Expo, Expo

Last month I went the the Family Forestry Expo. What?!?!?! You haven't heard of the Family Forestry EXPO?!?!?! Just to prove that I am not making this up, I took a picture of the sign:

See, it does to exist. One of the things to watch at the Family Forestry Expo is how modern day logging is done. I had no idea. First, this red machine just cuts the log and then picks it up,

and lays it gently on the ground. Really, you couldn't even hear it drop.

Then, this yellow machine comes and hauls away a group of logs.

And takes them to this machine that picks up a log at one end and strips the log of branches as it goes through to the other end.

The logs are organized by size so that all the logs in one pile will go to one place to be cut the same size .

And that is what I learned at the Family Forestry Expo.

My shoes!

When my little brother really got the walking thing down, my parents bought him his first pair of shoes. He was so excited to finally be a big boy and wear shoes. (We didn't have a lot of money and my parents weren't going to buy shoes for a non-walker.) That night as he lay in bed, my parent's heard him exclaim to himself, "My shoes! My shoes! My shoes!"



And that is what I felt like when I got my new shoes. I needed some for work and I just thought these were too cute. I got a black and brown pair, and here is one of each.

The best part is the stitching on the heel and side.
Very comfortable with good arch support.
And even the bottoms of the shoes are cute.

More 10 C's!

I know that you can all barely wait for the next instalment of creative ways to display the 10 C's, so here is another one for your viewing pleasure. Good news is that my new job requires lots of driving, so I will be finding some more specimens for you all.

Adventures in moving

So Mr. M and I decided that we were tired of living in a moldy apartment with navy blue carpet and a neighbor who likes to drink a lot. So we moved last weekend. As soon as it is presentable, I will post pictures. But the real point of my story took place yesterday. Yesterday I was placing some platters and such on top of my cabinets above the fridge and I looked over and saw this:



That would be a gun laying on the cabinets of my new apartment. So I called Mr. M and said,

Me: "Honey, do we own a gun I don't know about?

Mr. M: "Ha, that's me hiding guns from you!"

Me: "No, really do we own a rifle?"

Mr. M: "Of course not, why are you asking?"

Me: "Well, I just found a gun on top of the fridge."

Mr. M: "Riiiiiight."

Me: "No, really I am for real"

Mr. M: "You are really for real?"

Me: "Yes"

I then decided to call my landlady and left a message on her phone.

Me: "Hi, this is D from apt X, ummmm I found a gun on top of my fridge. I haven't touched it, and I am not really quite sure what to do with it. Perhaps the last tenet would want it back? Call me back and let me know what you think."

Then I thought, "Hey, my brother is in the army the more I look at this thing, the more plastic I see, I will call him and ask if it is a real gun."

Me: "Brother, hey I found a gun on top of my fridge, but a lot of it is plastic, do you think it is a real gun?"

Army Brother: "Oh yeah, it could be a real gun, my expensive pistol has lots of plastic on it. Take a picture of it and send it to me. Just don't point it at anything."

Me: "Umm, I don't think I am going to touch it."

Army Brother: "Hey I am at R's house seeing her new baby, do you want to talk to her?

Me: "OK"

R: "Hi, how are you?"

Me: "Fine, I just found a gun on top of my fridge."

Mr. M later came home and determined that it is an air gun, and by brother wrote me back and told me the model of the gun. My landlady picked it up today, so I don't have to worry about it any more.

Loose Ends

Sorry to take so long to write a new post. Life is just busy. So wrapping up some loose ends:

1) When I said I would vote for Clinton in a previous post, I was referring to the primary held that day in Texas. I was not talking about the general election. Which by the way, if I had wanted to vote in the Republican primary here in Montana, but I could not. Why? Because only elected officials and precinct captains could vote in the Republican caucus. That's right, only about 2,000 people in this state were allowed to determine the Republican delegates from this state. Where is the ACLU when you actually need them?

