Weathering Wyoming

Fall Brown Trout Fishing

2010-10-16T18:33:00.002-06:00

Well the fall weather here has been unbelieveable. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get out on the rivers to enjoy it as my weekends have been busy. Well this weekend, I finally decided to go out. However my plans were almost scuttled as my wife has come down with a cold and called in sick to her work today.

After having several conversations with her, i made sure it was ok for me to head out and go fishing. To make it more agreeable, we agreed that I needed to fish somewhere that I still had cell phone coverage. So I hit up the North Popo Agie river again. The brown trout spawn is on, and the fish were not nearly as popular as the last time I hit this stream. I was treated with a beautiful brown working his way up a run through, with a full body out of water jump. Was a site to see the big guy.

It was significantly cooler today (about 10 degrees) and mostly cloudy. I worked my way upstream again this time around. Around noon or so, a BWO hatch started coming off. And by 12:15 fish were rising. I had my fly from the August swap, an Elk Hair Caddis with antron underwing and micro tube ribbing in chartreuse on with a BWO trailing it. Oddly enough, this brown below hit the Elk Hair Caddis and not the BWO. Go figure!! After I hooked him, I quickly got him to the reel, and brought him into net. Before netting him, he managed to make 3 runs on me, which was quite fun. He had good shoulders on him.

After a couple of pictures to admire him, he was released back into the river to fight another day. This was the only fish to find my flies today. There were more in a few spots, but I just had trouble getting the right presentation to them. Not sure how many more opportunities I'll have to get outside this year, but hopefully at least one more!

Cya Next time,
Paul

Labor Day Camping Trip 2010

2010-09-06T18:43:00.000-06:00

For the second year in a row I went camping into the mountains over the Labor Day weekend. This year I took my trusty companion...

For Saturday, we took the boat out and had some luck with standard tackle, but I was unable to entice any fish with my fly rod. Then my boat motor decided to start acting up, and I couldn't get it started the rest of the weekend. So unfortunately, we were out of the boat by noon that morning as the wind was picking up above and beyond what the trolling motor can safely handle.

Later that evening, we did some shore fishing and managed to catch another 3 fish using standard tackle. The fish in the lake just love the wind!!

On Sunday, with the boat out of the commission, I decided to hike into the back country and fish around the Roaring Fork Creek area.

Here is a picture of the lake...

Additionally, since my wife hasn't been able to make this hike yet, I took a picture of the Cirque towers off in the distance.

From there, the dog and I made progress along the creek to find some fishing. Earlier this year there were reports of excellent grayling fishing at the lake. I didn't try the lake, as it just was so windy out in the open.

Eventually during our hike and fishing a few riffles, we came across this massive log jam.

From the pool in front of this jam, I pulled out a couple of brookies.

Eventually we continued on downstream until we made our way to my honey hole from last year. The creek treated it well... Several fish can be seen in this photo of the hole.

This hole has a unique situation that requires you to be sitting down to effectively cast in it. You can use roll casts or side arm casts, but that's it. Trees are all around. Any time the sun was covered the fish would readily move into the feeding lanes. When it came out, some of them would go into the rocks.

This first guy I caught, was actually caught while I was still pulling line out of the fly rod. I dipped it into a slack area over a deeper area thinking that no fish would approach it. Welll, I was wrong! Next thing I know I pulled out this little guy.

I continued to fish the hole, pulling out one fish after another, just working my way through them. Eventually I hooked this little guy who decided that my fly looked like a caddis moth surfacing and jumped clean out of the water to snag my fly.

Certainly not the biggest guy out there, but certainly one of my most memorable takes.

Overall for the day, roughly 10 fish brought to hand during my hike. Over the entire weekend about 20 fish brought to hand, and a half dozen LDR's.

Best of all, I found that our dog, Clouie handles the boat well, and loves to hike with me into the countryside. I'm sure she spooked a few fish as she snagged a drink in the water or approached the shoreline. (She gets very curious about rise forms from the fish).

The trip was a great weekend.

Cya,
Paul

Fishing the Little Popo Agie River

2010-08-30T15:08:00.000-06:00

This morning I headed up into the mountains to do some serious fly fishing on some areas that I am familiar with. While I haven't fished the Little Popo before, I've fished its cousin the Middle, and several other streams in the area.

Today, I decided was the day that I am going to fish only my flies until I catch something with a fly I have tied myself. Well it paid off. Fishing for about 5 minutes, I caught my first fish of the day on an Elk Hair Caddis.

I clipped off the fly to save as a memory, and tied on another fly of my own, a Light Cahil. A short time later, I caught a small brookie no bigger than my hand. As the day went on, all brookies were very small.

After a while some weather moved in, bringing thunder and lightning with it. So I went back to the truck for about 45 minutes.

Finally I came across a fly that I believe bdesavage created in one of the monthly swaps. It has antron for a face forward wing, and a furled off hook tail with some hackle as well. The fish loved it for a while on the surface. I let the slime stay on it, and it soon became a sinking fly. That seemed to work just as well. I would cast it into the lane, and let it slowly sink. If the fish ignored it, I'd give it a quick strip to get the fish to notice it. If they noticed it, I'd give it a couple of small strips to keep them enticed, then all I had to do was hang on when they'd take the fly.

Overall, a total of 6 rainbows, and 2 brook trout were brought to hand. I saw several larger fish resting on the bottom. I plan on going back with some streamers in the near future.

Cya,
Paul

Welcome to 2010!

2010-01-01T16:15:00.000-07:00

Here we are, New Year's Day. I hadn't really meant to go this long without posting, but sometimes I still forget that I have a blog...and am in serious doubt that anyone actually reads it (except those people who browse through it once it posts on my Facebook profile). It's a good year so far...I slept in until 930, which I know doesn't sound all that impressive, but given over the last 10 days I've had off, I haven't slept past 830, I'll take the extra hour. Ah, a glorious 10 days off. Give or take...might be a little more. I finished up my shifts with a night shift the Tuesday before Christmas and have barely thought about the place since then. Well, alright, I've thought about it, mainly because I have to get myself readjusted to night shifts since I'm back on them tomorrow night...and I've barely been able to make it past 10pm without at least dozing off on the couch. I made it until 1230 or so last night, so thought should help the official prep night tonight.

And it's Bowl Day! We're currently watching the Buckeyes take on the Ducks...and obviously hoping for a Buckeye win! It'd make for a great start to the year for Paul...which consequently means a great start for me! Christmas was great, my parents were here to visit, and Paul also had the last 10ish days off. It's been great to have this time off with him over the holidays.

So what of 2009? I mentioned in a previous post that I would rehash it. But, I'm not feeling like it today. I had a lot of changes, and hope that I grew better as a person. Highlights - learning how to fish and going camping with my husband, being selected for the leadership program, starting to volunteer, reading some excellent books, and I think growing closer to my husband and family. The down spots? Eh, why rehash those... they're in the past now and I'm dang happy to leave them there.

So what of 2010? By the way... it's Twenty-Ten to me...though I forget myself sometimes and say Two Thousand Ten in weak moments. It's going to be a great year, I just know it. Career-wise? Who knows what will happen. I know I'm hoping to become a stronger meteorologist and get more into the meat of my science. I'm hoping to continue leadership activities and really hope to help others in my office who are ready to stretch the leadership muscles. In my personal life? You know, as long as my husband and family continue to love me, I will feel like a success. I'd love to keep a cleaner house, and maybe actually keep up with laundry so I can avoid the "marathon" days. Of course, I want to continue volunteering. It's kind of relaxed the last couple months...moreso with the shelter than with the food bank. I love doing both activities, but it's harder to convince myself to walk dogs when it's in single digits and/or blowing snow. I wouldn't mind working on the old art of true letter writing. I have some friends that are not on facebook or email (*gasp*) and I miss contact with them. Better yet, I have friends who utilize both those means, but still don't talk to a lot, or at least not as many meaningful conversations of times past. So there you go... my resolutions are to be tidier (don't hold me to that one!!) and a letter writer....and to be a better scientist. Kind of generic resolutions/goals...but I feel alright with them.

