Backyard nature

I took these pictures of a pheasant in our backyard a week or so ago. I was up on the deck trying to be sneaky. I really had to zoom in on it. I think they turned out pretty good for as far away that I was.

Nate: " Claire, you wanna know a secret? I spent my whole life being scared. Scared of not being ready, of not being right, of not being who I should be. And where did it get me?"-Six Feet Under

I had some pictures I wanted to put on here today but for some reason blog spot keeps rejecting them. I guess they will just have to wait. I have not been up to much the last couple of days.  Yesterday I had to take my bike over to Owatonna because when it was shipped the bike handle was scuffed up and the new one came in. I also went to Fleet Farm to get a sub pump for us and one for Ricks mom. While I was there I did a little shopping for the dogs. They have the best pet department. I got them some new chicken stack treats and some chewys. And I also got them a new mat for there food and water and I may have bought them a new toy. I told Rick when I got home that he should not let me go to Fleet Farm alone.  While I was at Fleet Farm I found out that they have licorice pastels. They are favorite candy nest to Peeps. I had to get a bag of them and now I cannot stop eating them. Good thing they are only 5 calories for one serving. Okay a serving is only 7 pieces and I may have eaten  way more then 7 pieces. But they are soooo good

On my days off I have lifted twice and ran on the tread mill once. I really hope it is nice out on Friday like they say it is going to be. I would love to get back on the bike. 

I hear 7 more pieces of candy calling my name......

Later 

Sharon 

Easter at the Jensen's

Josie blowing bubbles 

Liam blowing bubbles

smoky kitchen

My babies, Christa, Amy and Cassie

Liam hunting down the Easter Eggs

Josie found a bunch! 

Grandpa teaching Liam and Josie all about worms

Liam playing with his worms

Josie playing with her worm



Easter was lots of fun. It was Cassie's fist time hosting the Becker  family Easter and she did a good job. We had tons of good food. Amy made cheesy potatoes and they overflowed in the oven causing lots of smoke. It was pretty funny. The whole house was full of smoke and the fire alarm went off. But no food was burned so it was all good. It was nice that we actually had a nice day and could go outside.  Cassie had bubbles and chalk for Liam and Josie to play with. And she also had an Easter egg hunt. When all that was done Nick and Cassie took Liam and Josie on a worm hunt. Someone should really tell Liam and Josie that worms are gross and should never never be played with or even touched! 
Today I have the first of my 3 days off. Of course it is raining again! I am pretty sick of the rain and cold. Good thing I bought a new bike that I have only been able to use twice. Stupid weather. 
Later Sharon 

Oh no........

I hope the Easter Bunny made it to your house before this!

Yesterday after work Rick and I took the dogs for a walk. We always walk around a park near our house and on the way back I noticed a cell phone sitting on a table. Since no one was around we picked it up and called one of the numbers on the phone. The person that answered was the parent of the man who had lost his phone. The man just happened to be at his parents house. He was very grateful that we found his phone and took the time to try and find the owner.  He said he had been biking and had no idea where it had fallen. Someone must have found it and put it on the table where we found it. The guy wanted to give us $10. for finding it but Rick told him that he could keep the money and he should do something nice for someone else.
Hope the Easter Bunny was good to all of you.

Later Sharon

Just one week

I would like just one week. One week to be able to get out of bed and have nothing hurt. No back pain, no muscle pulls, no trouble breathing, no trouble seeing, no arthritis just feel good. Is that asking to much? I would even take just feeling 95% good. I know what a dreamer I am.
Last night Morgan came in the house all muddy again so Rick gave her a feet wash in the bathtub. While he was doing that his razor fell down and the razor blade part fell off. This morning it was sitting on the bathtub edge when I took a shower but when I came back into the bathroom it was gone. I knew right away that Morgan had taken it. So the search was on. We looked everywhere and then I remembered that she had gone back into our bed so Rick look and there it was. Stupid dog, she is always hiding stuff in our bed. I was just glad we found it  before she decided to chew it up and get down to the actual razor blade and cut herself. She will take anything she finds on the floor and chew on it or hide it. It is worse then having a baby in the house. It is pretty funny when you give Dexter and Morgan a chewy and Morgan will run and hid hers and then steal Dexter's away from him and eat it up. Poor Dexter.
I hope everyone has a Happy Easter.
Later Sharon

