New Blog

Seriously. Some of my friends (who will not be named here) go freakin' gaga over cute pictures. Especially if they're cats. Excuse me. Kittens. Or, as Beth would say, Kit-tens. I am not sentimental. Or not very. That is why this blog is so awesome. Check it out.

End of the Year

It's the end the year, a good time to consider whether or not you've accomplished anything. I hate this time of year because my memory is horrible and I can't even remember the fourth gift I got for Christmas. We celebrated on Sunday. This is Saturday. And sad... this is very sad.
So, it's a good thing that I have this blog. I threw an awesome number of parties this summer. Again, summer, is like June to August, so twelve parties is pretty impressive. Even if I do say so myself. Work-wise, life is okay. It's definitely a good time to have a lot of vacation time.
Do I wish that I had done anything different? Who can remember? Probably been nicer to some people. And not have agreed to work Tuesdays at the K-Bar. And not tried to do so much. But then, that's true every year. It's just so hard to say "no."

And so this is Christmas...

After staying awake last night watching the third season of "The Office" with my brother and mother (bunny trail: I've tried to watch this show before and never enjoyed it. I just never got the charm. I really think that you had to have seen it from the beginning for it to be truly as wonderful as I now find it), I got up at 3 (2 o'clock Montana time) to get to O'Hare for my 6 o'clock flight. Most people loathe O'Hare. I love it. It's no Minneapolis airport, but it's the airport I grew up with so I feel pretty comfortable there. The last time I was there, it took me half an hour to check in and get through security. This time, check-in, no problem. I walked right up. They tried to make me pay for a bag but I fooled them and just carried all of my luggage on. Mwa ha ha! Security... soooooo... long. Why, why, why would they open up new security lines for people who just arrived and not for those who had been in line for 45 minutes? It's almost like they work for the same people I do... Things never make any sense. So, then I get to my gate and the flight is on time. Except for the head wind. Which made us 30 minute late. And my connection was in about 60 minutes in another terminal. I made it though since the plane needed to be heated and we didn't have a pilot. I love Christmas.
The best part of the day? Bohart Ranch was open for cross-country skiing. The worst part? I decided that I should go out for about 2 hours and I haven't been exercising lately. Blergh.

Snow Day

Well, since I didn't have to do anything today, it wasn't a true snow day. However, it is still a snow day when your plans (however tentative) to go skiing fall through, I think it counts. We've got lots of wind, lots of snow and plenty of cold. It's the second storm of this Montana winter and I am enjoying it, a LOT. My brother came down last night and chopped me some more wood. He, Allie, and I made a delicious dinner of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and some mixed vegetables and watched "It's always sunny in Philadelphia." Strange show. I don't really like it, but I enjoy it...if that makes sense. The people are obnoxious but the writing is hilarious. Allie headed out and Josh and I just read and watched more of the show then went to sleep. Today, we woke up to a white landscape and a view that you could barely see through the swirling snow. A perfect day to sit home and enjoy some hot cocoa with a little bit of butterscotch schnapps. Or to go visit with your friends who had an impromptu brunch and then played hearts for two hours. Yay Snow Days!

Scary

So, you're walking down the street, going to get groceries. It's quiet, as only a small town can be on a snowy night. Through the headphones of your iPod, you hear something. As you get closer to the grocery story, you lift the latest episode of "The Daily Purge" to get a closer look and listen at something completely startling...

What does one do for fun in Gardiner?

On a Thursday, one goes to the Christmas stroll. It's not an unusual thing for larger towns but it's much more fun here, where you know everyone. You can find out where the best food and drinks are. You can talk to the artists about their work. It's a wonderful time. I'm quite happy to live in a small town. Even if it can often be called the "Island of Misfit Toys." At least I fit in [wry grin].

