We Are Involved

As soon as we moved here, Ken wanted to "get involved." He didn't want to settle in, or take any time to get used to the new place. He wanted to meet people, make friends, get involved, etc.  Well, we are involved....almost to the point that we don't have time for ourselves.  However, as much as I would complain, I have to say that he made the right call.  We have made some great friends here, and staying busy keeps us out of trouble (right?).

We celebrated Ken's birthday early.  As usual, his birthday always messes with Valentine's Day.  I always want to make sure that people can come over and not have to choose between celebrations, so we scheduled a small get together at our place on the 7th.  We had a great time, and Kerri and Greg were able to break away from the restaurant early, thanks to Joanne.
 

Ken is preparing to turn 43.  Everyone here was older and teasing that they "remember when" they were 43

Kerri doing the Rabbit Ears

Rod had to get involved with the ears

My favorite was when Rod was "caught"

Of course, Kerri enjoyed her wine, and then she started smacking on Deanna's Greg.  Deanna did not come to his rescue however, and kept egging her on to smack him again.  Ken finally got a whack when he tried to go to Greg's defense.  He will not do that again!

I had been battling a cold for over a week, but I refused to cancel his party.  I loaded up on DayQuil and Echinacea and we had a great time.  I will admit that when everyone went home, I happily fell into bed. 

Sunday was the church Valentine's Pot Luck.  I didn't realize that I had a scheduling conflict until Saturday afternoon, however, but I went ahead and decorated the table as I had signed up to do even though we had a party to go to in its place which was at the same time.

Ken and I laid down to take a nap, but two hours later, we woke up to realize that we had to get moving to the party for Kerri.

This was a surprise party for Kerri.  She and Greg have been really busy getting the restaurant going in town (they own 3 Brothers on Center), and Greg didn't have time to throw a party for Kerri's birthday on January 31st.  So, Joanne Nedens said she would host a surprise party at her place.  The cover story, was that it was a party for Crystal Uffelman before she leaves for her trip.  Unfortunately, Crystal's youngest daughter had a tractor wheel weight fall on her ankle on Saturday, and Abby ended up in surgery to have pins put in.  Luckily, we were all very convincing that Crystal would still want "her" party, and Kerri showed up.  

Ken and I were the first ones there, and then Greg and Kerri showed up.  We happily kept drinking and socializing until Ardis and Deanna showed up with the cake and other surprises.  Kerri kept talking about this great scarf she had found for Crystal for her gift, and we all kept giggling.  Everyone ate appetizers (Joanne is an amazing cook) and drinking, but Kerri wasn't picking up on anything.

Finally, Joanne  had Kerri look at "Crystal's" cake, and Kerri caught on and started laughing.  The party officially began.

We ate Indian Tacos for supper along with all of the trimmings that Joanne prepared.  An Indian Taco is made with their fry bread rather than a tortilla, and all of the toppings you can imagine.  Joanne's fry bread was a sugar based yeast bread rather than the baking powder bread that the Crow use locally, so it was much tastier.  She also showed me to eat the bread with honey which is delicious - and very dangerous to the size of my ass.

The gift that was meant for Crystal.

Shortly after cutting the cake, everyone was ready to go.  The really bad thing about a Sunday party is that people have to work on Monday morning.  I felt really bad that I had to go before helping Joanne clean, but the DayQuil was wearing off, and I was exhausted.  

Monday was a typical Monday.  My students were all a mess - no one ever seems to remember my classroom rules on a Monday, and I have to start over every week with behavior and reteaching how to do basic tasks such as walking to the bathroom.  It's gotten to be very frustrating for me, but it's expected.

Today, I had the day off to go to the Orthopedist.  The first stop, however, was the Big Horn County Sheriff's Department.  I dropped off my application for a Carry Weapon's Permit to Kate, and I had my fingerprints taken. Ken did his on Friday, and he has already been cleared!!  Kate explained that she handles all of the clerical by herself, and she tries to get the Permits done in two weeks, but she asked that we please give her a month to get ours done.  Ken and I were in shock!!  Ken's CCW in California took 363 days to get completed, and mine was 87 days.  Kate is saying that two weeks is normal, but 30 days at the most?!  Yeah, not an issue!!  What's pretty awesome is that we are now "officially" Montana residents. We have been here for 6 months, and we can access all services except resident tuition at the local college/university.  Time sure does fly when you're having fun!

The reason for today's doctor's appointment is that the pain in my shoulder has become unbearable, and the constant numbing of my hand, not sleeping because of pain, etc. has hit my limit.  Unfortunately, my doctor doesn't think it's the shoulder.  He thinks it's my neck since my pain and symptoms aren't normal for the torn rotator cuff.  He also added that my cuff is actually in good condition and has good strength in it.  Holy crap! So rather than having a surgery scheduled with an end in sight to my pain.  I am now waiting for a call to schedule the MRI, and I'm also still fighting with Loma Linda to get a copy of all of my medical records.  

The good thing that came out of today was Ken and I finally figured out how to get lights under the cabinets in the kitchen.  Preparing food was an annoying task - you always had to move to one side so you could get light on what you were doing.  However, after hours (and I seriously mean HOURS) of wandering and looking around Lowe's and then Home Depot, we finally had a plan.  Yay!!  Sadly, I lost out on a lunch out with Ken so we could figure out the lighting issue.

Once home, Ken got to work on the lights.  I would love to state all of the details here for posterity, but I don't understand anything that he did other than drill holes, measure out to place the lights, install the lights and turn on a switch that he installed.  

So, we originally had this as our kitchen counter (minus all of the mess):

And Voila!!  We now have light!!

Yes, Ken is very proud of himself and is strutting around the house looking for praise.  

Now, I am trying to "manage" my pain and find a way to sleep tonight.  Tomorrow is happily Hump Day, and I hope that my new notebook will have me more organized at work and able to tackle anything that comes my way!