Day 24: Your Favorite Childhood Book

I was going to take a picture and tell you about it, but then changed my mind and decided to take the pictures and READ it to you....virtually, of course.

You MUST find a cozy place to sit, and if possible, grab or borrow a child to sit on your lap as you read this story.  I wish I could provide each of you with a little cup of tea with honey and gingersnaps to complete the experience, but I'm afraid that's impossible.

Now, then...

Miss Suzy by Miriam Young (Illustrated by Arnold Lobel before he became famous!  This is one of his first works.)

Day 23: The Best Thing To Happen This Year

(I didn't come up with the challenge...let's just get that clear, here and now.  It was one we found on the internet and I claim no responsibility whatsoever for the awkward phrasing of the daily post assignments.)

Now that we have that little disclaimer aside...
I don't have any idea what the best thing TO happen this year will be.  But, I can tell you the best thing that has happened to me this week.

Last night, in an unplanned slumber(less) party due to inclement weather during our board meeting, my friend and I stayed up all night having a couple beers, trying to kill mice with snow shovels.

In her house.

Because a broom just bounces them, it doesn't kill them.

We decided that a pregnant mouse must have gotten in the house and had babies while my friend was gone because we counted no less than 12 mice all the same size, about an inch long.  And they were FEARLESS.

AND....
I'm so proud to tell you...
WE were FEARLESS.

It was fun because we were so tired that it was funny, you know?  I can only imagine if someone had driven by the house at 2 a.m., saw the shadows of two women swinging shovels and yelling, "GET HIM!!!" what they might have thought.  Well, they sure wouldn't have slowed down, I can tell you that much....

I think we slept for about an hour and a half, both on the couch with heads on each end and no body parts sticking out, until at 4:30 I heard what I thought was a mouse in one of the traps.

Ha-HA!!!!

Turns out, it was many mice and it wasn't a trap as we had deliriously thought around 1 a.m....it was a box with very tasty bait that they could go in and out of like a club house, which they did happily, practically sticking their tongues out at us because snow shovels are all but useless between the refrigerator and the counter and they KNEW this.  

We finally gave up, sat on the couch with our feet up under us and talked about politics, religion and life while drinking instant coffee while watching those nasty scrabbly little things frequent The Bait Bar.

We got the number for an exterminator and are setting up a full-scale battle which WE won't be attending.

I HATE mice.
But I love my friend and we made funny, awful memories...still laughing and shuddering as I type this...

Day 22: What Is Your Dream Job?

Ooooooo!

THIS is sort of like my bucket list and lottery question all neatly wrapped into one topic!

The thing about dream jobs is that they seldom fit the life one is currently leading, so part of the scenario I'll describe would be if I didn't have to consider anyone else's well being or future.  That's why it's called a "dream" job.  

So....

I'd really love to be a photojournalist for National Geographic Travel magazine who is centrally stationed in the Caribbean on an island in a little hut where it doesn't matter if I track a little sand in and where I can make beach glass jewelry to sell to the wealthy (and gullible) tourists.  

See?  

What's YOUR dream job?

Or are you doing it right now?

Day 21: Your Ten Favorite Foods

Who came up with this list, anyway???

Obviously, it was someone with a neat purse, nearly empty (and spotlessly clean) refrigerator who glances in the mirror and says, "My smile is my best feature.  I must go, now, and use my lottery winnings to fulfill my bucket list...", proudly sweeping out of the room with her favorite song playing in the background.

Or something.  

How am I to narrow it down to just TEN???

And if I boldly clump all seafood together as one item, will I get kicked out of the challenge?  Because my list of seafood loves, alone, takes care of about six spots right there.

(You can stop reading at #10.  I might just keep listing...)