Thanksgiving -Gardiner Style

I love this time of year. The leaves (which Montana doesn't have, but I got to see in IN last weekend) turning, the smell of smoke in the air, getting to fire up my wood stove. I love it all. Soon we'll be gorging ourselves until, as Heidi would say, "our bellies are round and hard." My big plans for Thursday are to start off with brunch and the Macy's Day Parade, attend the Gardiner Turkey Trot (the town does 1-2 laps around the mile long triangle at the Roosevelt Arch), then go to rugby, and then put my pajamas on and eat appetizers and watch football for the rest of the day. Friday will be the day of feasting with somewhere between 5-12 of us. Who knows who will show up, but we have a 14 lb. turkey so I hope people are coming!

More photos from work

Elk outside the LobbyMore Elk

White tail

More home work

These rose bushes were gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful. But they were a pain the ass. They were sending up little shoots everywhere. Into the backyard, under the wood pile. Everywhere. They had to go. Luckily, I have friends. I think we all had fun with this one.


And, I finally got my tub done. Yay!

My Backyard

Montana Rep-Diaries of Adam and Eve

I'm on the arts council for Gardiner. It's mostly fun and I really enjoy being able to bring some great acts into our small town but sometimes it seems like a LONG process. Especially during board meetings. We had our first performance this past Heidi was point person for the Montana Repertory Theatre. They were scheduled to perform Mark Twain's "The Diaries of Adam and Eve." The play is hilarious by the way. Absolutely wonderful. This group is always a joy to work with and the scenery was absolutely perfect. In an effort to bring more people in, Heidi not only advertised in the local newsletter, she hung posters and even threw a pre-show shindig. It was really fun, lots of food, lots of people, and a gorgeous sunset. Montana is so great for those.
After the show, we had a cake walk. It was a grand success and enjoyed by all. Last year we had attempted the musical chairs version (walk around in a circle, eliminate one chair and then one person each time). This year, we did the put-the-numbers-on-a-chair-and-then-pick-the-number-from-a-hat-for-people-to-win version. I was in charge of that part. I'm bossy so it works. We made enough money to cover our incidental expenses. Yay!
The night before, Allie and I made/finished our cakes over at Carrie's house while Heidi finished up her appetizers. My cake is on the left, Allie models her cake on the right. Heidi was finishing up her crab (crack) dip and putting it on fancy bread with lettuce. It was SO GOOD. She also made up her fancy beverages.
At the same time, we were watching Trailer Park Boys. If you've never seen this show, you really, really need to get it from Netflix. Canadians are funny, who knew?
You know who else is funny? Americans. Just check out the ants on a log and decorations that Allie and Heidi cooked up.

Working during the Winter

I am blessed enough to be able to walk to work. I'm only about 1/4 to 1/2 mile from work (never clocked it, suspect it is about half way between the two, it takes about 6 minutes to walk.) Here are a couple of pictures both from my walk and from my building. Ain't Montana wonderful?

Elk in the morning

Pretty mountain

My building

On the way home

Just to remind myself that Montana

This ain't no reg'lar corn maze

So, I've been saying for YEARS that I've wanted to go to a corn maze. Well, there's not a lot of corn in south-central Montana so I kind of figured it was a pipe dream. Then, my friend Heidi found a haybale maze that they were setting up in Bozeman. That's only 80 miles away. So, eight of us made the perilous journey and went through the maze. It was TOTALLY AWESOME!

Getting instructions. We not only had to find our way in and out, we also had to find four check points along the way. Allie and I found the first flag! Happy, happy, joy, joy.

Going through the maze
I made it out!

Renters

So, I left a couple of slightly annoyed messages on Facebook about this, but my renters left on September the 17th. Thank god they left early. They left a pigsty. Seriously disgusting. Thank God my parents came and helped me out. I had somebody come in and clean the carpets. Somebody also did the walls. But I still needed to do the trim which took two coats and was all over the apartment. LOOOONNNGG Time. I figured it would take my parents and I a day to finish up everything that needed to be done. I was really, really wrong. I took two days off of work to help out and they were still working on Thursday and Friday. I REALLY lucked out in the parental department. Brand new flooring in the bathroom (it had been a rug), new toilet seat, new rug and countertop in the back room and more.

