Settled in..... Mostly.

DD and I are pretty well settled in.  There are still a few things I can't locate, and the Hubby has mailed package #1 of Things I Forgot and Don't Want to Purchase New, so that will be nice.

Programs are coming along well.  I purchased a metal briefcase on Ebay for my CSI: Madison program... it will be the hook.  My opening line will be something like, "This brief case was sitting next to the building when we arrived this morning.... what do you think is in it?"  After I work out the bugs, I'll let you know how the kids respond to it.  I'm hoping we can make cultural history more fun and interesting.

I was able to finally get some sewing in today.  I was happily working along on the BOM from Craftsy, watching Downton Abbey on iTunes, when half of a rubber washer dropped out of my machine.  This can't be good.  I'll be heading to Bozeman next week to drop it off at the repair shop.  And the repair guy gets there every other week, so I'll be back then, too.  Drat.

DH might maybe be here by then, too. FTD begins work on June 11, but I haven't heard if his caregiver is lined up yet.  And one of my nieces and her babies will be back in Ohio about that time so she might want to shack up at our house for the duration.  I really need to call the nephew, too, to be sure he's moving in for sure.  Busy busy..... thank goodness for long-distance phones.

It's my lieu day, and I'm back in the office to try to pick up the new schedule.  It wouldn't work on our emails, so I'm hoping I can track down a copy here.  And while I'm doing that, it's time to see if June's BOM is ready yet!

Sorry about the lack of pics, so here's a couple of our neighborhood:

Memorial Day Weekend.... a snowy YNP tradition.

Last summer's neighbor and DD.

More of the locals.

Back in Madison Junction!

DD and I arrived safely and just when we thought we would.  We only had one itty, bitty bit of travel trouble and that was when we drove over the Bozeman Pass.  On a couple of the curves, we came around and the sun was smack dab in our faces~~totally blinding.  Other than those 5 or 10 seconds, everything was a breeze.

The apartment seems empty this year, without DH and FTD.  Sigh.  We're plenty busy, though so it seems okay.  Cooking will be interesting, since DD is really picky.  Hmmm....  getting nutritious food into him will be a challenge, as usual.

Spring, 2010.  This year, no snow in the front, and not much in the back of the apartment, either.

DD and I were up before the crack of dawn this morning, and couldn't get back to sleep so we headed into town.  We've had our breakfast at the Running Bear Pancake House, picked up a few little things we've forgotten, and stocked up the adult beverage cupboard.  We're good to go!

As I've said before, blogging time on my part is infrequent, but I can still see what you all are up to!

Busiest Weekend of the Year.....

. . .  and I'm messing around with the computer.....

This morning, DH and I joined 3 other members of DD's train club to set up our O scale stuff for National Train Day in Toledo, which is tomorrow.  The Heritage Train is here and DD is miserable because we won't take him to see it tonight.  One of the reasons for that is that there's a Train Club business meeting tonight.  Should be pretty short, I hope.

So tomorrow, we get down to the Toledo Terminal Train Station bright and early.  It's a really cool art deco station, by the way.

{{Insert pics here.... oh, Blogspot is having a little hissy and won't load pic for me.....}}

BadAmy and L were married here, and it was a fantastic location for that!

Then DH and DD will stay at the station, and I'll head over to the world class Toledo Museum of Art for the dedication of the Ohio Historical marker, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouting.  There will be blah blah blah speeches, a couple of troops will sing songs, then we'll 're-enact' a photo that was taken of Scouts on the Museum steps.  Cool.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to wear my badge sash.....

Then we troop inside and spend the night in the museum!!!  The last I heard there were 1500 girls and several hundred adults signed up, including yours truly.  This is quite literally a once in a lifetime opportunity.  I'm pretty sure we don't get to sleep in the Cloister or with the mummies....

After staying up most of the night, and sleeping on the floor--something I never do any more--I'll come home and pack the trailer.  Oh, and I'll have to put away the train stuff we got out for the display downtown, too.  We've told friends to come over Sunday after 4 for a BYOEverything cookout.

