He's still the one.

Here's a pic of the Hunk from November 1982. He was competing for the first time in a Body Building contest. This one was held in Lewiston, and he came in third place.


A lot of his friends from the University of Idaho, including the Cooper Brothers who were the reigning Mr. Idaho and Jr. Mr. Idaho, thought he got ripped off. His body was more "balanced" than the guy who won. Even Rachel McLish, the former Ms. Universe, and guest poser, told him he should have won.

The next year, he was ready! He competed at Washington State University and won FIRST Place. Whoa, Baby! I was really proud of him. (He could have been a model!) Oh, well, he became an engineer instead!

Someone did a write up about him after this contest in the Kellogg Evening News. So he had a little noteriety in the Silver Valley.

He's still my Hunk, today!

Assistant Manager - finally!

Yesterday was the Big Day. . .well - no "hats and horns" no cake, balloons, or fanfare :( But I did officially become the Assistant Manager of our store! Woo Hoo!

The invitation was first presented to me last May or June. I was apprehensive (since I only started working there in March). So in August, when I returned from vacation, I became one of three supervisors with the view toward the Assistant Manager position. My biggest asset is that I am good with people - both employees and customers.

I was told I would become AM around the Holidays, but I made a BIG mistake in Oct-Nov -when I failed to open the store one Saturday. (I thought I was working the night shift, but Oops - I was scheduled to open.) So, it was back to "probation" - while still remaining a supervisor.

Then it was to be after the Holidays, then during Inventory in early February. . .then on Tues this week - or Wednesday - finally Thursday. I signed the paperwork, which included a raise to my surprise and great pleasure. . .(now I am making more than the starting workers at Fiesta Ole').

The cool thing is that the Hunk took me out to dinner to celebrate! He's proud of my accomplishment and says it is a great resume builder. (He forgets that I am likely too old to be hired by a company that pays more. . .despite my education, experience, and accomplishments.)

No matter - my fall back is my writing (as is his). Now if one of us could just get published!

• See: Ponderosa Pinings: New Year for info on my writing.
  

Meme

Inland Empire Girl from Gathering Around the Table sent this meme challenge to me. . .

01. If you could have super powers what would they be and what would you do with them?

• Ability to allow people to distinguish truth from error.


• Ablility to keep people from saying hurtful things to the innocent.


• Ablility to fly - because it would be fun!

I'd use the first two on everyone I came into contact with. I think they would help people to make better decisions and stop creating victims - especially of children.

The third I would use for my own recreation and entertainment.

02. Were you to find yourself stranded on an island with a CD player...it could happen...what would your top 10 bloggers island discs be?

• 9 Wow Worship CDs
• Michael W. Smith's Worship Album

My focus would be on the Lord, since He would be the only one I could talk to (and hear from). Any other music would just make me sad for another time and place.

03. If you were a smell what would it be?

Vanilla sugar. Good smell that anyone would enjoy being around.

04. What bird would you most like to be?

Sorry, no bird. Their brains are too small and their lives are boring. . .but if I had to be one, I'd be a humming bird. Who doesn't love 'em?

05. If you were a bird who's head would you poo on?

Please, it's bad enough I have nightmares about bodily functions. I wouldn't want to poo anywhere, at anytime, for anyone to see - let alone. . .feel.

06. Are there any foods that your body craves?

Chocolate, mostly. Sometimes vegetables, if I haven't been eating properly. Sometimes beef.

07. What's your favorite time of year?

Spring and Autumn - just because the weather is more temperate and there is plenty of daylight. Love warm days and cool nights. I love the Winter snow, but not the short daylight. Love the Summer daylight, but not the heat.

08. What's your favorite time of day?

Evening. No more pressure to perform household tasks. I can rest without guilt, visit with my family, play on the computer, watch TV, work on craft and sewing projects, go out for tea and dessert, and sit on the porch to watch the sunset change colors. (Interesting to note, it is also temperate at that time of day. . .)

09. If a rest is as good as a change which would you choose?

Rest. Change is more stressful, even if it is good change. (I love variety, as in a work setting, but change - not so much. We used to move a lot, and at first it was very exciting. I finally got tired of always being "the new person" at church, in the community, etc. There is something to be said for longevity in place and among a group of people.)

10. If you could have a dinner party and invite any 5 people from the past or present who would they be (living or deceased)?

Jesus (my Savior, to be the guest of honor and to explain the questions of life), my husband (best friend), my dad (second favorite man in my life), Emeril (to cook -He's one of my dad's favorite chef's, and Rachel Ray is too cute and perky), and you (whosoever will, may come).

Photos from the Falls

The Hunk - unhitching the boat from our Sunday excursion. I drove it for the first time. What a thrill. Ten times better than being a passenger!







My blue delphiniums. These are not Pacific Giants, as I have quite a number of those, but they are mostly purple and lavendar. I wanted some blue ones, so I bought these even though they only get about 4-5 feet high.









Mz Oz (Ozzy) near the rhubarb by the back fence. We have to keep a wire fence in front of the vegetable garden, so she won't run through it!

My clematis [Jackmanii] is beginning to bloom. It has grown quite large, and I have been debating whether I should divide and relocate a portion of it.

These painted daisies plants were given to me about 10 years ago from a dear friend who was unable to keep bending over to care for them.

Excuse Me!

Excuse me if I smell like cat urine. I know it's not the stuff of posts, but you see, our cat is dying, and I was cleaning out his litter box today. Our Master Bath reeks, as Colonel has had a few misses lately. I used Resolve to kill the odor, but some of it must have oozed into the grout around the shower stall.

