How to enjoy Nov weather with OOS family....

Finally a week that isn't filled with mucinex, tylenol, and robitussinDM. I think I'm going to live!

Wednesday was Veteran's Day and Matt and I spent it with some of our favorite service members. We headed up to Lansford to see the family. Was great to spend time with Kevin, J, Randy and Michele, just visiting, catching up and we even made a trip into town. After a little shopping at the mall, we went to the Starving Rooster and enjoyed apps, pizza, and a few desserts. Was a great meal!

Thursday night was filled with prepping for a wedding. We put on chair covers for a couple hours.

Friday was another day to see out of state family as my cousin, Jake, met Matt and I, along with my cousin Kate and her family for lunch. Was good to catch up and see what's going on with him and his family. I had seen his girlfriend in Nashville so how ironic was it that he was able to get a trip to ND within the past month. That night we had an impromptu supper with my parents.

Saturday the good weather of ND continued. It's been a beautiful November with temps in the 60's and only frosts. We've been letting the cats out to enjoy the fun. I don't think they like the leaves but it has allowed us to prep the garden beds for next year's crop.

That night, Michele and Randy stopped on their way back from Minneapolis full of stories of where they'd eaten and what they'd seen on their quick relief trip away while Kevin and J watched Lee. We had given them a few recommendations and it was fun to hear that they enjoyed them. They even got one up on us as they tried a place that we hadn't had before.

Sunday was another around the house day. We did help weigh calves but Matt washed cars, I did laundry, and picked up. Was good to putter around.

Best meal: Starving Rooster... I had the ground hog, which was a white pizza with chicken, ham, and Italian bread crumbs.

MJR: I think we should go to Florida in January.
ALR: I think we need a king sized bed and want to replace the floor in the kitchen.
MJR: But we could do it for pretty cheap.
ALR: Are you just jealous that your parents are off doing things that we recommended and you are stuck at home not getting to see and eat fun things?
MJR wistfully: Maybe. 

Dear Matt:
I've decided if you can't beat them, join them.
Love your best friend forever -
Nike
p.s. Maybe it's Stockholm syndrome?

How to not go deer hunting.

Well, this weekend didn't go as planned.
We were supposed to go up to Lansford for annual deer opener.
We didn't go. Matt did. I stayed home and had a personal sulkfest because I was still sick.
Matt hung with family, ate wonderfully, and spent special time with Nike.
I ate soup and watched Harry Potter movies.
Matt went walking for deer (he didn't get a tag this year).
I took a nap.
Matt went goose hunting in the morning.
I cleaned up cat puke, twice and felt sorry for myself.
Matt had a good time and I was happy when he came home.
Don't get me wrong, sometimes it's nice to have a little time to yourself but I think I've reached my patience with being sick. I'm about over it and back to normal. The coughs are mostly gone...hoping the headaches follow suit. I am happy to say that I'm not strictly on a liquid diet now.

MJR and ALR have slept in separate rooms over the past week to avoid keeping the other awake with their fits of coughing.
In that week was the time change.
For the first time since 10/26 they slept in the same room.
MJR suddenly frantic: Honey, it's 7:00!
ALR angrily and madly and she rolls over with the covers: No! It's. Not.
MJR: Oh, it didn't get the time change?
Hours later ALR looks back and can understand his concern and felt bad for her morning rudeness. 

How to say goodbye to summer....

It's not summer anymore, that's for sure. The weather has turned. We had beautiful days until this past weekend where it was windy and overcast and cold.

This week, we had my Aunt Lynn take some pictures of Matt and I. Christmas isn't right around the corner but I like to be prepared. Matt's always wanted to take fall pics and due to the wedding date/time, it has never worked out. i decided to change that this year. Lynn had a great setup between some huge stumps in the pasture and her garden, which was still in a beautiful bloom. It was going really well until we were finished. All of the sudden something seemed stuck under my eyelash. Whether it was a bite or a sting, I found myself at the clinic the next day. What a bummer!

