The Artful Bra Project...

Well, it's done. I'm delivering it to the Susan G Komen office today and it will be on display at the downtown Boise store by this afternoon. It's called "Bulletproof". The bullet was given to me by Sgt. Patrick Calley of the Ada County Sheriffs Office. Sgt. Calley is special to me - he was just a young boy at the time, but his father was the FBI Agent who lived and breathed the search for Claude Dallas after he killed dad. I will always have a special place in my heart for his entire family. The bullet was actually fired at a range so that it looks like it hit the bra but wasn't able to penetrate and it's right where my tumor was so it actually means something to me.




The bras will be on display throughout downtown until the end of October and will then be sold at auction. I plan on making a trip downtown in the next week or so and will take pictures of the other bras on display and post them for you to see. I'm anxious to see what other women came up with!



I guess all in all, I'm pretty happy with it. But then again, I've been working on it and looking at it for so long that I'm also kind of sick of it! I am, however, looking forward to doing another one next year!

I took a couple of cute pictures of the squirrel last night that I just had to share. She's gettin' so darned cute!

The Pictures on My Camera...

Here's a few pictures I found on my camera...

This is the devil cat...



And the only 1 of 4 baby squirrels that survived - I guess you probably don't want me to watch your kids do you?




I suppose this is a good time to tell you that the raccoons are gone. Yep the gang started causing too much trouble - it's amazing what 6 raccoons can do when they stick together. Tore up a neighbors hot tub cover, knocked over and broke another neighbors fountain, and, although I'm not sure these were ours but I don't know it wasn't them either, ate the 5-year-old Koi out of another neighbors pond.

We trapped them all in one night and transported them to a gal who's going to hopefully keep them contained until they're old enough to be released. They were great fun while they stayed in the pen, but after that, well, they're just like BAD teenagers out roaming the "hood" every night.

In Honor of the First Day of Fall...

You Wasscally Waccoons...

Well, we still can't keep these babies in the pen. Every time we think we've plugged a hole, they find a new way out. Elmer even went so far as to buy some of that spray foam and put that all around the entrance between the pen and the henhouse, but they seem to get out there anyway. Sigh...

Every night, Elmer thinks he's taken care of the problem and so after they come to eat and he's safely locked them into the pen, he walks into the house with "Well those little bastards aren't gettin' out tonight! If they aren't there in the morning, I'm gonna shoot em all!"

Sure you are Elmer...

So, they come every night to eat and a few nights ago, I got some pretty cute pictures...





They've also been making regular visits to a few of the neighbors. One sees them regularly on her trellis. In fact, the other night one of the neighbors paid us a visit.

"Just wanted to let you know your raccoons were on our patio the other night. They're pretty cute. They were out there eating the cat food we leave out for the wild cat but when they were done eating, they all came to the screen door and were standing up looking in the living room. It was so cute I went and woke up my daughters so they could see. We watched them for quite a while until they decided to jump up on our hot tub and started tearing up the cover."

Holy crap...

"So I went and got the hose and thought I'd chase them away by squirting them but it didn't scare them at all. They just stood up on their hind legs and were playing with the water! I couldn't be mad at 'em cause they were so cute!"

All I could do was picture them standing there on two legs while he's squirting them with the hose. Standing there with bars of soap scrubbing under their arms...

Ok, so we have a new plan for tonight. Elmer is having his shop make a "tunnel" out of sheet metal that will fit between the pen and the henhouse. I'm just not sure how long the neighbors will think they're "cute".

Time for the teenagers to be grounded...

Eight Years Ago - Where Were You..

I was at the dentist's office when I heard the first plane had hit the Twin Towers in New York. I remember thinking what an awful problem must have happened to make a pilot hit a building. By the time I got home, the second plane hit and then we all realized it wasn't a mistake at all...

I couldn't turn the tv off and watched for 3 days and nights. I just couldn't believe what had happened...

It was a day we will always remember where we were and what we were doing.

The Pentagon...



God Bless America and those work to keep us safe






Where were you that day? Share your story...

You Can't Look At Just One...

Yesterday, my daughter made a post on Facebook about something she saw at Walmart and someone replied with "you need to look at peopleofwalmart.com. So I did.

This is my new absolute favorite website! Pages and pages of people and oddities at Walmart - and you can only IMAGINE how good that is! I've added it to my favorites. Yes, this is good.

Here's one as a teaser - notice the flashlight for a headlight? And it wasn't even in Idaho.



