Cookies Anyone?

Mental Exhaustion, or maybe just exhaustion seems to find me these days. Thursday and Friday were absorbed in all day "Trauma Nursing Core Course" lectures followed by written and practical tests. On Saturday, The Dolphin Goddess, Mist and I went on a distance run. It was fun catching up with my Dolphin Friend. That night Mist and Fiery came for supper and we watched "Bells of Innocence" with Chuck Norris. Its a fabulous movie (but creepy) in case you've never watched it. My husband recently hooked up our surround sound and he is all about man movies now.
On Sunday, after a 2am bedtime, we got up and headed off to church. Afterward we went to see Elasta Woman and Matthew's new house. He is an incredibly gifted woodworker and everything he makes leaves a mark of vision, creativity and passion right down to the potty chair he crafted for their youngest girl. The new home they are building is no less than inspiring. We grilled elk burgers, visited, and us women packed the babies a couple of miles down a new trail loop they're working on.
Today, after a full school day, I put Moonbeam down for her nap and escaped to the river with Mist and a new friend. I haven't named her yet, since we haven't spent a lot of time together yet. She came to our accountability group last week and she's going to be around for while. The three of us kayaked together for about 2 hours. It was a fun excursion.
Elasta Woman and I are planning are planning an Extreme Chicks Hike. Its a hike deep into the back country along a creek to some far lakes. I loved the idea of opening it up to lots of women, though the hike is 8 miles of various terrains. So far 7 of us are planning to go. I've never planned anything like this before, so its all new territory for me.

Last Perfect 10 Post - Horray!

Moonbeam decides to "tuck her brother in".

1. Exercise 6 Days a Week - yep, pretty much the whole 10 weeks.

2. Sit Ups /Planks - Delinquent, but that's OK. I did more than i would have if it hadn't been a goal ;-)

3. Healthy Idea in my kids daily - For the most part. It was a good 10 weeks.

4. B/4 and after pics - haven't had time to do an after, but i do have some up from week 9. Maybe later.

5. More Water - yes, Veggies - yes, Fruits - yes

6. Burn Rather than Binge. Well, been doing pretty good with that goal. Today was a good finale for that. I was in a two day intensive trauma course. I had been doing good. Then I heard something very disturbing (besides the class content). Well, that was enough to drive me to some extra black coffee. Otherwise, it went pretty well all 10 weeks.

7. Hair - Done

8. Weekly work outs with a Buddie - Yes. I also have a lot of fun ones coming up. Next week, I'm planning a kayaking trip with some friends. In a few weeks, a bunch of us are planning an extreme chicks hike into the back country. Also weekly (+) running dates.

9. Biggest Loser - D0ne

10. Shopping - Done (but is a girl ever done shopping?!)

*Something about myself. Well, I'm really glad to be done with these perfect 10 posts! It was good for consistency in following goals, etc. etc.. I will have to measure this weekend and see how many inches i'm down. Been pretty busy with work and trauma classes to focus much on any of that. Hmm.... something else about myself. Well, ok, i'm super jealous of my kid sister, Heather, who is running the "Shamrock Shuffle" 5K this weekend. I want to do a 5K! Humph! Ok, i'm really proud of the little snag and bragging her up a little bit too :-) GO HEATHER!!! YOU ROCK!!!!! Some day, i'm going to grow up and run a 5K just like you!!!!

Hugh?!

