withdrawl and every crazy manner of commotion

1. Someone (who may be pictured here) broke my chandelier while I was away. Anybody know how to replace the glass? 2. Gleeful archery graduate (midweek) - my son Artdog. 3. Brothers at practice.

I am now a proud graduate of "Bow Hunters Education" along with my 3 eldest children, some men and many small boys. This weekend my husband had a table at a large gun show while I spent the weekend shopping and getting myself into trouble.
It all started with our accountability group last week. We read chapter 2 of Shaunti Feldhams "For Women Only". It had to do with showing our husbands respect. I decided I was going to start trying to please, impress and show respect to my man. This has not worked out very well for me.
The last day of Bow hunters Education, I was very proud to have scored 100% on my written test. I was just sure my husband would be thoroughly impressed. These kinds of interests have come by me hard - just read my account of how I shot my first buck (back in November). Anyway, I was quite gleeful. I even stopped to clean out the car before we began our hour long drive home up into the remote location where we abide. I figured since it really bothers him to have a dirty car this would give me extra credit. I was just ready for him to feel respected and impressed.
As I happily drove home with a big smile on my face feeling giddy, I noticed that home was getting close. We were all so excited talking about the coming weekend and the end of classes. Suddenly as I took a drink of water out of my water bottle the Tundra started sliding all over and ended up in the ditch! We dug in the cold snow for quite some time but couldn't unearth the beast. Eventually we gave up and the boys built a small fire on either side of the truck as a warning to anyone coming down the road. Nobody came except for my husband who had a big frown on his face and told me I was driving too fast. It was midnight or later, he was tired and certainly not impressed.
It didn't get much better as time wore on. While shopping (and even not spending much money), a fiendish pole happened to jump out at me while backing up, attacking our Suburban with out provocation. It crumpled the back corner without my realization. I figured it hadn't hit hard enough to do anything. I was just sure he would be happy I hadn't spent much money and I didn't even ask to eat out any where expensive. I just smiled and said "whatever you want dear". Later on when I dropped him off somewhere he had a horrible look on his face. Then the realization hit me, there had to be damage to the car. Enough damage for him to notice as I was driving away. Ug!! Strike two.
As the weekend wore on, I began to lose the hope that I would improve in my wifely abilities at all. It seems like every time I try, something catastrophic happens! I even pouted once or twice (which I am really trying hard not to do)!
Possibly I may attribute these calamities to my week long coffee fast. Tomorrow is my last day on it. This also may explain why I imagined myself as a Lord of the Rings elf doing acrobatics on the tables of our bow hunters education class.

Happy 13th Birthday Sock Fashion Expert!

Happy Birthday! Do yo thang!!!

Educational OVERLOAD

Here i am receiving a crash course in archery from eldest 4 children.

I'm currently on an educational overload!! It all started after working those 2 12-hour shifts. I had an 8 hour "Non Violent Crisis Intervention" class. It was very interesting. I learned that I want to create "harmony not harm" when someone is displaying violent tendencies toward me at work. I learned that instead of offering folks coffee (like I have for untold eons), herbal tea is a better choice for those experiencing anxiety. I learned not to invade their personal space (which is called proxemics). Also, how I say things is only 30% of what I am saying. How I use tone, speed (cadence), and volume along with nonverbal body language is important in conveying my message. I also learned cool moves to get out of holds and how to do a "take down". It was fun (but a long day).

I attended a 3-4 hour required class yesterday for my concealed weapons permit. It was held in a windowless building for Masons. My instructor was a nice elderly gentleman in his 80's. His wife is a 40 year old Filipino lady who popped in a couple of times. They are also adopting her niece who is now 6. He shared his frustrations about his daughters green card/adoption process. He told me stories of his yesteryear. He showed me some basics of gun handling and safety. He also let me play with his gun that has a laser on it. Other than being cooped up in a windowless building with space heaters aimed at me, it was alright. I also watched some old videos about shooting and cleaning guns. The characters were some what entertaining because they had 70's style clothes and hair styles and the TV looked to be from that era as well.