1. I'm going to do it.  I'm going to say "Seafood" in every form I've ever met.  Scallops, lobster, shrimp, crab, clams, geoduc (pronounced "goo-ee duck")...bring it on.  When I was on the east coast, I think I ate seafood at least twice a day for ten days.  Some days I ate it four or five times.  Or more.  
2. Bacon.  
3. Bread.  I know I should be more specific, but I can't be...it's like the seafood.  One of the most perfect foods in the world is clam fritters at Aunt Carrie's in Rhode Island; bread AND seafood!
4. Cheese.  Stinky cheese, soft cheese, hard-and-crumbly cheese, cream, curds.  *pausing a moment to wipe the drool off my keyboard*
5. Summer tomatoes still warm from the vine.  
6. Lemon ___________ (fill in the blank with anything, but bonus points if you said "Lemon Blueberry Cake")
7. Pasta. (See Bread, Cheese and Seafood)
8. Peanut butter!  Another one of the best meals is a Thai noodle dish with a spicy peanut sauce.  
9. Steak.  
10. Strawberries

My less specific, more honest list is like THIS:

1. Mexican
2. Chinese
3. Thai
4. Greek
5. Southern
6. Italian
7. French
8. Indian
9. German
10. Drive In

I must go prepare lunch, now...

Really!

Day 20: A Difficult Time In Your Life

So...

Before  I start this post, you MUST watch this video from the movie "Miss Congeniality".

Perfect Date

Now you have a frame of reference for my answer to this question.

:)

The most difficult time of my life has consistently been between 2 and 4 p.m.  

That's where I collapse.  

My brain shuts off.  Not "shuts down" but "shuts OFF".  

And it always has!  

I remember in grade school, that was when I was supposed to be learning history and social studies and science.  On Fridays, it was art and I could fumble through that, being all right-brained and creative.  

In high school, I was able to be in study hall, choir and home ec...all classes that I could sort of wade through without too much effort.  Weirdly, I got choral awards and home ec accolades all four years of high school.  Who says "auto-pilot" is pointless?!

In college, I loaded my mornings with classes and did my work study and off campus work in the afternoons.

At the arena, I hung on by the skin of my eyeteeth during those hours; apologies here and now for the teams I turned out and timed those years.  You probably had better times than the records reflect...my gate reflexes may have been impaired.  It doesn't help that I'd been wrapping steers until 10 p.m. the night before and watering driveways at 5 a.m....

As a mother, I prayed, prayed, PRAYED for long nap times in the afternoons. And by golly, my babies took naps come rain, snow, sleet, relatives, Superbowls...you name it.  Those babies were going DOWN by 1:30 and God save the person who accidentally woke them up early!  (I'm sorry, UPS and Schwan companies, for ignoring your knocks.  Ain't no ice cream worth 20 minutes early wake up of a baby in the afternoon...)

Now, I try to get as much done as I can before this slump.  Or, if I need to be doing something, it has to be brainless....like folding clothes or loading the dishwasher or something.  I take notes if there's a phone call because I honestly might not remember the details.  And I know better than to drive.  

A difficult time in my life is from 2-4 p.m. EVERY DAY.  

Now that you have that information, please be kind and work around it...

Token flower picture, just so you have something to look at....

Day 19: What Do You Collect?

Besides shoes and books?

Cookie cutters.
I have 87 that I use for cookies and another 12 that are play dough designated.

It all started with fish cookies, thanks to the Yost women, and now the cutters just seem to show up...from friends and family, from travels, from second hand stores.

Teapots and flags and states and dog bones and cactus and lips...
I only have two states...Montana and Texas.  What other states really count, anyway, right?  (*wink*)

 High heels and martini glasses, maple leaf and Santa and hearts....

The old fashioned cutters remind me of my grandma and Mom, of the cookies we cut out when we were kids...

There are moose and penguins and lions and flowers and helicopters....

Kitschy 1970's plastic cutters that don't really work all that great, but still make me smile because they're so....1970's, you know?

Kangaroos and bears and cowboys and fish and angels and snowmen and...
yes...
FISH!

A friend recently asked if I had anything musical, like a treble clef or quarter note, and I did not.  BIG gap in my collection!  I also don't have a lighthouse, sasquatch, dinosaur, baseball bat, football, wine bottle or yin-yang.  (So those go on my bucket list, right?)

I really wanted to show you my shoes, because I've added to the collection thanks to a two day half price sale at St. Vincent De Paul thrift store in Miles City.

SILVER SANDALS! 

