hqueen's collection of Far From the Usual stuff.

[hqueen13]

Gotta get my gauge tomorrow for my canner!

We've had a good weekend, been busy. Spread probably 15 yards of mulch, maybe more. Well, we didn't spread it, the kids avoiding juvi did. And they really did a fantastic job when they were shown how to use the tools. It was a bit amusing to watch them in the beginning, they didn't really know how to do anything. I bet that for most of them that was the first time they've ever held a pitch fork and or garden rake. But they all went to work and worked hard. I was impressed, and pleased I didn't have to do it!

Took a quick hike with one of the girls from the park after that to look over the trails and see how they were doing from the winter. We didn't find too much bad news, which was a good thing. We did decide that for the upcoming service work day we would work on properly closing some sections of trail that should be closed due to rerouting the trail last year. There is a section that was badly washed out, so we set up a beautiful new trail that is constructed sustainably and built with the land rather than through it. We tried to close off the old trail several times, but never were able to put really large logs and a large amount of brush to cover it, and so people not realizing that it as closed kept opening it back up. So we're going to take the service project day and close it once and for all, and hopefully encourage growth through the damaged section of hillside that was cut so deeply by the old trail.

We headed down to DC after that to get together with some old friends and hang out. We had fun but it is a LONG drive.

Got up this morning later than I wanted to, I was really trying to get ready for the new time, and he decided to sleep in. It doesn't matter this morning, it'll matter tomorrow morning when I feel like I can't get up! Finally drug ourselves up and moved a little bit more mulch that didn't get done yesterday, and discussed selling the rest of the extra pile that we have since we actually have too much! Finished up with that and grabbed a snack before I had to be over at the gun range around the corner to take my first handgun lesson. The instructor was great and I shot about 300 rounds, and I am TIRED!! He (gratefully) started me out on a 22 pistol which made it much easier for me to work on fundamentals without having to worry about the gun. I got pretty good with it, and a lot more confident. It was a really great time, and I am very glad that I was able to do it. The instructor was funny and friendly and low key, which made it easy to practice and learn.

Came home and pretty much crashed! I'm probably going to be sore tomorrow!!

 

[hqueen13]

Got my gauge!! Now I just have to take it up to the soil conservation district office and have them check it! Wahoo! Then I'll be able to can!!!

Also reminded myself why I STRONGLY DISLIKE going to the mall. Had to go to New York & Co as they have some tank tops that I REALLY like to wear under my shirts to work and things, and I have one that the threads are wearing out, and I temporarily ruined another one getting the straps caught over the center of the washer (I'll send it to Mom with her birthday stuff, and she'll be able to repair the straps for me, which is good cause it was (of course) my FAVORITE one!). Got into the store (managed to park close to where it was, that was a relief! Didnt' have to walk the ENTIRE mall to get to the store) and pretty quickly found what I needed. Made our way to the register, no one was there, so we went up towards the front to the other registers, saw a line, and headed back to the back. The girl saw us and said, oh, sorry the ones back here are closed. Went BACK to the front, and stood in line. For THIRTY MINUTES while a girl stood with her girlfriend hemming and hawing over which combination of five different articles she wanted to purchase debating the merits of what was and wasn't on sale. Finally they rang out, and the girl began checking out the other ladies in front of us. I realized just before it was our turn to step up at the register that the same women were now BACK in line behind us because she STILL wasn't satisfied and wanted to return the jeans. I guess she was having buyer's remoarse... WHOA. I have never seen anybody that was THAT undecided!!! I did sign up for their email list while I was there, so hopefully they'll send me super coupons I can use online and I won't have to go back into the store!! The store was just slightly cheaper than the price I could have paid online including shipping, so that's why we went.

Finished there and headed to Ikea to pick up another end table to go at the end of our nifty free loveseat only to discover that since it has been 2 years since we bought this one they no longer carry them. So we looked at all the options they had, and didn't feel great about any of them, so we decided to come home and do a little more discussing and measuring. It may turn out that we move the one we have to the spot next to the loveseat and get something else to sit between our recliners instead. I need to check on Target.com and a few other places to see what else is out there since Ikea didn't really have anything that matched enough for me to be excited about it right now.

