Total Survivalist Libertarian Bitch Fest

Blog roll and hello!!

2012-01-26T20:53:00.000-08:00

I finally updated our blogroll. I added a ton of people so check it out. I also am alive just been very sick and am still recovering. I finally pulled it together and have an appointment with a new Rheumatologist so hopefully we get to fixing things. Phew!! I should be back to posting regularly unless I have a health setback.

My new baby

2012-01-26T15:47:00.000-08:00

So, I went shopping today. Nothing unusual about that, right? Well, kind of. I went shopping for my first handgun. I walked into the store and zeroed right in on this little guy. Cute, right? Yeah, I thought so too. I liked it before I saw the name, then I loved it! Hubby tried to talk me into something much bigger but there would be no way for me to conceal carry with it unless I just stuck it in my purse. I am not real fond of that idea, I rummage around in my purse and if I ever needed to use it, I would never be able to draw it in time. The guy behind the counter pulled out both the Zombie Slayer and the bigger gun for me to try. I was right, the big gun was too big for me to handle comfortably. Then I tried the cute little Zombie gun (I still LOVE the name!) Dang it! The grip was too small to hold comfortably. Good bye Zombie Slayer, I wish it would have worked out for us, we are just not compatable. :(

Hubby asks the guy behind the counter if he has any Smith and Wesson Bodyguards in stock. They didn't. They are ALWAYS back ordered he said. He did have one that was already bought for someone else though and brought it out for me to see. It fit my hand like a glove. This is the one. The name is not nearly so cool, but obviously that is not what's important. The Bodyguard is small and compact and would be easy to conceal. It fits my hand well and I think I will really like this gun. I will post pics as soon as it comes in.

SOPA / PIPA - The protest

2012-01-18T00:06:00.001-08:00

As most know there is legislation out there that threatens the very point of this blog and others. It threatens free speech. We will be going dark to protest along with many others. For info look in our side bar now. A few of our linked friends have posts up. Our black screen will also have a link. See you on the flip side.

Do you suffer from this disease?

2012-01-16T21:01:00.000-08:00

Negativity.

Yup. I think it is a disease. I think that negative thoughts are poison. They fill you up to the point that they poison everything in your life and before you know it all you have around you are negative things and people.

I have to admit that I let this take root with me to a certain point. I love my brother-in-law. I love his children. They have been hit with some rough hits and honestly they are allowed to hurt over it. The thing it they have so much negative thoughts and feelings that it has swallowed them up. I honestly don't blame them. I have seen their devastation first hand. My issue is that Hubby and I have absorbed that negative energy to a point and let it drag us down as well.

For those who know me well I am the positive one. Sunshine and rainbows. If I get depressed it never lasts for long because I am to positive to let it. Stress brings out even more positivity. I see the problem and I battle it. I look for the solution and kick it back until I win and my family is okay. I forgive much, I love with everything I am, I try to have a smile or a kind word for people.

Or at least I did. We have had my BIL and his teens here for over a year now. Recently I went out of town with the girls to see my mom and sister and two of my husband's sisters. While I was their a couple things came to my attention though no one said anything to me really. 1- I had picked up a few bad habits from the live ins that i wasn't thrilled about and hadn't noticed and 2- I was not nearly as positive as I knew I usually was.

Picking up habits is normal but honestly isn't something that thrilled me. So hubby and I made a commitment to get back on track. We vowed to stop cussing. This was a huge one for me to pick up. I was the anti-cuss chick. For me it was only in majorly angry situations that a cuss words would pass my lips, especially after Bug was old enough to talk. Gracie and Mags can attest to my creative anti-cussing, hehe. We have also made sure to really step in if the girls are being parented by the teens or BIL that is in a way contrary to what we want. We had been going with a "No harm, No foul." type rule. They were trying to be helpful, especially with Monkey, and if it wasn't completely against our values we weren't going to make a fuss. We have realized though that the teens really seems to not only encourage but teach pretty inappropriate things. I think Hubby thought it was funny at first, when she was too little to really get it. Now though she is getting it and it can be harmful, so we are putting our feet down.

We also made the commitment to be more positive and encourage that in the girls. To compliment them when they do good and encourage them. We say "I love you " a lot in our house. I think because Hubby and I didn't hear it a lot so we say it often, to each other and to the girls. It is so important to have that feeling flow in a house. I also have been trying to ignore the negativity of the others. I have pulled back from the teens. They do not want me to parent them or give input so I am not going to. All it does is add to the negativity in that they treat me pretty horribly unless they want something. I doubt they even realize it most of the time so to just erase that negative influence I am doing my own thing more again. Hubby had a shift change so is not around as much which means I do my thing with the girls and go off on my own in my room or office and just let them be.

I guess the moral of all of this rambling is that negativity can do a lot of damage but when you make an effort to combat it and let in the positivity that honestly surrounds you your life improves so much. I feel better even though I have been sick and sleeping horribly. My emotional health is peaceful and so much more calm. I feel that returned by my guy and the girls and take great joy in that. I think that keeping that spirit in our house is a huge thing because if TSHTF having a positive mindset could very much save us.

Parvo

2012-01-16T14:30:00.001-08:00

I have been fostering a litter of bottle fed pups. Their mother was hit by a car and killed when they were only a few days old. This weekend I had to go to a family function in Utah. The pups all seemed healthy and full of energy...until Saturday morning, the morning I left. I called my friend who was going to be taking care of them for me and let her know that one of the boys seemed just a little off and would she please keep an eye on him. She stopped in later that morning and all was well. But when she came over that evening, Paris the only female was not doing well at all. She was refusing to eat or drink. She force fed her a little bit of rice and chicken and got her to drink a little bit of water and went home. Yesterday she came over in the morning and found Paris dead in the crate. Bernie and Royal were lethargic and weak. She bundled all three boys up and rushed them to the vet. Today I picked up the third puppy, Mario who smells of Parvo but has no symptoms at all. He is happily romping through my house while his brothers fight for their lives at the vet office. We will know tomorrow if they will make it or not.

I was not so attached that I couldn't have given them to new families, but to have them die in my care is devastating. All I can do now is hope and pray and snuggle the one who seems to be ok.

I feel sorry for the anti-gun crowd.

2012-01-14T20:13:00.000-08:00

After our candlelight vigil on the 8th there has been a lot of back and forth on the web. Joan Peterson (yes the link goes to her post) and others of the anti-gun community were not thrilled by our effort to hold a vigil for the victims of violence. There has been lashing out at many of the bloggers we all love and read.

Do you know what gets me? The sheer sadness of it all. Truly. When it comes to wanting to see less victims we are on the same side. The difference is that some have let their hatred of an object obscure any other thing.

I think we can all agree that horrible things happen to people who don't deserve it. Scary terrible things. Every day lives are lost senselessly. Our goal has never ever been to take away from any victim the trauma they went through. It has been to empower them. If you have read our blog for long then you know that my posts have only really entered the realm of gun blogging over the last year. I am fairly new too this. Even having a very close call with an armed gunman didn't immediately change my views. I came to this pretty gradually but once I did I embraced it and I read everything I could. I asked questions. The more I discovered the more empowered I felt and the more I wanted to share that with others. I learned that this community is all about protecting people. It is about helping someone defend themselves.

So I am sad. I am sad that hatred for an object that is just metal and sometimes plastic can create so much discord. Demeaning those who do something to protect themselves in a way different than you does nothing but make you out to be a jerk. Making those who faced the demon and came out alive and then decided they were going to up their personal odds out to be some sort of villain is as shameful as the accusations being hurled around. I know that pain and loss and violence have touched lives on both sides of that fence. The difference is that we want EVERY person to have the choice and the right to protect themselves irregardless of the violence they meet and you are so blinded by the object that the victims that are trying to talk to you get nothing back but hurtful words. If you care about victims then LISTEN. Truly listen.

People like Jennifer and A Girl and yes even Weer'd are trying to tell you that there is more to the story than the object.

So......yeah.

2012-01-12T10:39:00.001-08:00

So I pissed off an assistant principle today. I also let him know in no uncertain terms that I will not put up with his crap.

He called to tell me that he was giving Crash a full day of detention over yesterdays issue. I asked him to call the teacher and get his schoolwork for the day because I was taking him home. He thought that was a bad idea, (shocker, right?) and asked if we could sit down and talk about this situation. I told him that would be a good idea but I couldn't do it today because Hubby would want to be there and he had just gotten home from a night shift.

I went to the school to pick up Crash. The assistant principle never even came out of his office. I was standing three feet away from his open door when I asked if I needed to sign my son out. I even said Crash's name (which is almost as distinctive as his nickname) so he would know I was there.

When I got out to the car my son told me that he had said to him "Wow, your mom is cranky!"

I called the school and asked to speak to Mr so and so. He wanted cranky, he got cranky. I asked him if he seriously just said that in front of my son. He backpedaled saying "No, ma'am, I did not!" Now I don't know what was said, I wasn't there. All I know is that the word cranky is not one my son usually uses. He could have made it up to get back at the guy, or he could have actually heard it. No matter, I wanted the guy to know I wasn't going to roll over on this.

We have a meeting tomorrow afternoon to make sure we are "all on the same page".

Now, I don't have any problem with my kids getting punished for something they did wrong. But in this case, he did nothing wrong other than forget that his teacher had asked him not to do something. I am not going to let ANYONE walk on my kids like that. Not going to happen.

He got in trouble for WHAT!?

2012-01-11T18:01:00.000-08:00

So after a long crazy day involving a (mock) disaster complete with helicopters, ambulances and fire trucks, and a rogue mountain lion (for real), I went to pick my sons up from school. I was also picking up a neighbor kid because his mother didn't want him walking home with a mountain lion on the loose. I went into the office at school to inform them about the cat so they could inform the bus drivers when I saw a pair of feet that looked.....familiar. I leaned around the parent in front of me and was met with the sheepish grin of my middle son.

Me: "What the heck are you doing in here?"

Crash: "I got into trouble."

Me: "AGAIN?"

Crash: nods

I had to go find the neighbor kid before he got on the bus so I told Crash he was in big trouble and went down the hall to find Spike and the neighbor boy. (He needs a nickname too as he is over all the time).

When I got back to the principles office, Crash and I went in and sat down. Here's where the story gets ridiculous.

The principle proceeds to tell me how my son had formed a gun with his thumb and finger and (gasp!) used it like a gun! His teacher asked him to stop and he did. A few hours later, he did it again this time using the desk for cover. He informed me that Crash had insisted that over the course of a few hours he had forgotten. (So.....?) The principle didn't believe that he could have forgotten in just a few short hours.

I just stared. I didn't know what to say. For one, IT WAS HIS FINGERS! That is almost the first toy a little boy ever comes up with. Seriously!? Two, my son can't remember what he was told to do five minutes ago and he was surprised that he didn't remember after three hours?

I asked if he was disrupting the class and was given the run around and told the same story. How he shot, stopped, forgot and shot again. The principle will call me tomorrow to let me know his punishment. If he gives Crash detention, I swear I am going to go get him. I don't think he should be punished for something all kids do, especially boys, as long as it wasn't disrupting the class. I just think this is stupid. Am I over reacting? I honestly don't think I am but then again, I tend to go Mother Bear when someone is picking on my kids.

Since when does killing someone mean people should feel sorry for YOU?

2012-01-11T13:44:00.000-08:00

Okay I love my CNN Justice News. I have thought Van der Sloot was a murdering coward since his involvement in Natalee Holloway's case. The guy changed hs story more than a tabloid. He confessed and took it back. He tried to blackmail the family.

Then Peru. A girl is murdered on the anniversary of Natalee's disappearance. She in in his hotel room and they had been seen entering together. He is found days later on the run crossing a border. Then he goes to jail and it takes ages to get him brought on charges. He refuses to acknowledge what he did. Now today he enters a guilty plea and his lawyer begs the court to consider HIM and all he has been through in their sentence because he doesn't deserve a harsh sentence.

WTF? Forget that there is no life in prison for this. There is no death penalty. Already Peru's system is lenient to killers. Now he wants more leniency. He brutally killed Stephany Flores. He admits it but claims some sort of weird PTSD because of the scrutiny on him over Natalee.

Well you POS you BLACKMAILED the Holloway family, you admitted to killing her on tape, you kept yourself in that spotlight by bringing things up concerning her constantly. BS to any sort of trauma or stress. You are a killer of women and I really hope that civilian justice is more lethal that the legal system there and someone at least teaches you what it feels like to be a victim.

Ahhhhhh....... I know I am probably a bit harsh in the thought but it really gets to me when someone who is a predator tries to play the victim. He may have admitted guilt but asking for lenience based on his own stress and horrible life belittles Staphany was put through. She deserves justice. Her family deserves to see the man who killed their loved one suffer for what he did.

No more negativity.... "Guns saving lives - Nevada Style"

2012-01-10T11:10:00.000-08:00

So I had my little "Gun Death" posts inspired by Weer'd but limited to local stories. I posted only a couple. Not for lack of stories but honestly because it was so dang depressing. This area is full of violence. Vegas was ranked as one of the worst for crime in the country recently. Ick!!!

I decided I wanted to highlight stories that show where a gun saved lives locally. We have those too!! So no more negativity!!! I give you my new positive series. "Guns saving lives - Nevada Style"

Robbery attempt and shooting at pawn shop surprises neighbors.

That one left the robber dead and the shop worker unharmed!!! Score a point for us!!!

Homeowner packing heat: burglar "lucky" to be alive

This one left the burglar one lucky duck. The gun wasn't fully loaded. Still saved the homeowner though! Those are the two most recent. I plan to post them as they happen from now on. Sometimes we only have a moment to defend ourselves and I would rather have the force to truly put the odds in my favor than just the hope we get out of it okay.

Guns Save Lives!!!

Finding my place!! A great post up about this community!

2012-01-09T11:28:00.000-08:00

Over on A Girl And Her Gun is a great post titled "An Open Letter To The Anti-Gun Folks". She gets it!! She took what I feel and she put it all out there. I swear she and I are sister's of the soul sometimes because she so beautifully can write out thoughts and feelings I have had. I never really have fit into a group. I am too "wild" for a lot of LDS women, too young for a lot of Mommy groups (though that is finally changing now with Monkey's stuff but among the mom's of Bug's friends I am always the youngest), too conservative for most of the women my age. Not sure why I haven't found a place among writer's but that probably is due to my shyness. Even here sometimes I think "Do I belong here?" then I post about a worry or fear or struggle and where my words would be met with silence in the past they now are met with help, comfort, guidance, and understanding. Never have I known so many willing to lend an ear or a kind though to someone they have never met or offer to meet and help if they can until I entered this community. I can be a depressed basket case some days and when it feels like I am so very alone someone will post a comment that brightens my day. You guys are all amazing. The blog post by AGAHG is beyond description in its beauty. Read it.

Light a candle for the protection of yourself and those you love!!

2012-01-08T19:50:00.000-08:00

Today The Brady group decided that the best way for them to fight violence was to light a bunch of candles and once again decry all guns. After all guns make the violence right??

Not so much. Weer'd had this brilliant idea that we stand up as well today and fight the cause not the tool. I simply love this idea. For years I was afraid all of the time. When we had the apartment shooting I was so shaken and disturbed by it and for months I was frozen in fear. I knew things needed to change. I needed to change. It was a very slow change. Like years. I accepted that we needed a gun in the house for protection but I was to afraid to handle it myself. My husband gave gentle pushes but wasn't forceful and he listened and talked. Then we had a conversation that changed everything once we moved to southern Nevada. I said I wasn't sure I could take a life if faced with that choice. I probably could to defend the kids but not myself and he looked at me and he said, "Babe, If you were dead who would protect our girls when I work? If you were battered and broken because you chose to give in rather than fight what would that teach the girls? Wouldn't you want them to fight?"

I had never thought about it like that. I never realized that the fight wasn't just against evil but for something. So now I have my beautiful HK P2000. To protect myself. To protect my family. To inspire them to be strong and courageous in the face of evil. A candle is beautiful and thoughtful and great and holding of just a tiny bit of the dark but add a gun to the mix and you can not only light the way but fight the darkness back and win. So win. Win for yourself. Win for your loved ones. You are worth it!

