I say....................whatever. - Homeschool Blogger

Hi

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:27:00 -0500

Checking in...I'm not dead, really! ;)

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Anne-the-cat
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Abbybee

Tue, 5 Dec 2006 13:50:00 -0600

Yesterday Joe put a wooden cross he had strung with lights on the roof, so of course we heard him tramping around. Abby was in her highchair, and she pointed to the roof and said, "Joe's on da vuff!"
Her favorite song is "Hey you, I'm into Jesus", and she's always singing it!
We have these ApologetiX CD's (Christian parodies of old rock songs), and there's one that says "Choir Boy" (but I don't remember what it's about). It's so funny to see Abby's mouth contortions when she says "Choir Boy" in a funny tone of voice!

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Anne-the-cat
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If these days go by this fast at 20...

Tue, 5 Dec 2006 13:46:00 -0600

(Or almost 20, at least) I wonder just how fast they'll go by when I'm 40! Last night I realized my calendar was still stuck in October!

Joe's going to get his permit after our birthday...he'll be 17.

Beth will be a teenager in a few days, and until my birthday, we'll have five teenagers in our house!

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Anne-the-cat
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National Novel Writing Month

Fri, 1 Dec 2006 10:35:00 -0600

For those of you who were wondering, I DID hit my 50k goal and wrote 50k words in the month of November...aaaand...I'm not even done with my story! I still have to finish it. I think it'll be another couple thousand words, at least!

My winner icon: http://allanne.com/images/nanowrimo/nano_2006_winner_small.gif

My wordcount icon: http://www.nanowrimo.org/NanowrimoUtils/LiveParticipant/125329.png

(That was my wordcount to get over 50k; I still have to write more but it won't be on that counter)

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Anne-the-cat
For full effect of images, bolds, italics, page breaks, and my cool *NEW* template, please visit:
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'Twas the week before December

Fri, 1 Dec 2006 10:34:00 -0600

I say, the week between Thanksgiving and December is probably the hardest one for our family. See, we have this stead-fast rule of no Christmas music until December first. So, what does Dad do? It was about two days after Thanksgiving, and here he was singing "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas"! We're all like "DAD!! You're singing CHRISTMAS music!" Usually he's the one that gets after US!

So, last night, we kept sacred (not really, but it's a cool word) tradition: we (some of us) stayed up until midnight and turned on Christmas music. December first is always one of the "worriedest" days for me, because I worry that maybe...maybe this year November has 31 days instead of 30, and it's not really December 1, it's November 30!

Whew, got that out of my system.

As I was saying, we stayed up late. Joe, Beth, Eric, and I stayed up downstairs where it was real nice and warm. At midnight, we turned on Celtic Christmas here in the dining room, Old Fashioned Christmas in the twins' room, Mannheim Steamroller's Christmas Extraordinaire in my room, and...something in the boys' room. I don't remember what. You don't remember much if you stayed up until midnight.

***

I just have to add something funny Abby said to me last night. See, we call her Abby, Abbybee, and Baby, depending upon what we're saying, and Eric calls her Abigail. So, we say, "Come here, Abby!" and, "What, baby?" and "Abbybee!!" when we're calling her.

Last night Dad judged rightly that we wouldn't have any dessert, so he had brought some home: those miniature donuts that you eat in one (or two) bites, depending upon how big of a mouth you have. Or how polite you want to be. So anyway. I was dividing those donuts, and standing at the table. Abby was in the dining room, watching me, and she said, "What are you doing?" then louder, and growly "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, BABY?"

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Anne-the-cat
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Count your blessings, name them one by one...

