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

Where am I?

Sorry for very few posts lately. I was on vacation and then immediately got sick after I came home. Trying to catch up is taking a lot of my time so I won't be able to post vacation pics until Saturday or maybe even Monday.

Hope y'all are doing well!

New Grill

Have I mentioned how cool my co-hostess is? She brought back a grill and it works! Check it out!

Game Night

Last year we met every Thursday for game night. We usually had around 6 people and we just played a different board game every night. This year, we've only tried to get together twice. Neither time have we actually played board games.
The first time only Ally and Lauren showed up. We ended up going out to Lamar Valley to look for wolves. We had to stop at Tower to pee and ended up spending almost an hour talking to Mitch and his friends. Then we went out to Lamar and peed again. We heard a loon and crickets. No wolves.
This past Thursday, Lauren and Ally showed up again as well as Heidi, Trudy and Carrie. We met at my place. We ended up chatting and moving furniture until it was too late to play any games. Best laid plans... are sometimes better put aside.

Wednesday Softball

So, the other team didn't have enough players, so I got to play an inning on their side. I played second. Again. I might start expecting to play there soon. I just look like I'm paying so much attention, don't I? It's really nerve wracking to play somewhere that I don't normally hang out. Catching is bad enough. Second base actually sees some action. Since I was playing for the other team though, it didn't really matter as much if I messed up.

I did get to play for my team as well. I caught. It did not go well. I also got up to bat twice. Ally got this great picture of me. What is with that face? I look like I'm in agony. This was a pop fly that went about five feet behind second base. Great hit. They totally caught it. Oh well. It was better than the dribbler that I hit the next inning.
yech. We ended up losing. It was our own fault. I think we were having too much fun. I love my team. My friend Ally(2) got to play for the first time. Ever. She totally whiffed, but she got in the game and swung. I think that's all that really matters.

Other images I need to share
Ruffers

Elk on the field

Big dog little dog

Tailgating after the game

Snowcoach Man

I live near some very talented people. There are musicians, actors and artists of all mediums living in town. It's very humbling...

but also very fun. Check out this take-off of the Grizzly Man. Um, lots of swear words... so be prepared.

If you've seen the movie, you'll LURV this video. If you haven't seen the movie, this is still pretty good.

Drinking on the Fourth of July

This weekend was Shannon's wedding. She got married up in Belgrade. Trudy was nice enough to let me ride up with her. We got to the location and it was gorgeous. Big, red barn in the middle of the country, chickens running around everywhere. It was actually in the contract that we weren't allowed to harass the chickens (i.e. no chasing. No fun.) I even managed to adhere to that rule. But, come on, it's hard not to chase chickens.
The bride was radiant, the groom was handsome, Tyler was GREAT as the "priest." The dresses were even beautiful. Well, they might be usable again. And they flattered all of the women. At least, I thought so.

Ring bearer practicing for when the bride and groom emerge

The flower girls were also cute. This girls hair was done in a bow. not tied in abow, done in a bow. So cute!

Also cute, the already married couples
Becky and Dan
Kendra and Doug
Doug on the fence
Doug plays on both sides of the fence

The dinner was lovely and delicious. I think there were maybe a hundred people there. The music for dancing was provided by a play-list of tunes that the attendees had sent in beforehand.
The next day, we went tubing on the Madison River. It was, unfortunately, overcast and the runoff from the snow-melt is still going on. The river was quite chilly, but at least we didn't have to stand up and drag our tubes ever. Sometimes, when it gets warmer, you have to do that because the river is so low. Then, Kendra, Doug, Kevin, Trudy, Heidi, Emily and I went to Norris Hot Springs. it was low key and wonderful. I've never been there before and it was so different from Chico. The social atmosphere was so laid-back it was nice. I loved seeing all of my friends and it was so much fun to just hang out.

Softball

This week was our third softball game. We lost. But only by 11 runs. Since we were playing the team that recruits (for Rec softball? Seriously?), that was considered a great accomplishment. In our league, if a team is down by more than 10 runs at the bottom of the fifth, the game ends. It's supposed to end abject humiliation. Or cut games short that might otherwise run over. We ended about 30 minutes before the next game was to start. They didn't want to keep playing, because they had already won (R-e-c softball? it's supposed to be fun?) Anyway, whenever we have an early game, our team also has a BBQ. There's a house just up the hill from the softball field where my co-worker used to live, but she's moved. However, another co-worker moved in for the summer so we get to keep having the BBQs there, at least for this year. It's always good food and good fun. Just witness the above picture. Who needs a bottle opener when you have a perfectly good picnic table? I love Montana.

What do you say?

So, today someone asked me, "Tell me about Tom." (not the real name). What do you say to that? My reply (after a blank look and a long "durrrrr") was "Well, what do you mean? In what way?" Basically, I think the person was trying to figure out whether or not Tom was single, but how do you ever answer that question? "Well, Tom is a hemophiliac racist." What? Is there really any way to reply that doesn't sound stupid?