Life on the High Plains

I get to extend my Christmas vacation by a couple days...sort of. I'm taking a two day online SharePoint class.  I'm kind of a SharePoint geek.  Love it!  I'm having a real hard time getting my co-workers to love it also.  I don't think they like to change to tools that are new and more efficient.  I'm going to keep working on them though. It runs from 7:00 to 3:00 today and tomorrow.  My brother, Bob, flew home this morning.  The Aussie boys, Adam and Lucas, went to Breckenridge for a couple days of skiing.  So I'm home with my Dad and Dana. You may think I'm playing hookie, but I am required to attend and participate in class, plus I need to have a certificate of completion to present to my boss. So I'm sitting in my office with my headphones on and two computers and iPad running being a good student.  I have time to blog while I wait for the few non-technical students to catch up with the rest of us.. (Ugh!)  There's at least ...

Another Christmas has come and gone. We were very lucky because Santa once again stopped at our place and left a present or two for everyone. Irv had to work, but the Command Center went on unclassified status for a few minutes so families could visit.  I learned that I should never complain about my small cublicle at work because Irv literally sits elbow-to-elbow with his co-workers.  Unfortunately, they don't allow cameras so I don't have pictures for the blog. We had a marathon gift unwrapping session followed by a wonderful dinner.  The girls pitched in and helped, but it was still an overwhelming amount of work.  I'm feeling exhausted today which is compounded because I'm coming down with a cold too.  Next year I'm going on a cruise so someone else can do all the work. I'm thankful to have a day off today to rest and go see War Horse (any movie that stars a horse has to be worth seeing!) I think a nap sounds really good too. As ...

My favorite grandson, Mr. Beans, and I are hanging out at the airport this afternoon. Waiting for Uncle Bob and Dana and Adam. Eating cheese curds and drinking Dr. Pepper. A perfect December afternoon!

Dana and Adam are vacationing in New York City before they come here for Christmas. Adam called to talk to Irv early Saturday morning.  I'm sure he thinks we are the nuttiest people ever because we were asleep when he called and I initially didn't recognize who he was before I handed the phone to Irv.  Irv was a little dumbfounded by what Adam called to ask him and his responses to Adam were a little incoherent. (Sorry Adam.  I wish we could replay that whole call.) Anyway, Adam called to ask for Dana's hand in marriage! Irv and I have been waiting and waiting for Dana to call and tell us--I couldn't tell anyone, not even Mary and Jillian (although I did tell a few co-workers).  I've been about to bust at the seams. Last night on top of Rockefeller Center Adam popped the question and Dana said YES!  Thank goodness. Adam, now known as Mr. Romantic, wins the prize for making a girl's dream come true.  Not only did he surprise Dana in a spectacular se...

Way back in July I started having pain in my right side that eventually resulted in having surgery to remove my gall bladder. I wish that were the end of the story.  Within a couple days of my surgery I knew I was still having the same pain, but I gave myself a couple months to mend. Unfortunately, the pain is still with me and is about 100 times worse that it was five months ago.  I'm still visiting doctors, being poked and scanned, but they can't find anything. The pain got so bad on Sunday afternoon that Irv dragged me to the ER.  The lab tech that came in to start my IV chuckled as she told me I was her first patient. I chuckled too thinking that she was just kidding.  I was distracted by the doctor while she was inserting a needle into my arm, but the whole while I was feeling like blood was dripping down my arm and tinges of pain in my forearm. When I finally looked over to see what she was doing, she apologized profusely and repeatedly kept sayi...

Irv and I went to a handgun safety class on Friday night. I did something I never thought I'd do...I joined the NRA. I couldn't resist, it was only $10 and I got this really cool hat. I don't know what will happen next...I may become a Republican (some of my favorite people are Republicans--my dad, my brothers, and most of my friends--so I don't mean that in a bad way). Hopefully they'll mail me a sticker that I can put on my truck.  Then I will be an official "redneck".

I know most people have done their holiday baking by now. I've been debating with myself whether or not to have a bunch of sweets around the house while everyone is here.  It seems like we're all a little more health conscious than we used to be, and quite often this stuff doesn't get eaten. Oh well, today I decided we needed to have a little bit of the "good stuff" around. I found this Hershey Kiss Peanut Butter Blossom recipe on Pintrest.  Very Yummy! In one of the ag magazines at work I found a recipe for Peppermint Bark and Fudge. Both were extremely easy to make. Tomorrow I plan to make some good old-fashioned chocolate chip cookies (everyone's favorite) and I'd like to also try the Salted Caramel Cookie recipe that my friend, Emily, has posted on her blog - Trailerhood Aristocrats.   These look like a really good combination of sweet and salty. I think that will be all we have this year.  There will be some candy aroun...

I've marked my calendar...May 20, 2012. We'll be sailing out of Seattle on the Oosterdam headed to Alaska with Irv's parents and Irv's brother and his wife. Think of the great whale shots I can capture while sitting on our verandah. Can't wait! Starting the countdown--5 months + 5 days!

...does it again!  Another miracle win.  This time it won me a little money in Vegas. Actually, he won Irv a little money in Vegas.  $20 is a big bet to me and I wouldn't have done it on my own. He wasn't quite so lucky with his Chiefs. Maybe next week...although it's pretty exciting that the Broncos are now two games ahead in their division. Time to go home tomorrow.  No more staying up until 2:00 a.m. and sleeping until 10:00 a.m.  (Anyone who knows me knows that I'm usually sound asleep by 10:00--there's something about Vegas that keeps me up at night, maybe it's just that I'm on vacation.) I'm can't wait to see all my critters!