Now look in our side bar and go see some of the other wonderful blogs for today and our fight for the protection of the ones we love against violence!! Brigid has a particularly beautiful blog up!

Friday Funny

2012-01-06T06:57:00.000-08:00

It is Friday, right? I saw this on facebook and I had to share. Enjoy!

Bees, game and dog drama

2012-01-05T09:09:00.000-08:00

This time of year we are usually in the negative temps. Since Christmas we have had temps in the 50's. I have a litter of bottle fed pups here that have been able to be outside during the day (hallelujah!) and my bees have been out and about. I have been feeding them because there is nothing for them to eat and I worry that they haven't stored enough honey to last the whole winter. The few times I have cracked the lid and taken a peak, it appears they have filled both supers with honeycomb. Hopefully they had time to fill it with honey as well. THIS fall I am looking forward to a nice honey harvest. I am also going to need to step it up and build another hive because I plan on splitting my hive this spring. I can either order a queen for around $20 or I can put in a frame of day old eggs and hope the workers can raise their own queen. I think I would like to try letting them raise their own and if that doesn't work, I can still order a new queen. I am having some hangups with the bees because they have become so aggressive. I am more than just a little scared when I crack that hive open. I make sure the kids are in the house and there is no one in the area who is not protected. My heart thumps and my hands shake (not good when handling thousands of bees). As much as I enjoy my new hobby, is it worth being that scared of them as well? Something to think about I guess.

We have been eating deer and elk meat almost every day. We got a crazy amount of meat from that elk. I was really surprised as how many roasts and how many pounds of burger we were able to process. That is one chore I am glad to be done with though. My house smelled like blood for weeks. I couldn't seem to get it out of my hands and clothes and sink. I guess it is because as soon as we got one animal butchered, we would harvest another one. Hubby grew up hunting but has not been able to go since we had kids. It had been over ten years since he had been able to hunt big game. He is hooked again and is really hoping he will be able to draw out again. I am enjoying being able to walk past the meat counter at the grocery store!

I am up to my eyeballs in dogs. I have the four that are our family pets, four orphaned pups that need homes and one eight month old lab that is going to her new home soon (thank goodness). The lab, Magpie, is not allowing my hound to eat so he looks really bad. I had to bring him inside and feed him special food which also means I have to feed him pumpkin and special medication because he gets the runs every time he has to live as a house dog. He is also the same dog who is allergic to all grains and can't have dog food that contains ANY grain at all. I am so tired of cleaning up poo, it isn't even funny. The puppies make a horrible mess in their crate every night and because they are in the crate, the hound has to be locked in a bathroom. This morning I had to clean diarrhea off the floors, walls and door. I WANT MY LIFE BACK!! Once the lab and the pups are all in their new homes, I think I am done with the fostering. I will still work with the rescue, but I just can't handle the stress of other dogs right now.

That is what is going on in the life of Gracie. The short version anyway. There is actually tons more, but this is a blog not a novel, lol.

Awesome Give-A-Way by an awesome gal!

2012-01-04T19:53:00.000-08:00

That also means I have to admit some things. *sniff sniff*

First to the awesome. A Girl and Her Gun is doing something amazing!!! Indeed I am in awe of her and those who are now joining her to add ammo to the pot.

Details are (taken directly from her blog):

The prize:

I will pay $300 towards any reputable beginning self defense shooting course in the United States.

Who Can Enter:

Any female who is interested in taking the next step in learning how to defend herself in the event that she may need to. I would really prefer it be a new shooter that hasn't had any formal training to this point.

How To Enter:

Leave a comment specifically saying you would like to enter or email me at agirlandhergun@gmail.com subject Give-A-Way.

This will run from January 3, 2012- February 3, 2012 at midnight and must be redeemed by September 2012.

On February 4, 2012, I will put the names into a "hat" and pick one. That person will have until September 2012 to register for a class and when she does, I will send the $300 to the school/course/instructor.

It can not be redeemed for cash and can not be used for any other purpose. If the winner does not register for a course by September 2012, the prize will be forfeited and the drawing will be redone with the remaining names.

I would appreciate you're help in spreading the word. I think there in only one official entry right now, so the odds of winning are pretty darn good.

I am very excited about this and you all will be doing me a huge FAVOR, if you let me be a part of doing something positive for you!

Now to my admission. I have not taken any in depth classes. I could blame a lack of funds but if it was something I pushed for my guy would find a way. To bare it all I am just a coward. I hate meeting strange people. Hubby says I am borderline agoraphobic sometimes. I have made some great online connections through this blog but I am a hard person to connect with I guess. I am not easy to fit in any pretty little box. I am LDS but I can cuss like a sailor when upset. I have developed a love for guns and planning and survival but I couldn't show you how to start a fire with nothing and I have the health of a woman triple my age. I am the oddball and I am used to that. Maybe too used to it. Maybe I have let myself become so used to being solitary and a homebody that I don't know what else to be. Maggy and Gracie are my closest friends and both live hours upon hours away. I am lucky to see Gracie every couple years and it is approaching that with Mags now. So my social buddy is my husband. He is my best friend but he is also my only friend. He tells me to go out but I really just hate it and the stress ends up making me sick so I just gave up trying. It would be nice to have a girlfriend in the area who likes to shoot, lol. That would be neat. Maybe even if I don't win this give a way it is time I see what is out there. I may be trying to take my safety more in hand but that doesn't mean all people are bad right?

My Monkey is 3!!

2012-01-02T17:31:00.001-08:00

Today my baby is 3. She was a miracle I had given up hope of ever having. After losses and years of trying it looked bleak. Then my grandmother died and that night she let me know in a dream that my little angel was on her way. True to my granmother's spirit she stood on a cloud, kissed a little girl, and shoved her off the cloud. My gram was tough and strong and very no-nonsense. The next day on a whim I bought a test. I shouldn't have been able to tell. I wasn't late at all. But there was that positive test. So with prayers and a doc who stepped in right away to help I carried to term. I love her so much. Her gentle hug. Her big heart. Her love. Her stubborn streak. Her curiosity. Her crazy antics. So happy birthday baby girl.

Farewell 2011 Hello 2012

2012-01-01T08:20:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year!! It has been a pretty good year for us at TSLBF. We welcomed a new addition, we followed dreams, we bought some awesome guns, built up plans, we made big changes. We had our share of illness. My diagnosis came this year. Gracie has had some boy caused antics to make anyone cringe and an ER doc know them by name. We faced grief and triumph. The blog has grown beyond just us and our brother blog. I think our positives outweigh any negatives. Personally I know a lot of the community I have discovered because of this blog has helped with that positive. We are very thankful people read us and seem to like us most days hehe.

We wish all of you joy and happiness , health and success as you enter this New Year. I know we will all face challenges but I think with the support of friends and great family anything can be conquered.

2012 is a year to expand our preps some more, work on our personal goals (I WILL publish dang it), and enjoy each other. I look forward to it!!

I am apparently "legit"!

2011-12-29T21:00:00.000-08:00

Today was going to be a normal house mom day. Laundry was my big focus as we have piles of it. Then Nephew called me and wanted me to take him and his best friend along with my girls out for a desert adventure. Santa brought Bug a pellet gun for Christmas and he got a Gama Whisper and so has been loving finding opportunities to take it out. I am the type of Mom who tries to say yes. They ask so little to spend time like that with me that is cheap and easy and so despite the piles of clothes and my own aches I said sure. Even Niece decided to go in the hopes of a driving lesson.

As we are preparing to go the best friend's mother call's me to make sure the boys were telling the truth and there was going to be adult supervision and such. She was worried about them being attacked or some such and being alone in the middle of no where. The thought that popped into my head was to tell her my gun was bigger than theirs but I just assured her that I would be with them and left it at that. As we were leaving I told the boys of her call and joked about my thoughts to which Nephew replied, "You should have told her. We told her you carry a 9mm and are super legit Auntie." It was said with a lot of enthusiasm and excitement. Apparently being legit is the new cool. Makes me feel pretty neat and very old, hehe. Got to love teenage boys and the new teen speak.

Scary dreams.

2011-12-27T21:33:00.000-08:00

Something I have learned from my marriage is that the good relationships mean the love is big, the worry is big, the joy is big. All of it is deeper and stronger because you have fought for it and continue to do so. You are such a team that you can share a deeper bond than most expect. Hubby and I are like that. We are blessed. We fought to get here. In march we will hit 11 years when the majority of people who knew us didn't think we would last a year. We married yound but we grew together.

The hard part of our bond is the worry. I worry so much for him sometimes. He just started a very dangerous stage of his current project. This job already is high on the danger level due to the scope of the job, and the fact that the ground he is tunneling through has already offered up enough unstable surprises to put them so far behind schedule. Now we are in a very tense stage. I know he is amazingly capable. I honestly think he can almost speak to these machines. He can run within his safety zones and still beat the other shifts in distance tunneled when they push the machine into the danger zone. He knows what to feel for and see. It is amazing. BUT not everyone around him is as capable and so I worry. With the worry comes the dreams. I am prone to dream often. My FMS means I usually hit the dream stage and get stuck. I have a hard time getting deeper sleep. So I am prone to nightmares when stressed. Now my nightmares are focused on him and it sucks. It has put a damper on the last couple days and has made it hard for me to get back to the book. So I figured if I wrote out the worry that might help.

He is my best friend and my partner in every sense of the word. There is no one I trust more. I am not sure how I would raise these girls if something happened to him. There is no rescue if the tunnel goes. Even recovery would be doubtful. That terrifies me. So I will dream my dreams and continue to put my faith in him and his skill. Of course my extra prayers can't hurt right?

Revolvers and FMS are not friends.

2011-12-22T14:29:00.000-08:00

After my last post detailing my search for a good back up gun many recommended a revolver. Makes sense because they don't toss their brass so really they are pretty ambidextrous already. No slide release or mag release to deal with. Should be my dream gun right? Not so much. Fibromyalgia means I have muscle weakness at odd times. For me that is often in my hands. I kid you not that I often would love a hand rub over a back rub. My hands are used a lot because of my wife/mom life but also because I type a lot. So when I went looking for a gun it needed to be easy for me to handle and not cause me pain when I used it. I can fire anything at least once and do but I can't expect to be easy or comfortable with a gun I know causes me pain. That is why I couldn't carry the Karr .40. The kick through my arms was atrocious on a bad day. A revolver gives most of the kick in your hands when a semi-auto pushes it through your arms. So when I fire a revolver I loose accuracy quickly because my hands begin to ache. Not fun. So my requirements are semi-auto, fully ambi (as in lefty slide and mag release), and very easy to use. I need to be able to release the slide with a twitch of my thumb on either hand. I have small hands so it can't be huge but I also don't like a compact where my pinky falls off. My HK really is perfect for me. I just wish there were other options similar to it for me to play with. More calibers would be nice.

So if you know of a great ambi semi-auto I am all ears.

Tis the season for flu and firearms.

2011-12-20T09:59:00.000-08:00

for the flu! It seems most of the house has been hit by the flu again. My husband who hates calling in sick and has gone to work with a fever and throwing up actually has missed work. The body aches and fatigue are horrible. No fun. Poor Monkey had it for two days which meant I was lucky to sleep. The only one who seems to be doing well is Bug. She is happy as a clam. Kid has a great immune system though she complains a lot. The downside to a cronically ill mom seems to be that they think they are always sick. Makes my heart hurt.

Anyway. I have been thinking lately about the fact that I don't have a backup carry weapon. I adore my HK. It is a joy to shoot and I am hoping my new holster opens up more wardrobe choices for me. Anyway the beauty is two leather pockets for guns. Not that I plan to carry two but that I can form each pouch to separate guns. So I am trying to think about a backup. I am such a niche though because I am a lefty. Plus I have FMS so it has to be easy to handle. I also wouldn't mind being a little girly, lol. Yeah I know SERIOUS chicks don't shoot pink guns but seriously I think it might be cute. Of course my lefty needs mean no pink for me. Pffttt.... I would love that but I am doomed to be sad I guess. I did find a pink 20 gauge Mossberg 500 that I might have to have lol. Of course it isn't lefty either. Am I just stuck with guy stuff? I think guns can be pretty as well as kick ass. Maybe that's the flu talking.

Now that's some Christmas spirit!!

2011-12-15T20:12:00.000-08:00

I figure we needed some uplifting news. This is a time of joy and beauty. My lovely locations seems to mean it also brings out the tragedy and violence but in this moment I want to focus on hope and on generosity.

Recently there was a story about how someone went in to a K-Mart and paid off multiple layaway accounts anonymously as a gift for Christmas. That generosity has spread and now K-Marts all over and even some Wal-Mart's are having people show up to pay off the balance of other's Christmas layaway. I think this is beautiful and so inspiring. So often we forget as we shop and plan the true meaning of this season.

Christmas is about celebrating Christ and he was the most generous man that ever lived. We try to teach our girls that.

Our tradition is to let each girl find and angel on the giving tree her age to shop for and then we buy clothes and toys for that girl. Monkey loved picking the Baby Belle doll for her angel this year.

So whether you buy for an angel in need, donate to a worthy cause, pay off someone's layaway balance, or give a friend a much needed hug, please remember to hold tight to the true meaning of this holiday season. Know that Gracie, Maggy, and I and all our assorted progeny and husbands send you the very best wishes for a wonderful Christmas. Much love from our family to ours!

Local child has died from a gunshot.....

2011-12-14T22:11:00.000-08:00

and to top it off they say it may be suicide.

I have issues with this on so many levels.

1. This child should not have been able to load and use this weapon. As a gun owner with kids responsibility is key. This story terrifies me. We have our weapons secured with at the very least trigger locks. Ammo is not anywhere near the guns. Uggg.......

2. In my eyes a child of 10 is not old enough to be considered a suicide. I'm sorry but they just aren't. No matter what is going on no child truly can grasp the consequences and finality of taking their own life. When I was in grade school I had my first "love". We would secretly hold hands and he would sing me beach boys songs. He was my Nanny's nephew. One day my dad pulled me aside to tell me that Peter, at the age of 11, had committed suicide by hanging himself on his swing set. I did not believe that then and I do not believe that now. He was to young to understand what that meant just as this boy is.

3. Adults were home? So this boy was able to load a gun and shot himself with adults in the house? Where was the supervision? NEGLIGENCE!!! Holy crap. This poor family. It makes me want to figure out even more measures to take to secure our things.

Metro involved in another shooting.

2011-12-12T20:56:00.000-08:00

I have immense respect for law enforcement. I absolutley do. I know that they do a thankless job daily and put their lives on the line to protect and serve and do not get nearly the credit they deserve. I have friends who are officers on different levels. This is not about bashing anyone. I am posting this because I think there is a lack in crucial training. So often officers are forced to make life and death choices. Sometimes there is a choice better than deadly force. There has to be.

Last night a veteran in his 40's and diagnosed with PTSD was killed. He had no weapon. He was even known to Metro if I read things right because of the risk he had of becoming disoriented when without meds and he had been denied meds until the 20th. So he went to what he though of as home, he scared some people by trying to open what he thought was his door and police were called. I 100% think those scared people did the right thing. If a man unknown to me were to try to come into my house I would use deadly force. However this man was supposed to be known to Metro. The wife's comments state that metro was supposed to have him under a watch. Now I have no idea if this is a hold on a psyche unit or they were supposed to monitor him but repeatedly she says that Metro was aware of him. So when a man who is supposed to be known to them as having a mental issue and is a veteran is having an issue of disorientation the smart thing is not to be confrontational once you know who he is. They saw his car. When he returned to his car and got in to it they demanded he get out. He got upset and apparently rammed them and was shot.

The video put up seems to tell a different story. The car seems to remain still before the shots. Maybe I am seeing it wrong. I just think that officers need a lot more training in dealing with mentally disabled people. This man did not deserve this. Not from what I see.

Merry Christmas to me - Galco Holster edition!

