Thanksgiving-Part Two

But, yes, I was able to get quite a bit of goodness in me. All day long. It was wonderful. After Trudy's delectable appetizers, it was time to head home for some more Christmas movies. Thought I could play some Wii at Carrie's but ended up getting sucked into Holiday Inn. Have decided that the movie is long, racist, and much more charming in black and white.
Then, was the inevitable crunch time as I realized that I should have put the potatoes on "15 minutes ago" and hadn't even THOUGHT about the ham in awhile. But it all came together. Even with me distracting poor Allie from her hard work on getting some excellent gravy. Dinner was awesome. There was great conversation, some dancing to Mariah Carey and lots of people chipping in to help wash dishes. Just thinking about the day gives me a happy, sappy inside glow. Christmas, you're gonna have to work hard to stay my favorite holiday.
I forgot to include this picture in my last post. This is the planning that six of us sat down to figure out how we were going to feed 23 people in our tiny little houses. We were women with a wipey board and a plan. In my world view, we gave people options. The youngest person there was 24. if they were unhappy with the options given, they were darn well old enough to do something about it themselves. Why should the hostesses have to worry about more than what we had planned? This is what I have learned from years of eating with my mother and her friends. And you know what? They're right.
A view of my tablemates. You can't really see Jen or Josh, but they're there. Jen is behind the wine and Josh's hand is grasping his mug.
Trying to get a good brother/sister shot to send home to Mom and Grandma. This is about the best one. Thanks Mariah!

Thanksgiving-Part One

Oh my lands. This was the best Thanksgiving EVER! It's hard to beat this kind of day. It started at 6:45 when I stole Carrie's car and went up to get Michela (pictured at left, helping to get labels on the beer, another picture of said beer, best brew from Gardiner Gals Basement Brewing IMHO, is on the right and a little down from here. It's only missing Trudy, the one who stirs the beer with love, something I, apparently, am incapable of), one of the Italian interns in GIS. We came back down and people started filtering over to Carrie's for breakfast and the Macy's Day Parade. Have to be honest, the parade was not as good as usual. Better than last year, but still not great. It might help if they actually showed the parade. Seriously, no bands, no batons, just some silly balloons and lots of people promoting themselves and their shows. Doesn't make me enjoy the show. At least we didn't have to listen so some interminable prattle from two women about a vacation they had taken together like a billion years ago. The food, of course, was excellent. There were breakfast casseroles galore as well as brown-sugar covered bacon and mimosas. Yummers. At one point there were 15 people in Carrie's tiny little apartment.
At 1o, the parade ended and we were off to the annual Gardiner Turkey Trot. I think I talked about this in my blog from last year. Someone puts an ad in the Newsletter and people just show up to walk around the triangle formed by the park entrance, the border to Gardiner, and the employee road. Going around once is approximately equivalent to 1 mile. People show up, bring donations for the food pantry, and then proceed to walk for as long as they feel like. Michela, Allie (plus Ruffers), Mariah (plus Sadie), Emily (plus Callie) and I (plus Corso) all went to do the trot. Altogether, I think there were about 20-30 people there (I'm bad at estimating stuff like that). I only did the first three-quarters at which point, I warned Michela, who very nicely took over Corso duties for me, that he might slip free as his collar was loose, but not to worry because he knew where the house was and would go "home." I then made sure that Corso knew that I was leaving and showed him that Michela was on the other end of his leash and then scampered off to rugby. About three yards later, Corso indeed skipped out on the Trot and promptly went back to find Josh. Smart puppy. What did I know? I was enjoying myself down at the school. Plus, he made it safe so, whatever. Rugby, as always, was totally fun. There were about 16 people down there playing. I made a try (touchdown)! Granted I kind of sat down (you have to get the ball on the ground past the goal line to make a goal) but it totally counted. I also got beaned in the head. At least it was the back of my head and not my nose like happens with most balls of the sports variety. It was then back to the house. Emily, Mariah, Aaron, and Allie had started watching Love Actually since our house was the designated Christmas movie watching place. Josh was upstairs watching Die Hard. At least it fits in with the Christmas movie theme. Once I got cleaned up, it was a trip up to Trudy's where appetizers were set out to whet people's appetites/keep them from gnawing off their arms. There was a gigantic spread of olives, pizza, edamame, crackers, spreads and so much goodness it was hard to take in all at once. All that goodness! How could I get it in me?

