HAPPY LABOR DAY

Since it is close, and I usualy am late for Holidays, I thought I would wish you all a Happy Labor Day. This year Labor Day falls on my granddaughter's birthday. Happy Birthday Alyssia!!!

This past week has had it's ups and downs. It started off really good with a First annual Homeowners BBQ. It was all done by One family and it was sooooooooo good. First they did all the usual appetizers and then the food came. OMG, what a spread. She had fixed everything from brisket to chicken and all the in-be-tweens...Everyone had a great time. The weather even behaved...it was a great time.

the rest of the week went by and I don't remember what we did...pretty boring, I guess. Anyway, I've been having a problem with my back, could be from all the coughing from the smoke, but it is just really hurting. So, Skipper decided that I needed to "shake it up a bit" meaning, we were taking the ATVs out for a "quick" ride. Well, we went out back, that is behind our complex, where there is nothing but hills and sagebrush. We went over a water crossing and started out toward the ridge. I felt ok, it was warm, but my back was handling it so-so. We kept riding toward the ridge and then, when we got to the beginning...it started getting rather steep. Kinda scary...actually, it got really scary...I'm not a "seasoned" ATV rider, I just do it for fun....except today. Today, I did it to stay alive. I rode up a rocky hill, kinda scary. Then, the ol' coyote came and gave me some pointers on how to do this....safely.... OK, so we start riding up toward the ridge and the ATV started slipping. I can do this....so I gave it a little more power and up on the ridge we came. Now...I'm up on the ridge and scared to death to go down. It was so steep, I told coyote he could drive my ATV down and I would walk (or fall on my face. But at least I wouldn't have so far to fall and I wouldn't roll over the cliff.) Well, needless to say we had another discussion. "I will guide you down." OMG...I decided right there and then that I was a woose...I still elected to walk down and he could drive my ATV down for me. He asked me if I would drive him back up to get his....hummmmm, this wasn't going well. After a deeeeeep breath, my back wasn't hurting anymore, I was too afraid I was going to die. We climed back on our respective ATVs and he went in front...Looking straight down is not something I would recommend, but to drive straight down I had to look. I put my machine in 4 wheel drive, in low and kept my hand on the brake for emergencies. the whole trip down the mountain was an emergency....I started sliding in the rocks. I squeezed that brake so tight and it wouldn't stop the machine, I knew I was going to die.....I am just too bloody old to be so scared!!!!

Needless to say, I made it!!!! I don't think I'm anymore "seasoned"...just very happy to be alive. Did I say that right...VERY HAPPY TO BE ALIVE!!! The ol coyote said he could hear a faint "Help...Help....heeeeelp" as we were going down thru the rocks to get off the mountain. I was trying to be brave, it didn't work very well, but at least I'm alive...Once we got home and everything put away, he was sweet, he said he was proud of me, I didn't woose out...I did it (whew).

After We got home, I made a great dinner to celebrate that I was still alive. The coyote was very happy I made it because he got to eat another meal....all that being said, and done, I am closing now....oh, by the way, did I say my back is now hurting more than ever?????

TOO MUCH SMOKE

Hi there! It's been a while, but things have been moving along. I have been playing around with the looks of my blog (well, I should really say, several of us have been playing with the looks of the blog, thank you connie) and i hope you enjoy the new look. i wish i were more creative, things don't always work the way i want them to, but it is a work in progress and also "subject to change without notice". But it's good for now. if only i could get the pictures in the right place. We have this fire that has been burning since the 26th of July and it isn't going away. i'm going to try to add a few pictures and here's hoping they go in the right place. our skies have been so smoky and breathing is not quite as bad as living in la, but it is too smelly and smoky. the weather has been a little warmer than usual too. now i know that hot in most places is around 100. well, here hot is in the high 80's and 90's...laughing. it has been hot here. when you are used to 30's and 40's the above stated is hot. anyway, today we got lucky and it's only in the low 70's so it's a beautiful day with a slight breeze....life is good.
we have been having some fun lately. we went to the rodeo and had a great time watching everything from barrel racers to bull riders, roping and just good ol' fun.
then, my gf gail and i went to see mama mia, what a hoot. the show was sooooooo goood. however, pierce brosnen cannot sing. he's good to look at but he needs to keep his day job...
we haven't been riding the atv's because of the smoke and that also inhibits the shooting...it's a good thing the olympics have been on or i would have felt like a prisoner. yeah for the americans!!! i'm so glad there haven't been anymore "isolated incidents" since the first stabbing. that was so sad.
guess it's time to close, we are going to go for mexican food tonight, ole'

