It's That Other Time of the Year...

Meaning it's fair time around here. I've not made it down to the barns at my own county fair like I had hoped to but hopefully there will still be some excitement down near the arenas when I get there tonight for the concert.

On tap tonight... fair burgers... music... and new memories... coincidentally when the offer to go to the concert came up and I had to look up the artist (if you know me IRL you know I'm just plain stink when it comes to name that artist and tune) as to not sound like a total putz this is the first song I found...



I'm big into coincidences right now. I'll explain more sometime soon... (If I had a dollar for every time you saw that on this blog and for every time someone googled Jim's name to get here maybe I'd have that final last several thousand dollars from the Colorado expenses paid off... that's another post in and of itself... justice doesn't come cheap...)

Rodeo tomorrow night... then down to the LCF next week to help with lambs and have another fair burger ;)

When Winter Never Ends...

The boys have plenty of excuses to keep on playing... and with all the snow we've finally started to get this year there's a lot more places they can go to now. Shan sent these along to me this week because my stepdad, Dallas, is part of the group. He's in the black and red jacket ;) Which, upon closer inspection, is apparently part of the attire to belong to the club... I personally am not big into snowmobiling as Shan so nicely pointed out on Facebook wall when he eluded to maybe seeing them on my blog... So just for you, Shan, pictures of more snow because there's not enough still out there for me to bitch and moan about...



The upside of today's storm... it put a small damper on the allergy season (with 50 degree weather the day before they were starting to bud... which meant plenty of more kleenexes being used ;) ).

Starting the New Year Out...

Moving and shaking... literally... My mom and I felt this while we were just finishing up dinner on New Year's Eve (yes, around my parents' place dinner is LATE... drives me nuts... but that's another post). Of course the boys didn't feel a thing and thought we were nuts...

So there. Proof we're not. Or at least for that one moment we weren't.

It's This...

Or crying... so I'm choosing a creative outlet still...

This is What I Do...

When life gets to be too stressful... my release is to edit pictures I've not gotten to... expect a few post of just pictures for the next couple of days...

Not Ready...

for the snow that is sure to start flying soon... because as you can see... it was still here in May... but I fear if we don't get something soon next summer will be dry and nasty...

Dallas and his buddies sledding in May:

Thanks, Shan for sending the pics :)

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving...

And the turkeys around here were begging me to remind you to eat more beef... okay, that's about as cheesy as it comes... sorry everyone ;) I just couldn't think of a better introduction to a few more of the pictures I took at the beginning of the summer and am just now getting a chance (the motivation) to edit and post...

Mr. Tough Guy

This may be one of my new favorites... just saying...

But then again so might this one. Seriously, could this guy have posed any better for his head shot? I can't get my human models to do half as well as he did!

It's That Time of Year...

With old man winter knocking on our doors we start to hear a lot about emergency preparedness (at least up this way). Thanks to Mother Nature and how fierce she can be. This year there's a lot of hubbabubba about pandemic preparation and prevention as well.

A friend of mine has a great post over on her blog about what types of things to have on hand should something like the H1N1 virus suddenly get completely out of control.

Truthfully, I think a couple of the items listed are those "aha" items that you should keep around and on hand for non pandemic use as well... I mean I've got duct tape around but I don't have any in my emergency preparedness kit... and when you think about it (now, and luckily not in hindsight) it's a pretty versatile product to have around to utilize during an emergency. I've got like 20 feminine pads in my kit to use as makeshift bandages... and nothing to keep them attached to a person...

So when Armageddon finally hits, if you're up my way and you see a bunch of people wrapped in duct tape with extra long bandaging you'll know they came from my house...

All kidding aside, I've got a feeling that winter is finally going to be here to stay... for me my main concern of emergency preparedness is always vehicle related. Don't forget to get your winter car kits together, extra blankets, check your winter fluids, etc., AND don't forget... that emergency water in the car... at least this far north... freezes this time of year... always grab a fresh extra bottle before you start your trip. Safe travels.

Life in Star Valley, Wyoming

The local Chamber of Commerce put out this video on youtube... if you've got 7 minutes to spare it's pretty fascinating... at 3 minutes in there's a quick blurb about the last CO Jim was working at... and at 4 minutes in there's a blurb about the airplane factory I worked at the summer after high school (in the office doing inventory/accounting)... and that spring... that spring is the one we were sitting at in the picture from yesterday's blog post...

My Other Neighbors...

There is never a dull moment around here... I got home from work last Friday and let the kiddos out to do their thing... after they were already running around terrorizing the squirrels I looked up to see these guys about 20 feet from my back porch over by the other neighbor's porch...

Not one...

But two...

Luckily I was able to distract Rockford and Sissie before they saw the moose and tried to take them on (we have a big dog in a small dog's body complex)... and then naturally the next bright thing to do is to head back out myself and snap some pictures... okay maybe not the brightest... and even dimmer still "sneaking" (yeah right I made eye contact with the one) up within 10 feet of them to take a few more... all while wearing a skirt and high heels... okay... in retrospect I'm probably lucky to be posting these shots today... my backup plan in case of a worse case scenario was to tell the EMTs that I'm from New York :)

Deer Hunt 2009

You'd pretty much have to be deaf, blind, or stupid to not realize it's hunting season back here... every truck in town is driving around sporting some sort of antler/horn sticking up out of the back end of it... my stepdad's is no exception. This is the deer he "got" last weekend... right at the crack of dawn... after packing around in the snow for 3 or 4 days... everyone has their own idea of fun ;)

More of the Antelope Hunt...

A semi group shot of the big bad hunters...

(not my picture... and I have no clue who took it)

Rumor has it the couple on the left think I'm 36... holy crap... really? I'm hoping I can fix that illusion...

