I am apparently "legit"!

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.

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.

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.

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!!

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.....

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.