Thu, 23 Nov 2006 14:00:00 -0600

I'm thankful for...
My family
<blockquote>Dad for working so hard to provide for us...for being great to talk to...for WANTING to talk to me!
Mom for being nice to hug...for putting up with me...for being cool about webpage building!
Ben for getting me water without complaining...for being mostly cool!
Joe for helping me with webpages...for playing cool guitar...for making me laugh!
Eric with his weird sense of humor for making me laugh...for being understanding...for liking to talk to me and putting up with me when he wants to go to bed!
Beth for being fun to talk girly with...for being a true "servant of all"...for liking all graphics I make!
Emily for being willing to help with dinner all the time...for being willing to help with other things...for showing me what you're learning on the guitar...for being a pretty, cool person!
Katie for being weird and funny...for liking all my stuff no matter how bad it is!
Tess for being bright...for being amusing with her amazing ideas!
Rase for trying to be funny (that in and of itself is funny!)...for his loving spirit and bright smile!
Jay for his funny sayings...his adorable dimples...for his hugs and kisses!
Abby for being cute...for her hugs and kisses!
Grammoo for replying to my posts with funny emails...for calling to talk to us all the time...for making yummy food!
Papa for his stories of our English and Scottish ancestors and other stories!
Aunt Laurie for replying to my posts with funny emails...for being encouraging!
My other relatives for being a part of my family!
</blockquote>

My friends
(in no particular order)
<blockquote>Caitlin for putting up with me...for the laughs over things...for calling me on the phone!
Taryn for always being willing to talk to me, no matter what...for the fun we have...for being interesting!
David for being encouraging (sometimes *rolls eyes*)...for making me laugh!
Jennie for being funny...for being understanding...for liking my vegetarian jokes!
Mary Beth for being crazy with me...for LJ comment wars...for interesting posts!
Ella for being encouraging!...for being nice to talk to...for being an example to me...for all your comments!
</blockquote>

Other things
<blockquote>God for being God...for providing for our needs in unexpected ways!...for loving us so much You sent Your Son to save us!
internet so y'all can see this!
blue Bic pens I love the smell of the ink...and the color!
college-ruled spiral notebooks so I'd have something to write in!
coffee calms me down!
music funny music, happy music, sad music, sing-along music!
conditioner to make hair soft!
food! like olives...sushi (with cooked fish)...chicken...deer!
</blockquote>

And lots of other things!

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http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pianogal86

He knows when you've been sleeping...he knows when you're awake...

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 10:58:00 -0600

Not Sandy Claws, of course. I'm talking about the Presidents. Not the Bushes, either. The Presidents Beth and I clean house for.
We think they have their house bugged. They're rich enough to. They're paranoid enough to (they have an alarm system). Eric thinks it's in the moose-antler chandelier in the main room, because it's over the piano, in a central location, and you can hear everything that happens in the house (except in the basement). We also thought about the possibility of two-way mirrors, because they have a mirror by the computer, in the library, by the stairs, and of course in the bathrooms. Hopefully the bathroom mirrors are not two-way.
It's just that things have been a little strange and suspicious.

Mrs. President has this beautiful mahogany or rosewood (it's a deep maroonish red) grand piano, which is her baby. The first time we went there, to be shown what to do, Mr. President said not to touch the piano; she's picky about its cleaning and stuff. Mom didn't hear that part; she was yaking with Mrs. President. So the first time we cleaned, Mom started to dust the piano and I said, "They don't want the piano touched," so she stopped.
The next time there was a note on the piano saying "Don't touch the piano."
Time before last, we were discussing the cleaning of the rug under the piano bench, since they have an inside dog and cat who sheds. There was hair all over it and it looked bad. Mom said she didn't want to move the bench, since Mrs. President might have it in a specific place. So she vacuumed the rug with the hand attachment, and didn't touch the piano or the bench.
Last time (yesterday) we went there, the piano was moved off the rug, and there was a note on the counter saying to move the piano bench and pull the rug away and vacuum it.
Suspicious?
I think so.
Unless it's us who are paranoid!

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Anne-the-cat
For full effect of images, bolds, italics, page breaks, and my cool *NEW* template, please visit:
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The Trip (mondo-long)

Thu, 16 Nov 2006 13:25:00 -0600

Pictures will be sometime soon. Eric took pictures with the digital camera, but I'm going to wait to post pictures until we get them all developed.

We went to the same place as last time.

Saturday, 6:05 pm
Left half after noon; got to the mountains at a little after three or so. Set up camp; about four Dad, Beth, and Joe walked for a bit, while Ben, Eric, and I went around the Loop. We got to the rendezvous on time, but Joe, Dad, and Beth were late. They had traipsed around for an hour or so.
When we finished setting up camp, we realized something important: we had forgotten the coffeepot. Guess we'll have to do with "cowboy coffee".

