We Got Trouble Folks, Right Here in River City! That's T-R-O-U-B-L-E!

I'm a small-town gal. I've never liked cities. That's the reason that I love Hidden Springs and the lifestyle that goes with living here.  I knew this was the place for me when I was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time, just a few months after moving here.  My neighbors, who I didn't really know at the time brought dinner to our house for the next 7 weeks.  Every night.  Everyone in town participated - how could you not love people who were willing to do that?  It was something I'll never forget.  And the people are still like that. 

I love the fact that Boise is just a few short, beautiful miles away, yet I have the small-town atmosphere of Hidden Springs. I hear coyotes instead of sirens at night.  I've always said that it's as close to living back in Garden Valley as I can get and still be close to town so that hubby can work. I love that Hidden Springs is so diverse. We have young people, retired people, Jews, Christians, Mormons, atheists, blacks, whites, Asians, lesbians, and hell, maybe even swingers living here - and we all get along!

Tonight, we have an "informational" meeting to ask questions of those who are running for Town Council. It's never been something I felt like I needed to get involved in because frankly, we have wonderful people who have always run and been elected that live here and want to be involved for the same reasons that make me love it. They love the Merc, knowing their neighbors, keeping the charm of the homes and streets, keeping the clubhouse, pools, common areas, farm, and community barn beautiful and functional, and making sure it stays a peaceful, beautiful place to live.

However, this year, we have "The Slate of 4." They're a scary group. About 2 weeks ago, they went door-to-door with fliers talking about their "platform" and all the changes they want to make to our little town and the Town Council. I've been laughing ever since. They're obviously all from big cities and had no idea the firestorm they were igniting by riling the neighbors - the Hidden Springs Facebook page (and personal email inboxes) have lit up! When they don't like the tone of the FB page they post comments about "slander, libel, and lies." They really should have done their homework on moving to a small community from a big city and how to get along with the folks that live there and love their community!

One thing they want to do (I know this is insignificant but I hate the thought of it) is make sure that our TC meetings are now done using "Roberts Rule of Order." Have you ever been to a meeting that follows Roberts Rule of Order"? ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. One of our Board of Directors insisted we follow that format for the Peace Officers' Memorial meetings a few years ago. There's even a book you're supposed to buy and read so you will know, and can follow, the proper format. I got mine free, but never even opened the cover. I hate it - and I make it obvious at our meetings that I ignore it. I won't call Rich Wills "Mr. Chairman." I won't, I won't, I won't!

So, the neighbors right here in River City have called each other out to attend the meeting tonight. The preschool is even open and has offered free child care so that everyone can go. The "Slate of 4" have no idea what they're in for. But, it's going to be SO MUCH FUN to watch them find out!

Garden Valley Bigfoot?

Right before Thanksgiving, my husband's "anonymous friend" emailed him some pictures.  They have a cabin at Terrace Lakes and he had gone up a small dirt road off the Middle Fork of the Payette to scout for deer.  He took these pictures and explained that the tracks had come off a ridge, onto the road and he had followed them for about a half a mile.

The prints were about 6 inches across - not huge, and the stride was about 4 feet.  Ok, maybe could have been a runner in those weird barefoot shoes, but why would they come off the mountain, go along the road for 1/2 a mile, then off the road and down into the brush?  He's sure he saw the tracks of a bigfoot.

I looked at the BFRO site and found several sightings in the same general area. You know how fascinated I am with Bigfoot.  What do you think?  Jaci, can't wait to hear your thoughts!

It Was a Wonderful Week...

We got our son back.  Even though we missed him a lot, the best part was knowing that his wife and kids got their husband and daddy back.  He came home the day before Thanksgiving and I feel like a hundred pounds have been lifted off my shoulders.  Being a mama is hard!

