Milk and maturity

Earlier this week I had dinner with Ryan’s aunts and cousins in the area. As life continues to whirl by faster, I think it’s great that this group of extraordinary women takes time to reconnect regularly. And the food is always amazing.

Our conversations run the gamut. Monday night’s discussion turned to the controversy surrounding milk and young girls. One woman was told she should give her three year old organic milk. Apparently some believe the hormones given to cows to produce more milk cause girls to go through puberty early.

I’d heard about this before and…well, I just don’t buy it. My uncle is a dairy farmer. If he uses hormones I would bet he doesn’t do it any differently now than he did 15-20 years ago. And I’m sure he learned his ways from my grandpa who started milking almost fifty years ago. For the brief time my parents farmed and milked we took milk straight out of the bulk tank. And that milk, my friends, wasn’t even pasteurized.

So I did a quick Google search. A Cornell University study goes into a lot of scientific detail but the biggest things I took from that article are that the cows naturally produce hormones and it is impossible to tell the difference between naturally occurring hormones and artificial ones in milk. Secondly, the hormones are also found in meat as well. Are parents going to stop their little girls from eating a cheeseburger too? More importantly it’s been found that the hormones found in cattle do not affect us – our body simply doesn’t recognize them. This study concluded that more research needs to be done before people should shell out $6 for a gallon of organic milk.
I also found a Denver Post editorial. This one was particularly interesting. It is written by a woman who – despite having a daughter who developed breasts at 8 years old – doesn’t believe it came from milk. She did her own research and found many studies correlate obesity to early puberty in young girls.

My honest opinion… ‘organic’ is just the new trendy thing to do. Or it’s a marketing scheme to bolster sales of organic milk. The Organic Consumer’s Association is now warning against giving soy milk to girls because of the hormones. Apparently organic is the only way to go…

The State Fair

My niece left me a message last night. So I called her back on my drive home. I was pretty sure I knew what big news she had in store for me. I’d seen her over the weekend and she told me her 4-H judging was on Monday. Sure enough, the shadow box of her grandfather’s military medals was selected to go to the State Fair. She seemed so nonchalant about the whole thing, but I’m pretty sure she was more excited than she let on. I could just hear a big grin in her voice. It’s a very big deal. In my nine years of 4-H I never had a project selected for the State Fair. It’s been fun for me – Alison being in 4-H. It gives her a reason to call me. Every once in awhile she calls to tell me what the judges said or asking me what they look for in projects. She called when her clothing selection earned her a purple ribbon. It’s another thing we have in common – other than the fact that I was once a 12 year old girl too. 4-H is something I really enjoyed and it’s fun to watch her experience similar things. Congratulations Alison! I’m so proud of you. Can’t wait to see your shadow box on display in a few weeks!

The bridge theory

My brother’s engaged. He’s going to get married. And all I can say is…about time.

You see my brother has this theory. Every man is on a bridge suspended over a canyon. Along the way there is beer to be drunk, Harleys to ride, four wheelers to get muddy, fish to be caught and fun to be had. And on the other side was your very own paradise. However, below the bridge lay a canyon full of gorgeous women trying to *pull* you off. Should you loose the battle you’ll be sentenced to a life of taking out the trash and fixing the toilet. Brian has watched quite a few of his friends and family get plucked off this bridge.

When Brian first told Ryan about his theory Ryan posed a question…”What if the woman you love is on the other side? What if she’s part of your paradise?” (Side note – this was long before we were married and to this day I’m not sure who he was trying to impress more; me or my family.)

So after learning Brian had proposed, Ryan asked him what happened to the bridge. Brian said, “She’s up here crossing it with me.” And he’s absolutely right. Kelly enjoys a good beer now and then. She rides her own motorcycle. She loves to go four-wheeling. She’s not afraid to get dirty. She is sweet and sincere. She has a natural beauty that shines through leather or lace.

And so it sounds like they’ll be riding off into the sunset on their Harley’s
possibly as soon as this fall!

*Edited* thanks to Adam pointing out the previous language could have been grossly misconstrued...

Calvin's two

Our nephew turned two last month and Melissa asked me to take his annual photos. So we hit a park yesterday afternoon on possibly the most humid day of the summer. I got more pictures of the slide and the swings than anything else – apparently they are Calvin’s favorite playground activities. Both boys did a great job – we didn’t even have to break out the stash of jelly beans to bribe them to sit still.

yellow and green

There was a lot of yellow and green at my house last weekend when I hosted a baby shower for my friend Stefany (and Jason). We had a great time. The Craft Night girls all scrapbooked a couple pages of “firsts” so all Stef has to do is put in the pictures of the first photos, first bath, first hair cut, first day home…ect. I also had all of the guests sign a scrapbook page with a message. Each guest also wrote a birthday wish for Baby H. And of course there was food. Laura brought some amazing scones and Melissa made the cake. It was a lot of fun and lots of “oohs” and “ahhs”. Check back in about four weeks for news about Baby H’s arrival!

