More cabin stuff

Well, first, I would like to indroduce Jasper's girlfriend Polina! She's a lovely girl from Russia who is going to school at Boise State and getting her Masters degree in Neuro-Biology while teaching Anatomy and Physiology. She's fun to be with and we have enjoyed getting to know her. Jasper brought her to the cabin for the 4th of July and we could not have had a better time.

Here they are at Uncle John's fire pit on the 4th waiting for fireworks.












And on the four-wheeler on the property surrounding our cabin.

Kevin is hard at work while I snap photos...and here are some wild flowers that were so abundant this year.

Oh yeah, and the wild strawberries that you can find if you look hard enough! They are so sweet but you have to find a lot of them to equal one strawberry of normal size.

Yeah! It worked!

My computer is trying to make me believe I'm crazy...like that old movie with that blonde actress where her husband is trying to make her think she's insane so he can get rid of her and be with another woman...so he plays tricks on her like placing an object on the table and waits for her to see it...then he takes it away and when she asks about it, he claims she must be "seeing things" etc...never believes her... Ok, well my computer isn't that sophisticated but it IS trying to make me insane by hiding my pictures and only opening files with numbers instead of pictures...but I was too smart for it! 

I found my pictures in another file named "phone pics" under another heading. Ha Ha Ha. OK, the elk in that picture (if you click on the picture it will get huge and you can get a better look) are babies...can I get an AaaWWWWW? They couldn't follow their mothers over the fence so their "mothers" left them. Just left them for dead...well, they DID come back at the end of the day. But what self-respecting cow does that? It was so cool to see them up close. They hung out in a small stand of trees all day waiting for their mothers. In the evening, the cows came back after going to the spa and generally being selfish while their babies wondered if they would ever see their mama again...yeah it was cute. The mothers called to their babies and the babies answered and came out of the trees and nursed like there was no tomorrow...and who knows with these dumb cows, there may not be.

Busy summer

SO busy in fact, that I haven't had time to post. I tried to post last week when I had a few minutes, but my pictures wouldn't open up in the blog window. I tried a lot of different things but no go. I had a ton of cool pics from the 4th of July at the cabin. I will keep trying though. We had another cool weekend up at the cabin this past weekend also. 

We saw some elk on the property, and I snapped a picture of some of them...the wild strawberries are on up there. I have a pic of them... I'll keep working on the picture angle. I've come to rely on the picture thing because it's so much better to show people what you are talking about than to try to describe things. Or I'm lazy.

More yard work pics...yipee!

Messy

All cleaned up

This is me working on the tree... I know it looks like I'm leaning on a shovel while the guys do all the work but I swear I did some work too!

Jasper's birthday present

So, my son Jasper (practical guy that he is) decided that rather than get a new silk plant or decorative bowl for his condo (my favorite thing to get him), he would like us to work with him in his rental house's yard for a Saturday. Here are some before's and afters. We had a great time actually...even though it rained a ton in the afternoon. The clouds really cooled it off all day.



This tree was my project.

I have to give credit to Jasper for trimming the branches.

A little chainsaw fun and games... What is it about men and chainsaws?

More pictures tomorrow...

Goggle mania

Here's me in a pair of ZANY laser goggles in the OR. We wear them when a laser is being used to prevent eye damage...why else? They totally crack me up.

Turning 50

Well, it had to happen...the day I really owned the fact that I will be turning 50 this November. I was at the company picnic this past Saturday and I sat down with a co-worker to shoot the breeze. She mentioned at one point that she was turning 50 in July. I said, "oh really? my husband is turning 50 in July also". Then I said, "and I am turning 50 in November...no wait, I'm not...I'm 48"...(crickets chirping as she stared at me). Dead silence. Then she said, "what year were you born?" I said "1959". She said, "then you, my dear, are turning 50 this year". You could have knocked me over with a feather. I was so embarrassed that I had once known that I was turning 50 and then FORGOT my age the next instant...like I was in a dream. She just laughed and teased me about my age denial. 

