Sledding Videos

Tree Hunting!

Snow, sunshine, kids, dogs, nice people, snacks, and lots of trees - everything you need for the perfect tree hunting excursion. I haven't gone out looking for a tree for quite a long time, and this really was one of the better hunting expeditions I've experienced. (Thanks, Peck Family, for adopting me for a day!)

Hmmm, which way?

My little tree (which will hopefully fit in the living room)

The big one (Bo is guiding them in)

Glad I don't have to figure out how to fit it in my living room!

Fun with rocks

Trees, check. Now it's time for some sledding!

Seriously, that tree just jumped out at us.

Moss and snow

Tree versus rock

Rocks and snow

Trees, Rocks, and Snow

Run!

Mmmmm

Mission accomplished

Hey, that looks like a good one for next year!

December Update (yeesh)

So with all the crazy moving stuff (having to clean two places, and everything taking longer at the new place), novel writing went by the wayside, as did blog updates, having a life, etc, etc. Callie and I are pretty settled in, and once the old stove leaves this week, everything will be fully functional.

The library had one of the fire suppression main pipes burst last Monday. It's been chaos and disaster. Still, the damage could have been much, much worse. The collection in kids took a bit of a hit, but most of the damage is carpet, walls, etc, etc. The Butte and Montana collections were moved right away, so it looks like no damage. It'll be awhile to come back from this one, though.

One of the "sure thing" grants that my job is based on was not renewed. As the rest of the potential funding is a HIGHLY competitive federal grant that we really have no business applying for (but that I have been assigned to do....), I'm planning on not having a job after June or July. I'm developing a variety of plans, and then will see what happens with those, and where I end up. My plan now is to train for the Missoula Marathon (July 10th), and to bring my mom out to Montana in July to go to Glacier. If anyone else wants to come, start saving your pennies. It'll be fun! The library job market in Montana (along with some of my other plans) leads me to believe that I will be moving somewhere else, so I want to do some Montana sightseeing before I go, wherever.

On a happier note, I went tree hunting today with the Peck family (I work with both Vickie and Laci). The weather was perfect - snow and sun. I'm going to post pictures and videos separately (because I'm too lazy to rearrange everything - since blogger always inerts pictures at the start of the post). As always, except for work, things are pretty good.

Catching Up

Oh poor neglected blog. Oddly enough, my problem has been that I have had too much to say, so I haven't been saying anything. Much of what I could have said would have been tentative. Things have felt very tentative in my life for awhile. I have been seriously considering my life and my plans for the future.

I have also been following the "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything" philosophy. I have been trying not to be negative about my work situation. While I love my job duties themselves, the work atmosphere is still full of all kinds of crazy. I have been trying to step away and not get pulled into the downward spiral.

My birthday present from Nancy - a shoebox full of freshly dug potatoes and carrots!

So, life goes on. I spent my birthday weekend in Missoula. It was a wonderful weekend. Not only did I get to see friends, but I felt like I could actually be me, and talk, and be listened to. I've missed that so much. During my birthday weekend, I did a phone interview for a job in the midwest. While the people seemed nice enough, I turned down the chance to interview for the job. Once I realized that I was falling into the - this could be my only chance to escape - mode, and started to listen to my instincts, I realized that the job seemed like an okay thing, but not something that made me excited, not something I really WANTED. I don't want a job that's okay. I want a job that's great. And this job made me question some of the people dynamics - it showed signs of having it's own kinds of crazy. Turning down the interview made me feel both sad and strong. But ultimately, I deserve a great job, and since I am employed now, I am going to hold out for one.

This means that my previous post about leaving was premature. In soul searching, I realized that I really like the library field. I really like my current job duties. If I could pick up my job and plunk it down elsewhere, I would be dancing in the streets - everyday - on my way to work. Which means that I am still looking for other jobs, but that I am holding out for a library job. A great library job.

