Well, for my New Year’s gift, I got my weight down to 149!! My goal was 150.  Also, I got into a size jr8 without forcing the zipper! After my long awaited shower - (sidenote - we are snowed in out here in the “Lost Land” and do not have water most of the time, so showers are few and too far between, laundry is backing up, toilets are flushed less often and the garbage truck and propane truck can’t get here, either) - my husband (who is rarely home from the road on New Year’s Eve) and my friend, N, went out for dinner, dancing and a few drinks. The restrurant we picked, Black Barts Steakhouse and Saloon, has a dinner show… comprised of NAU acting students.  The night’s show was songs from many diff composers. Most of the singers were not bad, the meal was OK and then we left there to go find some fun! (You guessed that I was not impressed with show tunes? right!) We went to The Museum Club in Flagstaff  aka “The Zoo”- established 1931 - I have lived here for 8 yrs and have managed to avoid the place. It was cool inside with many antique items but it is an established country western place. I may make many enemies by stating this - but I am just so not into country music! If it’s not rock and roll of any era, it is just not fun music to me.  The band “Redneck” (N, try not to drool on your keyboard?LOL!) was on that night.  Not a bad band… they even played 2 real rock and roll songs! The part of the night that intrigued me the most, though, was all of the single people looking for single people.  And the guys! Tight pants and cowboy hats! everywhere! I found this hilarious because if they were REAL cowboys, they could NEVER even get on a horse in those pants - you could count the change in their pockets! Here we all are at Black Bart’s- sorry that the flash did not go off….

And to make the year so VERY exciting for me…. my kitty has been missing for 2 weeks. I thought she became some creature’s late night snack. She showed up last night skinny but in good shape. I think she must have gotten caught inside some hideout of hers when we got those 2 bad snow storms and that the snow melted enough yesterday for her to get out. I have really missed her company.

I think she missed me too!

So, Happy New Year to all!

No, that is not Santa early at our house - even though the boys call him that and living with him (most of the time) is like living with Santa.  But it does look like Santa in his work clothes, does’t it?  Last Monday GH got on the roof and put heat tape on the internet dish and the satellite tv dish!  I have waited for this for a long time.  He is usually out on the road and when it snows, we loose internet and tv until either 1-I climb up high enough on a ladder to knock the snow off with a long pole or 2. the snow melts.  We were hit by a snow storm Tues and we still have both signals working!

We have another storm hitting tonight with forecasts of up to 2o inches at our altitude of 7500 feet. 

Yesterday my youngest turned 13 yrs old.  My oldest is 34.  I have always thought that birthdays were to celebrate the birthday person.  But now I think it is not only for that but for the family to take time to think about the passage of time.  I realize now that not only is he getting older but so am I!  It makes me think that I really need to appreciate him and our lives to the fullest.  Soon, he will leave home to make his own life - just as the oldest did.  It was hard to let her go on to her life because  she was my first.  The second was not too bad, but this last one is going to be hard, again, I think.  Soon, I will be “stupid” in his eyes and then suddenly I will be “smart” again in about 5 yrs.  I wonder, as I did with the first one, what and where he will land in the world.  I pray that it is not in war, but if that is the path that he chooses for himself (vs drafted) then I will be there to support his efforts.  I look forward to watching him develope to be the adult that is awaiting inside of him.

Head over to A Rider and A Writer.  She has the BEST soap for her Friday soap giveaway. This week it is Berry Cobbler!  I have a bar and I LOVE it!!

All you have to do to be in the drawing is tell her fragrance of soap that you like!

“As always, the soap is premium quality, rich in glycerin and wonderful for face, hands and body. To win, simply leave a comment, telling me your idea of the perfect soap fragrance (yes, it can be a fragrance blend).”

Good luck everyone

I am planning an online baby shower for a friend and need advice, tips or sources.  She is has just moved nearly 2000 miles from her family but I think that all of her online friends are like an extended family.  She is pregnant with her first baby and we are all so excited for her.  She will need support and so many neat and cool things for her new Tater Tot - that is what she is calling her baby - for now.  I would tell everyone who she is, but will hold off until for now to give her some privacy… all of us who have had a baby (or two or more) know how you loose all rights to privacy from the birth until it is about 18 yrs old!

So, if you have done an online baby shower or know of any info, please, pass it on to me, OK?

