Acceptance

I don't remember if I blogged about this last time it happened or not. I don't like to blog about things like this because it's sad, and who wants to read sad?

Last year I had a buck show up with a broken leg. I was home alone of course. At first I didn't want to tell the neighbors because I knew they would come over and shoot him.
Of course thinking more on it, I thought it would be worse for him to be taken down by another animal or mountain lion, so I reported it. Of course he wasn't seen again for awhile and we assumed the worst.
About a week later, while hubs was home, the deer showed up and he was shot. I understood why, and it was hunting season so he was tagged and well you know the rest. I still hated it and felt horrible that day.

Well, as you can see in the photo above, this has happened to me again. This buck showed up about 10 days ago with a broken right front leg. Sigh... why me?
I called our neighbor and he said there was nothing we could do, that it's illegal to shoot them. I was a little surprised seeing that it would be humane, at least to me, but I can't do anything about it. I could have called Fish & Game, but since they gather and eat here I could get in trouble.

My hubs was home for about 8 days and this buck did not show up ONCE.
So guess who's here this morning? Yeah.

We all laugh at Leesa's Law, but this is getting ridiculous.

Ring It In

Happy New Year Everyone :)

I hope you have a fun and safe New Years Eve.

Yep, Sounds Good To Me

In the year 2007 I resolve to: Fill my house with chocolate pudding. Get your resolution here.

Shutterbugs

You gotta check out this tripod from ThinkGeek.Com



Comes in compact or SLR sizes.




Oh yeah, I've already ordered mine ;)

Go Create

Oh I LOVE this idea. Wanna play?

Amaryllis

Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy

Scavenger Hunt : New

New Day

Welcome Mate

This was sent to me today by a couple of people. Kinda funny, thought I'd share :)

Eagle Watch

Left at 6am this morning to take Amy and Cody to the airport. Luckily with all the mess, her flight was only delayed for about an hour.
We hit Coeur D'Alene on the way back to check out the eagles. It was 22 degrees and looked like this :



Not very favorable and I was the only one that was willing to hang out and watch. Soooo, I'll head back by myself next week. I did see quite a few eagles, but not many close enough or seen while driving. I did see this guy :



Again, not a great shot but I hope to go back and maybe I'll have a little bit better weather.

Do Over

I just finished watching an interesting episode of the X-Files, my usual early morning entertainment.

In this episode, this girl relives the same day everyday which inevitably ends in tragedy. Her only way out of this is to figure out how to change the cycle.
She relives this day over and over, each day changing one thing, hoping to change the pattern.

Which of course had me thinking how we all, I'm sure, have had a moment we'd love to relive and change somehow.
Now I'm not talking about changing your whole life. But a moment. A single moment or day you wish you could go back and change.

A Do-Over.

I had one of these recently. A moment I wish I could go back and change. But what's interesting, like the show I just watched, is I'm not sure at what exact moment I could have fixed it. Does this mean it was inevitable to end the way it did? Is it fate?
I relive this moment often, wishing I could change the outcome. Of course I can't.

Reminds me of being a kid, playing a game and when it didn't go exactly the way you wanted, you called a Do-Over. And in some games, it was allowed. You did it right the second time and all ends well.

Ahh.. if life were so easy...

I call a Do-Over.
(pretty pleeeeeeeeassseee.... with sugar on top?)

Seeing The Forest Through The Trees

Winter Color

Come and Gone

Shhhh.

It's 6am. The house is back to normal and everyone is sleeping. Well except the cats. And me. It's snowing heavily right now. Don't you love those snowflakes that look like the size of quarters? I do :)

I took down the decorations last night, including the tree. I think Trout is a little upset with me.
I normally leave the tree longer, but the needles were just everywhere and getting annoying to clean up.

Amy tried cross country skiing for the first time yesterday. I got some great video. Now if she'll just let me use it :)
The girl wound up on her butt many times.

We'll go into Thompson Falls today. The hubs has some surgeries to do, so we will drop him off and go play.
The way the snow is coming down, we should get some good photos :)

Walks Alone

Suspended

Montana Icicles

Travels

It's almost time.
Peace will return tomorrow.
I'm really not going to bitch & moan..but tomorrow can't come soon enough.
I'm glad the kids had a great time. They wore themselves out daily, they fully took advantage of their time here.
They built snowmen, they went sledding, they rode horses, they went skiing and hiking, and they built forts.
Cody was nonstop.. I rarely remember the boy stopping to eat or pee. I'm not kidding! He didn't want to miss out on anything. It was sweet :)
Do you remember having so much fun that you didn't even want to stop to use the restroom? Yeah.... I remember that kind of fun.
What happened to that kind of fun?

I sit here enjoying the silence alone tonight, as usual. I'm the night owl. I'm munching on Christmas oreos that I don't need. Sipping on Heineken that is much needed.
Staring at the pretty tree that will most likely come down tomorrow.
Listening to the cats prowl quietly and my PC screensaver aguarium water bubbling. It's serene. It's nice.
You appreciate the silence more when it's taken away.

My sis will be here a couple of more days. We will drive to Thompson Falls to this cute little Montana souvenier store that she loves. It's just stock full of anything Montana :)
We will also see the eagles, hopefully.