The other day, I had a gal over to my house. She was a real sweet lady with 3 kids. She just recently pulled them out of public school and she wanted to see how I home school. It was a fun occasion for me. I don't have a captive audience all that often, and I was determined to make the most of it. The kids helped me clean off the school shelves, clean the house and give it some semblance of order. My children called this "deceptive" on my part.
As I pulled textbooks, workbooks and notebooks off the school shelves in a flurry, I chattered on incessantly, almost forgetting to breathe. I was so excited about having the opportunity to show someone about what we do. I also gave her my latest copy of "Home School Enrichment Magazine". It always has a lot of good articles. When I had exhausted my curriculum's, teaching styles and misc "tips", I actually stopped to breathe and listen to her questions. I forced myself to be silent other than to discuss what topics she wanted to bring up. My voice was actually hoarse afterward, and I was a little bit embarrassed that I had talked so much! After 15 years of home schooling children, I had a lot to impart, and she was the first one who gave me her undivided attention!
For days afterward, I kept thinking "that was so much fun"! Not so much that sitting there at the table was fun, but more that some one listened to what I had to say for 2 1/2 hours, and actually appeared to be interested. Wow! I hope I can be that good of a listener some day! I have a hard time sitting still for 5 minutes. I am fidgeting and there is a little man across the wall preforming acrobatics to distract me.
It makes people feel valued when we listen to what they have to share. When we don't, its a personal insult saying "what you have to share really isn't worth my time". Here are some good scriptures about listening :

James 1:19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;
Matthew 11:15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
Proverbs 19:20 Listen to counsel and receive instruction,That you may be wise in your latter days. 21 There are many plans in a man’s heart, Nevertheless the LORD’s counsel—that will stand
Proverbs 8:33 Hear instruction and be wise, And do not disdain it. 34 Blessed is the man who listens to me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at the posts of my doors. 35 For whoever finds me finds life, And obtains favor from the LORD;

Anyway, this week, I'm working on becoming a better listener. How about you?

Perfect 10 (almost done)!

Perfect 10 (Week 9)
1. Yes - 6 days a week
2. Sit ups/Planks - delinquent
3. Healthy Idea - yes
4. Current
5. Water - yes, Fruit - yes, Veggies - yes
6. Yes, burning
7. Hair - current
8. Yes - see last couple of posts
9. Completed
10. Yes, have gotten a lot.
This is a condensed perfect 10 update this week. I'm super busy :-) *The something about myself part - oh and ugh! OK, well I haven't run over a consecutive mile since junior high. Last year, I honestly didn't believe I could run a straight mile. Over the past week or two, my friend Mist and I started running 2.7 miles without stopping. Then we walk 2 miles. Then we run the last mile back. That equals 3.7 miles of running and 2 miles of walking (5.7 total). I never dreamed I could actually do that. Back when I was in junior high, I had gotten myself up to running several miles a day. I remember that I had ran 5 miles just a few times, but I think I was regularly doing 3-4. I had these crazy transient plans of joining the army or something. Anyway, running on my own, by myself was a part of who I was as an early teen. It brought me a deep sense of joy and accomplishment. As the years passed, I never believed I could go there again. I feel so blessed to have friends who love to run with me. They'll set their schedules to mine so we can coordinate. It was Mist, in particular, who has really pulled it out of me. Without having a good friend like her, I don't think I'd have ever "found myself" in this area again. True friendships are something to greatly covet. That's something else about me, I greatly value my close friends.
Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

Above photos : Moonbeam and I (at a park today with the girls).

The Other Side of the "Moon"

Moonbeam Loves to Swing!The boys are pretending Archer must put out this "fire"! As you can see, Moonbeam confiscated the "fire" for her own use!

The Archer practices donning his structural fire suit. He must be able to put it all on in one minute!

Super Catman's first day doing the dishes.

Art Dog uses some ingenuity to get the trampoline back together.