Legal to drive

Yesterday I finally went to my eye doctor appointment.  I guess you could say I got good news and bad news. The good news is I am still legal to drive and the bad news is I now have to wear glasses again. He said that my vision has gotten worse but not as bad as I thought. I have 20/30 in one eye and 20/40 in the other. He said it seems much worse to me because I was use to 20/20 vision and even a little change seems like a lot.  He said my nearsightedness is not bad enough to have the Lasik done again and if he did re due it then my close up vision would get worse. He also said I have the beginnings of cataracts and in 4-5 years I will have it bad enough that I will have to have it fixed and then my eye sight should be much better since the cataracts surgery will fix it. So not only do I have to go back into glasses but I have to get bifocals! He said that at this time he would not think I should get contacts because I should not have to wear the glasses all the time. He said that if down the road I find that I need them all the time that I can try contacts again. They do make bifocal contacts now. Oh the joys of getting old!
After I done at the eye doctor I went to Walmart and got a new printer since ours decided it did not want to work any more. So when I got home I got that all hooked up and I am happy to say it worked on the first try. Since I don't always have good luck with printers I was very happy. After that I decided I better get my workout in. So I lifted and then I ran 3 miles on the tread mill. I don't usually like to run and lift on the same day but since I did not do anything on Tue. I figured I better. I started to watch Toy Story 3 while I was running. Yes I  know it is a kids movie but it was pretty good. Now I guess I will have to run again so I can finish it.
I hope we get some nice weather soon so we can get back out on the bikes.
I made cutout sugar cookies the other day. I have not made them in years. All the sugar cookie recipes call for shorting and that is sooo bad for you. So I looked on line and it said you can use apple butter instead of shorting. So that is what did and they turned out really good. I used the apple butter that we made this fall. I had not tried it yet because I kind of forgot about it. Now I wish we had made more it is really good.
I am back to work today so I guess I better get back to it.
Later Sharon

Crazy Lady

United States 7,314 Canada 255 South Korea 68 United Kingdom 33 Russia 28 Taiwan 19 Japan 18 Germany 14 India 13 Australia 12

So if you have blog you can look at your stats and find out who is looking at it. What is above is all the places that have had people look at my blog in the past year. Kind of cool to think that people from all over the word have looked at what I have posted.
Last night we were eating supper and the dogs started barking like crazy. Well usually it is because there is a squirrel in the yard. So Rick went to let them out and there was a lady standing in the yard. She said to Rick that she was just going to cut through our yard to get to her apartment building. Rick asked her where it was because if she went through our back yard it was all  swamp. She was all confused and said she had been chasing after the Schwans truck and she thought he had gone down our street. Now she just wanted to get back home. So Rick told her how to get back to apartment. Well after she left he got a little worried about her since she seemed so confused as to where she was. So he decided he would go check on her to make sure she made it home. He found her with a gallon of ice cream going into her apartment building. She must have found the Schwans man! She really had no idea where she was but yet she told Rick she had lived in Waseca all her life. Seems a little odd to me.
Today I went to the dentist for a check up/cleaning. I did not have any cavities!!! I was very happy about that. After the dentist I went and got my hair cut and colored. It was soooo full of gray, I have not had it colored since Dec. I don't think I will be going that long again without a dye job.
I am not liking this wet weather. Morgan came running in the house this morning and left muddy foot prints everywhere before I could catch her. She just looks at me and wags her tail, she has no idea why I am yelling at her to stop.
I think I will make cookies this afternoon. It is a good day for it.
Later Sharon

