Telling Winter to Suck It

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Why Winter Blows

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Winter Really Needs to Go Take A Powder

Cold. Snow. 45 mph winds. Etc. Etc. Most of you are feeling the same pain. And I live in Montana, so I kinda had it coming. However, the house tried to eat me again today. I woke up at 8am, heard on the radio that the road from me to work (aka, THE road) was closed. So I cancelled my clients for the day, and snuggled with the dogs and my text books. About an hour later I had to add another blanket. 30 minutes later I threw on a second sweater. Another 45 minutes and the tight butt I inherited from my dad decided to up the heat.

What's this? It's up to 70... but where's the heat? Nothing coming out of the vents. Downstairs I can hear a fan running. The thermostat reads 54 degrees, and falling. Stephan is at work. Gary, our other "guy friend" is also working. I call our "couple" friends and ask for help. With 4 layers of clothing on I answer the door as they bring in a huge electric fireplace. Sweet! But they couldn't fix the heater either.

So I called Verke Refrigeration, and Mr. Verke showed up 30 minutes later (this is about 2pm). After some messing around (which included discovering that we hadn't changed our furnace filter in about 9 months- bad idea with 2 dogs and 2 cats) he found that the little sensor meant to tell the heater when the pilot light is lit was bustacated, technically.

By 3:30 the heater was back on, and I was able to change out of my pajamas, Stephan's pajamas, my work-clothes, and Stephan's sweats, jeans, shirts, sweaters and socks. I'm so lucky that Stephan's clothes fit perfectly over my own.

So- me vs the house and once again, I win.

As my mom would say, "na na na na na na".

In Like a Lion...

Out Like a Lamb??

Moderation

I know, it's been a week. Not to fear, we're still here. Still doing good. Stephan has been working 4-day weeks (which is one more than required), I'm really focusing on school, and have I mentioned my second job?

The second job is going much better than I expected, which is making me busier than I expected. The new laptop is on hold until after tax-season and our summer travel plans have been confirmed.

If you see anything you like from the "second job" website, shoot me an email before you order- there are often discounts they send me that I can pass on to you. I also have a list of "must have's" that I can share if you're interested.

Announcement!

We just found out that two of our cows had their calves yesterday! I sent Stephan over there with the camera, hopefully he'll remember how to use it.

We had one heifer and one bull so far! Exciting!!

No News is.... ???

The laptop (my primary blogging/email/schoolwork tool) is once again sitting idle. The battery is 5+ years old and I just fried the last power cord I had. Apple promises to have one at my doorstep in mere days. Meanwhile, I'm looking into the student discount on the apple.com website so I can get myself one of these beauties.

Speaking of student discounts, I scored 100% on my first week of discussions in class! The class average was 78%, so I was feeling pretty cocky. That was, until I looked at the time and realized it's 10:30pm and I'm just finishing the first drafts of this week's discussion posts. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE school. It's amazing the worlds out there you have no idea about until you dive right in. Did you know that people actually "geek out" about health care policy? Amazing.

What I don't remember about the last time I went to school was having to wake up at 4:30am to drive anyone to work, or the 6 loads of laundry, 4 sets of taxes, client statements & receipts, household budgeting, and general dog-wrangling that takes up so many hours that could be used for thoughtfully chewing on the ends of pencils and highlighters.

Wait- why am I not just going to bed right now?

Fixing that.

Good night!

Abuse of Power

Stephan came home from work with a Shamrock Shake today.

Yes, from McDonalds. Did he go to McDonalds? No. Did anyone we know go to McDonalds? No.

Stephan sent the Fallon County Ambulance Crew to McDonalds for a Shamrock Shake. I think that's taking his position a little too far.


(In all honestly the crew had a transfer to make to Miles City [where McDonalds is] and Stephan asked them to bring the shake back with them. It was melted when they got here, so he says that next time he's going to tell them to use the siren.)

Can't Blog Now...

...Playing with my new toy. Donations to Amazon.com now being accepted to fuel my new electronic book habit.

New Arrivals

These aren't our calves yet- they're Fuzz's. But they're still cute...

First Day of School!

Finding Nemo - First Day Of School | Movies & TV | SPIKE.com

It wasn't quite like that, but did wake up early to log on to the Benedictine Website to meet my classmates and download my first week's assignments!!

No, I did NOT see a shark.

"Green"

I've started to notice something interesting out here in Eastern Montana. Most people who live here get annoyed or downright angry when the concept of living "green" comes up. They associate green with the Western part of the state: those tree huggers!! Those vegetarians!! Those democrats!!!

The funniest part is that these people are the "greenest" people I know. They farm their own food. They use every part of the beef they slaughter. They compost (ok, so they just throw their food scraps outside for the animals, but it counts!!). They make patch their clothes instead of buying new all the time. They go to bed early and rise with the sun.

But shhhhhhh! Don't tell them I said so.

Yet Another Good Cause - No $$ Involved

I've posted about the IRC before because Stephan and I believe that they are a really good organization. I stay up-to-date on their website and I've signed up for action alerts.

I'm not trying to get all "Brad & Angelina" on you, but you've probably heard of Sudan & Darfur recently. Well the Government of Sudan has recently ordered the closure of humanitarian aid programs in Darfur, North and East Sudan. This decision puts at risk the lives of millions of men, women and children who rely on humanitarian aid for survival.

Help me call on United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to urge the Government of Sudan to reconsider this deplorable decision and ensure the delivery of lifesaving aid to vulnerable men, women and children in Sudan. Please make your voice heard now.

Please sign the urgent petition and tell your friends and family.

Sign Here

Rodeo!

This post is more than a week late, but may be entertaining anyway.

Last weekend we traveled to Broadus, Montana for a roughstock rodeo. Our buddy Clint went to fight bulls (read: rodeo clown) and we came along to watch (and pick up any left-over pieces).

I don't have any actual photos of this weekend. Here is a photo of how every rodeo begins. Here's one of Kane, the proud son of Clint. What it looks like when someone rides a steer, and when someone is about to fall off.

And then there's this photo, gratuitous that it is, that I took for all my single friends...

Plevna Cougars Basketball - Girls (Part 2)

Good job ladies!! You had a great season and really worked your butts off!

Despite your loss last night we're still VERY proud of you! WOot!