Gun Class

Well, I did it! I went.

That was step 1. Yeah me! My mom did not come because she's sick. So not only did I go but I did it on my own. Yeah me again!

As I mentioned before I had to read this book prior to the class. While it was very informative, I am telling you what. It was the driest book I have ever read in my entire life. I wanted to pull my hair out.

**And let's remember here: I have a BS in Mathematics. I've read some dang dry material. This book has no equal.

I had to read it in small doses with a highlighter in hand to keep me focused. Whew.

But in GREAT news - the class was not so boring. It wasn't a party or anything but I really liked the instructor and the other women in the class. We had fun.

We spent 4 hours going over the book and talking. He showed us a lot of what was in the book with a real gun (unloaded, etc). We practiced things on it and at one pointed I loaded pink plastic bullets in a magazine. I thought that was funny.

They were feeding us lunch - it was pizza. Since I can't eat any of that, I ran home and made a tortilla wrap. Kissed my babies and Drew and went back. After lunch he had us each hold a gun and decide which one we would use when it was time to shoot for real .

Then we talked about the book some more and then took a written test. (50 questions. Some multiple choice/some true or false.) I got 100%. Woohoo!

Then it was time to shoot. Oh man.

So we get our ear things on, glasses, etc. He had everything set up in the indoor shooting range already. So we each choose a spot. First I got to shoot a gun of his that's work like 3k. Wowzer.

That didn't seem like a bad choice for my first time shooting a gun, eh?

And I swear on my life... I. was. awesome. HA! I totally thought I was gonna miss the whole target or something. But no. I rocked it. One of the women looks at my thing and says "I think you've found your calling." That was funny. It didn't look like the target of someone shooting for their first time ever.

I asked the teacher at the end of class if I could have my target thing. He said, "You're taking that home so you can show off!" and I said, "My husband will NEVER believe me if I don't bring it home and show him!" He just laughed and got it down for me.

And I was right btw - Drew said he'd have never imagined it if I hadn't brought it home.

So that first gun had a laser sight. That was pretty awesome but I wanted to try one that didn't to see if I could still aim without it. I used a 9 mm next. My shots were still good - although not quite as good. And then after a few of that I used a revolver. I still hit the target with all 5 rounds but that was probably the worst batch. (I have a picture I'll post with this and you can see). None of it was awful.

There were a couple people in the class who were having a hard time even hitting the target so I felt good about hitting it all the time. hehe. At one point when I had 10 holes in mine I stopped and was looking at some of the others and one girl only had 2 holes. She was having a hard time not anticipating the gun. He said she just needed to keep shooting so she got used to it.

He had us each time, load 3 rounds, shoot 3, take out the magazine, etc. put it all down. Repeat.

Anyway, all-in-all it was a fantastic experience. Guns demystified.

As my friend Jeff told me - you need to transfer your fear to respect & responsibility.

Mission accomplished I think.

It was worth it!

**

PS The girls did awesome with Drew. Hannah was soooooo happy to see me when I came in the door. She was sitting on Drew's lap on the couch and when she saw me her little arms and legs just went totally wild and she started squealing. Best moment of my day!

The pictures:

The circles I shot with gun #1 was similar to THIS except there was a laser sight thing on top. Well and some other things were different but you get the idea.

In the picture the shots with this gun are the circles. The ones with the X through them are a series of 3 I did where he said he wanted us to do 3 in really fast succession.

The 2nd gun was a 9 mm. These shots are marked with a triangle.

The 3rd was the revolver. These shots are marked with a square.

The target was hanging mid air, roughly the height of a person, 25 feet away for all the shots.

Oh - and one or two of those spots - it has a circle and an X because several times I shot through that same spot. It just kept making the hole bigger.

I saw it!

I went tonight ALONE to the movie theater and ALONE I watched the newest Harry Potter movie.

ALONE ALONE ALONE.

First, the movie was fantastic. I totally loved it. I laughed, I cried a little, I screamed several times. I even threw my arms and legs into the air at one point.

I'm certain I was a sight to behold.