'Twas the weekend before T-Day

Last Saturday, five of us decided to go up to Bozeman to get some Thanksgiving shopping done. Before that though, a group of us lined up at 7:50 to get in to the Shaggy Bear Sale. This is a sale that's held either the Saturday before or after Thanksgiving. This year, obviously, it was before. A group of women get together and sell items that they have collected throughout the year. Generally they fix up chairs, grow plants, or make food items (Irish cream, pancake mix, dog biscuits are some examples) and then sell everything in the Scout House, which is about a block down from me. The sale starts at 8:00. Even 10 minutes early, we weren't the first ones in line. By the time the sale opened, there were about 25-30 people in line. That doesn't sound like much until you think that the general population in Gardiner this time of year is supposedly around 800 people.
Then, Allie and I went to wake up Carrie Guiles and the three of us traveled up to Livingston to drop off Ruffers. It was the three of us in Carrie's Element as well as Carrie's dog Eddie. Ruffers was so excited, he decided that sitting on my lap would be a grand way to spend 50 miles. He made a great arm rest. All the better to play my DS. I'm really loving "Henry Hatsword." Why am I writing this post when I could be playing?
Oh well. We dropped off Ruffers at Allie's aunt's house and Allie switched over to her aunt's car. The four of us re-grouped at Nova in Bozeman, meeting up with Emily and Mariah. An excellent brunch was enjoyed by all. Then the cars split up. Allie and her aunt were off to Rosauers (grocery store) and the mall, Emily and Mariah were off to the dog park and Carrie and I hit the library, Lowe's and Staples/Target.
While Carrie was going into Staples, I decided to run in to Target to get some of those Solo cups that you can write your name on (the ones that have little blackboard thingys, not the regular cups on which you can use markers). At first I wasn't going to go into a store so Carrie tossed the keys on the dashboard. Walking back, I met up with Carrie, who realized that her keys were, indeed, locked in the car.
We first tried to get Eddie, who was locked in the car, to high-five the locking mechanism. He was too confused to help out so we started to reevaluate our options.
Luckily, the passenger side window was open. Carrie said, "Jessi, look in the topper, what's up there?"
"Well, there's a sleeping pad, sleeping bag... um, a jacket..."
"Sleeping bag? That's my tent! pull that down"Yes, Carrie managed to open the car through her own ingenuity, saving time and money. This is what happens when you own the first five seasons of MacGuyver.
But the day didn't end there. Carrie and I met up with Em and Mariah at Costco. The two of them were like kids in a candy store. I guess they don't get to buy in bulk too often.
Then we headed off to Livingston to visit the dog park. It is just a track with a big field but, being in Montana, it is absolutely gorgeous. There were probably about eight people there and about 15 dogs. That seems about typical for this area.
On the way to the grocery, Allie was making some noises in the back seat. Carrie and I asked what was up and she said that she was having some shooting pains in her chest. Carrie immediately pulled over and we tried to call a "Dial-a-nurse" but couldn't get ahold of one. So we continued on to the grocery. When we met up with Emily, she had the number for the nurse so Allie called. After hearing what was going on, the nurse told Allie to sit down immediately and have someone call 9-1-1. Well. We finished our shopping and started back to Bozeman. Luckily, Carrie has a phone book in her car so we were able to determine that the emergency clinic was closed before we got too far. The next exit took us back to Livingston so we took Allie to the emergency room. Carrie and I settled in for the wait. It was only about 2 hours. I'd say, for an emergency room visit, that was pretty short. It turns out that her pain was caused by an inflamed intercostal region (spelling is probably way off but it's basically the space between your ribs). But the cute doctor was relieved that we had bullied her into coming because, he said, it could have been something much worse. Got home around 9. It was an exciting kick-off to a very full Thanksgiving week.

Fall

Ah, Fall. The time of year when the elk are in town and the pronghorn hang out in front of the building. At least most of the craziness (read here, male hormones) is gone and they aren't charging everything in sight. Unfortunately, they are still sharpening their antlers on anything they thing might be useful. Including the hood of Carrie's car. Oops.
Loved the Halloween. They do a Parade at the school, which I didn't know until this year. All of the grade school kids parade in their costumes, and then they have a fair for the rest of the afternoon. Where the heck was this when I was in grade school? Totally and completely unfair.
Then, Allie (downstairs neighbor) and I had about 50 kids come by the house. We both hang around outside so as to make sure we have the least amount of candy left over possible. The candy was followed by sushi at Carrie's. A wonderful night was had by all.

Lately

So I've been kind of of whiny lately. It's hard not to be when it's snowing. In October. The beginning of October. This is going to be a long, hard, freakin' winter. So you have to find ways to amuse yourself. Kids are always good as a distraction. And sometimes parents need to get rid of them for awhile and leave them in your tender mercies. MWA HA HA
So Ben and Izzy came over to Carrie's house and we had fun.
There was Wii-playing, pizza eating, and nail painting. Of course, this included Eddie. He's such a pretty, pretty princess.

