Mom gives GOOD gifts!!!

My mom, taking care of her daughter from sunny California, sent me a heated vest for my birthday, as well as heated glove liners. SWEEEEET! Yep, I just might survive here in the arctic!!!

My Birthday

My birthday, just two days after New Orleans, left me "under the weather." I had to burn one of my PTO days...NOPE, not on fun birthday stuff, on coughing, sleeping, taking Tylenol, and staying near to the powder room. WORST birthday EVER! However, my wonderful hubby did make it better by sending the most beautiful roses to work (of course, I was absent but received them the following day) and coming home for a few hours from hunting to take care of me. He wins the hubby award! I am finally feeling better, but not 100%. Just in time to work for Thanksgiving. :)

This picture is blurry, but note the new "Katrina Cottage" next to the sidewalk where the house USED to be. Do you see it? There is nothing left....but they planted that tree where it used to be.

St Roch Campo Santo

New Orleans part Deux

• Other highlights:
• --Visiting the WWII Museum. Very sobering...I'm proud of our military
• --Having beads thrown at me (nope, didn't flash anything). I'm pretty sure they were aiming for someone else...
• --Touring the Garden district (floor to ceiling windows rock!)
• --Seeing the Katrina damage (there's more damage than they let on...send help)
• --Hitting a taxi cab while riding a street car named "disaster" (the cab made an illegal u-turn)
• --Experiencing the above-ground cemeteries
• --Red Beans and Rice....yum!

New Orleans

My annual conference for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association was in New Orleans this year. What fun! I got to spend time with my good friends Sara, Kim, Jessica, Lindsay, Fawn, and more! I also got to experience all that the Mardi Gras district had to offer, including beniegts and cafe au lait, Hurricanes, and even sampled some alligator. It tastes like chewy chicken, by the way.

Parents Visit!

My parents came in for about 36 hours of Wisconsin fun.

What does a city girl do with her "city parents" in Wisconsin country? First, we took the dogs for a walk. My dad talked on the cell phone the entire time and went up into a deer blind to try and get better service. Then we went "antique" shopping. My dad ended up with a corkscrew for his collection. Finally, we hit up the cheese store and watched how cheese was made. All in all, a good time was had by all and there we no chicken massacres. :) Thanks, Mom and Dad!!!

Hello Dolly...

This is our backyard. Our house is waaaaaay up in the front.

This is the beautiful new place we live. Warning! Will soon be covered in ice!!! :)

Gasoline Fountain

On my way to work, I stopped to get gas. Put the pump in, started to fill up. Went to sit on my seat with the door open. I was alerted to the sound of large amounts of liquid hitting the pavement. Gasoline was fountaining out of my car from the pump. And the pump dollar amount read $52. Hmmmm....I don't believe my Honda can take $52, even in the middle of the summer! Apparently, the handy auto shut-off feature was broken. The gas station attendant accused me of leaving the pump "unattended" because I was sitting while pumping. RIGHT. Obviously, she didn't know that my first job was AT a gas station and I know my rights...and the gas station law!!! Fortunately, I received a refund due to my stellar arguing skills. See Kevin? I told you my ability to argue was of benefit. :)

Officer?

The roads out here aren't marked for speed limits. Well, some are. Just not most. We ARE in the country. I figured this meant you could "pick" your speed. A friendly Wood County Officer informed me that this was NOT the case, shortly after pulling me over about one block from our house. In fact, if the corn had been cut, Kevin would have seen it as he was sitting on the back porch. He noticed my out-of-state plates (still Colorado at the time) and cut me some slack, even though he clocked me at 68 in a 55. I now have a WI driver's license and plates. Shoot, no more get-out-of-jail-free cards.

Goat Racer

Sue (Kevin's mom) and I decided to go for a bike ride. We were headed down a small hill from their house when Sue noticed something behind us...a white blur. Baxter you might think? Nope. A big white goat. With a broken red leash. And it was pacing us! I slowed down a bit (I think Sue speeded up) and that goat was keeping up. Clip clop clip clop. I was trying to figure out what to do when the big white goat stopped on a dime. A big black horse had approached the road from a side pasture and met eyes with the goat. As we kept riding, I looked back to see what would happen. They stared longingly at each other for quite some time. Eventually the horse broke the gaze, and Sue and I rode away. When we returned to that fated place, we saw a big white goat tied up to someone's house with a brand new blue leash.

Pest Problem

We moved from Colorado straight into a rental home. If you are keeping track, this was New Home #1. We all know that rental houses are usually pretty trashed. Well, ours was especially trashed. So trashed, in fact, that many creatures had decided to take up residency. I will NOT be posted any photos of this one, too gross. The exterminator, however, arrived at 7pm and did not leave until Midnight. We are not exactly sure what he was doing the whole time....he was in his truck with it running part of the time...but he was a good exterminator. I should NOT have walked around the house with him during his evaluation...he kept making exclamations that frightened me, like he had never seen such a disgusting pest problem before! Yikes. I hope this gives you a picture of how bad it was. DIRTY. The insulation in the basement had been turned into Mouse Club Med, as there were tunnels and tunnels of mice trails throughout. He set about 8 traps that could hold a couple dozen mice each. Besides the mice were the dirty bugs, which I tried identifying on my iPhone before the exterminator arrived and assumed they were the type of bugs that forensic scientists used to identify dead bodies. Hmmm... Instead, they were a type of beetle larvae. I'm not so sure there wasn't a dead body, though. Needless to say, we moved out promptly and received a refund from the property management company. New Home #2 was the camper at Den and Sue's. Bug free and we are FOREVER grateful! Plus, I didn't have to cook dinner. Heaven. And I could use Kevin's mom's washer and dryer (she hasthe fancy ones that clean about 80 pairs of jeans at one time). New Home #3 is our current residence, and our landlord is pretty great except for he keeps bringing more chickens to the coop. We are up to 24 chickens!!!

BIG Changes

• Kevin and I got married on July 24th.
• August 1st, we returned from Jamaica.
• August 2nd, we packed up my house in Greeley, CO.
• August 3rd, we started the drive to Wisconsin with Elvis and Baxter.
• August 5th, arrived in Wisconsin at our new rental house.
• August 6th, the movers arrived and unloaded.
• August 14th, we moved to Kevin's parents driveway (in the camper) due to a pest problem.
• August 20th???? Chased by a goat.
• September 14th, we moved to a new and bug-free rental house (owned by Kevin's brother) with chickens.
• September 21st, we finally took a breather.
• November 8th, Aunt Patti visited and witnessed the Wisconsin Chicken Massacre (thanks for the title, RJ!)
• November 9th, Baxter was re-introduced to the "shock collar."
• November 10th, 20 new chickens arrived. Eggs, anyone???

So much has happened in the last three months, that I kept joking it warranted a blog. Ta-da!!!