A House Unknown…

Looks like the ceiling vent fan in the master bedroom might be leaking.

There was a fine mist on the wall and floor all around the commode, the commode seat cover and the tank, but not the top of the commode tank.

To be honest, I wondered if S hadn’t sleepwalked and, you know…

When asked, he said he couldn’t recall---but isn’t that, after all, the problem with sleep walking---but he really didn’t think so.

He suggested that water may have sprayed from the shower head while the vent fan was on.

I experimented. There was no way the water could have spray around the corner.

Then I noticed water droplets hanging from the ceiling vent fan…sigh.

Of course there were issues with our house back home, but we’d lived there for nearly 20 years.

Wow…did I just write that?! 20 years!

Anyway…we had a sense of knowledge with our house back home, and although things always break, leak and fall apart, we had that sense of false comfort and knowledge of what was what.

Or maybe I just remember things as they really weren’t…

Here, everything is new and unknown and kind of scary, but still exciting at the same time….as long as I don’t have to worry about fixing leaks, gas ranges or broken sprinkler systems (which is fine by the way).

Just saw a sight…three plow trucks drove by the house…twice.

Of course, the snow (and ice underneath) is so packed that the plows don’t really make a difference.

And they don’t use salt, just sand.

Hoping the sun will shine today but don’t think so…and it’s barely 30 degrees…and windy!

I’m still having fun though!

Hope you all have a good day!

Snow Boots...

Sounds strange, I know, but I just got my first pair of snow boots in many, many years.

Back home, all I needed was a good pair of waterproof hiking shoes, which worked fine for shoveling snow and walking around in the slushy stuff.

Got these boots on a quick trip to Ft Collins two weekend’s ago. Just in time.


photo courtesy of the "teenager"

They were a bit more than I was hoping to pay, but they’ve kept my piggies warm and toasty these past two days. Plus I think they’re pretty darn cute.

So if you find this pair



of The North Face waterproof, down boots on sale…grab them!

You won’t be sorry…

Today I saw a pair of Uggs (normally not my style) on one of the hair stylists at my salon that are much, much cuter than my boots.

Found out they’re a discontinued style and sold at the one shoe store in town.

I might just need to go check them out.

You know. Just in case…

p.s. To see an array of good-looking snow boots, check out the flick "New in Town" with Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick, Jr.

Cute and fun movie to boot!

My First Big Snow Storm…Wyoming Style

Have some other blog notes to post but decided to go with current, real-time events like this…







It stated snowing 3:15 Tuesday afternoon. With the exception of a brief interlude or two, it’s been snowing ever since.

At 7:15 this morning it was -2.

That’s “2”with a minus sign in front of it people…in October!!

I’ve shoveled five times in two days and more times in 36 hours here than I did in one season back home.

I’d shovel…more snow would fall…I’d shovel…snow would fall…I’d shovel…the wind would blow new drifts.



Then it would repeat all over again.

Geez…

Not even the lawn/snow service guys (I wimped out and called and) who came twice yesterday and once today could keep the snow at bay…

But at least it helped me out…a lot!

We’re on a double corner lot and the sidewalk is the equivalent of at least four…possibly five…times what we had back home.

I didn’t even attempt to shovel the driveway.

I let the lawn/snow guys do that…three times!

I have to admit though…it’s been pretty exciting.

Without a doubt…this weather would have shut down the metro area and schools back home.

I-80 between Laramie and Cheyenne shut down yesterday and has been closed all day due to wind, snow drifts and near-zero visibility.

I have been a bit anxious on the roads.

Have I mentioned…that with a few exceptions….the roads don’t get plowed here?

J complained on our way home from school that he “could run faster” than I was driving and “why can’t you go like those guys (driving 4x4 trucks)?”

His response to my, “I can’t drive in weather like this yet” was “but the car knows how to!”

So smart(-alecky)…and at such a young age.

Fortunately I don’t have to travel very far in this town to get to wherever I’m going.

Have I mentioned that they also don’t plow the parking lots?

I went to the Safeway before getting J from school and the parking lot was a jumble.

