Decorating Yooper Style and My First On-line Tut!

I read several blogs by Mommy bloggers.  They make a little money blogging, which is cool, and they write ebooks, which is also cool.  I love reading the Mormon Mommy blogs.  It's nice to know that there are still folks out there living their faith, no matter which one it is. Journaling has always been a part of the LDS tradition, and it's cool that the younger kids have adapted by blogging.  But come on, how many sweet stories, fabulous quilt projects, and to-die-for desserts can I read about?

I read nature blogs.  Mostly by birders and travelers, with some cool botany sites thrown in for good measure.  Most of these are quiet, thoughtful, and serene.  Which is nice.  (But one of my fav's is  Bourbon, Bastards, and Birds.   Yeah, you heard me.  Steve, the ranking self-proclaimed #7  Birder in the world, throws in a healthy dose of total disrespect of all sorts of crap.  I, by the way, am the self-proclaimed World's Laziest Birder.)

I also read lots of quilting blogs.  I really enjoy the ones by people who are just plain ol' folks like me who aren't promoting their latest book or fabric line. Just folks who like to make stuff when they can.

I love my fellow Ranger blogs the bestest.  But we tend to get yelled at about blogging. Go figure.

So bring on the Wacky Moms-who-are-not-the-Mormon-Mommy Bloggers. Like many, they are well educated and for whatever reason, staying home for the child-rearing duration.  And nuts as hell.  Instead of having the 4:00 Betty Ford cocktail to try to stay sane, they are blogging.  Are they ever. Kinda why I do it, but I've also developed a taste for the 4:00 BF cocktail. One of these days, I'll add a few of these folks to my side-bar reading list, if I can remember how to do that.  But you might check out the Under-achievers Guide and People I Want to Punch in the Throat for a taste of what I'm taking about.  They know where you can stick that Elf on the Shelf.  And it ain't the shelf.

So in honor of these nutty women, I present to you my First Tut.  (For those of you reading a blog for the first time, a Tut is a Tutorial.  Please pronounce it Toot in your head.)

Instead of reading something worthwhile, or making delicious and nutritious food for my family, I've been screwing around, trying to give our loverly home that Yooper look. (You do know that the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is called the U.P., eh?  Say that out loud. . . . Yoop, residents of which are called Yoopers.  Everyone who lives in the lower Peninsula is referred to as a Troll, since they live below The Bridge.  Sadly, we are trolls and Yooper-wannabes.)

Da Bridge, eh.

Anywho, this year I'm going with the PoorWhiteTrash look for our winter outdoor decorations.  Okay, not quite true, I'm refining the Yooper look--which includes as much black and red buffalo check as I can find.

A Tut by Ranger Anna

Here's how you, too, can have this great, festive look for your home! Just 5 easy, peasy steps!

Step 1. Say to yourself,  "The front porch looks like shit this year.  Especially the ugly couch thing."

Step 2.  Go to a store and find some buffalo check ribbon. (My heart nearly lept with joy when I saw it!  How pathetic is that?  Or is it more pathetic that someone thought it up?  I bought a ton of it, and didn't even look for coupons.)  Post on Pinterest about your fabulous find!

Blatant shout out to the company that makes this stuff!  God Bless 'em.

Step 3.  Dig your HoAnne's coupons out the the recycle bin and carefully read thru them.

Step 3.  Drive 15 miles to your nearest store only to find that they haven't had any checked polar fleece in the store since August. Buy a whole bolt of red polar fleece and half a bolt of black instead. Use those half-off coupons! Drive home, enjoying a bunch of the festive candy that was staring you in the face in the check-out aisle.  Oh, those devilish merchandisers!

Step 4. Carefully cut the fabric, measuring accurately in your beautiful crafty corner.  Or just slap it on your kid's bed and slice it up.  Carefully fold the fabric and take it to the porch.  Wrap the cushions with the red fleece and create delightful stripes with the black strips.

Step 5.  Voila!  A guaranteed to be fabulous, jaw-dropping Christmas display!  All 15 of the cars that drive down your street each day will love it!  (And check your supply of explanation marks to be sure you have enough to finish!!!)

