Mistaken Identity

It's that time of the week again.  That time when we share our most embarrassing or uh-oh moments with the rest of the blogosphere.  Thank you to Rachel and Mr. Daddy for hosting this each week.

When Tara and I were walking around SHOT Show, we stopped to talk to several people at booths.  Everyone was really nice and offered up a lot of information.  At one booth (which shall remain nameless) Tara mentioned that we were tossing around a blog post idea and got into a discussion with a couple of guys at the booth.  Tara mentioned that I wrote for the Girls With Guns blog.  The guy we were talking to got really excited and went to get the PR guy for the booth, who was also super impressed and bent over backward to answer any questions we had.

He then motioned over another person, a female shooter, and got her involved in the discussion.  We had a great time and were both beyond impressed that they were reading GWG.  Holy moley!  I felt like Mrs Mom and I had hit the big time.  The PR guy from a very major gun manufacturer read our blog!  And offered to help us out in any way he could!

Tara and I talked about how to help the blog grow and gain more followers.  The first step was to register a web domain name.  When I got home from SHOT Show and had time to sit at the computer, I started looking at domain names.  Thinking that we should keep our domain name the same as the blog name, I searched http://www.girlswithguns.com/.  Let's just say I was more than a little shocked to find that our domain name was basically a T & A site (with poor gun handling to boot!).

Guess what?

We won't be pursuing that domain name any time soon.

Ugh! A Slacker Update

I don't know what's happening to my days.  Seems like they're slipping away too quickly.  I wake up, go to work, come home, go to bed, rinse, lather, repeat.  I don't much remember January.  Does anyone?

Ripley got her first ouchie while we were enjoying the unseasonably nice weather.  Before our cold snap, we had some spring-like weather.  Beautiful days in the 60s!  I miss them already.  I digress.  RockCrawlinChef and I were out shopping at Sam's Club and when we got out of the store, we saw this...

They're small gouges, but they go into the plastic on the bumper.  There's no sanding them out and pretending they didn't happen.

My husband loves me - before the cold snap hit, he made a point to "install" a rear window in the Jeep so I wouldn't have to turn into an ice cube.   It was such a gorgeous day outside the Scamp decided to oversee the project from the roof...

RCC pulled out his inner redneck ingenuity and fashioned a rear window out of a shower curtain, duct tape, and nylon cord (and I got a new leather punch out of the deal).  I'm pretty sure Ashinator wishes that we could stitch a window into the Accord - she's pretty sick of the plastic wrap/packaging tape window she's got.

 
It got bitter cold for a couple of days.  I had students pissed off that we didn't cancel school.  All of the public schools were closed, why wasn't the college?  Here's the short answer:

It's only cold!  Man the eff up!

Put on your coat!

Get your ass in the car

and get to school!

I really wanted to channel my inner R. Lee Ermey...


Of course, as much as I wanted to scream that at them, I couldn't.  What I could tell them was that they were adults and able to get themselves to school.  The roads weren't bad; the reason the public schools were closed was that they couldn't have so many kids standing out at the bus stops (to which, I'm sure my Northern readers will laugh) or walking to school.

It warmed up slightly, but not enough for my riding lessons in an outdoor arena.  Being Colorado, it'll be cold again in a couple of days, but I do appreciate the break we get in the weather between cold snaps.

One of my resolutions at the beginning of the year was to lose weight.  Hell, it's on my list every year.  RCC and I have both decided that the forty-plus pounds we each gained when we got married has got to go.  He - the brat - lost 20# in January just by changing his eating habits.  Me?  I lost four.  That's right.  Four freaking pounds!  Can we say pissed off wife?  Yep.  He hasn't even started working out.  He's just eating a bowl of cereal in the morning, a salad with a protein at lunch, and something for dinner.  Pisses me off.  I can't lose weight without blood, sweat and tears.  I wasn't able to join a gym until last week - that crap's expensive.  I bit the bullet and not only joined a gym, but paid for three fifty-minute sessions with a personal trainer.  My first session is tomorrow.  He's going to kick my fat arse and I'm more than a little afraid.  But if it's going to take blood, sweat and tears, I'm willing to give them.  I've got forty pounds to go before my birthday in July.