"Sometimes the things you want the most don't happen and what you least expect happens. I don't know-you meet thousands of people and none of them really touch you. And then you meet one person and your life is changed forever." - Jamie Randall in Love and Other Drugs

Last night Rick and I watched Love and Other Drugs. What a good movie, if you get a chance you should watch it. 
Rick brought home Chipotle's for supper last night. We split a burrito. They are so good but so huge. Even splitting it I could not eat it all. I don't know how anyone can eat a whole one, there is 1020 calories in it. That is half of your daily calories. I guess if you eat next to nothing the rest of the day it would be okay :)
Today is my last day of work then I have 3 days off. I will be glad to sleep in tomorrow. Of course Rick has been playing fetch  with Morgan from the bed that last two mornings so I am sure I will get a ball pushed into my face while I am trying to sleep in. She will play fetch FOREVER. 
It is nice to see the sun today and see that all the snow has melted. 
Today I took an asthma control test and it said I should go see my doctor because my asthma is not being controlled. The longest I have gone without using my inhaler has been 5 days and that was shortly after I was at the doctor. Lately I have to use it 4-5 times a week. Of course I am still of the mindset that I don't have asthma. I don't like it one bit so I figure I will just keep denying it until my inhaler runs out. It has a counter on it and I thought I only had 39 puffs left on it but looking at it with my glasses on today I see I have 139 puffs left. That should give me a long time yet! As long as it does not get worse then it is now I should be just fine. 
Later Sharon

So sad

I am so sad. Yesterday I went to my old eye doctor and picked up my records. It was so sad to see that one year after my lasik surgery I had 20/20 vision. I was so happy with my vision for many years. Then a couple of years ago my close up vision went but I was okay with that because I knew as I aged that would happen. What really makes me sad is the fact that 7 years after my surgery my faraway vision has suddenly gone. It happened about a month ago. One day I was driving to work and every light had huge halos and what looked like star bursts coming out of them. Then when it got light out I noticed that I was not able to see  far away either. Well since I have not been to the eye doctor since 2005 I made an appointment that very day. Of course I could not get in until April 20th. It seems that my eyes have gotten much worse since them. I am pretty sure I am not legal to drive.
So I did a some internet doctoring and found out that lasik should not go bad after so many years unless you have some underlining condition like cataracts to cause it. Or it could be caused by medication you are taking. And every site list prednisone as one of the medications that can give you trouble. Of course most of them say it is a long term use of prednisone that causes eye troubles. Since I was only on it for 5 days you would think I would be fine, but is just so happens that I was on day 3 of taking it when my eyes went bad. And since we all know from my whole gallbladder experience the I am A-typical I will probably be the one in a million that will have side affect from taking it. Or since cataracts runs in my family it might just be that since I also have all the symptoms of that........
Gosh maybe I should not have waited 6 years to go to the eye doctor. And maybe I should not internet doctor anymore. Good thing I go to the eye doctor next week because I am pretty sure by then I will either be blind or have driven myself nuts thinking about it.
Later Sharon