 

And don't forget to feed your snowman!  He looks tired after being all inflated and proud of himself for several hours last night...poor little guy...maybe the Elf on the Shelf could give him a little something to make the days more bearable!

How's your holiday decorating going?  Mine goes on until Valentine's Day!  I'd have a linky party if I knew what the hell that is! How adorable is that?  Leave me a comment and I'll read it or not!

Yo, Homies!

Dig this:   Dawn of Dawn's Bloggy Blog, posted this from one of her bloggy peeps.

Gizoogle.net.

Freakin' Hi. Lar. E. Os.

When you actually Google it, type in something, anything.  I tried National Park Service, my trusty employer. I got this:

U.S. Nationizzle Park Service - Experience Yo Crazy-Ass Tha Ghetto

www.nps.gov/ - Cached - Similar

Charged wit tha trust of preservin tha natural resourcez of America.



Way too funny!  Now before you show your kids, know that every other word is the f-bomb, and is f-bombing Hi. Lar. E. Ous. 

You can't really search stuff with it, cuz you know, iT's a PAroDy!  You'll just get the spinner-of-death, but give it a whirl anyway, biaches.  Or type in i-ranger.com. You'll see what I'm not writing here.  I drop the f-bomb all the f-bombing time, but I can only type it so many times.  What if my kids ever figure out how to read this?  I yell at them not to use the f-bomb, and DH hates it (such a frickin' prude), but I suppose they could figure it out sometime. DH will probably never figure it out....



So.

Type in Martha Stewart and get this:

Martha Stewart (MarthaStewart) on Twizzle

https://twizzle.com/MarthaStewart - Cached

23 Nov · Martha Stewart ‏@MarthaStewart. There is confusion bout Everydizzle Chicken. Y'all KNOW dat shit, muthafucka! It was started by mah crazy ass n' published by mah crazy ass just like martha stewart Living.



or Grand Old Party (GOP) and get:

Da American Spectator : Grand Oldskool Parties

spectator.org/archives/2012/11/28/grand-old-parties

13 hours ago ... Da Republicans n' Democratz retain they original gangsta character, mo' than a century n' a half afta they founding.



or Mitt Romney and get:

Shit fo' Clitt Romney

Deseret Shit

Clitt Romney, Obizzay To Hook up For Lunch At White Crib Huffington Post - 4 hours ago - 1290 related articles » WASHINGTON -- Prezzy Barack Obizzay will host his wild lil' former polistical rival Mitt Romney fo' a private lunch all up in tha White Crib Thursday, they ... Clitt Romney ta join Prezzy Obizzay fo' White Crib lunch on Thursday Boston.com - 9 hours ago Clitt Romney n' Barack Obizzay ta hook up fo' White Crib lunch Thursday Deseret Shit - 6 hours ago

Okay, okay, just one more for the holidays:

Elf on tha Shelf > Bout Our Asses > Da Tradition

www.elfontheshelf.com/BoutUs/TheTradition.aspx - Cached

Da Elf Tradition. I aint talkin' bout chicken n' gravy biatch yo. Have yo ass ever wondered how tha fuck Santa knows whoz ass is naughty n' whoz ass is nice, biatch? Da Elf on tha Shelf�: A Christmas Tradizzle is tha straight-up special ...



I really should go do something vaguely useful....... been playing here way toooo long, homies! 


Oh, wait, really.... just one more......Gizoogle your college, mofo! 


 

More November Nuttiness

It's the most wonderful time of the year!  Our November is as busy as predicted--but knowing that it will be like this makes it tolerable.  We've had a couple of monkey wrenches thrown our way, too, what a surprise.

Wrench #1 is that in order for the boys to get jobs thru VBR, we have to contract with yet another company who are the actual providers of humans who help out.  So last Tuesday, we "had" to attend an "open house" to meet with these providers.  The "counselor" from VBR said we "had to choose a provider before leaving."  Well, I don't think so, sister.  We did, but only because I'm too damn tired to fight the system any more.  And the system is screwed up, trust me.  So now that we've done all this crap with VBR, we do it all over again with "Capabilities."  My final criteria for picking a company?  They were the closest.  I don't know why VBR actually believed we could make informed decisions standing around in a HS gym after 1 minute discussions, but there it is.  Crap.  I don't know when "Cap" will call, but it will be yet another pain.