Walking back from the K-Bar. Pizza good.

Check out those nails!

More time to update blogs

Major points:

• Gave a talk in Cody. Planned it during our lunch that day. Went over very well.
• Major drama at my second job. Can't wait until this thing is over. (Quick highlights, ex-girlfriend of boss is manager while (perceived) current girlfriend is waitstaff. Big fight last night. Waitstaff was fired, manager quit. Yeesh)
  
• Had my first salt scrub. Was absolutely exhilarating. Until the effects wore off at said second job.
• Shoot, when was my last post. Not sure if there were other hightlights.
• Bought my Wii. Been having a lot of fun.
  
• Haven't gotten my WiiFit yet. There's a new version coming out on the 4th. I'm going to wait until next weekend and get the Fit then. Although I could just order it now.... oooooooo.

Yeah. I'm going to quit posting and head on over to Amazon.

Wii Musings

Not to sound ungrateful, but I thought long and hard about getting a second job. It cuts into my free time. It's dashedly hard. And, let's face it, a Wii is a fairly frivolous item. But I did think long and hard about it. A job that would last a little over a month seemed just perfect. I would make my money slowly but surely and be able to get my new toy in October. Then I found out that I get tipped out. At a restaraunt which, by Gardiner standards, is fairly expensive. And I made all the needed money for both a Wii and a Wii Fit in two weeks. In less than a quarter of the time that I thought it would. So I geared myself up for nothing? Is that why I'm feeling somewhat disappointined? And what is going to happen in two weeks when tourism falls off and I'm not making this kind of money any more?

New Job

Started a new job last week. Why? Didn't quit the old one. No. This is a job in addition to the library job. Jessica, you may ask yourself, why would you willingly take on the responsibility of working another job hostessing? Especially one in a high-stress, fast-paced environment like Pedalino's (fancy Italian restaurant here in town.) Well. I want a Wii. And a Wii Fit. I don't get out enough in the winter and I need to have something that will keep me moving. Hopefully, the Wii Fit will do that for me. In the mean time, this job is sure keeping me on my toes. Five nights a week I'm working 4-6 hours at this new job. But, after only five nights of work, I'm half-way to my Wii-goal and that's only counting tips. I may be losing an hour of sleep but, oh man, I'm raking in the dough.
After next week though, if I screw up enough for them to fire me... I really won't care. Plus, it's Labor Day soon and the tourists will stop coming to the park soon enough and my hours will then be cut. Yay!

Catching Up Part 2

Almost two weeks ago (has it really been that long already? Really? It doesn't seem like it. Instead of slowing down, this summer is getting faster) it was The Guiles's birthday. On that happy day, a bunch of us went over to her place, made pizza from scratch (thanks to Emily's crust) and watched most of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." A pretty good birthday Day I would think. More on celebratin' later.

This being Gardiner, there were also four dogs present for the birthday and they got to play as well. This is a picture of Allie and Ruffers arriving.The next day was the second annual weed pull. For the past couple of years, Heidi has put together a half-day where a bunch of folks gather and work on ridding the Mammoth area of all of the weeds that have cropped up there. This year, I worked out behind the Mammoth cabins with Heidi, Chris Overbach, Bianca Klein, Pat (don't know her last name), Keri (also don't know her last name), and Chris Lehnertz for a little bit. It was pretty fun.

Cool grasshopper I saw.

The results of doing manual labor when normally having a desk job. Oopsie.

Hiking in Jardine

There has been so much going on lately that I can't keep up. So here are just a few glimpses into things that have happened recently. I will probably have to break it up into two posts. Though I had hoped to write more about each event, it just didn't happen, so here goes:

Jessica and Maeve, the two library seasonals for the summer have been here for two months which means that they only have a month left to go. This picture is from the week that we all worked on a Monday to do some preservation training.

Later that week, we had a very successful game night with Carrie, Trudy, Emily, Allie, Mariah and Janine all coming over to play Yahtzee in the back yard. Mariah showing off her red tongue

Me demonstrating how the same drink gave me pink lips

The sunset was stunning that night

That weekend I got to go hiking with Heidi. She's been so busy lately I'm frankly amazed that I got to go out not once, but twice. The first day was on Friday and we headed out at 7 and hiked for about three hours in Jardine. It's hard to tell from this picture but we actually ran into a whole bunch of worms that were hanging off of trees by long threads. It was like going through a spider's web.