Later Ben ran outside to get our overalls (Dad's and mine) out of the back of his pickup. He had already taken off his shirt for bed. There was 2 or 3 inches of snow. When he came in, he said, "It's not all that cold out."
Dad said sardonically, "Shut the door. You're letting all the not-so-cold in."

Sunday, 11:25 am
This morning Ben had his heart set on traipsing up to a meadow (the meadow near the one I'd been in last time when I shot at that buck) by shooting light, which came at about 7:10, so we got up at 5, had "egga muffins" (sausage patty, egg, and fake cheese on an English muffin; like an Egg McMuffin), and Ben and Joe took off. Eric started walking down the road, and Dad, Beth, and I walked the opposite direction up the road. We walked a fence of a private property, and Dad saw one deer, but it jumped over the fence onto the private property (I KNOW those deer can read!).
We walked (with short breaks) from about 7 to 9:30 am, when we made it back to camp. Just before getting to camp, we saw a whitetail. I was the one who was going to take the first shot (since I hadn't gotten any deer yet; Beth can only get elk; Dad can get a whitetail doe and an elk), so I went on ahead. It was gone, though, so we went back to camp. Since Ben had taken his pickup, Dad fired up the van (our ATV!). Eric came up, and we started around the loop in the direction Ben had gone.
When we got to where the road turned 90� to the left and there was a steeeeeeep hill, we chained up. When we'd finished chaining up, we had a white pickup behind us. We went down the hill, then the pickup did.
We were almost all the way around the loop, and were in the same hollow Joe shot his deer in last year.
"There!" Dad pointed to the hill above the hollow. "Get your gun, Anne. Shoot the big one."
"Which is the big one?"
"The back one."
"Ok." I was in the passenger's seat (and they were on the driver's side), so I got out (leaving the door open, to not startle them), jacked a round in, knelt by the road, and took aim.
I heard Dad saying something. It sounded like "Shoot! Shoot!" But later he said he was saying they were small deer, all of 'em. Well earlier, Dad had told me, "If you get a small one, say it's because you like cute, fuzzy ones."
Anyway. I steadied my rifle (they were looking at us; about 75 yards away) and slowly squeezed (you only squeeze, not pull triggers if you want to be accurate) the trigger.
The funny thing is, when you're hunting and take a shot, you don't notice the kick or the noise, except for a slight ringing in your ears afterwards.
The deer I aimed at (glad it was that one and not another!) humped up funny and ran almost up the hill, then fell and slid halfway back down. The other two just stood there.
"Go get it," Dad said, so I started around the little meadow and up towards where my deer fell. Until I was almost to the middle of the edge of the meadow, the other two deer just stood and watched me walk.
Guided by yelled directions from Dad ("Straight up! Right!"), I found my deer. A perfect heart shot. I was surprised he could have run that far, and Dad was, too, when he saw it, because it was right through the heart, and some bones were broken.
I drug it down the hill to the meadow, then Eric came, gave his opinion, and drug it to the van. So it was small, but a perfect shot! As Ben said later, "You have to be a good shot to hit something that small!"
Dad and Eric loaded in a tarp and put it in the back of the van to take to camp.
When we got to the bridge, Ben's pickup was parked and he was starting up the road from where we had just come. He told us a guy in a white pickup came by and talked with him. (It was the white pickup that was following us.) When we drove on a little, we saw Joe (who was walking) and got more of the story. The guy had come by and told them two whitetail deer were in the area. He said somebody had taken a shot.
"In a big blue van?" Ben asked.
The guy had said yeah.
"That's my dad," Ben had said, and the guy said "Well that must've been your sister shooting then."
So Ben knew I'd shot.

We got back to camp. Ben picked Joe up and came behind. They unloaded my deer and took a few pictures (Eric had me pose with his gun). Then Eric drug my deer off to the edge of camp, where the hill went steeply down, so I could "dress" it. He stayed to "tell me what to do", and Beth stayed to hold legs.
It took me about ten minutes, but it was a good job. Dad even congratulated me. I was faster than Joe, who took 40 or 50 minutes on his last deer, which was a small one too.
Dad cut out the backstraps (which were very small!) and put them in a Ziploc. Then he and Ben hung the deer in a tree.
Ben, Joe, and Dad left to walk. Beth, Eric, and I are here at camp waiting. Eric's babysitting the fire; Bethy's here in the camper playing solitaire. I'm writing this and babysitting the stove. I'm going to work on my novel now (it's in the same notebook).