But here's my real concern.  FTD is content to stay at home, in his room with his computer and video games.  He doesn't want lots of stuff.  In fact, he really doesn't want anything or want for anything.  So why oh why are we forcing him to get a crappy job he doesn't want to earn money he doesn't need or want? A job where he will likely be treated like the Village Idiot at that?  Why do we go thru the hoops and hassles?  The job he's going to get will suck up a job that someone else might actually want and/or need.  Why spend the extra tax dollars so he can go be miserable? So why do I bang my head in the wall to force him to work?  Why am I trying to force my Protestant work ethic down his throat, only to have him barf it back up?  He's content here.  He's found his bliss.  How many of the rest of us can say that?  Maybe he'll outgrow this phase and develop some wants. He'll never be able to support himself, and again, I thank you all for paying your taxes to help him out, so why are we doing this now?

Monkey Wrench #2.  Then let's throw this into the family mix.

BIL and 4/5s of his offspring.

My Sis's hubby is very, very ill.  Not terminally, but this isn't something from which he'll recover, but he will hopefully be able to manage.  His kids are worried about both him and my Sis, but they don't know what to do or even to say.  There's no book of instructions that comes with your parents.  We've been thru this with our own parents, so fortunately we sorta have a handle on it.  My sis and bro and I certainly had no 'expereince' when our folks passed.  I hope we can help the kids get thru this, and hope we have a longer rather than a shorter time.  I do know that we got thru it with the excellent help of Hospice of NW Ohio.  To this day, I still can say that Hospice saved my Mother's life.  True dat.

Well, how's that for downers?



Now for some uppers.
 
First, DD's train club exhibit at the Toledo Zoo is up and running.  I'll do a whole post on that later.

Next, BadAmy participated in Toledo's {first} Indie-Mart yesterday.  (It's a craft show, but for the hipsters in town.)  She sold a lotta yarn, but not all of it, so start checking her Etsy shop for updates.  Our little Village of Whitehouse also had an Artist's Show and Sale yesterday.  Two of my favorite potters-who-are-not-my-daughter were there, along with several other "traditional" artists. And a certain young man put in his annual appearance as Santa.  It was a wonderfully warm, Indian summer day, so very few people were up for Santa, cute as he may be.

Santa lost 40 pounds since last Christmas!  Good for him!

And for one more upper, today is my birthday.  I finally convinced my DH that I really and truly don't like surprises.  I only buy stuff I really, really like.  Since we don't have kids who will want this stuff when I kick the bucket, I'm trying not to accumulate stuff I don't love/actually need.  Well, okay, I've got way too many Christmas decorations... but I like to play with my toys.  (And everyone knows fabric doesn't count. I also have a rag quilt done for a Christmas present, just need to start snipping the hems. More on that later.)  But anywho, we got a new faucet for the kitchen sink. After 18 years here in the 'new' house, stuff is starting to break. And tomorrow the tile guy will be here to start working on the tub surround for the whirlpool tub.  That small, little bathroom will end up being the most expensive place in the house.  And I usually don't let anyone in there. (BadAmy and I refer to it as the Girls' Bathroom, aka, the not skanky-used-by-boys one.)  Okay, this hasn't been my best move, but I'm going with the 'resale value' thing, not the 'greedy, materialistic, I coulda spent my money better' thing.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Not quite this one, but close. And soooooo close to finally being done.  After 18 years, we'll finally be able to use the whirlpool tub!

If it's done by Thanksgiving, maybe I'll let the family take whirlpools. . . but only if they agree to use the same water!!!  Ha!  Toss in a little chlorine and it's like the hot tub at the motel. . . . .

I hope Thanksgiving Day finds you with loved ones, in a warm and cozy place, with wonderful food and fellowship.  We'll be eating at 5, and I'll set a place for you.  Peace and blessings to you and yours!

Who is Ranger Anna?

Okay, I'll play.

I've been reading a couple-a blogs where the blogger lets the bloggees know a little bit more about herself.  And since I've got no original or even vaguely interesting thoughts or projects right now, here goes.