Our "balmy" March has ushered in a lot of opportunity. The men are working daily on our heavy equipment, getting it ready for government inspections. Inspections, along with a lot of other red tape has to be done this month in order to bid. The bidding only happens once every three years. So, needless to say, this month is a big deal for our family. Its the possibility of fire work that could be such a good thing for us all. Our heavy equipment hasn't worked for 4 or 5 years now, but we've had to keep paying for workers comp, thousands of dollars in insurance, etc., just to have the possibility of work. Every day, I tackle some aspect of paper work while the men labor solidly.
Our eldest son, The Archer, was given the chance to take a "Structure Fire Fighting" course at Montana State University's Fire Fighter Academy. A grant from being a part of the volunteer fire dept. will pay for him to take the week and a half of training. Gulp.... the longest he's ever been gone (guess i'd better get used to it). Then our son and a few others will come back and train the rest of the department. The course requires you to be in top physical shape. The course guide is 1,500 pages. Between working on heavy equipment and studying for the course, The Archer's day is full.
Because I can't get as many chores out of the Archer these days, Super Catman is starting to pick up some of the slack. Today, for the first time ever, he started washing dishes. The novelty wore off pretty fast, but he managed to keep his head above water.
After school and chores with the kids, I escaped out on a short hike. I brought some zucchini mini loaves to some neighbors too. When I got back, Art Dog was working furiously on putting the trampoline back up. I was amazed at his ingenuity in getting the thing back together (notice the rope he has tied around himself)!
Moonbeam has taken to taking her clothes off at any given time of the day. Once she figured out how to undress, she's decided she prefers life in the raw. This can keep me on my toes, especially where dirty diapers are concerned. I'll spare you some of those details. The other day, I dressed her three times and she undressed each time within minutes. Then she proceeded to urinate on my new carpet. Moonbeam has also taken to crayons, pencils and pens. On any given day, she will begin writing on the children's school work, the floor, the wall - whatever she can find to make contact with a writing utensil. She does these naughty things, and then she gives us this big beautiful smile and nobody can be cross with her. Uhh... speaking of the Moon Muffin, well, gotta run!

Back to the Drawingboard with My Bad Boy.....

Today we had a Home School "Theme Day". We looked up Bible verses about sowing and reaping, gardens, seed time and harvest, etc.. We talked about how the seeds we plant in our lives produce a harvest just like the seeds we plant in the ground. For instance, if you were to eat lots of high fat foods, sit on your bum and be chummy for many hours a day with the tele, then you would have to expect your harvest would be a wide derriere and probably eventual health problems. If you are unfriendly and grumpy to everybody around, you're not going to reap a bumper crop of friends. Proverbs tells us that we have to "show ourselves friendly" if we want friends. Do a slovenly job on your school work, and you're gonna have to redo it, wasting time in the process. In fact, most everything we do, brings a harvest in some form or another. After the Bible verses, we wrote some poems along that theme, drew and colored pictures and then planted a huge host of seeds to put in the window sill. It was a fun and refreshing break from a regular day.
I went running with Mist and Elasta Woman, their dogs and one baby in a stroller. It was a bit of an obstacle course and I found myself avoiding moving "hurdles". It kept me on my toes, but I wouldn't trade the visit with the girls for a groomed track in solitude any day. We did the now routine 3.7 miles of running and 2 mile walk. After I got over the initial pain of the first mile, it got a lot better. I used to look at people funny when they said "everything is easy after the first mile", but I'm starting to understand.
The other day, I decided to finally try and wear my Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 Mag. Its my "bear gun". It seemed "big and clunky" to carry, but my husband bought me a shoulder holster to try it with. After spending half an hour adjusting the straps, I finally got it to sort of do what it was supposed to do. Honestly, I love wearing my .38 Taurus with a belly band. That's so comfortable I hardly know I'm wearing it, and great for running with because it doesn't flop around. Anyway, I wore the Ruger Super Blackhawk twice now and it was OK. OK, well it was a little bit cumbersome. Actually, the straps pulled on my belt causing my pants to ride way too high. It reminded me of the old fashioned "traction" machines at the hospital we used to put on people with back troubles. It was still a little bit off centered too. My husband says some of them put magazines on the other side. That's OK. I'm not Rambo or anything. Just want to wear it in the back country where bears are likely to be a threat. I've hiked probably 7 or more miles with it now and I don't think it would work on a backpacking trip, or day long hike. I guess it's back to the drawing board with this bad boy........