When I got back to my car, some knuckle head had sandwiched me in between his car and the car parked in front of me.

We’re talking an angled parking lot here folks. I’m not sure how it happened or who was in the wrong…but either the car in front or the car behind me was not parked in a legal space...or maybe it was me!

No way for me to maneuver out of my spot. Fortunately the guy came out just as I was ready to go back in and complain.

I also noticed that a number of people leave their cars running…while they’re inside shopping…I guess so the battery doesn’t die.

A lot of folks apparently have this electrical “plug-in” thingy that they plug in overnight to protect the batteries from freezing.

So much for this Mid-Atlantic girl to learn

Fortunately our vehicles are snug like little bugs in the heated garage…heater turns on when the temp hits below 40 degrees.

Then again, someone’s got to shovel that driveway.

Coming home after school was the worst…the wind was strong all day (thus the -2) and the roads were a mess.





When I got home we had more drifts all around the house.

I had to go out again around 5 pm to shovel as the wind had caused drifts of at least 12 to 14” over the sidewalks on the South side of the house.





Figured the freezing temps and winds would turn it into a block of ice by morning.

It was just too much for me though. Fortunately a neighbor saw me struggling and came by with his snow blower.

Next week we’ll look for our own snow blower!

Wish I could take a picture of this phenomenon…

Cars tooling down the road completely covered by 4” to 6”of snow...except for a small patch cleared on the driver’s side.

Don't think we would be able to get away with that one back home.

Stay toasty.

I hear the storm is heading…East.

Interesting tree phenomenon…

No beautiful fall leaf colors here in Laramie.

The leaves die…on the branch.

So we have all these trees…with brown and grayish leaves hanging from the branches.

Wish I could say it was pretty…



Wish I had taken photos a week ago. Many of the leaves have already been blown away.


Bad angle, I know…didn’t want the homeowner to freak out by a stranger taking photos in their front yard. The leaves left on the tree are brown and dead.

We don’t have any substantial non-fir trees in our neighborhood…so I had to take my shot where I could.

For the record, I did stop the car before taking my photos.

I hear tell that there are beautiful fall colors further into the interior of Wyoming.

Guess a road trip is in the furture, if it isn't already too late...

WPR Morning Music Program...

with Grady Kirkpatrick...TOTALLY ROCKS!

Best 3 hour music program...ever!

Even better…the house has an intercom system so I get music a-n-y-w-h-e-r-e in the house, including the garage. Awesome!

Music and news all day long whenever I’m home. Double awesome!

BTW: WPR completed its "beg" week in less than 39 hours, so "beg" week ended early Tuesday morning...3 & 1/2 days early!!

How cool it that!

Just thought I'd share...

Been a while...

So…it’s been a while since my last post.

It’s not that I don’t have anything to write about…

Believe me, I have plenty to say about life out here…but in reality, it is really only interesting and amusing to me.

Additionally, mom convinced me…of something I already knew…there are just some things one should NOT blog about…

Especially if I ever want the "teenager" to talk to me once he reaches adulthood!

Life has gotten busy…with life stuff, house stuff, car stuff and school stuff…and I’m trying to keep up with e-mails so friends won’t forget all about us.

To those of you who have left comments…thanks!!!

Thanks for reading my blog and for finding something encouraging, kind, sweet or funny to say.

I don’t have an option to reply, except on the comment section, but do know that I appreciate the comments!

Send me an e-mail address if you’d like (you can do so via my profile page) as I’d love to stay in touch.

I’ll soon have more posts than anyone will want to read (this is, after all, my online journal of our adventures in the Western world) but in the meantime…

This is what I see on this bright and sunny morning when I look up from my laptop and East…[Edited to Note: This should read "West"]


Click to enlarge.

Wowie Kazowi!

Thanks for checking in...

Untitled...

I got just a wee bit melancholy this morning.

It has to do with the “teenager”…again.

Maybe it was the e-mail from a college buddy last night telling me about how she’s helping her oldest child prepare College applications.

Maybe it’s because J is still not interested in inviting school friends over after school or on the weekends.