We won't go near the book collection....

Happy Birthday, Boy-child!

You'd think that the first child would be the one who surprises you all the time, that by the time you get to the second one, you'd have the parenting thing sort of figured out and relax.  Well, let me tell you....Angus has been surprising me for 7 1/2 years.

That's right.
7 AND 1/2 years.

He was my turkey poisoning.
I was terribly sick over Thanksgiving, positive I'd eaten turkey that had been sitting out too long.  Never once thought I might be pregnant, because we'd had to take such heroic measures to get pregnant with Maggie.

He came early.
I was due in August, he decided to be born in July.  We didn't have the bassinet set up, I didn't have an outfit for the child to come home in, no newborn diapers...we still had a couple weeks to get all that stuff together, right?
Wrong!

He was colicky.
I didn't know what to do with a baby that cried 6 hours a day for 7 months!  Babies were supposed to sleep and eat!  I was counting on that, especially with a two year old to keep track of.
Yeah, well...this one is different.

After we got through with the colicky hell days and I got on some anti-depressants, things got better.

We discovered that he has the most tender, kind heart...his sister was stubborn and defiant, got lots of spankings.  The boy child, though, just needs talked to in a stern voice and glared at...he goes to pieces and will never do "it" (whatever got him in trouble) again.  He cries for other people, too.

He's always got a pet near or on him.  He's always busy building or destroying something.  I'd like to take a moment here and thank his paternal grandfather Vern Pluhar for giving him a little shovel to dig treasure holes all over my lawn and a hatchet to skin my carragana trees.  Also for cultivating a deep love for rocks, old metal things found around homesteads, and boxes.  I looked in Angus's underwear drawer the other day and it has been cleaned out to make room for his rock/coin/stuff collection.  I don't know where the underwear is.  I don't WANT to know where the underwear is.

He sings a lot.
Especially in public restrooms.

He can wear any hat with great style and look fabulous.

He's never really fully dressed without a tie, and I've found out that he MUST have collars on his shirts to feel comfortable.  (DESPAIR that I have a child who NEEDS polo shirts!)

He likes being tickled, loves being snuggled, still holds my hand when we walk across the parking lot at Walmart.

LEGOs.
He's absolutely passionate about LEGOs.

His favorite song is Bon Jovi's "It's My Life" or the Beatles' "Obladee-Obladah, Life Goes On"

Right now, he's building LEGOs in some sort of Star Wars manner, singing happily, telling me stories as I type.  This afternoon is Campapalooza, his birthday party that he's invited everyone he's seen or talked to for the last 4 months.  I have no idea what the head count will be, I just know he's taking all his guests on a hike, followed by rolling around in the tent in my yard, followed by cake and ice cream.  So, I'm going to wrap this up and go clean for the big event!

Happy birthday, little man!

Day 18: The Meaning Behind Your Blog Name

At first glance, it appears to be quite simple:

The Cohagen Chronicles are stories about my life in Cohagen, MT.

If you work out the acronym, it's much deeper and  more interesting....

C-Cows

O-On

H-Her

A-Awesome

G-Green

E-Endless

N-Native land

C-Children

H-Have 

R-Revised

O-Our

N-Notions

I-In

C-Cherishing

L-Life's

E-Events

S-Supremely

Okay, so it's neither deep NOR more interesting, but I didn't have time to come up with a numerical and symbolic code that would correspond with each letter.  

You get what you get.

Day 17: Your Proudest Moment

I'm a FIRM believer in the divine truth that pride goes before a fall, so the superstitious, wear-the-jersey-I-wore-when-they-won-that-championship-game part of me does NOT want to touch this post with a 10 blog pole.

Let me tell you about little triumphs, instead.

Once, in Bigfork, I managed to put together an entire LEGO Star Wars vehicle for my son in less than three hours.  That was big for me, the mechanically disinclined, attention challenged person.

Unrolling a hay bale perfectly, down to the last flake, in the pasture.  That's so cool, even though there's no one around to see, except the cows and they just want me to step aside so they can get to the grub for heaven's sake!

Speaking of cows, you KNOW I'm proud of Daisy.

