Another Long Day

Yesterday was Day 5 of cleaning my dads place. Don't get me wrong, he doesn't live in squalor he's just a horrible pack rat. The more clutter he gets, the less he cleans. It's a vicious cycle. Since most of the house is done, we moved outside ('we' being myself and a friend whose out of work and therefore very easy to bribe). My dad's place has a large flower bed next to the door and another 'island' type bed in the middle of the driveway. The sun wasn't too bad, but the humidity has been a killer the last couple days. It took about 2 hours to clean out the first patch, which in the end only had about 10 flowers in it. Monday we start on the large island and it shouldn't actually take long. Back in the day, my mom had the damn thing cleared out then laid the garden tarping down and then landscaped with bricks and things. Although a lot of weeds have grown on top, they take little to no effort to pull out.

Also on today's list is some cooking. I'm headed to the butcher's soon, and I think I'm going to try some chili con carne. I also found an interesting BBQ sauce made for canning that I'd like to try.

Bad Blogger! Bad bad blogger!

Okay, so I've been horribly MIA, and I apologize (again). My sister is having a large, fancy (did I mention large?) wedding in a little over a week and the poor thing managed to get laryngitis over the weekend. Therefore I'm trying to help her out as much as I can with last minute details/calls/visits to the reception hall/etc. On top of that (and working, and having a 3.5 year old) my dad isn't the cleanest guy on the planet and his side of the family plans to camp out at his place. He also is the King of Procrastination and at 2 weeks out from the ceremony hadn't done a thing, and so I'm stuck cleaning his house top-to-bottom spic-and-span by this Friday in addition to the other said things I have taken on.

Hopefully most everything will be finished up this weekend and since I'm pretty sure I'm working I plan to play quite a bit of catch-up on things I've been up to. Until then, I'm taking all the spare time and energy I have to not blow my lid and hurt someone.

Valley of Fire!

So we did a road trip to see family for the 4th. On our way home we decided to take the "scenic" route. We had never drove this way and were excited for the adventure. Well it took us through the Valley of Fire. OMG does it deserve the name! The rock formations were just beautiful and the road was a treat to travel. We had a lot of fun and have decided that we will need to go back for some camping fun!

Palin - Quitter or Fighter?

So I voted republican in the last presidential election. I have always liked McCain and his values and choices were the most in line with what my family wants and needs. I liked Obama a lot to though so was not throwing a fit when he won. I think he deserves the chance he earned by winning to show us that he wants to make it better to be American.

Anyway as most of the world knows now Sarah Palin has resigned as Alaskan governor. Even after her speech I am still feeling in the dark as to why she quit. When she became VP nom I was excited. A woman I could get behind. Then she took a few mis-steps and honestly I couldn't fault her. She was a small town politico thrust into the national and international political field. Who wouldn't stumble a bit? This resigning thing though makes me mad. It also makes me not want to vote for her should she run in 2012. I want someone who chooses the office to remain in that office until death or the public remove them or their term ends. I want someone who will fight for me and for the leadership role they took on, knowing what that entailed. I see this as quitting. A part of me can't blame her. Politics has become a free for all in the media, just as bad as Hollywood, BUT resigning shows she will run when times get tough. I do not want that in my president. What do you guys think?

Things you will only find in Utah

So on my recent trip to Utah I had to laugh at some of the things I saw that could only be found in this kind of area.

#1 Emergency Essentials. We actually found their store!
#2 Food storage aisle in Walmart, this is where I bought my new shelf reliance system. They also had an area in the front in place of an arcade called Canning Central.
#3 Dead sheep in the middle of the freeway. I think it must have fallen off a livestock truck and been hit. No one was in the least bothered by this and simply swerved around it and went on their way.
#4 Herbal farms with acres and acres of lavendar. Probably not a Utah thing, but breathtaking enough to mention.
#5 Small drive through restaurant that only serves....are you ready for this?.....Jerky!
#6 Mormon Crickets. We have them here in Nevada and I know Idaho does too. They are the only living creature that creeps me out *shudder* I seriously do the girly thing and run and scream.
#7 Billboards advertising "Fieldstone Homes, free food storage....and a place to put it with the purchase of any home!" Now tell me THAT can be found ANYWHERE else!

It seemed like a good idea at first

So yesterday Hubby and I went for a hike. Without the kids, there didn't seem to be a reason to attend the parade, small carnival or fireworks. We were feeling a bit sorry for ourselves so we decided to spend the day secluded in the mountains. We packed our backpacks will all the necessities plus a few things we didn't think we would need but you never know. One of those items was a raincoat for each of us.
We hiked for three hours up the canyon stopping on occasion to catch our breath or eat something. We were attempting to find a lake that was supposed to be at the top of the canyon. When we got to the top of the canyon, there was a sheer rock face with a beautiful waterfall. We were trying to decide if we were tired enough to turn back or if we wanted to go ahead and keep going over the rocks in hopes that the lake was there. The weather quickly decided for us. We were in a stand of trees when the thunder and lightning started. We turned around and started down. It was apparent we were going to need the raincoats so we stopped and put them on just as the rain started. We kept on traveling keeping an eye out for a rock overhang we could sit under just in case things got worse.
Things got worse. Soon the rain turned to hail. We found a shallow rock overhang that protected us from the ice, but poured water over us and quickly soaked our pants and shoes. We decided that wasn't a good idea and ran down the trail looking for something better. Soon the hail got BIG and I know we have a few bruises from it today. The average ball of ice was the size of a marble but some were bigger. Hubby and I were running as fast as we dared down the now slippery trail. Our poor dog was whining and yelping running as close to us as he could hoping we could protect him from the hail. We never did find anywhere to get out of the weather and just decided to get down the mountain as quickly as possible.
What took us 3 hours to hike on the way up, we traveled in one hour on the way down. 30 minutes of this we were pelted relentlessly with giant hailstones. The rest of the way we were walking through cold, icy slush that had formed on the trail. We ran along side the trail as much as possible but there were places we had no choice. Half way down the mountain we stopped to wash the rocks and mud out of our shoes and for Hubby to wring out his socks. By this time my feet were bleeding from wearing my wet sandals.
When we were almost back to the trailhead, I slipped and muttered a calm "Oh s%#*" as I tumbled head first into a wild rose bush. Hubby gave me a hand and we made our way, wet and cold to the jeep.
What started out as a nice hike turned into a real problem really fast. If we hadn't had our raincoats, we would have been in real trouble.

4th of July

Happy independance day! I hope all of you enjoy celebrating our nations birthday. Stay safe.

Friday Funny

Happy Birthday, America!

Rain rain come again!!

We finally got a rain storm. It only lasted a couple hours but it was wonderful. Bug and I danced in it just to show our joy. What wonderful things are going on in your life today? Even if it is a day where you want to hide under a rock I dare you to tell me one blessing of the day!!

Update on Life

So I've been unexpectedly MIA this last week, and I apologize. The Boy was hospitalized (as Gracie said) but is feeling much better, at home, and doing well. The last day has been playing catch-up, and tonight and tomorrow I'm going to be out of town for a family event.

Hopefully I'm going to have a break on the 4th so that I can enjoy the holiday and celebrate our great country and all the men and women who have fought for it.

If I don't post by then, Happy Fourth of July!

PS> Here's a picture of an old-fashioned cherry pie I made last night!