Happy Halloween!!

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

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...

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...

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!!

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

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

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...

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

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

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

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

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

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...

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!