I already posted the black and white version of this next picture and was hesitant to post the color picture because I thought it might offend a few... but then I decided that Jim loved hunting and this blog has a lot of him in it and he'd be disappointed if I didn't share the better shot with everyone... so... turn your eyes to another page if you don't like it :)

My Neighbor...

I ran home for lunch one day last week and this guy was circling above the condo in all his magnificent glory... so I sent up an "I love you" in hopes that he would carry it a little higher and closer to Heaven for me.

Fall is Officially Here...

And that means the hunt has officially begun. Dallas and Kidd went on their very first antelope hunt this year... and they came home with this poor guy. I'm not sure who has the biggest smile in this picture... dad or son... one thing was for certain, they had fun.

Way to Go Kidd!

Kidd has his market lamb show this week at the local county fair. He placed well in his class and then went on to win Reserve Grand Champion Showman (2nd out of 32!)... which means he got a belt buckle... and since that was his goal when he woke up that morning he was pretty darn excited :)

Good job Kidd!!!!! I'm proud of you!

While My Life Has Been on Hold...

My little brother and stepdad have been making the best of their time...

In a "while the cats are away the mice will play" fashion...

Here's Kidd on the pack trip they took while we were down at the sentencing this month...

My guess is that one of the the other kid's sisters told them to look tired...
the result... they look dead... boys.

And here is a picture of Dallas and Mr. C, a long time family friend and high school teacher of mine, loading up one of the pack horses to head up the trail...

Actually, this shot has two of my high school teachers in it... ;)

And finally, if you squint you can see Kidd in the back on Colt (because you name your horse Colt and your child Kidd... yeah, that's exactly what he said...), Big Head Fred - a/k/a Buddy packing in the middle, and Dallas getting on a leaning Star.


Meanwhile... I've gotten ONE ride in on my new saddle...
and my new boots are gathering dust in the back of the truck...

I've told them both that one of these days I'd like to go on the pack ride with them... but I really don't enjoy being camp wench and since they're both a bit old fashioned once they get on the trail... maybe one day...

It'll be three years before I have enough accrued vacation time again...
so for now it's a moot point...

With County Fair coming up and the trial in August I'll be lucky to get another ride in before Labor Day.

Trepidation...

Four words that should never be uttered during the middle of the workweek...

Girl's. Night. Out. Karaoke.

And it sucked. Big. Time.

There's been a change in dynamics in my core girls' night out group. The friend in a committed and serious relationship, moved out of state. The reliable, sane, married one is going through nasty divorce. Her co-worker who came along with is a divorcee of several years. My married co-workers who usually come out with us... well, one had her mom visiting... the other is on maternity leave. So it was me and the gals on the "prowl."

I'm not a prowler. I never have been. I don't miss my early 20s and having to be the weekend designated driver. I don't. I don't miss the bar scene. I don't miss the icky crowd that hangs out there. And the fact that the karaoke was held in the last remaining bar people can smoke in in town... that just made it that much worse.

But the hardest part... the hardest part was having the other two point out this man or that man... and thinking, "he has Jim's ears" or "that one has Jim's nose"... and "that one, that one has his hands."

Even harder than that... having to explain to the other gal who apparently has studied music but has lived under a rock and never heard this song because she doesn't listen to country. Ever. And she doesn't know my story. Which is fine. I don't need everyone to know. But try explaining to someone who doesn't know the storyline of the song (because all country music is a story) just what "they did to Earl." I'm sure she thinks I'm a freak now... seeing as I couldn't make it through what they did before I had to excuse myself from the table and crowded bar to go cry in the bathroom.

Now I'm seriously debating my decision to go to a friend's surprise party this weekend... because I don't want to be "that" girl... the one who is a bummer on the party... the one who can't make it through the evening without having a pity party.

Another Run-In With the Law...

Did I mention that last weekend I had another pleasant run in with the local law enforcement? The nice Highway Patrol officer pulled me over in the Canyon because he couldn't see the temporary registration taped to my back window (yes, to the other officers who were very friendly about pointing out that it was not visible the last time I was down in Colorado... it was securely applied to the back window again). At any rate it happened to be an officer who I'd gone horseback riding with and he was very nice about checking it out closer and then letting me go on my way... and not mentioning the speed of which I pulled up upon him at when he was finishing his last pullover... thankfully by the time he was turned around and following me for the next 3 miles I had the cruise control set at the proper speed limit...

My poor stepdad who ALWAYS gets a ticket is still shaking his head...

What can I say?

Fun with Friends...

Friday night I had an invitation to spend the evening with one of my co-workers and her family and friends to celebrate her youngest boy turning two... I was a little hesitant to go because quite honestly I'm just really not into crowds yet... I don't know how that happened... I used to be able to be the belle of any party... but this last year I have just kind of shrunk into a wallflower/hermit...

Anyway... I went... and despite myself... I had a great time and met some pretty fun people... and I got a ton of great pictures to play with for the next month... so be forewarned to be prepared for kid overload...

Enjoying the homemade ice cream cake that was DIVINE!
I honestly can't blame this little one for hiding away with her piece...
It was THAT good!

The line waiting for the favorite attraction of the evening...
the roof of the shed.

The birthday boy himself... is he not the cutest thing around?
(Told you the cake was good!)
I love how I managed to catch his cousin starting a handstand in the background!

One of the Reasons...

I'm licensing my car down in the other county and not locally... because the money goes towards the school district... and I don't agree with the choices the Teton County school district are making right now.

Nope... not for me. The turf isn't even the issue... it's the GINORMOUS stadium they feel they need to build in a town where EVERY TIME AFFORDABLE HOUSING comes into play it's pushed aside.

At least in the other county my money will go to support my family since my stepdad is a teacher.