Alright, I think that should about sum up my first blog entry of the new year and decade. Congratulations to all of us for making it here...and I raise a glass in toast that we'll all remain healthy, happy, and content for the next year, or ten, or 70. :) Happy Twenty-Ten!!

Happy Halloween!!

2009-10-30T21:19:00.002-06:00

One of my favorite holidays is here. I don't know why. I think it's mainly because it's a fall holiday, the first after my birthday, and was always so enjoyable when I was growing up. Deciding what my alter ego would be for that one night, it allowed me to slip into another imaginary life.....even if it was just to snag some candy. Now, I don't want anyone to misread that last statement. I had a wonderful childhood full of love and encouragement. But I always had an overactive imagination, so a chance for me to utilize that was always welcome. :) Tomorrow is Trick-or-Treat here in Riverton. I'm looking forward to seeing the costumes this year to see what the latest fad is with the youth. Tomorrow is also the tradition of watching as many Simpsons Halloween episodes as I can get through before either getting bored, or falling asleep.

For now, I'm watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I'm about halfway through it as I type this. It's interesting...a little somber for the night...but I had a feeling it would be. So I knew what I was getting into. There's pearls of wisdom throughout the movie...quick quotes that make me think about happenings over the last few years and just say "hmph." But that's a sidenote.

Things around here have been going well for Paul and me. The beginning of October brought our Women in Science Conference. It was a wonderful event. We get new ideas every year and I'm a little excited about a couple of the ones we've talked about. Of course, there's plenty of steps between here and there. First up is to continue working on gaining our non-profit status. We're making a little progress on it. A lawyer is looking over revised Articles of Incorporation...hopefully we can get those mailed off to the state soon...and then we're pretty close to being ready to send in the big application to the IRS. Updates will be made on that whole ordeal over the next year or so.

What else has been going on...not a whole lot. Work is going very well for both of us. Wyoming is as gorgeous as it always is. I helped with an event called Paws for Pearls, it was an auction to benefit the animal shelter. It was an amazing night...the board did an incredible job putting it together, I was pleased to be a part of it. And of course, many of my Facebook friends already know...but Paul and I went to see Cesar Millan in Jackson, WY over my birthday weekend. His presentation was incredible...and Paul and I spent a good amount of time helping the Jackson economy. :) The Tetons were outstanding...I think I got some decent pics of them. We did actually meet Cesar. We got tickets that allowed us to arrive early and he came as a part of that. He actually told me he was glad I was short because of how tall everyone else was. I take that as a high compliment coming from him. :) The presentation he did was so funny...I remember bits of it every now and again and it still makes me chuckle.

Anyhow...my ice cream is melting so it's time for me to sign off here. Take care.

Fall's Beginnings

2009-09-12T16:42:00.004-06:00

Here we are, early September already. This year has just sailed by, and it has felt like a huge roller coaster. But, why am I summarizing already?? It's not December! We still have the most fun part of the year yet to come! So bring it on, I'm ready! And I'm tired. It's a great kind of tired though, one I haven't felt since....well....have I ever felt tired like this before? Maybe when I was younger and had dedications to clubs/teams/etc. What a difference a few months can make. Prior to June, I was a bump on a log. I wished I could do more, but never saw the greater reason why I should do more. Would it really matter? And my classic excuse...I rotate shifts, my sleep is always messed up and I'm usually recuperating from my last string of whatevers...I need to sleep when I'm not at work. The excuses are over. Now I'm finding as much, if not more reward in doing outside of the office things as I imagined. I am easily influenced...both for the good, and probably the bad. I'm working hard to gear it more towards the good...and hope to be doing alright. I like to think of it more as I'm easily inspired. :) Books, movies, brief conversations, etc can set wheels in motion for me to do something.   Our Women in Science conference is just around the corner! What an honor it has been again to work with this group of people on the board and committee for our fifth event. We continue to work on our Non-Profit status...phew, quite a bit of work goes into that. I was expecting it to take a lot of work though. It will be worth it once it's over, I have no doubt. I'm so excited for this year's event, I think it will be outstanding. We had a bit of a slow start this year, but as is always the case...everything is falling into place. We finally have our keynote, our break-out speakers are responding with gusto, booths are well staffed. The last thing? Volunteers...always with the volunteers! We're working on it, and I'm sure it too will work out just fine. And if not? We'll work it out! Why not be optimistic?   I'm looking forward to the next board meeting for the animal shelter. I am almost positive I would love to be a part of this board. Of course, they have the final say on all those matters, so we'll see what they decide. They have a big event coming up a couple weeks after Women in Science...so October promises to be busy, busy, busy. But it always is! My Mom arrives on the 1st (which is also our anniversary)...she's staying until the morning of the 4th. Women in Science is the 2nd. My birthday is the 8th. The 10th is Cesar Millan's visit to Wyoming! The Wine Tasting event for Paws is on the 17th. Sister-in-law's birthday is the 18th, nephew's is the 21st. We might have plans for Halloween weekend but not sure quite yet. I feel like I'm missing some items, but you get the idea. I love October...it makes me feel alive, and the early events of the month leave me incredibly motivated.

Last week, a coworker and I went down to a food bank in Lander. Our office has made a conscious decision/hope to do more for our communities, and the food bank was one effort we elected to participate in. It was quite an experience. We were in the "back room" for the couple hours we were there. Helping to organize boxes of assorted food for families, and making sure the stock was sufficient to create those boxes. Their overall food stock was impressive considering the size of the operation. And they made sure to include a fairly balanced selection of food...making sure to go heavy on the protein and fruit/veggies. I was impressed...I hope my coworker was as well.The food bank gave us a dedicated slot on Wednesdays so that one (or two) of us could head down there. Between now and New Year's Eve, we have the majority of the weeks filled. Hopefully the remaining weeks will get filled.

The time at the animal shelter continues as well. This past week with as much work as I was doing for Women in Science and the food bank, it got cut very short. I don't think I actually went this week at all. I always feel badly when that happens, but whenever I talk to the manager, she says she understands and is fine with whatever time I get there.

I don't know why, but for some reason I am having so much fun right now. Maybe it's a honeymoon-kinda thing with trying to do more. Don't get me wrong, I have days when I'm wiped out and long for more sleep and time to be a bump on the couch again. Regardless to those times, I'm generally happy.   Paul is doing very well also. He's ramped up for another school year, though sad to see the opportunities for more outdoor activities fade with the changing of the seasons. But, thrilled with football season starting, and the awareness that hockey is just around the corner. We're pretty happy with life right now. Things could always improve...but isn't that always the case? Ok people...time for me to bail...almost time for work! I hope you all are doing well. Later!

As It Turns Out...

2009-08-16T21:10:00.002-06:00

Katy Loves Fishing! Now, I never would have guessed that. Prior to July '09, I maybe went fishing 2 or 3 times (at most). Paul had me try it when we went camping in the Wind River Mtns in July. Over that weekend, I caught 3 trout (he caught none...shhh). Brook Trout, Brown Trout, and we believe a hybrid West Yellowstone Cutthroat/Brook. It was a grand time. It took until the 2nd one before I was willing to actually touch the things...and Paul had to remove the hooks from them. We caught and released, it was a lot of fun. I was (pardon the pun) hooked after that. We went fishing the following weekend at Frye lake and I caught 1.95 (got the 2nd one into land but it slipped off before anyone with a net reached me) more, can't remember what they were...and a chunk of tree. I lost my "lucky" lure that day...but so goes life. I have my own pole, tackle box, vest and net now. :) Oh! And I really liked camping. We "roughed" it (no showers or drinkable running water). That was my 3rdish time camping outside of cabins with Girl Scouts years in my past. The other times were with a friend in middle school where we left halfway through the night because of a wretched storm, and the other time with with the Branham's when we were in High School during a holiday weekend. I only stayed one night with them, got there in the evening and left in the morning...so it's really hard to count either of those trips. Clouie came with us when we went camping in the Winds. She had a nice time, though she was fighting a skin infection while we were there which we didn't know about until the last morning. Paul said he'd noticed her belly was pink before we left...but it was red by Sunday morning. Poor little monster. No worries...she's fine. We're hoping to go camping one more time this summer before there's too much snow in the mtns, but we're fast running out of time. We'll see what happens.