And in the good news category...
Tara Janzen's newest release, LOOSE ENDS, hit the NYT Best Seller list! This is the third (or is it fourth) time her Steele Street boys and girls have ended up on the list.  I'm so thrilled for her; she deserves it.

Go Here!

Well, rather, go here, to The Damage Is Done, written by musician-former writing teacher-current firefighter, Brian.  I promise, you won't regret the trip.  I was one of his followers when he was Switch 2 Plan B, but he lost the domain name and had to change it up (bummer).  BUT... it is an excellent time to discover (or re-discover) a fun, well-written, ecclectic blog.

Tell him I sent you in his comment section.

Tag!

So.

Things around here have been rather hectic, which means I haven't had much time to stop and savor the blog worthy moments (or, really, to even notice them).

Rachel at Once Upon A Miracle saved my non-blogging butt today by tagging me in a little meme.

1. If you have pets, do you see them as merely animals, or are they members of your family?
Since my children refer to Estes as my favorite child, I guess that means yes.  The cats?  Meh, not so much.  The step-dog?  If I want to stay married, I'd better say yes.

Ugh.  The wind makes me look like the Michelin man.

 
2. If you can have a dream to come true, what would it be?
I should be gracious and say it's already come true...

But I'm going to be greedy and say that I really would love to have some property to be able to build our dream house on, so I could have my favorite child with me all the time.

3. What is the one thing most hated by you?
There are so many...I can't choose just one.  I'll go with the obvious - loose hair.  As in unattached to any body.  If it's wet, it's ten times worse and results in immediate gagging and projectile vomiting.

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?

You know that property and dream house?  Yeah, that would be top of my list.  There are a couple of other things, too, like set up a free medical clinic at the college I work at to give my students the experience of working in a clinic while providing a much needed service to the community.  We're talking full-service family practice, here.  For free.

5. What helps to pull you out of a bad mood?

Gunpowder therapy.  Equine therapy.  My silly husband.
6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?
Both - not a fair question.

7. What is your bedtime routine?

Eyeballs out, hair up, slide into bed with my best girl, Eloise.  Get your minds out of the gutter - she's my nook.

8. If you are currently in a relationship, how did you meet your partner?
Believe it or not, Cupid.com.

9. If you could watch a creative person in the act of the creative process, who would it be?

I have not a clue.
10. What kinds of books do you read?
The kind with words. 

I'm not often limited by genre.  Some of my favorite authors are (I'm looking at my bookshelf right now, because I'm terrible with author names)...

• Tara Janzen
• Janet Evanovich
• Terry Goodkind
• Tom Clancy
• Robin Cook
• Patricia Cornwell
• Jeffery Deaver (who I got to meet at WPA!)
• Dean Koontz
• James Patterson
• Jimmy Buffett
• Sophie Littlefied (also met her at WPA!)

11. How would you see yourself in ten years time?
I don't know. By then the kids'll all be out of the house and RockCrawlinChef and I will hopefully be working on (or have) our dream house. We're planning on lots of travel in the future - back to Italy baby!

Tavernalle, in the Tuscany region

Rome

Cinque Terre (my favorite place on earth)

12. What’s your fear?
Losing someone I love - friend or family.
 
13. Would you give up all junk food for the rest of your life for the opportunity to visit outer space?

I have no desire to visit outer space, so bring on the junk food!

14. Would you rather be single and rich or married, but poor?

Married (as long as it's happily), but poor.

15. What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?

I. am. not. a. morning. person.

That said, the first thing I do is hit the snooze button.

