people and we only have 8 so far. We do have a back-up plan however. In October, our office moved into our new building at Riverstone Health. It is pretty nice and they all want us to have the same chair which I hate. I am putting the ergonomics team off as much as I can so I don't have to sit in the stupid thing! I don't know how much longer I will be able to hold them off though. I was feeling really uneasy about moving onto the South Side of Billings. I was attacked in 2002 and severely beaten on the South Side and as soon as I stepped out of the car to go to the new building, my PTSD started screaming. I ended up having to get a special letter from the doctor so I could park very close to the building. She thinks that it will get better after I feel safer but I don't know when that will be. Every time when I drive over to that part of town, I relive the incident and it is becoming exhausting.

In early September we went to the Black Hills to do some geocaching. We saw Deadwood South Dakota and some other areas. We stayed at the Deadwood KOA this time. We arrived late and were unable to get a pull through site and as luck would have it, we got stuck up top of the hill, unable to back up into the spot with our trailer. We still haven't got that down yet and it is very frustrating to say the least! I guess the folks that were already there got tired of us yelling "Right! Left...no turn the wheel left!" because a fella came over an offered to back it into the spot. It took him about 3 seconds max. You can bet our tails were way between our legs! We had quite a nice time after that. So here we are now, awaiting the change in the weather and for the time to go back an hour. It actually has been quite an uneventful Summer and Fall so far. I did have a few memorable experiences. I won Best of Show with one of my jewelry designs at the Montana State Fair this year. In fact, I won three blue ribbons, two red ribbons and a green Honorable Mention for one of my photographs. I was glad that I got that green ribbon as it went for my squirrel photograph of my little friend Nut Job who had been sharing my back yard with me. Notice I said "had been sharing" the back yard. He was very skillful at walking the tree lines to get to the feeder I had put up for him. He was a beautiful red squirrel and I had been working with him to not be afraid of me. Well, he was making his way over to the feeder on a rainy day and lost his footing. Needless to say, he knocked out the power to half of the West end of Billings Montana. I found him near the power poll and put him into a nice shoe box and covered him with a little blanket. My husband, God bless him, buried him in the back yard while I wept over his little box. So getting an Honorable Mention for his photo was very special. A few weeks later, I saw two young squirrels forging at the feeder. One was precariously balancing on the Finch feeder, trying to stick his little tongue into the holes but was having no luck. I stood there watching for a while and then told him that his daddy would be very disappointed with him trying to raid the bird feeder when there was a perfectly wonderful pile of peanuts and sunflower seeds in the feeder jar. He jumped onto the roof quickly and looked at me, squeaking and telling ME off before making his way to the feeder on the other tree. He's not been on the bird feeders since that time and has grown to be a very nice looking young fella. He has begun to allow me to talk to him and finds ways to talk back instead of running away.

I have a wonderful array of bird feeders outside of my breakfast window. I can watch them as I eat my own breakfast every morning. I have House Finches, Downy Woodpeckers, Chickadees and Nuthatches that visit. I even put a make-shift feeder made of an old metal lid onto the stand where one of the air conditioners had been a few years back. I screwed the lid down to the wood and filled it with three different kinds of seed. They love that feeder! It is amazing the photos I can gather with them so close as the upper window opens to the stand where the feeder is. I just drop the shade and watch them through the slats. I can also poke the camera through the slats and shoot photos of them. So, that is my life for right now. We await notification if the geocaching Hawaii cruise will fly and if not.."we're off to 'ol Californie" again! Cheers for now! Freedancer

Spring Has Finally Sprung

I never thought it would finally get here but I welcome it gladly.  Yes, the ol' Springtime has made it's way into Billings Montana.  I've never been so glad to see a season as I have this one.  The first time I went outside without my coat and hat was a true blessing!

Seasons here are short and sweet.  They often slip in before you know it and when you are really starting to enjoy them, away they go!  I have actually seen it snow here in July believe it or not!  Spring this year has brought quite a bit of changes to our home.  In April, we lost our beloved Lassa Apsa of 18 years.  He had gotten to the point of sleeping almost 23 hours a day and when he drank water, he immediately started to pee.  After some soul searching, it was decided that it was time to send him home to Jesus.  Funny though, I hear from many people who say that animals have no soul?  Well, I can state here and now...there is a soul because I looked into my dogs eyes and said good by to him.  I saw his life in those eyes and when he passed on, the life and light in his eyes was no longer present.  I believe this was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my entire life thus far.  The house is quiet and still now.  No one comes to the door to greet me after a hard day, no one is under the table hoping for a hand out, no one licks my hand softly when I am feeling sad and need a friend.  I hope he knew that I loved him, even if there were times I was feeling a little angry at him for not getting outside in time.

We are looking forward to our next Geocaching adventure to Alaska.  It will be a place that we haven't yet been and we are excited about it.  We will be joining others on a Geocaching Cruise in the near future.  This is the first of it's kind and we hope to join in with many more.  I never thought I would get my hubby onto another cruise ship but he ran across this cruise and immediately said, "We're on it Baby!"  I guess the key is to let them make the arrangements and they will like it better.  So we gleefully await our trip.

I have a new visitor to my backyard this year.  His name is Nut Job and he is the cutest little fellow you could ever meet.  It amazes me that he actually knows when I am up in the morning.  He jumps up on the tree near our bathroom window and chatters away until I open the window and greet him.  He posed for a few pictures and they were outstanding!  I also have some lovely birds visiting my feeders.  There is a handsome House Finch with a beautiful red head that frequents my window feeder.  There are Black Capped Chickadees and Sparrows and others. I have planted some wild flowers this year and set up my rock garden for them to grow in.  I am looking forward to my little utopia springing to life!  Animals are so precious.  I am so blessed to be able to share in their lives.  I know I will have some great photo op's as well.