3.7 miles

The weather has been unusually warm, and with its coming, an entire host of opportunities awaiting. I've been busy in so many ways I don't know how any normal person could accomplish what I do without stimulants. My stimulant of choice is good, whole bean coffee which I have been entirely enjoying way too much. My mother in law graced me with my very own espresso maker and I've been making entirely too good a use of it. Add to that the recent unexpected shifts I've put in this past week and you have a recipe for one jittery chick! I see a needed caffeine fast coming on, of which I am trying not to think about. Among my list of "things to do" includes many phone calls, business paperwork, house hold disaster of laundry, and cleaning of all sorts, correcting and assigning of school work, overdue meetings, I don't know if I can bear to go on. As you can see I'm blogging which isn't accomplishing anything but my own entertainment. A chicks gotta do what a chicks gotta do ;-)
Yesterday, I was overdue for a good run with Mist. I started our date by falling and sliding down our steep drive. I had grabbed my car keys and a red pepper to share with her. I thought I'd grabbed my spikes, but forgotten them right by the door. By the time I was halfway down, I figured I didn't need them. Boy was I wrong! The drive is glare ice now, and the time of the year we strongly discourage its use. Of course one must go up and down it for activities of daily living, which causes a huge dilemma. Right now, the bottom third is wet, glare ice all the way to the road. I stepped wrong and BAMO! I found myself on my back in the middle of a fast slide with no stopping. Keys and pepper still clutched in my hand, I began to pick up momentum. "Well I thought to myself, at least I'm not going to fall down the rest of it, trying to look at the bright side, but I was picking up speed and by now my entire backside was soaking wet. By the time I hit the bottom, my heart was doing flip flops and my lovely red pepper dirty and crushed. My brand new running shoes were scuffed. I was soaked from head to toe (just on the back side). Scrapes on my forearms and hands attested to the fact that I had seen (just a wee bit) my share of trauma. I considered going back up the hill to change, but figured by now Mist was on her way to meet me and I wouldn't catch her in time. I also couldn't stomach the thought of braving it again so soon. With a stiff upper lip, and damaged good, I got into the seat of old Rowena and began to drive. I was glad to be running on black top. I'd had enough ice for one day. Rowena's wipers suddenly began flying back and forth - both the front and back ones. It may have been that she was trying to warn me about the pot holes ahead, but I was so shocked she'd turned them on that I hit the first one square on. Icy water sloshed everywhere and hit the windshield. Ice, mud, dirt and rocks collided in a gut churning drive as I made my way to our running destination.
I showed Mist all my terrible injuries, which consisted of a couple of scratches and a wet butt. I was hoping it would be a good excuse for my being a bit late. She looked at me sympathetically, but not sympathetically enough. She was ready to get going and stop listening to my sniveling. I began running. I kept on running, hoping I would start to sweat so I wouldn't notice that I was wet. On and on we continued until we reached a significant point. We walked a ways beyond it and then walked back till our "last mile" point where we always run. We talked about all kinds of interesting topics, but among the most interesting was about her husband's brother who is a missionary. He recently went on a trip to Haiti. As his plane was flying overhead, all he could see was white everywhere. He was puzzled. As they touched down, he was to find out that Hatians all over were celebrating 3 days of praise and worship to God rather than their usual pagan festival. According to the brother, the pagan festival included orgies out in the open and idol worship. He (the brother) was really excited because there is currently an incredible move of the Spirit of God going on there right now. He said that no media is picking this up, but that many people have given their hearts to Jesus and even was a party to many supernatural healings. Mist chattered on and on about the revival in Haiti. For this, I was glad, because the topic was of interest to me and distracted me from the great distance that we were running. Before that she discussed artisan bread making in great detail and my masochistic pain was much more brought to my attention.
Tonny, a nice neighbor lady driving by stopped to chat. During the conversation she figured we were running "about 2 miles". After the conversation, we both looked at each other and said "its gotta be more". After all that work, we jumped into my car and clocked it on the speedometer. We'd run 3.7 miles and walked about 2 miles all told. This is the girl who last year REALLY BELIEVED she couldn't run a mile. Selah!

Above Photo : My husband and son are getting our wild land fire fighting equipment ready for inspections.