Maybe it’s because he says he doesn’t want to go trick-or-treating…because he doesn’t have anyone to go with.

Maybe it’s because he “turned down” an invitation to a Halloween party and said “no” to an invite to go trick-or-treating with another new family…also from Virginia.

(He has, however, said that he wants to dress like “Saw”!? for Halloween. For the record, he has never seen the movies, regardless of how much he CLAIMS that he wants to see them.)

Maybe it’s because he’s become a major chair potato…watching too much TV or playing games too frequently on my laptop.

Maybe it’s because my once active son who loved playing outside and doing something, rather than sitting around, has become the aforementioned chair potato.

Maybe it’s because he says it’s “too cold” to do anything outside and if S and I want to go hiking or ‘just see the sights,’ he’s not interested.

Maybe it’s because he says “it’s too sunny” to doing anything outside.

Maybe it’s because he’s become so indifferent…to everything that he once enjoyed and embraced back home.

Maybe it’s because “I” worry…that he’s lonely, when in fact…he’s not.

Maybe this is what happens when one turns 13.

Maybe this is what happens when a 13 year old moves away from the one-and-only place…and the people…they know and love.

Maybe I’m just worrying about a non-existent “shoe falling,” as J seems to have adjusted just fine and seems quite happy.

I just don’t know.

Thirteen-age-hood is new and unfamiliar territory and I don’t have my friends to compare notes…to share what is---or isn’t---normal 13 year old behavior…or just to commiserate.

Or maybe, this is just really…the twilight zone.

It’s happened you know…to other parents of thirteen-year olds.

doodoodoodoo
doodoodoodoo

Photo Metaphor…

My NPR thermos I got a year or two ago for making my annual donation.



I love this thermos.

Sadly, it now leaks.

My re-purposed thermos, which will now sit in my craft room.


Life means…making adjustments.

BTW: Apologies to the English majors (or writers) out there: I have no idea whether one can have a “photo metaphor” for one’s life…but I like the concept.

Frontier Woman

This little tidbit was shared at the book club last evening…

By some standards, Wyoming is not considered a rural area but rather, the “Frontier.”

“Many frontier counties are located in the West, a part of the country where individual counties tend to cover a large geographic area. Even counties that have a town with a hospital, grocery store, and other services may also encompass areas that are much more rural and isolated, making them frontier counties.” Definition from the Rural Assistance Center

Hmm…no wonder I feel an affinity with Ms. Elinore Pruitt Stewart.

Tweet: NPR Pledge Week…Wyoming Style

WPR has 3 (sometimes just 2) pledge hours per day…that’s it.

Pledge request ends whenever the stated goal is reached…then it ends.

WPR seeks 5 to 6 new members per pledge hour…that’s all.

WPR broadcasts from the UWYO campus; just three blocks form J’s school…not far.

(Makes it easy for me to personally deliver my new membership contribution).

Interesting Factoids:

From WPR Website

Approximate representation of WPR signal coverage

Red, yellow and green indicate a strong signal.
Blue and purple indicate a weaker but stable signal.

WPR broadcasts to over 80% of Wyoming, with 26 broadcast sites throughout the state.

WPR broadcasts its signal to its remote transmitter sites via Satellite from the studio in Laramie.

From time to time, there can be problems with reception due to Satellite signal interruption caused by heavy snow or rain or, other weather related interruptions.

Just thought I’d share…

Blog Posts of a Woman Homesteader...

I’m trying to meet and make new friends.

So I joined the University of Wyoming Women’s Group.

We met this evening to discuss this book…

by Elinore Pruitt Stewart.

Her letters were first published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1914 and made into a move in 1979…Heartland, starring Rip Torn and Conchata Ferrell.

100 years have since passed and a mere hundred or-so modern conveniences have been invented, yet I feel a kinship with Ms. Pruitt Stewart.

Like Ms. Pruitt Stewart, I too am a newcomer to Wyoming.

Like Ms. Pruitt Stewart, I too didn’t know a soul before arriving here. (Well…she was a widowed mother. I have my boys.)