MOVIN' ON

Things are movin'...we had another couple from California come and visit for a couple days and we had a lot of fun catching up with their life and sharing good times. We also got to go out to dinner at "ribs and chops" one of our nicer restaurants. It was yummy!! They were on their way to North Dakota, al will be taking a job teaching at the university in their aviation dept. The university has over 2,000 students in their aviation program. Imagine, North Dakota...who woulda thunk... We have another trip planned. We are going to visit the coyote's sister and brother-in-law in Schuyler, VA...bet you don't know where that is. Neither do we. It's somewhere in the mountains around Charlottesville, by Afton. We will fly into Richmond and they are about 2 hours from there. It will be an adventure. I'm hoping we can get to dc for a day to see the World War II memorial and some of the other sites. When I asked my brother-in-law if he would take us over there, he said (teasingly) "I'd rather put a gun to my head"...needless to say, he hates driving in the area as it is sooooooo crowded and wild with people. Midge and Bill have just built their dream home in those VA mountains and this will be the first time we will see it. Everyone is excited. They used to live in Jessup, MD and that is basically where the rest of the siblings live. Midge is planning a family get together for us; since who knows when we will get back again. We usually get back there every 5 years or so. But, with everything getting so expensive, it's anyone’s guess. And, with the family past history, no one will be coming to Cody to visit us. They don't seem to get passed the Mason Dixon line. We will be flying on Delta and so far, they aren't charging for the first bag of luggage, so we should be able to have some clean underwear at least. We might end up washing every night to have clean clothes...we'll see. We are excited, it will be a fun visit. The only thing I will miss is our usual crab feast we have. I had never had soft shelled crabs until the ol' coyote took me back to meet the family and we went out to eat at this old shack. It was great. They put you at a "picnic table" with the benches and cover the whole thing with white butcher paper. Then they bring out this huge (I mean, huge) kettle of boiled crabs and pour them out on the table. Everyone digs in and legs and guts are flying everywhere to get to the soft delicious crab meat. Oh yum....it is so good. But this time since we will be in VA, no crabs, dang! Plus, the price of them has more than tripled, so oh well. A week after we get home from VA our boy will be coming to see us. It will be his first visit back to Cody in a really long time. We can hardly wait. He loves to go ATV-ing and shooting and we always have such a great time... He will be able to stay a week...can't wait for that either. As for what's been going on around here, well, the fires are still going and getting closer to inhabited areas. A lot of the campgrounds have been caught in it and now it's getting closer to Wapiti (that's pronounced like bibity, bopity, wapiti)...just for you who have never been here. The weather has cooled down some, it rained all night, which I hope helped the firefighters. It's only 63 (at 1416 hrs) which is really nice. Just a light breeze and the sky is blue with those beautiful white clouds...nice and sunny...a gorgeous day. Oh, I forgot to tell you about the show last night. If you get a chance to see a delightfully funny and entertaining show, go see Mama Mia! It's really good. Except, Pierce Brosnen can't sing. Who ever heard of James Bond singing....but he was still good in the show.
Well, I think I have brought you pretty much up to date, so I shall let you go...for a while, hope your day is smashing!

