This and that...and a bit more.

Whew. Saturday has already come and gone. It was a busy day! I slept in (priority numero uno!!) and then proceeded to: talk to Monique, my mom, and two of my friend(s) from work; go to Wally World to return the piece of junk I bought the other day (we'll get back to this!); go to a baseball game; tell my neighber that no, she could not use my bathtub to ice her quad injury (Seriously. She knocked on my door and asked if she could fill my tub with ice water and then she'd go back & forth and back & forth from her tub (with hot water) to my tub. Good idea, but...no.); go to the laundromat; and, work on projects/reports/readings for my online summer course in astronomy (we'll get back to this, as well). In between all of this, I sneezed. And sneezed. And sneezed. It was not fun. My poor nose looks like good 'ol Rudy's. :o(

Anyway, getting back to my camera. The problem with it -- that NO one could seem to fix -- was that the display screen would turn off at random times (not the camera, just the screen itself) OR sometimes the dumb thing wouldn't display at all!! Errg. So off to Wally I went and I decided to give this brand of camera one more shot. However, Wally did not have any more cool red ones in stock, so I'm stuck with silver. How exciting. Now I will be able to pick out my camera in a flash -- pun intended -- when everyone gets together and we all set our cameras on the same picnic table. I might have to think of a nifty way to mark it so that I know in the blink of an eye which one belongs to ME. Any suggestions?

Hopefully this new piece of equipment will work better (so far, so good...at least compared to the last one!) but if it doesn't, we're going back to Wally and picking out a Canon (based on the suggestion of Jona). So, keep your fingers crossed that this one lasts for a long time! Or at least until I get my money's worth out of it!

Lastly, I wanted to say one quick thing about astronomy. I'm taking a class to fulfill a science requirement for that bachelor's degree that I'm GOING TO get before I'm 30 (3 1/2 years and counting!) and while it's tough to take the time to do the work and get the assignments in, it's just a fascinating topic. I was out observing the sky tonight and was looking for various stars and other things and I thought that I should tell all you moms out there that if your kids are looking for something fun to learn you should go to the library or get online and look up some maps of stars and then head out to do some observing. It's kinda cool! I don't have a telescope for this class, but so far my binoculars have worked just fine! Happy Observing (should you choose to do it!). :)

So, a busy day, but a good one. I probably could have done more, but I sure could have done a lot less, too! :) I hope that you also had a great day!!

Just Stuff.

Well, in the post yesterday about The Washlet, I realized that some of you just wouldn't have time to check the website and watch the video. It's a RIOT, though, and while I realize that this isn't exactly something unheard of, it's still strange to think about it being in my house! Basically, The Washlet is a toilet that is just beginning to be marketed in the US but is supposedly popular overseas and, according to the website, The Washlet is in half of the homes in Japan. Anyway, the "nifty" feature (you decide!) on the seat is a small wand that will come out of the seat and clean you (with water) and then dry you after you are finished with your business. No more TP! The website explains the ins and outs of it and how that little wand is sanitized after each use, etc. My mom, according to her comment in the last post, seems quite pumped about this invention. I, on the other hand, am still debating! :)

Oh, and one last thing -- how could I forget! I bought a digital camera on Monday night! The thing is irritating me but it's because I can't quite figure some of it out and the manual is NOT that helpful. *sigh* However, I KNOW I'll figure it out soon (by the time my parent's get here!) and it will be just perfect for me!! :o) Here's what it looks like:

The future of America? You tell me.

No, I'm NOT referring to children in my post title. I often read the Drudge Report for the latest news and yesterday evening I read about an ad that's soon to be posted on three sides of a building in Times Square. What is it? Naked rear ends with smiley faces drawn on them. (No you did not read that last sentence incorrectly!)

Well, curiousity got the best of me and I read the article on the drudge. I'm not so sure that I'm sold just yet, but I'm curious as to which of you are going to race out and purchase this fabulous item. After all, under the "Technology" section (the third section), it explains that the S400 recognizes you as you walk up to it and it works it's magic. As you walk away, it recognizes that motion, too, and it takes care of things for you.

What is it, you ask? Well, go to http://cleanishappy.com/ to find out more about The Washlet.

If you don't have much time, at least check out the first section titled "Washlet 101" and get the skinny on the product. Should you decide that you can't live without this item in your home...well, just feel free to thank me any time for opening your world to this invention that's sure to take America by storm. :o)

Loneliness.

