Mama sees everything

Ken and the two older girls went to the Lucerne Valley Action Pistol Shoot this morning. That gave me a couple of hours of total quiet before Jordan woke up. It was very nice, and I enjoyed and savored that quiet.

After Jordan woke up, she was a bundle of energy. I was busy trying to get some stitching done, and she was all over the place. She did eat 3 breakfasts, so I've got an inkling that she is doing some major growing right now.  In fact, she's been a bottomless pit lately, and is eating everything she can get her hands on. 

While I was stitching, I was also watching movies. When I stitch is about the only time I do watch TV. I don't typically enjoy it otherwise. Jordan was not paying attention, so I had to tell her each time that Addie wanted to go outside and then come back inside. At one point, Jordan was trying to do cartwheels down the hallway, and I had to ask her to stop. She came out in the living room and asked how I could possibly know what she was doing when I hadn't moved from my seat. I chuckled and just reminded her that Mama's know everything.  At that point, I asked her to let Addie back in to the house since I had seen her get to the door.

Jordan was AMAZED! After letting Addie back inside, she came over to me and said she had some questions to ask me. I put my needle down and told her to go ahead.

"So, Mama. Do you have eyes all around your head including in the back?"  She turns around and points to the back of her head.

I answered, "Why would you ask that?"

"Because, Ms. Waller said that she doesn't have children, but she's a teacher and she has eagle eyes. Since you're a Mama, you say you can see everything which means you have eyes everywhere!" 

Then, Jordan stopped. She looked at me for a minute, and I could tell that she was thinking. After a few minutes, she seemed to have come to a conclusion and said, "OMG Mama! (and I do mean that she said the letters, OMG.) You're a mother AND a teacher! That means that you have eyes everywhere and they are eagle eyes! No wonder you see and know everything!"

The entire time she was telling me this, her arms were flailing around her body and her head. Her own eyes were bugged wide open and she seemed totally amazed by my apparent abilities. I just laughed and said, "Yes, with Mama being a mother, I have to see and know everything.  As a teacher, I have to see it all very well. Being that I'm both a Mama and a Teacher, I guess you're right."

Jordan sat down on the floor and started talking to Addie (the dog). She whispered to Addie, "Well, I guess I should stop trying to break the rules! She always knows anyway. You'd think I'd learn."

I somehow managed to wait until she left the room and then giggled like a maniac. It was all so funny, and again, I love the way her mind works. I made sure to post about my super abilities on Facebook, and when Ken saw it, I was reminded of the story, and I wanted to get it on the blog as fast as possible.  Talk about a great laugh.

Once Ken was home, he checked the pool, and then the girls went in to cool off. These triple digits are killing us and the humidity is horrible. Ken joined the girls in the pool which gave me some more quiet time in the house to stitch. 

Cooking in this heat has gotten to be unbearable, so I'm using the crock pot a LOT! Tonight, it was roast with potatoes and carrots.

Friends of the NRA Banquet

Last night was the annual Friends of the NRA banquet for our High Desert area. Ken and I started attending a few years ago, and we had fun each year even if we didn't win anything.

This year, because of all the drama at the Gun Club, we weren't sure how it was going to go. The people who had become the larger "issues" were not in attendance, so there were no conflicts that we were aware of. I enjoyed seeing a lot of people I don't see on a regular basis anymore. 

Ken and I cruised around, talked to everyone, looked at the raffle prizes, the interactive tables and the silent auction. We decided against purchasing any of the raffle tickets, but we did put in for the Benelli drawing and the Stoger drawing.  I kept bidding on the Fun Tot'n Mamas purse in the silent auction.

Sadly, not only did I lose the purse at the last minute - literally a minute since a woman jumped up when the one-minute warning was issued and then lined out and jumped the bid by $10. Bummer! We did not get called for the Benelli, and then rather than two draws for the Stoger shotgun, they only drew one and then did a coin toss for the Stoger that I wanted. I was rather ticked off as were a bunch of other people who were told two draws for that table. 