Second, I did all this alone. I'm so rarely truly alone. Even when it's quiet and I'm 'alone', there are still children in their beds to be watched over, etc.

Anyway, I loved it.

It never totally turns off - the mommy thing. I had my phone on vibrate and every time it would buzz for something I'd grab it to see if it was Drew calling but still... I got to revel in the movie and totally enjoy myself. It was fantastic.

Btw, Drew had the girls. Hannah was already asleep when I left and he just had to put Leah to bed. When I came home the main floor of the house was all clean, dishes done, a big cup of ice water waiting for me and an apple pie candle lit.

That was sure pleasant to arrive home to after a movie alone!

A great evening, indeed.

Tomorrow I have my 8 hour gun class. Eek.

Random Prompts

These are a few short prompts I read. None are long enough to be their own post really...

What's the first thing you do when you wake up? Say, "Hi Leah" or roll out of bed, walk to Hannah's room and say, "Good Morning, Hannah"

What's the one thing you always dread? Going to any kind of medical appointment. Doctor, Dentist, etc. Although if I had to rank them all Dentist would most definitely come out on top. I loathe going to the dentist.

If you could have ANY animal as a pet, what would it be? There are a bazillion things I would like that have as a pet. I love animals. Currently at the top of my list is a Hedgehog.

Name one famous movie you've never seen. Why not? That's actually a long list. I don't watch R-rated movies. There are a lot of famous R-rated movies in the world!

What's your favorite poem?
I love this poem. The first time I read it I was 18/19 years old. As soon as the opportunity arose I bought a little book that had this poem and a few others by Maya Angelou so that I'd have a copy of it. I love the message and the secret in her words.

Phenomenal Woman

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

~Maya Angelou

Road Block

I put a stool in the corner to stop Hannah from getting everything on the end table.

What do you think? Did it work?



You like that look? "What, Mom? Can't you see I'm busy here??"

Some people are too mobile for their own good!

Or too mobile for my sanity.... one of those!

Laughter

Blogging Prompt: What's one thing that always makes you laugh, no matter what?

Chuck Norris Jokes.

Do I really need to say more? Every. Time. I really can't put words to why but seriously... What is more funny than Chuck Norris Jokes?

Nothing!

And for your amusement I'll leave you with a few...

1. Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried. Ever.
2. Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.
3. Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.
4. The chief export of Chuck Norris is pain.
5. If you can see Chuck Norris, he can see you. If you can't see Chuck Norris, you may be only seconds away from death.
6. Chuck Norris has counted to infinity. Twice.
7. Chuck Norris does not hunt because the word hunting implies the probability of failure. Chuck Norris goes killing.
8. Chuck Norris doesn’t wash his clothes, he disembowels them.
9. In fine print on the last page of the Guinness Book of World Records it notes that all world records are held by Chuck Norris, and those listed in the book are simply the closest anyone else has ever gotten.
10. There is no chin behind Chuck Norris' beard. There is only another fist.
11. Chuck Norris once roundhouse kicked someone so hard that his foot broke the speed of light, went back in time, and killed Amelia Earhart while she was flying over the Pacific Ocean.

Read More Here

Draw a Picture

Drew has a BA in Psychology. I don't know if I've ever mentioned that on here. Just an FYI so this makes more sense...

The other day he says to me "Watch this."**

(Leah was in the middle of drawing pictures)

Drew: Hey Leah! Draw a picture of yourself for me, okay?

Leah: Okay, Daddy!

Leah proceeds to labor over a picture of herself. And the longer she labors over it the bigger Drew is grinning. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why he looked so pleased with himself. He's just ever so odd. lol

It took her about 20 minutes or so and finally she says "Here ya go, Daddy!" and he praised her for the picture and she happily skipped from the room.

Then he tells me - When you ask a child to draw a picture of themselves like that, it's a measure of their self-esteem. The longer they spend drawing the picture the higher their self-esteem.

Who knew? Not me.

But it's good to know she thinks well of herself... especially since *I* think she hung the moon.

**as an aside - I hate this phrase. Leah says it 100 million times a day.

10 Years Ago

I was looking through blogging prompts and picked this one at random...

