Life on the High Plains

Yesterday my Nikon 5000 and I attended a one-day photography class.  Yes, one year after getting my nice camera I finally decided to take it off of "auto" and use some of the many features it has rather than using it as an expensive "point and shoot" camera. I learned all about aperture and F-Stops, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, lighting, exposure compensation, and a lot of other stuff. I also learned that I need another lens. I have two really nice lenses, but the one I want is a 50mm F1.8G fixed lens, the lady sitting next to me in class had that lens and I fell in love with it.  Nobody in Colorado Springs has it in stock right now.  We could have driven up to Denver, but I really should wait until my birthday in March.  (I'm just not very good at waiting though.) I learned so much that my head was spinning on the drive home from the class.  Now, "what did I do to fix that", or "how did I get that affect", "when should the F...

The first show of the season for the Denver Performing Arts Center was Bring It On.  Irv and I are subscribers and this year a co-worker, Kim, bought a seat with us. Irv is working this weekend so he gave up his ticket to Debbie, another co-worker of mine.  Quite frankly, I think Irv was glad he was working so he didn't have to go.  He's okay if it's a "manly" type of show like Jersey Boys, but I don't think he enjoys many of the shows I've dragged him to (although he's always willing to go with me and not complain too much). Anyway, Kim, Debbie, and I made a day of it.  If you go to the matinee performance you have to have lunch beforehand.  It's an unwritten rule. We chose to go to a Mongolian BBQ place, BDs.  It's one of my favorite restaurants in downtown Denver and I was thrilled when Kim said she wanted to go there.  (We're going to take turns picking our lunch spots and yesterday was Kim's turn.) I love to pick my favorit...

Open the Zap Stick Stun Gun that Santa brought you for Christmas and insert the batteries. Turn it on and let him hear how it sounds and see the arch of electricity that runs between the nodes. Then leave it laying around until he picks it up backwards, turns it on, and accidentally almost zaps himself. Silly man!

Mr. Beans had his first basketball game on Tuesday. I had to miss it because the games start right after school and each quarter only lasts eight minutes.  The game was over before I even left work. He's #1 (just like I've always said--my #1 grandson) Here he is guarding or something (sorry, I know very little about b-ball). He was very excited to get his uniform.  (Two schools in the same school district.  One has uniforms and the other only has t-shirts.  How does that happen?) It must have been fun.  Look at that big smile! I'm going to have to take some time off of work so I can watch his games. Good job, Mr. Beans!

While cooking dinner tonight I decided that Irv and I needed a special treat. Raspberry White Chocolate Scones. Mix with 8 tablespoons of REAL butter and 2/3 cup of ice cold water. Shape into a 8-inch round circle. Cut into 12 wedges. Bake. Enjoy! A little piece of heaven that comes in a mix from The Prepared Pantry  (my cousin's company in Idaho). I have just one thing to say....YUM! I'm pretty sure Irv agrees. We enjoyed one (or maybe two) for dessert after dinner. I can't wait to have one for breakfast with a cup of green tea.

Irv and I ventured up to the National Western Stock Show in Denver yesterday.  We met one of my former co-workers from YL, Scott.  It seems likes about two million other people thought yesterday would be a great day for the Stock Show.  It was so crowded we could hardly move and we certainly couldn't wander through and look at things like we would have liked to. We did wander through the stalls and look at some farm animals that were getting ready for the show ring. I know nothing about showing cattle, but I have bathed a horse or two in my lifetime. I think the cattle take way more work, but then there's a lot of money on the line for a winning steer, bull, heifer, etc. at the stock show. With horses we're just used to paying money.  The idea of actually winning some money is totally foreign. These ladies looked quite comfortable. This guy doesn't look so comfortable.  The life of a pampered show animal. We stopped and watched...

Dana and Adam's friend, Lucas, joined us for Christmas again this year.  He is part of our family now and has giving us the tradition of starting our Christmas meal with a shot of vodka. He gave us some very thoughtful Australian gifts including a bottle of Australian Shiraz, a CD of Aussie songs, and my favorite--this Little Green Bag. At first I will admit that I had no clue what the Little Green Bag was.  All I knew is that it smelled wonderful and was filled with these things. Luckily, the wrapper had lots of information on it.  These are natural products including solid shampoo and conditioner, massage bar, and sea vegetable soap.  It also includes a tin for transporting the solid shampoo when you travel and a Furoshiki scarf that the Japanese traditionally used to transport their toiletries to the public baths. I love it!  The shampoo and conditioner leaves my hair so soft. My only question is...Where do I buy this in the U.S.?