I am divided. Last week, I was determined to take him for tests and pills and to keep him as healthy as possible. . .but when they said daily injections - I faltered. My youngest daughter, S, said, "He won't let you do that!" (But she remembers Colonel the fighter, Colonel the attacker, not Colonel the dying elder.) Colonel has become the "puddy tat" who no longer fights the Vet if I am there to comfort him. The cat who trusts me implicitly, yet knows not that I hold the keys to his future. I don't want to make that decision - the one I know is coming, if he doesn't die on his own.

We all love Colonel. He has been a great cat for nearly 14 years. He was the great grey hunter that kept our house free of mice when the back yard was just a field near the airport. He has killed voles, and chased off cats and birds and probably squirrels. He'd even go after a dog if it came in the yard - but those days are past. He stopped fighting other cats a few months ago. He rarely goes outside except to stand on the back porch and survey his domain. He has stopped attacking Ozzy, our chocolate lab. He sleeps most of the time now, is losing weight, drinks a ton, and wets a ton.

Which leads me back to the beginning. He goes through a tub of litter every week or two now. . .and I am tired of the smell. Injections every day - or the smell of urine - or one fatal injection. . .but I can't go there. He must know. . .he just came in beside me to be petted.

So excuse me if I reek. I can't kill my cat.

The Test Run

We took the boat out today. I was able to make the maiden voyage, but I only lasted about 5 min, before I had the Hunk turn the boat around and take me back to the dock.

We put the boat in at the southern Gem Lake boat launch - a place we just checked out a few days ago. It's a good sized reservoir - long enough for waterskiiing and wide enough at the south end for tubing. The water was a bit choppy from the wind, but not too choppy. As I slid into the passenger's seat in the front, my water vest rode up, so the shoulders were about mid-ear. I was wearing a wide-brimmed gardening hat to keep the sun from my face, and now the brim touched the shoulders of my water vest. Regardless, I was excited to try out my daring, and ride in the boat.

Our daughter V, and her friend from ISU, Zayne, climbed into the rear facing seats, the Hunk stepped in, and we pushed off. (Actually, the Hunk and I had to paddle away from the dock with the oars, as we were drifting towards some rocks). Then he fired up the 429 Chevy engine, and we slowly chugged away from the dock.

We were out a little ways, and I said, "Don't go fast!" But he gunned it a little and we started to fly.

He hollered, "I think this thing could really move!"

I'm squawking and sputtering, "Slow Down, I think I'm gonna lose my lunch!" Actually, I wasn't exactly nauseous, but I was getting claustrophobic. With my hat and vest wrapped around my head, I felt like I couldn't breathe, so I started to pray, "Lord, help me not to get scared. Help me calm down and breathe." But before God could help me calm down I said the the Hunk, "I think you'd better take me back to the dock."

I squealed a bit when he turned the boat, because the water was splashing up over the starboard bow into my face, what little of it was uncovered. I tried to remain calm, as we straightened out and headed back to safety.

It was good to be on flat ground again. I whipped off my hat and traded vests with Zayne, so she would have a vest closer to her size, and let them go. I knew as soon as I was out of the boat, they would be free to try it out for speed. And they did. The engine roared and they were off.

I lied down on the dock with my hat over my face to enjoy the warmth of the day, and the cool breeze over the water. I wish I had brought a book to read, but figured I could tan my legs a little now, and bring a book next time.

The Hunk Runs Old

Tonight the Hunk went for a run at the nearby High School track. He said there were some other people there, but the one that caught his attention was a 5 or 6-yr. old girl who was sitting in the stands. Just as he was finishing his last lap, she hollered out to him, "You run pretty fast - for an old guy!" Having just turned 50 this year and getting letters and cards from AARP - - -tonight was just the icing on the old cake.

Boat

The Hunk bought a boat today and had to pose with his "props."

The Family

I am married to The Hunk. He is an incredible guy: ambitious, athletic, intelligent, and much more. We have been married for nearly 27 years, and reared 3 children to adulthood together. We are all Christians, and have been greatly blessed in our lives by the Lord.

The Hunk is a self-proclaimed "garbologist" (read: "radioactive garbageman"). Wasn't always so. He used to be a mining engineer, before the collapse of silver prices in the early '80s. As many people in our generation, he had to re-invent himself. He comes from a large family in Kellogg, Idaho - and interestingly, that is where we met and married. I will have much more to say about his family later.

Our young ladies - I will call M, V and S. (If you say MVS fast enough - it sounds like "envious"). The "gauls" [English accent needed] are all very unique and beautiful. M works at the nuclear site in a job designed to use her organizational and computer skills. V attends Idaho State University studying Mass Communications and Music. S is at the University of Idaho studying Microbiology. All three are single, and The Hunk expects them to stay that way for another 10 years or so. : )

After completing my Bachelor's Degree in Organizational Communication at ISU in 2001, I am finally working part-time at a dream job - in a fabric store. Yes, the education was not a prerequisite for the job, but I love working there.

Besides The Hunk, the girls, and I, we have a cantankerous cat named: Colonel, and a Sweet Chocolate Lab named: Mz Oz (Pronounced Mizz Oz.) We call her Ozzy. Colonel, who is nearly 14, is the Alpha Cat - or so he thinks. (Only the dog gives him space.) Ozzy is about 4 ??? and is clearly the sweetest dog. I also call her: Sweetness, Cocoa Pup, Puppet, Ozzy wazzy, Puppy Girl, and probably other endearing titiles. I call Colonel: Brat Cat and sing "Evil Kitty" (tune of "Evil Woman") when he is tearing through the house rumpling up the rugs and stalking family members.

The Hunk just brought me breakfast. . .scrambled eggs, toast, juice. What can I say?

The Hunk is looking for a used speed boat to buy. Now that we are slowing down . . .he wants to rev things up! Boats have never been my passion, but I'm sure we will have fun. I know the girls will enjoy waterskiing and watching their mother as white as a styrofoam cup.