Sitting on a dock in the bay..... okay, it was really a boat in a fjord.  I have a ski-slope for a chin.  

1. I'm a mid-western girl thru and thru. Actually, I'm really a Great Lakes girl.  I totally wrap myself in the sturdy mid-western values (think Prairie Home Companion here), and I need my Big Water Fix on a regular basis.  If you haven't stood on the shores of a Great Lake, you haven't been in touch with the 75 percent of you that is water.

Did you know that the Mighty Maumee River is the largest watershed of any of the Great Lakes?  Now ya do.

I'm Heinz 57 American.   My Dad was born and raised in Toledo, and his Mom was from West-by-God.  His Dad's roots remain a mystery, despite my Sis and BIL working their fingers to the bone trying to find something about the guy. Zip. Zilch. Nada.  And since he worked for the B&O Railroad, there should be records, but there ain't.  Hmmmmm...... WITSEC?

My Mom was born and raised on an island in the Tampa Bay.  Did you hear my use my Florida accent when I said that?  She was a very head-strong and determined young lady, which explains a lot about me.  Did I ever write about my 'rents WWII work?  Remind me to do that next week, if I didn't already write about it.  Anywho, I spent my first and only vacations as kid on the beach at Indian Rocks, Fla.  So I have a hefty amount of salt-water in my veins, too.  Oh, wait a minute..... Well, you get my drift.

Terra Ciea use-ta be a real island.  Not no more.

2.  I'm a mom.  Dang that's hard work.  I have the world's greatest step-daughter.  A mere technicality in my opinion, since she lived with her Dad and then her Dad and me for the majority of her growing up years.  I think of her as my daughter. We had rocky times (due to the insanity of her birth mother), but now we be bffs.  Yea.  See side bar for cutest pic evah of her and my darling SIL.

I have two sons.  Both adopted.  Both have autism.  I write about them a lot.  Things are very, very rocky with one of them right now, which has me plunged back into that perpetual state of grief where parents of kids with special needs always live.  I've said before that it never goes away, cuz it don't. See sidebar for pics of Thing One and Thing Two.

3.  I'm a wife.  Hardest job ever.  Sharing your life with someone opens you up for all sorts of stuff--the good, the bad, and the ugly.  My DH is 14 years older than me.  I fell in love with the big jerk before I figured this out, and by then it was too late.   But who can resist a guy in uniform?  It was dang near love at first phone call.  See side bar for DH doing his thang.  He's silly.  A 72 year old fart, masquerading as a 12 year old.  Oh, and he's lost 40 lbs since that pic was taken.  I'm so proud of him!  Sadly, I found most of that poundage.  Damn this middle-aged business!!

3.  I have two useless Master's Degrees.  I earned them in 2 years.  Yep, over-achiever all the way.  See note about my Mom.  I went to a small, Presbyterian liberal arts college called Alma College.  I may be unemployed, but I can take on any topic at a cocktail party.  I loved Alma.  Still do.  If anything horrid were to happen to my DH, I'd move back to AC in a heart beat.

My B.A. is Environmental Education~~Majors in Nat. Sci (a group major so I had to take 2 more classes than a plain 'ol major) and El. Ed, and minors in Sociology and 2ndary Ed..  See note about my Mom.

4.  I love to organize stuff.  Big events.  The bigger the better.  Just do what I tell you to do, and it will work out fine is my organizing philosophy.  Committees usually suck (which is blasphemous for a Presbyterian to say, we invented the evil things.  Sort of a self-abuse thing we do),  so I try to avoid them at all costs.  By the by, my next really Big Event is Whitehouse Winterfest in Feb.. Oh, yeah, you'll be hearing a lot about that.

5.  Crap.  Can't think of anything else.  Oh, yeah, there is that ranger business, but I'm not s'posed to write about that.  Hells bells.

I'm so freakin' iconographic.

Well, there you have it.  And last but not least, I'm the World's Laziest Birder.

You're it.

Thankfully November

I love November.  I love it so much I was born in November.  Good planning on my part, eh?  Then my first niece was due on my birthday, but decided to have her own, so her big day is 10 days after mine.

Sally Seam Rip-her with her Pi clock.  Yep, a math geek. And she looks more like me than her Mom, my Sister.