Ken and I consoled ourselves with the fact that we had a night together even though I was horribly tired.

We went straight home and climbed into bed. I finally slept! Yep - the entire night. The hot flashes and other menopausal bullshit is making it difficult for me to endure this heat wave, but since I had been away for a couple nights, it was great to be near Ken and sleep. 

Trap Shooting and Crafts

Ken took Mandy and Jordan with him to the Club for the Quail Forever Trap Shoot this morning.  I charged Mandy to get some pictures of Ken, and she did a pretty good job with the little Nikon camera. It was an incredibly hot day, and I was really surprised that Ken and the girls didn't get home until noon.  

While they were at the Club, Taylor helped me to pack away the Spring decorations in the house, and she did the majority of the work for the June decorations.  She has discovered that cutting out the photos is a major pain in the ass, but she really loved watching me explain how and why I do everything to make the Living Room centerpiece.  The flip flop was a really cool idea even though it seems a bit small compared to the rest that I have made. Taylor really loved that I took a picture of her with the new decoration.

Again, it's not as big and fancy as I have been making in the past, but it is a really cool addition to the other summer decorations.  It was really fun changing out the candle accessories and the  wall hanging. Now, the house is set for Beach Mode.


I had settled in to re-do my stitching for the night, but Ken said that he had talked to Ermanno at the Trap Shoot, and he and Barbara were wanting to come over tonight. Well, I stitched until they got to our place, and we set up for some poker. Before I knew it, we also had Michael, Dave & his wife Jonna and the grandkids over.  

There's nothing better than an impromptu get-together! We played poker and had a great time, and I finally had to cut things short because of an early morning Staff Meeting - but it wasn't until 1 am! It was great to have friends over and be as crazy as we are.  The best part is that Barbara still tries to claim that she's shy.  Yea, right!


At the cigar break, everything went even further in the crazy department. I don't know what it is about the men wanting to touch each other, but they do. Ken could not get enough attention as always, so he was constantly in the thick of things.

I really hated having to get to bed before everyone was done, but I just couldn't justify staying awake any longer and missing the Staff meeting in the morning on the final week of school (thank GOD it's the last week!).


Ken said everyone left at 1:30, so I didn't miss too much.  

Happy Memorial Day!

Today is the day designated to honor those who have served in our military to reflect on their sacrifice and be grateful for the freedom that we have in this beautiful Country.  No matter your race, gender, affiliation, today is a day for everyone, and the girls were the first ones to thank Ken for his service and for willingly sacrificing himself to keep us safe. While we are thankful and lucky to have kept him around, the girls and I remember that we will lose him before we are ready due to the after effects of his Service.


So, today, my Love, we honor you!


Now, most everyone is celebrating the kick-off to summer with BBQ, family, parades, and fun.  We spent the day at our Gun Club for the Family Shoot.  Ken was the RSO for the Pistol Range, and we had a blast just shooting at steel.  Mandy and Jordan were in trouble, so they weren't able to shoot today, but they were able to help out and chat with everyone.

I love our Club! Everyone has a great time, and it's always fun to play with something new. Of course, every time Ken gets to play with something, he has a shopping list since we "just have to have this."  Haha!


Once it started heating up, we cleaned up the range, put all of the steel away, and picked up all of the brass we could find.  It was then time to eat!  The trap range was the location for the BBQ, and there was a TON of food. Everyone had a great time.  If you knew people, you chatted and caught up. If you didn't, you introduced yourself and got to know them so you could talk like old friends.  

The weather was not as bad as it could have and should have been.  The high today was only 87*, and I think it was just reaching the low 80s when we left. We got everything put away, and then I went out back for a beer and a cigar while the girls played on the Xbox and Ken went through emails.  After a while, Ken joined me on the back patio, and we discussed our week's plans, and the plans for the girls when they finish school this week. 




