Hard Month for Friends Back Home

Though my thoughts have mostly been turned to work and the nice weather I've had recently, this month has been full of grieving and sadness for some of my friends back home in Cheyenne. It seems as though all bad things come in sets of three. First my friend Mario's father died suddenly and without warning one afternoon, then this past week Bennett Grant a family friend and fellow St. Mary's parishioner passed away, and today I received word that one of my best friend's uncle passed away and she and her family are traveling back to New York for his funeral this weekend.

My heart certainly breaks for the pain and sadness these people are going through and I just wanted to leave a little note that if you guys have a spare moment to send some prayers to these folks and their families I know it would be appreciated.

Cocoa and Coffee

My giant pumpkin plant is doing terrifically in the green house. Its up to about 8 leaves and I had to move it up into a bigger pot so the root system didn't run out of room to grow. Mace is still diddling around with his version of "blue prints" for the hoop house he wants to build out the garden. I have an excellent idea on how to do it so we can reuse the structure year after year but apparently this is a "guys" job. Talk about a dumb thing to be egotistical about. Never mind that I've had 3 years of calc, 2 years of advanced trig, and have put that knowledge to good use building reusable seedling cages for aspen up here. Oh well... sometimes it just better to leave things alone. I think there are times that I forget that I'm used to just getting things done and don't really think about that it might not be the girly thing to do. My parents didn't raise a 20 lb weakling that has to be pampered. But maybe there are things like this out there that make guys feel more primal or something... who knows???

But the point is the garden stuff is doing great and thriving despite the cold. I'm always so thankful that Polly has such a nice big green house to start all our seeds in. It really gives us a jump on the growing season which is way to short anyway.

Hmmm other news. I drove into Missoula with Mace Monday evening. He had a doctor's appointment with the neurologist to see if he couldn't get something done about the nerves in his face, jaw, and neck that have been giving him such grief for the past couple years. The doctor basically said that he thought after looking at the CT scans and Mace's neck MRI from a year or so ago that the problem was a chemical imbalance in his nervous system. Basically his neurons are firing inconstantly which is causing overactivity, hypersensitivity, and then of course major major pain. So now Mace is starting up a regiment of different meds that should even out that body chemistry and help. He's supposed to go back in 6 weeks and see where his is from there. If he is still experiencing the same level of pain the doctor is going to order either a PET scan or a full cranial MRI to see if there is something physiologically wrong that the other scans may have missed. We're hopeful that the meds just do the trick and we are able to move on from there. I really feel bad for Mace though, because these are some serious medications they are messing with his body pretty bad though all that should even out as well. I've never seen him so hyper though. Whenever I see him its like hes about ready to jump out of his own skin. So if you all have a minute or two keep him in your prayers and hope that he gets to feeling better soon.

Thats about it from my end of the world. Here are some pictures of Mace's niece and nephew doing some egg searching from Easter. I thought they were cute so why not share. Love you all.

We Eloped!!!

Ha ha ... made you read! Happy April Fools Day! Anyone that actually would believe that Mace and I would have eloped doesn't know us very well. Though we've been engaged a really long time there is no way in hell we'd just go and get married without our family and friends... so no worries. And if any of my family is reading this I swear we really didn't do it.

It has been a long and miserable morning for me. I was out in the woods by 3 am and got got home just a few minutes ago. While the time frame itself wasn't a bad thing the weather certainly was. I'm not prone to getting cold even when in 8 feet of snow but when its down pouring the entire time you are out in the woods the cold just seeps into your bones. I usually enjoy my mornings out and about. But there is something about seeing the sky get light but not actually seeing a sunrise because of the rain and fog that is a bit depressing. I tell you GPS is an amazing technology. I was in one of my study sites in literally the middle of nowhere and the fog was so thick that I couldn't even see the trees 10 feet in front of my, but my GPS knew exactly where I was and in what direction I needed to travel to get to my next study plot. I think most people would get really nervous in that position but I had faith in my tools and got home safe and sound.

So here I sit at 1:30 in the afternoon on a very wet, very dreary, and very foggy day and I haven't a clue what to do with myself. I need the bookmobile to show up so I can get some new reading material. On days like this I've found that I spend entirely too much time playing Mafia Wars on Facebook. Who ever knew I'd get a kick out of "boosting loot from a rival mafia boss"? Its way too addicting. But anyway... think I need to go do something productive. Happy 1ST of April everyone!!!