Other highlights of the week include Matt finally getting out to use his goose blind. He'd been scouting on and off for a couple weeks but after finding some possibility, waking up at 4:00 to go out, set up and whatnot he finally got to use it. While he didn't end up with any birds, he still got a flavor of it and some dust on the blind.

On Sunday we headed out to the farm for working the calves in prepping them for weaning. I ran the books, which I like aside from getting chilled. Matt was part of the pushing crew. Was a good day, good to be done and warm up by the fire.

We did start the week off with a bang. Nike got her first time shave. I've got to say, she looked pretty dang good! Not like TD did when he got his haircut!

Best meal: we are slipping into comfort food season... this week we had tacos, ham, pizza, pasta, sloppy joes.

Earlier this summer....
MJR out in garage, ALR in house.
Door widely opens.
MJR: HONEY! I NEED CASH!
ALR: (Bewildered) What is going on?
MJR: The ice cream truck is here! We need cash! ICE CREAM!
ALR goes outside: I don't see it.
MJR: I know, but I can hear it.
ALR: But, I don't see it.
MJR: (Staring off into the distance) Damn, I bet it's on the next block.

How to turn 32, all quiet like....

It's official, I'm moving towards my mid-thirties.
This past weekend it was my birthday week and I did it the best way I knew how to...relaxing with family. I started it off right with my parents at the farm. They made my favorite comfort food including potato soup with frybread and peach cake for dessert. The gifts that they picked hit major interests in my life...mums with a cow planter, a fancy cutting board with storage, gourds for fall decorating, and a cut and color! Was so nice to spend some time out there and talk. We also checked out the baby kittens that have got some spunk and personality!

On Saturday, we headed up north to Lansford to celebrate multiple birthdays! Matt's, Mine, and Michele's, We opened gits and again felt the love. Matt got a few shirts that he really liked the color but his favorite was his leaf sweeper. I got a food mill that I'm excited about and some great shirts that I'll wear in the office. We wrapped Michele's up pretty well and glad that we could make her excited! I'm not sure what my favorite present was tho....if it was the food mill/attachment OR the spinach dip that I special asked for! When you combine that with Randy's pizza and Michele's banana cake, it was a another day of overeating! I hurt so bad on the way home from being stuffed!

We also decided it was time to bring Nike home! She spent another summer at "Grandma's house" in Lansford. She rode home pretty well for the most part aside from panting and sweating but I did get a little time sitting in my lap. There's some readjustment with TD and Lola but so far so good! We realize they might not be best buds but we'll take civil.

On Sunday, we didn't really keep a schedule. After getting my gift of my planner with accessories(I'll order it in October), we worked in the yard cleaning up plants and pots. We still have a couple of tomato plants that are producing in the beds so we'll let those go and I still have hopes for my cabbage heads. But we let the cats out in the yard. Nike is pretty good outside. TonyDanza did a little hunting and we shoved Lola in her cube and she pushed it around the yard.

After lunch at JL's, we did some parade of homes touring, and for supper we had the Walrus with Dairy Queen for dessert, We ended the day watching the solar eclipse of the blood moon. All in all, I have no complaints for the day or the weekend, especially with the beautiful day. It was all pretty wonderful.

Best meal: I can't pick...I had a favorite meal each day...potato soup, pizza, calzone/burgers....I refuse to have that internal battle...all I know is I overate and could probably be safe for a couple days!

MJR: Who would you know in Dickinson that's connected to the new airport manager's wife?
ALR: I have not clue, I don't even know her name,
MJR: Well, I just got a text from him that "Is Amanda's birthday on 9/27?" How would he know that.
ALR: Woah, that's weird, 
MJR: I know, that's what I thought.
ALR: I don't know.
Both continue thinking.
ALR: Uh, I know.

Flashback over three years ago.
While waiting as patiently as possible, ALM sits at MJR's desk decides to input a special reminder and note on his calendar.

Back in modern time.
MJR: Well what did it say?
ALR: I can't remember...it was years ago, you had to have seen it.
MJR: I'm going to text him.