2011-12-09T11:31:00.001-08:00

So my guy is an impatient shopper. He hates crowds and people. So he tends to buy a small surprise gift for me at Christmas time and then give me money to fill my list either in envelopes on the tree or before hand so I have the actual item under the tree. This year he did the latter. One of my items was a Galco Under Wrap belly band holster. I love this concept and have heard good things from a few women. It wraps around your torso so I don't have to worry about a belt. It has two leather pouches for multiple guns if I wanted and then pockets for added stuff like extra ammo or my knife. It is ambi which works for me. I can have it low on my hips or even high on my ribs. At least that is the hope. I found it on sale on Amazon of all places and got it ordered. So excited!! My only concealed holster has been a cheap Uncle Mike's at the base of the spine inside my waistband and I look forward to adding options. I think my brother-in-law is getting me a shoulder holster as well which will be nice to add options. A girl has to make sure she can wear many different things right?

Honoring the brave!

2011-12-07T15:11:00.001-08:00

If you were unaware today is the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Thousands of lives were lost as America was attacked on our own soil that day and heroes rose. I feel like so often my generation and the children growing have lost sight of the foundations of this country. Of the heroes and the hard work. Of the dedication and sheer guts it took to fight back after such an attack. The country joined together to fight. To stand up and defend. I wish those values were still prevalent. Then I see little pieces of evidence and I hope. The picture is of the flags at Bug's school flying at half mast today in remembrance and recognition. I hope she was told about it in class today but just seeing the staff honor the bravery of those who fought that day gives me hope for the future.

I kick writing butt...... and I finally caught up on reading blogs lol.

2011-12-02T12:23:00.001-08:00

So I kicked writing butt and won the National Novel Writing Month goal of writing 50k original words in 30 days. I wrote my guts out. The book isn't done yet but it is getting there. Luckily a few great people are reading it and helping me edit and polish it. Have had a few surprises as i write but it has been great.

I also finally got to catch up on blog reading. My reader had over 1000 undead blogs for me to read. WOW. I tried to comment but obviously didn't hit everyone. I did read you all though. Sounds like there have been some great adventures lately or upcoming.

Life here is pretty much running along like normal. Monkey is in the "push the limits and ignore the rules" stage of toddlerhood. Fun times. Bug has decided to be scared of the dark again. This is the kid who loves scary stuff and shoots like a demon. Now she wants to sleep with her light on. I know it is because she has my imagination. She says that in the dark when she wakes up she imagines this beings a little troll waiting to eat her or that being a ghost kid hanging in her closet. I have tried to stop her reading and watching scary stuff but it hasn't helped. She has decided to write like her Mama and is writing a story about the zombie apocalypse. Uggg...... Hubby is feeling frustrated. The area is more unstable by the day. You never know what is going to happen or where in the valley. Most think we are crazy paranoid but then something happens. He made a commitment to the job and he doesn't want to back out on that. He is very honorable and who knew they would be 2 years behind. He now seems to be considering selling the house (which is big for our little family but great for all the visitors and the current live in family) so we can move.

We'll see.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T14:31:00.001-08:00

From our family to yours we hope you have a joyful and blessed holiday. May your plate be full and your cup run over. May you overdose on turkey and gravy. May you remember that you are not alone and are very appreciated. Thank you for being you!

You go gunnie! Burglar gets a treat!

2011-11-22T06:00:00.000-08:00

Local burglar took home more than he planned on. I had been posting my Weerd inspired "Gun Death" posts but here in Vegas and surrounding areas gun running is a very lucrative business. So more often than not I can find a dumb arsed criminal using an illegal gun. Yeah laws didn't stop them but they also don't deserve my blog space. Then I saw this headline.

Son checks father's home, shoots burglar who escapes.

Love it!!!

A son checking on his father's home in the northern valley interrupted a burglary and shot and wounded the burglar Monday night, Las Vegas police said.
The incident occurred at 6:19 p.m. at a home on the 6600 block of North Tenaya Way, near Ann Road, said Lt. Hans Walters.
Walters said the son checked on his father's home and saw signs of a burglary. The father was away.
The son saw the burglar who had a flashlight and possibly a weapon. He shot the intruder once in the leg.
Walters said the suspect fled, leaving a blood trail. As of 8:30 p.m., police were searching the nearby desert area for a suspect.
Walters said the man who shot the intruder appeared to be within his legal rights to do so.

So nice when a stupid SOB gets to take home a special treat for his trouble. Add that the dessert is not a fun place to bleed and I am sure he will be caught quickly.

Being thankful is so important.

2011-11-21T11:26:00.001-08:00

I know all of us are feeling the hit of this economy. Gas is high, food is rising. Our government sucks. Their idea of balancing a budget is is ludicrous.

However this is the time of year we celebrate Thanksgiving. A time to give thanks for the bounty in our lives. I truly believe that if we look past this depressing drudge we all have bounty to be thankful for. Traditionally it was the harvest we celebrated and the coming together of two peoples. It has since evolved into a time to remember all we are thankful for. I am so incredibly thankful for our readers and the amazing men and women I call friends because of this blog. You guys are so great at giving feed back and answering questions. You all entertain me and inform me with your amazing blogs. I have learned so much from you. I have included a lot of that knowledge in the new book that I think (or at least hope) you will enjoy.

I am also so thankful this season for my husband and children and the life we share. We have a clean and well kept roof over our head and good food in our belly. We are all healthy. My FMS sucks sure but in the big picture there are far worse things to have. We are clothed. We have the ability to help those we love. We are blessed that I can be home with our babies. My husband has a steady job. Life is pretty good right now and I try to be thankful for that every day.

Please remember that even though it may feel grim and bleak there is still much to be thankful for and overjoyed over. If you need a visual just pull out your favorite gun! ;)

Do you actually own your home? Do I?

2011-11-18T13:55:00.001-08:00

So Nevada has been one of the hardest hit states in the country for foreclosure. After the discovery of the robo-signing and fraudulent foreclosures came out the big story here was that new owners may now not actually own their homes. A reporter recently wanted to see how prevalent this actually was and went to a local lawyer who works to help owners stay in their home and has been dealing with other owners facing the hassles of not actually owning their homes. His discovery - 9 out of 10 people who have bought a foreclosed home are facing the issue of not actually owning it. In fact he had the lawyer he was interviewing check on his home and in five minutes she found issues proving he was one of those people.

I am terrified now. We had a title company who supposedly made sure the title was clear when we bought a house owned by Countrywide who was bought out by BOA. This means someone could sue BOA for the house back. OR when we are ready to sell we won't be able to because we don't actually own the house. WTF? So far no one seems to have any clear idea what to do in this situation. Do we get our money back and clear out? Does BOA need to pay some damages to us and the previous owner? How do you fix this?We bought in good faith.

Hubby says that if the previous owner still legally holds title and pushes to take the house then we sue the ever loving heck out of BOA. BUT he wants to wait and see. I am more of the mind to want it fixed now. I am not liking this at all.

The Big 60.......

2011-11-16T22:38:00.001-08:00

Followers that is!! Welcome to the new readers. Modern Day Redneck you made the lucky number!! Thanks all who have clicked our button. I want you to know I look at every followers profile and follow them in return. I am just not always great about updating our roll. Yeah I know..... BAD LILA!! Thanks for the reading. We love it and getting input and comments. We try very hard to respond to comments and have a dialogue with those who read us.

(Oh and now that Maggy is posting feel free to rummage through the food posts of times past and demand some new food porn. I know I want something yummy!!)

The lost art of the recurve bow.

2011-11-16T10:15:00.001-08:00

So I have been having trouble helping Santa figure out what to get Bug for Christmas. The kid got her rifle last year and she is a crack shot. Problem is that Santa wanted a gun to last all her life so it is a bit heavy for her little 9-year-old self. So I have been thinking about a weapon more suited to her. We could go with a little light weight rifle or a pellet gun but then it hit me. What about a bow? And not even a compound bow but a recurve? I think she would have a ball with a bow. Not a flimsy one either but a decently made one. So now I am super excited. I am thinking of something with a little less oomph and the sucky cup tips for Monkey but this could be a lot of fun!! What are your thoughts on the recurve?

Where has Maggie been?

2011-11-15T11:23:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! It's Maggie! I've been MIA for quite a while, so some of you may not even know who I am! I took a bit of a break but I'm hoping to be back on a more semi-permanent basis again. I'm grateful Gracie and Lila have helped the blog grow so much in my absence!

For those of you who do remember me, I had another child and have been enjoying my time as a new mom, and sadly this blog (and most of my survivalist tendencies) have taken a back seat. I've also blown through just about all my stored and saved food and supplies, and realized how ill-prepared for anything I am at the moment.

Although I'm now in a postage stamp size apartment, I'm hoping to start slowly but surely rebuilding our stock; be it food, supplies or money. I hope you will bear with me.

-Maggie

Venison roast

2011-11-13T08:52:00.000-08:00

Last night I cooked up a venison roast in the crock pot. I am going to need a better way to season it, but it was still so good that I never got a picture of it to post. It got eaten too fast! My only complaint was that the worcestershire sauce was too strong for the veggies I cooked along with the roast. I might have to marinade the meat first and then add some lighter seasoning when I cook it. Any ideas? suggestions? What is your favorite venison recipe?

The dollar (breakfast) steaks are what made me want to hunt deer this year. I have very fond memories of deer steak for breakfast on Christmas morning. My mother would make biscuits and gravy and dollar steaks so that we could spend the rest of the day just hanging out as a family. We never had a big Christmas dinner, but we ate like kings for breakfast.

I am considering tanning the deer hides but am a little intimidated. I tried tanning a coyote hide once and I think I could have done it but Hubby got tired of it hanging around in the garage and tossed it. I think the buckskin would be a little easier than trying to tan a fur. Am I crazy for trying this?

Veteran's Day!

2011-11-11T19:51:00.001-08:00

Today is such a special day. My life is filled with soldiers both active and retired. Some of my amazing blog friends fall into this category but in my personal life as well I see the beauty and strength that fills a soldiers life daily, even when he or she hangs up the dog tags. My grandfather served as did my uncle. My grandfather never spoke of his service to me. In fact the only time I can remember him ever discussing his experiences in the Navy was to my cousin for a school project. He took her into his office, closed the door, and talked about it with her but said his talking of it would not leave the room. My uncle was Air Force and went to the Academy. He was a pilot and carried that into civilian life to a career with United. I never heard his thoughts as well. I find that commendable. To me a true hero does not flaunt their deeds because to them they aren't heroic deeds. They are deeds that were done to defend their country and the people they love. It was a job and an honor. They don't look for praise. The memories often hurt even as they fill with pride. They do what needs doing and then they come home and they put everything they can into loving their families and their country. I currently have a couple friends serving. The author of our brother blog is on deployment now. My nephew is stationed in Germany. A couple of my best friends are military wives and they show me that today is not only about the warriors that defend us but the families that support them. To all the people that I care about who serve or have served, THANK YOU!! Your sacrifice makes this blog possible, it makes my life possible and nothing I can say or do will ever convey the depth of my gratitude.

Erasing scent in a tracking situation.

2011-11-10T19:44:00.001-08:00

Okay. So I created a problem. I can solve it using paranormal means if I want because those elements are in the book but I want to do it in a more survivalist way. The crime Samantha is solving in Jackson WY is that 3 girls have gone missing. Each on different days doing different things but in the same general area around a lake near town. Part of why Sam was called to investigate was because the tracking dogs can track the scent for so long and then it is as if the children vanish into thin air. No more scent. No clothes recovered. I can get creative and go all paranormal if I want. After all Sam is a shapeshifter and one family has a father who is psychic. Out there is acceptable in my world. BUT I really do want to have survival stuff in the book. So thoughts? Ideas? All girls will be found alive at the end but captive.

NaNo has me going batty!

2011-11-08T21:51:00.000-08:00

I am sorry I am hermitish right now. I am trying to do this NaNo thing and so it has all my writing focus. I am at 15,591 words so far and exhausted. The kiddos only give me so much time in the day to write so i mostly have to do it after Monkey is in bead so it has meant late nights for me which is leading to some tired Lila. I need sleep, lol. I will surface sometime I promise and pay attention to all your wonderful blogs and comment on them. Right now I am buried in a kidnapper in Jackson Hole in 2042.

I started the book!! It's goes like this......Apocalypse and stuff!

2011-11-02T20:27:00.000-07:00

Okay Shepard and anyone else. I am sure I will be posting more weird questions as i write this book through the month. So Basic info:

So this is my Post-apocalyptic Paranormal Crime series start. EMP hit in 2014 takes out much of the developed world and stops the response to an asteroid strike. Asteroid hits later that year in the pacific causing an 800 ft wave and destroying the west coast and making the ring of fire erupt. Normally quiet volcanoes went nuts. World population drops under a billion. Half left are paranormal and given a magical boost by the EMP so now are having a harder time hiding. It is now 2042 when the book starts. Samantha Jackson was born the year of the End Times (2014) and is a shape shifter. Her parents died the same year. She had to figure out her magic on her own and with her best friend. Best friend Will died when they were 18 but remains with her as a ghost and helps her in her job with the NIS. The continent is now United North America and one country. Law is pretty loose. You either live in communities or go it alone. If you are in a community then the leaders are the law and are judge jury and executioners. NIS comes in when community leaders face crimes they need help with or a crime spans multiple communities. They also can enforce sentences if needed. No one knows Sam shifts shape but Will and his sister's family and an ex she thought was the one. She uses that to do her job. There is a lot of survival stuff in the books plus paranormal stuff and crime solving. This is the basic info because i am behind due to Hubby and Monkey being sick last night. I still have over 2000 words to do tonight. I can answer questions though, in fact it will help me build the world. North helped a ton already! :) Please also let me know what you think of the first chapter. Thanks guys!!!

First Chapter!!

Chapter 1

The large cat ran through the young forest,her body stretching long and lean as she let her muscles work. She leapt overthe volcanic rocks with ease and twisted through the small trees as if theywere hardly even there. Every breath was a new burst of energy, of passion, asshe drunk in the twilight.

The sounds of the coming night were acomforting song and helped to relax her even more, every flutter of wing andcricket chirp was a reminder that the world was always a growing and thrivingplace. Her tawny coat seemed to gleam from an inner glow as her ears twitchedto absorb the hoot of the owl and the slide of the leaves through the air.

The sensitive pads of her feet hit themossy forest floor with a silent shock through her golden legs. The cougar stoppedquietly and let the air move around her. She knew a herd of Elk was close andwould be about to bed down for the night. She had been tracking them for hoursby their scent and knew the herd was a large one.

Suddenly the sensitive dark ears heard thesound she had been searching for. A quiet crack and rustle as the herd shiftedto rest. Slowly the cougar dropped her head and let the camouflaged pack drapedaround her neck drop to the ground. Then the lean muscled body shifted andturned, four legs turned to a pair of shapely pale legs and two well toned armsand where the cougar had stood a woman remained.

Samantha Jackson took a deep breath tosteady her nerves. The calm of the run seemed to have fled along with the tawnybody. She had been changing shapes for over fifteen years of her twenty-eightyear life and still it left her feeling awkward at times and unsure of herselfeven with the added strength and heightened senses. Not for the first time shewished someone had been around to guide her through all of this stuff but fatehad dealt her a different hand.

She reached into the pack and pulled herhunting clothes from their specially seal bag, grateful she was so careful toscent lock all of her gear before she made a trek into the eastern Cascades outsideof Yakima, Washington.

Sam felt her confidence return and grow asshe pulled on the familiar clothes and tied her soft handmade elk-skin boots toher feet. She chose everything she used to hunt with extreme care and attentionto detail and her clothes were just the start. The boots were soft as butterand let her move just as silently in human form as she had as the cougar. Thesoft light pants and long sleeved shirt were worn from years of use andhand-me-down age but the camouflaged pattern was perfect for the fall changessurrounding her and helped make the job of tracking the herd easier for her inhuman form.

Next she pulled her rifle pieces from thepack. The .308 gleamed in the dimming sunlight. Every inch of the darkcollapsible stock looked like it had been lovingly caressed. The black steelbull barrel was a gorgeous 18 inches and she quickly assembled the gun to avoidlosing her shot.