I feel so victorious when I live through a run on any given day.  Any run.  Any distance.

When I tip a cake out of a pan and it perfectly releases onto the cooling rack, no chunks left in the pan...I want to call Paula Deen or put a picture on Facebook or something!

Here's something absolutely silly, but I'll confess it anyway since it's not going to happen again:
Astonishingly,
(and remember, this is big ONLY TO ME)
my fantasy football team Hail Mary has won the league two years in a row.
Both years I've played.
*deep breath, here*
I beat Joe Vollmer and Lige Murray at their game.
STILL doing a happy dance in the kitchen when I think of it!
(Changed my profile picture this year, thereby ensuring that all the luck will have been released into the great fantasy atmosphere and will land on someone else.)
(Please don't let it be Joe...please don't let it be Joe...)

Leaving you with two pictures of my babies, because I'm so proud of THEM...

Throttle it, folks...

Day 16: What's At The Top of Your Bucket List?

So...

My To-Do-Before-I-Die bucket doesn't really have a list.  It's full of strips of ideas that I drop in there and they're all tangled together with no real order of importance.  If you reached in and grabbed a strip, it might be a silly little notion or a grand desire...who knows?!  

Here are some things you might find in MY bucket:

• See a real firefly.  I can't imagine how magical that would be!
• Go to an NFL game...I'm not picky, anymore.  Any game will do. 
• Make a souffle.  This is completely do-able, I've just never tried it!
• Paris. (France, not Texas)
• Ballroom dancing...I'd like to learn the good stuff, like tango and samba, AND I could wear heels!
• Somehow, get to each of my blog friend's homes for a visit...this would require getting to Texas, Florida, Iowa, Idaho, Michigan, Missouri, Alabama, Australia and Rosebud among other places.  
• Read War and Peace.  Everyone jokes about it...I want to do it.  Somehow, I think if I did, I'd feel better about myself.  Or maybe it would be a colossal waste of three years...  :)
• Own a VW bus that runs at LEAST 55% of the time. (I've found this is very important when longing for a VW bus.)
• Play those Caribbean kettle drums like Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefers have.
• I'd LOVE to see J. Buffett perform, now that we're talking about it.
• I'd like to try caviar. Really!
• Find a bobble head of Joe Montana to put in my car.
• See real live flamingos.

You get the idea.  

Do you know what I'd RATHER tell you about?
The cool things I've already pulled out of the bucket!

• Sailing...not only have I been sailing several times, but now I'm crew, too!
• Meeting the Pacific AND Atlantic Oceans.  
• Going to a Red Sox game at Fenway park.
• Singing karaoke. (It wasn't pretty, but it happened.  Never have to worry about that one, again.)
• Driving a sports car (1990 Chevy Camero) way too fast.  
• Eating at fancy, brilliant restaurants...my favorite being the Black Cat in Boulder.
• Pat Green in concert!  
• Seeing incredible, indescribable works of art...ORIGINAL Monets and Rembrandts and even Jackson Pollacks.  
• Having two babies when I thought there would be none. 
• Fly fishing!
• I was on Route 66 in California...why that was important to me, I don't know, but it was way cool!

Like the song says, "Dreams are nothing more than wishes and wishes are just a dream you hope to come true..."   

It's good to have them.

It's better to recognize them when they've come true. 

Day 15: Timeline of your day

(I have no idea on precise times, here...just the order that they happened!)

Up and out of bed, drinking a big glass of water so I could

Hug the kids and go for a run.

Returned to find out that I needed to take a baler belt to Miles City immediately.

Drank cup of coffee as I...

Showered, applied spackle and found "town" clothes.

Got very specific instructions from the Farmer about who to talk to at John Deere, but as I was leaving I noticed that I had to...

Fuel the car at the Big House.

Drove to and through Cohagen, all the while...

Talking to Joni Carroll who claims she can't come to see us on Campapalooza weekend. Something about a phone she dropped and home improvement and wrong phase of the moon.

Stopped for road construction by Fred Murnion's. (The state is fixing the fun potholes that give everyone in the car tummy tickles if you hit them fast enough.)