5:35 pm
15 minutes past shooting light. Got to camp about 10 minutes ago. When Dad, Ben, and Joe got back to camp at 2:30 they were all tuckered out (except Ben, of course). I napped from one to two while they were gone. We had cup o'noodle water all ready so when they got here we "dished up" cup o'noodles. We saw a big buck on a hill faraway, so Ben took off and came back to camp when we were done with lunch. Joe decided to stay in camp; Ben wanted to go up to his meadow again, and Dad wanted to find the beginning of a road they hiked to earlier. So Dad, Beth, Eric, and I piled in the van and drove around. We found the road (turn left at the private airstrip!), and on the way there were tons and tons of deer, all on private property. We went to the end of the road and parked. And sat. It was warm and comfy. Dad and Eric took a snooze (Dad laid his seat back, but Eric laid on the second bench). So just Beth and I watched.
We only saw five deer, but they were a maddening hundred yards or so from the private property fence, IN the private property.
Went back to camp; Ben got back a little later. We're having chicken sandwiches for dinner.

Monday, 4:45 am
*yawn* Ben wants to leave by six so he can walk up to his beloved meadow in the dark. lol How fun. Dad and I and Beth are going to the meadow we scoped out yesterday. Dunno where Joe and Eric are going.
Dad's making breakfast.
Wind is blowing somethin' fierce out there. Rocking the camper. No wait...maybe that was just Joe. (No, it really was the wind.) Last night Dad turned up the furnace because night before it got kind of cold.

12:10 pm
Wow. This morning Ben went to his meadow; Eric walked down the road, and the rest of us went our way. Joe stayed near the van (and in it, half the time), and we (Dad, Beth, and I) walked a fence and over a little hill. The wind was blowing soo hard, it felt like we were arctic explorers! It was sooo cold and sooo windy. Beth and I sat for a while and Dad walked a ways. We sat for two hours, then Dad came back and we walked to the van. The wind was even worse. We wondered if the van would actually be on its wheels when we came back, and I decided even if it wasn't, I'd get in anyway! It was, though. Dad clocked the wind speed, and it was 30 mph with gusts of 40-45. It was so hard trying to walk in that, even with the wind at our backs. It must have been pretty funny to see Beth and I stagger around like drunkards! But we finally got to the van. Driving down the road, we saw a herd of buffalo in a pasture. We hurried back to camp to get the camera. Picked Ben and Eric up at camp, went back. Took pictures; showed Ben where we had been.
Went around the loop; saw one. Ben went out to follow it but it went too far away.
Came back to camp; had lunch.

6:30 pm
Just got back to camp; Dad's making pancakes for dinner.
Joe and Eric stayed relatively near camp; the rest of us went in the mountains. Ben, Beth, and Dad went up to Ben's meadow; I stayed behind a little bit to watch a different spot. Ben, when he came back to me, said my little spot looked like Big Bird's nest: a ring of brush with a little spot to sit in the middle. Saw a grouse and two tiny birds; that was it.
Ben saw a herd of does (at least he was pretty sure they were does, and Dad confirmed it) about 20 feet from him, but he wasn't sure they were whitetails (can't shoot muley does here). So he didn't shoot.
Came back to camp.

Tuesday, 5:15 am
*yawn* Alarm was trying to get us up at 4, but we didn't get up until 4:30. The furnace went off in the night...we ran out of propane in one of the tanks. Dad put another take of propane on (or hooked it up), then restarted the furnace and fridge. He's making breakfast now; leftover egga muffins and chicken sandwiches.
Ben wants to go to his meadow again since there's no wind (or less, at least).
Dunno what the rest of us are doing.

10:10 am
Everybody went their separate way this morning. Close to 9 we heard a shot, then it snowed really hard. It snowed hard for 20 minutes, then let up some. I holed up and waited for the snow to let up. It was like being in a snow globe. Snow piled up on my suit, and I shook it off, but it piled right back up again.
Around 9:40 I started walking back to camp. Ben had picked Dad and Beth up, so they got here a little before me.