It was a lazy day and a great day to enjoy our family and the wonderful life that we have.

Stress Relief on the Rifle Range

My morning had been completely shitty today.  I was being told about IEPs that happened weeks ago which means that I did not get my job completed on those meetings, I had teachers complaining about how they were still new (after 4 - 6 months) and gee whiz, they were doing their best, but they have an IEP scheduled for this week and could I get to it......on and on and on.  It has gotten to the point that I expect that my school will continue to fail the audits even with the State looking over our shoulders.


I had been roaming around the house ranting and raving about the incredible level of stupid I was having to deal with from some co-workers, and Ken kept reminding me that our friend, Jeff, was on his way out to our place from Redondo Beach to go shooting with us.  I wasn't too excited because Jeff was bringing rifles which is not something I really wanted to do today, but by the time he arrived, I had completely had my fill of Stupid for the day, so I was very happy to go to the Range even if just to watch the guys shoot.  


As always, Ken and Jeff had a TON of gear, and it took them a while to get set up.  We had the range to ourselves when we first arrived, and we actually got to keep the range to ourselves until we were done.  

I loved watching the two of them prep and get ready.  Sadly, I was exhausted from my morning, so I sat down to rest.  Only I can fall asleep on a Rifle Range and not wake up when the shooting starts.  If I could just only do that when I'm at home with the girls!!

Ken convinced me to use his Mini-14 to shoot at the steel which was at 200 yards.  I had a hell of a time doing it the last time with the iron sites, but Ken's new scope was awesome, and I rocked it! I hit the large plate on the left every single time with no problem.  So, Ken challenged me to hit the small plates on the swinger stand.  The first magazine of 5, I managed 3 out of 5.  I was not happy about that, so I reloaded another 5, and I hit 4 times.  By that point, the challenge was on.  Ken kept trying with the Mini, but he couldn't hit the small swinger, so he pulled out the Savage.  When he finally hit twice in a row, he was done with it.  LOL  


Because I am rarely in the pictures, Ken made sure to get me shooting a bit.  I always hate the look of concentration on my face.  It just never looks right to me.  


The best part of the day came when Jeff wanted us to shoot his lever action.  He had some cartridges loaded way down, and I was doing really well with them even at 200 yards.  I was not brave enough to try the "slighter larger loads" that he had, and then it was Ken's turn to shoot.  Jeff and I were busy talking, and I - SADLY - had put my camera away.  Ken went through all of the smaller loads, and then he loaded up the "slightly hotter" ones.  Jeff and I heard the first shot and it was a rather large BOOM, and suddenly, Ken is faltering and he's not shooting anymore.


We look over, and Ken is obviously stunned, and his glasses were completely knocked off his face.  Because we love Ken so much, we start laughing uncontrollably!  Ken spent the rest of the night SWEARING that Jeff didn't tell him those rounds were going to be so hot which just made us laugh harder.  I kept telling Ken that you could hear the "Wink-Wink" when Jeff was saying they were just slightly hotter, but Ken remained firm and said that Jeff did not use the sarcastic font when speaking about them.  Luckily, Ken is a great sport, but Jeff was giggling in a very high pitch when we talked about it that night. 


It definitely turned into a great day! I was able to get relaxed even though I didn't shoot as much as the guys, but I loved hanging out with them and listening to the discussions and banter.  Now, if we could just find a way to get more of our shooting friends to gather at one time....

Poker Night and Women on Target

Our weekend was very busy, but it was a ton of fun. Ken and I arranged for Poker Night at our place on Saturday night, and we had two have two separate tables for poker to accommodate everyone.  By the end of the evening, a few people had left, and poker playing went to the back patio so everyone could enjoy the cigars at the same time. We were up until 2:30 playing poker and having a good time.


I only took a few pictures, but they were great!