We also discussed today how we can find a place to store our 5 gal water jugs that we use, and I think we've come up with a solution of building a shelf under the corner of the bar. With the shelf installed, there will be ample room for a total of probably 5 or 6 jugs (two 5 gals and three 3 gals). We just need to find a piece of wood that will be sturdy enough to support the weight of the water because that is something I do NOT want to have fail! I am actually really looking forward to it because it would make a home for the jugs as they currently sit all scattered over the floor next to the freezer where they get constantly kicked and tripped on every time you need to move around the far side of the table. I dislike things not having a place. Hopefully we can work that project out soon.

An now, I must crash because it is late and we were to bed late yesterday and this morning came way too early (translation it was too DARK!!!), and tomorrow will too!

 

[Denim Deb]

I hate malls, too, and avoid them as much as possible!

 

[hqueen13]

Whell. That was a surprise.
We had to make a trip over to the gun store to set up the transfer paperwork for the handgun that will become mine, and so I am working on paperwork, and the other half asks the guy that is helping me to hand him a gun off the rack, so he looks at it, turns it over, and says hey, how do you like this one, and hands it to me. I turn it over, hold it up, and hand it back to him, and he flips over the tag and says well, that is interesting, look, and shows it to me, and it says with love on it, he hands it back to me and says its yours. I sort of looked at him in confused disbelief. Apparently he'd been working on it for the last 6 months with the shop owner to build it for me. So now I am the owner of a M4 carbine rifle, Spikes lower and MCCG upper. He got a steal of a deal on it, and it really is a lovely gun.

We took it to the range after that with the other guns and he sited it in, while J and I played with his M4. He got it sited in and let me run the last of the rounds that we had through it.

The fact that the orange circle is almost gone is my fault

 

[snapshot]

Congratulations!!!!! What a great surprise and hubby!!!!!

 

[Denim Deb]

Remind me NOT to get you mad!

 

[hqueen13]

Deb, that is what the other half keeps saying! "Just remember who gave it to you!"

Been a good day.
Had our body work sessions this morning, and that was pretty crazy, I didn't expect it to be as intense as it was, but apparently I really needed an adjustment. My hips were all messed up, and I knew I was talking crooked, but the whole issues with my shoulders I was completely not aware of!
The other half was in a mess, too. She actually adjusted his cranial plates, and he's ended up with a raging headache this afternoon. She told him to drink water, but I guess he didn't do it fast enough! LOL

We did manage to get up and pick up my framed prints. I am THRILLED!!! Pictures to come when they are completely unwrapped and up on the wall.

We came back home from that and I went out and set up a "Birthday Flake" for the Horse. Storm turns 10 today! I took carrots and broke them in half and stuck them into a flake of hay, and then went and got him to come have his treat. He was only interested in the carrots, and left the flake of hay for the grass instead! LOL I let him graze for a while and groomed a small pony off of him. He is shedding SO bad. I was really glad I was wearing my gray sweatshirt and not one of my darker colored ones.

Due to his headache we canceled the rest of our plans for the afternoon. I do have to run over and take care of a friend's horses, but that won't take me long. Since I ended up with free time I got together my ingredients for my lotion bars, and went to find my recipe again. I discovered that I couldn't find the recipe that I originally had, and so I did a bit of winging it. The recipe called for the use of cocoa butter in addition to the shea butter, almond oil and beeswax. Since I didn't have the cocoa butter, I just made do with the other three ingredients. Well, sort of, I think I have avocado oil instead of almond oil. The page that I found isn't like the page that I originally found, I am going to have to go back and dig it up and see if I can figure out what I was originally looking at. Somehow I didn't print it out, so I have no idea what was up with that. We'll see what happens.

