Rangering and Sewing . . .

. . . two of my favorite things.

On the rangering front, things are going really well.  Our new staffers are really getting the hang of things, their programs are working well, and all is good.  (Kinda scary, that....!)  My CSI:Madison program is going to be a winner.  I enjoy getting the kids' butts out of the seats, too.  We "explore" the building and try to figure out why it's there, why it looks the way it does, and why they should care.  Here's one of the clues:

On the sewing front, we took my machine up to the repair shop in Bozeman.  DD was ready for a trip to the Big City, so we went with some friends up to stock up enjoy a little down time.

New neighbors at the apartment.

 

So back to sewing, I was working on my BOMs from Craftsy and half of a rubber washer dropped out of the area where the needle piston is located.  Crap.  Hence the trip to BZ.  They called and said it's fixed and I got the lube, oil, filter job on it, too.  I'm hoping to send DD to BZ on the West Yell Foundation Bus to pick it up next week.  This will be interesting.

One of my new blocks, un-squared up, finished before the machine began losing parts.

On the home front, DH should be heading this way in about 12 days.... FTD begins his job on Monday, his caregiver Natasha begins on Tuesday.  DH says she seems competent and FTD seemed to like her.  God, this is weird.......

What a good looking bunch, Draven, K8, Lil' Ripper, Shannie, and Corbin, last Halloween.

Niece Shannie will be here with her two young 'uns for a month and will stay at our house.  That will be fun for all of them.  Nephew Rydie, her big bro, will be hanging at the house, too.  And niece K8 and her son, the Lil' Ripper, have also said they want to hang out there part of the time, too.  So hopefully between Natasha and the family, FTD will have folks around him often enough to keep him healthy and happy.  Cross your fingers for us.

 This week's summer plan is that DH will drive out here by himself (unless someone wants to come with and then fly home), then in mid-August, FTD and my Sis will fly out together, then she'll fly home.  FTD will use ranger K's trailer while he's here, then shortly after that, DH and DD will drive back to Ohio so DD can begin year 6 of high school.  He's very excited to begin there, so I hope he has a better experience than FTD.  Actually, since HS, all of his school experiences have been better.  Odd how the kid will lower academic skills does better in school.....  And then in late September, nearly when I'm finished here, DD and DH will fly back out and the 4 of us will go on our Grand Southwest Adventure 2012.  When DH gets here, we'll get out the ol' maps and make some plans.  So much to see and only a month to see it all.

Another thought on rangering.... this summer I'm reading ranger memoires.  Most of them are from LE's so far, and after this batch o' books, I'll start working on the interps' stories.  Did I ever mention that Rangers are the most likely federal law enforcement officers to be killed or seriously injured on the job?  Scary that.  I'm glad DH got through all 30 of his years safely.

Hope your summer has started off wonderfully!