Norm and Michael Gallagher hit it off - the two older guys of the night were discussing what were their favorite movies.  I do recall hearing about Shogun, My Darlin' Clementine, and some others.  I was really happy when I recognized The Quiet Man.  Haha!  Notice Ermanno trying to remain polite but laughing, and Grant in the background hasn't even cracked a smile - he's used to his father-in-law!

I have to say, that this picture of Martin Hoover is a favorite of mine.  Everyone was laughing at Norm (Grant's father-in-law), but I captured Martin absolutely caught up in the crap that Norm was talking. Kathy was also laughing at the craziness of that old man....and this was before Norm walked into the patio pole.

This would be Kenny showing off his mad skills.  Of course, it is only an 8 oz beer can, but it was still funny to see.


On Sunday, I helped out at the Gun Club with the Women on Target event.  I was again a chaperone, and I had a great time working with my group of women.  Most of them found me to be crazy, and every one of the ladies had a great time. I was actually forced into the group photo, so I made sure to be in the back so that the participants would get the focus instead of me.  

Sunday, we had temperatures at 95*.  It was insanely hot, and according to Miki, 8 cases of water were consumed that day.  We volunteers had a great time, and I only heard a couple of complaints from the ladies about the short shooting time on the pistol range.  I personally love that we have the banners now and are taking group photos!  It's a couple great additions.

Welcome in March

March finally rolled around, but it's still the weirdest weather.  The winds have started again, but we never know if it's going to be warm or cold.  I enjoyed changing out the decorations in the house to get ready for Spring, and my March centerpiece is for St. Patrick's Day - especially with the party we're planning.

Friday morning, I went to the Club with Ken.  There is a crazy group of guys that to out on Friday mornings, and there's usually some interesting firearms to play with.  Unfortunately, this particular morning found it windy and very cold.  I tested out the new bushing on my 3904, and once I could say yes, Smith did a great job fixing it, I was done.  I should have worn a larger jacket and purchased gloves for this morning's shoot.  Even the men were complaining about the cold, and everyone was done by 10 am rather than the 2 or 3 pm that they normally last.  

Tim, Jeff, Bruce, and all of the guys are truly great.  Ken loves hanging out with them, and getting to try new things and learning about smithing or other loads to try.  I love that they welcome me as the lone woman to their get-together with no problems, and they didn't mind when I totally weenied out due to the cold.  

Later Friday night, Ken and I joined up with Matt Marcellus and his son, Chris, to attend a hockey game in Ontario.  It is not normal for us to go on a Friday, but we bought these tickets separate from our package so we could go with friends.  

Ken and I know Matt from the Gun Club, and he is as crazy as we are. Matt is also a former Marine which gave him and Ken a lot to talk about at first, and then I met Matt at a Women on Target, and Matt helps at almost all of the Women's events.  He's a great guy and a huge teddy bear.  He is also bribing Ken with Bourbon to be the new #1 on "The List."

We had a great time being goofy and enjoying ourselves, but the game was also truly great.  The Ontario Reign kicked Utah's ass 8 - 3. We were in the stands complaining about their slow skating and lack of passing abilities, but they were able to get some amazing goals scored during the game.  On goals # 3, the announcer was half way through with giving the stats on who shot the goal and who made the assist when there was another goal scored.  It was fast paced like that throughout the game, and we left not only having enjoyed hockey with friends, but hoarse from screaming our heads off.  The game lacked any real fighting, but it was still a great game nonetheless.

Because Hooters was giving 5 free wings with ticket stubs, we went to Hooters after the game. Poor Chris was very quiet for most of the night.  I kept telling Ken and Matt that I was afraid I was going to put the kid into therapy.  He kept laughing at Ken and my sparring verbal sarcasm throughout the night which was great, but he did not speak unless you asked him a direct question.  I'm so used to the girls who just won't shut up - it was very different for me to be around a quiet guy.

Saturday afternoon, I went to the house of a former parent who started a jewelry making business.  