The Stove Before

The Stove After (and it's not just the flash)

The walls and trim before
Walls and Trim after (And the floor stains are gone)

Ceiling stains have been Killzed and painted

Sink Before

Sink After (all peas are gone and the sink is shiny)
My mom somehow managed to not only rip all of those nasty flowers off, she got the tub sparkling as well.

Dear God in Heaven I hope I never have to go through that again. Alicia, I hope you get a permanent job and live below me forever.

The Debates

What are we discussing while what may be the election-deciding debate is on television? Who is the sexiest man on a dollar bill. Alicia voted for Hamilton but I have to argue for Jefferson. Both were probably sleeping with anything that moved but they sure are pretty.

Where the heck've I been?

Exciting times. Two Fridays ago Jackie and I gave a presentation at the Western Pacific chapter of American Association of Law Libraries. I was super nervous. Especially since Jackie's daughter got married the weekend before so she was gone and I had to deal with a ridiculous number of people who didn't know that fall is supposed to be a shoulder season. Shoulder season=fewer people. At least, it's supposed to. But whatever. Even though we had to essentially pull ourselves together in a week, we kicked some serious butt. I went to the sessions both Friday and Saturday. Didn't learn very many new things but a lot of the ideas were definitely re-energizing. Just notice the slightly maniacal look on my face at the end of the conference.
It was great 'cause I got to go up to Bozeman and spend time with mon frer. Oh yeah. By the time I got there Friday night, my energy levels had subsided, a LOT. After driving up to Bozeman at 7, then waiting for a ridiculously long time to give my speech and then the rush of doing the speech and then doing it so well... I was zonked. But it was his friend Josh's birthday so there were a bunch of people that came over. It was fun but I just wanted to sleep. I had the conference the next day and my parents were coming in that night. More on their visit later.

Fun at work

Libraries aren't just about fun and books. We also do serious things. Like move map cases.


The two day countdown 'til I have to speak at the WestPac conference. Should be an interesting experience.

Yargh, it's been awhile...

I've been off the interweb for awhile lately. It's good sometimes not to spend every waking minute online. Only sometimes of course. Haven't gotten completely updated from all the cool stuff I've been doing. Last week was, of course, yoga on Monday. Tuesday was rugby and then I met with the Community Center board to talk about doing a joint dinner and a show with the Arts Council (which I am a member of).
Wednesday was a particularly trying day at work so Lauren and I decided to skip yoga and drink. Didn't actually end up drinking, but we took over Carrie's house and made eggplant Parmesan. This week was the start of the new season of House and we needed to prep (aka, we needed to watch the last two shows from last season. So, while Lauren and I sliced, diced, and cooked, Carrie looked for a bulldog (see her blog for more on that). We didn't stick particularly close to the recipe (used random cheeses and zucchini) but it was absolutely delicious. I'm a fairly good baker but I'm really enjoying starting to cook.

Dinner at Lake last Tuesday

I forgot to write about going down to Lake last week. It was awesome. I had Tuesday off so I met the girls (Lauren and Heidi) at Heidi's house. We rode up the hill to pick up Ally and we were on our way. Lots of people can go to dinner at a fancy restaurant an hour a way but how many are in traffic jams like this?
We had dinner at Lake Lodge and then drinks at the hotel. We even found time to place the HOBO at Lake Hotel so the museum can make sure that the items down there are staying all nice and cozy. Then we played King's Corner's until 10 and then went home. It was totally awesome.

Chocolate Party

It was the year of the third annual Gardiner Chocolate Party. We had over 20 people show up. Of course, when you put it in the news letter and announce it at yoga, people tend to come. We even had a white trash fire. Just like the one in my back yard. Every edible thing was chocolate (except the red wine.) There was hot chocolate, chocolate tea, chili, chicken mole, mousse, french silk pie, double chocolate pie, and more. The chicken mole that Heidi made was wonderful and she even posted the recipes! I live in a great town!