11:45 am
Anyway. Keep getting distracted .Everybody but Ben and I left in the van to road hunt. In a few minutes, Ben and I will go, too.
So, Beth and Dad got to the camper, I walked up, and Ben drove off to pick Joe and Eric up (they were in "Eric's Spot", down near the bridge), because Eric got a deer. Ben had been by there earlier, before he picked Dad and Beth up. He hinted to Dad it was a little deer.
So anyway. Dad, Beth, and I stood around for a while. My boots have bad tread that snow clings to, so every step I took collected about half an inch of snow. We laughed about it, and I collected more. It was taller than Beth, so Dad took a picture (normally she's about two inches taller than me; I was now three inches taller than her!). I clumped around more, and got almost as tall as Dad, which was a new experience! We wanted to wait for Ben to come back, and Dad would say, "Ben, you know drinking coffee makes you short...stand next to Anne and see if you've shrunk!" But he didn't come in time, and the 6" of snow on my boots finally came off.
So we went in the camper, and Dad heated water for coffee and cocoa. Cowboy coffee (with a splash of cold water to settle the grounds, Louis L'Amour style) was actually pretty good! I had a chicken sandwich for a snack, and Dad had a leftover egga muffin.
I turned my radio on. Joe said Eric got one, "a little bigger than your deer," he told me. We were thinking he'd gotten a small one. Joe said they found a bone-saw in the van, and sawed the breastbone (to get to the windpipe easier). we were like, "you need a bone-saw for a little deer?!?!?"
The cocoa and coffee were all made; we were on our way out the door to take them their hot drinks, when they pulled up.
In the back of the pickup was a beautiful buck, over three times the size of my little deer. We heartily congratulated Eric; took pictures; drank our drinks, and since Eric's hands were freezing, he went inside (and I did, too, to keep him company) while the other boys and Dad hung the buck in the tree mine was hung in.
"It's been a profitable day," Eric told me, warming his hands in front of the furnace. "I had a nice nap..." (Joe said he could hear Eric snoring from 200 yards away!) "got a nice buck..."
Dad took a picture of us by our deer. Stood around and talked, then they left.
Ben's waiting for me in the pickup.

2:30 pm
Ben and I went to the "arctic circle" (where Dad, Beth, and I were yesterday when it was really windy) while the rest went around the loop in the van. When Ben and I came back, we went around the loop in the opposite direction Dad went. Met him; talked; made another circuit and met at camp. We beat, but we had a head start and they sat for exactly five minutes!
They all left to go to Ben's meadow; Joe and I are going to our stands in an hour.
Joe wants to nap first.
I like hunting with Joe.

6:10 pm
At 3:30 Joe and I went out to a nearby meadow. I had an awesome spot under a tree; very comfy. I would have slept if it had been a little warmer!
Sat until shooting light ended, around 5:05. Came back to camp; played a couple rounds of Go-Hunting (Go-Fish in normal parlance). I won. Tidied up a bit; are making dinner (hot dogs...Joe's frying them in the skillets). Oh...they're done. Back to either my novel (yes, I have been working on it in my spare time!) or Go-Hunting.

7:05 pm
Dad, Ben, Eric, and Beth are finally back. Ben got a doe finally! We heard a shot and I was hoping Ben had got one, since he's done the most traipsing around over tarnation with nothing to show for it.

Wednesday, 5:15 am
Yay, our last day! Everybody's getting a little homesick. We miss our beds, especially me. Beth thrashes in her sleep!
Originally we were going to go home last night, but Ben has today off, too. Dad has until Sunday off.
Dad's frying sausage patties for breakfast.
I'm getting a cold. Ugh.

6:35 am
I get the nicest stand. Or the second-nicest. I'm sitting here in Ben's pickup, waiting for shooting light (half an hour before sunrise). Ben's going where Joe and I went last night. Joe's going to Eric's Spot. Eric's gonna stay in camp, since he only has an elk tag left and nobody's seen elk sign. Dad and Beth are going to road hunt, I think, so I imagine I'll see them a few times.