Cowgirl Dreams n Horse Bling

Ramona always puts some some really great necklaces that she makes, but I never saw anything that was "me."  I love her talent and her ability to create some great pieces, but everything was always too "blingy" or to cowgirlish, and I'm definitely a beach chick.  However, I saw this piece and LOVED it!  I sent her a message, and told her I really liked it even though she had posted that it sold.  She immediately got back to me that she would create another one similar but still original.  The length was 17" which I felt would be to short for me, so I asked for longer.

I got a piece that was custom-made for me.  Ramona remembered that I wasn't too flashy, so she changed out the separators and made them more plain for me yet still elegant.  The above picture is what I liked.  What follows is the necklace that I actually purchased.

The charms on the end of the necklace rest right at the top of my cleavage.  I am thinking of having the necklace shortened so I can wear it more often and have it shown off completely, but I kinda liked that someone has to get right on it to see everything.  

There are roses between the stones and the all-around flowers towards the top.  Ermanno and his wife Barbara came over for supper and poker Saturday night, and Barbara even commented on the necklace (Ermanno liked it because of there it laid).  It didn't irritate my neck, which I was afraid it would do, and it really set off the outfit that I was wearing.  Again, having something this large and what I would normally say as "garish" is not typically me, but I really enjoyed making the purchase.  I'm going to try it with some different outfits and see what I will do with it - leave it the length it is or have it shortened.

The rest of the evening, as I said, was spent with our friends.  Ken worked on Ermanno's pistol while Barbara got a little toasted and we chatted.  I hadn't seen either of them in a really long time, so it was great to hangout with them again.  After supper, we enjoyed some poker and had a great, goofy, insane time.  We suddenly realized that it was 11 pm, and with the Quail Forever Trap Shoot, we had to send the De Grassi's home for some rest.


I fell asleep immediately upon getting into bed.  Apparently, being out in the cold all day Friday had an impact, and now I have a small cold.  I'm not thrilled about this at all, and I'm hoping to feel better soon because I have so many things I need to get done this week - work is stepping up in the amount of reports that I need to write, and we have Big Bear the following week while the girls are on Spring Break.  I'm not sure how I'm going to get everything done ahead of time, but I'll have to work my ass off this week to make sure I can have fun the following week.

Week flew by

The week went by before I was able to stop and get much done.  Having been out of my office last week, I knew that I would have a lot of work to catch up on, but I was still, sadly, still unable to prepare myself for everything.  


I have also taken on the challenge of Project 365 which is one picture that captures each day, and it's barely February, and I found that I have already missed a day because I was having too much fun!


Valentine's Day was here.  The girls couldn't wait for Ken to get out of bed so they could give him his gift.  They got Ken a travel size of his cologne for his new travel bag.  Ken made a big deal out of the pretty box that he got, and then he was really happy to see the gift itself.  (You can see that Mandy was having a difficult morning, and she was not wanting to participate in happiness again.)

But then, I handed the girls their Valentine's from Ken and myself, and they were all smiles!  I used Heritage Makers to create a unique card for each of the girls, and I created square flip books for each of them.  The sentiment for each book was overall the same, but I made changes to match each of the girls' abilities and talents.  Of course, they loved seeing themselves in a book that reminded them that I love them and why.  

Each of the girls took the books to school with them along with their own HM made Valentine's to share in school.  Jordan and Mandy came home with a ton of Valentine's that they got from their classroom shares, but Taylor was disappointed that she only got a couple.  I tried to explain to Taylor that once the classroom exchange is over, that we only start getting cards from those who are truly our friends.  She is having such a difficult time transitioning from a child to a teenager.  Ken and I have worked with her a lot trying to help her to understand the social changes that have happened and will happen and our hopes is that she won't get caught up in the drama that is already occurring.  

Ken and I made sure to pay the PTO to deliver the girls an added Valentine that day, so they were excited to get an extra card and candy.

