It just hit me

A true "Ahhhaa" moment for me. I have been working hard this last week to get my internship set up. I have been worrying for the last couple months on how to do the internship for my Masters degree. The panic was over the fact that I had to fit 600 hours of internship into a semester. This basically meant giving up my full-time job to do it. Just not able to happen for me as I need to work!! So in discussing it with my professor, we worked it out that I would start this fall (September 6th) and complete the first 300 hours of my internship by the end of December and than do the other 300 hours in the spring semester.

Anyway it just hit me that all this hard work is really paying off because I will be graduating in May of next spring with my Masters degree. Oh my god this has been a dream of mine forever and now I am so close to it actually happening. Graduation next spring!!!! Than I will need to worry about finding a real job!!

Meeting Chelle

On Tuesday, July 11th, I got to go meet a great online friend. She lives in Arizona and just had her son Asher last fall. I have known Chelle for at lest three or four years now since we were posting together on Un-scrappable and we have been on several boards together. Chelle, her husband Jeff and Asher were in Lemon, South Dakota visiting her family this last week and they drove up to Dickinson, North Dakota so I could drive over and have dinner with them. If there is ever a person that you just know you will bond with, she was the one. I have always known if we lived close we would get along so well because we are so much alike in a lot of ways. I am so glad that I finally got to meet her and her family. I am sure in the years to come we will get to meet each other again. Thanks for a great evening Chelle.

The Champs!!

This past weekend my son, Jerad, played some awesome baseball. He really made me so proud to call him my son. They played very well this season in the regular baseball season with 10-3 record. The team went into the city league tourney in first place. The first game they played on Thursday night was one that would put my son to the test in terms of team spirit and commitment. I have to say he made proud.

The top of the first inning he was playing his usual position of 2nd base. A ball was hit off to his left side and he dove to stop it. Breaking his hand. He stayed out on the field and played the inning out catching a pop fly to end the inning. Once in the dugout we knew the hand was broken because it doubled in size and turned black and blue immediately. He was determined to finish out the game, knowing that without him they would be short one man. (The extra player went on vacation over the tourney, so they had just enough players.) He finished out the game that night. As we talked about what to do with his hand after the game, he was determined not to let his team down. Winning the tourney was very important to them all.

His dad and I decided we would wait till the next day and see how his hand was. He iced it and took advil to keep the swelling down. Friday night he went out and played an awesome game, but they lost 8 to 7 agaist a team that had beat them twice during the regular season. They knew they would be up against them later in the tourney. Jerad was even more determined to stick out the rest of the tourney. While I worried about his hand, I also knew the break was in the palm area and wasn't a break that would be life threating or anything more serious.

Saturday afternoon, they went out and played their hearts out in the looser out game and came out on top. They now faced the team they had lost to earlier in the tourney for the championship game. They knew they had an uphill battle because they had to beat them twice to take the championship. The first game they trailed them up till the bottom of the 7th inning they were always one point behind them in the entire game. The bottom of the 7th inning they came up with three runs to win the game. After a short break and a lot of determination they started the 2nd game. The attitude of the team was awesome. You could see the determination in all their eyes, there was no way they were going to loose that game. They played the best game of the season and won it all 13 to 2. Within an hour of winning the championship, Jerad was ready to go to the ER and get xrays. Sure enough it was broke and now he gets to wear the cast with honor. While as his mother it is hard to watch him play baseball, knowing he is in pain. It also makes me so proud to know he is committed to all the players on his team and was determined to finish out the tourney with them all. He has always given everything he does 110%, and than some.

Siblings

This is a layout I worked on today. I came across this picture from when my kids were much younger. It reminded me of how connected they are to each other and will be for their entire life. The stitching of the layout isn't the best. I really need to work on that.

