Food rules

Rick calls them Sharon's food rules....I pretty much drive him nuts with all of my food quirks. For example  I hate raisins, can't stand to have them in cookies or any baked good, I would never even think about eating them plain! If I find them in anything I have to pick them out or I cannot eat it.  But I love chocolate covered raisins. I know makes no since but that is the way it is. Then there is bananas....they must be the perfect banana or I cannot eat it. They have to be just the right ripeness. I cannot even watch someone eat a banana that is over ripe, it makes me want to vomit, the smell of an  over ripe banana is even worse. Mushrooms are another one of those foods that make we want to gag every time I see one on my plate. They are just gross. Of course it is okay to use cream of mushroom soup in hotdishes as long as the mushrooms in it are very, very small. I don't like my food to touch the other food on my plate and all meat must be cut into very small pieces before I can eat it. All apples, pears, watermelon etc. must be cut into pieces before I can eat it, I hate to bite into fruit. I also always eat things like cupcakes with a fork, it is just neater. Who likes to take a bite of something and have food all over your lips and teeth, gross! And who puts butter on sandwiches! Rick is always putting butter on things like jelly toast and ham sandwiches. Rick says I have so many food and cooking rules that he cannot keep them straight. I say I just know what is good!
Later Sharon

3:20 in the morning......

The last two mornings the dogs have decided that 3:20 would be a good time to get up. Since I have to get up at 4:00 for work getting woke up 40 minutes early does not make me a very happy person. They of course think that 3:20 is a great time to be up. Dumb dogs.
I finally got the last door stained and ready to be put up. I have been putting it off just because I was so tired of all the home construction, but now I am getting the itch to get the last 3 rooms done. The bathroom is the only big project. The other two rooms just need the ceilings scraped and the walls painted. Once archery is done for the winter we will get back to work on the house.
I babysat Liam and Josie on Wed. because Josie is sick and could not go to daycare. Rick came home a little early from work and had to make a couple of bow strings. Liam was happy he got to spend time with Rick. I sure he was a big help to Rick making the strings :)
I made pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins on my days off. I had cooked and frozen a bunch of pumpkins this fall so I figured I better start using it up. The bread had a cream cheese filling and it was delish. The muffins are just okay. I had never use either recipe before.
Last night at league we had a congratulations party for Hannah winning in Vegas.  Lots of people who do not normal come to league were down so it was fun to see them. I even managed to shoot a decent score with all the distractions going on.
Later Sharon 

Cute puppy pictures

Dexter and Morgan so sleepy

Morgan with a face full of snow

I have nothing to update today so I just though I would put up a couple of pictures of the dogs.
Later Sharon 

No Motivation

I have no motivation to do anything today. I think I am still tired from vacation. I put this picture up so I can think about being in the warm sun of Vegas instead of the sucky weather we are having here. Yesterday I had to work. I was really happy when I got up for work and saw that the snow and rain had not started. I even managed to get all the buildings opened before it started. But once it started it really came down fast. The drive home from work was not very good. From Northfield to Faribo was not to bad because I was on bigger roads. But once I got to Morristown it was really bad. I had total white outs several times and one time I had to drive on the wrong side of the road on the shoulder to get though the drifts. We also had rain in Waseca before the snow so everything was covered in ice. I was very happy to get home last night.
Today I do not have to work and I am very glad I don't have to drive out of town for anything. I took Morgan to the vet this morning to have her stitches out. She is scared to death being in the car. She just sits on the seat and shivers. We need to work with her walking on the leash. She will walk a little and then just stop. Hard to take for walks when it is so cold. She sill only weighs just over 7 pounds. We started putting Dexter and her in the kennel at night together because otherwise every time Dexter would move during the night she would bark. It works much better now. We don't hear a thing out of ether of them all night long. Now if we could get her to sleep past 6:30 will be set. She is use to getting up at 4:00 when I get up for work so she wants to be up early every morning now. Today we let out at 6:30 to go potty and then put in back in the kennel and she barked for an hour. I guess that is what I get for getting a puppy.
I guess I better get off the computer and try and do something productive.....
Later Sharon

"I am pretty sure when I am on my death bed I am not going to be thinking, gee I sure wish I had worked more overtime." -Steve Tuveson

About a month ago a bunch of us at the archery club were talking about work and enjoying life while you can. It was one of those conversations that sticks with you........ I really can never understand why some people jump at taking overtime if they don't need the money to survive. Really what do you need so bad that you will give up your family time just for the few extra dollars you will make. I had my fill of overtime when I worked in the jail. One year we were short staffed most of the year and had a person that abused her sick time all the time. I had only two pay periods the whole year where I did not have overtime on my check. Most of that overtime was forced overtime. I missed so much that year, I hated it. I really hate it when people abuse there sick time and use it like it is vacation time. When you work in jobs that needs 24/7 coverage you just can't call in sick without making it inconvenient for others. I am not saying you should come to work if you are sick but it is those time when you know the person is not sick and just wants the time off that really pisses me off. So I will work overtime if I have to but I will not come in on my days off just to make a few extra dollars. My time off doing the the things I love and being with the people I love is way more important then anything I need. It would be way different if I was having trouble paying my bills etc. I am lucky to be at a place in my life that I can pay my bills and live the life I want. I know not everyone has that luxury and I am grateful  that I do.  I don't want to be on my death bed thinking about all the things I did not do because I was too busy working. I want to be filled with memories of all the things I did and the people that I got to do those things with.
I will get off my soapbox now.....
Later Sharon

Sad to be back home.......