She removed the scope caps and remembered that shereally needed to find a way to pay Jason back for it. Any scopes were hard tofind these days. Add that he had managed to find one of such good quality andhardly even used and it made the gift all the more precious. Sam vowed toherself to bring down her elk just to have some meat to share with her crankypartner in crime solving.

She quietly slid her already loaded magazine inplace and placed a round in the chamber, careful to muffle the sound as bestshe could. On nimble feet Samantha crept forward and let her senses take over.She reveled in the feeling of freedom she felt as she stalked her prey.

She had spent countless weeks in the mountains andthe forest with her best friend Will through the hard years of their childhood.Every time she felt suffocated by the curious or disapproving looks of the otherchildren at the orphanage or her skin felt prickly and tight from a buildup ofmagic they would camp out for a while and let their feet take them all over.They had discovered long forgotten lakes and cabins. They had stomped overvolcanic crags and ashen waste out of sheer curiosity. Neither had been old enoughto see the eruptions of Mt. Rainer and Mt. St. Helens in 2015 that had put allpast North American eruptions to shame but the evidence was there to beexamined and looked over. Of course both were smart enough to keep theirdistance. The mountains still made their presence known by sending up smoke andfire occasionally.

As the memories crossed her mind she felt the groundtremble and cursed her luck. A sudden flurry of activity in front of her madeher stifle a curse and leap for a nearby rock. Sam shook her head as sherealized she had let daydreaming overtake her common sense and she had stumbledalmost over the herd.

In front of her a dozen large auburn elk moved andshifted restlessly. The light was almost gone now and they were ready for sleepbut the rumble of the earth had made their adrenaline rush and tightened theirsense of fear. Sam knew the meat would be a bit gamey now because of the addedrush of hormones but knew she and Jason would benefit from the meat and winterwas not long off now.

She knelt on her chosen perch and waited with baitedbreath. Patience was something she knew well. She let the moments fly by eventhough the light was becoming even less with each breath. One of the perks ofbeing able to shift shapes was a lot of added body strength and her senses wereamazingly heightened, so much so that she had learned to ignore them when inthe company of other normal people.

Finally the sun fully set and the herd quietedenough that she felt confident in taking her shot. She was close enough thatshe didn’t even bother with the scope but instead looked through the gun’soriginal sights beneath the raised scope mount. She found the large bull andquickly guessed him to be easily 800 pounds. He was massive and so beautiful,his hide thick with fall growth. She could already taste the meat. Sam sent asilent thanks to the elk as her way of paying tribute to the life she wastaking and then with a light squeeze she pulled the trigger.

The bull dropped before the retort of her gun hadeven finished its echo. The cows jumped to their feet and scattered inconfusion and fear. Even without being in her cougar form Sam could smell theirterror and hated that they had been caused such grief. Luckily there were manygrand bulls looking for mates for the fall rut and she took comfort in knowingthey would not be without a male for long.

Sam broke her gun down and used her keen eyesight toquickly gather two thick long branches and pulled her knife from the pack onher back. She shaved off all the knobs and smaller branches until she had twolong thick poles. Then she bound them together at their strongest ends with athick braided twine she had made last winter. Once that was done she found twomore heavy branches and repeated the cleaning and binding until she was leftwith a large A-shaped frame with double cross pieces.

Pulling a thick treated hide from her pack Samsecured it over the frame so that she was left with a sturdy travois to pull herelk home on. Then she bent to the task of field dressing her bull. The dark wasno deterrent due to her keen eyesight and she let her mind wander to the caseshe and Jason had just solved as her body fell into the very familiar rhythm ofskinning and cutting.

The National Investigative Service director, LeviWalsh, had sent them to upper Manitoba where a United North America Armytraining base was being plagued by a killer. Someone was taking young traineeson night runs and brutally killing them. The weird part had been that all oftheir blood was missing and these men and women were extremely strong and verywell trained. They should have been able to deal with any attacker easily.

Sam and Jason had become used to weird crap. Jasonhad been with NIS since its birth eighteen years ago and Samantha had beenrecruited five years ago for her photographic memory and quick mind. Herstrength and ability to outshoot most men was a huge bonus.

This case was weirder than any that they had seen.The lack of blood coupled with the extreme brutality of the bodies was a conundrumneither had been quick to understand. It had taken Sam secretly going off inthe form of a moose to discover that they were dealing with a 500 year oldvampire.

Paranormal stuff was slowly coming out as the yearshad passed after the End Times and more and more humanity was learning that allthe scary things they had written and dreamed of had a basis in fact. Thisvampire was desperate. She, which explained the predominantly male victims, wasnearing the end of her life and was desperate to avoid death and the fierydamnation she thought awaited so she figured bumping off a bunch of prime Armyguys might be just the ticket. Their blood had to be the strongest right?

Once Sam had found the what and who it had takensome ghostly help and some maneuvering to get Jason on the same track and thenit was hunting time. NIS rules were clear; under the new laws the communityleader decided the fate of the offender and death was deemed the sentence inthis case. So Sam and Jason had to figure out how to kill a vampire. Neitherhad ever seen one let alone tried to kill one so it was an interesting coupledays of trial and error.

Garlic was useless. Crosses were laughable. Eventracking the chick was difficult and Samantha was an expert their but the thingcould fly. Finally they had found it in a cave off of the major river aboutfive miles from the base and Sam had the impulsive idea to set it on fire. Theymade some torches and cornered the vamp and in a bang and a puff the thing andturned to dust. Sam still wasn’t sure if it was the wood or the fire hittingthe vamp that had done the trick but she was far to happy with the outcome tocomplain.

Being an NIS agent was so different that being a copused to be. Not only did they solve crime but if the community they were taskedwith helping needed aid in the sentencing aspect they did that as well. Courtswith jury’s were a thing of the past. Now the community leaders made thechoices of guilt and innocence. They pretty much had too. It was either theymake the choices or no choices were made. There just wasn’t a big enoughpopulation anywhere to support large scale law anymore.

Sam was jerked away from her thoughts about the caseand the way life was before her birth by a familiar voice at her shoulder. “Areyou done yet?”

“For hell’s sake, Will. What are you doing here?”

William Mark appeared beside her and swept his honeycolored hair out of his eyes. You would think he would have figured out how tochange his look but being dead hadn’t made cutting his hair easy. He waspermanently stuck at eighteen. His thick hair had been in his eyes the day hehad smacked into the tree on an impulsive skiing trip and so it remained.

“I’ve been here a while. I like watching you work.”

Sam laughed, “You’re just lucky you can’t be of anyphysical help.”

He managed to look a bit embarrassed as he sat downon a nearby rock. “I wish I could help. I kind of miss this part of things.”

Sam looked at the elk laid out beside her and theneat packages she had made of meet and other useful bits. “Oh please. Youalways hated the blood.”

“Well yeah but the stalking was pretty cool.”

She stifled an eye roll. “Okay then, glad we arebeing honest. Ready to tell me why you’re really here?”

“I was worried about you.”

“Worried?” She knew the surprise was evident on herface, even in the moonlight.

“This last case was a bit out there. I mean vampiresexisting? Who knew?”

She felt a bit wistful, “I bet my family knew, I betthey knew all about this magical paranormal junk.”

“Samantha we don’t know anything about them exceptthat they didn’t survive the asteroid hit and the volcanic explosions thatfollowed. Hell, you were lucky to be found.”

“I know Will.” Sam looked down at the bundles andmade sure she had removed everything she could from the elk that they could usebefore she left it for the other meat eaters. “I just know I could do my jobbetter if I knew more about this stuff but I have no idea who to ask. It’s notlike being paranormal is accepted and liked. People all over are hiding theirtruth because of the fear and the law allows for execution if the communityleaders deem someone a threat. I hide my own truth from pretty much everyone. Iget it. I just hate not understanding this stuff.”

He reached out a sympathetic hand and for a briefmoment she imagined she could feel the touch on her cheek. “Sam I know nothaving the answers drives you nuts but you are good at your job and at findinganswers. You will figure all of this stuff out.”

“I hope so. I don’t need any more cases like thatlast one to screw with my head.”

“Well I guess we can hope this next one is a bitmore normal?” Will asked, hopefully.

“Normal andNIS cases are a bit of an oxymoron Will. I figure the most I can hope for isless paranormal.”

Now what!?

2011-11-02T06:40:00.000-07:00

Once the deer was skinned and hung, Hubby and I stood back, took a good long look.......and panicked. WTH do we do now!? Some quick searches online and a few phone calls to my dad later, we decided not to let it hang for more than a day, the weather was just too warm. The back straps were easy, we knew what we wanted to do with them. We got them cut out, cut up and wrapped as breakfast steaks. Betcha can't guess what we are having for breakfast on Christmas morning!

But what to do with the rest of the meat? Back to the internet. We found some mildly useful information that of course was totally opposite of someone else's opinion. We got frustrated and just started cutting. A few hours later Hubby called his friend and he offered to come over and show us how to cut the roasts and steaks. Whew. Now all we have to do is buy some suet and grind up some deer burger.

Quick!! Answer a gun question!

2011-11-01T14:16:00.000-07:00

488 words in to the book. My opening is of my girl hunting. She is shooting a .308. Give me the perfect .308 rifle for a 5"4' chick who is an excellent hunter with no physical limitations but that she can carry easily in a pack.

Venison for me!

2011-11-01T07:05:00.000-07:00

The day started off cold and crisp....ok, maybe more freezing and dark, but I have to make this sound good. I gently shook the kids awake (screamed GET UP) and got them dressed and ready for our adventure. They had been doing this for a few days now and were not at all thrilled at the prospect of yet another early pre-dawn morning. We stopped and bought them some donuts to help ease their pain (and of course keep their mouths full so they would stop complaining).

Once we arrived at our destination, a mere two miles from town, we bundled them up in blankets and coats....and left them in the truck. We had already tried taking them with us. (Did you know that a herd of deer will scatter and run when a nine yr old and a ten yr old are throwing rocks at them?)

We hiked up the small hill, keeping the truck in sight, and watched a lone doe race down the hill towards us and the small stream at the bottom. We lost sight of her at the bottom and stalked up a little bit closer to see if the rest of the herd was down there. They weren't. Sooo...time to walk the ridge and watch both sides. Nothing. Back to the truck to check on the kids. We came up over the rise and....THERE THEY WERE! They spotted us and THERE THEY WENT!

We got the thumbs up from the boys in the truck and followed the deer up over the rise to our right. We watched them settle down into the trees for the day. After watching for a while, I asked Hubby if he went and got the four wheeler and rode it along the tree line, if he thought it would get them up and moving again. It was worth a shot. (pun intended) Apparently these deer aren't at all concerned by a motorized machine buzzing by within a few feet. We went up and around the other side to see if we could get a shot. Two does jumped up and bounded away. I went over to the left where there would be some cover for me to sneak up on the rest of the herd and there he was. Just standing there looking at me. Less than a hundred feet away. I motioned for Hubby to stay back and dropped into a crouch. Hubby looked at me and asked "What?" as casually strolled up. He took one look at the buck, looked back and me and yelled "GET DOWN!" Yup, the deer was gone.

We went back to check on the kids and then decided to follow the deer into the next little valley. Off we went. We parked the four wheeler and hiked up to the grove of trees where we thought they were. Sure enough we again saw the little buck from earlier. Hubby took aim and took a shot. Deer turned and looked at us so he took another shot. The little guy took off but Hubby thought he had hit him. Just then a truck headed up the road in the direction of the kids. Hubby went to check on them while I looked for his deer. As I was looking, I almost ran right into the rest of the herd. I pulled up the gun and was watching them through the scope to see if that little buck was still with them.

What I saw next made me freeze in my tracks. There he was. The King of the Forest. (desert, whatever.) He looked just like Bambi's father. I decided we could look for the little buck later. I backed up into the trees and got the bipod legs on the gun adjusted. I crept out from behind the tree and got him in my sights. He had his head behind a tree and I didn't dare take the shot just in case he had traded places with a doe. I knew it was him and I had a perfect shot, but I wanted to see the rack with my own eyes before pulling the trigger. He stepped out from behind the tree and turned his butt to me. Yeah, that's not going to happen. He finally turned broadside and gave me the perfect shot. I got the gun up, got him in my sights and attempted to calm my racing heart. I took a few deep, ragged breaths and pulled the trigger. I missed. He turned his head and just looked at me. I racked the bolt back and......NOOOOOO. I had to reload. Luckily, Hubby had left the rest of the bullets with me. I carefully took them out of my pocket and got three bullets loaded into the gun. I raised the gun, got the big guy in my sights, and........Hubby came up over the rise right in front of the King and he headed for the hills. I took a few shots when he stopped but he was too far out for my limited shooting skills and he was gone. sob. We watched the rest of the herd come to a stop at the bottom of the valley and sure enough the little buck Hubby thought he had shot was with them. As much as I wanted the King, I was more interested in meat for the freezer. So, with sadness in my heart, I set my sights on the spike and pulled the trigger. The does scattered but we couldn't see the spike. One doe stayed close to where he had been and continued to sniff the ground and act very nervous. I stayed on the hill to watch the herd and to guide him to the spot where we had last seen the spike. Hubby got onto the four wheeler and headed down the hill. Sure enough, I got him right in the neck. Not a perfect shot, but it put him down before he knew what had happened.

I hiked down and helped load him onto the front rack of the four wheeler. We headed down the road and watched the kids faces as we pulled up with it. They were pretty excited. Especially because they got to watch (and help) field dress it.

So now my hunt is finished and I can sleep in while Hubby gets to go look for the King. Fair trade? Maybe.

Leaving the country?

2011-10-30T06:30:00.000-07:00

So as my better half gears up to make tunnel magic he has been working with the company who manufactures his machine. The rep and Hubby have been working to repair some pretty costly issues that honestly could have resulted in the job going the way of me burying a rock. Lucky my guy cares enough to thoroughly inspect his machine eh? Anyway this guy has known JW for a few years and asked today if he would ever be willing to work out of the US. He had an offer for Iceland and one for Iraq on the table before but we said heck no to those but he honestly feels more open to it now. If it were a country safe for us I think he would be willing. He is so sick of things here right now and of how he is treated that getting an opportunity like this might be a boon to his career. Who knows though right?

Taking in the Mossberg.

2011-10-29T09:22:00.000-07:00

So we decided to put a different stock on the 12 gauge. We went with the pistol grip in the hopes that, for now, that would help with my shock absorption as well as adding a better butt pad. (It does btw) Well when we took of the original stock a little piece of plastic fell out. My brother-in-law was pretty sure of what it was and recommended a test fire for confirmation. He is darn good with the internals of a gun. Sure enough our safety was broken. Darn thing fires even when on safe. Luckily I got it at my favorite place, the mecca of stores, and am taking it in to them who will then ship it off to be fixed for me. Hubby was not pleased at all. We did the test fire during the day we took my Mama shooting and he was ticked as hell. He let her fire it and I used the new stock to get a feel but he was of course extra careful of the safety rules. Brother-in-law thinks it is because of the switch to plastic parts that the internals are just easier to break and shift. I am sure he would know. He spent over an hour on one .22 yesterday breaking it down completely to put in a buffer pin, lol.

Saw the Vampire!!

2011-10-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

Had a visit with the Hematologist today. I have mentioned before that I was sent to him because I abnormally bruise and bleed and my bruising lasts for a long time. He ran the gamut of tests in the beginning and ruled out everything he could think of by blood work. We didn't go more in depth because my blood really didn't indicate a need. Anyway he has been monitoring me for over 2 years now. Once again my white blood count today was in the red. He isn't worried because while I go into the red every so often I bounce back up to normal between those low counts. As usual my lymphocytes were elevated. The lymphocytosis is why he has continued to monitor me. He was going to cut me loose from the monitoring and just see me if my PCP had a concern with blood work until I said she never does blood work. He was a bit annoyed at that. In his mind the fact that I have a chronic and as of now incurable illness that is being managed to him means that I should be having regular blood draws. So I will do a lab for him in 6 months and another visit in 12. Honestly the monitoring is a bit of a comfort. If I do ever get cancer we will catch it pretty quick. Plus his level of care and interest in me is a lot better than my PCP. I wish he could treat the fibro but it is not his field. Uggg... If only I could find a good rheumatologist here. I need to find one. I am going to call the one my doc tried to send me to again. According to our insurance she does work with us so maybe if I talk to them I will get in, lol.

