Thank You Chris!

Victor got the day off work today because in 1492 Columbus took a cruise across the Ocean Blue.I'm grateful that Christopher got the day off work to navigate his way to the Americas. I wonder if he used earned-time-off or called in sick with a note strapped to his carrier pigeon? I wonder what kind of job description an explorer would have? Anyway, I took the dayoff, also. The kids are still in school so we have had a nice day together.

We have recently joined the local health club. I have put on a few "happy-marriage pounds" and am not liking how my clothes are fitting. A trainer met us today, weighed us, and gave a great pep talk, which I needed because the scale weighed 8 pounds heavier than the one at home.

It was both our dog's day off as well. They danced with a skunk this morning and now the whole house stinks. I now know the recipe for getting SKUNK out of dog:

1/4 Cup Baking Soda

1 quart of Hydrogen Peroxide

1 teaspoon Dawn dishwashing liquid.

After the rain shower this morning, this day is looking beautiful!

Blue skies, no clouds and warm. I just love AUTUMN...... skunks and all.

The Boys of Fall

After 6 months at my new job, I have finally found time to blog. I'm learning how to squeeze ME time out of a day by taking it out of SLEEP time. Here goes... time to whine -


WHERE DID SUMMER GO??? I'm sure it was supposed to be here because the calendar said June, July and then August. It's just that it rained the whole, stinkin' time. The wind blew and the clouds were drab in all their glory. But the cu de gra, the REAL proof that summer never arrived to our hilltop is.... our zucchini plant never grew a single veggie! How is that possible?


We also planted 5 tomato plants and got 3 tomatoes. THREE!!!! That isn't even one per plant.



June never got warmer than 76 and rained everyday but 4. July never got warmer than 89 and rained everyday but 6. August, well, it rained at least alittle every day except 5 and averaged 80 degrees Fahrenheit for the whole month. Today... it snowed!!


So, AUTUMN has arrived. We celebrated the end of a very rainy summer by attending the first MSU football game. It was a gorgeous day.... and it, of course, rained alittle on us. The Cats played Fort Lewis Skyhawks and beat them 59 - 10. The first quarter was fabulous and there were some great plays I would have liked to see rewound. After that, it was same ol', same ol', SCORE, SCORE, SCORE!!! The Bobcats have a new quarterback and even though I'm not really a sports aficionado, I really will enjoy watching him play for the next 4 years.



I love Kenny Chesney's new song, The Boys of Fall. It's moving and helps me get into the spirit of Fall as I mourn the close of a very SHORT rainy summer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlXDo5WhQXI


Clint, Rachael & Meggie are in soccer, Stacey should be playing volleyball but she is struggling through Mononucleosis. She'll be lucky to attend school! And my little Matthew, well he'll be a 7th grade Boy of Fall. I can't wait to watch all the kids play this season.

Like a Good Neigh Bear

State Farm is there.....
I last wrote about 6 months ago. It's been forever! I haven't written because I've been soooo busy. I spent two months (Jan & Feb) job hunting. I haunted Job Service every week, took their typing tests (got 60 wpm-no errors) and data processing tests (got 100% - no errors). It was futile.

Then, MIRACULOUSLY, I got a job the 1st of March with State Farm Insurance as the Office Manager. In the end, it came word-of-mouth. The old saying, "it's who you know" paid off.

What a wonderful job! I work with great people. I really didn't think that insurance was up my alley but after 3 months I've found that I LOVE it. The end of April I went to Missoula to Insurance School, took my tests and .... passed! I now have my Property, Casualty and Sureties Producers License and can sell auto, bonds and homeowners policies.

I am so lucky. My office is only 2 blocks from Victor's bank. On breaks, I get to run down to visit him. It's also 4 blocks from the schools and the kids can come to my office after school. We have a conference room for the kids to do their homework in that also has a TV with a DVD player. It has a small kitchen so they can get snacks, too.

My job is very interesting. Especially when filing claims.

Actually, I haven't filed claims like this yet. Just fender benders and wind-blown roofs. I really don't want to do anything more serious.