10 minutes later
MJR: uh oh.
ALR: WHAT!!
MJR: He said that years ago he had a girlfriend that had a birthday on 9-27 too and his wife was going through his phone and saw, "My beautiful girlfriend's birthday" and she got very upset. He noticed it was from the airport calendar and wondered if it was my wife and now his wife does not find the humor in the situation.
ALR dies of laughter, can't hold it together, can barely breath.
MJR: you could have broken up a marriage.
ALR laughter continues.

How to creep into your mid-thirties...

It's been a crazy week, not sure if it's the continuation of the summer or a sign of the fall. We started off the weekend at the Community Bowl with Fern and Kim and watched Robert with the Dickinson Midgets beat the Bismarck Demons. I'll be the first to admit I struggle with sports, especially football, but it was fun to watch the team, the plays, and Kim get excited as the game got close and they beat them. The big things at play include that the Demons were #1 and Dickinson hadn't beat them since 2000. Was a perfect night for it. Afterwards, we went for burgers at Ground Round!

On Saturday, Matt ended up having to work at the Zoo to showcase the airport to the community. I continued our rummage sale-ing, which I started on Thursday night...where according to Matt, all the best sales happen. We ended up getting a gun cabinet, a crock, a fishing poll, a small water pitcher, and teeny angel food cake pans. Not such a bad go!

Card from the Cats

On Sunday, it was Matt's birthday. We started the day off at the Bismarck Aero Fly-in before a few presents. I got him a garden soil tester, to check the PH, temp, sun, and water levels. We have some work to do on our soil. We also went out and bought his gun that he'd been talking about for months.

We got it home, unpacked it, and headed to the range for some test runs. Matt also had to train me to throw clay pigeons. The first three were a bit tough and I eventually got the hang of it. I'm sure it was not a graceful sight but they got into the air. He was pretty happy with his pick!

Supper was his choice and since I'm rarely in the mood for Chinese, we went to the China Garden. Matt had moo shu pork with hot and sour soup. I went with orange chicken with veggis delight and egg drop soup!

For dessert, we went out to the farm, Mom had made a chocolate pie!

All in all it was a great day!

ALR: How does it feel to be old?
MJR: You tell me in two weeks.

The rest of the week has flown by...I was in Fargo for a couple days as I helped to organize the Governor's Workforce and HR Conference. We had close to 500 attendees if you count vendors, speakers, and conference goers. I went to bed three nights in a row exhausted! I was so glad to be home on Thursday and so were my cats, they stuck pretty close for the next couple days.

The weekend came just in time. Matt and I took off for Dickinson on Friday for some warranty work for my ring and we went to El Sombrero, which I've had cravings for for the past couple months. They make the best Mexican.

He spent the weekend in the red truck hauling silage while I did laundry and some much needed cleaning. Overall, it's been a good weekend.

Best meal: Chicken Chimi with no pico, and a side of queso with chips and salsa. Yum.

Dear Matt-
I'm sorry I couldn't be there for your birthday. I've made numerous attempts to travel in your direction but these were all thwarted by Grandma. Between her and Grandpa, I'm beginning to worry about them and I think they are on to me. They lock me in the front entry, they change out the door I use to this fancy thing? It's not all fun and games, like last summer. I got busted on the kitchen table and Grandma pitched a fit.
Come get me.
Love your best friend in the whole world, 
Nike

How to have an international daytrip....

Before we get into the meat of the week and weekend, better start with the highlight of Matt's week. He made pickles, well I should say he's making pickles. He's doing them in two ways. First in a crock, complete with brine and crock and all and second, in the jars. We'll see how they turn out.

The last batch of stuff made in the crock seemed to turn out well, just ask Michele. We took her a jar of sauerkraut and we eventually had to tell her to put it away or she'd have NOTHING left, including the juice that she drank right from the jar. No, thank you!

She wasn't the only one what was happy this past weekend from our visit. We got to see Nike! She was as sassirrific as her normal self, which I wouldn't expect anything different. She does like that she can come and go outside as she pleases at Grandma and Grandpa's house but that didn't stop her from loving Matt when she could while we were there.

She wasn't too impressed about the "family picture" I forced her to take but it's not the first time that I've upset her.

