APRIL (SNOW) SHOWERS

You know, sometimes I wonder why in the heck we moved to Wyoming  9 years ago.  (See my blog We Be Hicks) On April 6th is was exactly 9 years since we pulled up in front of our new home 505 miles from our old one. When it is summer and the temps are in the high seventies and low eighties I am loving my life here (i.e. I'm not getting physically sick because of the heat). When I walk outside in October and I don't sweat and I actually breathe in cool, clean, fresh air, yeah those are the times I love it.  But when I woke up this morning and checked the weather I was like "why the f#$% did I move to this godforsaken place? Why? Why? Why? :'(  You see, the weather forecast says snow today and tomorrow - winter storm warning. This in and of itself is not unusual. It happens, usually this time of year it melts quickly and the roads stay clear because we've had a few days in a row of sixty degree temps.  So what did it say today that made me react so differently?  13-16 inches of flippin' snow!!!  What the heck, we rarely get that much snow in one time during the middle of winter!!!! Why in April are we getting a foot of flippin snow when my kids have finally started to get outside and leave me the hell alone to get to go outside and play a bit?

And when I read that we were getting strong winds with it, I almost cried some more.  I hate the wind. I've always hated the wind. I will never like the wind. I was almost crushed by a shed when I was a kid because the wind picked it up and brought it towards me (then thankfully changed direction and blew it back). And what happens when you mix wind and snow - blizzard like conditions. And then I remembered that the hubs has these two days off so at least I wouldn't have to drive in that shiz alone. But still people, come on, it is April and I want spring.

The only good thing I can see coming out of this is that maybe it will tramp the allergens back down for a few days and my poor family can get a break. Maybe. Little Butt and The Senior have both been sick from all of the blasted weather changes and allergens and wind. We need a break here right?!?!

So, we went to the store and stocked up on everything we might need to last us through a possibly big storm and now we are just waiting for it to start. I'm sure the kids will have to go to school tomorrow even if there is a foot of snow on the ground and blizzard like conditions (my kids don't need visibility to cross a somewhat major street to get to the bus stop!) You see, if our district has too many inclement weather days the football players would have to miss the private football camp they are sent to every year and God forbid that would happen. Who cares if parents and students aren't safe certainly not the Natrona County School District #1!!! Sports always must come before safety and academics right?  Wow, I've been kinda sitting on that piece of info for years and it feels

good to shout it out from the roof tops!!! (or the blog tops).

So, what is my point in today's babble?  I really don't have one.  I just wanted to write about things that have bugged me recently so I thought since it was all related to the weather, I would give it a go. :)

Until Next Time...????? Enjoy the good weather when you've got it?  Yeah, that's it.  I'll have something more thought provoking next time.  <3 and love to you all!

PROUD TO BE ME

I'm not sure if I will watch TV just for me ever again. (At least not regularly) No more House Hunters marathons, No more Criminal Minds every Wednesday, No more sit in front of the TV September nights to catch all of the new shows.  I will never know what people are talking about when they rave over The Walking Dead or one of the many other shows that are plastered all over Facebook. (And I can't remember the names of at the moment)

I do watch a lot of TV though...a lot of kids TV.  I enjoy me some Mickey Mouse, Pooh Bear, Neverland Pirates and Doc McStuffins!  And I do have favorite shows.  I thoroughly enjoy Kickin' It on Disny XD and I even watched a marathon the other day. You should have seen how excited I got when I found out that one of the actors on that show is the real life brother of "Rico" from Hannah Montana  (And yes, I was also an avid Hannah Montana watcher. You couldn't have torn me away from the series finale for all the money ice cream in the world) And the other night when the new season of Kickin It started...the kids and I were front and center. Good Luck Charlie is also a favorite, how can I not love a show about a crazy family with five kids? haha.

One of my favorite older shows, that we watch a lot,
is Suite Life of Zack and Cody. And of course there is always Wizards of Waverly Place and half a dozen or more shows. I also have a soft spot for Victorious whenever I'm in the mood for musical television.

You see, we have two TV's in the house, one in the living room and one in the master bedroom.  I guess I could lock myself up in my room and watch what in the hell I wanted, but first of all I hate being confined to one closed in room. Second, The Shooter likes to stay in the bedroom during his free time and he usually goes to bed much earlier than me so that leaves out watching what I want to watch, when I want to watch it (I love watching TV most in the evenings/night). Third, I always feel a bit like I am not able to do as much for my kids as other parents so I LIKE being in the living room with them while I relax, or work on my novels. (Don't get me wrong, there are times when I would kill -not literally- to have alone time.)

So when we are out front in the living room, the kids rule the TV and not usually because I don't want to hear them bitchin and moanin about not being able to watch their shows, but because most of the shows I like (except house hunters) aren't appropriate for the younger three.  And these are all of the reasons why I have become a children's TV fan. I either like what is on or I suffer miserably with no entertainment in my life (except my wonderful blog fans and facebook ;p). I'm a Disney and a Nickelodeon fan and I don't care who knows it!!!! :D

Until Next Time...The main lesson I wanted to teach with this blog is to not be ashamed of your likes and dislikes.  You will always run into haters who make fun of or hate what you adore, but you just have to ignore them and like what you want to. We are all individuals and have our own likes and dislikes and those who can't accept that are the ones with the problem, not us 'fans' who enjoy what we do/watch/take part in.