Then I sat for an hour looking at a dark window in the sheriffs office. Occasionally a very short woman would come out behind a locked door to direct me to the next paper item I was to fill out. To my right were windows and phones for incarcerated people to speak with the outside world. Sitting for an hour in this creepy environment caused my imagination much distress. When at last I was called by the fingerprint people, they were both visibly shaking. There was loud obscenities in the background. Apparently something adrenaline pumping had just gone on in the cells. They told me everything had gone wrong that day. They made obvious mistakes and printed out 5 or 6 cards with my fingerprints on it before they got the one they wanted. I can only wonder what must have happened just prior to my arrival in the locked facility. I am told I will not receive my permit until May.

Next, I began the first day of a five day class on "Bow Hunters Education". Why? Well, mostly for my kids. The oldest 3 are taking the class. I figured it would be something we could do together. They have all already read their books and filled out their questions in the back. They answered intelligent answers in class. My son "Art Dog" was even likened to a surgeon with his specific placement of a buck's liver. I feel a bit intimidated (by my own children)! Because of this, I am forced to study. Perhaps I, too can be a capable, mature, responsible archer. Time will only tell. As we all went around the room discussing why we wanted to be bow hunters I felt the strange unruly desire to tell them that I wanted to be like the elf guy on "Lord of the Rings". I resisted this urge as I got a warning look from my children. Pray I can pull this off and keep my imagination in check.

my baby can drag herself to food.....

Everybody's babies can do cool things. Some can crawl fast. Some can stand and take steps. What can my baby do? Well, she can drag herself to food at will. I am assured that she may be slightly developmentally restricted due to her extra rolls of pudge.

Fun Memories

Here are some fun memories from the week gone by - A walk with the boys on a wilderness exploration. Taking Catman to some "cheap entertainment" (mud puddles). My oldest son doing his school work picked up Moonbeam who was fussy. I love the difference in size from my oldest to youngest kids!

Working Mom Blues and the case of the diaper no one changed

Well, you guessed it, I'm at work again. Yep, two 12 hour shifts in a row. I wish I could say that I'm being productive, but since you are reading this, you may presume I am not. Really, I promise if a patient doesn't come soon I will watch an educational video, really I will.
Today when I got off from work, my husband arrived in a warm truck to drive me home (which takes over an hour). Moonbeam got a good meal and I was soon gone to the world. When I got home, I handed the sock fashion expert the baby and hit the shower. Later, after I woke up, I came to discover Moonbeam playing with my hair. Something putrid was wafting to my nostrils. Upon further investigation, I was horrified to discover that the muffin had not been changed since the night prior. My husband thought I changed her when he picked me up. My daughter thought someone else did it. I was too sleepy to really think about it. Oh, I felt terrible. She didn't seem to mind much. Before I could get the baby wipes, she had flipped over and was trying to squirm toward a toy with messy bottom in the air. No diaper rash - whew! A mom never knows what horrors she will unearth after returning home from work.
I have been quite distraught. Dr. Toast ambled through with good coffee beans yesterday (and even half and half). He said "here's some good coffee" as he held it in the air, well aware of the extatic shouts of joy that would erupt around him). Later on, I sauntered into the kitchenette to brew the joe only to discover that it had gone AWOL!!! No one knew what happened to it. I searched high and low and even harassed co-workers. No one knows what happened to it. Again, tonight I searched in vain for the beloved beans. Again I am drinking what has been described as the "dregs" of the coffee of the planet. Do not pity me, I must carry this cross until morning. My mind plays tricks on me. I feel suspicious of "the other side" workers. Perhaps one of them fiendishly apprehended the good beans. Oh for the travesty, the terrible horrible dastardly deed. I must not be suspicious. I must hold myself together. Perhaps a spot of tea would do me better.
Well, my educational video is calling my name. It sounds a lot like wisdom calling me a kinds woman and understanding sticking to my fingers like goo. I'm one of those simple passers by and it is calling out saying "outdoor mom, watch the video, you are being paid to be here (not blog)." If you happen to read this before 6am, pray I will not randomly hurl myself at suspicious looking joe thieves. Thank you!

wanna see live mtn lion pics taken today?

cool lion pics taken today by my son.