I had to laugh at the little old ladies on the couch! Grandma Lee and Crybaby both have their days but they snoozed a majority of the time we were there. Glad they have each other!

We went up to Lansford on the way to the International Peace Gardens. I'd never been and it was a big deal to go this summer as they are tearing down the towers that they put up (symbolizing the relationship between the US and Canada and the promise to never go to war) in 1982. They have got moisture seeping into the concrete and they want to tear them down before they fall down.

It was very interesting to see the layout, design, and the thousands and thousands of flowers that  had gone into the work of the gardens. The whole park is themed around the division of the 2 countries by the 49th parallel and the peace that resides there.  It was very serene with the water fountains, the blankets of floral, and the dragonflies and butterflies humming in the air.

There are specific division in the park, from the water running to the main fountain, to the flower created flags, the floral clock, and the bells that chime every 15 minutes. We walked the mile and a half to the towers, which were fenced off. They stand 120 feet in the air and appeared different colors from the distance because of the sun's shadowing.

This is called a Mother-In-Law cushion!

We also took time to go through the green houses with the varieties of plants, cactus,and succulents. It was amazing the amount of time and energy that goes into the sheer beauty of it. Don't get my wrong, it's not a children's theme part but maybe with our garden this summer, I've come to appreciate the talents of those that are able to grow and create things.

We headed back through American customs and went to Bottineau, Matt's first college town and had late lunch at the Pizza Inn. Large 1/2 beef and pep, 1/2 sausage. I will admit I was pleasantly surprised by the pizza and would eat it again!

Sunday was a day to put things away, we started with helping Mom and Dad put away hay bales into the loft and ended it with hibiscus jelly, laundry, vacuuming, and finding our bedroom floor. I guess after weeks of gallivanting all over the world and traveling abroad, we probably got to get down to business!

Best Meal...so here is the tricky thing....Randy's pizza always tops my list and when you add our fresh basil and our jalapenos...it couldn't get better...always leaves me with a gut ache from over eating. We also had the first ribs of the summer combined with gouda mac and cheese...Matt did really well and we finished the meal with a couple pieces of cake that Mom made for me that I couldn't resist, peach cream cake. Ahhhh.....this whole weekend I ate too well. Maybe we should have walked the big loop of the Peace Gardens!

MJR reads ALR the placard at the Peace Gardens regarding the border.
Upon completion of his oration, ALR (looks at him): See! Canada! (Walks South 2 feet) United States!
MJR: NO, didn't you listen. This is no-man's land. 10 feet on each side of the 49th parallel.
ALR: Oh.
ALR: (Walks to the North) Canada! (runs 20 feet south) United States! (runs 20 feet north) Canada! (runs 20 feet south)
MJR: (gets in car)

How to shave a cat...

Update on the cats....they hated that we were away. We had a few incidents and accidents and even a few vet appointments. We scheduled boosters for Nike and TonyDanza and also called the groomer to get hair cuts as recommended. Unfortunately, we had to send Nike up to summer with Grandma and Grandpa while we tried to get the house back under control. But TonyDanza went in for his first haircut. We didn't know what to expect. When I let him out of the carrier, I did have a "what have I done?" moment....but we are getting used to it and we actually think he love it. He's been purring more, been rubbing us more, overall more affectionate. This may become an annual thing. Makes me wonder if he just plain feels better.

On the other front, the girls are up to their usual funny antics.

ALR: How did he get his collar off?

MJR: I took it off.

ALR: Why? You can see it well right now.

MJR: He's been rubbing up on my legs so much the collar was hurting them. 

ALR: I think he likes it.
MJR: Look at him...his head looks so big...like it's matched with the wrong body.

How to start and end a week in the same way...

We started the week and ended it in a similar fashion...with Randy!
Randy showed up on our doorstep Sunday night, straight from Michigan, with a table, a desk, and boxes of china. He drove the entire way in one shot and he looked beat! I didn't blame him. We got the table set up right away, just in time for the kitties to check it out. We were concerned about how the china made the trip and we only saw that one plate was broken. Not bad, all things considered.