On another note, Jacki and Tim went to Seattle for the week and asked Adam to house sit.  Not a problem - except they adopted 2 golden retrievers last summer.  The male, Cooper, is a typical golden.  Happy all the time, loves everyone, and just grateful to be alive.  The female Ginger, however, is a different story.  A very sad story.  When Jacki and Tim got the 2 dogs, they had been together for several years and the owners didn't want to separate them.  The only problem was that when she was young, Ginger had been abused - obviously by a male.  She's terrified of everyone except Jacki and her family.

Adam had a terrible time getting Ginger to come in the house at night and it was too cold for her to stay outside.  The first several nights Adam managed to trick her into the house.  By the last 2 nights he couldn't get her to come in.  She was wise to his tricks.

So, Friday night about 8pm, Adam called me to say he couldn't get her inside.  He came home and I went to Jacki's.  I thought I could get her in because she's not as afraid of females as she is of males.  I tried for over an hour and 15 minutes to get her to come in.  I hid behind the door hoping I could slam it shut behind her if she snuck in.  I got canned dog food and let her lick it off my fingers.  I threw dog treats inside the door hoping she'd sneak in.  Nothing worked.

It was cold enough outside that I knew there was no way I was going to give up and let her sleep outside.  So, being a female and thinking outside the box, I went into the garage and got an extension cord.  I opened the back door, tied one end of the cord to the doorknob and draped it across the doorway over the couch.  I put canned dog food in her bowl and put it far enough inside that she had to actually come in to snatch a bite.  I then sat on the couch with the other end of the cord in my hand and pretended like I was watching tv and didn't pay any attention to her.  After another 15 minutes, I saw her out of the corner of my eye as she snuck through the door.  BAM!  I pulled the cord and slammed the door.  Success!

I had to do the same thing last night.  It's a good thing the kids are coming home tonight, I think she was on to me after the second time.  So it was a great and interesting week.  Hope yours was too, and that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family.

2012 Dutch Oven Clinic and Hillbilly Gatherin'...

Well, the opportunity was just too good to pass up.  Our friends Butch (Cee Dub) and his wife Penny will be in town in April and May and asked me to reserve the Hidden Springs Barn for them to do a couple of 2-day Dutch Oven cooking clinics.  My brain started going and so I called Butch this morning and first, told them happy Thanksgiving, then asked if I could encroach on one of their Saturday nights to hold the Hillbilly Gatherin'. 

We'll be raising money for Wish Granters - they grant wishes to local area adults who are terminally ill.  Doug was my old boss at Wishing Star and started this organization just last year.  Being a fledgling non-profit, they really need a boost and we're going to give it to them.  Penny is also a breast cancer survivor and thought this was a great opportunity for she and Butch as well.

This year though, I'm going to try to find help.  If I'm going to do an event to raise money, I want to make sure I raise lots of money.  I'm going to put together some "committees."  Reallly, you can never have too many committees can you?

So, save the date - Saturday night April 14th.  And, if you'd like to sign up for one of Cee Dub's clinics, go here and then click on appearances and clinics.  Down at the bottom of the page are the dates for the Hidden Springs clinics. (Be sure to take a long look at those rolls on his home page - can't you just smell them!)  

YUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

Fractals...

I used to love to do cross stitch and I might add, I was pretty darn good.  At the time, I was doing mostly Victorian style angels.  I'm ready to try my hand again, but couldn't stomach doing an angel so I started looking for something different and found "fractals."  They're done with mathematical equations from what I understand and some require up to 122 colors.  The only thing easy about them is that there are no 1/2 stitches.  If you click on the picture you can see them better.  Here's a few I'm loving...

 But, I think this is the one I'm going to do.  I love how it looks like feathers.  This one has 99 colors.  The only thing I hate is the thought of doing this on black.  It's almost impossible to see the holes on black.  I may pick another color...



I'm Such a Proud Mama...

