Busy Weekend

Had a very busy weekend, but did get alot accomplished. First I found a new place to hold our martial arts school, but we can't use it until July. Not so bad. Saturday we moved our mats out of the old place and into the new. It only took a couple hours to get this done. Not the best location, I'm off the main street now. Had to find me some muscle, but I managed. At least this is a great burden off of my shoulders. Too bad no class for a month, but we will manage. We also managed to get another tv set and a stereo out of the old building.

We put the tv and stereo out on our porch. The tv has a vhs player built in it so last night Gary and I watched one of our very old movies outside. The tv is an off brand but it has a very clear picture. The stereo only the dvd player works on it. The buttons for the radio and tape parts are broken. Can't complaint too much for free stuff. We also managed to get another vhs player with the deal. Now I can watch my martial arts tapes and practice outside.

Later, we went to Billings to get some shopping done. I got the oil changed in my car getting it ready for my huge road trip to California in a couple weeks. Also got it washed. We went to the new Cabela's store that opened up a couple weeks ago. It's a nice store but everything was way too pricey for us. We even managed to buy a new tent yesterday at Scheels. When we travel with our motorcycle friends they camp out. We bought a 6 person tent, but at least you can stand up inside. It even has a closet. The tent is 13' X 10'. It also has a 6' height. We set it up yesterday in the back yard. Setting up is no problem, but we have to practice more on getting it all put away and stuffed into the carrying bag. We have a queen sized air mattress so at least we can sleep in some comfort. So never say never. We both said never again in a tent way back in 1998.

Today Gary and I took a drive up the Big Horns. We only went as far at Burgess Junction and then came back. It was nice and cool up there, not much snow. The lakes and creeks are pretty full. Did see some wildlife. There was a deer right on the edge of the highway. Wasn't too sure if he would cross in front of us, but he just stayed put. Very good deer. We ate lunch in Dayton and met up with three different couples that we know. One was the primary school principal and his wife, the other was a couple that Gary knows from Lodge Grass and the other was a couple that we know from Tae Kwon Do. Gary got in some practice of driving switchbacks before the state motorcycle rally at the end of June. We will be going up the Beartooth Highway and coming back through the Big Horns.

The Good and The Bad

Tuesday I had my dental appoinment for a cleaning. My teeth are nice and shiny now. She was very pleased at how well my gums are healing. When I first went in she said my pockets were 6 and 7, now they are 3 and 4.

It really wasn't that bad, I was there for about an hour. I know this was just a cleaning but those instruments are still torture. The sound of the scraping is the worst. I'm good for a while.

Naturally after my dental appointment I had my therapy session. Jennifer went with me and we had fun. This time I bought two pairs of skorts for the summer. Didn't find any tops to go with them but will find some. These I will be wearing in California when we go. I also bought some new goggles for my lap swimming. Funny how when we were kids we could swim all day long without goggles, now it will kill me. My old pair were leaking. Jennifer also bought some new clothes.

We couldn't stay in Billings very long as Jen had to work that evening so we were back home in time for her to relax and get ready for work.

That is the good. Now for the bad.

Last night we got a phone call from the lady who owns the fitness center. We rent from her to run our Tae Kwon Do school. She informed us that she is closing her doors on Saturday and we are going to have to find another place. Nothing like a couple days notice. Not too sure what exactly happened between her and the owners of the building. She said that they raised the rent on her to where she can't afford to pay. Tonight will be our last class until we can find another location. I'm scrambling and making phone calls.

Memorial Day Weekend

Summer is officially here. Saturday Gary and I took a drive to Red Lodge and up the Beartooth Highway. It was a very nice day. We didn't leave Hardin until about 10:00, took Jennifer to work first. We got into Red Lodge and it was a bit windy but not too bad. We ate lunch at the Red Box Car. Another place with good burgers. We ate outside along Rock Creek. The snow is melting, so the rivers and streams are pretty full.

Gary drove up the highway, said that he wanted to give me a break. I don't think he was comfortable with me driving the switchbacks. He was so funny. This gave me time to take photos while we were headed to the top. Not as much snow as I expected, but there was enough. At one spot there were snowboarders boarding down the mountain. They would go to the top and make their way down. Their friends would meet them at the bottom and back up they would go. We only went as far as the Vista View turn off. It was warmer on top than it was down in town. Not much wind. I did take photos.

We then made our way back down to Red Lodge. We wandered around town a bit and went into the cute little shops. We did stop at the Candy Emporium and bought some candy. What an amazing store, it has all the candy that I can remember when I was a kid. There are even some that you can't find anymore.

We then made our way home. The rest of the weekend was spent doing yard and house work that we've been neglecting. No bike riding this time, this work needed to get done.

I have the house to myself today, so it is being spent shampooing carpets.

Tomorrow I have my dental appointment.

