Life on the High Plains

One of the worst things (and there are many of them) about being 50 is my eyesight.  I can't see close-up things with my contacts or glasses on and I can't see anything in the distance without them.  Recently I had to re-program the heater and as you can see, my glasses ended up on the end of my nose and I needed a flashlight for additional lighting. (Of course Irv thinks this is hilarious, but do you see me laughing at him when he's trying to stretch his arms out long enough to be able to read a menu?) I've been thinking about it for about five or six years and I've decided it is time to have Lasik surgery.  Last week I went for a consultation to see if I was even a candidate for the procedure and I AM!  I had to stop wearing my contacts before I could go back for the comprehensive eye exam that shows the doctor how my eye needs to be sculpted during the surgery.  I go for that exam on Friday which means I am now wearing my glass...

We celebrated Mr. Beans' 10th birthday today, a couple days before his actual birthday.  Mr. Beans wanted a skating party this year so we all went to Skate City. Mr. Beans is sure a handsome little guy.  Of course, it's no longer cool for grammy to give him a kiss in public, but I can call him handsome or maybe even cute on my blog. Pappy is such a good grandpa.  He put on a pair of skates and took several turns around the rink.  Fortunately, he stayed on his feet and didn't break or strain anything. Mom, who has lately been reminding us what a great skater she was in her youth, also put on the skates.  She did pretty good too, although she did admit it wasn't as easy as she remembered.  (By the way, it is "Mom" now, not "Mommy".) The boys had a good time, mostly.  One little boy, the birthday boy, said he would rather be playing video games.  Kind of strange since he's the one who chose a skating party.  Oh well,...

Dana called me last night.  She said a package was going to be delivered to our house today and I was not to open it.  "Why?", I asked.  She said it was a new lens for her camera and she didn't want me to use it.  Hmmmm.   A new lens that would fit my camera.  Why would I want to open that?  Perhaps I should try it out before she gets here in two weeks.  After all, if it is defective wouldn't she rather I take care of exchanging it before she gets here?  Temptations, temptations.... Maybe she would like to trade it for all these Girl Scout cookies.  I bet they don't have thin mints in Australia. Or maybe she'd like to trade it for my new toy.  Yes, I am the proud owner of a new iPad.  No, I didn't buy it myself, it was a gift from a company that I'm taking SharePoint classes through.  I was told that I get to keep it for my personal use, but I'm having conflicting feelings a...

This sweet little boy has been really sick this weekend.  He's had a really high fever and hasn't felt well at all.  Apparently he's not the only sickie in town.  Mary took him to one urgent care this morning that had a six hour wait.  She then tried another place that we have used before and their wait time was less, but they still sent her home and told her to come back in an hour. It turns out Mr. Beans has strep throat.  He's on antibiotics now so I'm sure he'll be feeling better soon. We're all sad when Mr. Beans isn't feeling good.  Hurry up and get better little boy, especially since your birthday party is next Saturday.  Love you!

Perpetual Motion It was such a beautiful day outside today that we decided to take the dogs for a walk after work.  They were so excited that they couldn't be still long enough to have a picture taken. I decided to bring the camera along on the walk so even though it was daylight when we started...  it was dark by the time we got headed home.  I felt the need to stop and take photographs of everything I saw and I tried several new settings on the camera.  Most of them didn't work out, but it was still fun experiementing. The neighbor's horses came up to say "hi".  I don't know what their names are so I'll make up some names for them.  How about Valentino and Cupid in honor of Valentines week? The sun was setting over the mountains.  It was very lovely and relaxing after a stressful day at work.  My favorite shots today were of fences. I especially like this one.  There's something about an...

My new shoe tower This weekend I had to face a truth about myself--I own 78 pairs of shoes.  Shoes had overtaken our closet so Irv offered to put up a closet organizer to hold all my shoes.  To make sure he got the right size I had to count my shoes and to my horror, I had 78 PAIRS of shoes.  Wow!  That is ridicules! Since then I have donated 25 pairs so I'm down to 53 pair of shoes.  That is still ridicules.  Of course this includes 5 pairs of Western boots in various colors, 5 pairs of gym shoes, 3 pairs of hiking boots, and 2 pairs of snow boots.  So you see--it's really not so bad.  Good grief--no more new shoes for me except for the champagne-colored shoes that I need to find to go with my dress for Jillian's wedding.  After that, no more new shoes for at least six months.  The really sad part is that even though I have all these shoes, I can't find my favorite pair of black heels.  I sure hope I didn't leave them in t...

 Ellen ascending to the surface Irv and I went to see Sanctum this afternoon. Sanctum is a James Cameron movie about a group of explorers who get caught in an underground cave in New Guinea during a cyclone. It was an okay movie with a few disturbing scenes especially if you're a scuba diver. In the past Irv has mentioned that he would like to go cave diving, but that is something that has never appealed to me. This movie just reaffirmed my opinion of the things that could happen during a cave dive, I'll never do it. The film was inspired by a similiar experience that a group of divers had at the Nullarbor Plain in Australia twenty years ago.  All those divers got out safely.  Ellen NOT touching part of the reef  The movie reminded me of our trip to the Great Barrier Reef almost two years ago. It was incredibly beautiful. We have some pictures, but they don't come even close to showing the beauty found underwater. I thought I'd share a few of them. It mak...