Labor Day

Was the day of our big TENTH party of the year. The weather was slated to be pretty horrible so we planned the House/martini party. Well, we needed Carrie's house because it has the biggest TV and the most comfortable house. We couldn't wake Carrie up until about 4, but then we started the show and spent almost six blissful hours in the land of House. Granted, it was the fourth season but it was still pretty good. I brought my baby blankets over and Heidi brought her socks. Trudy kept working on her potholders and Carrie started a blanket herself so it was also somewhat of a knitting party too. Good eats, good friends, good shows. What more does a girl need?

A week of no internet

I would've updated this sooner if I hadn't lost the internet at my house for five days. It turns out that I'm a total addict. Who knew? It was devastating. And it was such an exciting weekend. It started out with Shakespeare in the Park from the Montana Shakespeare Company. I went with five friends and we took a feast. There was wine, cheese, crackers, grapes and cookies. Totally awesome. We sat on a blanket in the front part of the lawn. The play was wonderful and the atmosphere... well, just look at the picture! Our park is located just outside the Roosevelt Arch. Beautiful and historic. Oh yeah, baby.
Then, Friday night was a reception for Kerry and Stacy Gunther who went and got married at Pelican in March and didn't even tell anyone. There was lots and fun and dancing and two kegs of beer. After that, I was about to go home when I saw four of the guys from the show. I ended up hanging out with them until the wee hours of the morning. I haven't been out that late since July. And I don't think even then, actually.
I had to recuperate for the Music Festival on Sunday. This was the fifth annual music festival, the first year we've had to hold it indoors. The weather was slated to be absolutely crappy. The venue was cramped... but it worked out okay I think. I had to work at the K-Bar but my friends all stopped by after I was done and told me about the jam session that was happening afterward. The Two Bit has a back room that hasn't been open lately but a bunch of the bands came down and just started playing together. It was pretty cool but I still wasn't feeling up to snuff so I went to bed at about midnight.

Fangirly Eek!

A couple of months ago, I reviewed the book Summer of Fire by Linda Jacobs for the Wyoming Library Roundup Spring 2008 issue. It's a little cheesy but I really did enjoy the book. Generally, the book is categorized under "Fiction" but it has definite leanings toward both adventure and chick-lit. Her subsequent novels Rain of Fire and Lake of Fire have also been pretty good.
I had completely forgotten about it until today when Linda Jacobs came in to the library to do some research. Of course, I knew who she was. It made me all fan-girly and "Ooo! Ooo! An author is coming! An author is coming!" But then, she started flipping through the magazine and pointed to the review. "This is you!" I seriously started blushing. I could't even remember what I wrote. For library reviews, you're not supposed to praise or criticize authors. It's supposed to be more of a "this book about this and is suitable for these ages." I kind of cringe when I read my review. It just doesn't flow as well as the others on the page. And the author actually read it! Oh, crap. Oh, well. At least I didn't have to review the book written by my co-worker...
P.S. If I bought books based on niceness of the author, I'd buy 2 and 3/4 of her [three] books.

A day in the life...

