Taking in the Mossberg.

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!!

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?

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.

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

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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?