Mildred Montana

Have you ever heard of this place? I hadn't and I had lived in MT most of my life, heck it wasn't even that far away from Glendive. A couple weeks ago Sam and I took a drive out to an auction in Ismay, Montana (it was Joe Montana for a big celebration one year). Driving down this dirt road we came to a little old ghost town named Mildred. We had to stop and check out the old jail in the town. It was awesome, I can't image what it was like to be in jail back in the old days. The last prisoner was in this jail in the 1960's. It was just a little 2 cell jail, but it was great we got to stop and take some pictures. I guess I have to go out exploring the backroads of Montana more often.

Opps

Guess I haven't updated in a couple weeks. I really need to download my camera and post some pictures too. Stormy the kitten is growing like a weed. He has really ventured out and started discovering the house. He use to keep to the living room only, but now has ventured out to the whole main level of the house. He hasn't learned to go up/down the stairs yet but I am sure it won't be long. He isn't going to like me later this week because he will get his first set of shots on Friday.

Storm thinks he is so big and tough. He loves playing with this empty water bottle. He bats it all around the room. The little attack kitty. Hard to believe we have had him over 2 weeks now. He has grown so much.

Storm is in the house!!!

This is storm!! He came to live with us tonight when we found him laying in the middle of the street. I jumped out of the car because I thought he was going to get ran over by the car coming the opposite direction. Thank god the other car was a police man and he saw the kitten. He is tiny, guessed to be about 5 weeks old if that. He doesn't know how to eat or drink on his own yet. I went out and bought an eye dropper and gave him milk. Tomorrow we will figure out how to feed him when he goes to the vet.

He has taken to my golden retriever as him mom, but my sheltie isn't too keen on having him around. He is so tiny and cute now that we cleaned him up. He is really thin, but I am hoping he puts on some weight now.

Here is shane meeting the kitten, Storm. (He got his name because we were on our way home from a baseball game for DS, when it was cancelled because of a big thunder storm we are having.

Summer

Baseball and taco's in a bag. What more does one need? Summer is here. The kids last day of school is Friday. My baby is graduating from 8th grade. I can't believe I am old enough to have kids in high school, heck I even have one in her 2nd year of college already. This is just wrong!!!!!

Sam and I are getting excited to take a drive up the Beartooth highway next week. I am really hoping that my camera will be back in time so I can get some great pictures.

I love this time of year the grass is green, the flowers I have planted around the yard are growing and flowering. The smell of the last lilacs are still in the air. Humm I love the smell of spring/summer before it gets too hot.

Friday Ramblings

I love Friday's!!! Especially this time of the year because I get to spend the whole weekend outdoors enjoying the fresh spring air. Ohhh can't you just smell the lilacs all around my yard!! I have been busy planting the flower gardens and new grass seed in areas of the lawn.

This weekend is Mike's first race at Southwest Speedway in Dickinson. Care to guess where I will be on Saturday night? Sitting in the stands watching!!!

Not much else going on around here this weekend, the kids only have a week left of school so they are ready to have the summer off. They are all so busy running between sports and work.

I am actually home alone most of the time, can't say it is this great thing I tought it would be when they were little kiddo's and fighting with each other and I was dreaming of the time I would be alone and they would be grown. Wish they were back to the fighting days.

Yeah!!!

My college classes are almost done. I have one final to finish up today and than to take a final test by Friday and I will be done for the semester.

I am spending my summer months doing a practicum this summer, but that is actually exciting and I am enjoying it.

Megan is busy finishing up her Tennis for the Dawson Co. High School. It has been an awesome year for her. She is a sophmore, but is ranked number 3 in singles for the varsity team. She has been playing her heart out and doing awesome. Last weekend she had 5 matches and actually won them all. She has a couple matches this weekend and than next week it is off to divisionals in Miles City. I am really excited for her. Part of me is really hoping she makes it to State this year, but than part of me is hoping for the rest of our sake she doesn't make it. State tennis is in Polson this year and it will be a 2 day drive for them to get there. I would really want to go watch her at State, but that would mean missing Jerad's award ceremony at the middle school on the last day of school. I will have to update next week after divisionals and we know what is going to happen.