I did get some cute socks this Christmas ;) They had kitties on them, imagine that.
I got a lovely windchime, which I love to listen to.
A necklace that shines friendship.
Christmas tunes, always a fave.
A beautiful frame, certainly for a photo I've taken this week.
Sweatpants to keep warm, a redneck calendar to make me smile, and a Hard Rock Cafe souvenier to add to my collection.
Enough lip balm to keep my lips soft for another year or so.
I got many great Christmas cards, which I always love :)

How was your Christmas?

Today's Adventures

And We're Off....

Silent Night

Ahhhh....

It's quiet. Everyone has retired but me, and the kitties. I'm sitting in the glow of the Christmas tree lights and the TV. I ran out of beer (the horror!) but Vanilla Rum and coke works just as well :)
The kids once again wore themselves out outside today. They took the 4-wheeler and pulled sleds behind it. Which is quite fun if I say so myself. They have skiied, they have hiked, and they have pigged out.

And now they all sleep :)

Tomorrow we must get supplies.

Kissing Snow

Presents have been opened.
Pancakes for breakfast.
Snowman has been built.
Ham has been smoked.
Cody learned to cross-country ski today.
And now sitting with a Heineken and watching the Cowboys game :)

We have a little bit of crummy weather, warmed up just enough to turn everything into slush and once again all the snow on the roof decided to slide off today.
My cats get to sneak out at night when everyone's asleep. It's kind of funny to watch them wonder out of the bedroom all wide-eyed. It's kind of how Dorothy looked when she landed in Oz :)
Poor things, they are SO ready for tomorrow.

We let Brock go with us sledding yesterday because we just didn't have the heart to leave him home when all the other dogs got to go. Unfortunately he played alot and could barely walk last night. We had to pick him up to get him into the truck and then onto the bed last night. Which is not an easy task.
He seems to be doing a bit better today. Poor hunk-o-dog :(

Hopefully the weather will improve for me this week so I can head to Coeur d'Alene and see the eagles :)

Ok.. the games back on. Hope you guys are having a great day!

Busy Morning

The Smallest Sledder

Good Day

I think they had fun :)

Coming Down

Going Up

Takin' a Break

Long Day

Amy's Toy

It's The Eve :)

Our Washington visitors didn't get here until almost 10pm. Washington had some avalanche warning on some pass ( I listen well, don't I?) and it delayed traffic big time and everyone was told to pull over and add chains to their tires.

I'm not sure why I'm rambling those details to you. Maybe it's because I'm on 7 hours sleep in two days.
So... they get here, with there TWO dogs. Yes you read that right, TWO. I thought it was one, but I was mistaken. They of course went directly for the cats. They even found the cats that were hiding under my bed.
Needless to say, most of the cats are now living there in my room:)
I moved their food and water and necessities in there with them.

It's only two more days, right?

I had to laugh when I flashed the flashlight down there and saw at least 6 sets of eyes. I do have to say though, Trout is quite the brave kitty, he stayed out in the crowd the whole time, and even smacked one of the dogs in the nose (the little thug). One for the kitties :)

My sis has discovered the 4-wheeler and absolutely loves it. Once I finally was able to start if for her she was off. And she's been out with it several times today. If she decides to head back to Texas with it will you keep an eye out for her please?

Tomorrow is the big sledding/bon fire day. Should be an adventure and I will of course keep you updated.

Brock's knee is bothering him more today :( I had to sedate him some to keep him calm when all the excitement started.

And that's just the first day.....

Everyone have a great Christmas Eve :)

Drive Slow

This was my drive today to Sandpoint. My sis and I headed in to do all the shopping for the week. The snow really came down and we came upon many white-out situations. I didn't mind driving in the snow as much as I did the slushy roads. Luckily I'm a calm one and I have a VERY heavy truck :)

We are now stocked with goodies and food and my beer is living in the back of the pickup :)

The Boy

Scavenger Hunt : Lines

Mohawk on Ice

They're here... and they're asleep. I guess a day of traveling will do that to ya.
I've only seen a couple of cats. Trout and Critter are the brave ones :)

Sledding and bonfires on Sunday with hot chocolate and cooking over the fire. Photos and video will be available.

Chillin'

Done.

My house is about as ready as it's going to be, or at least I've put as much effort as I want to in it.
I've decided this is the way I live, and these are visitors. I'm not going to put on some charade that I'm any different than I am :)
My visitors must like cats and dogs and not mind pet hair on their clothing.
My sis of course knows me, there's no real worries there.

I was up until about 5am. Yeah, I know... don't ask. A number of contributing factors keeping me up, but the main one is I get a bit stressed about having that many people here. And even though we joke, I know my cats will be stressed and hide and probably won't even eat while they are here. But, I know they'll survive.

I don't have to meet them in Sandpoint, so goody for me :) I wasn't much up to driving in the snowy conditions anyway.
The house is clean, the fire is going and all the lights are on. I wrapped the few presents from Santa and put them away. Fresh snow on the ground and plenty of food and alcohol is on it's way :)

I wish the beer would get here sooner.