The perfect jeans

I hate shopping for jeans. It so hard to find any that fit me. I have pretty much given up on finding any that are not at least 4 inches to long for me. If that was the only problem I could live with it because I have been hemming pants up as long as I can remember. Most jeans I try on will fit in the legs and butt but then they are huge in the waist. That is if the waist actually sits on the waist. Most of them sit on the hips and then every time you sit down your butt crack is almost showing. Really that is not a very good look for anybody! It is either that or the waist is so high that you look like you are living in the 1980's. So finally last spring Cassie made me go to the Levis store in the MOA and try on a ton of different jeans. Well I found two pair that fit me good and I liked. Of course they cost a small fortune. So I need some new jeans again so I thought I would be able just go get the same kind again. Oh no they no longer make the jeans I wanted. So the search is on again. I did go on ebay and found some so I ordered one yesterday. Hopefully they are the same as the ones I have.
Last night Rick and I went for a 24.5 mile bike ride. It was so nice out, a perfect night for a bike ride. When we got back into town we stopped at Amy's house because she told me she made some ice cream and of course I wanted to try it. It was delish! With my new bike I got a new computer on it that tells my mileage  etc. It also has a heart monitor with it. I am not so sure I like having the heart monitor on because now I can really see how bad of shape I am in. We were going up this big ass hill going into the wind and my heart rate went up to 191. Of course Ricks only went up to 130. But his resting heart rate is around 45-50. Sometimes I wonder how he is living his heart rate is so slow. Anyhow most of the time I average around 167 while going fast. I looked it up the other day on the American Heart Assoc. page and it said my max heart rate should be around 171 while exercising. So I guess I did pretty good. I hope by the end of the summer I can keep it down to 150.
Back to work today
Later Sharon

And the winner is.....

Rick with his winning arrow

Shooting the winning arrow

The wait to see if he won.


Saturday Rick and I got up bright and early and went to Redwood Falls for the MSAA State Shoot. I did now shot this year but Rick did and what a good job he did. He ended up in a three way tie for first so they had to have a shoot off. It came down to inside out X for the last two people and Rick won! It was very exciting to watch. After he was done shooting we went out for supper with Eric, Serena and Sonya. We had such a good time, I have not laughed so hard in a long time. My stomach hurt I was laughing so hard. We did not get home until 9:30.
Sunday we slept in not getting out of bed until almost 9:00. Rick made us pancakes for breakfast and then we opened up all the windows in the house. It was so nice out. Of course once we opened up the windows we had to put all the screens on because we started getting flies etc in the house. Rick had to go help down at the club for a 4-H shoot but I stayed home and got lots done. I finally got my tomato plants put into bigger pots. They are doing good. I also finally put some plants in the planter we have by the steps.
Today I am busy getting laundry done. Our washer has developed a leak. Not sure where it is coming from but every time I do wash there is water under the washer. Every since we moved last July it has been making a banging noise when it spins out but since it was still working and we were always busy with other stuff we never had it fixed. I guess maybe we should have since it is now leaking. I am thinking it is not a good thing when water is coming out.
I have tomorrow off of work to, I am hope it is not so windy so we can go for a bike ride. I lifted this morning. Amy stopped over with Liam and Josie while I was lifting and Liam asked why I was lifting and I told it was so I did not get fat. Amy got mad and me and said that was not a very good thing to tell him. I guess I should have said so I can have big muscles!
Later Sharon 

Road biking 101

 I love my new bike

Getting fitted for my bike by the shop owner Katie

more bike fitting, I really need to work on not hunching my shoulders!

First look and fit of the bike
Oh what a difference a proper bike fitting makes. My first road bike I had I gotten  from a now closed bike shop. I bought the bike and was taken around the parking lot a couple times so they could show me how to shift and that was about it. Although I liked the bike it was a little big for me and I had done all the adjusting to it myself, okay Rick helped me.
So last night when we went to get my new bike   I found out what a proper bike fitting is. I could not be happier with my bike and the help I got at the Straight River Sports and Fitness shop in Owatonna. I cannot say enough about what a great job they do there and how they go out of there way to help you and make sure you know what you are doing before you leave the shop. Katie even let me keep my old bike pedals even if they  weight a ton and I really need new ones! I know it drove her nuts that I am unwilling to give them up yet but she never once pressured me to get new ones.   I need to work myself in to new ones. I have not fallen on the ones I have yet so I hate to give them up. Until you bike with your shoes clipped into the pedals you don't know the fear of falling :)  Maybe by the end of the summer I will be ready.
I am so excited to start biking this year. I was even more excited today when I got up and saw the weather was going to be nice so we would be able to go for a ride after work.  I am looking forward to taking those 20-30 mile bike rides a few nights a week. And I am looking forward even more to taking some camping and biking trips this summer.
Of course while in the bike shop Rick and I had to make the mistake of looking at the sunglasses display. Yep you guessed it we both came out of there with new glasses. But the good news is they were 10% off. I know I am justifying them but I don't care!
See ya out on the road!
Sharon