Today, I got to go out with the Archaeology folks and look at a couple of sites. It was pretty darn cold out in Hayden Valley. Somebody said that it was 27 degrees. It was higher than that when we got there, but still not much past 50. When we arrived at the site we were verifying, there was a long line of cars signaling a bison-jam. However, it stopped right at the pull-out we needed to park at so it all worked out for the best.
The site was supposed to be on a hill above the river, about half a kilometer from the road. Now, half a kilometer is usually not that far. Really, it's only about .3105 miles or some such number. However, this is Yellowstone and the distance from A to B is never "as the crow flies." No, this was more like straight up, little dip then up and back down again. The written description we had said that it was supposed to be somewhere near an old telephone line so we were pretty excited to find pole remnants.
Once we determined the approximate location of the site ("we" being everyone but me), John asked if I knew what we were looking for. Nope. We were looking for flakes and points. Ooookaaaay. he asked if I knew what those were. Nope. Apparently, flakes are thin slivers of obsidian (shiny black rock) or chert (red, white or some other color (brown? Kendra, your husband does this for a job, what's the other color, or even better, what's a better definition?) rock that is fairly dense, aka, wouldn't break easily if chipped down to be a weapon or point (example of some flakes to the left. Bonus points if you can actually see the darn things.))
John, by the way, is completely awesome. Just in general. He has the patience of a saint and the greatest funny-bone ever. Just one flaw... he roots for Kentucky. Really, John, really? I've included a picture of John in a bison wallow (or as I would say, "waller"). When bison get itchy or bored or just feel too clean, they tend to flop around in these things and kick up a lot of dust. Apparently these are great places to look for artifacts 'cause the bison have pretty much killed the vegetation.
After Hayden Valley we went out to another site in Swan Lake Flats. That's when the wind kicked up and we didn't know exactly where the site was and Ally was not wearing a very thick jacket so it got a little less fun. But what do I know? I was pretty much just there as bear bait.
All in all, a pretty fun excursion. It was damn cold for most of the trip but I got to get out of the office. And I got to use the facilities in the new Canyon Visitor Center. They are very clean and very nice and there are lots of stalls in the ladies restroom. The last, of course, being the most important thing in a ladies restroom. No line.

Updates

So, the ninth party went off without a hitch. It was chilly, very chilly but the crowd stayed warm by yelling comments at the screen as the Wolverines crept around their small Colorado town during WWIII.
I also heard that the VIP tour that I did for the Representative from Indiana was well-received so that sounds nice. Quote, "Outstanding." I... am... outstanding. Thank you.

Oops

Cici Guiles just pointed out that our group of friends has thrown eight parties this summer making the one tonight number nine not number eight.

Checking in with the Summer 2008 to-do list

1. Plan at least 10 parties (seven completed, two more planned)
   
2. Attend the Roosevelt cookout (all booked, not going to happen)
   
3. Snorkel in the Yellowstone
4. Snorkel in the Firehole
5. Have a House marathon, complete with martinis
6. Wii tournament
7. Get drunk on the Fourth of July
8. 3rd annual Chocolate party
1. make sure to put it in the newsletter
9. Make a plan to BBQ with the boys in Tower
10. Go see "Sex in the City"
11. Float the Yellowstone in innertubes
12. Plan a weekend to float the Madison River and go to Virginia City and maybe go to Lewis and Clark Caverns
13. Attend an art walk in Livingston
14. Find a new summer drink It's pink lemonade and blueberry vodka (heard about on the "How Much Do We Love" podcast). I have no idea if it really has a name but we're calling it a Pink Lady.

Snorkeling the Firehole

We crossed another item off the to-do list for the summer yesterday. Snorkeling in the park is great fun, especially this time of the year when you just have to ride the current a look around. We saw a bunch of rainbow trout. Heidi, Carrie (pictured left), Trudy and the bundles of people they've told all think it's hilarious that I scream every time I see a fish. This is somewhat difficult to do with a snorkel in your mouth. Usually I end up sucking in water and then having to spew it everywhere. We also agreed on a new summer drink last night. Pink Ladies (we don't know they're real name, but it's blueberry vodka mixed with pink lemonade) are the official Gardiner drink of 2008. Woo team! Today, we attempt to float down the Yellowstone as well as getting some snorkeling done at the same time. That should cross off two more items. Some of the things just aren't going to happen (cookout at Roosevelt, they were all booked up) but I think we're going to get well over half of them done. It's so exciting!.

Aack

So I finally joined facebook. I have mixed feelings about this. It seemed like a good idea at the time... but now people can find me. I don't know about this...

Forwards

Okay, normally I totally eschew forwards but I really liked this one from my friend Leslee. Plus, I'm a total egomaniac and this blog is all about me. Learn all about me in one easy paragraph.
This is for your entire life!

So, for this portion, you put x's next to the ones that you've done.