It's a beautiful morning in Colorado.  As usual, Pikes Peak was looking especially majestic early this morning when I was out feeding the horses.  Notice the lack of snow on the plains. It's a good thing I had a good nights sleep last night.  Jillian, Brian, and I (mostly Jillian and Brian) have to make a ton of decisions today.  The restaurant has a one page checklist we're going over today to decide the menu, the bar options, the decorations, the table arrangement, etc., etc., etc.  After that we're meeting with the musicians to choose the music--processional, bridal march, mid-ceremony, and recessional.  I was supposed to do my homework and listen to all the choices before the meeting.  I guess I'll have to start on that next unless I can find something else to put it off. Then Jillian and I need to go to Hobby Lobby because their wedding stuff is on sale through today.  I dragged Irv there last night and made him stroll through...

I have a serious dilemma on my hands.  JP made an appointment to meet with the caterers Saturday afternoon followed by a meeting with the musicians.  This is all well and good, the wedding is only a hundred or so days away, but...Ree Drummond, aka The Pioneer Woman is going to be in Denver Saturday afternoon at 2:00 for a book signing.  I am a faithful follower of the Pioneer Woman, she has the second best blog ever-- http://thepioneerwoman.com/confessions/ .  (My brother, Yogi, is the number one best blogger.) So maybe I can tell JP I'm sick or have to work and then I can sneak up to Denver.  Just kidding, I'll meet the caterer and musicians with JP, then I'll fly to wherever the Pioneer Woman is for her next book signing--maybe Tulsa or New York or some other great place.  Actually, I'll wait until she's in Miami or Phoenix or some other warm place.

How do you know when the eastern plains of Colorado are in a deep freeze? When Irv puts on the "windchill is 25 below" goggles to go out and feed the horses. How do you know when your man loves you? When he puts on the "windchill is 25 below" goggles and goes out to feed your horses. At least the trough has a new heater so the water isn't frozen.  I wonder how the job market is in Arizona.  I'm pretty sure there's a FC office in Tempe. I have to keep telling myself that it won't be too long until days like this are back.  I love Colorado, I love Colorado, I love Colorado, I love Colorado . . .

Thirty-one years ago tonight I was in labor with my second child.  My labor started not long after we had gone to bed.  We were living in Graham, Washington which is near Tacoma and Ft. Lewis.  My mom had arrived to stay with Dana a few days before.  Irv took me to the hospital and only a couple hours later on February 7th Marian Kristine was born.  She was a large baby, 9 lbs. 10 oz. Here's a photo of her in the hospital.  Notice the very comfortable disposable t-shirt that the hospital provided. Here she is at about a year and half at Astro World in Houston.  Who is that really skinny guy with her? At age four she went to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa in Albuquerque.  This is a snowman that they made. This was her 5th birthday in Killeen, Texas. Skip forward a few years to elementary school.  Don't you love the curls?  I did. This is a rece...

What do you get when you combine these ingredients with a pound of hamburger? Bierock Casserole I have no idea what a Bierock is, but the Kansans I work with in Wichita are always talking about how wonderful they are.  I got a new cook book from the Farm Credit office in Manhattan, Kansas and it had this recipe in it.  I must admit that I was more than a little skeptical about the shredded cabbage in the recipe, I'm not a fan of sauerkraut at all. The recipe was quick and easy and best of all, we couldn't taste the cabbage at all. Here's the recipe if you'd like to give it a try. Bierock Casserole 2 pkgs. refrigerated crescent rolls 1 lb. hamburger 1 bag shredded cabbage 1 can cream of mushroom soup 1 c. shredded cheese (mozzarella or cheddar) Brown hamburger and drain.  Mix in shredded cabbage and cream of mushroom soup with the hamburger.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Spread out 1 package of crescent rolls in bottom of greased 9 x ...

My employer recently investment lots of money in a training program for me to become a Microsoft SharePoint developer.  My first class took place today and will conclude tomorrow.  It's an online, instructor led class which means I have to be connected to a computer for eight hours per day.  Since I work in a cubicle and can't close a door to not be disturbed I suggested to my boss that I participate in the class from home.  Much to my surprise, she agreed!  I was up, dressed, logged on and ready to go by 6:45 this morning.  The instructor lives in Connecticutt so the class hours are based on the Eastern time zone. I've had a little experience with SharePoint, but I am so excited and have so many ideas about how we can use this product to improve productivity in our office.  I just hope I can progress through all the classes I need quickly so I can get started as soon as possible.  I must admit it is really nice to work from home for...

Oops...Jillian's sign did change.  She was a Leo and now she's a Cancer.  Out of the five of us, I am the only one who stayed with the same sign?

Today I was reading an article about the 2011 horoscope change.  Apparently the earth's axis has changed during the last 3,000 years (who knew?) and the Ophiuchus constellation has become part of the zodiac signs.  The Ophiuchus zodiac sign, or serpent holder, is for people born between November 29th and December 17th.  So all the zodiac signs have shifted and displaced people who were comfortable in their familiar signs.  So, if you choose to go with this new zodiac chart here are the new date ranges: I'm a Pisces and my traits are:  Imaginative and sensitive Compassionate and kind Selfless and unworldly Intuitive and sympathetic On the dark side.... Escapist and idealistic Secretive and vague Weak-willed and easily led Capricorn:  Jan. 20-Feb. 16 Aquarius: Feb. 16-March 11 Pisces: March 11-April 18 Aries: April 18-May 13 Taurus: May 13-June 21 Gemini: June 21-July 20 Cancer: July 20-Aug. 10 Leo: Aug. 10-Sept. 16 Virgo:...

-12.2 degrees when we woke up this morning and the wind was blowing like crazy.  My hero, Irv, volunteered to feed the horses, thank God!  Our high today is supposed to get up to zero. I hear there's a blizzard warning in Oklahoma today.  I bet my brother and his wife are thrilled about that.  Maybe my nephew will get a snow day! On a brighter note, Jillian got a new job at a mortgage company.  She starts tomorrow!