I think I know why this happened though. Last November I was in the middle of finishing school and my birthday was an afterthought for me and everyone else. I think we went to dinner...it's all a blur. So to me, it never happened and I've been 48 this whole year! So anyway, some borrowed reflections on hitting the halfway mark (if I'm lucky enough to live to 100) : To think, when one is no longer young, when one is not yet old, that one is no longer young, that one is not yet old, that is perhaps something. ~ Samuel Beckett Aging seems to be the only available way to live a long life. Daniel Francois Esprit Auber I think when the full horror of being fifty hits you, you should stay home and have a good cry. ~ Alan Bleasdale She was a handsome woman of forty-five and would remain so for many years. ~ Anita Brookner You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. ~ Les Brown To me -- old age is always ten years older than I am. ~ Andre B. Buruch I'm aiming by the time I'm fifty to stop being an adolescent. ~ Wendy Cope At twenty you have many desires which hide the truth, but beyond forty there are only real and fragile truths --your abilities and your failings. ~ Gerard Depardieu One of the most important phases of maturing is that of growth from self-centering to an understanding relationship to others. A person is not mature until he has both an ability and a willingness to see himself as one among others and to do unto those others as he would have them do to him. ~ Harry A. Overstreet And one thought that I borrowed from Jewel, the singer..."in the end, only kindness matters". 

 I have always thought that I would just shrug off getting older, like it was inevitable and that I was logical enough to "handle it" (whatever that means). But when you are hit with the reality that your life is probably more than 1/2 over, it's a freak out. Finishing school and knowing that I will not be going back for any additional schooling, that I am starting a career that I will have for many years to come (again, if I'm lucky) is satisfying but also a weird feeling. Because up until now, I have always thought that I had another hurdle to jump. Having hurdles to jump feels right to me. I like the structure of a line of hurdles. There is no right or left, only forward over the jumps. We'll see how far I take this freak out. Maybe I'll buy a sports car and dye my hair blond. (No I won't, I promise).

Arizona and cabin trips

I went down to Phoenix to visit my sister and my mom a couple of weeks ago. My mom flew in from Salt Lake the day after I got there. We had a lot of fun. One of the highlights was dinner in this revolving restaurant above the Phoenix skyline. We sat and watched the changing scenery and even saw the sunset. We went with a group of my sister's friends who are all very funny and cool.

This picture of me and my sis was taken in the restaurant. It looks like I photo shopped my blog page picture into this one but I totally didn't. You all must think I wear that necklace constantly...like I can't take a picture without it. But I seldom wear that necklace, honest!

We had breakfast at that cool breakfast place that I can't remember the name of and also visited with some of Jeri's kiddos. My mom had plenty of energy and she kept right up with us.

We also did some stuff at Jeri's house like painting some touch-up areas on her livingroom walls and getting some flowers for her outdoor pots...pretty tame stuff but fun. It was over before I knew it and I was back on the plane home.

I caught up with Kevin at the cabin this past Saturday. He took off on Thursday to open it up. Turns out there was a broken pipe but he fixed it like the handy-man that he is and then went fishing!

Chelsie and Michael came with me and we went to West Yellowstone that first evening to goof around. I love that little town. Here they are in a store trying on hats...

We had fun just doing stupid stuff like that.

What else happened...my neice's hubby fixed dutch oven food in a major rain storm, and Kevin shot a squirrel in our basement (totally unrelated events).

Dirt and dust, beautiful views, and the occasional spotting of a cool animal. We saw a bald eagle, a coyote, and some antelope this time. No moose, sadly. Then back in the car! Drive Drive Drive. The end.

Still alive

Yes, i'm still alive and kicking. I'm on a break right now so I thought I'd throw a quick note up here.

Laura's last day with us is today! She takes off for home this afternoon. We will miss her. She's probably glad...driving away she's just so relieved to be OUT OF THERE! What with our crazy "reality tv" habits...

