Last Week, Weekend, and Upcoming

Wow, last week we had an amazing wind storm across Montana! The wind was blowing so many tumbleweeds that it actually stopped train! The train ran over the tumbleweed and got stuck on them and then the tumbleweeds actually buried the train...it was pretty neat. I was driving over to Billings during this and the interstate was black with tumbleweed; fortunately, I did not get stuck on them!

I did hit a deer on the interstate last week...just caught a rear hoof so there isn't any damage to the truck, but it was close. It's amazing when these bucks get something on their minds how they lose track of everything else. Anyway, I am kind of glad that it was a deer and not a 'lope or an elk...certainly not an elk.

I went pheasant hunting again this weekend and I brought home another bird. I am probably going to hunting again of Friday...really looking forward to it. I am also looking for a dog, probably a German Shorthair, but there are some Weims for sale here in Hardin right now...so we'll see.

I got the outside Christmas decorations up this past weekend as well. We are having unseasonably warm weather in Montana right now, so I figured I'd get it done before the cold sat in later this week...the high on Wednesday is 29. I will probably work on the inside decorations this week. There are a few folks that want to have another party at my place so I want to get things decorated before that. I guess that I will be buying most of my decorations new this year...I used to have some really nice things, but the whore that I was married to thought that those things would be better suited to her and she kept them in the divorce...not that I had much say in the matter. I am planning to go get a tree on Wednesday or Thursday...I have to get a "permanent" tree due to travel times this holiday season and since there aren't any trees in Eastern Montana.

What's goin' on?

Well, I know that Montana's weater is different from Virginia's, but this is really crazy. Yesterday was 72 and today it is 33 and snowing...crazy! It's not snowing hard and it isn't sticking, but there are in fact snowflakes falling from the sky. I kind of like it.

This weekend didn't produce any memorable moments, I cleaned out the truck, went to the financial peace class, watched the Indianapolis Colts do their best impersonation of the Hokies and give up the game in the final minutes of the game...way to go Colts. Looked an awful lot like the performance that the Hokies had against BC.

Now this upcoming week should be interesting. I am preparing for a class that I am teaching next week in Billings, I have 4-H Council this Thursday night (always full of excitement), I am selling beer and porn to the fine citizens of Big Horn County on Wednesday night (Crow Tribal payday...yippee!), and I am tryng to register for spring classes at MSU-Bozeman. All in all a fairly busy week.

UNO and 4-H...what could be better?

Well, this weekend was fun. Saturday we had a few friends over for a small function. We had WAAAAAAYYYYYY too much food; but it was all tasty! I made a crock full of chili, which turned out very nice. I tend to make things hotter than most folks like, but this was not too bad; especially since a couple of guys thought that they would test their masculinity and eat the super chilis that I use to spice up the pot before the peppers could really make the chili too warm. After that we ended up getting a rowdy game of UNO going; anyone who doesn't think that UNO can be a contact sport should come to my place and play!

Sunday was our 4-H achievement day; where we recognize the kids' accomplishments during the 4-H year. We had a decent turnout, but it was the first day of general deer and elk season in Montana so our turnout was affected by this all important holiday. I gave out the overall achievment in agriculture award this year to a girl who is not a ranch kid. I chose her because her knowledge base jumped exponentially during this year after taking on new projects (she did swine and lamb for the first time). It is very encouraging to me to see 4-Hers take an interest in ag who aren't exposed to it as a way of life. I also got to recognize my teen club during the program. What a great group of kids this is to work with! I have seen growth in these kids that has completely blown me away. I don't want to brag, but I think some of the best leaders will come out of this group. They are amazing! Now, my only concern with this group is where are all of the boys? My "typical" teen leader is a thirteen year old girl...you'd think that would be a selling point to the boys! Oh well, I recruited a couple of boys yesterday to join so we'll see what happens.