2) Andrea wrote a great comment about health insurance. I was really tired and not making a lot of sense that day, but she said most of what I think. What I really think is that we should all carry just disaster insurance. Example: insurance only kicks in after you shell out three grand or so for the year. This would bring a lot of pricing down because people would ask how much things cost. When was the last time you went to the doctor and asked how much a straight up visit would cost?

3) I will be starting a new job soon. It doesn't make a big difference for this site, since I don't really write about my job, but for those of you who know me in real life, I will be working for hospice. I am really excited and a little nervous to be starting a very different way of being a nurse.

Back to our ...

regularly scheduled silliness. Here are some more 10 commandment signs for your viewing pleasure.

This is on the front of a church.

In a random field. Isn't that a nice barn?

Not quite sure where this one is, Jana took it.

Don't forget the billboards.

And another billboard. I stopped taking pictures of billboards because there are so many of them.

If I still lived in Texas...

I would go cast my vote for Hillary today (I can't believe I wrote that). But you can vote for whomever you want. But for your reading enjoyment, here, here and here is why I am not a fan of Obama. (Not that I am crazy about Hillary, I just think that she might not send our county into as bad of a recession.)

Just a dip

To appease Mrs. J, I am posting a few thoughts about national health care and such. But just this one time. I promise not to make a habit of it. Any by the way, feel free to disagree with me. Many intelligent and caring people fall on both sides of this issue. But no name calling, please.

This is simply to say that I think a national health care system is a horrible idea. I am not saying that we have a great system, but putting the government in charge is not the answer. Anything that the government tries to do, can be done much better most of the time by someone else. Anytime the government has tried to help make something affordable it makes it worse (anyone heard of gas lines in the 70's? Anyone noticed that college tuition went through the roof when student loans were so easy to get? The money pit that is the public school system? Tariffs on sugar so that our food will have corn syrup from that American farmer and we are now all fat?)

Just some thoughts:

1) One of my nursing instructors explained that when she had researched British health care, the government did not pay for kidney dialysis after the age of 50. So you turn 50, you have a big party and 2 weeks later you are dead. The government decides how valuable your life is. I have been to dialysis centers in the U. S., 90% of the people I saw are on dialysis because they are drug users, did not control their blood pressure, or did not control their diabetes. But someone (the federal government) pays for their dialysis. I don't see how having nationalized health care would make it better.

2)Our local paper ran an article the other day talking about the huge number of Canadian babies being born in the U.S. because the Canadian hospitals are full. So Canada ships laboring mothers to the U.S. If Canada could not use the American system as a back up, they would be in trouble.

3) Studies have been done that show that people who have good health insurance in the U.S. overuse the system.

4)People in the British heath care system are often on waiting lists for months to have surgery or see a doctor. When was the last time that you heard of someone in the U.S. being placed on a waiting list for care? (It happens, but it is rare and often involves the government paying for the care.) Or check out this Canadian lady's experience.

5) Click here, here and here for some interesting articles.

To be perfectly clear

There are some interesting people in our small town. A large number of the population believe in displaying the 10 commandments. Why this is so important to them, I am not sure, but it's a big deal. These pictures go along with the eternal question from college, "Who does that?"

Here is one classy lady's front yard.

Look closely, during the Christmas season, this contains Mary, Joseph and a baby Jesus. But during the rest of the year we have a large wooden Bible.

On the other side of her yard, we have the 10 commandments. Two things I love about this sign. 1) The commands get smaller as you go down and 2) the "thou"s start to appear at command 6.

Now my neighbor has a bit more money and her son bought her a real granite sign. Got to love the bald eagle on either side.

While I am not a big fan of putting up 10 commandment signs, you have to admire the creativity that goes into some of these things.

No Title

Here we are parked on the east coast of the island, looking west.

And if you turn around and look east, you see it was a really windy day.
You also see Chinaman's hat.
And you might see me later that day making fun of models.
Now I have superpowers and I can fly.