My hubby has given his notice at his job.  He is to retire at the end of June, this year.  He is looking forward to just piddling around at home with no particular schedule.  I am looking forward to his attacking the "Honey Do" list with gusto!  There is much to get done around here and he is so good at what he does!

Well, I guess that is all I have for now.  The next story will surely be about Alaska.  Cheers!  Freedancer

First Trip of the New Year

Well, the first trip of the new year went off without a hitch!  We hopped in the car without the trailer this time and headed to California.  Our first night was spent in Logan Utah where we woke up to about 10-15 inches of new snow!  It took me about 20 minutes to dig the van out.  I did a little "pay it forward" and dug out the cars on either side of me.  I would have enjoyed seeing thier faces when they trudged out thinking they would have to dig out thier cars!

We headed down the road, finding geocaches as we went.  We ended up with about 100 and that put my count over 1300 caches!  After getting into California, we had great weather.  The temp was around 75 or so and we soaked up every single ray!  The winters are so long in Montana.  We decided that we fully understand the "Snowbirds" now and want to cash in on the whole concept.  We were able to go to Indio CA to visit a friend who had recently lost his wife.  It was good to see him and know that he was getting along ok.  He has children in the area so he had a lot of support.

We had a really funny experience in Palm Springs.  We were trying to be the first to find on 7 new caches that just came out that morning.  When we got to Palm Springs, I ran into the Starbucks coffee shop while my sweetie waited in the car.  It was about 10:30 or so and in all actuality, being first to find probably was a pipe dream at that point.  As I waited for my order, I looked outside and saw this huge group of elderly people coming into the city from all directions!  It was like an Alfred Hitchcock movie.  I must have made a coment out loud about that because several patrons started to crack up laughing!  I mean, it was like a huge pod opened up and all these people 80+ came out onto the street!  Anyway, the lady behind the counter stated  "This happens every day about this time.  Then around 6:30 or so, they all disappear!"  We laughed pretty hard.  When I went back to the car with our coffee, my husband had a very confused look on his face.  "Did you see that?  I mean, I thought I was in another demention!"  We had a pretty good chuckel about the whole thing.

We based ourselves out of Banning CA where we spent 4 days at the Stagecoach KOA.  We rented a fully stocked trailer for $160.00 for four days.  It was clean and beautiful.  Only thing we had to buy was our food.  There was no smoking allowed in the trailer so I was in "hog heaven" because my hubby had to smoke outside.  I had a whole week of fresh air!  Wow, what a great concept!  He has since informed me that he has made the decision to quit and will be starting on Chantix in a few weeks.  Cross your fingers everyone!  I truly hope this works.

We only had one dislike for the area we cached in and that was the trash.  I don't know if it is the wind or the fact that California is out of money but it looked like a dump heap almost every place we stopped.  We pulled off at a great deal of off ramps as there were caches hidden in those areas and the trash was so bad, I didn't even want to get out of the car!  It is this Montana girl's opinion that with all the prisoners that are incarcerated in California, trash along the highways and cities should not be an issue.  If I was the Govener of California, I would be embarrased to have any visitors come to my State.  With all the garbage around, I don't really see why anyone would want to visit!  C'mon Arnold!  Clean up your State!!!

So here we are anxiousally awaiting for the Health Care to pass...NOT!  I don't know about all of you but something really smells with this deal!  I mean, if it only takes a ride on Airforce One to change someone's mind.  Here's my take on the Dennis C. thing...he's up on the plane with the President holding on to the back of his suspenders and he's dangeling out of the side door..."Now, which way are you voting Dennis?  Maybe you better think this over carefully".  I think the Dems brought out everything they could use against the few that were holding out.  They either bribed them or threatened them or thier families to get the votes.  It's cheap and dirty and the President is at the helm of the whole thing.  It is my opinion that he's a narcistic little whimp who throws a tanthrum when he doesn't get his way.  America, wise up...we gotta vote this guy out on the next election and get someone who will represent us, the people.  Get busy with your Tea Parties and find a man who has integrity, strength and honesty. 

Well, the next vacation of 2010 is planned.  We are going on a Geocaching cruise to Alaska.  We will first hit Geo-Woodstock in Carnation Washington and then get on the ship the next day.  We are pumped about this one!  This is the first Geocaching cruise that this leader has done and if all goes well, Hawaii and Austrailia are next on the list.  Bring it on...I and my beloved spouse are ready to bite into this and have a great time.

My little girl's first wedding anneversary is fast aproaching.  It is hard to beleive that she's been married a year.  She and her betrothed are doing well and learning about the ways of marriage.  She is doing great in college and will gratuate in 2011 or 2012.  She switched mid-stream to a different major so it may take her a little longer to graduate.  She was blessed with a schollarship this year.  I was so proud of her.  He sweet hubby has been taking the chior kids that he teaches on tour around Montana.  They have really been doing well. 

Well, I turned 55 yesterday.  It is hard to beleive that I am that old.  My sweet spouse will be retiring this year and then he will be home working on "Honey-do" things.  It will be odd having him home.  I hope a lot of projects get done.  My big goals are to get rid of the BMW that has been living in the back yard for several years and for him to clean out the carriage house from all the piled up junk!  He could well be one of those A&E hoarders I think.  He is slowly getting better however.  In a few more years, I just might have the trim back up on the walls upstairs and if I am lucky, I can get him to eat carrots!  He's not a veggie lover like me.

Well, that's it for this blog.  I do hope everyone has a great year.  Stay tuned to hear about any more trips.  As always...Cheers!  Freedancer