Thanks

This has been a court-filled week and it is only Wed!  A family that we are very good friends with had their formal adoption proceedings on Monday.  This is their 3rd set of siblings that they have adopted.  This pair are twin bro and sis - my son is best friends with the boy.  It was a very joyful morning.  The kids got permanent parents and family AND new last and first names. 

Today I was in court with a very good and loved friend to be a witness in her divorce proceedings.  As it turned out, I was not needed as a witness so I got to watch.  I LOVE court!!  Years ago I was going after a degree in law but dropped out to keep a threatened pregnancy - and never got back to finish.  All went well for my friend today - she was beautiful, confident and awesome!

Then, on the way home, I saw that Flagstaff’s gas FINALLY got below 2.00 per gallon! Most awesome! Yesterday when I was in Flagstaff gas was 2.09.  I remember when….. gas was only .25 a gallon!!

I hope you all have the very best Thanksgiving!

We made it!!

Well, this has been a very busy week!  Three days in Vegas, GH coming home after being on the road for 6 months (lots of cleaning and cooking in prep for his home coming!), and his lobogunz business has been slammed since Obama’s election (I am the photographer, shipper, bookkeeper and NICS checker).  Also, I have been trying to spend more time with the horses and kids.

N and I had a very good time in Vegas… thank you so much to her dad!  He made it a very special weekend.  I met his wife, too.  It is good to be with people who are happy

We stayed at the Excalibur - the cute hotel in the middle that looks like Disneyland.

The first night we all went to see Cirque du Soleil, Ka.  (No camera allowed)  This sort of entertainment was all new to me and I LOVED it!  N and I got all dressed up for the event - which was an event in itself for me!  I rarely get dressed like this.

After the show, I had a “meeting” with Elvis!

The second night, we went to see the water show at the Bellagio.  I love watching the fountains dance with the music!

Then we got a double decker shuttle bus to go to the Freemont Street Experience to watch the Queen tribute.

This is just a still photo…

the video that I took is too jumpy to post.. I was dancing instead of holding the camera steady.  Here is a YouTube one.

A showgirl and me

Live bands!

The new overpass for Hoover Dam

On our way home, we went over the Hoover Dam.  Maybe someday they will be done with the overpass!  This seems to be the only section not finished, yet.

Hoover Dam

We never did do any gambling on the tables or with the machines.  But we took lots of showers (we both have cisterns in the ground and limited water for the week.  We had a few drinks… ok, she had a few - I had almost too many!  We shopped for souvenirs, walked and walked, and slept good every night.

Thank you, N, for inviting me and Thank you to her dad, too!

Tomorrow morning, A Writer and A Rider and I leave in my car for Las Vegas!  We will be gone until Sunday evening.  Her awesome dad is treating us to an all expense paid vacation!  I am so excited :-)  We will be staying at the Excalibur and going to see Cirque du Soleil, “Kà”,  which combines acrobatic performances, martial arts and pyrotechnics.  N and I will be going to the spa, too.  And we will do as much “tourist” stuff as we can handle.  “See” you when I get back with some pics of us having fun!  I am not much of a gambler… just some machines, even though I do know how to play 21 and poker (I used to be a Texas Holdem Dealer for a short time).  I do not have a “poker face” - I am like an open book and all but an idiot knows that I have a good hand or a bad hand!  But wish us luck - at cards or finding the fun in Vegas.

CommentLuv is having a great contest… a winner a day! And my blog and I have entered.  witchypoo has already won - congrats to her! This is all you have to do to be entered to win -

What are my sites visitor’s requirements to win?
They must be registered at CommentLuv.com and have their site url registered and verified.
They must also have a profile description entered at CommentLuv.com.
They cannot spam.
They do not need to have CommentLuv installed on their own site. It would be nice if they make a post about winning the prize on their site and link back to the site where they won the prize (your blog, not commentluv.com)

Visit http://www.commentluv.com/contest/ for all the details

Yes, this my 100th post… don’t know if that is suppose to mean something, or not.

It started to snow about an hour ago.  This is what is looked like about 45 minutes into the storm.  And according to the Weather Channel’s radar, it is going to do this all night.

Since I started to write this, upload and post the pics, the ground is covered white and getting deeper… can’t wait til morning!

And don’t forget to go to A Writer and A Rider to leave a comment telling her what your favorite fall memory is so that you can win a free bar of glycerin handmade soap!