Rick, Paul and Tim doing a little rock climbing

The MN crew at Red Rock Canyon

Our last year at the Rivera. Next year we will be at Southpoint

Rick working at the True Spot booth

Well we are back from once again a great vacation to Vegas. We had super nice weather, it was in the 70's and sunny. We could not have asked for better weather. On Thursday we rented a van and drove out to Red Rock Canyon. It was so pretty there. The pictures really do not show how pretty it was. The men decided they would do a little rock climbing as you can see in the picture. They are pretty high when I took the picture I was just zoomed way in. Friday was the first day of shooting. I got to shoot by Rick so that was fun. I always sign us up together that way we usually get to shoot near each other the first 2 days. Before shooting Rick worked in the True Spot booth for a couple hours. He had lots of fun doing it. Friday night we went to the BCY party at the top of the Rivera. It was good food and wine like always. Saturday we had to shoot at 10:00 so we got done pretty early. Rick when back to the True Spot booth to work again and went to watch Hannah get a tattoo on her back. I like it a lot. Hannah only has to shoot 2 days as she is still shooting as a young adult. She did super good winning her class! We were all very excited that she won. Sunday was the final day of shooting. I had to shoot at 7:00 in the morning. It sucks to get up early but it is nice to be done. I shot much better then last year so I was happy. I had fun shooting this year, it was much more relaxing then last year. Rick shot at 10:00. After he was done shooting we went for a walk down the strip. We walked almost to the end and back. It was a long walk but fun. We stopped along the way to eat and check out some of the casinos. I actually got to wear shorts and I got sunburned. It was great!!! Monday we slept in and then had to pack up our bags. We met a few people and went out for a late breakfast and then walked down the strip aways. Another archer got married on Monday so we went to the wedding. It was funny when we got there and told them that we had gotten married there last year. The lady who runs the place was so excited. She had to gives us both big hugs and then gave me a rose. It was fun to see someone else get married there.  We  gambled a little all weekend. I left being up $4 and Rick lift being up just over $100. He was a lucky gambler all weekend. We left for the airport and were on our way back home at 7:10. We go back to the snow and cold at 12:10. I was glad that it was 35 degrees here but it still felt cold to me. Yesterday I spent all day unpacking and doing laundry. I am back to work today and sad to be back. It is always hard to come back after a great vacation. I think a need another few days off!!
Later Sharon

Goodbye cold hello warmth!

Liam with his new guitar 

Dexter, Morgan and Liam all warn out from playing 

I babysat Liam and Josie on Monday so I gave Liam his birthday gift early since I will not be here for his birthday. He has been asking for a guitar so that is what I got him. His eyes got so huge when he opened it. He was super excited. It even came with a case and a pic for him to use. He knows that it is more then just a toy so he was being very careful with it. It was very cute to watch him with it. Liam does not take a nap very often any more but he told me when he got to my house he was going to take a nap today. So after Josie went down for her nap he said he wanted to lay on the floor. He wanted to watch a movie but I told him no. He had been yawning for a couple of hours. He fell asleep pretty fast and then he was out. The dogs played around him and Josie got up and was talking loud but he just slept on. He was so cute I had to take a picture of him.
Today I am busy trying to pack for Vegas. I pack all of my clothes in my bow case so I really cannot pack until we get home from league tonight. I sure will be happy to get out of this cold. It will go by way to fast I am sure.
Later Sharon

Why do we do it......

So I finished reading a booked  Last Dog on the Hill: The Extraordinary Life of Lou by Steve Duno. What a great book. He tells you in the first pages that Lou is dead after 16 years of life, I should have stopped reading it right there, but I got sucked in and read the whole thing.  And even though  I knew that Lou was dead in the beginning of the book  I cried like a baby when reading about his death. So it got me thinking about how attached we get to our pets and why we do it to ourselves.  I have always been an animal person. One of the hardest things about my divorce was leaving my dog Domi behind. She was a big outside dog and I could not take her with me to live in a apartment. So when I found out she was dead even after not seeing her for 4 years I cried not only because she was gone but because of the guilt I felt for leaving her with someone who never gave her the love she needed.  Then I got Dexter. Dexter is a second hand dog. He was 10 months old when I got him and not very well trained. Now he is the best dog ever and I do not know what I would do without him. And of course we now have Morgan with us. She is managing to worm her way into my heart too. So why do I do it, why do I bring these dogs into my life and get attached to them. I think it is because they love us unconditionally. Who else does that!  There is no better way to put it.....unconditional love. That is what Dexter and Morgan are to me.  Later Sharon

Wake me up please

Oh I could really use some caffeine this morning. I am soooo tired. I was up way to late last night so 4:00 a.m. came really early this morning. It is days like this that I wish I drank caffeine. Maybe I will break down and throw out my decaf coffee I brought with me to work and go buy some with caffeine in it.
Next week at this time I will be getting ready to get on an airplane for Vegas. It is going to be 70 degrees out when we get there, not -1 like it is here today. I cannot wait.
Shooting last night was fun. A bunch of guys from the Lads club came over to shoot. It is fun to shoot with different people once in awhile.
My raynaud's syndrome has kicked in again this winter. Only this time it is my toes not my fingers. The other day when I was working out one of my toes was completely white and hurt like crazy. It took forever for it to warm up. I have not had much trouble with it for the last few years but I guess the cold is getting to me this winter. Or maybe like everything else it is because I am getting old and my body is giving up on me!!
I NEED CAFFEINE!!!
Later Sharon