I will hopefully sleep like a log Sunday night, get up Monday morning and send my youngest child off to his last day at the Anthony Wayne High School, go to the ankle doc's at lunch time, pick up said child at school, come home, put suitcase and backpack in the car, and will maybe be able to sleep.....

Tuesday, I put my middle child on the bus at 6:35 a.m.,  and leave sometime after that with youngest for a 4 month sojourn to the west and work.

So I'm sitting around blogging and playing online Scrabble. 

The thing that takes a back seat in the summer is blogging.  I'll be reading yours as often as I can get to a computer, and maybe even once in a while I'll drop you a line.  I'll still be on FB, usually every day, and of course there's the old fashioned method of communication:

Ranger Anna
5 Madison Ranger Station
Yellowstone National Park,  WY  82190

It's been a wonderful ride with you all so far.  Thanks for coming along.

What a Good Dad

National Train Day will be celebrated in Toledo on Saturday, May 5th.  DD lives for this day, the highlight of traindom for him.  Two years ago, he hopped the Amtrak train that visited while they switched the engines to pull out for the evening.  Nothing like have a hobo for a son.

Lately, he's been glued to several train-cams around the country.  One of them is in Chesterton, Indiana and on the line that runs through Swanton, the town just north of us. Both the Capitol Limited and the Lake Shore Limited use this track.

One night during his spring break, he comes barreling into our room around 8 p.m. yelling that the "Bloody Nose" just went through Chesterton!  What the..... ?    

For Amtrak's 40th Anniversary, they re-released several "heritage locomotives," including the Phase I engine, aka the Bloody Nose, due to the red paint on the front of the engine.  Some folks loved the paint job, some hated it, but they all called it the same thing. 

That's the Bloody Nose, on the left, then 4 more heritage units, and the current Amtrak locomotive. Scary that I know this.

Back to our story.  If an Amtrak train goes through Chesterton around 8 p.m. it can only mean it's east bound, and headed to Swanton and Toledo.  DH and I glanced at each other, and we knew there was a trip out to see trains in our future.  Luckily for me, the Good Dad was willing to get out and take DD all the way to the Toledo Union Terminal to see it.

It arrived in Toledo about 20 minutes late, or around 11:30 p.m., but DD was elated.  He snapped a few pictures, yakked with some riders, and came home a very, very happy young man.

If we could all be so easily entertained and amazed.

2 Degrees of Junior Rangerness

Last week, I went with the Green Hats to do some work with a Junior troop in one of my old stomping grounds, Oregon, Ohio.  We lived there from halfway through kindergarten to the end of third grade.  Great teachers, great friends at Clay Elementary School.  It's also where I began my Scout career, 50 years ago, in second grade.

One of the Scouts' last names was familiar to me, because the family (still) owns a fantastic farm stand.  When we were kids, our bus went past the farm every day, and we bought most of our summer produce there.  The farmer's wife was also a teacher at my school.

Seaman Road, Oregon Ohio

I was talking with the child's dad, and mentioned all these things.  Earlier the Scout had told me that she had been to Yellowstone.  As we were talking with Dad, I asked her what she remembered and she said that since they were there last June she could remember a lot!  "Last June?" says I, "did you come to the Junior Ranger Station at Madison?"  The dad said that they had.  She said she earned her Junior Ranger patch, and I asked if she remembered the ranger who signed the paper for her.

"Hmmm,"  says she.  "I don't remember for sure, but I've got my paper right here in my school bag."

It wasn't one of the Mad Crew who signed it, but I was completely blown away by the fact that she loved her patch and paper enough to lug it with her for months.  Wow.

We couldn't really make out the ranger's handwriting, and I know I'm totally guilty of hen-scratching my name.  But seeing how this young lady cherished her stuff, I'm going to make a better effort at legibility.  We all should.

Wildlife Olympics at the Junior Ranger Station.

We clearly connected with this wonderful child.  Let's really connect and write stuff they can read!