Stopped to run a horse off the highway at Ponessa's. (Seriously...almost had to report "Hit a horse...")

Got to John Deere by the appointed time and had to wait 15 minutes for the service guy to get off the phone. (Strict instructions to only deal with him, so I watched the frantic action in the rest of the place. Mondays at implement dealerships are kind of nuts.)

Went to the grocery store on Little Old Lady Day, apparently. (I was thinking it's odd how I always seem to hit this time of day and how it's always bunches of little old ladies.  Then, I thought "Heck, I'M an old lady!")

Loaded groceries in the car while visiting with a toothless, white bearded old guy who had biked to the store and wanted my cart,  perfectly happy to tell me stories about the horrific storm that had gone through town last week. No one got hurt, but there were flying pallets behind the Trail's Inn Bar downtown. Mercy!

Drove across town to the vet service to get worm medicine for the dog, enjoyed watching a little old lady corner Dr. Cal with dreadful questions about HER dog, phone ringing off the hook, Susie trying to get Twilla's updated info, met a very nice Siberian Husky who was in for shots.  It was wild, and took a while!  Apparently Mondays are ugly at the vet.

Drove BACK across town to John Deere, where the service manager was on the phone again.  For 20 minutes. Then, when he checked on the part, it was going to be another 10 minutes so I gave him my cell number and waited in the car.

Drove 81 miles back with the part, groceries and medicine.

Unloaded everything and put groceries away.

Made lunch. (Really glamorous sandwiches!)

Did breakfast AND lunch dishes.

Got the kids back from PopPop.

Started World War Laundry (trying to be all multi-taskie, you know)

Gave the Farmer and PopPop rides to tractors and shop...this takes longer than you might think.

Noticed the calves were out of water....it was 100 degrees yesterday, so I...

Watered and fed the calves, watered the garden boxes that were wilting.

More laundry and by then the kids wanted me to...

Start supper.

Poured a glass of wine.

Fed the family. (Oriental chicken salad...ooo!)

Collapsed on the chair to check FB and email.

Watched a movie with the family...something with the Rock in it. (I don't care what anyone says, he doesn't HAVE to be a very good actor as long as he keeps working out.)

Everyone to bed!

Ugh.

Day 14: If You Won The Lottery...

...it would probably be the Montana lottery, because I'm too cheap to buy big time Lotto ticket, so it would be something in the neighborhood of $100,000 (checked on their website for an actual amount).  After taxes and mob payoffs, I'm guessing the net would be around $1200.

And so goes the bad spin-off of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"...

If You Give The Farmer's Wife A Lottery Ticket

If you give the Farmer's Wife a lottery ticket....
She might accidentally win and net $1200.
With that amount of "mad money", she'll decide to take the family to the Black Hills for the weekend, but first they'll need to finish baling the hay.
While the Farmer is baling the hay, there will be a break down and parts from Miles City will be desperately needed, so...
He'll send his wife to town for parts.
Since she knows she's going to town for parts, she calls her friend Elise who also has to go to town for baling parts and they'll decide to SECRETLY meet at John Deere to have a warm Coca-Cola and knit in their cars while gossiping for 20 whole minutes.
While getting parts at John Deere, they'll overhear word that there's a sale at the local thrift store...all you can fit in a Hefty bag for $10.
Since John Deere doesn't have the baler parts their husbands demanded, they race to St. Vincent De Paul because you remember...
The Farmer's Wife is LOADED with cash from the lottery!
When they return to their outfits after proficiently cleaning out the second hand store, they discover...
their children are hungry.
They take the liebchens to the Airport Inn.
If they eat at the Airport Inn, they'll want to visit (and knit) uninterruptedly, so they'll keep giving the kids quarters to play the games in the back room.
Time and finger steaks will pass and they'll discover that after paying for the food, games, and St. V's loot that the $1200 will have dwindled to around $5.00.
If the Farmer's Wife goes home without parts, money and 5 sacks of used clothes and Smurf toys, the Farmer will have kill her....so...
Elise buys the Farmer's Wife a lottery ticket.
And if you give the Farmer's Wife a lottery ticket...