Let's see...other than that...we've crammed as much summer fun into the 6 or so weekends I've had off this summer as possible. We visited Devil's Tower, my favorite place, in early July. Great time. It's been years since we've been to the monument and it's still as breathtaking as I remembered it. The next weekend was the camping trip. Then Paul's family came to visit us the 2 weeks after we went camping. Their visit was really great. PaPa came with them, and even our nephew Matthew was in attendance for the first week they were visiting. His dad (our brother-in-law) came up to get him, so at one point, we had 5 additional people in our 1800 sqft house. It was a bit crowded that weekend, but truly outstanding. Paul's folks went to Salt Lake City during the early portion of their second week visiting us, so Paul and I had some nights with just PaPa. Or at least Paul did...I started evening shifts the second evening...but I did have all the day and afternoon hours with PaPa. After their departure, it was time for our trip to Yellowstone. We went for 5 days or so and it was a lot of fun. We saw a lot of critters, and did a good amount of fishing. Paul caught a small brown trout on his fly-rod. I had a nibble with my "fly on a bubble" but that was about it. Can't win 'em all. We did an easy-ranked hike while we were there to the Fairy Falls. They were really nice. We did the hike earlier in the morning, which was good because the trail-head was CROWDED by the time we got back to the truck. So what all animals did we see? We saw three black bears, two grizzlies, four antelope (at least), a bunch of bison and elk, a bald and golden eagle, a bunch of jumping trout, and two wolves. It was our first time seeing any of the wolves in the park. Paul was thrilled since he's always wanted to see the wolves. If only we'd seen a porcupine and moose...maybe next time. Amazingly, with all the elk we saw, we didn't see any bulls. We found it a bit peculiar after previous visits to the park, but we suppose that happens sometimes...depends on how their winter went.

So, lots and lots of trips and traveling this summer. It's felt nice to be home the past week, but I am about ready to take my way own trip back into the Winds to do some more fishing. But, I'm not in a hurry. If a lure gets caught on something when I'm solo...I'm S-O-L since I don't have waders. Plus, I've never unhooked my own fish...so that could be interesting if I'm alone. Chances are, I'll wait until Paul can go with me in a couple Sundays.

What else, what else. I'm sure I'm missing things. I have been volunteering at our animal shelter which has been an adventure all of its own. There have been some great pups, and chances are low that I'll go through a breeder again to get a pup. Not that I have any regrets on getting Clouie that way...she's such an awesome and bad beagle. Love her to pieces. It's been a great summer. I'm sad to see it ending already. We had some snow in the Winds yesterday, it was fun to see them snow-capped when the clouds lifted yesterday afternoon.

The fall will be busy as it always is. Will write more later. Take care all!

Feels good to be home...

2009-06-14T21:43:00.003-06:00

It always feels good to come home again. Especially after being gone for around 10 days, and 6 of those days were "for work." We left in early June to go to our niece's graduation in Texas. She graduated at 4pm (central), and due to work constraints, we couldn't take a flight out until 6a (mountain) of that day. Graduation went well, it always makes you proud to see someone accomplish that in their lifetime. Paul stayed through the weekend and came back on Monday.

I meanwhile, left Sunday morning (after being in Dallas for around 25 hours) for the LEAD experience. After the months of planning and preparing, the week has come and gone. The experience was incredible. I made 14 new friends, and was pleased to get to know some of the facilitators better through the week. I have to admit that I feel pretty inspired to do some good work around town and the office after going through that experience. Last' year's class labeled it as "life-changing" when they went. Whether that is/will be true for me remains to be seen. Ask me again in at least a year, then feel free to ask me again in increments of 5 years. I believe I learned about elements of myself I wanted to change which may have a positive impact in those around me. I look forward to getting back to the office to see what can be done.

Paul met me in Denver on Friday evening after the experience, and we spent the weekend in the Denver/Fort Collins area. It was a great weekend and I was incredibly happy to see my husband and puppy (he brought Clouie with him for a multitude of reasons...number one being that I missed the pup!) when he got into town. We went to Bass Pro Shops on Saturday morning and made our way up to Fort Collins. Turns out that Fort Collins is a very dog friendly location, so finding a hotel that let us have Clouie was not an issue, and we were actually able to stay our our favorite place. After watching the Mets game and taking a nap, we took the pup out to some pet stores so she could walk around, and then hit up a local sports grill for dinner. A dog park was right around the corner from us, but we never got a chance to take the pup there. Today we got up and went to IHOP for breakfast. They had their strawberry festival going on, and I tried their strawberry pancakes. Incredible. After breakfast, we went to a fly fishing shop for Paul, and then to Target for me. We left soon afterwards and got back a while ago.

It was a great weekend after a wonderful week. I feel very well rested and ready to get back to work. I can't wait to see what the next year brings with LEAD and am hoping for a lot of positive advancement in both my personal and professional life. Take care all.

10 of 11 Over!!

2009-05-15T20:06:00.002-06:00

So when you rotate and have a short break in between strings of shifts...more often you end up referring to it as blah out of blah. Last week I worked 5 shifts (Tues-Sat), had Sunday off, and then worked Mon-Fri....so yup...my 10 out of 11 is over! I would say it was bad, but that would be a lie. Usually, during these stretches when I have a very short break (<= 1 day) it honestly feels like 10 of 11. But I had such a great day off. I was able to not think about work at all, and I was outside the whole day... it was fabulous. For those few who work with me (who read this) and know the sagas of last Friday (regardless of apologies the next day) know that having that day off was incredibly important. The last five days were fine. I was given permission by the powers that be to switch shift duties with one of our interns so he could work on the short term forecast and I would be on aviation. It's great experience for him and (hopefully) will eventually lead to him becoming a forecaster. Regardless... my 10 of 11 is over...the sagas and dramas are over (for now)...and I'm on to enjoy a 3.5 day weekend (which means I start evening shifts on Tuesday night). It's really like a whole other language when you rotate.

Friday evening has been great so far...Paul and I took the beagle for a walk, then went out to run some errands. We came back and an HD version of the Piedmont concert for Dave Matthews Band is on the music channel. It's as close to a concert of theirs as I'm getting to for a while, so I'm livin' it up. They'll be down in Denver the weekend of June 5th I think, but that's the weekend of our niece's graduation and my LEAD event...so no go. And trust me, I'd rather go to the graduation and the LEAD training than go to a DMB concert any day! :)

So only around 3 weeks until the LEAD conference. I'm really excited about it. I'm not so excited about the flights, but that's alright. It'll be worth it I'm sure. Plus, I don't think either of the flights are very long, which is a plus for me. We finally got the flights arranged through the government for my flights to Louisville. I have to change a portion of one of them so I can go to the niece's graduation...but it'll be worth it. That's in the plans for next week.

Anyhow, we're catching up on DVR shows are an awesome dinner of grilled hamburgers (Paul is still the king of the grill!!) and fresh fruit salad. Yum! Have a great weekend anyone who's reading this!

New Boat almost ready for maiden (to me) voyage

2009-05-06T10:26:00.003-06:00

Well I spent part of Sunday afternoon working on the boat. I redid the wiring for the fish finder, filled the boat motor with gasoline and got it going on 3 pulls! Dad's excellent maintenance made sure of this, even though it had been sitting in the garage unused for 8+ years.

For those of you curious, the boat is an aluminum 12' Open fishing boat. The motor is a 4.5Hp Evinrude. Both the motor and the boat are from 1980. That's right... 29 years old. The boat is in excellent shape as it's never been on anything but gentle mud! Heh

At this point, I'm waiting on the G&F department to get me the boat registration information. Additionally, I'm waiting on my permanent trailer tags. In either case, I am good on my situation until mid-May if I choose to take the boat out.