All in all a normal day in the life of a chronic junky illness. Stupid fibro.

What's in a name?

2011-10-27T16:55:00.000-07:00

This is mine. It's heavy as hell and dead accurate. I want to name it. I am thinking something along the lines of Brutus. I want something manly and strong. Most men name their guns and trucks after women. So I think it is only fair that I name my gun after a man. What do you think?

Maybe we need to really examine these Occupy people.

2011-10-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

So while my Mom was here I made a comment that the Occupy people were driving me nuts. Being my Mom she proceeded to do some educating. One of the many amazing things about my Mom is that we can discuss differing views without contention or strife. She raised a very valid point. A lot of the big stories we were hearing about this movement was on media owned by the same mega rich who are still profiting so well by Wall Street and their lovely closed mouth use of bail out money. I give that point to her wholeheartedly. My Mom and I have pretty different politics. She tends to be pretty firm Democrat with some conservative tendencies, lol. I am just anti-big government. One thing we talked about was that while there are plenty in this protest for the wrong reasons and expecting things they need to grow up and provide for themselves there is a good large percentage there for a just reason. They bought their houses smart and as an investment, they worked hard to build their 401K, they lived their lives following the American Dream. Then everything came crashing down. Suddenly their investments were gone and their property values were nill. Then they got laid off. No one wanted to hire them because there was younger and cheaper labor to fill the void and work just as hard. Those people are the people we need to think about supporting. I know if it were my Mom or someone I love hurting because of how roughshod banking and Wall Street runs their ships I would be pretty pissed. If it were us. As "preppers" we take preparation to a whole new level. We work to make sure we can survive calamity, no matter the cause. A lot of us got in to this BECAUSE of the Wall Street fiasco and the housing drop. They crippled our economy and continue to do so and we see the potential for total collapse written on the wall. The difference between us and the majority of protesters is that rather than protest we have decided to not expect them to learn a thing and have decided to take our futures and our safety into our own hands. My Mom sent me this video this morning. The message in it is sound.

To the percentage of protesters who are there who refuse to even try to work or think and just expect someone to take care of them- SHAME ON YOU!!! You are lazy and crude and vile and you are giving the hard working men and women who really have something to say and truth on their side a bad name. They and their message deserve better. My Mom brought up thoughts of the revolution as an example of when the working majority once again got tired of being treated like dirt and their blood profited on. We speak of how we wish more would share our outrage. I think that we have our wish. They are just purposely being overshadowed by the stupid in an effort to keep more from joining the rage that is building to a boiling point. Maybe just maybe if we truly examined the true thoughts behind this rage we would see that they are not on opposite sides of this fence we seem to have built. Our country is changing. We had already accepted it and planned our course. Looks like others have begun to see that same writing on the wall and are choosing, in some ways, a braver course.

Dogs I have known

2011-10-26T07:24:00.000-07:00

Brigid's post about her dog Barkley got me thinking about some of the dogs I have known over the years. I volunteer with a local rescue organization and that has allowed me to interact with some really amazing animals.

There was Balto, the 192 lb malamute,

Lancelot, the stray that started it all,

Gator, the mentally retarded puppy who you couldn't help but love,

Skye, who thought she was a supermodel,

Twix, the dog I trained as a diabetic alert dog,

And many many more. Each has their unique story and personality and I have been lucky enough to share the lives of each and every one even if it was only for a short time. Most have found their forever homes, some have passed on and some are still with us waiting for their family to find them and give them the home they deserve. This is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done with my life and it gives me such a sense of accomplishment to know I have saved the lives of so many.

That's a lot of bees!

2011-10-25T18:59:00.000-07:00

Truck hauling 25 million bees overturns in Utah yesterday. Later reports say that 2/3 of the haul was recovered and the bees are being kept at local beekeepers houses. How's that for houseguests!? I am really glad I was not that truck driver!

I hope I get to go hunting.

2011-10-25T06:57:00.000-07:00

The deer season started on Friday. Hubby has to work until next Friday. I have to be home to drive kids to birthday parties and throw a party for our youngest. That leaves me three days to get my deer. I sure hope I find a stupid one who is willing to walk out and say "Hi" during the few hours I can actually be out of the house. Hubby can hunt pretty much the whole week he is off, so at least if I don't get one, he has a better chance. He also drew out for a cow elk this year. I am hoping we get something, because once you draw out, you lose all of your points and we had to wait four years to draw THIS year. Here's hoping for stupid deer (and/or elk) and a full freezer! I will let you all know if we get anything.

Monday.

2011-10-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

I have watched CSI, NCIS, Law and Order, Criminal Minds and Unusual Suspects. I can kill you 18 ways and make it look like Alvin and the Chipmunks did it.

I lost my mind... I think my kids took it

WARNING: Due to the recent conditions in behavior in this home, this mom could self-destruct at any moment! Children and husbands approach with caution!

Apparently I have just won the "Meanest Mom Ever" category. Congrats to me.

I am no longer afraid of natural disasters, wild animals, or terrorist attacks...I have sons!

And my personal favorite: Hey, you , yeah , the kid with the smart mouth. Did you know...that the tooth fairy don't leave money for the teeth your mama knocks out?

Today my accomplished the following:

Oldest son nearly broke the middle sons arm.

Middle son throws a tantrum and kicked my trashcan across the room.

Mom got fed up enough to throw the object of the fight across the room and broke it.

Middle son screams that he hates me and that I am the worst mother ever.

Oldest and youngest sons go outside to play with the neighbor kid.

Neighbor kids mom calls to tell me all five boys are on the roof.

Before I can round up all five kids, two have gone home and the other three have scattered.

Middle son comes screaming to (the worst ever) Mom to get the giant sliver pulled from his hand.

Mom sends the kids across the street to work out some energy picking apples.

This was all in about an hour. I am hiding in my room finding quotes that seem to fit my day and make me feel just a tiny bit better. Hope they made you feel better about your Monday.

Invited the crazies!

2011-10-24T15:12:00.000-07:00

Uggg..... I really think God figured I needed testing or reminding or something. Pffttt....

To explain my upcoming stupidity I will begin by saying that the kids set the house alarm off not even a week ago. Niece set the house on lock down yet did not inform her brother who decided to walk out the back door. Thus waking us to wailing sirens. Hubby of course leaves the room first armed with me behind him. Scared my nephew half to death to hear that slide rack.

Add the dumb visitor and I should have not been stupid. I know better.

Last night at 12:35 the home alarm siren goes off again. I wake hubby up. Due to taking my Mom shooting (more on that later) the .45 was not loaded with the right rounds so hubby needed to load it. I figured it was the kids and was walking out when hubby got ticked. I was reminded that our rule is when the alarm goes off one of us is armed when we leave that bedroom. End of story. Bad Lila. Once he has armed he proceeded me down the stairs and through the house. Our front door was opened. Only maybe 3-4 inches. Not enough to be the result of wind. Lock was not fudged. Kids were all in bed.

We let the teens lock the house down and the front door wasn't checked so the security bolt wasn't put on. Our fault. More mine really. The men work really early. Brother-in-law is up by 2:30 and Hubby by 4. I get to sleep until at least 6 so realistically I need to be the one to lock the house down and make sure security is sound. Sucks when on my painful days I want to go to bed early.

Pretty sure the theory that yard sales bring in the trash is now proven sound. Great fun eh? I so can't wait until we move away from here!

Lovely visitor.

2011-10-21T21:44:00.000-07:00

Today I got to realize the risk that a garage sale can bring. When you think garage sale you think little old lady or a stay at home mom looking for a deal or even a couple out to find a good bargain. You think friendly people and cheap prices. At least I do. Today my neighbor across the street was holding one from 7-11. Makes sense as we are still pretty hot and our sunshine is wicked. Anyway about 1:45 I am chilling in my loft area will Monkey, music on the comp and just hanging out with her. My office/loft area windows are over the driveway. Suddenly I hear some major yelling. This guy is screaming every name in the book. Talking about how he isn't a dirtbag and how little rich women need to be nicer and all sorts of pretty billigerant things. Going on about how he used to have millions but gave it away and the least she can do is help other people out. Of course by this time her garage is closed up and such. She has little ones and is home alone like me during the day.

I have learned to put people on a scale when they are jerks.
You have the drive/walk away from types. They are jerks but just getting away solves the issue.
You have the call the cops types. Yeah you have to deal with them for however long it takes to have police get there but it can be done.
Then you have the " I am probably going to need to get my gun to be protected if I even am in this guys vicinity and quite possibly use it to A- defend or B- scare the dude off."

Dude is hitting the walls of her house as she remains behind her door. He then takes off screaming for his car with very purposeful steps and I am thinking he is going from a contact the cops to a get armed kind of situation. Luckily her husband came home and screamer stops mid trunk pop and instead starts to scream some more. He manhandles his woman and gets into the car and rolls away. I had to leave the house to pick up Bug. Luckily I park in my garage. I make sure my gun is in the car and we are loaded in before I even open the door to be safe. As my door goes up I see my neighbor's husband standing against their SUV. The Jerk is still on our block. His car is not running and he is now down the road. Luckily she had called the police and as I left I saw an officer arrive. Apparently this guy was pissed she was no longer selling anything and would not give him anything. I warned the husband that men of that type very likely could return, especially since his car is still here, and might try to break in. We are making sure the security is armed and the gun is close by. Hubby feels that because this guy maybe needed more a scare and show that we could defend ourselves that having some bean bag rounds might be smart. I think I agree. It is also making me realize that when the neighbors closest to us are doing these sales we need to remain on high alert because they give jerks a great way to case us for theft.

Over reaction of a paranoid woman or spot on? Thoughts?

absentee blogger

2011-10-17T14:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, that is me. I am sorry. I have been crazy busy the last few...umm...months...? My boys started school and I stupidly thought this would give me soooo much free time. Yeah, that didn't happen. I am up by 6 to get my middle schooler (gasp) off to school. As soon as he walks out the door, I have to wake the younger two and listen to them fight as they get ready. I really hate mornings. By the time they are out the door I am exhausted.

I have also been canning. and canning and canning. We had an early freeze this year so I spent an hour and a half outside in a snowstorm picking tomatoes and the rest of the garden produce. Luckily a friend came to help or it would have taken me all day. We picked 16 pumpkins, four watermelons, two cantaloupes and 430 tomatoes. Yes, you read that right. I have 430 tomatoes in various stages of ripeness on my kitchen table. Salsa anyone? I have already done two batches of salsa but neither of them really came out. One was too sweet (it also called for several of my cucumbers), the second called for over a cup of vinegar and that is all you can taste. Sooooo.......this next batch will use the second recipe but cut the vinegar wayyyyyy down.

I canned my peas and carrots together because I didn't have enough of either to bother canning. I got a batch of green beans done and two quarts of tomatoes.

I did end up being a judge for the fair and there was a judges category (whoot) so I entered. I won three blue ribbons! We were up all night judging the hundreds of jars and had to come early the next day to award the ribbons.

The chickens are all molting and the yard looks like a fowl massacre with feathers EVERYWHERE. I wish they didn't do that right before the weather turns freezing cold. Mr Chicken and my chicks are completely clueless as to how to use the cat door we installed on the coop. My older hens are used to it and go in and out several times a day. It is too cold to leave the big door open and it is driving me crazy to have to let them out every morning and catch them every night to put them back in the coop. I hope they figure this out sooner rather than later.

I already gave you the update on the bees. Kind of. I have just gotten scared enough of them that I don't really go out there unless the smoker is fired up and I am in full beekeeper gear. That is just such a pain in the butt that I usually don't get around to it. Plus, my little photographers are not willing to get that close either. It doesn't help that my oldest son is allergic to bee stings.

So there are all of my excuses. I am going to try harder to keep up with this but if I disappear for a while again, I am sorry.

Feeling out the family....

2011-10-17T13:41:00.000-07:00

Made a casual remark at a family gathering this weekend to feel out some more family as to retreat preps. Her comment was "I'm not worried." On one hand I can get that because this particular bunch has acreage they tend, a large garden, a bunch of chickens, horses, and are decently situated with in the community so as to not really be bothered by locals. In fact before our retreat thoughts became less about just our 4 and more about long term and wider family they were where I considered going for those reasons. So if those are the reasoning then I will take a sigh of relief and leave them to plan their own way I guess. If however it is more of a not really seeing these signs the way we do then I am unsure what to do. Do I let it go? Do I try to open their eyes? Do I risk freaking her out? I honestly think a lot of why her husband does what he does is because he sees the signs more and is more attuned but this makes talking to her about this plan concerning.

How do you handle this issue? I know we all have people we love and wish to protect. People we want to see safe and healthy with us. How do you try to get them to see your worries are valid and at least raise the thought of preparing?

The death of the drones.

2011-10-15T14:12:00.000-07:00

It has been getting very cold lately and the workers threw all of the drones out to die. It's kind of sad seeing them all over the ground outside the hive. I haven't seen drones in a long time so I thought maybe they were all gone. I have also had a lot of problems with yellow jackets and have no idea how to solve that one. I could spray them, but then I run the risk of killing the bees. The yellow jackets are EATING my bees. So, it is kind of a lose/lose situation. Here's hoping I can get it all figured out. I have started feeding the bees again as the snow killed off pretty much everything that was blooming.

The Occupying pish-posh.

2011-10-13T13:30:00.000-07:00

Those people drive me batty. I honestly haven't paid a tone of attention to them because their basic message is annoying. It is this whole "I am in a bad place because you made me that way" idea that has our country so screwed up. Do I think that Wall Street and other major entities suck? Sure do. Honestly I think they knew collapse was coming and padded their wallets and did nothing for the little people. I also think that if you refuse to take responsibility for your own mess you are stupid. We have 1 credit card. I pay 2 bills with it and then pay it off 2 weeks later. We have some debt. My car. The house. We actually did something we have never done and bought "toys". We got a loan for that as well. We pay above on all of them. Honestly except for the house (investment we hope, though Nevada sucks) we see them as credit builders so while we pay above the payment we don't rush to pay them off either. We chose our debt. My weekly budget is tight with the extra family in the house right now. We haven't put as much away as we wanted because feeding 7 is very different than 4. However we do not lack, we do not go without. We made choices that have us in the position we are in and we are content with that position. Hubby has been through layoffs. We find a way. We don't blame the man. He worked 2 jobs and I worked another and we rotated child care duties between us. We buckle down and we cut back and we improvise when we have to. We plan for leaner times. We don't expect someone to rescue us. We don't blame other's for our hard times. Yes layoffs happen at horrible times and put people in cruddy situations. Finding another job can be difficult. BUT that mound of credit card debt was a choice. The giant house you should never have bought was a choice. Figure out a new life solution. Get creative. Stop whining and start winning.

So dumbnuts....... SHUT UP. Put all that energy into something useful. Seriously.

One Second After.

2011-10-12T20:50:00.000-07:00

So I finished reading "One Second After" by William R. Forstchen today. Hit on quite a few levels. The researcher loved the detail and afterward included to help with my own world building. I loved the concept and that he kept reactions pretty human. Small towns do very much tend to band together in difficulty. I liked that he included the refrence to film and literature even if that got old in some moments because we do tend to compare events around us to what we know, often that is what we have read and watched fictionally in extreme times.

The writer in my loved the depth of charecter. I could see the fear, the violence, the hope, the impact of hard choices. I could smell the unwashed bodies.

The Aunt with the Type 1 diabetic nephew found much to fear. When I first saw that John's daughter was diabetic and the same age about as Nephew I was a little excited. Many said this book was a great research addition so I thought this thread would turn out to be personally helpful. It was not. It was very bleak and very dim. Honestly the devoted Aunt in me instantly wanted to begin hoarding insulin.

This book also made me think. Not just about the world I am building for my own series but about the world as we have it. Yes we are preparing as best we can. Hopefully we can prepare more in the coming while before we really need it so we are much better situated. I plan for that and hope for that daily. My greatest fear is that an EMP situation and other situations like it are ones that really are pretty dang hard to be fully prepared for. The preps are good as is the awareness but honestly how do you totally prepare for any situation?