I also grabbed the recipe for the liquid dish soap that I had and threw that together really quickly. It called for 2 cups of water and only 1/4 cup of soap flakes/grated bar soap. I feel like that isn't much, but then I am also used to making laundry detergent which actually does 'gel' and get very thick. So I don't know if it will thicken as it cools, but that is a pretty low ratio of soap to water. I mixed it up according to the directions anyway. Of course, I also discovered that I have a LOT of dawn left. Oh well, we'll play with this and have plenty of time to use up the dawn in the mean time. That does remind me though that I need to do a clean out of my cabinets and get rid of a bunch more of the cleaners and things that I have stuck down there. I could use the space and there is no point in keeping the old cleaners if I am not going to use them anymore.

I suppose I should go wake him again and head over to care for the horses and get gas so that will be done.

 

[hqueen13]

This week has been crazy. I am so glad it is OVER.

Ended up covering the desk both last Friday and on Monday since the girl that works downstairs wasn't back yet. That threw off my whole week and I couldn't figure out if I was going or coming. Yesterday we had a meeting to do a web conference with someone from our management company about the Core Value Index test that we took. It was pretty awesome, and really true to each of our natures. It is always fascinating to understand more about yourself and how you think and operate, and how others do as well. If anyone wants more info you can go to www.taylorprotocols.com. Knowing what your Core Value Index scores are can make the difference between being happy in a job and being frustrated and dissatisfied. As a boss it can also make the difference between an employee that gives 110% and is highly productive and one that only does a mediocre job. The only downer about the meeting was that the facility didn't realize we needed the speaker phone conference system, so their IT person wasn't available to set it up and we couldn't get it working, so we were stuck with "old fashioned" speaker phone. There isn't anything wrong with that except we had 14 people all trying to listen and participate. It meant that we didn't get to do a lot of interacting, which was disappointing, but we had some nice discussion after he ended the call.

And now it is Friday, finally, and I am relieved. I got a coupon for Michael's in my email today - 20% off your entire purchase including sale items! I'm going to go over and see about getting hardware to hang my framed prints. I am SO excited to get those on the wall! Then I have to stop by the bank and close the last of our accounts there so we can get all the money moved to the new bank. I will be VERY glad to have that DONE. I am tired of trying to figure out how much money we have where. I need to stop at Office Depot or Staples to check to see if they have printable tickets that I can buy for the nonprofit so that we can get our bull roast tickets printed and SOLD!

I need to go home this afternoon and get some cleaning and organizing done. It is a lesson weekend for us, and so I need to make a place in the house for our riding instructor to sleep! Plus I have to get some things in our bedroom and the rest of the house picked up and put away. The house is a mess and it is annoying me. I haven't really gotten it to a state of un-mess lately, and that drives me nuts.

Worked the horse Wendesday afternoon and he decided to flip his lid again. It may be that he's really experimenting with going faster, which is fine, but he's also been a bit spooky. This time of year is annoying because they are so tired of being cooped up in the sacrifice areas all winter, and they're tired of eating hay, and they have more energy, and they're shedding like crazy and dirty as all get out. He worked himself up into quite a spin though, and probably did more than 20 laps at a dead canter on the 45' line. I managed him really well, though, for the most part, and he eventually came back down again, and we continued to work. He got himself all sweaty and it took me forever to finally get him to cool out again. He had been so good that day, too, he actually hung his head over the door of his stall and stood there while the vet drew two sets of blood work (Coggins and Lyme tighter) and then proceeded to give him the rabies shot! Then he stood very well for the farrier, too. I took him back out and did some chores and then went to get him again and got down to the arena and he went nuts. That would probably be fine if he weren't so large, but he's large, and so it is scary for me. I've been feeling a bit down lately about my confidence and his confidence and that is frustrating. I've been feeling a bit frustrated with a number of things, so hopefully this is just a passing phase. I just wish he and I were both more confident, I am sure he's mirroring me, which is like salt in the wound.

We'll see what happens this weekend for my lesson, though, its going to be interesting that is for sure!

 

[hqueen13]

FINISHED! The photos are DONE and hung!!

I am SO happy!

 

[hqueen13]

He asked.... And I said yes!!!

The ring is gorgeous, I am thrilled that he knows me so well. I was super surprised (which tickles him pink), and cried, of course.

So now I have a big event to plan, and OMG its over whelming and I haven't even started!!