That's the feeling I have right now, especially since Mo & I have moved on to our respective lives and we are no longer dual blogging. *sigh* Ha! I'm sure we'll be just fine AND if Mo doesn't ever start her own blog, there may be more dual blogging in the future!! :)

There's not much to report here. I have been ON THE ROAD for the last two weeks and it seems, really, like I haven't even stopped since the month of June started! I guess that's what vacation does to ya! You run around like crazy to finish everything up at home so that you can go on vacation and then you go and come home and life returns to normal and then...what's next? I'm sure you ALL know what I'm talking about! :)

Next up: a visit from my parents! They are getting to Laramie on Sunday and will stay through Thursday morning. It will be a short visit, but fun to have them here. It's been two years since they've been this way, so it's about time they get back here! We're going to go to Estes Park for a day and then there is a bunch of stuff in Laramie for the 4th of July. We'll probably have one day of rest & relaxation, too, so that's nice. Then they'll head for home!

Other than that, the rest of my summer is shaping up to be pretty quiet! We're into the full swing of things with the summer season (hot weather & all!!) but I'm just trying to enjoy it and NOT complain because I know it will be over soon! I was just up in Cody, WY this past weekend and it was SO hot there that I about died. I understand that I might be being a little dramatic with that statement, but it was hot. It was a dry heat, though, so I guess I can be thankful for that. :)

Okay, all for now. Have a good week!

PS-- I MIGHT purchase a digital camera before mom & dad get here. We'll see. It would be nice to post pictures more frequently! :) However, there is one BIG activity coming up in July that I need to save money for, too. My hot air balloon ride!!! :o) I haven't made the appointment yet, but I'll probably be calling in the next week or so. Hey! Maybe I should take my mom & dad on a hot air balloon ride while they're visiting! If you two are reading this, tell me what you think about that plan!! :)

Dagmar Bound! The adventures of Mo & Jen.

Well, Mo and I are dual blogging again! We hope you enjoy the tales of our adventure! :) We decided to head up to Dagmar, Montana, for one of our church conventions this year. It just seemed like the year to do it, so we packed things up and away we went!

Needless to say, we had a wonderful time and would LOVE to go back up there, so we look forward to a future trip. We also managed to remain friends during the trip and we're both glad for that. :o)

So, let's begin. Our first destination: Billings, MT. Those Montana folk are sure welcoming! They even put a sign up for us!!

But wait! As we're heading towards MT, we find out that a few of our friends are in Casper! We wanted to stop and see them and during our visit, we managed to get Mo & Marylee to sit still for a few seconds and get their picture taken! It was a nice little visit and it made our day to see them.

So, after our friends left Casper, Monique & I decided we should have some lunch at the mall's food court. Of course, before we started driving again, we wanted to make use of the facilities, but there is something you should know about Jen. Jen does NOT...I repeat, does not...like using public restrooms. Unfortunately, a 12 hour trip is not so accomodating for such a person. That means that Jen just had to get over it and be brave. She was doing quite well until she saw this sign on the way to the restroom:

"780,000 restroom visitors?" she asked. Yeah. Enough said.

So here we were again, on the road to Montana. As we were navigating our way out of Casper, Jen exclaimed, "Mo! Look at this sight!" What a PERFECT invention for those of you out there who want six children, two dogs, and still have room for company!! A six-door suburban!!

That was quite a site, I tell ya! We were just in awe! So much so that we almost ran into one of the orange construction cones. No, just kidding! We did successfully get out of Casper and began our journey up to Buffalo and Sheridan. From this point on, Jen had not seen any of Wyoming, so it was all quite new to her. She says she enjoyed it and wouldn't mind even moving up to the Buffalo area! We spent a little time shopping in Buffalo and we were privileged enough to even get a stop in at the local coffee shop. :o) As we were heading out of town, Mo stated that some of her friends owned a business here, so we made a stop and were able to see Michael M. for a few minutes. It was nice to catch up with him, although we missed seeing Darla & the kiddos!! Maybe next time...

But wait! As we were finishing up our conversation, Jen said, "Hey! We need to take a picture of this aspen tree for Kate!" So, Kate, this pic's for you!! :o) The picture does not do justice to how lovely the aspens looked, Kate, but hopefully you can enjoy it a little bit like we were able to! :)

Finally...we made it to Montana (refer to first picture) and safely made it to Billings where we were to spend an evening with Pauline. What fun! It was great to have supper with her and to visit. :) We look forward to visiting her again! Thanks, Pauline!

The next morning, we enjoyed a nice breakfast with Pauline and then we hit the road to northeastern Montana. Dagmar or Bust! :)

A few miles down the road (okay, maybe a bit more than a few!), Monique decided to take a short nap and then take over with the driving. It sounded fine to me! But Mo had a warning for me: "Now, Jen, just remember that Sydney has three different roads going out of it, so make sure to stay on Highway 16." "No problem," I said! Mo proceeded to relax for her nap and I was careful to watch the signs. All was well until I saw this sign:

Mo explains that she awoke to me sighing and rustling around for the map. She sat up just in time to see the sign as well. All I said was, "Mo, I did pay attention!!!" Oops. Obviously not good enough. We managed to find a cut across road that took us BACK over to Highway 16 and 20 miles or so later, we were back on track. *sigh* What drama.