It's like being on another planet. There are two things I love about Vegas, the rodeo and Cowboy Christmas.  Cowboy Christmas is a trade show that takes place in three convention centers.  At the Mandalay Bay convention center it's called something else, but it's the same thing. Lots of shopping.  Irv is such a sport, he just follows me around and carries the bags (as long as they're not pink bags). I found lots and lots of gifts for myself.  I know that's not what you're supposed to do this time of year, but I have to take advantage of the shopping while I'm here. This is my favorite find! Why is it that when you become a grandparent you want the whole world to know? We had a fantastic dinner at Tao last night.  My first ever Peking Duck with Pad Thai noodles.  It was wonderful! We got this nice little couple from France to take our picture in front of this waterfall at the Palazzo.  Not sure ...

...I'm all alone and I need you now.  (Lyrics from a Lady A song just in case you didn't know) I'm a little happy that we got to see Lady Antebellum last week. Tickets had been on sale for months and I had been meaning to buy some, but didn't get around to it until about 4:30 p.m. on the day of the concert. We didn't get great seats--we were on the side of the stage and a little to the rear (or as the guy next to me said we had the cheap backstage tickets), but it was still fantastic! See all those people in the center of the arena?  Those were the general admission tickets--no seats, just standing room.  You know you're getting old when you think standing three hours for a concert looks miserable. (I didn't have my good camera with me so the pics are a little grainy due to the lack of light.) Eden's Edge started the night.  How do those girls perform in those heels? Do you think they put them on right before coming on stage and then kic...

This was the temperature when I woke up this morning. -9.2 degrees! Countdown to Vegas:  2 days

My company's Christmas party was last night in Denver.  We had a nice time! Great dinner! Hilarious entertainment! Good time hanging out with friends and co-workers! Don't worry, I didn't overindulge in the consumption of adult beverages since it was a work-related function.  Some people (not to mention any names) had a few shots of tequila and disappeared from the party rather early. I work for an incredible organization.  Not only do they treat us to a fabulous party, they provide everyone with a room at at very nice hotel so we don't have to drive home afterwards. I'm very lucky to work for them! I maybe stayed up a little too late, but it was okay because I got to take a nap with the dogs and cat this afternoon while watching the Broncos game.  Go Tebow! I think the dogs missed me. Irv was a little jealous because none of the critters chose to hang out with him. I'm all refreshed now. It's time to start the countdown to our tri...

On November 18th President Obama quietly signed a Department of Agriculture bill that reinstated the use of federal funds for the inspection of horses headed to slaughter.  A ban on horse slaughter was instituted by Congress in 2006. I'm really torn on this subject.  I am a horse lover so of course I am against horse slaughter, but on the other hand I've seen what the ban has done on the horse industry in the United States. Unwanted horses are turned free or left attended to starve to death.  The value of horses has dropped dramatically.  Horses had to be hauled to either Mexico or Canada to be slaughtered and faced very inhumane environments in addition to harsh traveling conditions. I am a responsible horse owner and I have the means to properly care for my horses.  Perhaps potential horse owners should have to attend a class on what is involved in responsible horse ownership, but before we can do that for horses we should probably have a class on respon...

When we moved into our new house seven years ago we had a lot of white walls.  Two of our three bathrooms had white walls with a border around the top edge. I've pretty much left them alone of the years because I hate painting!  I also hate wallpaper and borders.  What a pain to remove them.  If I ever even mention putting up wallpaper, I hope someone will knock some sense into me! Well, enough white walls.  Time to re-do guest bathroom #1. Here's before... boring, dull, and just plain ugly.  I did find some spray on stuff at Lowes that made removing that border fairly easy. I selected my new color palette from these towels that I bought at Target. I think it turned out rather fabulous. I love these hooks that I found at Hobby Lobby! I re-purposed some artwork. We were supposed to have new flooring installed in this bathroom last week when they were here doing the living and dining rooms, but ...

They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. I can tell you that is true for my sweet hubby. I've never know anyone who is so grateful to have a meal prepared for him.  He thinks everything I cook is wonderful (most everything, anyway).  Since I enjoy cooking and he enjoys eating, we're a perfect match. We didn't have a lot of leftovers from Thanksgiving and last night he ate the last piece of pumpkin pie.  Before he ate that last piece of pie though, he accused someone of breaking into our house and stealing the SECOND to last piece of pie. After searching through the house we determined the only thing missing was a piece of pie.  Thank goodness they didn't take my camera, laptop, or iPad which were all sitting out in the open.  Before eating his piece of pie we had to have a refresher course on how to load and shoot the gun (yes, the one I received for Christmas last year). Now I'm prepared to defend myself against the pie burglar....

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. It was a fun day with family and friends, but we missed those who couldn't be with us. Mary had to work the entire day at the ER. Dana and Adam were in Australia. There were also family dinners in Tulsa and Albuquerque.  (Wish we could be in three places at once.) Mr. Beans made us some beautiful Thanksgiving decorations.  Have you ever seen a cuter grandson? Now it's on to Christmas.  I didn't venture out on Black Friday, but I think I'll go out by myself today to see if there are any good deals left.  Hopefully I won't get trampled, pepper-sprayed, or arrested and hauled off to jail. Happy Holidays!

Before... and After. I'm especially enjoying my new "Paisley Park" area rugs. My world is at peace again (mostly).