( ) Gone on a blind date
(x) Skipped school
( ) Watched someone die
(x) Been to Canada -
( ) Been to Mexico
(x) Been to Florida
(x) Been on a plane
( ) Jumped out of a plane
( ) Been on a Helicopter
(x) Been lost

(x) Been on the opposite side of the country
(x) Gone to Washington DC-Didn't I just answer that?

(x) Swam in the ocean
(x) Cried yourself to sleep
(x) Played cops and robbers
(x) Recently colored with crayons
(x) Sang Karaoke
( ) Paid for a meal with coins only?
(x) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't?
(x) Made prank phone calls
(x) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose (In front of a crush, no less)
(x ) Caught a snowflake on your tongue--it's like they know me
(x) Danced in the rain
(x) Written a letter to Santa Claus
( ) Been kissed under the mistletoe
( ) Watched the sunrise with someone you care about
(x) Blown bubbles
(x) Gone ice-skating
(x)Gone Skiing (Water)
(x) Been skinny dipping outdoors
(x) Gone to the movies
(x) Been to a drive-in movie

Open-ended question time now, I edited out the dumb ones
1.Any nickname? Yes
3. Favorite drink? Right now, Lemonade

4. Tattoo? Yes

5. Body Piercings? ears
6. How much do you love your job? Quite a bit
8. Favorite Vacation spot? anywhere but where I am
9. Ever been to Africa ? no
10. Ever eaten cookies for dinner? YES, usually with ice cream
11. Ever been on TV? yes
12. Ever steal any traffic sign? no
13. Ever been in a car accident? Yes, but I wasn't driving
14. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? 4 door
15. Favorite salad dressing? Whatever isn't expired
16. Favorite pie? PIE
17. Favorite number? Q
18. Favorite movie? Too many to count
19. Favorite holiday? The day of my birth
20. Favorite dessert? Anything sweet
21. Favorite food? You mean I have to pick one?
22. Favorite day of the week? Really? This is a question?
23. What do you do to relax? read for pleasure
24. Favorite toothpaste? Crest
25. Favorite smell? Nope
26. Favorite color? Pink
27. Favorite song? Right now? Moondance by Van Morrison
28. How do you see yourself in 10 years? 38

Book challenging

In libraries, especially public libraries, there are patrons who will object to different books being on the shelves. The reasons are generally varied. Sometimes the book shows a religion that a parent might object to or perhaps they don't like the story. Most libraries are well-prepared for this eventuality and there is generally a lengthy process before (if) a book is ever removed.
The first step is generally that a person will fill out a complaint form. At that time, they are usually given a bunch of literature, mostly from the American Libraries Association (ALA) about the freedom of speech etc. Then, the head of the department where the book was challenged (almost always occurring in the Children's Area) will respond to the person.
One such response has been making the rounds lately. It is maybe not the most poetic letter ever composed, but it is well-written and well-thought out and really makes the point that we may not always agree with other people's opinions, but that does not mean that everyone else in their community should be deprived of the book because of them.
I like that this gentleman points out that the woman should be proud that she has passed on her ideals to her daughter. He may not agree with her view point on the subject, but he is certainly not trying to preach his own ideals. Nor is he trying to restrict her point of view just because he disagrees with it.
It will be interesting to see what this woman's response is. If she pushes it further, the library may offer to put other books on the shelves that say that gay marriage is wrong (do such children's books exist?) but I sincerely doubt that the book will be removed without a fight.

http://jaslarue.blogspot.com/2008/07/uncle-bobbys-wedding.html

Garage Sale--Party Seven

There are those who would argue that a Garage Sale does not constitute a party. To them I say "Bah!" It's totally a party when one has... mimosas, a keg and a Wii... which we did, thank you very much. It was awesome. Unfortunately, Carrie's party was a bit...overstimulating, so it was a little harder to get up the next morning. But we still had fun. The ad in the newsletter specified from 9-1. We had people there at 8:45. All of the big stuff was gone by 11:30. We decided to close up at noon since it would not be worth it to stick around. Yay Garage Sale!