Noon
Well, my stand was out of the wind, but kind of cold (I had to turn the pickup off; Ben didn't want me wasting his gas). Saw nothing but cars pass, including Dad and Beth, who did road hunt.
Nobody got anything yet.
Came back to camp around 10; talked about if we should go home tonight or tomorrow night. We decided yes, we would go home tonight. The only one who really really wanted to stay was Ben anyway. We kind of miss our beds and family and stuff.
After our talk we did a road-hunt loop. Saw a "meow-kitty" (as in housecat) tracks, and cougar tracks, but no deer. Well, except in a Private Property meadow. Dad took pictures, then honked. They all ran towards the fence, so we dropped Joe off to walk up Red Lodge Creek Trail. Ben's getting Joe. Dad's frying up all the backstraps (we're gonna see once and for all which are the best, little deer or big!) for lunch (with oven toast).

1:55 pm
Dad, Ben, and Joe just left for Ben's meadow.
Just before Ben came back from getting Joe, he shot a little one, so he has no more deer tags, just elk. Same with Beth and Eric. So Ben is now chauffeur. Joe and I have A tags (muley buck, whitetail either sex), and Dad has a B tag (whitetail antlerless; they both have elk tags besides). In a while I'm going to go walk around near camp.
The deer backstraps were good but not very filling. lol Nobody could decide on which was the best, either. I liked the buck and the little deer best; some liked Ben's doe best, some liked Eric's buck best. They were all good!

7:30 pm
At Taco Time fueling in Red Lodge. Ate dinner; on our way home.

***

Now for the rest of the story!
I was going to walk around the meadow near camp, looking down into the creek, but instead I decided to walk down the road to Eric's Spot instead. He told me there was a stump cut in two levels, and to the right a little dip to sit in. Passing by, I didn't see it, so I walked up the road to the hollow where I'd gotten my deer on Sunday. Saw nothing; came back down. (Oh, I did see raccoon tracks, but that was it.) Climbed the hill behind Eric's Spot; still couldn't find his spot. I did find a two-level stump, but it wasn't the right one because there wasn't a dip next to it. Sat there for a while to catch my breath. Over the hill behind me, I heard a funny noise.
That's a funny noise, I thought. I heard it again. There's a funny noise again. But I was too tired at the moment to go look.
I decided to walk down the hill, and see if I could find Eric's spot. If I couldn't, I'd just go back and walk the meadows near camp. But I did find it. The dip was real handy; you just plunked your rear in it, and your feet were propped up and so was your back. Real comfy. No wonder Eric always fell asleep! (We joked about his snoring as a deer call!)
I sat there, laid back, with my backpack next to me and my rifle on top of it. I really wasn't in a shooting position, but I was comfortable!
I heard a funny noise off to the right.
That's a funny noise, I thought, but just sat there still. Then I saw movement to the right. A buck, picking his way, angling up to the hill in front of me. I didn't count his antler points; I just saw it was a buck. I started scooting into shooting position. He would stop, look in my general direction (he couldn't see me; he never did!), then flick his ear like "what EVER!" and keep moseying along. I'd scoot a little more, he'd stop, etc. Finally I was in a good position. He was just ambling along real slow, so I yelled "Hey!" to make him stop. He did, and I aimed. Then I noticed a tiny tree in front of my scope. Whoops. He flicked his ear and kept walking; I scooted to the left a little and "Hey"'ed again. He stopped, and I aimed.
Now, something funny happens when I aim at bucks; maybe it's the proverbial "buck fever". I was steady, then as I was squeezing the trigger my left arm kept jiggling a little more, and a little more, and I was afraid I'd miss! But I shot, and bam, he hit the ground. I cheered. Yes I did. I do that when I'm by myself and excited. I ran up to him (it was a 2-point buck), and I hadn't missed. Well, I HAD missed where I was aiming, but I hit him in the spine and killed him instantly. That kind of miss I like!
I drug him down the hill about 20 feet, tagged him, and was deciding what to do. I'd never done a buck before, just does (which are easier to eviscerate, let me tell you!). And I needed a bone-saw for his breastbone. So I decided I'd just have to leave him, and go get Eric to give me advice and bring the bone-saw. I was just about to head down the road when Eric paged me on my radio. I'd been paging him for the last 15 minutes, but he'd just then heard it. I explained; he and Beth came down.
Took about 40 minutes to eviscerate it, since it was my first buck and I was very very careful. He had lots and lots of fat!
So finally got done; started dragging it up the road. It was really heavy, and we were about two-thirds of the way to camp, when we stopped because we heard somebody on the road. Turned out to be Dad, Ben, and Joe. Loaded the buck in the pickup; went back to camp. Dad took a picture (the LAST picture on the box camera!), then broke camp.
Went to Taco Time in Red Lodge to eat dinner. Unfortunately I couldn't enjoy it too much because of my cold. :( But what I could taste was really good!