Driving Along the North Shore

Ahhh, some more pictures to make us feel warm, wait it's the heating vent I am sitting next to that makes me feel warm. But, hey, pictures are nice too. Especially when they are of the North Shore. I don't own photoshop (I am to poor) so these are the real deal.

Mom and Dad testing the water.

Trying not to get nailed by the body boarders.

The Dole Plantation!

I promised some Hawaii pictures to make you feel warm and cozy inside, and here is part I.

First, just take a look at the veiw from our balcony.

Mr. M is checking out the pineapple plant.Just in case you didn't believe that we were at the REAL Dole plantation here it is spelled out in plants.
Acres and acres of pineapples. I have to tell a story on myself. When I was in Papua New Guinea a few years back, I came across a lone pineapple plant growing a pineapple. I thought it was a joke. See, I always thought they grew in the ground like a potato and the green on top was the plant. I felt a bit foolish.And these are some coffee plants, in case you were wondering.

Education is the key.

Today Mr. M and I went to try out a new little Mexican food joint. The food is OK and we will probably go again, even if they think that an enchilada is a tortilla placed on a grill with cheese, put the fillings in, roll, top with sauce and never sees the inside of an oven.

However the kicker is how the employees answer questions:

Girl: Do you want the hot or mild sauce?

Me (looking at a red enchilada sauce and a green one): What is in the different sauces?

Girl: One is hot and one is mild.

Girl: Do you want Mexican rice or sweet rice?

Me (I should have known better): Well, what's the difference?

Girl: One is sweet and one is Mexican.

I give up.

Cold

I am back in the frozen tundra after a lovely vacation to a place where I actually understand why the housing market is sky high as opposed to wear I live. I don't understand why people are willing to pay so much to live here. Some of my friends from down south have asked me questions such as: "Do you have snow up there yet?" Ahem, yes. Here are a few examples.

This is the street I live on. Do you see that car? Our mailbox is behind it. I have to walk over a lake of ice every day to check the mail.

This is the back of my little red pickup.

This is our yard.

This is our balcony. Look at the snow, it is trying to get in. It is right up against the window trying to get me, but I won't open the door.

I will post some pictures of our trip, but I am still trying to sort through them. If you have a facebook account, you can look at some I put up there.

One Week Countdown

I have not made this announcement before for fear of losing my 3 readers out of jealousy. But here it goes: One week from today, I will be on a plane headed for Hawaii. Now before my 3 readers get to up in arms, let me remind you of 2 things:

1) Most of you live in the south where it will not be 1 degree this Monday morning, and

2) I will post lovely pictures that will bring joy and happiness to your life even if you couldn't be there yourself.

In my excitement I have taken to online shopping since it's not like I can get the right equipment for Hawaii at this time of year in the frozen tundra. I bought a swimsuit and some new sandals.

The Best Oatmeal Ever

I realize that this is turning into a bit of a foodie blog. My apologies, but there isn't a lot else to do up here in the winter time besides cook. I am a fan of oatmeal in the winter time, here is how I make it using the fewest utensils possible.

1/2 cup oatmeal in a bowel.

One cup milk. (I have been using rice milk due to breathing issues, but use the real stuff if you can.) Use the 1/2 cup filling it twice.
Grab a big handful of dried blueberries or Crazins and put them in there. (Do you like by fluffy fleece robe? See the sleeve in the picture?)
Microwave for 1and a half minutes.
Using the spoon you will eat with, get some brown sugar and put it in there. I find 3 spoonfuls to be adequate. Breakfast will never be the same.

A Christmas Feast

This is a bit late, Christmas is over and Mr. M grew tired of waiting for me to take down the tree and did it himself. But we did have a tasty Christmas meal for the two of us.

I roasted some lamb with potatoes, but I should have spent more money on the lamb as it was a bit fatty.

Here is my lovely spinach gratin. It was good, but if you use the Barefoot Contessa recipe, use only 4 boxes of spinach instead of 5.

Throw in some provincial tomatoes, and we had a very nice meal.

I also made a chocolate moose for dessert, but I forgot to take a picture of it.