This tree was covered by their webs

Heidi turning back from a stream crossing we decided not to do

Which was good 'cause we would have missed seeing the Moose mama and her baby. If we had been in Yellowstone, we would have been at the bare minimum for distance from wild animals.

Me doing a stream crossing the next day on the Bighorn Trail. Note the fancy toenails left over from cousin Sean's wedding. They matched my shoes perfectly.

Indiana

June 27th, my friend Leslee married her Michael. I went back to Indiana for the wedding. It was absolutely beautiful. The festivities kicked off with the rehearsal at Deep River Park in Chesterton, IN. It's got a beautiful gazebo next to a mill. It also, as you can see from the middle picture, has a sprinkler system. Michael's son Travis and the flower girl, Bella, had a grand old time that afternoon. Dinner was at a local pizza parlor in Valpo. Hadn't had pizza in awhile. After working at the K-Bar for two years kind of ensured that I've been off that sort of food for awhile. But it was good. Afterwards, us ladies went to Bon Femmes and then the Franklin house in Valpo.

The next morning, it was time for hair and makeup. It took us a little while to get to the parlor since the soapbox derby was on the same street.

Leslee getting made up

My fancy hair-do

Breakfast at Jimmy's. Local breakfast place in Valpo. Cheap, good eats. Surprisingly, we were not the first bridal party there.

Leaving Chris' house in Valpo

Me and Leslee in the limo. Yes, we were just that fancy to ride in a limo. It was nice not to have to drive, but other than that, I'll say "meh."

I walked with Michael's friend Jeremy down the aisle. He was pretty funny. It made the time go faster. And, despite the heels on the cobblestones, I didn't trip. Yay me! Travis and Isabelle walking down the aisle. They were so stinkin' cute it hurt.

The ceremony was absolutely beautiful. Well, except for the part where the kids got bored and Travis kept trying to get "Lolly and Daddy" to look over at him. Luckily, I don't think most of the audience could hear him. By the way, I have to comment that I LOVE secular weddings. 15 minutes. Thank goodness, my silver sandals were reflecting the sun and my feet were HOT.
There was time between the ceremony and the reception so we went to Northside and played darts.

We stuck around for about an hour after the ceremony taking pictures. By that time, Travis had missed his nap and was crankier than all heck. He did not want to be in any of the pictures. Plus, he had all of these adults around him trying to convince him that he should go here and do that. Frankly, I don't blame him for not wanting to be involved. So, his cousin took him under his wing and made sure that he didn't fall in the river.



As the maid of honor, I had one duty. Leslee's only request, Don't cry. I didn't.
My toast:
Boy meets girl. Boy likes girl. Girl... isn't so sure. But Girl has recently made a vow to accept any and all offers... so, Girl says "Yes." Boy and Girl date. But... Girl still isn't sure. One night, girl wakes up in a panic. She LOVES Boy. Luckily, he loves her too. Henry David Thoreau once said of love, "There is no remedy but to love more." So, ladies, gentleman, please join me in raising your glasses to this boy, to this girl, to their new family, and the hope that, as they walk through life, they will only love more.

The dancing was awesome. On the left, my friend Jenica managed to pull her husband Steve onto the dance floor. It's impressive that a) she was able to get him out there and b) she was dancing at 4 (5?) months pregnant. People hung around until about 10:30. Leslee's mom and I were the last ones left. Michael and Leslee took off in the limo... and I got to go home after a lovely day.

YA Grand Opening

About a month ago, I attended the grand opening of the Yellowstone Association's new building. It's actually an old building in Gardiner. Built in 1903, the building was designed by Robert Reamer, one of the mot famous names in park architecture. he was actually pulled off the job to create and build the Old Faithful Inn.
The building was originally used as the town Mercantile. It was owned by W. C. Hall and run by his family for years. For a long time it was also known as Cecil's. There were ten foot high letters spelling out the name of the restaurant in bright yellow which was originally outlined in neon.
As I understand it, YA had been looking for a new building for some time. When the Cecil's building (housing a video store, a laundromat, and gift shop when I moved here), came up for sale, the park asked YA to buy it so that the rumored hotel/casino couldn't be built on the site. The fourteenth of June was the grand opening.

Suzanne Lewis, the superintendent of Yellowstone came and gave some opening remarks.
There was quite a crowd that showed up. I believe it was for a chance at free cake. But that might be too cynical.
Each area had a poster outlining what they do for the Association.






All in all a very nice opening and great to see the community come out and hpopefully begin to understand what the Association does and what it's about.