Yet…she survived and she made friends…lots of them.

Pick up a copy…it’s a fascinating, amusing and easy read.

BTW: The only difference between the depiction of Ms. Pruitt Stewart on the front cover of the book and my current life...I don’t have a dog.

Thanks for stopping by...

Ready for another day....

The little red milk pot has been saved.



Wish I had taken a shot "before" all the scrubbing and scraping!

Tweet for the day…but DON’T tell my mom!

Has the proverbial shoe fallen for the 3rd time?

I heated the last little teeny tiny bit of half-and-half for my morning coffee.

I had the milk on the stove, on low, in this cute little tin cup (with a handle) made for scalding milk that I bought quite some time ago from Lebanese Taverna Market back home.

I was on the phone trying to find a new Doctor, and to make an appointment, for S who is still sick…poor baby…and walked away.

I was asked a LOT of questions about the patient, etc., etc.

When I was done…

Well. Let’s just say it wasn’t’ pretty.

On the bright side, I created a new food group…deep, dark brown caramelized milk chips (once you scrape it off the pan)!

Plus, I think I can salvage my little red tin heating cup…with lots of soaking and the aforementioned scraping.

Phew...

I'm counting this as my "3rd." As in, things happen in 3s...

Is it time to cry…yet?

I haven’t had a gas range since I lived at home…before college…a long time ago.

I don’t like gas…it scares me.

About ten days ago, the gas range went kaput.

It just stopped working.

I had been using all four burners and then turned them all off for about twenty minutes.

When I returned to start them up again…nada.

It was a teaching day for S, so he couldn’t come home to help figure out what was wrong.

Have I mentioned I’m afraid of gas?

I called the gas company… to make sure we had paid our bill…but couldn’t get through.

I turned up the heat and the hot water, both gas appliances, just to be sure. They both worked just fine. So it wasn’t the gas bill.

With S on the other end of the phone, I sniffed around, checked the fuse box and breaker, looked at the plug in the cabinet underneath the range…again, nada.

I called around for an appliance company (very limited here in small town Laramie) but it was 5:30 on a Friday afternoon.

So...after another 30 minutes, I gave it another go. It worked!

I decided to have an appliance guy come in anyway. He thinks it’s the modulator, which I guess is part of the electric component on the appliance.

When all is said and done, it’s going to cost somewhere between $150 and $200.

Fine. We can deal.

This morning around 10:30, the doorbell rang.

We don’t know many people well enough to have them ring our doorbell at 10:30 am on a Sunday morning.

It was a good Samaritan, telling me that our sprinkler system broke and that water was gushing all over the front of the house.

Just prior to the doorbell, I was running around the house trying to figure out…what the heck was that “vent-like” noise in the first floor guest bathroom!

And not 40 minutes early, S told me, “We can’t have the dishwasher---or the washing machine---running and take a shower. There’s not enough water pressure.” Strange...this a new home.

It hadn’t occurred to me…neither machine was on!

Since S is really under the weather, I ran out and managed to turn off the water, which was indeed gushing all over the place. In fact, there was a deep puddle just under the windowsill.

I’m not sure what happened, except that something obviously froze last night.

Last week I made an appointment---for next week---to have the sprinkler system blown out (there are 12 stations), which obviously isn't soon enough!

I had done what they told me and had turned the system to “off,” which may have helped to prevent an even worse scenario.

But who knew that it was going to get this cold, this soon! Certainly I did not.

We’ve never had a sprinkler system and so I wasn't sure what to do, except to call a local friend---our former realtor---who helped walk me through what to look for.

Nice guy!

And I’m keeping my fingers crossed that things (good or bad) don't come in threes!

May the force be with you…

White Ice

No additional snow this morning…just COLD and lots of ice on the roads.

I’ve been told about this phenomenon.

It snows.

The sun comes…the snow melts.

Night falls…the temp drops below freezing.

The next day…white ice.

Of course this happens in lots of other places, but I’ve heard about this from a LOT of people.

Plus, they don’t plow the roads here…except for 1, or 2, maybe 3, and perhaps 4 main arteries (if you can call them that!).

