Huh.

Bus was great this morning...but my throat is scratchy and I'm real tired.  Onset of a cold?  I hope not--Aaron, Karen, Brian, and I are supposed to go on an overnight raft trip on Friday!  And I'm organizing it!  And am the only one who knows how to row!  I've been trying to get Aaron to go on a raft trip for about 7 years now...I can't believe this one might actually not happen.  Although, to be honest, working on the house would probably be a good use of my time.  At the very least, I want to get the inside of the cupboards painted so I can put stuff away in the kitchen.  The chaos is growing.  It's like the Nothing in Neverending Story--only I don't have Falcore or Atreyu to help me out.  Where is a luck dragon when you need one?

So...I got back to Livingston at 6:40 last night.  Stopped at the grocery, cleaned up after Ruffers, made and ate dinner, prepared my lunch/coffee for today, watched 1/2 a movie, unpacked a box or two, showered, and went to bed.  Asleep by 10:30.  And still only got 6 hours of sleep, which is not enough.  I'm thinking I need to streamline my night a bit.  No grocery and no movie.  Fit in a walk and a bit of time in the yard or on the porch.  That would be a better evening.  In bed by 9:00 at the latest.  Yikes.  This is going to be an adjustment!

I read a great story on USA Today that explained how you can rent dorm rooms in universities and colleges in England during summer & winter breaks.  You get to stay in awesome old dorms and use their facilities.  For example, stay in Keble College at Oxford and eat breakfast (included in the price of the room) in the fabulous centuries-old dining hall.  And, it's cheap--even for Super 8 style prices!  So, that's going on the list of things I'd like to do.  I SO need to do some traveling.  I'm feeling all antsy and think a nice trip to a big city would really help me out.  And I don't mean San Antonio.  I mean Seattle or New York or even Denver, for heaven's sake!  But, probably won't happen for a long time.  The house is leaving me broke.  Which is ok.  But not helping my antsiness.

I'm trying to be better about posting pics.  Here's one I took early this spring on one of the first hikes of the year.  That's Bunsen Peak in the park in the background.  And the one-and-only R-Dog in the foreground.  Of course.

The House

I realized I haven't posted any pictures here in a long time. BAD blogger!

Anyway, here's the house! (Photo by Amanda Murphy Knuchel)

Mass Transit in Montana!

I feel so hip. So urban. So connected to the millions of people in New York, New Jersey, Conneticut, Massachusetts, etc. that get up every morning and make a communal journey to work. I rode the bus to work this morning and I gotta say...it blew my mind. I was really dreading the bus, because I have to be on it at 5:30 am in Livingston and I won't get home until 7 pm this evening. But you know what? It was so comfortable! And relaxing--I slept off and on this morning between peeks at the Paradise Valley as the sun came up. And I listened to music and occasionally took a sip of my yummy coffee. It's $4 per day, which will save me at least $11/day if I drove my own car. Plus, it's a biodiesel bus so it's even better for the environment than regular mass transit bussing. PLUS, it'll be safe this winter when it's blizzarding and it's safe every day because I won't fall asleep behind the wheel or hit a deer/elk. I am stoked. Yes, 4:30 came early this morning and yes, I'll probably be exhausted by the time I get home. But what a house to come home to. And I get to feel hip and urban every morning.

Home Ownership = Weird

I've been a home owner for 5 days now, and the list of things I need to buy and/or fix is growing at an exponential rate. But, boy is this fun! I love sitting on the front porch. I love that Ruffers got excited when we got home last night from work. I love seeing the house start to shine after I clean up years and years of grime and dirt from careless tenants. By the way, that place WAS disgusting! After hours of work by me, Emily, and Anna, the house is no longer a biohazard! Yay for us!

I am staying in Gardiner tonight to pack more stuff at my apartment and tomorrow I'm going to Bozeman to buy appliances!

It's weird to own a house and the land that goes with it. It's really neat to be part of a continuum of Montana's owners and I love that my house has been standing there since 1918. How many people have fallen in love, gotten married, had kids, been widowed, gotten divorced, faced heartbreak, lived in desperation, laughed till their tummies hurt, and danced in that house?

Lil came over on Sunday and performed a blessing on the house. Tom, Bonnie, Amanda, Lil, Anna, and I wrote intentional words on all the walls of the house to set the tone of my time there.  It was a really special way to start on this adventure.

Hello? Is anyone out there?

Being 33 rocks.

Good things that have happened this year:

1. Christmas time at home with the family.
2. Surgery in February; left the hospital completely cleared and I've lost 70 pounds. I'm THIN!!!
3. Good, good, awesome friends who have supported me, watched Ruffers, taken me to the emergency room, and given me a beautiful gift card.
4. Family vacation at the ranch in June where there were no fires. Although I did wreck the bike 4 times.
5. A whole month at home in Texas when it wasn't Christmas. I got 7 bouquets of flowers.
6. I'm buying a house!!!!! In Livingston!!!!!

And I still have 3 more months of 33 left. What else is going to happen?

Chocolate Party

Tonight is the 4th annual Gardiner Chocolate Party. I only hope I don't go into sugar coma. Also, I'm a little worried that I won't have time to watch 4 episodes of Buffy this evening.

I'd never seen an episode of Buffy until late last week, when I discovered them on Hulu. Somehow, I missed that generation-defining aspect of pop culture back in the 90's. Well, folks, I'm making up for lost time now. I am now on Season 2 and am officially enamored of Angel. It's so annoying, though, b/c I can't gush about him to my friends b/c the show is so last decade. But let me just say...that man has such broad shoulders.

Just another Manic Monday--Woah-Oh!

Ruffers kept me up pretty much all night last night. Not by snoring or running in his sleep or needing to go out every 5 minutes or any of the things you might think. No...he kept me awake by FARTING the WORST FARTS IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!!!!!!!!! They brought tears to my eyes even when my eyes were CLOSED!!! That dog is DISGUSTING!!!!!!

I have a new and weird love for washing dishes. I don't know where it came from, but I'm hoping it's not fleeting.

My friend Jerry and I had lunch on Friday--his last day in Bozeman. I feel bad that I didn't let him pick where we went. But I'm selfish that way. Hopefully his family is all moved into their new sweet house in Hamilton. Sounds like a great place. And it has a stream and garden and orchard on 2 acres, so if the global economy finally collapses and anarchy rules the world, they'll survive. Yay!

I found 2 people who really, really want to dogsit Ruffers since I may be gone 4 of the 8 weeks in Sept/Oct. I won't tell them about the farts.

I had to turn the heat on in the jeep on the way to work this morning, and a light to help me get dressed. It's like watching a loved one slowly die. Summer! Hang on, buddy!

I finally talked to Andrew the other night. He's much nicer than I remembered him being from those last hellacious days at work. He thinks I'll be Supt. of Yellowstone someday.

I worked 5.15 hours of overtime yesterday. I feel a combination of holy righteousness (even though I broke the Sabbath) and petulant martyrdom.

My friend Emma won Reserve Champion with her black angus 4-H steer, Julio, at the Park County Fair this weekend. I'm so proud!

I know 7 women that have either just given birth or are currently pregnant. Seriously, people. Knock it off. My clock can't take this much peer pressure.