Happy Birthday Jason

Happy 25th Birthday Jason. My second child has now become a quarter century old. Hard to believe. When he was born I figured that this would be easy. I have already fumbled through all the hard stuff with the first son so this will be a piece of cake. Wrong. The second born child really throws you for a loop. Whatever you learn with the first one, you learn all over with the second and you had better stay on your toes.

My son's are 13 months apart, even though they grew up and did everything together, they still were their own individual selves. Now they are both grown and have moved away, far away and living their own lives. Even though I don't get to see them often, I do get to talk to them and when I do get to see them, it just makes those moments more special because we do live so far apart.

Have a fun day Jason and make the most of it. Have a piece of cake for me too.

In the first picture Jason was about 2 when it was taken and from the looks of it it was taken at the Hardin fairgrounds. In the second picture, this was taken last October when I took a road trip with my Mom.

God Bless Neighbors

Mom has the best neighbors ever. When we were in Meeteetse, Mom said that she was coming back to Hardin so that she could mow her lawn. She couldn't get it done before she left because of all the rain. I told her not to worry about it. It was crazy to drive all that way just to mow the lawn, when Gary and I could do it.

I was going to mow her lawn on Monday evening when I got back from my VA appointments. Her neighbor had already mowed the lawn. At least I'm assuming it was her neighbor. The grass is mowed nice and neat and I'm off the hook.

The only problem is, I don't think he used her mower. She wanted to use up the gas in the mower. She is not too comfortable leaving her mower on the front porch with gas in it.

It won't be long before the grass will be needing mowed again, we've been getting alot of rain and it is starting to get nice again.

Officially Not Overweight

Monday I had my annual doctor appointments at the VA in Sheridan. I am a very healthy woman and I am to keep up the good work.

I had to have lab work done so that meant fasting, no cappuccino's on the road trip down. Jennifer was off that day so she went with me. She was sick over the weekend and hadn't been out of the house, so it was good for her. Bless her, she didn't have a cappuccino on the way down. I told her that it was ok.

We got to Sheridan early so that I could get my blood drawn at the lab, first we had to check in and the VA has changed how that works, but we got it done. Went upstairs to the lab and I only had to wait about 5 minutes. It was painless for the blood draw and he got his two vials. Since it was only 30 minutes before my Women's Health appointment, we made our way down to the new suite.

It was very nice, a whole new suite for women's health. Before it was always in the back, corner examination room. This is so much nicer, has it's own waiting room with very comfy chairs and there are two exam rooms for women. It still takes her an hour to get everything done, mainly because she likes to visit. I got to see first hand how my tax dollars are working and use the services. She weighed me here and I thought great, now I can go eat and now worry about the scale.

I had two hours before seeing my regular doctor so we went down to eat lunch and do a bit of shopping. Jennifer is looking for a new swim suit this year, but she didn't find anything at the store.

Made our way back to the VA and I got in right away. Remember I already stepped on the scale in the morning, but they made me do it again in the afternoon. She said that she would take the lower number, but it stayed the same. I was happy. Then I got to see my doctor. With the VA there is a high turnover rate with doctors so it seems like every year I get a new one.

I really like her, the first thing she said to me was that I wasn't overweight. I had her repeat it to make sure I heard her right. I about fell out of my chair. About two years ago, after losing 20 pounds the doctor said I was still overweight. Nothing about good job or anything. Talk about bursting my bubble.

She said no problem with my weight, to just keep doing what I'm doing. All the lab work came back with glowing numbers. My blood pressure is excellent, my cholesterol levels were excellent. She did renew my prescription for iron, said that the numbers said that I'm in the normal range, but she was afraid that if I don't take the iron, they numbers will bottom out again. It took about an hour to get through my appointment and wait at the pharmacy to get my prescription.

We had some more time before getting home so went shopping again. No swim suit for Jen, she is so picky about what she wants that we will look in Billings. We have time before leaving for California.

Celebrations

Last weekend, Gary and I went to Meeteetse to help my Grandma celebrate her 101 birthday. How amazing is that. She didn't want a party this year, but in a way she got little ones.

She got two cakes for her birthday, one is a rum cake that a friend of hers had made for her and has continued this tradition about 16 years now and the other one was a chocolate cake. We got to bring some home with us.

Saturday morning Grandma had champagne and chocolates at the cafe for her coffee break. Everyone in the cafe got some champagne. It was too early for us to get there in time for that.

Gary and I got into Meeteetse about 1:00 in the afternoon, the two Grandma's had just finished their lunch at the Elkhorn and were at the house waiting for us. Gary stayed at the house while the three of us went to the museum so that I could see the Doll Display.

It was very neat to see all those old dolls and even the newer ones. They sure don't make dolls like they used to back in the old days. Very intricate painting and features. It was very interesting to read about the history of the dolls. I took photos of the dolls belonging to the family. Just imagine that these dolls belonged to my grandmother and mother and are at least 60-90 years old. The museum also had a scavenger hunt with the dolls. It was fun and I got a prize. I got all the dolls right. What a neat way for people to see the whole museum. They had doll displays throughout. I even had to laugh at the Barbie display, because I can remember the old Barbie Mansion way back when.