The roads just to the right and in front of us seem to get plowed because of the Junior High…lucky for us!

As you can see, though, the cul-du-sac to the left of us…lots of ice.

I got up at 7:30 to take care of the patient, who is not doing well at all, and there was no sun.

It is now 9:45 and still no sun.

So, this is what it’s going to be like…

I can deal.

Maybe I’ll believe it…if I say it enough times.

Stay warm out there...

Too Funny...

CR...you are too funny!

Thanks for reading my blog...

Calling...Goshen Friends

You know who you are...you recently sent me a post.

Lost all our email addresses when we left home.

Would you be so kind as to send me your email address via email (see my profile).

Thanks!

Got Flu? A Good Book?

S is feeling under the weather.

No pun intended. Honest!

He started feeling cruddy mid-week. J was struggling with something all last week and half of his science class was out one or two days.

I hope S doesn’t have the flu. He was silly enough not to get the FREE flu shot given at the University and I just got mine last week. I hear tell it takes two weeks before it becomes effective. Here's keeping my fingers crossed!

Anyway…I’ve been trying to catch up on my blog.

J is reading, Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card. I heard OSC on WPR a few weeks ago and just KNEW that this would be a good book for J.



Of course, he didn’t think so. Said he had tried it once and it was...well, we just won't go there.

Great mom that I am…I went to the library, checked out the book and let it sit on the coffee table. He asked, and I told him the book was for ME.

Anyway, this afternoon he wanted to play a game on my laptop, after watching TV.

Smart mom that I am…I said “Only after you spend 15 minutes reading Ender’s Game.”

He huffed, and he puffed, but he couldn’t budge this brick wall. We agreed on 30 pages.

He’s still reading.

Smart mom. That’s me. Only for the moment, though.

Thanks for checking in…

Old Friend….

I stepped outside at dusk to try to capture the beauty on this cold finter (fall/winter) evening.

I startled this neighbor, who had been reposing across the street.

I tried to get s/he to stay and visit a spell, but well…



S/he’s a bit unhappy with me…this is the second time I’ve disrupted her/his respite.

S/he is obviously going off to visit a more worthy…and less bothersome...neighbor.



Ain’t s/he a real beauty though!

Just one of the wonders of this place called...Wyoming

Ole Mother Hubbard Went to the Cupboard…

Only to find this sign at her local Safeway…


I guess they closed I-80 last night...or early this morning...due to the snow and wind.

I’ve heard tell that the cupboards can get a wee bit bare during winter when the roads from Denver, Cheyenne, and Fort Collins are closed.

Now we’re wishing we had taken advantage of the University Ag Department’s offer of a “whole cow” (or however much you wanted) at $2.50 per lb!!!

Live and learn baby…live and learn!

Snow…Snow…Snow (ala Danny Kaye, Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney)

This is what greeted us at 7A.M. this morning.



It started to snow late yesterday afternoon and was swirling round and round all last evening. The guesstimate: between 4 to 6 inches by morning. We got (at least) the 4 inches.

It’s supposed to snow again this evening, with possible accumulation of another 2 inches.

J had an 8 A.M. basketball game down the street at the H.S.

Afterwards, S and I went to Walmart to pick-up a few space heaters.

I still haven’t quite figured out how to get the house warm enough without turning the temp up to about 74 degrees, which I just can't bring myself to do! And I' d rather not be dressed for the outdoors while indoors.

I guess it must be the high ceilings plus an air return in the living/family room blowing cool air… right at the sitting area!

Anyway…you can’t really see, but the parking lot looked like it was ready for Halloween, with lots of dry ice mist swirling about 6” off the ground.



One of the dad’s at J’s bb game told me…”This much snow hasn’t been typical in some time. In recent years, we’d get little snow flurries early on here and there, but not quite this much.”

When I asked about the ice on the roads/sidewalks under the snow, same dad told me “That’s because the ground is still on the warm side and we don’t usually get such an extended cold snap with this much snow so early.”

He also said the weather forecasters (and the Farmer’s Almanac) are in agreement…this is going to be a wild winter!