 Then I fell in love with a guy whose birthday is in November.

DH with our grand-nephew who isn't crying.  DH usually puts most babies into screaming fits. This was a first.

 One of my grand nieces, Miss D, was born on my birthday.  Took her a while to grasp the part about we "share" a birthday.

Miss D is pretty much camera shy.  This is one of the few pics I have of her.  She's in the red, on the receiving end of a hug.

Yep, I love November.

Not November, but Oct. 31, 2011.  The only Trick-or-treaters we've ever had.  Sally and her sister Shay, with their kids.  Sally is holding Shay's older son, Lil'Ripper is in the middle, and Shay has her younger giraffe, er son.

If you're one of my fb peeps, you know that every day in November, I (along with lots of other folks) post at least one thing a day for which we are thankful.  Despite all the pains in the buns that come from having kids with special needs, we still have much to be thankful for.  And I count you among them. 

In other news, DD's class was here yesterday and had a nice time.  His trains were a big hit, as usual.  And our Girl's night was loverly, too.  I wish I had a Friday night that we could get together, but that won't happen for a while, because it's time for. . . .

Swanton Area Railroad and Model Club, six track O gauge layout.

Toledo Zoo~~Natural History Museum, turned train station.

DD 3 or 4 years ago.  My little guy.

. . . trains.  Lots and lots of model trains.  This group has been one of DD's fav's and I'd go almost so far as to say, a savior for him.  They accept him as their own.  We all need a group like that.

Anywho, this year the Club will be doing multiple layouts again.  We'll do O-gauge at the Zoo, beginning next Sunday when we haul the modules in, then spend the next 4 days putting up the houses and stuff, and the annual painting of the fence. This display stays up for 8 weeks, and we run trains every night from 4 to 9 or 4 to 10.  Our family covers Tuesdays.

While this is going on, we set up the the Homesprung Holidays at Wildwood Preserve.  That runs for 10 days, from 10 until 8 or 9.

But wait!  There's more!  The HO division (smaller trains = Half O gauge, get it, HO) will set up their stuff for two separate one-day shows in Swanton, and then at the Children's Wonderland in Sylvania, Ohio.  This is the first time to run there.  It's open from around 11 to 8 or something and runs for a couple of weeks, so DD and I will take 2 afternoon shifts.  I already let this teacher know that he'll be 'working' for at least 4 days in the next two months.  One of the other club members will sign his work-study papers, so he won't be counted as absent, we hope.  (It's not like we care about that, though.)

I've been going thru my toys to see what I'll use for my modules this year.  Probably pretty much the same as the past two years, I think.  We'll see.

So to make a short story long, November is a fun month for us.  Yep, the weather usually sucks, like today when it's cold, nasty, and dreary and the days are the shortest, but for us, it's our uber-busy, holiday month.  In December we sit back and enjoy the views, old movies, and family and friends. And resting is what January is for.   Oh.  And of course starting two new quilting block-of-the-month clubs! 

Party Time

I've been home for 3 weeks and have managed to get 99.9% of the summer crap stashed away.  I won't let myself do any of the fun stuff, like sew, hike for no reason, play with trains, or throw a cocktail party for the girls until the junk is under control.  So now it is, so this Thursday will be Cocktails with the Girls night.  Since most of my friends are either still working and/or caring for the 'rents and/or grandkids, and/or they have real lives, it'll just be a few of us, and I hope you're one of the girls!  Sorry fellas, but next time it'll be for boys and girls.

The real reason I'm having some friends over is because I have to clean the house anyways... DD's class is coming over on Saturday for an outing.  All of the kids in his class have special needs, and few of them have any clue how to behave in social situations.  As parents, we tend not to take our kids to parties because some fracas involving our kids always breaks out.  Subsequently, they often lack anything approaching 'guest' skills.  So we throw a monthly event to try to teach them some, but most importantly, we do it so they can act goofy and nobody cares.  Being stared at in public because your kids are nutty is a pain in the ass.  So we don't go out much.


Anywho, I turned to my dear friend Martha S. for some party ideas. For the kids. . .