The week wasn't too busy, Matt was busy at work this past week, even attended a city council meeting - he didn't make the big screen though. But we did find out about his spreadsheet and the merit it carried! On Wednesday, we built electric fence for Dad. They were having trouble keeping things in on the neighbor's side and too many were getting on the road.

The weekend didn't go as we had planned due to the weather. We were supposed to brand calves on Saturday but the downpours ruled out that possibility. It drizzled most of Saturday until the skies let loose in the afternoon and didn't seem to stop until the snow started on Sunday. Yes, snow. Not enough to really do anything but remind us that we aren't that far into the spring. It rained so much that the banks rose on the ditch. we lost site of the spout and even caught a muskrat swimming around. 
Now we started the week the way, with Randy. He was there on Sunday night to Monday morning AND he ended the week with us too! He joined us for Friday night pizza. He had come down for branding, but because of the weather, ended up installing cameras instead. Not what we had in mind, but we kept him busy.

Best meal: Matt picked up tuna steaks and seared them since we couldn't grill. We also had green beans and mashed potatoes to go along.

MJR gets out of chair, Nike drops into it.
MJR decides not to reclaim her chair, sits on couch beside ALR.
ALR: Nike
Nike turns to stare at ALR
ALR: Grandpa is coming tomorrow.
Nike immediately looks at MJR, as if needing validation of sentence.
MJR: Yes, it's right, Grandpa is coming tomorrow.
Nike stares at Matt in complete disbelief.

How to drink a Mint Julip...

For those that didn’t know this, I have a secret thing that I do when spring

comes…I start searching. Searching, scanning, watching for buds on trees. Trees can’t lie, they know when it’s safe to assume it’s spring. I’ve been scanning for over a month and some trees have really taken off but the one outside my bedroom gets a quick scan every morning, hunting for the little leaves.

The best surprise happened this past weekend when I woke up and looked out over the buds and there they were….flowers. All over. It was beautiful. Just gorgeous. I love a flowering tree but when I see those blooms completely cover the tree, it’s a sure sign of spring. We’d kicked around the idea of cutting a tree down for more yard, but when I saw those blooms, there was no way I’d even talk about it anymore.

Other things have been happening in the yard. Matt has really spent a good amount of time. Whether it is transplanting sod, building garden beds for us, mowing, looking at sprinklers, or whatever…he’s enjoying the yard like he was never able to in Dickinson. Makes me happy, despite having to stand and look at sprinkler heads in every store in town.

We’ve had a few guests over recently, mostly for meals and drinks, but it’s been fun. Matt has really perfected his pizza, which goes over well with the groups. I don’t complain, especially because we have it the next day for lunch too!

This past weekend, we celebrated the Kentucky Derby. We had to hold off celebrations a bit because Matt volunteered to pick rocks to help my parents, which helped with seeding. I spent time with Mom and cleaned house a bit. We fast forwarded through many parts, but I did much better in my pickings this year, I chose the second place horse. We also enjoyed a twist on the mint julep from last year. I made a basil simple syrup that we added to the fun. They turned out soon good, but I think the credit goes to my cute bartender.

We want to start getting some seeds in the ground soon and we are excited about the garden this year.

Best meal: Matt made a brisket and I made mashed sweet potatoes, I was super impressed with that! 

After putting the last bit of dirt in the raised garden bed that he built.
MJR: I bet the cats think they are coming outside.
ALR: Why would they think that?
MJR: Because they think I made them each their own huge litter box.

ALR: They don't think that! Pshaw.
MJR: (Imitating TonyDanza) This one is all for me and it will never be dirty because it's so huge!
TonyDanza sits at patio door staring. Difficult to read whether this is true or he thinks it's absurd.

Dear Grandma and Grandpa -

I thought you loved me! All I wanted to do was go outside. So I cried at the window, thinking I could convince them using my oratory skills. Matt decided to bring me outside but insisted I wear that ridiculous harness thing. I decided to protest and fight the system and when you saw the video where I decided I wasn't standing for it, all you did was laugh! 

Heartbroken -

Nike