16. If you could change one thing about your spouse/partner what would it be?

He's totally passive/aggressive and I'm not.  If something is bothering me, you'll know it.  If something is bothering him, you probably won't know it until some biting comments slips out.  I come from a long line of "just say it like it is"-ers.  It's difficult for me.

It's probably just as difficult for him to adjust to me; as he comes from a long line of passive/aggressives.

17. If you could pick a new name for yourself, what would it be?

I love my name.  Wouldn't change it for anything in the world.

18. Would you forgive and forget no matter how horrible a thing that special someone has done?
Forgive?  Yes.
Forget?  No.  That's just a recipe for disaster.

19. If you could only eat one thing for the next 6 months, what would it be?
I have no idea.  I get bored of food quickly.  But, I'm pretty sure I could live for a good, long time on RockCrawlinChef's homemade chicken parmesan. And now that I've said that, that's all I want for dinner!  But I don't think we've got time to make it.  Bummer.  My all-time favorite food.

Now comes the hard part...who to tag next...I've only got a few - blogs that I've just started following and suggest you all follow, too.

• JailMonkey
• BobbieNoSocks
• The Southern Girl Gang (okay, I've followed all them individually for a long time, but wasn't this a clever way to tag four at once?)

And Now ... A Singing Dog

And that about sums up the week. (Sidenote to Rach: the gist of it is that it's a "great day to whoop someone's ass" - his lips are hard to read and without opposable thumbs he can't sign it.)

I'm in hour 46 of my work week, with a couple hours yet tonight and a couple more tomorrow.

But...tomorrow is going to be a good day.  Why, you ask?

Because it's GUNPOWDER THERAPY DAY and...drum roll, please...Momma Fargo is guest blogging at Girls With Guns!

The Invisible Women

It's time again to link up with Rachel and Mr. Daddy and share our "I can't believe that happened!" stories with the world.  We've all got 'em, so step out of the box a little and click on over to Once Upon A Miracle to join in the fun.

My dear friend Tara and I went to SHOT Show in Las Vegas last week.  We met up with three guys from the gun shop: Boss Man, Army Guy, and the Original Bad Boy.  Boss Man is the owner and gunsmith at the gun shop, who had coordinated our registration for the show. 

Army Guy is Boss Man's best friend who has had a "crush" on me for years.  According to Tara, he can't keep his eyes off of me and every move he makes is in my direction (pay attention to that, it will be important later).  I kind of shrugged it off when she said it, but then realized it was true. 

The Original Bad Boy has been there, done that.  Let's just say I'm glad I'm on his good side and that he's a friend of the U.S.; he's the one and only person I've seen with the ability to completely disappear in a crowded room.  He just becomes so still that he disappears, I kid you not.  It's crazy.

Boss Man's cousin (or cousin-in-law, I can't keep it straight) is a former Border Patrol Agent with tales as tall as Paul Bunyan.  I've never met the famous (or infamous) JT, but I've heard stories about him for years.  Apparently, this was going to be the year to meet JT, as he was going to be in Las Vegas the same time we were and also had registered for SHOT Show.  The Original Bad Boy told us that you didn't "meet" JT as much as you "experienced" him and they all assured us that we'd have a blast getting to meet him and listen to his stories. The boys were so excited they couldn't hardly stand themselves.  Boss Man must have called JT a million times to make sure we were going to meet up and to coordinate when and where. 

Tara and I tagged along with the boys, pausing when Boss Man stopped to talk shop with people in the booth.  The problem is that Boss Man can talk like a girl, so sometimes his quick stops ended up being a half hour or more.  When that happened, we'd just wander off for a bit and keep checking back later until he was ready to move on.

At one booth, Boss Man was busy talking up the owner when the infamous JT showed up with his buddy, Primitive Boy.  Army Guy and Original Bad Boy immediately fell into an animated conversation with them.  Tara and I would have introduced ourselves to JT, but we ceased to exist.  We had been standing off to the side about two feet when JT and Primitive Boy made their appearance.  Army Guy and Original Bad Boy closed ranks, making it impossible for us to join in.  Not a big deal; Tara and I just looked at each other and decided to wander off on our own.