I WANT I WANT I WANT TO EMBARRASS MY KIDS

You know that new car you want so bad you can barely stand it, but then you either can't find one you can afford or one that is just right? Or maybe that new gaming system? Or the new big screen TV? Or the new house? Or the new computer/tablet?

Then suddenly, one day you find just the right one and you can afford it and you finally get it!  You are so unbelievably excited.  You tell everyone you know about it, even strangers. And the minute you get it home/drive it/move in, it is all you can think about and you do everything you can to make it perfect and you don't want to leave it for the first month or more! So much excitement and joy in something so trivial right! You dance, you sing, you jump around and give people high fives (strangers and your kids mostly). But best of all, you embarrass the kids. (**evil grin**) Can you tell which one of those things is my favorite? Remind me one of these days to tell you about dancing in my chair and lip syncing to 80's music while I type my novel.  The kids hope and pray their friends aren't over then. (**another evil grin**)

This is it! (points and jumps up and down)

Well, the other day, I experienced the joy of finding that one perfect thing I have wanted for years. Can you guess what the product was? It was a desktop copy holder. You know, one of those mini easel looking things that hold your papers while you type.  Yep. I had been looking for one for years that would be just right. They were either too expensive (when I first started looking many years ago, they were in the $40.00 range and they all had to be ordered which meant shipping cost too) or I couldn't find just the right one, even at office supply stores. Well, I finally found the perfect one!!! With shipping I will be spending under $16.00. I am so excited I want to shout it from the rooftops. I just have to wait for it to arrive and then I will not let it out of my sight. I will probably even sleep with it. (Don't laugh, it will make me more likely to sleep with it. I'm defiant like that.)

What does this mean for me? It means no more sore neck and shoulders from having to bend over too far when I spend a marathon five hours at the dining room table working on my novel. (I know, I know, I really shouldn't do that, perhaps I should move to the couch for a bit? But don't you understand, I don't have a copy holder so it is even worse to sit on the couch because then the papers are too far away from me to read. Hmmm, maybe I need new glasses too?  I guess that will be the next purchase I get super excited about. But I won't sleep with those or they might break. haha!)

So, what is the point of this post? Is it to not be materialistic?  Nah, I think for many people we can't help but love our toys. I just try to balance that out with caring, charity and friendship. The point to this post is, even if you are weird enough for your kids to make fun of, keep being yourself.  (They'll either get over it or be embarrassed for the rest of their lives, which is great payback for all of the labor, headaches, and heartbreak.)

Until next time...Be yourself no matter what.  You can't be truly happy unless you are truly you!

HOME MEANS NEVADA

I know many people who move to a new place and it becomes home - there is no other place they would rather be. My mother and my in-laws are prime examples of this. My in-laws moved from the DC/Maryland area to Southern Nevada and we moved there from Florida/Oregon (although my parents had lived there before). I'm not entirely sure about the in-laws, but I am pretty sure you couldn't give my mom 10 million dollars to move away.

Southern Nevada

I have lived in Wyoming for almost 9 years now and I still get heart-achingly homesick for the beautiful, fresh Southern Nevada desert. I should be happy with where my family is and the place we will probably end up staying for a long long time (if not the rest of our lives) and on the surface I am. Deep down inside I would give almost anything to move back to the Las Vegas area. It isn't just because a huge part of my family is there and it isn't because as many people have told me 'the desert gets in your soul and you never want to leave it'. I really don't know what it is, but no matter where I go and no matter how much I love the places I go, Nevada is my HOME and always will be.

When someone asks me where home is I always have to stop myself from saying 'Nevada'. After all, home is now technically Casper, Wyoming. Doesn't the saying go "Home is where the heart is"? Well, my heart is split.  Part of it is in Southern Nevada and the other part is with my family in Wyoming. A lot of people tell me I should move back.  Oh my how I would love to, but I just can't.  The reason we left was because the heat and allergies bothered me to the point of sickness. I just can't do that to my family or myself.  They might not have me in many physical ways, but they do have me in many other ways that count heavily. If I were to add more sickness to everything they wouldn't have me at all and I wouldn't have myself either. I would be nothing.

Now this is not to say that I am unhappy, because I really am not.  I have a decent home  great husband,aand kids that I adore. I can't really ask for more.  There will just be a part of me that feels like I am not living at home. But if all else is good, I think I can live with that.

My hometown, Overton, NV

Is there any other place on earth that could make me that happy?  Maybe, you never know what could happen.  If any place could do it, I think Alaska could (it is my happy place after all), but if I never live there I will be just fine because I once knew a place that I called home. A place that I will always love with all my heart. My Home is Nevada, the place I live happily with my family is Wyoming (for the moment, you never know what the future brings.)

Until next time...love deeply and keep that love in your heart. If you do that, no matter what circumstances you face, you can always be happy with who YOU are. And of course, that is what counts the most.