Oh great! The first winter WE move here, turns out it’s going to be a harsh one!

Guess he saw the stricken look on my face and said, “Oh…believe me. Its better this way. Otherwise you think, no big deal. Then, Bam! Before you know it, the temp is 50 degrees... BELOW Zero!

Again…did I really sign on for this!

Oh well. A few more photos of the beautiful bright snow!




Stay warm...or cool...wherever you may be!

Food Challenge (long!)

The “teenager” is studying climate change in Science class, which includes looking at their individual and their collective carbon footprint(s).

They have been challenged to a two-week period where they keep track of the amount of meat, chicken and fish they consume and how many miles traveled in the car each day.

J interprets the former to mean a hiatus on meat, fish and chicken and the latter to mean walking or biking to school (and essentially not going anywhere else besides school or bb practice, which is just across the field from our house).

Two days ago he informed us: “Oh. Yeah. Our entire family needs to reduce our carbon footprint. So that means no meat, fish or chicken for you guys and I need to know how many miles you drive everyday.”

What!!!

J is already very good about so many things I had to be taught---over and over again---when I was his age, i.e. turning out the lights, not letting the water run and not letting the cool or hot air out (or in). And he’s a great recycler too.

But I think I want to talk to his teachers…NO meat, fish or chicken?!!

But this is important to him and he’s so earnest about it.

So…what’s two weeks?

Besides, we’re allowed a meat, chicken or fish serving once a week, which we’ll serve to company on Sunday.

I wasn’t in the mood for pasta, so I pulled our several vegetarian cookbooks we acquired over the years to help us accommodate our vegan and veggie friends, and which have gotten very little use other than those times.

I was amazed, looking at the photos in the following book, The Vegetarian Gourment by Roz Denny, how appetizing (and easy) the recipes seem.



So I decided to try not one…not two…but three recipes!

But then I forgot to get the main ingredient for one of the recipes and so it was down to these two…

Egg Flour Soup

This was delicious! Both boys liked it, but shhhh…I cheated and added chicken broth, which I know is a no-no and will make it with vegetable broth next time.



This is what our soup looked like…my eggs don’t look quite as thin and “flowery.” We had already eaten half of it when I took the photo.

I’d love to try the recipe on the bottom of the page, ‘Broccoli and Saga Blue Cheese Soup’, but I know the boys won’t go for it.

This is the other recipe I tried…

Quick Basmati and Nut Pilaf

My boys liked the soup better, but thought it was…interesting.

I had to use a “box” Basmati rice, which affected the cooking process because the local Safeway didn’t have Basmati rice. I can probably find it at either the co-op or the tiny gourmet shop in town.

I thought it was yummy with the cardamom pods and cumin seeds, ground coriander and nuts.

This is what our dish looks like…

I told J, “This is challenging for me, finding and cooking tasty veggie meals.”

His response…without missing a beat, “It’s supposed to be.”

So there…out of the mouth of babes (so to speak).

Have a wonderful weekend (and so sorry Chicago)!

And the Beat Goes On…

I haven’t been out just yet, but I’m freezing inside the house. Wearing that faithful sweatshirt hoodie again, but it sill isn’t warm enough.

I hate to raise the thermostat above 68, but I just may have to since the sun isn’t out today to keep the house toasty like it did yesterday.

The boys drove off to school together since we’re suppose to have a bit of a snow shower later this morning and the temp is hovering around 30 degrees.

I heard earlier this morning that with the wind chill (and the potential for up to 40 mph gusts today) the temp will actually be...17 degrees!

That’s…s-e-v-e-n-t-e-e-n! On October one!

Hoo boy.

Again…did I really sign on for this?!!

Anyway…the title for my post is because at 8:30 this morning, I heard the Junior High Marching Band practicing…outside!

They didn’t march around the track, as they sometimes do, but still…

Them some hearty kids out here...

That’s all I have to say, as I prepare to head out in my winter gear.

Though I’ve heard that it’s pretty unseasonable chilly back home, and in other parts of the country.

Stay warm out there…