We got back to the house and ate some birthday cake and drank some fancy teas that the Grandma's got for Christmas. Very tasty.

We went down to the Cowboy for our rib dinner. Grandma had chicken while the rest of us had ribs. Gary had the Jack Daniels ribs, Mom and I had the Captain Morgan ribs. As usual it was all very delicious.

Grandma was getting tired so we took her back home, later while Grandma went to bed the rest of us went back to the Cowboy for a nightcap. Big Jim was there this time so we got a good visit with him. He showed us his latest book that he wrote and he also showed us the latest revised edition to "Jimmy Wooten". This time he has a small tribute to Grandpa in the book, so naturally Mom and I bought a copy and had Big Jim autograph it. We didn't get back to the house until 11:00.

On Sunday morning we all wished everyone a Happy Mother's Day and then Grandma took us out to breakfast at Lucille's. After breakfast we went back to the house to get ready for church. While we were at church, Gary had some honey-do's to get done. He put the license plates on Grandma's van for her and he also went out and shot some picket pens.

Gary and I headed for home after church. We stopped in Rockvale for lunch at the Quick Stop Drive Inn. That place has very good burgers. They were giving all mother's a free sundae, so we got our chocolate sundae. It was huge and yes I did share with Gary. We got our drink and sundae first, so again had dessert first then our meal.

Happy Mother's Day

Just wishing my Grandma, Mom and two sisters a very Happy Mother's Day. Enjoy your day and relax, you all deserve it.

Welcome Home Marines

Saturday we had a Patriot Guard Mission to welcome home the local Marine Corps Reserve Unit. They were coming home after serving 10 months in Iraq. We had to be in Billings for staging at 3:00 pm.

We actually went up to Billings bright and early on Saturday morning. We ate breakfast and then did our shopping. Can't bring back all that stuff on the motorcycle. This gave us the opportunity to find the ball field parking lot. Gary bought at new BBQ grill. We then came home and got the motorcycle out and washed it so that it was nice and clean for the mission.

We left Hardin again in the afternoon and made it to the staging area. We got to check out the new ball park that Billings had built a couple years ago, now we are going to have to see a game. It didn't take long for the other riders to show up. There were 22 of us in all and there were about 18 bikes. There were even two guys who came all the way up from Casper and Sheridan.

The reserve unit was coming home on two different flights, the first one at 4:30 and the second one at 6:30. When Robert came home, his unit chartered the whole plane and they all came home together. We arrived at the airport and received our instructions. We had just set up our flag line at the baggage area when soon the plane had landed. This one was 10 minutes early. Not very many family members were at the airport, they were told to stay at the reserve center. There were a couple family, the press was there and even a representative of Sen. Tester's office was there. Once all the Marines got off the plane, we hurried to our bikes, got our flags put away and got ready to lead the parade through town. The Marines rode a bus from the airport to the reserve center.

Our group led the parade, it was fun riding through the city of Billings, stopping traffic at the major intersections and ignoring all the traffic lights. I could just imagine what the other drivers were thinking when the group of bikers are stopping traffic. Gary and I were surprised that the local cops weren't in on the parade, but the local law enforcement did know what we were doing.

The reserve center is clear on the west side of Billings, so we had to ride quite a ways through Billings and those Marines loved it. We got the first group to the reserve center and then we had to get going back to the airport to meet the other plane.

We had plenty of time for the second plane, set up our flag line and this time the flight was 15 minutes late. Again some family meeting at the airport, but most were at the reserve center. Here came the second group. The Marines were surprised to see us there.

By the time the second plane landed it was cooling off a bit, it was almost 7:00 by the time we left the airport, again leading the parade through town. I think by now the locals knew what was going on because a few stopped and honked their horns for these guys. Must have watched the news. The Marines said that what we did for them was better than a police escort any day. They loved all the bikes and the noise.

This time as we made it to the reserve center we were able to mingle with the guys. Gary and I talked to a some that live in Idaho. Two actually are from Idaho Falls, one was from Pocatello and the other was from Twin Falls. There isn't a Marine Reserve in Idaho so these guys train in Billings. We said our good byes to the other riders as we wanted to get on the road home before it got too dark. Don't really want to ride in the dark. The two guys from Wyoming were also going home. We didn't get home until 8:45. We had enough light to see, wasn't quite dark yet.

Now I know I am getting old, as these Marines were getting off the plane, all I could think of is that they are so young. These "boys" should still be in school worrying about graduation or just enjoying their last days of school and getting ready for summer vacation. They shouldn't be half way around the world fighting a war. Of course I said that when Rob went over. I really shouldn't call these Marines "boys", they are actually young men. Still kids to me.