Where were you and what were you doing ten years ago?

I had to go find my husband and discuss this with him to make sure I remembered right.

10 years ago - Nov 2000. We had moved to Laramie, WY in Apr 2000 to finish college. So in Nov 2000 we were in the midst of a semester of college and living in a one bedroom apartment on campus. It was the smallest thing ever.

I remember the first day in that apartment. The manager showed us around and I acted cheery enough. She gave us the keys and left and I sat down in the middle of that tiny living room and sobbed for maybe 5 minutes. Drew was just sort of standing by me and patting me. He didn't know what to do. I was saying "I don't know if I can do this." etc.

Then I stopped. I stood up and said, "Okay. Let's unload the truck!" Poor man looked so confused. He called his brother and they proceeded to dump everything we owned into the living room (well - not everything we owned. It wouldn't have all fit!). Even the dining table was on top of the stuff upside down. It took me less than 48 hours. I was like a crazy driven woman. I had that place all organized and looking like we'd lived there forever.

We didn't live there horribly long but it was just right at the time. I think we paid 365/month? And that included all the bills - phone, internet, cable, everything. We had to pay our rent and our car insurance and buy food.

Man those were simple times. I wish we still lived that cheap! I can't quite imagine it. lol

Although it was in this apartment that I had my first miscarriage. That was not so simple. Or so great. I had no idea what was coming.

But all is well. I have a FIVE year old! And a 7.5 month old. That's so amazing to me. Life happened as it's bound to do. It certainly hasn't taken all the paths I had planned on. Okay - it's taken NONE of the paths I planned on and yet - all is well! And probably better than what I had planned. As far as children go, I cannot fathom two more delightful beings in this world. That part of life is PERFECT!

Happy Birthday, Leah!

Okay - her birthday is really tomorrow but we had planned on celebrating it today.

We're all still ridiculously sick but Leah really didn't want to put it off despite her misery. So we just had my two sets of parents over. (Drew's parents are 150 miles away) No aunts/uncles, great aunts/uncles, cousins, etc.

I didn't want to bring everyone into our den of sickness.

Anyway.... here is her with her cake.

I wanted Drew to order a 1/4 sheet cake. He got a 1/2 sheet. We have a. lot. of. cake. I usually make her cakes but with all the sickness I knew I didn't have it in me.

NyQuil Blogging

Drew & I each just took a dose of NyQuil.

Just as it's starting to set in I realize: Crap. I haven't blogged yet.

But now my brain is all fuzzy and every word has a typo.

It's so nice of blogger to underline them and let me know. Isn't that lovely? Only almost every word is underlined.

I'll fix it when I'm done.

When will that be?

Let's see. Leah's birthday party is supposed to be tomorrow. Hannah is sick. Leah is sick. Drew is sick. I am sick. We woke up this way this morning. Nice, right?

Leah's favorite cousin Elaina. Her mom called me a little bit ago to let me know that she and Elaina just tested positive for strep.

Crap.

Now she can't come tomorrow. And who wants to come to our dine of clearly contagious sickness anyway???

My poor child.

What do I do? Delay it? Have it with just a tiny bit of family? I have no idea. My poor baby.

These are my NyQuil thoughts. It's 7:20 pm and I'm going to bed now.

Yee.Haw.

Favorite MeMe

What is your favorite....

1. favorite fruit

Mangoes.

2. favorite vegetable

Fresh Peas.

3. favorite cheese

Munster. It was really hard to choose one!

4. favorite lunchmeat

Oven Roasted Turkey Breast - Thinly sliced.

5. favorite nut

Macadamia Nuts.

For Connie...

6. favorite thing on the Wii Fit

Hmm... Actually my favorite thing about exercising with the Wii Fit is the variety of things to do. I get bored easily - especially when exercising (which I do not enjoy lol). But the Wii Fit actually makes it fun. I can do yoga if I'm in that mood. I can tell it to give me a routine full of games if I'm in that mood. Or I can mix them all up and do some of each. The possibilities are endless really. And that can keep me going!