Additionally, it looks like this summer I will finally pick up fly fishing. One of Katy's co-workers showed me the ropes and I'm currently waiting on the last of my gear so that I can start fishing. As of right now, I'm hoping to spend Memorial weekend fishing in several different ways, by boat & fly fishing!

Ohio Vacation & Updates

2009-04-26T15:02:00.003-06:00

After being home for a week, I figured it was about time to go ahead and update the blog. About a week or so after our last post, Paul and I went on the road for a trip to Ohio. We drove this time. Paul's parents gave him their 12' Boat (ask him if you want more details) so we took the Silverado to pick it up. The nice thing is the ability to avoid airport chaos...and more importantly, it allowed us to take Clouie with us! She did very well on the drive. On the way to Ohio we were fairly good about using her harness which kept her more in the back seat. But we would unhook her for a couple hours at a time so she could curl up in the passenger's lap and/or look out the front window to find "big dogs" (aka cows, horses, etc). She was even really good in the hotels, which was a great improvement over the last time we took her anywhere. I give part of the credit to reading up on the Dog Whisperer site on how to introduce her to a hotel room. We made sure to enter the room first, and didn't make a big deal out of anything. She sniffed around a bit, but seemed more content to cuddle up on the extra bed, chew a rawhide, and relax. As is always the case, she got little more upset when Paul left the room, but I usually got her to relax but just having her lay back down on the bed (no coddling like normal).

Ohio was a great time as always. We pulled into Paul's parents house Saturday evening, and had mine come over for some grilled food. After being in a car for 2.5 days, Paul and I didn't feel like going out to a restaurant. The steaks and such were great, and of course we loved seeing our parents! It was nice to be in town for Easter Sunday, though again - Paul and I could convince ourselves to get out of bed to go to a church service. We were still on mountain time, and 8am eastern time for church just didn't happen for us. I feel bad about that, but not much to do about it now. Easter dinner and such at my folk's house was great...especially since my sister's crew came over. It feels like it's been forever since I've seen my nieces...they have grown like weeds. Paul worked on the boat Monday & Tuesday and I believe him and his Dad finished it up Wednesday morning. I had a lunch date with my Dad at our favorite place...Carsonies...a small italian place that he only goes to when I'm in town (or so he claims). Tuesday I had a small procedure done, so I rested much of the morning. But I did go out to Bob Evan's with my folks for a late breakfast (early lunch for me... can't get enough of their Turkey Bacon Melts!). I felt better by the afternoon, so Paul and I and some of our family members went out shopping. We bought a good amount of stuff. Wednesday was my niece's 2nd birthday party...she was adorable. Thursday we went out to dinner with some high school friends that we haven't seen in years. Friday we left to come back here. We pulled back into Riverton Sunday afternoon. We were hoping to get back Saturday night, but the roads weren't cooperating, and we had a little trouble with the boat once we crossed into Wyoming. Sunday morning I woke up with a little bug, but thankfully its symptoms ceased after the early morning hours, so the 5 hour drive back to Riverton wasn't too bad.

We brought back a ton of stuff since we had the truck. Included in this list are my alto and soprano saxophones, and a bunch of yearbooks and such. So next on my list is to get some reeds and gear for those to play with them a bit. I've barely touched the instruments since high school...so it'll take me a bit to remember things.

I continue to work on my books and such for LEAD in June. I'm a little over halfway through the Courage book. It's interesting and has a lot of good information. I might flip through it again before June. I've read it in chunks and I think I would get more out of it if I were to read it through more solidly like I did The Servant. But for now, I just want to get through it once.

So baseball season is back upon us...my favorite sport. My Mets have been holding their own...though they haven't demonstrated the "force to be reckoned with" attitude that the projections were trying to bestow upon them pre-season. I blame the Sports Illustrated curse...I wish they wouldn't have published that they thought the Mets would go really far this year. They're 8 and 10 as of this note, having dropped a game to the Nationals (who were 3 and 13 coming into the game) this afternoon. We still need some adjustments to our starting pitchers (the relievers seem to be performing fairly well) and it would be really nice to see some run support when Johan takes the ball. And of course there's the Murphy, Church, Sheffield fiasco which I won't go into here.

Overall Paul and I are doing well. Work goes well...play time goes well...animals are well and happy... and as much as we miss our families already, it's nice to be home. We hope everyone is doing well. Paul's R/C stuff starts up soon...so expect more posts to his R/C blog as the weeks go on. It's linked on the right side somewhere. :) We hope things go well for you too. Take care, folks!

Not too much to report...

2009-04-02T11:05:00.002-06:00

Well, there's not a whole lot going on with us these days. I just got done with a string of 7 evening shifts, and am now in the middle of a 3-day, much needed break. It was a fairly stressful string due to winter storms. There were a couple instances where it all worked out where we wanted, but there were, and continue to be, a few places that we struggle with. This time of year is rough for forecasting sometimes. I know it frustrates a lot of our public, but rest assured that we actually are doing the best job we can. :)

I did just finish a book for my LEAD class this morning. I started it last evening when I went to Paul's flying event at the middle school. After 7 evening shifts, there was no way I was going to hang out alone in the house. Let me just say how impressed I was/am with that book. It gave me a lot to think about. I keep hoping this is reflective of the type of course I'm going to in June. I continue to look forward to that event. I'm nervous about it, but excited. Anyhow, the book was The Servant...and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something to read that is leadership-oriented.

Let's see... on the lighter side of things, I activated my Twitter account the other night. I find it interesting, and amusing at the number of celebrity's that are actively utilizing the program. And animals! Including ours. Yep...yesterday I set up an account for our beagle Clouie... she can be found @clouiethebeagle ... today I set her up so she's following some other dogs. It just amuses the heck out of me.

I'm sure Paul has some more updates, but I'll let him post his thoughts. Between work and sleep, there's not much interesting for me to talk about...outside of that book. Anyhow, I should go get ready and get some lunch made for Paul and I. Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, and Cheese sandwiches...can't wait!!!

Katy's Mom Visits

2009-03-21T16:05:00.002-06:00

Hooray for family visits! My Mom arrived on Wednesday evening, thankfully with smooth flights. Paul and I were concerned for a bit because we looked up the wrong flight and saw it had been delayed to the point that she would have been running between gates in Denver (and anyone who's flown to a smaller city and knows what it's like to go from the B terminal to the A terminal (the outdoor gates) and what a hassle that can be!). But as I alluded to, we were looking at the wrong flight and her connection was time-filled so that she was able to get dinner at Jimmy's Bistro in the Denver airport. That place has very good food, I've enjoyed it whenever the chance has been had to eat there.

Unfortunately I had to work 2 of the 3.5 days of her visit. But, Paul was able to take off Thursday afternoon, and had Friday off for Spring Break. So, they had plenty of quality visit time. On Thursday, they went out to lunch and to a couple small stores. Mom went with me to my book-club meeting that night where we discussed Three Cups of Tea. It was great having her there, I really enjoy going to book-club. Friday it sounds like Paul and Mom had a fairly busy day. They went shopping for a friend's birthday gift, and then down to Lander to get a new fish for the aquarium. In the evening was the birthday party for our now 21 year old friend, which consisted of dinner at The Depot (Mexican) and then cake and present opening at their house. Saturday has been more shopping and just general relaxing. It's been great having her here, and we'll be bummed to see her go tomorrow afternoon (though I'm sure my Dad will be glad to have her back). Tonight we're planning on going to The Bull Steakhouse, and then Mom and I are going to have chick-flick night while Paul goes racing. We're going to watch The Miracle Worker, which I have to watch for my LEAD program and she wants to see again... and Nights in Rodanthe hopefully. At least Miracle Worker, and Nights in Rodanthe may not happen until Sunday morning, but we'll see what happens.