Really has me thinking on so many levels.

When a fallen hero needs our help....

2011-10-11T10:08:00.000-07:00

we stand up and give it. Months ago I shared a blog with you all that a beautiful wife was writing through her grief about her Marine husband being killed in action. She was very raw, very personal, and so very strong. Her story was heartbreaking. It was moving and it really brought home how deeply this war hurts those left behind.

Now she is trying to make sure her husband's greatest wish is still made possible. He was in the process of adopting their eldest daughter when he was killed. He had done all the paper work, had completed the home studies, had submitted the forms but as forms do they were lost. He was going to re-submitt those forms when he got home but failed to return alive. His daughter deserves to know that she is HIS always and forever. She deserves his name and his legacy.

Tj's wife once again posted a beautiful blog on the subject here. To sign the petition she is filling with signatures that are going to her governor please follow the link on her blog or click here. Help Tj and Taylor be father and daughter in every way and help Mary get more peace. She deserves that from all of us.

Research books?

2011-10-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

So as I work on my youth series I am also reading some books for research ideas. I have "One Second After" and "Patriots" on the list but figured you guys would have some great ideas. As you guys know my series is going to take place about a generation after the apocalypse. Man made EMP which makes our response to a natural event impossible so we get hit twice. A side effect is going to be that the once hidden paranormal world gets a huge magical boost. My heroine is a cop trying to solve major issues. I may make her more an investigator or private eye. Not sure yet. So I plan to incorporate some survival stuff, paranormal stuff, crime stuff. I am totally looking for good book recommendations to read to get ideas and for research. Let me know your thoughts!!

The OTHER reason October is important to me.

2011-10-09T10:35:00.000-07:00

October 15 is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day. Many who read the blog know my story. If you are new though I will share my thoughts again.

I have been blessed with 4 babies! They light my life. They are my world. 2 of them I lost during pregnancy. As my health journey has progressed I have learned that often FMS women have difficulty in pregnancy and that my lack of progesterone is not to surprising once you know I have FMS. Yay! I look around me and know so many women who have lost babies. I know their heart break, their fear as they try again. I know the anguish. Last year Faces of Loss, Faces of Hope started the I Am The Face campaign to help raise awareness and remove the silence surrounding pregnancy and infant loss. I eagerly joined that movement. I love Faces of Loss, Faces of Hope. They provide support online and locally to so many who are now facing loss. I also very much want the world to talk to those of us who deal with this. We want to remember our babies. We want to smile about them and cry about them and be free to talk about them and the pregnancy. There were good moments for all of us. So please spread the hope and the word. 1 out of 4 women will face this huge loss. They need our love and our kindness. They need our hugs. They need to be able to talk about it without being hidden away.

Bad sick blogger !

2011-10-08T07:23:00.001-07:00

Well went into the week stressed out with family stuff that took us all to Utah. So we all had little sleep. We got through the day. Came home and of course I flared. Stress and I are not friends. Flare means no immune system. So by Wednesday I had the flu. Yay! Party for Lila! My feed is hugely backed up but I am going to read some today. Also going to try to get back to blogging ! Happy Saturday y'all!

October - My favorite month!

2011-09-30T20:25:00.000-07:00

In my effort to keep things light I am completely not posting about yet another police impersonator caught locally harassing women or the burglary ring brought down. Going to ignore the shootings and even the big doctor/pharmacy/drug dudes getting brought down for all sorts of crime. Going to pretend for a moment that the multiple undercover units patrolling our area at night are just neighbors. ........ See, it is depressing!

So I am going to talk about October. I love October. Mostly because I love Halloween and am one of those crazy people who decorate inside and out for it. We could go deeper into the beauty of All Hallows but that is part of my Wiccan youth and I am no longer the rebellious type having firmly settled into my Christian upbringing and all. (Though they sure do know their herb lore!) I love the fun of it all. When I was a teen I worked in a haunted mill. I was the casket girl. I would spend time getting my makeup just perfect to match the creepy maniquin in the coffin across the isle and then I would lay there and pop up and scream for each group that entered my room. I loved it. Now I pass that love to my kids. Bug has always loved the creepy and spooky. The kid loves picking something nice for her costume and then creeping it out. She was a corpse bride one year. This year is Zombie Cheerleader! My Monkey is not sure about the creepy yet but she loves the decorations. She doesn't want to touch the spider but she giggles and calls him her spooky friend. I think we all need to enjoy the fun of it.

What are you/your (grand)kids going to be this year?

New accessories!

2011-09-28T12:48:00.000-07:00

We got new accessories for the 10/22's. They are supposed to be an awesome improvement. Hubby likes that they can be cleaned. Will give a review once we use them!

Under attack? Maybe a little but that's okay!

2011-09-27T21:57:00.000-07:00

I have realized recently that when I feel upset by things in life my mind instantly goes to the beauty of my marriage. It is as if my coping mechanism when I feel threatened in any way is for my brain to say "Lila yes this person is a total jerk but remember the most important truth in your life. The one person you need to love and accept you unconditionally already does that. Who cares what the jerk thinks." I find that to be pretty amazing. The life that we have is far from what many would define as perfect but for me it is exactly that. We aren't rich, we aren't going to be. (Though I am going to make a best sellers list darn it!) We don't have all the newest or best toys. I don't care. Bash my politics. Bash my religion. Bash even the very concept of faith. Bash my parenting. Bash my looks. Bash away jerks. My husband finds me sexy. My girls are happy, smart, and well rounded. My passion is fed through writing. I am in need of nothing else. I have a strength no one can take from me because I am loved beyond measure.

Do you have something that makes all the crap fade away? What is it?

My greatest wish for all of my blog friends is that they have that one thing. It can be any thing. I am lucky that mine comes in the arms of a good strong man but a mate isn't a requirement. I wish you all joy. So much joy. Passion and health and happiness. So often as we walk this path of preparation and safety through our beautiful weapons we are immersed in sludge and negativity. I am working to make a huge effort to avoid that sludge. It was depressing me. Extended family stress was pulling me down. Jerks were demeaning me. Not going to let it build like it had been. Time to find the good. Find your good and tell me about it!

Nifty app!

2011-09-26T21:39:00.001-07:00

So my lovely smart phone ate it. The water bath contributed but it was being finicky anyway. So on to replacing it. Had to download all my apps again. While meandering in app land I discovered the U.S. Survival guide app. Same nifty guide now on my phone. Knots. Poisons. First Aid. Soooo cool.

So if you are a geek like me what apps do you adore? Find any that help in your survival prep/ gun love?

2.5 years! Cool.

2011-09-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

We suck at actually keeping up on big deal blogging anniversaries. It is a flaw. We are all pretty busy and honestly lucky to remember what day it is let alone our own names half the time. So I got a hankering to look and see when the first post was on the blog and it was by Maggy on 3/24/09. Pretty nifty. We are now 2.5 years old. That is like a teenager in blog years I think! Even though Mags is super hard to get on a computer these days I know I speak for her and Gracie when I say thank you to all who read us and to those who have read us for a long while!! We totally adore the support!! Now if I could get past my funk and think again I would have some decent posts to do!

I have the blah's......

2011-09-20T20:29:00.000-07:00

Yup. That's me. I think in my effort to absorb all this prepping and gunning and getting to it blogging I overwhelmed myself. I left for 2 days and came back to over 200 posts in my feed. This overwhelms me. This is normal when I am offline. i follow to many people I think. Of course only a few are bloggers I love to read, other's are bloggers who have interesting stuff sometimes but other times it is not for me. or they aren't really friendly. Or they are just info sharing and not actually interacting with anyone. Ugggg...... So if you wonder where my comments have gone it is because I have a huge stack to read so I post comments on the posts I really enjoy. I am reading all of my faves! You guys all rock. I just am feeling off. sick and little energy. Sorry!

Shooting fun!

2011-09-18T20:51:00.000-07:00

This has been a great weekend with my love home from work. Soon that will be a rare thing as once his machine is in the ground it requires 24/7 babysitting and that usually means 7 days a week for him. We took advantage! Saturday was spent in blessed relaxation with a dash of Bass Pro tossed in. I have a love/hate relationship with that store. I love all the things I find but I hate the dent in the wallet. Bought a ton of skeet so the boys could play.

Then today we got up early and went out to shoot again. The friend who joined us last time had made a couple purchases of his own and brought his wife along this time. She is a fibromite so it was nice to discuss shooting with someone who gets our specific drawbacks even though they are just now building their own collection. J.W. brought out one of our other rifles. I had never shot the .17. For some reason I had assumed it was like hubby's bad boy in the kick range and have just stayed away from it. Yeah I know I should know better after reading and stuff but hey, I am still a relative newbie. So i shot that today. Love the lack of kick. The rhythm of it was beautiful. The FMS difficulty was that I could not hold it up, shoot, chamber a new round, and shoot again. In a way it made my accuracy more surprising because I would have to lower my barrel, chamber, then raise again to shoot or my muscles threatened to give. Left me with shoulders burning tonight but it was a lot of fun.

Nephew once again proved why I think he has major skills. Boys were shooting skeet. He had his 10/22 up and was just looking through the scope next to them. Both missed one of the skeet and with that rifle he shot the skeet out of the air. To prove it wasn't a fluke we had him lower and raise and shoot on the pull. Darn kid did it again. He has some skills.

So the day was good. I shot my rifle and the 9mm and got to play with the .17. Had the husband shoulder the shotgun so I could feel how it did with the short barrel on it. Still youch. Otherwise a very positive and fun day!! We needed it! There is some sick building in the house. 3 kids so far. I already have the aches so i know I am up next. Means I have a few miserable days ahead. I really need to find a good rheumatologist and stop putting it off. I need to get ahead of this fun that is my life. I keep saying I have accepted my new normal but just by not figuring out treatment beyond my meds shows I am not fully owning this and doing all I can to relieve the gunk. Uggg....... Fun stuff. Happy Sunday y'all.

Document Organization.

2011-09-16T12:34:00.000-07:00

As I embark on this quest one thing I have realized is important is better organization. While I know basically where all the important documents are, (a box in my closet) they are in no way organized and can take forever to find the exact document I needed. So to fix that I bought large plastic totes that are created for file storage and handle both legal and letter sized files. I got 2 so I can have one for each sized file type and the hanging files as well as folders for each. I finally went through my office are and cleaned out the clutter. It was horrible. I bought 3 little space savers to separate bills, things to be shredded and things to be filed. This will help with my organization there. Tonight I plan to pull out my box and start to file things away the right way. Will make so many things easier. Honestly SHTF can be so many different situations and knowing where your birth certificate is or the mortgage documents and insurance papers can be needed quickly. I really recommend everyone grab this nasty bull by the horns!

Where's the gun? Let's use a screwdriver!

2011-09-15T08:13:00.000-07:00

Uggg. The running theme seems to be young in all my posts huh? Early 20's this time.

Authorities identify woman, 22, who was stabbed to death

A 22-year-old woman stabbed to death last week in the northeast valley was identified Wednesday as Brittney Nicole Junsay.
The Las Vegas resident died from multiple stab wounds to her chest, the coroner's office said.
Las Vegas police arrested Elizabeth Denise Crocketts, 21, in connection with Junsay's death. Crocketts stabbed Junsay on Friday with a screwdriver during a fight in the 5000 block of Nellis Oasis Lane, near Nellis Boulevard and Gowan Road, police said.
Crocketts was being held without bail at the Clark County jail. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 12.

The first commenter must be one of us.

Desert flash floods.

2011-09-14T11:16:00.001-07:00

Not much is going on with me right now. Editing, reading, taking care of my family. The usual. We are in monsoon conditions and were finally able to let the teens see why the drainage tunnels are so dangerous even though it is so dry. This pic is of a road not even 100 yards from the house. The rain had only been falling for about 20 minutes when I took this picture. I had ventured out to get Miss. Bug to school. I know the road and the depth and have a heavy 4x4 and crossed it but found immense traffic getting to the school and decided to keep her home. I saw a small mustang decide to skip the intersection pictured and go to turn around only to be hit broadside with another wave and be pushed into the rushing water. Driving in conditions like these require a knowledge of your road, a slow and steady hand, and a very heavy vehicle. Do not ever even consider crossing a road like this if you are not sure of the depth. It does not take a lot of force to lift a smaller car and float it off despite what you might think. In a SHTF situation you need to make sure the route of escape you have chosen is one you can traverse in any condition. Know the road. Drive the route even if it is out of the way so you are not forced to attack a road like this with no knowledge of it. It can and will save your life and your belongings.

9/11- My memories.

2011-09-11T11:10:00.000-07:00

As I sit here on the tenth anniversary I am struck by the changes in our country. Some were positive, some not so much. The younger generations learned real fear that day. We learned that no matter how great we thought our country was we could still be brought low on our own soil. We learned that the big scary terrorist was real and angling for us and our loved ones. We learned that war could be fought in our yards.

We also learned how to band together and fight back. We learned that our strength comes shining through when we put the politics aside and rely on one another. We proved to the world that we can band together in the sight of catastrophe and help each other.

Some of the repercussions have been the memory of those strengths. Those deaths taught us to fight back, fight hard, and win. They taught us courage and to never give up, they taught us passion for our country. The other side of the coin has been this giving up of freedoms though in the pursuit of safety. That part has crippled us I think and it breaks my heart. I think it is a part of what the terrorists wanted. A divided superpower is no longer a super power. In our efforts to find a way to protect ourselves we created more and more laws to regulate every detail of travel and of safety to the point where we fight over it. We look for things that could be unsafe and sign away rights in the hopes we will become more safe. That breaks my heart. Yes we need to be vigilant. We need to fight back. We need to stay strong. Giving up our freedoms does not accomplish that.

The morning of 9/11 I was very pregnant with Bug. I was very sick my entire pregnancy and we were living with my husband's older sister and her family. I had slept late due to being so sick and when I got up it was to find the tv turned on to the attack. The first plane had hit and it was still just a plane crash. Even then I was scared. My uncle was a pilot for United and often flew into New York and I was so scared for him. Then the second plane hit and we realized there was no way it could be a simple plane crash. I was glued to the screen the whole day and was so glad when I got word that my uncle was on a different route that day. I will never forget the worry and the fear and the sadness. Even now remembering makes me hurt. I ache for the families. I hurt for those who responded with selfless devotion and were repaid by loosing their health and even their own lives. That day needs to always stand as a reminder that we are not perfect, we are not immune, we are not the vaulted nation. We are at risk and every day we spend fighting and divided is a day that the enemy wins.

Communicating after EMP.

2011-09-10T11:52:00.000-07:00

So I am editing my second completed book. I am over 20k words in and well on track to finish on time as planned. I have a new thread to add in after my first read through that will help push my word count over the 70k mark like I want. I am very pleased with that.

On to my other creation. North has helped me get my basic Apocalypse event figured out. My series is going to take place about 25 years after the event I think. So civilization is trying to rebuild but it isn't great. The event is man-made and natural. Basically a large scale EMP prevents the world from stopping an asteroid. The event also has the effect of boosting the paranormal/magic on the planet. I am kind of combining multiple genres here, hehehe. Soooooo anyway here is where I need thinking. The event destroys all things electrical and the asteroid hits in the pacific taking out a large chunk of the west coast. We are now 25 years later. Obviously things are rebuilding but when you wipe technology out pretty much back to the stone age and take a giant chunk of population with it building back is slow as molasses. So I am having my main character be a cop. Federal though I am not sure yet how that will look. I am thinking the entire continent may become one country. Obviously basic power was the priority so cell communication is still going to be down. I want communication ideas. Maybe not a way to go nation wide though, more of a relay type system. Not sure really. My girl is going to need to be able to get info from all over but not very easily. Travel is also going to be slower than normal. Which is part of why her job is going to suck.

So ideas? Thoughts?

We aren't alone!