Speaking of which...what an upset! I was totally off. Chris Allen wasn't even on my radar when I posted about a-MER-ican Idol. Just goes to show you...something. I'm glad he won though. He deserves it. He was SO shocked. He kept trying to give the statue back or give it to Adam. You could tell he didn't think he'd get there in a million years.

It's CABIN time! Kevin is already up there. He went up early to make sure we can still get water and that there aren't any bears taking up residence in our house. I head up on Saturday with Chelsie, Michael, and Jasper. Should be fun.

Well, gotta go...p.s. Arizona was fun...tell more later.

Updates

Blog:
Updates:
Chelsie’s house hunting is still underway. The one for 59,000 that we were so excited about was bought with a cash offer that Chelsie couldn’t compete with. But she hasn’t given up. Her and Michael are still out there most weekends looking at fixer uppers of the most extraordinary kind…one such house we all went to take a look at was filled floor to ceiling with junk…little pathways through the house, just like those crazy hoarders you see on Oprah. (Ok I’m exaggerating just a little but it was pretty amazing).

They have put an offer in on one that seems within reach if someone else doesn’t snatch it up, 75,000 for a three-bedroom 1400 sq ft house in a halfway decent neighborhood. It has a full basement and a huge back yard. It looks to be a ton of work, I mean a TON of work. But the upstairs is mostly livable with a few little details like finishing the kitchen remodel that was started and putting in a working bathroom. Other than that, it’s only a matter of a few windows. Oh, and the hole in the ceiling and the leaky area under one wall. But it has a new roof! And this awesome (I mean it) gazabo thing outside built with log poles and a fireplace. So, at best a mixed bag. But it’s an opportunity for growth and learning to say the least, and a hell of a cool house when it’s done to say the most. I’ll post before’s and after’s if they get it.

Pop tarts: Just kidding, I promised no more pop tarts.

Chickens: sadly no chickens yet, but I did see this Dateline special about how these huge chicken farms are polluting America’s waterways and causing “dead zones” in the water where fish and plants can’t survive. Just another reason for everybody to have a few chickens in their back yards.

Laura:
I can’t believe Laura only has three more weeks with us, and then she’s on to a different clinical site. She’s been great to have around. As an example of how awesome she is, tonight she’s making tortilla soup and a layered dip for Cinco de Miyo (however you spell it) and we are all watching Dancing With the Stars and A-MER- ican Idol together while we eat. I got to sit and watch her participate in an online chat with her classmates last night…too funny. It brought back a lot of memories of school for me. She’s going to make a great anesthetist.

Work:
Wow, it’s so weird to have my schedule. I end up working about 40 hours a week but I have a ton of time off too. This last weekend, I worked Saturday and Sunday nights and slept both nights in the call room…no cases except for a labor epidural. But my schedule gave me yesterday and today off. I don’t even know what to do with my time. I should probably still be studying but I got so burnt out in school that cracking an anesthesia book is almost the LAST thing I want to do. I did look something up the other day though because I needed a refresher.

I am sitting in Barnes and Noble (my old haunt when I was in nursing and anesthesia school) typing this to just feel a little more comfortable in my own skin…a little more familiar than sitting at home typing this. Besides, the cat will NOT leave me alone for a second when I’m at home. He is the neediest cat I’ve ever seen. You know how cats are supposed to be all aloof? Not Mafia. He will YOWL at the door if you shut it against him. I was upstairs a little while ago and he didn’t know where I was so he wandered through the house crying until I called him. He probably spends his days crying when I’m not home, poor little thing. (Notice, this did not make me feel bad enough to stay home with him).

I am heading down to Arizona in a couple of weeks to spent time with my mom and sister. We are going to do fun stuff like eating at this cute restaurant that serves breakfast food and getting jamba juices in the mornings. We may even run up to Sedona for a day or something depending on how mom feels. She has Parkinson’s and it’s hard to predict how she is going to feel from one hour to the next. But we’ll have fun just sitting around talking so it doesn’t matter.

Well, that’s it for updates. In the near future, I may be mentioning a kitchen remodel with some pics…we are getting our cabinets redone and maybe a new countertop.