The furry kids have loved having my Mom around...Clouie even chose her to snuggle with one night...which I have to admit was kind of nice to have the bed dog-free for one night. Anyhow, that's the news around here. Nothing overly new for me at work. I got a package in the mail for the LEAD program which had copies of The Miracle Worker movie, and two books - Courage, and The Servant...all of which I need to have read/watched by my arrival to Louisville in June. Shouldn't be a problem.

Hope all is well elsewhere. Take care!!

Katy's Good News

2009-03-12T19:00:00.004-06:00

I tend to keep quiet when I apply for anything regarding work. Be it a position at a new office, promotion at my current office, or a selective program. In late January, I completed my application to the Leadership Excellence and Development (LEAD) program. It is a selective program to enhance/develop leadership skills for people in the Central Region in the weather service. Within a couple weeks, I'd heard they were about to send out the "Dear John" letters to those people who didn't get interviews. I hadn't received a phone call, and assumed I would be getting my letter soon. During a curiously busy period of a rather benign weather day, the phone rang. I answered and was greeted with "You're just the person I wanted to talk to...Congratulations!" Now, we had just hired a new administrative assistant named Kathleen, so I assumed that this person actually wanted to talk to Kathleen about the new position. Then the person on the other line introduced herself as a higher-up with Central Region Headquarters who was associated with the LEAD program. I lost every ounce of air that was in my lungs, and immediately my hands started to shake. She informed me I had gotten an interview! We set it up so that it was the day after I was done with my evening shifts the following week, and in the later afternoon hours to ensure I would be awake and alert.

Oh man did I sweat that interview. It's been a while since I have done so much to prepare for an interview. I contacted 3 women that had been selected for the LEAD program in 2008 to ask them about their interview experiences. They were all very nice and told me what they could remember. I went in to work the day before the interview to meet with our Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM) just to see what kind of questions he thought I would get. We chatted for about an hour, and at the end he gave me 5 and told me that he thought I would do great. I was iffy on my shift the night before the interview. I worked on some notes on topics in-case I lost my train of thought during the interview. I stared at my application (and found a couple grammatical errors!) and felt my stomach do flips. Amazingly, I fell asleep quickly when I got home at 3a. I woke up fairly early...probably around 930a or so, and couldn't get back to sleep. I got up and showered to wake myself up more so I wouldn't be sluggish during the interview. I cleaned up areas of the house I would be looking at so I wouldn't be focusing on the neglect the house was under during my time of stress. I put out my notes on the table with a pen so I could take notes. Paul came home and we had a nice lunch while he watched me stress. :) After he left, it was around 1p, and my interview was around 2p. So I called my Mom and chatted with her for the majority of that hour. She helped calm me, and when I hung up with her I felt ready for the interview. The interview went well... 6 Meteorologists-in-Charge were on the call, along with a regional union steward. I stumbled during 1 of the questions, and had to come back to another one... but they seemed happy with the answers. I felt ok after the interview. Then the waiting period began. I was a tad jumpy Friday, Monday, and Tuesday whenever the phone rang hoping it was HQ telling me I'd been selected. No call...and I started to think I didn't get it. I was driving to meet a couple girl friends for dinner when I received a text message from one of my coworkers. He congratulated me on being selected, and let me know that our regional director had sent out the announcement email!!! I couldn't believe it! Dinner was great with good friends and good conversations. You know as soon as I got home I checked to read the email myself just to make sure. I can't believe I got picked! Overall, there were 91 applicants of varying positions. In the end, 30 people got interviewed...and 15 people get selected for the program.

So, now another chapter begins. It's a year long program from what I understand...though it seems that the last couple months is really helping to prepare offices for getting their employees to apply to the program. I have a week long, intensive training session in Kentucky in June, and after that I believe it's quite a few teleconference calls. It looks like some interesting people are in the class with me, I recognized a couple names on the list...and was told by our WCM that a couple other people from the list are outstanding people. I think that's a good sign.

Maybe 2009 won't be such a bad year afterall.

Rough couple of weeks on the aquarium

2009-03-08T16:45:00.002-06:00

Well over the past few weeks we've lost a couple of our fish. First we lost our Red Dwarf Guarami. Then this past week we lost one of our angel fish. Nothing seems to be out of place with the water. So not sure what the cause is. I'll do a water change here soon. Sometime over the next week, I think we'll go out and pick up at least one new fish, maybe two. See how it goes.

Outside of that, we're back from our trip to Billings, which was really nice. Katy is the best for taking me up there for my birthday. I had a lot of fun. Next weekend, I head down to Rock Springs for their carpet off-road championships. It won't be as good as the Billings, but it'll be a new experience.

So the time change has hit Katy and I pretty good. We're both extremely lazy today I think. Although we did visit the Riverton Mall (Wal-Mart) for some goodies for the house. Both of us have a few things happening this week. Tuesday, I have a WyMoPA club meeting. Woo! NOT!! Katy is going out with a couple of friends that night for some non-work related fun. Should be great for her.

I finally ordered the tonneau cover for my truck. Will be happy when that arrives Should be nice to have.

Cya,
Paul

Race Results and the Beginning of Evening Shifts

2009-03-02T10:05:00.004-07:00

Just thought I'd ship along a quick update regarding the R/C race that we went to Billings for over the weekend. Paul got Top Qualifier in his trans-am class...which was especially cool since he got it during the last qualifying event, and knocked out the guy that had held the Top Qualifier position from the beginning. Paul got a nice trophy for that one. For the race results...he got 3rd place in his trans-am class, 6th place in his 1/12th scale, and ended up not being able to race his touring car. So overall, a very successful adventure for him. I helped the Billings economy by doing some (more) shopping. Made a good dent in the paycheck...which is alright, I'd skimped the last couple paychecks so I could have some extra spending money for the trip. I didn't even get as much as I was going to since I never officially hit the mall there.

So tonight I start a rather quick string of evening shifts. I took off the first 2 of them to go to Billings, so I've only got 3 evening shifts this string. Works for me. ;) I did not prep well enough for these shifts though. I probably only stayed awake until 1130p last night, when I really should have stayed up until 1 or 2 am. Oh well...that's what caffeine is for! :) Working with a great crew over the next three nights, so that will certainly help me out quite a bit. As will the guaranteed sugar/caffeine high that I'll be on after 11p tonight. I should make it to 1230a or so ok...but after that I'll be struggling a bit. But hey, it'll work out alright...it always does.

Anyhow, as I've said before, I will try to get some pictures of the race (or at least Paul holding his trophies) up here someday. They are still residing on that camera, so when they finally make it off there I'll update. Hope all is well.

Birthday Celebrations

2009-02-28T22:03:00.003-07:00

It feels good to be away from Riverton for a couple of days. Paul and I are enjoying a weekend in Billings, MT...him for an R/C race...and me for the shopping. It's almost odd to be here...I've not visited this city since I first started working for the NWS in 2004 when I came here with my boss for a conference. Seems like some things have changed, but many elements I remember from past visits.

Happy Birthday to Paul! Today is his 31st birthday, and his request (aside from the standard Hot Dogs, Mac n Cheese, and Pineapple Upside Down Cake which we enjoyed Thursday) was to come to Billings for the race. The 19th Annual Magic City R/C race...or some derivative thereof. We left Friday morning after dropping the beagle off to "camp" (aka spend the weekend with our friends) and got here around 230pm. The hotel we're staying at couldn't let us check into the room until 3pm. So we went to lunch. Where you might ask? CRACKER BARREL!!! There was one right next door to the hotel. Man is that place just flippin' awesome. Makes my stomach growl just thinking about it (or maybe that's a result of the freshly delivered PaPa John's pizza sitting by my lap). Regardless, so good was that visit to Cracker Barrel, that I'm planning to head there tomorrow morning for breakfast........and maybe lunch. ;) Just kidding...just breakfast at most, and that's more likely to happy if both of us can get up early enough to get there before the church crowds. So lunch, check-in to the hotel, and then onto the R/C place. We were at the R/C track until 930ish or so Friday night so Paul could get in some work on his cars and take some practice laps. Meanwhile, I read. This morning, Paul was back at the track at 8a or so, but I came back to the hotel to relax for a bit. After watching a movie and getting ready, I went out shopping. I only hit up a couple stores today, but I'm in the process of aiding the Billings' economy. I was going to hit up a few more stores today...but by 1130 I'd spent enough money for the time being, and was ready to see Paul for a bit. Racing was supposed to be over by 7p, and we had plans to go to Olive Garden and a couple stores. But, somehow, that timeline got pushed back by 2 hours. So, for his official birthday dinner, Paul had PaPa Johns pizza. No complaints though...not like it's anything we can get back home! And now, here I sit, watching Happy Gilmore, and savoring a full tummy of good pizza...and oddly looking forward to enjoying a pineapple upside down cake since we brought the remainder with us to enjoy before they got stale.