New Rumors

So, I think I've kvetched about this before. I have lived here for over three years now (not counting the first two summers) and I've never heard a rumor about me before. Finally, while making the pinata for Carrie's cancer-free/birthday party, I heard the second one (the first was that I am trying to throw a hundred parties this summer, that one, I've heard it twice). Apparently, Heidi and I (pictured in this pinata making picture) are dating. This is a surprise for a couple of reasons. First, if there were a lesbian dating rumor about me, I would have thought that it would be me and Guiles. Good lord, we throw enough parties together. Second, I'm surprised that someone thinks I could land a Heidi. If I could find a guy like her, I'd be trying to date him.
Anyway, I finally have a rumor about me!!!

Parties Five and Six

Thursday night was party five, hosted by our very own lovely Heidi. She, MacNeil and Lucy had missed their annual Fourth of July party so they just moved it to the end of July instead.
Party six, celebrated yesterday e'en was to celebrate the birth of one C. Guiles. Will write more about that later. We also had to throw in a "Yay! Carrie's cancer-free" moment as well. I will be posting a video of the pinata later...
And here it is..

New URL

It's been pointed out by more than one person that my blog name is.... somewhat misleading. So, sometime in the next couple of weeks I'm going to change the address.
Just so's y'all know.
I'm going to try and get something more... sedate. Maybe "jessisblog" but that is probably taken and looks a bit confusing. Something with an address that I can give to my parents. Maybe something easy to remember?

Suggestions are welcome.

Off-the-cuff ideas:

ssejig
jessigye (GYE being the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem)
pizzababe (though I debate this job every other month or so)
librarianjessi
yellowstonessej
hugeassdork
bookbabe (again, probably already taken)
jessireadsalotandhasnolife
wiichamp
yorkler (for Yellowstone snorkler)

Party Four

...happened while I was in Cayucos. Carrie Guiles has assured me that she has pictures and will be posting them soon. Check her blog for more details.

Cayucos

So, I recently got to spend a week in California with my Dad's sister's family. Seven kids in the family. They like to play board games when they get together. I was in heaven. We played Scene It: Squabble more than once and the boys couldn't understand why they weren't winning. I guess that, if you put Terry, Todd and Tom on the same team, they usually win.
I started the weekend off by picking up my brother in Bozeman (notice his hair, big sausage curls down past his shoulders and then he chopped it all off for Locks of Love) and we grabbed lunch then went to the airport. We had to get ourselves up to Cayucos from L.A. We landed just before seven at night and made it to the 'rents' condo around 10:30. The fires were amazing. We weren't at all close but you could see the flames lighting up the northern sky. The condo was right on the beach. Almost every morning, we started the day by walking along the beach. Notice the coffee mugs in almost every hand and my mother in her jammies. In this picture, she had picked up some big piece of seaweed and was swinging it back and forth until the darn thing broke off. It's not often that the four of us get to spend time together so the three days we had were pretty awesome. We played a lot of Euchre. Stupid boys kept winning.

It was a great week. We saw a bunch of dolphins and seals. I even made it into the water once, the ocean is breathtakingly cold. The absolute worst part of the vacation was when I rolled my ankle playing beach volleyball. Say it with me, "aaaaawwwwww." Just can't help but feel sorry for me, can ya? A week of sand, sun and ice cream. Poor, poor me.
On Thursday night, I went to San Luis Obispo with my cousins Emily and Katie. There is a farmer's market there every week. Unfortunately, it was all food. We had really been hoping for more of a people/artisan's market. Earrings or other jewelry would have been appreciated. But there were none. Katie is... almost seventeen and the youngest of seven. She's definitely a pistol, keeps the rest of the family on their toes. Emily just turned 21 and is excited to be able to drink. On Friday, I went out with her, her father, and his two friends to play shuffle board. It was an experience. They were definitely more of drinkers than I am. I had three beers and quit. All in all, a week full of brand-new experiences.

Family portraits