Sunny and warm day equals yard work

Rick Shooting in the yard

Rick shooting at 50 yards

The last of the snow in the yard

This is what I was doing why Rick was having fun shooting

Rick working on getting one of the little trees out 

This is what it looked like before we took out all of the little trees

This is what it looks like now

We loaded all the trees up on the wagon to be taken to the dump

Morgan, she is getting big, she is as tall as Dexter now, of course that is not saying much!


It was so nice out yesterday. After Rick got home from shooting the 25 meter we spent the rest of the day outside.  Rick got his bale set up so he can shoot outside. He can shoot out to 60 yards. While he did that I racked part of the front yard. I also raked up around the trees that have Hostas planted by them. Then Rick decided that it would be a good day to get rid of all the little trees that are in the front yard. The former owner had a garden with a ton of ferns and hostas in it along with the little trees. It is all very overgrown and the trees looked like crap. So I wanted them gone. The neighbor came over and helped because he has a 4 wheel drive truck. We managed to get most of them out with out tearing up the yard to much. Now I will have lots of work making the garden look nice again. There is a ton of roots from the trees in the ground yet so I am sure that will cause me trouble. I want to get rid of the ferns as I am not a big fan of them. I will have to wait and see as everything comes up. It was such a mess last summer when we moved in that I am not even sure what is all in the garden. It will be my supper project.
This morning I watched Liam and Josie while Amy went to the Doctor. I lifted with them here, that was fun. Liam wanted to do everything I did because he is strong! Rick came home for a short time this morning because he had a dentist appointment. While he was home he gave Liam a hair cut. I will not be doing much babysitting now because the doctor took Amy off of work. No work for her until the baby is born. He is not due until July 1 so she has a long wait yet. She never has a trouble free pregnancy! So far Christa is doing good so maybe she will take after me. I never had a bit of trouble with all three of my pregnancy's.
Tonight Rick and I are going to go to the range to shoot for awhile. State is this weekend. Good thing I am at the bottom of the championship flight because I have hardly shot for the past month since I was sick for most of it. Rick is shooting great so he should be in the running to win the money class.
Later Sharon 

They are back.....

Yesterday all the frogs came back. It was like they all came out all at once it was so loud. They were croaking like crazy all night long. It was nice to hear because that must mean spring is finally here to stay! It is also another reason that I love living where we do. We  have so much nature to see and hear.  The dogs love it here with the big yard they now have to run around in. Dexter never wants to come in the house.
Yesterday Rick went to shoot the 25 meter and I stayed home and lifted and got some laundry done. When he got back to town we went to Owatonna to pick up his bike. Once we got to the bike shop he decided he need new tires so we did not even get his bike. I did find out that my bike should be in on Monday or Tuesday. I am very excited to get it and get out on the road. It should be a great year to go biking. When we got home we took the dogs for a walk. I am really happy with how good Morgan is walking. She does not pull at all on the leash. She is a smart dog. I was completely out of breath when we walked. On Thur. and Friday I had lots of trouble breathing. I had to use my inhaler several times. I was very happy when I woke up on Sat. and was breathing normal. But I guess it was not all the way normal since walking made me breath heavy. I am not liking this asthma crap to much. Last night for supper Rick grilled us some delish buffalo steak. Then we watched two parts of the series on Starz called Camelot. It is very good.
Today Rick is shooting the second day of the 25 meter. I was going to go watch but he said I should stay home because it is super cold in the building and it was going to go fast and he should be home by 1:00. So I slept in until 8:15 this morning, both dogs were in the sleeping in mode too. I am going to try and run on the tread mill this morning and see how it goes. Hopefully I can breath....
Later Sharon