Not too much else has been going on in the last week. Had a very good few days at work and enjoyed a busy Thursday off to get ready for the birthday celebrations that night. I am on evening shifts for the first half of next week, then another long weekend off. Works for me. I'm sure I'll be dealing with the normal post-evening-insomnia during the end of the week, but that's alright. I have a few things to look forward too, so I'm just going to focus on those things for now...and worry about the insomnia if it happens. Anyhow, time to enjoy the end of the movie and then head to bed...racing and shopping calls again for Sunday!

Take care!

Finding Motivation...

2009-02-21T17:32:00.008-07:00

So I was sitting at work, reading a couple of old friends' blogs...and realizing maybe it would be good I at least attempted keeping up with my blog. It'll be a little more morphed into Paul and I's blog since his have fairly specific topics (RC and Programming).

Something is changing in me, don't know what. But my goals and desires in life are changing. One of my friends at work told me that it's a signal that I'm going through a "growth spurt." I asked if that meant I would be able to reach more shelves in our kitchen. No, I'm kidding...I didn't say anything like that (though it did fly into my head), I knew what he meant. Maybe he's right...it wouldn't be a bad thing...I could stand to go through some positive changes! Who couldn't?

Well, I'm not going to try to rehash times since my last post. I will say that since then we've been back to Ohio for a short weekend to throw my parents a surprise 40th anniversary party, hosted Thanksgiving for my parents, hosted Christmas for Paul's sister and her family, and have made a few trips to the metropolis of Casper (both for work and fun). So, we'll just kind of start with this month, and go from there.

Paul and I went over to a coworker's (mine, not his) house for a Superbowl Party. Hooray for the Steelers win...that made my grandparents cheer in heaven. No doubt my Dad's mom was stomping like crazy and enjoying some heavenly brew with my grandpa whom I never got a chance to meet. :) The party we went to was a fantastic time. There was very little "shop-talk" and everyone was in good spirits. I suppose that was probably aided by the overflowing beer and wine. Anyhow...everyone there except Paul and I were cheering for the Cardinals, so I had some fun there. I made a couple calls home too to talk to my Dad during the game. What a fun night. Of course, within a week Paul and I were sick as dogs. Some bug was introduced at the party, and about half of us got a nasty cold-type thing. Paul was still hell-bent to do his Winter Carnival RC race even though he was probably feverish and (obviously) didn't seem to be feeling all that well. My downfall was the following day when I actually had to call in sick to work, and had a fever of at least 100 degrees. Joy and a half. At least I got to watch some movies with him that day! Oh well, it's over, and Paul and I are now back to normal (though I still have a touch of a lingering cough).

Paul and I went to Salt Lake City on the 9th and 10th. I'd never been there before...what a beautiful place! We didn't take any pictures...we had plans to take them the next day. Of course, the snowfall that night left some low clouds over the mountains for that next day...so pics didn't make sense. Maybe next time, it certainly will not be the last time we'll be there. We were able to do some shopping and eat at chain restaurants...ahhh the luxury! We found out while we were there that Paul's grandfather was having additional health problems, which really concerned us. We were happy to learn that he did not have a stroke, though his heart problems remain in our thoughts.

Valentine's day was very relaxed. I worked a half-day, and after getting home Paul and I ran out to get a couple more things. We just cooked in. My parents got us an Omaha Steak gift package for Christmas...so we ate a ton of food from that. My husband is a pro at grilling steaks, and those tenderloins were certainly no exception. Couple that with twice baked potatoes, garlic bread,
and chocolate cake...and we were full and happy.

Times have been fairly relaxed since then. I've been working off and on (have had an odd stretch of shifts) and am now in my string of 6 day shifts again. When I finish these on Wednesday afternoon, I will have worked 8 out of 9 days. Yippee! Nah, it's good...in general, I've been working with some of my favorite coworkers, so it's been a nice stretch (so far!). Paul of course works a normal person's schedule...so he's at home living up his weekend. His weekend will be spent working on his R/C cars all day, and then going Mini-Z racing tonight. Me? I'm on day shifts...that means I'll be asleep by 930. Man, I'm getting old! Not sure what his plans are for tomorrow...not sure he knows either.

Well, that was certainly long winded enough for today. I'll get some pics up sometime soon. Take care!

Just wanted to see...

2008-09-04T14:16:00.003-06:00

Was just curious if I could actually go a year without updating this... guess I surpassed my goal a bit, eh? :) Yeah, happens to the best of us. Let's see... the in-laws were in town last week, was a nice visit. We went for a drive on Wednesday that took us almost all day to complete. Of course, I wasn't feeling overly well for the majority of the week they were around, but that also happens from time to time. Some med side effects I think... no big deal. I'm still a little iffy sometimes, but doing better than I was last week. We did go down to Laramie, WY to see the University of Wyoming Cowboys take on my Ohio University Bobcats. Of course, my bobcats lost... I blame it on the heat and thin air. :) They looked good until the last quarter, and if they didn't throw that last interception and had been able to get that last field goal... it'd be a different ending I think. But so it goes. They take on my hubby's alma mater OSU next weekend. Beanie Wells is out of that game due to an injury... guess that gives us a 0.00000000000001% improved odds. Heh... it's all good though, they're my bobcats... and I have trouble choosing winning teams (aside from the Mets who are holding their own right now). So I'm very happy that College Football is back on. Love that sport... it's really grown on me since getting married. I like watching the college kids since they still play the sport for the love of the game.

Let's see... it's my day off today (woohoo!!), my last one followed by 6 day shifts... joy. So I'm enjoying today as much as I can. As I fondly refer to it on my Facebook page, I am being a "bump on the couch" pro. :) A friend of mine got me into Six Feet Under (SFU), so I'm watching my most recent DVD of that. I won't finish it today... there's 3 episodes on this one, and not sure I feel like watching 2.5ish hours of SFU. But we'll see. Of course, there's the joy of doing laundry today, but I'm almost caught up, which is a glorious concept. At least that allows me a little time to play in the downstairs. We finally (!!) painted the downstairs, and we're quite proud of the results. Of course we still have some more we want to do down there, but then again... are house chores/improvements really ever done? Nah... where's the fun in that??

Alright all, going to go watch SFU and fiddle some more with the laundry. Hope you're all having good days... and I hope to get this updated quite a bit more often. We'll see....

Labor Day Weekend

2007-09-02T11:12:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone has fun that is able to enjoy the holiday weekend in its fullest. I am starting evening shifts tonight, which is alright. At least I'm around to enjoy the day portion of the holiday stuff. There's no festivities to speak of... but at least husband gets to relax for an added day, which he needs since sleeping in has been more of a distant memory for him this summer. It happens.

College football... my husband's favorite time of year. All I can say is "Congrats Appalachian State!"... all Buckeye fans must admit that it's a thing of beauty even if it does send some questionable reflection on the Big 10 as a whole. Congrats to all my alma maters since everyone managed to win yesterday - even my little SDSM&T Hardrockers and Bobcats.

So what does today bring? Nothing too impressive. I didn't get nearly enough sleep to get me through my shift this evening, so a nap will be in order. Outside of that? Hard to say really... whatever motivation strikes us I guess.