During the day, Ken and I went to see a movie, "Safe House" with Denzel Washington.  It was a great movie that kept us on the edge of our seats, and I found myself exhausted at the end of the movie from being tense.  We enjoyed getting out and into the movie theatre rather than waiting for the movie to come out on DVD to see it.  We also laughed to notice that we were the youngest people in the theatre that morning for the Tuesday Discounted day.  Ha!  

After the movie, we enjoyed going out to lunch - Red Robin as usual.  It was nice for us to have some added time together, and despite the fact that it was "Valentine's Day", I was completed absorbed in the fact that Ken makes it Valentine's Day for me every day.  

Interestingly enough, Addie apparently did not feel loved at all this week.  She has been pawing at us to remove our hands from our computers or to get our attention, but she has started taking to sitting on her haunches and putting both paws on us to get our attention and make us take notice of her. I managed to get a picture of her doing the two-paw attention manner.

Surprisingly, we suddenly had snow!  It's mid-February and we got snow.  I was just wearing shorts and flip-flops last week, but I looked out my window and saw it snowing.  I tried to get a good picture, but I couldn't capture the snow actually falling.  The picture I did get only shows what it looked like at the beginning.  We only got 1/2 an inch of snow and it was gone before nightfall.  Thankfully, the girls had school the next day.


On Friday, Ken wanted to go to the Club to shoot and meet up with some friends.  He kept inviting me, but my sense of responsibility kept winning, and I kept trying to get my work done.  I was no closer to getting my Transition reports done than I was on Monday.


However, after having more arguments with some of my co-workers who insist on making my life hell, I gave in and went to the range to literally blow off steam.

I used both of my autos that I had at home.  Ken had altered the grips on the Sig .40 for me, so I finally got to use them, and then I practiced with my Kahr.  My Smith is still at the manufacturer's, so I'm without it, but it was great to get some range time in.  I worked on dominant and non-dominant hand, single shooting at steel.  There was nothing better than hearing the "Ding!" when I hit.  

Ken noticed that I was doing much better with my left hand than my right, and he kept trying to see if I would suddenly shoot better with my dominant hand, but it didn't work out that way.  Apparently, single handed was better with the Left.  

I had fun with the picture and posted it on Facebook.  An old high-school friend of mine saw the picture and started messaging me to get some information for his wife.  They live in Florida, which is gun-friendly, and I offered some advice.  Scott used some funny names for me, and I joked around that they should be on a business card for me.  So, Scott made this card with the names he gave me and some of the information from my Facebook page and sent it to me.  I thought it was so awesome that I posted it on my Facebook page and giggled.

 On Saturday, Ken and I attended the Annual Gun Club banquet.  We were very excited since we had worked to get great raffle prizes donated, etc.  It was also going to be more fun for us this year since we knew so many more people than in the previous years.  


Unfortunately, my pathological picture-taking problem did not occur that night, and I did not take one picture with anyone.  Ugh!!!  I found this picture of the Grumpy Golfer - which is where the banquet is held - and that is the picture to commemorate the Banquet.  Ken teased me at the end of the night when I remembered that I had my small Nikon in my purse and did not use it once.  What good is paying for the cameras if I'm not going to use them??  


Oh well.  Ken and I had a great time visiting and enjoying the company of our friends.  We were disappointed in some of the election results, but all in all, we have hopes that the Club will prosper during the next year.  I only had to buy one drink during the night - the rest were purchased by others, and I just enjoyed myself.
 

Sunday, I spent the day on the couch finishing Jordan's stocking holder.  I cannot believe that this little thing took me so long to stitch.  Of course, working all of the hours that I had, reading 7 books, and dealing with the family have taken more time from me than I want to admit.  I love the feeling of completing a project - it's really nice.  Jordan loved seeing her stocking holder and now cannot WAIT until Christmas so she can use it!


Now, I have to get ready for a whole new work week.  I'm hoping to get some relaxation in while dealing with the crazy schedule that I have and the orneriness of the girls to contend with.  I swear sometimes that they plot and plan how to drive me insane, and they do a very good job.