Meanwhile, I am moving from my apartment to a little house (see photo above). It's the top part of a little house, actually. Someone I work with owns it, and it is finally getting hooked up to water/sewer lines so she can rent it out. Since I will move in with the funky carpeted kitchen and old appliances and little gas heater, she will make it cheap. Eventually, much work will be done, but for now, cheap and small works for me, and that makes funky okay. And it's much better insulated and has storm windows, which going into winter here is a very good thing. I'll be out of this apartment by November 10th, so much cleaning and packing will be ensuing.

I am going to be doing a few fun things. I'm going to the Bannack ghost tour this Friday night after work. Saturday I'm helping make teacup cupcakes for a Sunday birthday party. As part of this, I've been experimenting with putting food color into sugar cookies. If you use the paste stuff, it works. I'm invited to the birthday party, too. Next Saturday after work I'm doing the Butte ghost tour. I guess if I get too scared and can't sleep, I can always pack or clean. (Callie says, "moving? again?")

November 1st starts National Novel Writing Month. I'm going to be working on the novel I started last year. I haven't done much with it since that point, and I ended up cutting at least half of what I wrote. I just won't count what I've already done (and kept). Let the insanity begin!

A long time gone

Almost September. A lot has happened in a few months. Callie's been sick. I thought she wouldn't make it through the second weekend in July. She's still here, though. And so am I.

I've had time lately to ponder my life, my goals, my hopes, my needs. And I've decided, again (hey, it takes me a couple times for things to stick), that my situation is not worth wasting precious time over. I have some work experience. I am applying for library jobs (wish me luck), but if that doesn't happen in two months, I'm leaving here anyway. Hey, it'll be the festive holiday season and many low paying, seasonal jobs will appear. My goal/deadline for leaving is November 10th (unless I get a fabulous job offer that starts sooner). I've been doing this day by day, but the day by day is becoming a slog through quicksand. That's my cue. I know myself well enough to know this is a danger sign for depression and worse. I will not lose my soul for job experience.

I've thought that sticking it out here might give me some sort of illuminating life lessons, since it reminds me of situations in my past. I've finally figured out, though, that the lesson here is Done That. Don't Need To Do It Again. Thank you universe, for letting me finally finally figure that out. It's not necessary to do painful things over and over, hoping for a different outcome that won't happen. Sometimes the lesson is seeing the hole, getting the hell out of it, and going a different direction. Point taken. Climbing out now. I'm not sure where I'm going, but I have options, and am coming up with lots and lots of plans. This magpie is getting ready to fly.
And yes, the lily planted in the trash can did bloom, spectacularly, as I can only hope to do.

June - Slightly Different than 2 Weeks Ago

So, two weeks ago, things looked like this -

Spring has finally decided to grace us with her presence. The new leaves on the trees look yellow in this picture because of the sun, but they are really green.

Flowering Trees! (there are a lot of these in town)

A close up of the flowers

I like this tree. Before the flowers bloomed, it looked like it had dark red leaves if you weren't paying attention.

See how pretty!

This is my miniature stargazer lily, growing in a trash can (hey, I needed deep and skinny, and it worked). This is May 19th.

This is June 7th. I'm anxious to see if it'll bloom. It seems to be liking its trashcan home. (yes, you can call it Oscar....)

Spring At Last!!!!

April Fool's Day, Thrifting, and Gratuitous Callie Pics

St Patrick's Day Parade

Since we did inventory on St Pat's, I didn't truly experience the craziness of Butte. We did go watch the parade, and by the time we were done with the day at 5pm, I was too tired to try to go out into crazy central. Next year, I may take the afternoon off and try going around to some of the bars to hear music.

Chinese New Year Parade

Butte's Chinese New Year's Parade is billed as the shortest, highest in elevation, and loudest (something like that, anyway). They claim to have 10,000 firecrackers. After hearing it, I tend to believe that. There were lots of people walking with the parade who had bags of firecrackers and who were lighting them like crazy. The video at the end gives you an idea of the noise involved with this parade.

I tried to stay on the sidewalk, but that's where they light the firecrackers, so you have no choice but to go into the street and follow along with the parade. As you can see from the coats, it was a cold day, so it's a good thing it's a short parade. So far, it's been my favorite parade in Butte.