There's a golf tournament going on here this morning. The announcer guy told them all to get to their tees (over a loudspeaker) and we just laughed heartily at the onslaught of golfcarts that started moving our way. It would have been hilarious if they drove in formation... but even just watching the chaos of them moving at all was well worth sitting outside. Loving the deck... loving the view... it's a nice morning for sure.

Went to see The Simpsons Movie last night, I thought it was pretty funny. We went to the theater down in Lander, and it was pretty nice though they had some issues getting, and keeping, the movie in focus. So goes life.

Anyhow... I hope everything is going well. Talk later!

Long time, no post

2007-08-27T18:38:00.000-06:00

Yeah, I believe I did comment at some point that I might not be very good about keeping this puppy up to date. No reason to doubt me now, eh? Alright... so the last post to this was before the last time I went to Ohio, before Myrtle Beach, and before Yellowstone. So... if you read my husband's blog, you can figure out a reason why I haven't felt much up for posting.

The trips have been great... it's been nice to see familly and relax to the site of Yellowstone National Park. So, let's see... where to begin. My newest niece is already getting big... and the family looks healthy and happy. Yes, a lot of stress, however for the other side of the family with my father-in-law being diagnosed with cancer. Recent news seems promising, apparently all the prayers have made a difference.... so keep at it people. :)

Myrtle Beach was a mixed bag since we learned of a portion of the initial bad bad bad diagnosis during the trip. At least we were at a beach and together, I think it made the difference. Regardless, my favorite picture from that trip is on the right side there... so enjoy.

Yellowstone!!! Wow, what a whirlwind enjoyable 4 days. We saw so many sites... and tons of animals! We saw black bears, grizzlies, coyotes, a weasel, cranes, bison, and elk. Phew! And let me tell you, some of them were darned close... so much so that my pictures turned out somewhat blrry. Hey, it's life man! My mantra for my whole life is applicable now... "I can only get better from here." Because I'm still learning tricks of the trade when it comes to photography. Anyhow... I'll put some links to my photo albums up eventually. We took over 300 pictures during Yellowstone, most of which look almost the same. :) Hard to stop photographing a wild animal when they're like 20 feet away from you!

So... after that. Well, we have some house sagas... but I'm not gonna talk about those on here for now... it doesn't feel right. Ummm... work is work. A new forecaster started recently, he came from a neighboring office (well kinda), and seems like a nice guy. I met him for the first time today.

Am currently watching the season finale of ArmyWives, do you know that show? I'm slightly addicted... well, ok... slightly is an understatement I'm sure. Alright peeps, time for me get rolling... the part in the previews is about to happen, and I don't want to miss it.

Later!

Moving shmoving...

2007-06-13T15:12:00.000-06:00

Sagas and dramas. Moving continues. We're still slowly getting things into the house. Moving day was not as easy as it was with the old house. Our sellers' movers left from Denver at 10am to be here in Riverton before noon. Yeah... not gonna work. It's a 6.5 hour drive for a semi to get to our little town from Denver. So, they arrived around 430, and it took them an hour to get the truck into a good loading spot in our little cul-de-sac. So 530 is here, and they're starting to load up the truck (we got possession of the house at 4). They finally got the sellers' possessions out of the house around 1215 that night. Needless to say, we barely got anything of ours into the house that first night. My husband had to go to Casper the following day, so we did as much as we could of our moving truck thanks to the help of two people - our young 19 year old friend, and our realtor. The remainder of the truck was done after Paul got back in town at 5p. At that point, everything was loaded into the garage... and the truck was empty around 730p. We weren't able to do much that first night... and have spent as much time as possible since then working on getting stuff into the house. We've made quite a bit of progress, though we still have a long way to go. I won't go into the selling of our old house... it's aggravating, and I don't feel much like going into it again. I'll get some pictures of the new place up once it looks like a home.

Work is going fine. I did some school talks in Casper a couple of days after moving, and that all went well. I probably spoke to around 150 kids throughout the day. Paul and I both caught colds during the move (likely from the stress and a cold house that first night), but thankfully mine did not hit until after I got back from Casper. Phew. I am still getting over it, though I am in the very end stages of it now. Outside of that, it has been evening shifts galore. Good money, hard to get house stuff done. Tonight is my last evening shift for a week+, which I'm pretty happy about. There's a lot of stuff to get done.

Let's see... what else can I tell you. Outside of the house stuff, very little has been going on. We enjoyed the hot tub for the first time last week, and I have to admit that I loved it! It's not something to do during the heat of the afternoon that's for sure, which is probably the other reason I'm pretty happy to get to day shifts again. Alright folks, guess I should get ready for work here. I hope everyone is doing well.

A bit of catch up...

2007-05-19T17:02:00.000-06:00

Yes, I know... it's been over a month since my last post. What can I say? I was busy! :) Let's see... where to start. Most of you likely already know this really... but we'll start with the house saga. We are out of the Skyline house. The HOA vs Realtor & Seller battle wore too thin on our nerves, and we folded. We don't regret the decision... we found another house quickly. It's in the country club area, on the 18th Fairway. A nice two story deal, with 2 car garage, patio, hot tub, etc. Very nice place. Will put some pics up after we move in. When is that, you may ask? We close in a week from Tuesday. Coming up quick, we've been packing like mad to get ready for it. We're pretty sure our buyer is thrilled... she finally has a concrete closing date as well! :) Enough about the house stuff...we'll be talking a lot about that until we're settled in.

Moving on. Work. I've been doing quite a bit of outreach over the last week. Well, I guess I should say that I've been assisting in a lot of outreach this week. I did my first section of the observer training presentation. My boss said I did good. I know I have some work to do on it, but as my mantra goes... I can only get better from here.

What else...what else. We got a Nintendo Wii... it has been an absolute blast to play!!! We're not in a massive hurry to buy games for it since we have that games-by-mail program. No need to go nuts here, afterall.

My middle niece turned 2 a couple of days ago. Get to see her soon when we go home to see the family. Already looking forward to that. We're hoping to have the house completely decorated before we go so I can take some pictures to show the families.

Hmmm.........though a lot of stuff has been going on, it's mainly been circulating around the house, so there's not too much to report here. One of my friends got a promotion and is moving back east. Couldn't be better news for him. Truly... very good, I know he will do great in his new role. But onward. I'm thrilled to be in my current role, and am not sure where or what I want to do next. I've flexed a couple other muscles now and roles relating to that flexing are becoming more appealing. But, alas, any such decision is a couple years away, and I'm fine with that added time. I have a lot to learn as a forecaster... so for now I'll focus on that, some projects, and my home life. I think that's the better way for me to be at this point.

I hope all is going well with everyone. I'll do my best to update things quite a bit sooner next time.

Weird Days and House Sagas

2007-04-17T16:34:00.000-06:00

Wow... I feel like it's been forever since I've last posted on here...though it has only been a week give or take. Expect this lack of consistency, especially during certain rotations in my schedule. So, some news... some good, some not so much. We'll start with the good.

Please welcome my newest niece into the world!! She was born yesterday (the 16th) sometime during the late-ish morning as far as I know. My sister and lawyer-in-law (ha!) have yet to decide on a name. I believe they are leaning towards Logan, but possibly could be Brooke. I await the result on pins and needles. Her birth made for an interesting range of feelings yesterday after finding out about the massive tragedy that happened at VT. A friend of mine from Ohio U, I realized, has a little sister that goes to VT. Thankfully all is well... her sister wasn't near the impacted area yesterday morning. It was nice to talk to my friend, of course...just wish I had initiated the call for a better reason... but you take what you can get sometimes. But, I am so looking forward to getting back to O-H land so I can meet my very cute little niece. I'm sure there will be pictures of them around here too sometime.

Alright... bad news. Dealing with the house...potentially. There's some tie-up with the complaint which has caused some delays in resolving it. Our closing date has semi-officially been given the shaft, though we're still very hopeful that everything will end up being fine, and resolved quickly. For now, we're just hoping the buyers of our current house are able to remain in the contract with a very negotiable closing date. We shall see... we're awaiting their response. More details to come... :) Keep your fingers crossed for us... we really do love this house.