Got home around 9:00 or 9:30. Unloaded the deer into the garage; came inside and told all our stories.

Had a good sleep!

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Anne-the-cat
For full effect of images, bolds, italics, page breaks, and my cool *NEW* template, please visit:
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pianogal86

Hunting again

Sat, 11 Nov 2006 11:02:00 -0600

Leaving for hunting again; will be back Wednesday probably. :)

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Anne-the-cat
For full effect of images, bolds, italics, page breaks, and my cool *NEW* template, please visit:
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/pianogal86

How Many Pro-Lifers Does It Take To Dig Two Postholes? (and other newsworthy tidbits)

Wed, 8 Nov 2006 21:03:00 -0600

Eight. Today Mom, the big boys, and Beth went to dig two postholes for a Care Net Pregnancy Center sign (in the empty lot beside Planned Parenthood). They picked up my friend, who was in charge of it, so so far that's six. Then you have her mom, who made snacks, and the guy who let them put the sign on the property. So, that's roughly four people per hole...that should get it done fast!

Go Get 'Em, Tiger: Free Entertainment
Last night at about ten-thirty I heard "scribble-scratch" in the bathtub. Upon investigation, I found Pi (my cat) had caught a mouse and was playing with it in the tub! Talk about play pens. There were a few bath toys in there, making it even more interesting and challenging, I assume. The twins and I watched for a while, then the mouse started "winding down". Em decided to grab it by the tail and put it in the toilet, so she did. Yuck.
Pi jumped out of the bathtub and looked at us, meowing, so I petted her and told her what a great cat she was. She went back to the kitchen, and we went back to bed.
Not ten minutes later, I hear "scribble-scratch" in the bathtub! Holy cow. Yes, another mouse! This one was a little more agile, and lasted longer than the last one. Em didn't want to pick it up again, so she ran to the kitchen and returned with a pair of tongs. (Mom, just skip the next few lines, please...) She went to grab it, but dropped the tongs.
"YOU do it!" she told me.
Well, all right. I picked up the tongs, nabbed the mouse, dropped it in the toilet, and flushed. Pi had already gotten bored, and had jumped out before, while Em was getting the tongs.
Yes, we washed our hands.
And as Mom would say (you can start reading again, by the way), "Go get 'em, Tiger!"

Yesterday I Performed My American Duty (or something)
Yesterday was Tuesday. That's important, because Beth and I clean house for the "presidents" every Tuesday.
Because Ben and I were/are first-time voters (yes, I could have voted last year, but we forgot. I turned 18 in 2004, but after the election, so I wasn't in on a presidential election), we had to go to the courthouse to register. The line was pretty long in the little anteroom, and twisted around on itself a couple times.
Ben remarked, "Pretty soon this is going to look like a Japanese swimming pool!" (If you haven't seen pictures of it...it's more people in one place than I've ever imagined!"
While standing in line, Mom said (loud enough for other people to hear, but not loud on purpose), "I guess we'll be later to the presidents than we thought." (because the line was so long.) I just wonder what people thought!
And there were no mishaps at the presidents this time! And we finished in two hours, opposed to the two and a half of last time, and three of the first time!

Why I Wear My Jeans Rolled Up
It seems to be the fashion, at least here, for girls, to wear their jeans rolled up...but not quite rolled up; just the bottom three inches or so turned back on itself, like somewhat of a capri style pant. I'm afraid I follow this fashion, but only out of necessity, let me assure you. See, I'm short. You probably knew that already. And I'm also inclined embonpoint, too. (That's a fancy French word for "stoutness".) So either I get pants that fit around the waist and are too long in the legs, or tight in the waist but the length is ok.
Apparently, people of my height are expected to be thinner. :-/

Deerly Beloved
While Mom and Beth were gone (to Beth's recorder lessons), there were about eight deer in the field opposite our house. We watched them for a very long time, before they finally left.

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Anne-the-cat
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