Have you ever heard something that really makes you stop and think? On the OWN channel, Oprah has a new series of interviews--Oprah's Next Chapter.  Last week she interviewed Steven Tyler and this week she interviewed the pastor of a mega church in Texas, Joel Osteen. I wasn't familiar with Pastor Osteen before I watched the interview.  He had a lot of good things to say, but one thing that really had a lasting impression on me was something to the effect of "Challenges in life are inevitable, but misery is an option". That is so incredibly true.  In life we have a choice in how we're going to face obstacles.  We can either accept them and move on being grateful for the many blessings God has given us, living life abundantly OR we can focus on the negative and be miserable. Negativity is exhausting. Joel and his wife, Victoria, have a blog .  I think I'll add it to my daily blog reading list.  On another note... I survi...

I've seen the signs at hospitals for Nuclear (or nucular as a former president said) Medicine, but I never really knew what it was. Tomorrow I get to find out. I'm having a test to see how my renal function is doing.  First a CT Scan then a nuclear scan with Lasix washout.  ?????  Today I went to see my favorite doctor Dr. M, my urologist.  The latest theory is that I have a kidney stone thing going on or maybe something else is causing a blockage. I'm not sure if I agree with that, but at this point I'll glady submit to any test that might provide a diagnosis. Dr. M is good.  He's the only doctor I have gone to who takes action and even suggests tests that my other specialists should have ordered.  (I'm not sure my other doctors appreciate his suggestions, but I have great faith in him.) I told him he was my last hope before exploratory surgery. I just have a couple questions. 1.  How is it possible that the hu...

I've been going to school for the last couple years trying to finish up my bachelor's degree.  One class every eight weeks...week after week, month after month, year after year.  I took the last eight weeks off, mainly because the last day of class was Christmas Day.  I didn't really feel like working on a final project the week before Christmas. It was a wonderful break!  So wonderful in fact that I considered not starting back up. Very tempting. But I've only got seven more classes to go. I can do it!  (I don't really want to do it, but I will.) So what's up for the next eight weeks that officially start tomorrow? Java Programming! Doesn't that sound exciting?  I actually kind of like it.  I've already completed my first week's reading and programming assignments. Hopefully I can keep this enthusiasm up for the next seven weeks. Now I can sit back and watch my pitiful Broncos do their best against the Steelers.  (I'm still...

It has become a tradition around our house that someone gets a gun for Christmas.  It's kind of a running joke with our friends from Oz, they have gun control there so they think it's amazing that guns are so readily available in the U.S.   This year it was Mr. Beans' turn.  He got a Crossman 760 pump air rifle/BB gun. Careful Mr. Beans, you'll shoot your eye out!  (A line from our favorite Christmas movie--A Christmas Story) Pappy gave Mr. Beans his first shooting lesson in the backyard (with safety glasses so he wouldn't shoot his eye out). Then Mr. Beans taught Grammy how to shoot. Look at that expert marksmanship! I think he's about ready to take on the never-ending prairie dog population. (Just kidding!)

Have you heard of the new War Horse movie? I waited months for this film to be released.  Any movie that stars a horse has to be worth seeing.  Right? Right! I saw this movie not once, but twice in a one week period.  I went with my dad, brother, Mary and Mr. Beans the day after Christmas.  The theatre was packed. It was awesome! Then Irv wanted to go see it.  Sure!  I'll go again.  And the really sad part is that I cried just as much the second time I saw the film. Why do I love horses so much?  That's obvious --I have the horse gene.  Yes, it's genetic.  Mary and especially Jillian have the horse gene, but Dana was passed by.  (I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.)  My dad has the horse gene, but not my brothers.  My nephew, Super Pizza Boy, is turning into quite a horseman,  He has even won a buckle! So our county extension agent has been working on me lately.  He wants me to sta...

So how did you spend your New Year's Eve? For us, it's a family day.  We aren't really in to going out drinking and being around a lot of other people.  We prefer a day with the world's best grandson, Mr. Beans. We started in the afternoon with a movie, We Bought a Zoo.  Overall, it was a really good movie.  There were several touching scenes and the theme of the movie was perfect (for me anyway).  A recently widowed man moves his two kids out of the city and buys a zoo which needs a lot of work. What could be better than owning your own zoo?  My dream come true!  I've been trying to build my own zoo, but Irv is a little resistant and tells me "no" a lot.  Why can't I have my own zebras, lions, tigers, and bears? My biggest criticism of the movie is that they had to throw in an occasional "bad" word.  Why do they do that with a family film?  Makes no sense! After the movie we decided we wanted some pizza.  We headed over t...