Eventually we found our turn off to our church convention. However, we had some extra time and since all of our friends in Plentywood, MT have had so many good things to say about their town, we decided that we wanted to see it and take a peek for ourselves. What a cute little town! Just a nice, quiet community nestled among green rolling hills. They, too, greeted us with Welcome signs. Here's one to remember our visit by. :)

At this point, we still had some extra time and we figured out that we were ONLY 16 miles from Canada! Neither Monique or myself had ever been to Canada, so what better time to "visit"! Off we went! We drove up to the border patrol and told them that we wanted to just go into Canada to say that we had been there and then turn around and come back. :o) Yes, they did look at us like we were nuts, but it was fun for us and that's what counts!! Hello, Canada!!

And...Good-bye Canada!! :) It was a short visit but we feel good about being honest when we state, "We've been to Canada!" So, back to the USA it was and off to convention!

We had a wonderful four days of convention and were thrilled to meet up with three of our friends there, Nancy, Alli and Suz (all from ND). They introduced us to some of their friends from Dagmar and we had a great time visiting (and laughing!) and getting to know them. We also enjoyed meeting up with old friends that we hadn't seen for awhile. We're glad for the memories! :o)

Alas, the time came when we needed to head back to Wyoming. We stayed in Miles City the first night and made the rest of the trek the next day. We did stop in to Billings, though, for a quick lunch with Pauline and then were on our way again!

In Sheridan, we had another nice stop to check out some of the local shops and see a bit of the downtown, but were shortly on the road home. We got to Laramie around 9 PM last night and were glad to be home. We both feel that we had an excellent time and were glad for the rich days! We hope you've enjoyed hearing about our trip and we look forward to hearing about your's throughout the summer!! :o)

It takes a village.

Well, this is Mo & Jen here. It's a dual blog for the moment. (There's a few of us who are trying to convince Mo that life with out a blog...well, it's just not a complete life.)

Anyway, we are going to share a bit of our life with you today. The first image you are going to see is what our "beautiful" town of Laramie had to offer us! No picnics here!!

Because of such a predicament, Mo had to rescue her little gardens. What a task! But this is where the help of the village comes in. :o) Thanks to the help of The Bearded Lineman, she had some very sturdy buckets to use. The Gee-tar playin', Bus Drivin' Dad, who just so happened to be taking a gardening sabbatical this year, provided some lovely walls of water. What luck for Mo!! See...

While Mo was mentally and physically prepping herself for the task of rescuing her garden, lo and behold, there was JEN! What part did she play in the village? Sleeping Bag Provider!!!!! Take a peek!

Alas, all of Mo's hearty plants are covered and all in the village are hoping they will survive the 27 degree temperature that is predicted for tonight. *sigh* Well, that is all for now! Good night and...all together now..."Good luck GARDEN!!!!" :o)

Can it be?

There's not much new going on in my neck of the woods these days, but I figured I should post something anyway. :o)

On Monday I had my top two wisdom teeth pulled out. Wowsers. Yeah, sign me up for that again. Or just shoot me in the foot. Whichever is easier. I think that getting shot in the foot would be less painful, so I'm leaning toward that experience. Your choice.

Really, I'm doing much better. I was concerned that I was developing a dry socket in one of the spaces, but when I called them today, they assured me that everything I was explaining was normal. Yeah. I'll be calling YOU this weekend at YOUR HOME should this progress into something more painful! :)

Other than that, life is life. I started my online class this week and it's been kind of fun thus far! The topic, again, is astronomy. Now if our skies would just clear up, I could get some of the labs out of the way!

Work is work. Typical crazy-weird stressors that pop up out of nowhere, but thankfully there is still a great amount of good to overcome the stressors and to make me laugh. :o)

You're probably wondering about the title of my post? It's there for good reason.

It's snowing. June 7, 2007. At an altitude of 7200 feet with the temperature of 40 degrees, we, people, are getting snow.

Let's not even go there. I don't want to talk about it and I don't even want to look at it. Close the blinds and bring out the sun lamps. According to the calendar it's summer and I will ACT like it's summer!!!

So, if you read about a frozen corpse around my area...that will probably be me.

A Funk. Part II.

Well, the funk lifted on Friday. It probably helped that I had the day off of work!! :o) I was able to spend the day catching up on a lot of stuff, not to mention SLEEP! I'm starting an online astronomy class on Monday so I'm spending this weekend getting ahead with the reading. Since the class is only eight weeks long, it will be a LOT of work. But it will be worth it...I won't have to take ANY more science classes!! :) Yippee!!

All for now. I just thought I'd let you know that life is good and all is well. I hope it's the same with YOU! :o)