Shrunked Apple Heads in cider for the kids.  Easy to make: peel, core, and halve the apples.  Carve faces. Bake at 250 for 90 minutes. Cloves for eyeballs.

 For the girls on Thurs, we'll have this:

Ingredients

• Fine black sanding sugar
• 1 lady apple, chopped
• 1/2 lime, cut into wedges
• 1 ounce maple syrup
• 1 ounce apple cider
• 2 ounces vodka
• Ice
• Club soda
• 1 thin crosswise slice lady apple, for garnish

Directions

1. Moisten the rim of a martini glass with water. Place sanding sugar in a saucer and dip rim of glass in sanding sugar to coat; set aside.
   
2. In a cocktail shaker, muddle together apple cubes and lime wedges. Add syrup, cider, and vodka; fill with ice. Cover and shake until well combined. Strain into prepared martini glass; top with club soda. Garnish with apple slice and serve.
   

 and this:

Nearly any drink, just add ice cubes made with black food coloring....... gunna have to hit the gourmet kitchen shop today, too bad for me.....

I made the Cider Cocktail last night for practice. My oh my oh my.... I loves my sweet drinks and this one is now my fav.......It's so sweet that I could get seriously tanked on this one.... at least I don't have to drive home on Thursday, which is yet another reason to be the hostess....



Other news is that I'm hoping all of you East Coasters are safe and sound, and high and dry.  My Mom grew up on an island in Tampa Bay, and loved when the 'canes rolled in because everyone gathered at the fruit packing warehouse to ride out the storms.  She recalled these times as big parties.  I'm wondering how my Grandpa felt the year a storm completely soaked the island (Terra Ceia) in salt water and ruined his farm.  They had to move to the mainland after that one.

We'll just get strong winds here in Ohio... so far (Monday morning) we're just at sustained 15 mph winds, which is not at all unusual.  We'll run over to the the Lake Erie shore either this afternoon or tomorrow morning to see the waves crash in.  Lake Erie is so shallow that when the wind blows, especially from east to the west, it pushes all the water up.  Fun to watch! And safe, too.

FTD on the Lake Erie Shore on a nice quiet spring day.  He loves to be by himself.  This is one of the few times that he's content.

Again, thanks for wasting your valuable time reading along with me.  I've been catching up on your blogs now that I have time, and have missed your virtual company.  Nice to be back together.

On a More Serious Note

Well, here it is.  I was told this summer to be careful of what I say on FB and in my blog.  I pulled all the posts related to my work life, all the while assuming I had some Constitutional rights regarding what I write about.  I've read them over and have put them back up, with the exception of the ones I called my Seasonal Survival Guide. (Interesting that those generated lots and lots of comments and interest......)

Anywho, last summer (2011) I read lots of books by and for birders.  Sort of a theme for the summer.

This summer, I read a dozen or so Ranger memoires.  There are lots of rangers who are recently retired who have taken pen to paper.  Apparently, you can publish a book about rangering with no problems, but blogging about rangering is worrisome.  Go figure.

Here's one I missed.  Gunna have to try to find a copy.

The Classic.

So again, if you didn't read the small and snarkey fine print over on the right side of the blog, here 'tis again.  Nothing you read here is the work of anyone but myself.  All opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.  Not my employer's.  Not my family's.  Not nobody but little ol' me.

Ridiculous Post

Here's some pics for a fellow and also errant blogger--such as myself.  He blogs at Birds From Behind since he has such a marvelous collection of bird butz pics, or as we in the biz call it, the tourist end of the critters.

On our way back from YNP this fall, we got to see a couple of huge creatures and just to keep Dave happy, we got some good butz pics.  Enjoy......?

World's Biggest Sandhill Crane, North Dakota!

World's Biggest Sandhill Crane Butt.

Watch where you step.....

World's Biggest Turkey, Minnesota

Watch where you stand.....

Not the World's Biggest Babe the Big Blue Ox, but a darn big butt anyway! Bemidji, MN.

She's Back . . .

I'm back home in Ohio, and will hopefully have time to write again.  Mostly I'll enjoy reading about your adventures.  And I've got to figure out if I need my laptop for this or if I can do it somewhat painlessly from my new toy--an IPad.  Let's stay in touch.

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!