We took in three or four aisles, stopped at the bathroom (no lines!), got something to eat and meandered back to the gathering of JT, which was just breaking up.  Again, no offers to introduce us and no opportunity to introduce ourselves.  After JT and Primitive Boy took their leave, Army Guy noticed that we'd been gone, but only because we came back with food in our hands.  Boss Man asked if we'd been introduced to JT and apologized for being busy with the owner of the booth.  Not a problem, we were going to meet them for dinner anyway.  Plenty of time to get to meet them.

Dinner time comes, the boys arrive at our door to gather us up for dinner with the Great JT and we head to their favorite restaurant.

The Great JT and his posse had gotten to the restaurant first and gotten us a table.  We walked up to join them and realized that they were two chairs short - one for Tara and one for me.  The boys had completely forgotten that we were going to be joining them for dinner and hadn't told the Great JT to include us in the count.

Two of the guys in JT's posse were appropriately horrified at the oversight. 

Our guys? 

Didn't even notice. 

We ceased to exist the minute they set eyes on the Great and Powerful JT.  Tara offered for us to sit at the counter and they could all go do their dinner.  J and K, with the Great JT's posse, wouldn't hear of it and immediately re-located to a table that would seat all of us. 

Our guys? 

Didn't even notice. 

We no longer existed in the shadow of their Messiah, the Great and Powerful JT.  We had become... *insert deep, thunderous voice here* ...The Invisible Women.

Remember, way back at the beginning, when I said Army Boy has had a crush on me for years?  Remember that Tara said that he couldn't take his eyes off of me and that every move he made was in my direction?

Yeah, not so much when the Great and Powerful JT is involved.

At the new table, Tara and I expected that we'd be sitting at one end by ourselves, the boys were so enamoured of JT.  It was amusing to see all of the boys (with the exception of J and K, who chose to sit at our end of the table) fall all over JT and Primitive Boy and fairly scramble to get a seat next to him.  Of all of the boys, I was most disconcerted to see the Original Bad Boy fall under the Great and Powerful JT's spell.

In the end, Tara and I had an absolutely wonderful time with J and K.  I'm betting we had more fun listening to their stories than we would have listening to the Great and Powerful JT's stories - simply because we hadn't had the chance to fall under his spell.

Speaking of Tara - click on over to Girls With Guns for our Q&A with her and a chance to win an autographed copy of LOOSE ENDS.

Now THAT'S Cold!

While I'm off enjoying the warmer weather in Las Vegas (mid-60s all week), I thought I'd share with you a picture from our last cold snap.  It was below zero for a couple of days (felt like a month) and we got snow.

The front U-joints are going out on RockCrawlinChef's Jeep, so I was driving her back and forth to work, while he was driving Ripley (his commute is much longer than mine).  The Lil Blue Box (Jeep) is missing her back window.  The zipper broke and so there's no way to keep the window in place.  It's not really a huge deal as long as the heater's going full blast.

Add in the snow and you get a snow-globe on wheels.  The snow would blow off Lil Blue's roof and into the back window, swirling around with the heater fan.  I can honestly say it was the first time I've ever been snowed on inside a moving vehicle.

It warmed up to about 2* above zero that day and the sun was shining brightly.  It shone bright enough that the snow started to melt despite the below freezing temperatures, causing icicles to form.

The snow that had been previously on Lil Blue's head melted and ran down her side, eventually freezing.  When my boss left work that afternoon, she called me to tell me that my vehicle was frozen to the ground.  Huh?  I knew it was cold, but was it really cold enough to freeze a Jeep to the ground?

Apparently it was.  You can't see it well in the picture, but the icicle's about two inches in diameter and frozen solid to the puddle on the ground.

Ah, well, the good news is that it being Colorado, it was much warmer the next day - we made it to 20* F.