2011-09-09T11:36:00.000-07:00

Over the recent long weekend my handsome other half had a birthday and his older sister and her husband came to visit and play for the weekend. Brother-in-law J brought up the topic of TEOTWAWKI and preparations. I think he was a bit surprised to learn exactly how much we are trying to do and how much we continue to do. He also would like to join in those efforts. So our group has risen and I think their focus will be on food preps while we continue with the gun and ammo side for the moment though I am going to be broadening that. I am making lists of a lot of things as well as going to really look into areas of retreat and possibly grabbing that land we want. I think now more than ever expanding this to the rest of the siblings will be wise. The other sisters all will have need and can contribute to things so i think I am going to really formulate a plan here in the next bit to present to them as we are supposed to be together in October. Adding to the capable men is a good thing I think.

Books on my shelf?

2011-09-08T11:08:00.000-07:00

The book theme is all over today. Brigid, Murphy's Law, and North have all done it! I decided to follow suit. I kind of have to being the book girl. Granted my collection is not as wide ranging or as vast as some listed. I am a fiction junkie. I am also 29 and prone to moving regularly so I have to purge books a bit regularly. It makes me sad. At our last move i cried over the boxes of books I donated. *sniff sniff* I digress, my current collection has a lot of Louis L'amour. Husband is a fan but I sneak them when he isn't looking. I also love Clive Cussler and Dan Brown. The Adventure type action books. Faye and Jonathan Kellerman are great. I love paranormals so I have Laurell K Hamilton, Kim Harrison, Kelley Armstrong to name a few. Romance is also a love of course so Nora Roberts, Johanna Lindsey, Stephanie Laurens, Catherine Coulter both romance and FBI, Julie Garwood. I have a ton of favorite writers and know I am missing a bunch of them but honestly I have so many I am just listing what pops into my head. When we moved in here I had 12 boxes full. Hubby actually drove my books down himself rather than have the movers take them simply because of the weight. I have added quite a bit since then though now I have my Nook Color ereader and I try to put books on it rather than buying the bound versions in an effort to save space, hehehe. Poor husband wants to throttle me. My book cases are stacked to the gills 3 rows deep and up. Makes for heavy book cases! ;)

I am looking to now expand my collection into books we will need in a SHTF scenario. Medical info, food, living off grid, guns, things like that. If you guys know of good refrence books that I should have in a hardcopy form for a TEOTWAWKI life I would be very appreciative!

Where's the gun? Ehhh a knife will do!

2011-09-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

Seriously I get this junk too often and all locally. It is depressing. This one is especially upsetting because the victim was a young teen, a child really, still in the first blush of her life. There is outrage here thank goodness. I just wish other people were as tired of this violence as I am.

Suspect in Custody in Teen's Murder
A 19-year-old man is behind bars and facing charges of murder and sexual assault in the death of 15-year-old Alyssa Otremba.The missing teen's burned body was discovered over the weekend in a desert area near her home in northwest Las Vegas.
Metro police say Javier Righetti was arrested less than a mile from where Otremba's body was found Saturday near U.S. Route 95 at Oso Blanca Road and Grand Teton Drive.
Police believe the murder was random. They say Otremba's body showed signs of blunt force trauma and multiple stab wounds. Otremba was reported missing Friday night after sending her mother a text message saying her cell phone was dying and she was walking home. The girl never returned.
Righetti is set for a court hearing Wednesday on charges including murder, sexual assault, kidnapping and robbery.

I am glad that the area is pissed about this one. They should be. I like the comment on the story and would like to know the answer as well. So sick of all the crap here. I look forward to moving on.

Texas Fires

2011-09-06T13:48:00.000-07:00

I spent a lot of my growing years in Texas. Summers and holidays were spent with my grandparents on their large spread outside of Bastrop. Right now the area is burning. So far it seems the family and other people I love have been lucky. Fire has come close and is licking at the boot heels but hasn't burned anything of ours yet but some reports say that half of Bastrop is gone and that it is going to get worse before it gets better. With Katia steaming up the gulf winds could pick up and the largest fire is at 0% containment. So please everyone pray. Pray for those hundreds of families who have lost their homes, pray for those evacuated, pray for those at risk, and I selfishly ask for an extra little prayer for my family. While my grandparents are no longer alive to see a city they loved and raised their sons in burn we do still have family there and they are at risk and need that love.

Thanks guys!

A labor day of no labor at all!

2011-09-05T20:35:00.001-07:00

We got up this morning before the sun to avoid the heat. The guys had loaded up the toys yesterday so it was just about getting everyone dressed and out. A co-worker of my hubby was going to join us with his little boy and it was going to be the first time the young one had shot so we kept it to the small toys. .22 rifle and pistol, my 9mm for me, and then because both boys needed to play with their new toys we had the shotguns and the Circuit Judge. The easily put a few hundred rounds out each and loved it. The new little shooter absorbed the rules well and proved to be a natural shot. His aim was crazy accurate. Then we went to trying the new shotgun on some skeet. You guys were very right. That thing kicked my trash. I am going to go old style and learn to shoot from the hip with it until we can get me one more taylored to my needs. Youch. Even the boys had marks on their shoulders. Of course they loved it. Hehehe. Men. The Circuit Judge is interesting. Nicer to shoot for me than a normal revolver. Crazy accurate. Brother in law put a scope on it but I am a lefty so it was a titch awkward so I used the regular sight. Blew apart a water bottle and had very little kick. I actually enjoyed it.

I realized I needed more range time with my 9mm. I would scare off an attacker and wound them sure but my accuracy is not great. Honestly a huge part of that is my eyesight. I can't see very well with the astigmatism. I really need to get this fixed soon.

Overall it was a fabulous day of shooting. I needed it. The dance in the rain and the glorious nap after were ice cream on the cake!! ( Yes I mean ice cream not icing, hehehe)

Where's the gun?- Let's try a vase instead!

2011-09-03T08:23:00.000-07:00

Oh this lovely area of the world. I can almost keep up with Weerd and I am sticking to local area stuff. Yuck!!

Police: Woman bludgeoned friend with vase, cut her throat

Disturbing details are surfacing in a woman's alleged rampage that ended with another woman dead in a bathtub.

Police say 23-year-old Stephanie Kirby broke into an apartment and attacked the victim while she was sleeping.
It happened at the Canyon Point Apartments on Harmon near Boulder Highway. Kirby reportedly called police on Thursday morning, admitting she had done something wrong.
Documents say Kirby confessed to bludgeoning her once friend with a vase. She then allegedly ordered her to get in the tub where she cut the victim's throat.

Kirby denied having the intent to kill.
Police say Kirby stabbed her victim a number of times with a kitchen knife. She allegedly admitted to discarding the knife, the vase and bloody clothes in a dumpster near where the murder happened.
Kirby is being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center on a charge with murder with a deadly weapon and a probation violation. She's due in court on Tuesday.
The Clark County Coroner's Office said Friday that Tiffany Batteate's cause of death was multiple blunt and sharp force injuries to her head and neck. Batteate was 24-years-old.

Lovely!! So basically chick claims she meant no harm but just happened to stumble into the vase to smack her victim after breaking in, then kills her by cutting her throat and stabbing her! Lovely. Won't count because she forgot her gun though right?

Mind numbing fear and the blessings that come with it.

2011-09-02T12:02:00.000-07:00

Lately a few of our fellow bloggers and real life friends have been having health fun. Health issues are never fun or easy. Some talk about it and some don't. Both ways are fine. Watching people i care about struggle has brought up some memories and so I thought to share some feelings as a show of support and a reminder than even when it feels overwhelming you are never alone in your fear.

When we first moved here my amazing guy decided it was time to push me to really figure out my health. I was tired all the time, bruises took days or even weeks to heal, I looked just plain sickly sometimes even though my weight stayed the same and higher than I would like even though I ate little. Nevada is a specialist state. The rate of lawsuits here are so high that your primary doc handles little stuff and passes you on for big stuff so she sent me to a hematologist. He discovered something odd. While my white blood cells are in the normal to sometimes low count range the percentage of them that are lymphocyte cells are very elevated. He tested again and again and always got the same results. Elevated lymphocytes. Well this can be a fluke or it can be a big deal. Two big deal options were cancer. One would kill me very fast and one may never kill me at all. So while we waited for some very extensive testing results and time between tests to check for accuracy I felt like my life was in this horrible holding pattern. 6 weeks of wondering about my life, my future, my children and their future. I have never been so freaking scared. I rarely slept. Every bruise was a new reason to worry. Every time I had a migraine I was terrified. I researched until I was blue in the face.

Then the results came back. Not cancer but no clue why you have the abnormality. My bruising was chalked up to being so fair. So it was on to more tests, this time to the endocrinologist. I was tested for everything he could think of. More waiting and worrying. Luckily most of his tests wouldn't result in a fatal diagnosis.

Once again I was healthy. I was the healthiest sick person they had ever seen. Sure my blood had weird oddities but nothing that pointed to a specific diagnosis. Then came the rheumatologist. The guy was a complete jerk but was sure it was FMS. And so I had an answer.

Of course sometimes answers don't feel like comfort. The answers can be scary and life altering. They can feel like an awful weight pressing down on our world and forever changing things. I tend to be grateful for answers even when they suck because I would rather know what battle to wage than stand on that bleak precipice and hope I jump the right direction to flee the demons chasing me. It truly is in how you look at it.

So if you are facing challenges please remember that you are not alone, you are loved, and the worst result you can ever get is "Inconclusive". Test on. Push on, fight on. Get your answers and know that whatever the outcome you won't face it alone.

Trash pickers.

2011-09-01T11:31:00.000-07:00

This morning due to a lovely batch of events I was out with Bug and Monkey long before Bug needed to be to school. We had some time to kill before I needed to drop Bug off so I bought us all a Mickey D's Sausage Biscuit and a milk and went in search of a park to hide at. While I know our major streets and they run in a basic grid some smaller ones are pretty convoluted. I like to just explore these sometimes. Brother-in-law is looking to buy a house around this park I had in mind so I thought to check things out and follow the twisty way to the park. On my adventure I saw a truck in front of me just loaded down with metal. Twisted heaps of it. To my total amazement the truck stopped at a house with a pile of trash not in a can and two Hispanic men jumped out and began to dig through. They then crossed the street to a similar pile, pulled apart a dresser for the metal tracks and tossed them into their pile. Wow.

The pile was huge. So it made me think. In all the time it took to steal all that metal (Yes it was trash but they didn't exactly ask the owners if they could scatter their garbage to pick through it.) they could have looked for honest work. Even if just going door to door asking to wash windows or clean lawns. Something. Ugggg.......

Store design ideas?

2011-08-31T12:59:00.000-07:00

So some of you know I have a cafepress store. Right now it is a bit boring. Mostly work related designs. I want to expand that obviously. It is the Blue Collar Boutique after all so I want it to have designs for life, it does but not many. I want a lot of designs aimed more towards this aspect of my life. Shooting, survival, planning, and the evil zombie apocalypse for good measure hehehe. So any ideas? Something you guys would love to see on a shirt or mug or something but have never been able to find? I have a file of sayings and such to put up but none really centered on this type of thing. As long as it is not a trademarked phrase or copywrited body of work and the like I can design it.

I am open to ideas!!

Where's the gun? - Southern Nevada Style

2011-08-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Weerd Beard and his "Gun Death" pieces I decided to do some here but mine are going to just be stories from southern Nevada. Help people see how even a small area can be full of violent non-gun violence against each other. I could go back and do some of the major cases since we have been here but I like keeping my lunch. Of course this first one is not exactly good at keeping the food down.

Investigators say godmother beat baby with metal pipe:

Investigators are revealing new information on how 14-month-old Dyon Johnson was allegedly abused and murdered by her godmother, Mariann Harris.

Southern California authorities booked 23-year-old Harris on a fugitive warrant late Wednesday night after Harris fled Las Vegas for a relative's home in Victorville, Calif.

After the baby's August 12 death, there was speculation about how the infant suffered the blunt force trauma that caused her death.

Investigators now say they believe it had nothing to do with a fall, but rather a metal bar that Harris used to strike the little girl.

According to court documents, the paramedics that arrived to Harris' apartment home noticed the child was cold, had glossy eyes, and had probably been dead for some time. Once at the hospital, doctors noticed Dyon was covered in bruises around her face, head and collar bone.

Disgusting nasty woman. I am so glad she was caught despite running. Of course this isn't a death to rally against though right because it isn't violent enough? Please people. The filth of humanity is going to find a way with or without a gun. I know many laugh at the saying but face the facts- Guns do NOT kill people, PEOPLE kill people and will continue to do so no matter what laws you put in place.A criminal is labeled that for the pure and simple fact they have no regard for law!

Our favorite famale survivalist has a fiction book on Amazon!!

2011-08-30T09:08:00.000-07:00

Brawny finished her book. I have to admit to some major pride despite having done not a thing but cheer her on. I love seeing someone do something amazing and she has done that. She has done that in a much more courageous way than I. So go to Amazon and download her Kindle ebook A Measured Response (End Of Days). Survival, apocalypse, battles, danger. You know you want to!!

First day of school!

2011-08-29T09:21:00.003-07:00

My sweet Bug and the teenagers started school today. Niece is a junior and may even try to graduate early. She hasn't really decided. Nephew is in 8th grade. Last year of middle school. Some days he seems so much older and others so young but that is often the case with boys his age on the cusp of manhood. Bug is entering 4th grade. She is now in the upper echelon of school. Those years feel sweet and I want her to enjoy and savor them. The picture is her being silly. I am so proud of her and the young lady she is. All of them are pretty great.

Poor Monkey was pretty sad to see all the kids leave today. She wanted to follow Nephew out the door and cried when we dropped Bug off. Being back to hanging out with just me is not her favorite thing. I am a little sad too. They finally seem to get that this is their home and so all of them have been really great lately.

Well here is hoping the year is great and we can have lots of good grades and happy days.

Canned!

2011-08-28T11:00:00.001-07:00

No, I didn't get fired. You have to have a paying job in order to get fired. Everything I do, I do as a volunteer.

I am trying to work up the ambition to do some canning today. I have a huge amount of green beans that need to be processed. I also have several large cucumbers that I am thinking about turning into relish. They are too big for pickles so dill relish it is. I have eight tomatoes with five or so more that will be ready tomorrow. My jalapeno plant is producing pretty well...for it's size. My peppers were really small plants this year and i didn't get much off them. I think I will have to buy some peppers but I plan on making salsa once my tomatoes really get going. If I get enough, I also want to do spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce and stewed tomatoes. Hrmmm, I might have to buy more tomatoes too, lol.

I had a bunch of peas I was going to can...but I ate them. The corn is alive with bees so we should get a good harvest there as well. My cucumbers are going to go bonkers here in about a week (?). The onions are getting really big too. I am going to have tons of fun with the garden this year. My kitchen is most likely going to look like a war zone from now until November though. Oh well, Hubby will just have to get over it. Think a loaf of zucchini bread will help?

Birthday fun with Lila!

2011-08-28T10:53:00.001-07:00

Today is my 29th birthday! Yay me! Last night my awesome other half took me on a date. We went to a movie. I chose "One Day" because I adore Anne Hathaway. The story also seemed interesting. Of course I had never read the book. I ended up crying my eyes out. Way too emotional of a movie for birthday fun.

Today I was presented with my gifts. All sorts of fun Browning pink & camo stuff for my Durango. Very cute. The pink is also not so overwhelming that my guy hates to drive it. I love it. My seats were getting just a little sunfaded and I was worrying about it. Leave it to my guy to think about the solution in a way I love.

We wanted to shoot today but of course we are under heat advisory and thunderstorm warning. The heat and wet is oppressive and the clouds are ominous in their rolling black waves. Our club is not quite done with the indoor range yet. Sooo home we stay. Eh. I have movies, chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream, and my brother in law is making a yummy dinner. Life is good.

* yes that is me in the reflection taking the pic!

The Onion say huh??

2011-08-27T13:27:00.000-07:00

I know that The Onion is very often beyond sarcastic. Some of their humor I enjoy some I look at and feel like I missed a joke and some I just sit back and go "Huh?" The post of the young farmers son begging the country to stop trying to save small family farms because he really didn't want to work hard for little reward made me giggle a bit I admit. I can see a rebellious teen thinking some of those things. The article on publicists agreeing that celebrities were not famous enough got an eye roll. This one made me fell into the final group of "Huh?" responses. Paypal Founder To Create Island. Island nations for the Libertarian crazies. Guns left in a pile in the middle, A non-functioning but symbolic debt count of 0, and every so often an arbitrary tax on the entire population to get riled up about and make life meaningful. Ooooookkkkkaaaayyyyy...........