In fact, I got through page 15 and didn't find a single one from Idaho! We're going to have to get busy. Makes me want to add "Visit every single Walmart in North America" to my bucket list.

So, as you go through your day and need a little chuckle, check out peopleofwalmart.com and be very, very thankful that you haven't been posted on this site. Ummmm, I only made it to page 15 so far, maybe I better keep checking...

Oh wait, this could be me. I have this same exact outfit...

You Never Really Know...

how much you can love someone until you have kids. It's a love so strong that you can't imagine it until you've experienced it. It provides you with the ability to know that you will do whatever you need to in order to ensure you children are safe and happy. Then they grow up. It doesn't mean you love them less, in fact, just the opposite. As they grow and become adults, you realize how lucky you are to have raised such good and decent people, they become the product of everything you believe in.

My oldest son and daughter have grown to be exactly what I had always wished for them. Happy and good people.

I just found out today, that my son may be deployed to Iraq. He spent a year in Afghanistan several years ago. He joined the Army after realizing he wasn't ready for college. I cried for 2 weeks before he left for boot camp - the thought of him hurting and being yelled at for all those weeks was almost more than I could bear. But he's strong and did well. I should have known.

After spending three years in Monterey learning Korean, he graduated as a Korean Linguist and did so well. I should have known.

With a bad knee, after graduating, Jake was given an honorable discharge from the Army. It was right after 9/11 and Jake was bothered to know that those he had served with would be going to defend our country and he would be safe at home. It wasn't what he wanted so he came home and joined the Army National Guard in Boise and was soon deployed to Afghanistan for a year. He came home on leave for a few weeks during his deployment and married his soul mate Heather. A few months later he was home and back to work out at Gowen Field. He was home safe and happy. I should have known.

Today, I worry most about Heather and their daughter Grace. Heather is a very strong woman and I know she'll be so supportive of Jake, but I know how very much she loves him and how much she'll miss him. But, Jake is ready to go if called. I should have known...

The following is from the Idaho Statesman. I heard about Jake's possible deployment on the news. I'm just kind of numb.

The Idaho Army Guard unit that spent almost a year in Iraq in 2004 and 2005 — and nearly two years away from home — could be returning to Iraq for another year-long duty.

If the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team is mobilized, these forces would replace other units sometime next year. Right now, the state has gotten its first notification, and there is no defined timeline.

About 2,400 of the 3,500 the 116th’s members are from Idaho, with most of the rest from Montana and Oregon.

Idaho's citizen soldiers should begin putting their personal, financial and family affairs in order, although the alert doesn't automatically mean the 116th will be deployed.

"Idahoans once again will have to adjust and come together as an Idaho family in support of those deployed and those who serve on the home front," Idaho Gov. Butch Otter. "...They are our family members, employees, college students, teachers and neighbors."

The governor is commander-in-chief of the state's military forces, except when they are called into actual service of the United States.

"I have every confidence the brigade will represent our state well if our men and women are mobilized again," Otter said. "Idahoans should be aware, however, that any deployment will impact communities, businesses, families and individuals throughout our state."

The 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team’s primary wartime mission is to provide battlefield commanders with armored reconnaissance, tanks, heavy artillery, logistics support and personnel. Since the brigade returned from its 18-month mobilization for Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005, the soldiers have also focused on training for stability, support and security missions.

Buffalo, Camels and Bears - Oh My!

You all remember Daisey, our Goldendoodle. She's such a good dog and I love her personality. The only problem is that when her hair is long, it ends up in dreadlocks and can't really be groomed. So, when she goes to the beauty parlor, she comes home looking like a poodle. I don't like poodles...



So, I found these pictures of poodles that have been groomed to look like other animals and I love them!!!!





I'm leaning toward the buffalo, but that camel is darn cute too!

Today's The Day...

I've actually been thinking about this day since March, but really COUNTING the days since June. No, it's not my birthday, not our anniversary, nor Christmas or anything like that...

Today is the first BSU game of the season!!!! Now why, some of you might ask, are you SO FRIGGIN' EXCITED about the BSU games? Well, I've always loved our home team, but in this time of the bad economy and watching everyone I love including many friends and ourselves, struggling to survive day-to-day, this is a small, bright spot in an otherwise uncomfortable time.

So, tonight I'll be sitting in a recliner at my mom's house - probably just the two of us - hoping that the Broncos do well and add another moment of joy to this time of struggle.






GO BRONCOS!