What else can I tell you? Weather? Nah... you don't want to hear about that. Work starts again in an hour or so... something to look forward to. HA! Should be good... should be busy with a bigger system supposed to move in over the next few days. Fun, fun. At least we're not in the plains where a massive system would entail turmoil from spawning tornadoes and other assorted interesting weather. We're just hoping for rain... we're still deep deep deep in drought, so if anyone would like to donate their rain showers to us, we'll take 'em.

My other friend who just had her baby seems to be doing well and sent some updated pictures yesterday. Very cute. Lots of new babies running around in my life. Very sweet... can't wait to meet them.

Alright. That's all I got folks. Hope people are doing well. Until later...

Insert Creative Title Here...

2007-04-11T16:55:00.000-06:00

Alright... some days off are finally here!! No thinking about weather, right? Wrong. Today was a two hour severe weather seminar at work where I made a couple of contributions. Tomorrow night is a Spotter Talk down in Lander. I'm only going to watch this one. In May I'll split the presentation with one of the office leaders, and then I'm on my own (should another one be scheduled). Just continuing my efforts on outreach, and office research. The great part is that doing all of these talks recently is making it so I'm not anywhere near as nervous as I used to be. I can only get better with time. The leaders at my office (one of them asked me not to call him management any longer... not sure what else to call him (he suggested "co-worker" which doesn't do his job justice)... so I'll just call them leaders) are very willing to let us get involved in virtually anything we want with outreach, leadership, research, etc. It's a benefit to being in a smaller town office I think. No getting lost in the shuffle for me this way. The plans for my outreach event that I thought of, and an planning and leading are still underway.

Elsewhere in life. Recorded the movie version of "Rent" today to watch tomorrow. I've not seen the stage production of it, but thought I would start somewhere... not like shows like that come around Wyoming very often. Heh. Speaking of shows... 5 months, 11 days until the Genesis concert. Am still keeping my eyes peeled for them performing in Denver. That's probably the only other place I'd go to see them... regardless of my ridiculous urge to chase them all over the country. :)

Plans for tomorrow? I have no idea. Likely I'll do some laundry unless I finish it this evening. If it's clear out, I might venture up to the house and take pictures of the view (have I mentioned that yet??), but other than that I have no plans. Will probably workout in the morning again. I did that today as well, but should probably try to do that on all my days off for when I miss days while I'm working. We'll see what happens when I wake up. Wow, not a creative post, I know. Sorry. There will be days like this. The Mets are on, I gotta go watch my boys while I can. Until later...

When Kittens Play

2007-04-09T17:49:00.000-06:00

The cats are pretty thrilled in their recent catnip-induced haze. My cat, Noah, has just stolen the remains of a catnip leaf from his 'sister' Leah. No doubt it's a form of 'Nip-rage... he usually doesn't mess with her. She's without a doubt, the leader of all animals in the house... including my husband and I sometimes. :) Alright, most times. We at least have control over the food which gives some small amount of power in the cat hierarchy. Meanwhile... back to the world of the humans.

Still working on that whole working-out concept. It's not that I really mind working out, it's just the motivation involved in getting home, changing clothes, and then the added motivation to actually expel the energy involved to burn only enough calories to get rid of the Easter candy I ate this afternoon. It's something right? Absolutely... that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Work... ahh, the life of a forecaster. Was on the aviation desk today... basically I do a forecast for a 5 mile perimeter of 9 airports across Central and Western Wyoming... and also do a forecast for a 50 mile wide path between airports (plane paths). Anyhow... so I had that responsibility today while visiting with management for the first time in a week or so. Also had a new forecaster start today. He moved here from Virginia I believe, seems like a nice guy. I worked with one of my common lead forecasters today... the one who I contrast vastly on musical tastes with. Thankfully... the Mets home opener was on XM this afternoon... so we were both pretty appeased. While he's not a Mets fan, he loves baseball almost as much as I do. So, both of us were happy enough. Plus, the Mets came from behind in the 8th to beat the Phillies. It was exciting to listen to. Yes, I'm a Mets fan from Ohio. What can I say? They were the first team I played softball on when I was a kid... so I got addicted early. I stuck by them even during the lean years, so last season (and hopefully this season) have been a special treat. But enough about that.

My sister's baby is due soon. I'm bummed as always that I won't be there for the birth, and I'm sure she'll do great... she did for my other two nieces. I can't wait to meet the newest addition whenever we can get home again. Anyhow... enough rambling for today. It's time to find something different on TV before my husband gets his vice grip on the remote. :) Nite.

Saturday / Tuesday

2007-04-07T20:27:00.000-06:00

When you work a rotating shift, your schedule gets completely messed up. In a normal person's world... it's Saturday. A wonderful day full of relaxation, family, and Mets baseball. In my world? Well, it's both my Monday and Tuesday since I started a string of 4 shifts today. Which means, I work on Easter. That's alright though... my husband said he will work to take care of our celebration dinner tomorrow. ;) The good news is that I'm off at 4pm. The bad news is that Mets baseball starts at 11:05am for me. Thankfully... the wonderful invention of XM is going to go to work with me tomorrow. I likely won't listen to the game... that's being recorded to enjoy after work. But, my co-worker likes the Cubs, so I thought he might like listening to that since he's more of a country music fan. And I'm not. At all. End of discussion.

So let's see... what else to talk about. Some complications arose with the house yesterday... but we're hoping everything will work out alright. We should hopefully know something in a couple of weeks. Until then, we'll carry on like nothing is going wrong, and hope we won't be looking for another new place again. We're incredibly frustrated by the ordeal, but life carries on, and we have every hope that everything will go the way we want it too.

Onto other things. One of my best friends had her first child (a daughter) yesterday evening!!! :) Both are healthy and doing well, which is always good news. I can't wait to see pictures sometime. I know it'll be a while until that happens... but I'll look forward regardless. Work was work today. I'm trying to improve my outreach skills, so am involved in a couple of events... one of which was my idea, and if it goes well, I will be very proud. As always... we'll see what happens. Well, the Mets winning streak is over for now. It's a shame it was their rival team that ended it, but it was their rival, which always makes for a good game. Alright all, back to our DVD of TV shows.... we're watching a disc of Lost: Season 2 tonight. Will probably only make it through 2 episodes before sleep takes over. So it goes when one works at 7a.

Happy Easter everyone! Enjoy your day with friends and family. :)

Welcome!

2007-04-05T14:44:00.000-06:00

It's different...being a forecaster in Wyoming. I'm not going to lie to you... if you don't like winter weather, I wouldn't suggest the climate here. But, the beauty and peace of everything out here makes it hard to imagine leaving. Mountain views... seeable from my office, and soon to be seeable from my house. Yep... we're moving. North of town... to a place with mountain views outside of every window that is much larger, with a good piece of land. We'll have a lot of work to do when we get there since it's new construction with no landscaping. It will be worth it. It's my husband's first time buying a house... my second (I moved here a couple of months ahead of him). He's so excited... he seems to be excited to pack boxes! I, too, am looking forward to the prospect of moving to this place. Have I mentioned the views?? I'm sure that plenty of pictures of the new place will be on here eventually. I would expect some lightning shots too, though that's dependent on how active our summer season is this year. Everything is just so unobstructed here...finding a shot isn't a complex activity. Coming from back east, where the city's population is twice as much as the entire state? Well, it's sparse here. But, cities of appreciable size are relatively close... a day drive at most. The serenity here is outstanding. Being able to start my career as a meteorologist in this area has been an experience to be sure. Tidbits of weather stuff will be on here too... though, I'm anticipating this to be more of a random topic ordeal than anything else.

So, welcome to the post of a forecaster who fancies family (people and furries), photography, television (woohoo Greys!), Mets Baseball, music (going to see Geneis reunion this year... can't wait), and movies. Feel free to check back as often as you wish. I'll sure try to be dedicated to this... we'll see how it pans out. :)