My beautiful granddaughter Hannah, is turning 1.  In lieu of the typical first birthday party, my daughter has decided that Hannah is so fortunate to have a home, a loving family, clothes, toys, and food to eat, that her first birthday will be in honor of City Light Home for Women and Children.  It's a wonderful program for our city's most vulnerable citizens - homeless women and their children.

I'm really excited!  I've bought some socks, hats and gloves, toys and a few other things for the kids.  I'm going through my pantry today to pick out some food to take and will soon hit my closet to see if there may be a few things in there that I can take (I know how laughable this thought is to some of you!).  I'm also going to see if my boss will let me set a cash donation box up at the Merc to help out.

What a great way to spend a day, and what a great feeling everyone will have for having done something good for those who need a hand up in these hard times.  Thanks Jack, for doing something so wonderful to help so many.  You always make me proud.

Happy first birthday Hannah Dee!

OK, Enough of This...

I love my daughter.  She's always got my back and knows me better than anyone except my mom.  I got a call from her this morning basically telling me that I haven't been myself lately and reminding me that we really have great lives.  Whenever I find myself worrying about things, I always try to tell myself that there are so many people out there who are so much worse off than I am.  However, I've had a dark cloud following me the last several months but didn't realize how bad it was until my daughter's call this morning.

I started rattling off things I'd been thinking about (I evidently needed to get it off my chest!):

Wanting so badly to sell our house but not being able to
Wondering if we were going to need to move all the kids up the the property into a commune because of the horrible economy.
Not being able to come up with a good plan for a much-needed family get-together.
Not having Jake home.
blah, blah, blah

Then she reminded me of what I always say. "Life is good."

It was a gentle butt-kicking I needed.  Life really is good you know, and here's what I have to be so grateful for and will now focus on:

A husband who loves me - even though we're much like Al and Peg Bundy!
A family I can always trust and talk to.
3 wonderful kids who have turned out to be more than I could ever have hoped for - despite some of the things I've done.
A daughter-in-law and son-in-law that I love and feel so lucky to have. You're extremely fortunate if your children marry someone who loves them (almost) as much as you do.  Thank you Heather and Tim for loving my kids.
Jake will be home - where he belongs - soon.
A mother who is so special to me (and everyone in our family) that I can't imagine not having her as my best buddy.
A beautiful home.
A beautiful piece of property that we'll someday live on.
A few friends that I think the world of and would do anything for and I know would do anything for me. (I'm basically quite anti-social - not that I choose that, but because I'm just not the life of the party like my sisters are so people have a hard time getting close to me).  Jaci, Denise, Casey - I love you!
5 WONDERFUL grandkids that I think love me almost as much as I love them - and it's the best feeling in the world.

So, thanks Jacki, for giving me the lift I needed and the gentle butt-kicking to remind myself of how wonderful my life really is.  You are my sunshine...

About the Death Penalty...

In just a few days, November 18th, Paul Ezra Rhoades is scheduled to die out at the Idaho Penitentiary.  As his death watch has gotten closer, he has decided to challenge Idaho's method of death as "inhumane."

Pffffffffffffftttt.

As I hear that, I can't help but think of the wonderful people in my life that I've watched die of cancer.  An old friend from Fish and Game who died from brain cancer.  It was a horrible death.  I had gone to see him once a week, every week when he was placed in a nursing home - something that was hard to see.  He was all man, a man's man.  A good Game Warden who loved his job.  I had seen him just the day before he died.  He had nothing left.  I'm sure if someone had offered him a lethal injection several months before he finally died, he would have gladly accepted it. 

The man Ival was named after.  He lived with us the last year of his life.  Thankfully, he didn't suffer like Don did, but I'm sure that he too, would have welcomed the opportunity to "just go to sleep" instead of the last few days he suffered.

And my old boss at Fish and Game.  She was so sick for so long. 

Paul Ezra Rhoades should be grateful he's getting a lethal injection instead of dying the way he killed the teacher in 1987 and the convenience store clerk in 1988.  Be grateful Mr. Rhoades, it could certainly be worse.