YUCKY DAY

Today is really bleak, there is still so much smoke in the air that the sun can't come through. We had to go to Walmart and while we were out, my asthma really started acting up, so we came home immediately and now I'm really having a difficult time breathing. It's definitely a stay in the house day and try to breathe. Thank heaven we have those ionic filters in the house. I really feel sorry for the people fighting the fires and those who live even closer. Last night I read in the paper that we have an organization that helps the animals. It was really interesting. They have set up corrals at the Stampede Grounds (that's where we have the rodeo) for all the horses. Then, they have separate cages to house cats, dogs, rabbits, and all other animals who are scattering because of the fires. They even place cattle. That made me feel really good that the animals have a place to go. It's got to be scary for all our furry friends out there, too. the weather says that we are supposed to get some thunder showers. That's good and bad. Good so the water will help the firefighters, but, bad if we have anymore lightening strikes. We don't need anymore fires!!! Well, gotta go for now, I hope you all are having a great day...ciao

CATCH UP-continued

Sorry about the abrupt ending last night, it just wasn't working. today, i've gotten so much done and it's only 1300, oh no, the phone, hang on...short call, discover wanting us to "use the card" no thank you!!! ok, to continue, sheessh, i'm so confused...ok, since the last "newsy blog" we have gone to Idaho Falls again, this time to pick up blue boy and while we were there we took in a session at the Idaho falls Temple and went to the museum. it was so much fun. they were having an exhibit on "the Pharohes" (sorry I can't spell) anyway, the exhibit was on them and all the Egyptian stuff. It was so interesting. but....the really important exhibit for the ol' coyote was down in the bottom of the museum. it was about the old printing of the ooooooold newspaper. did you know that before the city was called Idaho Falls it was originally known as Eagle Rock? I never knew that. Well, the old printing system that the city got in 1904 was a machine on which the coyote studied at high school. (obviously it was a more current model, but, the exact same machine) he was so excited, we spent over an hour with him explaining to me how the whole operation worked. it was really fun to see him so excited. he said that he never thought he would see one of those machines ever again....it was really neat!

Now, after we got home from Idaho, we got things in order for a friend to visit. One of the guys we worked with at GPD made the time to come and visit us. we had so much fun being old and recounting all the old police stories and catching up on some of the guys since they left the PD. we took him (or I should say, he treated us) to dinner at the Irma hotel. that's the one which was built by Buffalo Bill and named after his daughter. It has a huge cherry wood bar that was a gift from Queen Victoria to Buffalo Bill for favors i.e. bringing his wild west show to england, etc.. it's nice to look at, it really is beautiful. Dinner was fun, then we walked around the city and chatted some more. we sure had a fun time with Terry Jones.

Except for the fires, still burning out of control, destroying a lot of the camp grounds in the Shoshone National Forest. I think I'm current on the happenings. Oh, I forgot to mention we have seen the Dark Knight, really good and the Mummy. It was good, but we all decided that we liked the Egypt mummy movies better than the oriental one.

Today was shape up the food storage day. we went to walmart and bought some more for the food storage. I took all the flour, sugar etc. out of their grocery store containers and put them all in Tupperware. In case you didn't know....just a little tip...in flour, rice, Bisquick...anything that those pesty bugs can get into....put a bay leaf or two in with the stuff. It has no baring on the taste of the flour or rice or whatever, but it does keep the bugs away. Anyway, I felt good about getting more on the shelves and better organized.

I guess that's about it for now, hope all is well with you, talk with you again soon. ciao

CATCH UP

Ok..so much has been going on, I can't believe I'm so far behind. First off, the ol' coyote got his new blue machine, I think I'm naming it "blue boy" I own "big red" so now we have 2 atv's again. We love to ride, when it's not hot and there is no smoke. The fires have gotten really out of control. They have a strange way with fires out here. Being from California, where they fight fires, it's difficult because here they "monitor" fires. That is until they get so far out of control, then they decide they should do something when they have burned so much there is not much they can do, except wait for rain, or better yet, wait for winter when it will freeze it out. Just weird. Well shucks, phone call, gotta go, we'll talk a little more later...good night

SWEET SABBATH DAY

I have to tell you, church was really different today. I have never attended a Relief Society lesson on the internet. Since it was a talk given by one of the twelve apostles, it must be ok to blog about it. Anyway, it was truly inspiring. the thought of discussing the Gospel was really exciting. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and wish I could share it with everyone but, alas, I am shy. I realize people who know me would take exception to that, but really...I wouldn't want to intrude on someones own beliefs or step on someones toes, so I tend to keep quiet...another trait that people who know me would probably disagree. Anyway, I just want to say how much I do love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and try to live as he would want all of us to live.