Ninja Snake

So we have this snake that the kids named Flaming Bob (don't ask).  FB has a tendency to escape his confined space from time to time.  Usually when he escapes we know he is missing and find him within a day or two.  The longest he has gone missing has been for four days and our poor Ginny was the one to find him when she went into the baseball bag for some sunscreen.  Shrieking screams let us know that the snake was found and that he was once again on his way to his secure glass enclosed home.

This morning was a typical hectic, insane morning for us.  My house is in disarray with a clogged kitchen sink, dirty clothes strung from one end to the next and the remainder of this mornings breakfast on the table.  I am in no mood to clean since I was out on two fire calls during the night and it feels more like bed time than morning time to me.  The kids were wrestling, goofing around and trying their hardest to postpone getting off to school.  At that point I was beyond frustrated and pleaded with them one more time to "please get your shoes on and get out the door to school."  All of a sudden without any warning whatsoever Ginny tosses her shoe on the floor and begins to scream frantically. "The snake is in my shoe she cry's."  All I can do is laugh.  The boys are on the floor rolling in laughter, the snake is slithering out of her shoe rather stunned and Ginny continues to stand in the middle of the floor screaming, crying, and shaking.  Apparently when she went to put her shoe on she felt something inside and thought it was the tongue of her shoe.  She then proceeded to stick her hand inside to pull it out.  To her fright, it was not the tongue of her shoe that she felt but rather the tongue of Flaming Bob.  After I returned the snake and calmed the boys down from their giggles I wrapped a shaking Ginny in my arms and managed to contain my own fits of hysterical laughter.

Of course I had to share our adventure with Blaine and in doing so, Ginny returns to get a forgotten back pack and announces quite clearly... "Get rid of that snake and do it now!!"

That being said ...

Anyone want to buy a snake?

Determination

Yesterday as Blaine and I drove to Home Depot I felt this overwhelming surge of emotion.  What the heck is wrong with me I thought, and then I quickly realized it was a good emotion, a full heart feeling, an excitement of the things I have accomplished lately and the feeling of Joy and Peace.

After ending a week of 4 structure fires, 2 river rescues and 2 flooded basements, all in 72 hours and during the deep hours of sleep I was exhausted. Following that I babysat our sweet Eden for the weekend and was so blessed with an overabundance amount of hugs, kisses and "I llla  luuuu's".

During my week of lack of sleep I had overheard Chief talking about a workout that he wanted all of us to start doing together.  The workout is called INSANITY and all he could say is that it was very hard.  My thoughts immediately went to a bunch of men and myself, stuck in our training room sweating to death and me making an absolute fool of myself.  So, instead of waiting a month until this began I decided to start without them.  

So while I was with Eden I watched the clips and mentally prepared myself for the worst and began to set some goals.  For 6 days straight I set my alarm for 7:00am.  The minute my alarm when off I would fight all instincts to press snooze and sleepily drag my butt out of bed.  I would then dress in my work out gear and proceed to gulp (gag) down a glass full of my Greens Plus followed by half a banana.  I learned quick that is about all I can handle in my stomach before doing such and intense workout.  From there I would head into the office and begin the 40 minutes of H*&%%.  

Insanity is a perfect word for this workout.  It is the only word that can be used to describe it.  So, for 5 days this was my routine.  On Saturday (day 6) I woke up and thought "I must do it now!! Or I never will get it done today if I don't."  As soon as I was done I felt such accomplishment.  6 full days of working out!  6 full days of that disgusting drink!  6 full days of not hitting snooze!  And in those days I have improved enough that I can actually get through the entire warmup without stopping.  Yes I said warm up.  It really is that insane!!  Followed by that Ginny and I made some banana bread and Blaine and I worked hard together landscaping our rental unit.  

My house is still unkept, my laundry is still behind but I don't really care about that right now.  I spent time with my kids.  I spent time on a project with my fav. person, and I even canned for the very first time, making 2 jars of Choke Cherry Apple Butter.  I am also finally at peace with the trailer in a horrible state and still being on the market.  I am moving up, leaps and bounds and I feel so good.  Now I just have to get through the next 8 weeks. :)  

Day two on our adventure

We started the day out with a tasty treat at our favorite breakfast stop - the Bear Paw Bakery. I realized that Jasper has it's own time zone. It's very unique actually. When someone says they will be there in an hour, it could mean two. You eat lunch at 3:00 and supper is never earlier than 8:00pm. So after grabbing a light snack in town, we headed to the in laws campsite to see what they were up to and after hearing us say that we wanted to go to Miette Hot Springs, they decided to join us. Blaine has always wanted to do the twisties on a motorcycle and personally, I was a little afraid. Off we went though, stopping at roadside turn outs that we never take the time to look at and sites that we would normally pass by. We soon learned each others rhythm and those twisties were a breeze. There are so many other bikers that everywhere you go you see at least one group of them. I love the camaraderie of driving by other bikers. It is akmost like a brotherhood. Every time you pass another biker it is respect almost to hold your hand out to the side and wave. Who knows what the standing rule is for who on the bike waves, personally I don't care, I wave anyways. late lunch at the restaurant left us ready for a soak in the springs. Blaine's family didn't want to go for a swim so they headed back to town without us. On our way back we saw the normal crowds of people pulled over to take pictures of wildlife and while we would drive by them without stopping, Blaine kept wanting to take pictures of us and scenery. I laughed because people kept stopping to see what peaked our interest enough to stop, when all along it was each other. For supper we decided to eat at a very familiar restaurant that was renamed and remodeled. They did a fantastic job and if are ever looking for an amazing place to eat go to the Olive Bistro. Mmmmm so yummy! Once again it was a late night as we stopped by a friends house for a nice visit and drinks. So far the weather has been holding out and we have had nothing more than a five minute sprinkle.