Yes I did my research and know that this is an actual plan. Or some of it is like the island nation with looser gun regs and less government input. Good on you.

My issue with The Onion thing is that it makes it seem like Libertarian = dumb hillbilly gun loving illiterate. Not really humorous like they are known to be but more a way to make anyone who even thinks along libertarian lines look stupid.

As too the plan itself. Nifty idea in concept but when you are creating a floating environment like this i just see issues from a basic living standpoint. Islands are great, even tiny ones, but you aren't worried the thing is going to sink due to human error. Add that is is a little hard to practice certain skills that a lot of us enjoy on a manufactured island with no minimum wage and I see disaster. Anybody remember Waterworld?

Shotgun shopping as a woman is suspicious??

2011-08-26T12:57:00.000-07:00

Luckily my very hot other half does not read blogs so I can vent a bit. We, like most of us who are preparing for a bleaker future, have a list of things we wish to acquire. We have several rifles. We each have a handgun we thoroughly enjoy. With my darlings birthday around the corner I decided to start on the shotgun list. Our guns, our home, our list. The first shotgun honestly is more mine than his in the sense that it will be an aid in home protection on top of my 9mm and I am the one home more often but I know he will get a kick out of the purchase. Anyway, so really doesn't matter who buys it to us as they are ours. Blah.

So I went to a nearby sporting goods store. They had the lowest price. My brother in law put in some money since I was buying it earlier than expected. He helped me figure out exactly what 12 gauge we wanted because since I am still learning and we have never had one it is Greek to me. I walked in and made my request. Mossberg 500 12 Gauge with a 28" barrel. Well the guy and the female clerk he was flirting with (both Hispanic, maybe it was because I was a scary white chick?) perk up and he asks what model. I then say, "Umm.... Let me look at his text." (BIL had sent me a text days earlier helping me to know what to price search) Guy goes all weird and says, "I am sorry we are out, I can't sell to you." I respond, "Which is it? You don't have one or you can't sell to me?" He then proceeds to tell me to leave and that my looking at a text message from someone out of the store indicates to him that I am purchasing the gun for someone else and thus trying to buy and then pass on a weapon in an illegal manner. WTF?? I explained that my BIL was the expert and I was not and I was taking his advice on what to purchase for my own protection. Didn't matter, government regulations and I needed to leave. Wow.

Suffice it to say I went to the store I prefer anyway where my favorite guy was at the counter and got what I wanted without issue. He is a nice older man and he helped Santa with the great rifle for Bug at christmas.

I really love that my little 5'4" self looks like an evil suspicious villain. Maybe I should cast me as the bad guy of my next book just to shake things up. Dumbnuts.

50 Followers!!!!

2011-08-25T11:09:00.000-07:00

So we are a bit horrible about celebrating the usual milestones. Blogiversaries and hitcounts and the like but this one just made me so tickled I had to share. We hit 50 followers. Sure I imagine quite a few gave up on us in our slump faze. I forgive them. But hello 50 is a pretty nifty number! (Yes there are 52 but Gracie and I don't count, haha.) So woop woop!! Thank you to everyone who reads us. Comment!! We love it and try very hard to respond when you do. I know for me it makes me feel a little less lonely. Being home with my kids and the stories in my head can be a bit isolating at times. Add that our area is very transient and my health is so cruddy and I am not a very outgoing person and you are stuck with a pretty shy chick. You guys make me feel a lot less like the wall flower! Oh and I even added a cool little facebook button over there in our sidebar to my facebook so anyone who wants to can friend me there. I admit I am not on it much though lol though I plan to be more as I get my writing out there!! So anyway back to the purpose of this! You guys rock!! Thanks again for making us hit the beautiful 5-0 mark!

Bad news/ Fabulous news and great new friends!!!!

2011-08-24T20:06:00.000-07:00

I am a kick me and then lift me up girl so bad news first. I seem to be in a lovely flare due to our record heat. Yay me!! It sucks tush. Trying to get the 3 kids that go to school back on decent sleeping schedules for school monday adds stress and my previous post about family drama added stress. So I hurt. Boo.

Now to the FABULOUS NEWS!!! We have been BLACKLISTED. I know. Pretty cool right? Okay so if you are not on the list or your do not read the blogs on the list you probably think that I am in a Fibromyalgia induce brain fog and have completely lost my marbles. You would be wrong, teehehehe. See that pretty image over there -----> that says The Gun Blog Black List? Click it. My awesome friend North made this list. Basically a play on the fact that the anti-gun fun haters stalk us gun happy hillbilly dummies and talk about black listing our evil ways. So now there is a black list. A finer bunch of bloggers you will not meet....err....read, hehe. So go check out the list that we have been included on despite our newbie ways. Click around. You will find some great people there!!

Now for the new friends. I added some more links to our ever growing blogroll as well. I added a few and am sure I have forgotten who all I added but I do know I added Matt's blog Troublesome Times finally. We have another of his blogs up but this one is where he is at these days!!. We also have TinCan writing from Nine Pound Sledge Hammer. His wife has FMS like me and he writes a good blog. Very neat guy! Also got Tam's frequent partner in crime up on The Adventures of Roberta X. Red Woman is a fabulous read out of Oregon and her pics make me miss the PNW. Finally Tales From The Clothesline is awesome. A prepping mom that Stephen introduced me too. Fabulous writer!!

What a week!

2011-08-22T18:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I had one heck of a week last week. We went out of state to pick up some hay to bring back and sell. I spent one whole day bucking hay and sacking it. I then spent the evening in the ER suffering from extreme heat stroke. All of my bodily functions were shutting down, I was low on oxygen, all minerals and of course dehydrated. After a few hours and several liters of fluid, they sent me home with instructions to stay hydrated and out of the heat.

On the way home we blew a tire on our trailer in construction. It took us an hour and a half to find a tire shop that would sell us a replacement. We finally got on our way...until a loud thumping noise woke me and all of the kids. We pulled over to discover that the tread had separated on the rear tire of our truck and completely obliterated our rear fender. It somehow managed to miss the new exhaust we had just put on the truck.

Luckily we were only a few miles from a rest stop, so we limped in and put on the spare. It was of course almost flat. We limped on into the next town and got it aired up at a rest stop. We finally made it home sometime in the early morning hours.

The next day we took the hay to a friends house who was buying it. On the way out of her yard, the transmission went out in the truck. Seriously.

We sold the three tons of hay for $450. Half of that is to be sent to my father in law (it was his hay). That means we keep $225. That will ALMOST cover the deductible to fix the body damage to the truck. That does not come even close to covering the hospital bill, the $700+ in tires or the new transmission we will now have to replace in the truck.

Can't get any worse, right? Wrong.

I found out that my oldest son is allergic to bees. He is now the proud owner of two Epipens. I give up, I am ready to just sleep for a week.

Revolver or rifle? How about both?

2011-08-21T12:44:00.000-07:00

Yup how about both? I recently posted that my BIL bought a gun. Not just any gun. He bought a Circuit Judge made by Taurus. Yeah honestly I think the idea of a revolver in a rifle just fascinated that kid in side as it really serves no purpose to expand the list of protection weapons. Will it kill a bad guy? I am sure. Shooting 410/45 Colt rounds can do that. But it isn't very practical. Of course BIL is far ahead of us in his stash so practical isn't always the top thing in his mind, haha. He is in love. I think it is funny how he and J.W. both look like little boys in a candy store. I swear they might actually be worse than that. It is cute. They hope to go and play with it next weekend. This weekend he is playing with it by scoping it and getting it just right with a sling and all. I swear if he won the lottery he might not notice.

Well that is a way to try to use the law in a bad way.

2011-08-18T14:52:00.000-07:00

Found this lovely Nevada news article. A dad doesn't like his daughter's boyfriend and asks him to leave the property. Boyfriend refuses. Dad shoots him dead. Fabulous. The anti-gun people are going to get so up in arms over this case. Having been pretty unclear over our location before except for saying the desert I will say we are in southern Nevada AND news like this makes me mad. It gets the entire area riled up over gun rights. As it is we finally made some headway over some stupid permit rules requiring you to qualify with every semi-auto you plan to carry concealed. If you wanted to carry it you had to bring it in and pass a shoot test. However revolvers were considered one thing so you only had to qualify with 1 revolver. That was recently changed so now we only need one qualifier for semi-auto and 1 qualifier for revolver. Soooooo back to topic. Here OC is not a good idea especially in the cities. Police have a shoot first ask questions later mentality. If it is a gun on a person it must mean that person is a criminal bent on wickedness so we better shoot them. I swear we have an officer involved shooting once a week just in Las Vegas. The surrounding areas aren't a ton better. Going to be interesting to see how this plays out.

**Another article, this one from the major paper of the area. I found the comments to be interesting. This one is very much going to create ripples for the area. I also want to say that if my post seems in anyway heartless it is not meant to be so. Maybe my feelings aren't displayed well but just from the facts given it seems that the dad used the fact that he told the boyfriend to leave and he didn't as an excuse to use deadly force. He used the fact that he could technically call him a trespasser as a reason to shoot. Not knowing anything but the slim details given it looks like stone cold murder that he hoped to hide behind trespassing. That is what makes me mad. We are not a Castle Doctrine state though prosecution is rare when the resident has cause to use deadly force. This still doesn't seem to fall into that type of scenario.

** More details. This case is looking horrible.

Some great advice for women.

2011-08-18T14:23:00.000-07:00

If Women of Caliber isn't on your blog list and you are new to firearms and female it should be. Kellene Bishop is fabulous at providing info in a no-nonsense way. She posted a great post today after an pretty crappy event occurred in Salt Lake last night. An armed man went to rob a gas station attached to a grocery store. When the clerk said they had no money he sent the clerk into the store for some giving the clerk time to call 911. Then a woman drove up to buy gas. He not only robbed her but he forced her to drive him to another location where he sexually assaulted her and then forced her to yet another location to drop him off. Kellene uses this event to discuss ways to protect yourself in a similar situation with or without a firearm. It is a very good read.

Yay!!! Writing is going great!

2011-08-16T22:36:00.000-07:00

So I have now got 63,456 words edited on my book. I have 4 chapters left to go and then it is done. Yay. I put up the first 10 chapters of the new version on my website here if anyone cares to read it. Yes it is romantic suspense but I am pretty darn proud of it. I know some of you read the old version posted there. That was easily 5 years old. I think the new version shows where my writing growth has come in and where my own personal confidence is coming in as well.

Now to decide if I want to try an find an agent again as soon as this book is done or if I wait and submit after I get my other completed book finished. Or even further do I get the two books floating in my head finished as well first. I plan to do that by the end of the year, February at the latest. If I have all 4 that shows all of my genres and my writing depth to it's fullest I guess. Hmmmm...... so many decisions.

Can't send them to the gun store!

2011-08-14T10:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Nephew's 13th birthday. Poor kid has had some bum luck.

Our original plan had been to make the drive to Utah and go to a county fair with family. J.W. and I take our girls every year and love it. The day starts with a lunch of fair food. You can't be at a fair without fair food. Then we visit all the exhibits and animals. Once the carnival opens we do that for a while. Then the fun. Demolition Derby. This is very much a highlight of the year for the county and it often sells out and is a major thing. We love it!

Plans were dashed. Tuesday we found out J.W. was going to have to work through the weekend making it impossible for him to attend. Then Wednesday Nephew was biking to his friends house and completely tanked it. I mean absolute road rash deluxe. He looks like he was ran over. I guess he was crossing the street behind a car when the car braked suddenly. He swerved and tried to jump onto the curb but his back weighed enough that he hit the curb, flipped over his handlebars and then ran himself over with his bike. His face and chest hit the pavement and then his bike tires hit his back. His chest and face are tore up. He almost bit through his lip. He bruised his ribs. He is lucky his nose didn't break. He is lucky nothing broke honestly. But his injuries meant there was no way he was up for traveling. I was going to take my girls alone but my FMS flared and the thought of fighting a toddler in a fair alone just did not sound fun. Soooooo we changed plans.

Friday we ordered dinner in. Nephew ordered Seafood Linguine. He was thrilled. We also had Cold Stone Ice Cream Cupcakes for dessert. Saturday hubby got off of work early due to monsoon conditions. Lightning and welding are not a good mix and he was on his giant metal machine so danger was a bit high. Add not being able to actually weld from the rain and he came home. So the male contingent went to the gun store. Ugggg......... We got ammo. Always good. BIL bought himself a new toy. LMAO. Poor nephew got ammo. He was feeling picked on despite a pretty awesome knife as a present that morning. His dad buy a gun and he get bullets on his birthday, the horror. Then I show up right before dinner with the girls and a pair of guinea pigs plus cage for them. Yet another cool thing bought on his birthday not for him. On top of that we discover he is allergic to the new additions as he puffs up like a balloon. Poor kid. At least we got him an ice cream cake right?

To try to make up for it the male half went shooting this morning. Hopefully that helps him feel better, lol.

Kidding aside I think he was very happy with his gifts. He received a Judge of his own and the ammo of varying types that it uses, a very nice bike that can be used for trick riding, multiple knives, and some cash to spend as he likes. The kid has a knife collection many would envy and stores it in several suitcases. He has his own rifle but this is his first handgun and he is loving it. He received it early but it was a birthday gift. He is a pretty amazing kid. Even when his mom called against his wishes he handled it with an amazing air of maturity and wisdom. He can drive me batty and I told him if he lets real teendom go to his head I'll beat him but honestly the kid is fabulous. I just need to remember not to send him to the gun store with the menfolk on his birthday next time.

Bee update

2011-08-12T16:19:00.000-07:00

I opened the hive today, and boy those bees were PISSED. I was smoking the bees, I was smoking myself to keep the bees off, I was smoking the air around me hoping to clear them enough that I could see what I was doing. They were quickly running out of room so I stopped smoking long enough to run to the garage and grab another super to add to the hive. I got it all in place and left the girls to explore. (Just realized I have not seen any drones in a long while, weird). Now that the smoke has cleared (pun intended, lol) the hive seems more calm than it has been in weeks. I think the girls are all busy inside making sure everything is ok and checking out the new digs. Hopefully that will settle them down a little and give them something to do besides harass us and the neighbors.

Why my mom is my mom.

2011-08-11T14:17:00.000-07:00

The woman who gave birth to me did only two things that I can thank her for. She gave birth to me and she gave birth to my brother. Otherwise her drugs were more important to her and still are. She was out of my life when I was 5 and I did not see her again until my father flew her in for my wedding. She hardly spoke and did not add to it at all. I thought seeing her would be this amazing reunion. I was the little girl who dreamed of a mother who adored me but just couldn't be there. I learned that day who my mother was. It was not the woman who gave birth to me and ignored me for years. Instead my MOTHER was the woman who lovingly handmade my wedding dress out of my old prom dress because I could not afford anything else and my dad wasn't to keen to help either. (He later did help.) She went to all the appointments to pick flowers and food and she altered the bridesmaid dresses that needed it. She helped me get ready while the woman who carried me in her womb hid in a hotel nearby. When my first child was born she drove 2 hours to be there to help coach me through labor and keep my hubby from passing out as he watched me in pain. When my second was born she flew 2 states away just to be backup in case hubby couldn't handle the surgery and to help me through that first day. She loves my children more than anything. She treats me like she does the children she birthed. The true miracle of this is that she and my dad divorced not long after my marriage. She had no reason to keep me in her life. Every other woman my dad brought into our lives left when the relationship ended. She stayed. She is my Mom in ever single sense of the word and I am so amazingly grateful for her and for that. On days when it feel like no one is on my side but my husband I know she has my back. She calls just to check on me or say hi. My dad doesn't even do that. It is pretty amazing to feel like I finally have a mom. (I also got 2 pretty awesome sisters out of the deal and a brother who is pretty great too!!)