Kaitlyn - as of July 4th

It doesn’t get more adorable than that!

My Dad

My dad turned 60 yesterday. Since everyone was already in town for Ryan’s party last month we celebrated Dad’s birthday on Sunday. I can’t remember the story behind the floppy hat; just know that it is very much out of context for my father. If he’s not in a baseball cap at work he’s wearing a cowboy hat at home. I have a photo of him from the same day with a dancing hoola girl on his head but thought I would spare him the embarrassment.

Happy birthday Dad!

Ryan's 30th

A few more photos from Ryan’s surprise party – including the double rainbow that showed up shortly after everyone arrived.

photo dump

Here are a few random photos. I’ll also be posting pictures of Ryan’s surprise 30^th, my dad’s 60^th, my adorable niece, Stef’s baby shower and my adorable nephews.

The first, a poorly exposed picture of the engine; apparently I grabbed the wrong file. Ryan just finished putting a red light bar on the roof this weekend. Makes it look very ‘official’.

And the clematis on the south side of our house. Who doesn’t enjoy a pretty purple flower?

My mom’s humming birds. She has three or four feeders and they go through a half gallon of ‘juice’ a day. She can have upwards of 15 or 20 birds at a time.

I was playing with my shutter speed with the waterfall. Trying to make the water look misty or soft. It worked, but left the closer outcropping of rock over-exposed. Should have increased my aperture and used a little fill flash to balance it out.

And the last one… the water in our basement a few months ago.

what i hate today

Negative post ahead. Consider yourself forewarned.

Today I hate my cubicle.

I hate my high school –esque locker.

My inbox irritates me.

I despise my filing cabinets because they’re full of crap to do.

I can’t stand the close proximity in which I sit to six other people.

I hate the utter lack of privacy.

Today I hate the fourth floor.

The noise drives me crazy.

I hate the tiny little windows that I can’t even see.

The conference rooms feel like bottomless pits.

I hate the elevators – but I hate all elevators.

I can’t stand over hearing every conversation within 20 feet of my crappy cubicle.

Today I hate my building.

The seven floors above me are suffocating.

All the other people in this building piss me off (except Katie. She never pisses anyone off, which pisses me off.)

The cafeteria below me sucks.

I hate the crazy painting of a guy drowning someone.

Today I hate the corporate america. Today I hate my job.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow will be better.

perfect timing

The dispatch agency that sends Ryan on wildfires sent out a message today. From now on they will haul the fire engines out west on flatbeds, rather than having them drive out. Likewise, they’re going to cover the cost of flying the crew to the fire as well.

And they couldn’t have made that decision last week? Honestly.

All in all, it really is a good thing for us. They’re still going to pay us the same rate for the time the engine is on the road, but they’re covering most of the expense. That will certainly help the next time Ryan goes out.

Speaking of the next time… the truck is expected to be fixed tomorrow or Monday morning. Hopefully Ryan will get sent out again next week.

And we were right. The shop here is charging us a fraction of the price they were asking in Wyoming – because half of the stuff they said was wrong was just fine. We informed GM corporate about our poor experience at this dealership who basically told us too bad, so sad. So we filed a compliant with the Better Business Bureau. Not because we want any retribution, but just to do our consumer due diligence.

I’d never checked out the Better Business Bureau but it’s kind of interesting to look up companies you frequently use to see if they’ve had any complaints filed against them.

Back home

Ryan and the broken truck are home. My dad and brother drove out to get him after we found out Ryan lost his place on the fire. At that point there was no reason for him to get the truck fixed in Wyoming, and we’ll get it done by people we trust for a fraction of the price here.

It’s pretty disappointing. But – like everyone has told me the past four days – it could have been worse. Everything happens for a reason. He just wasn’t supposed to go any further. Maybe there was an accident waiting for him down the road. Or maybe something would have gone wrong at the fire.

I am extremely grateful it was only the truck. At one point I said this was pretty much my worst fear. No, my worst fear would be Ryan not coming home. But this comes in a close second. My heart knows it could have been much, much worse. It’s just hard to convince my brain that when it’s hearing dollar figures that are really scary.

But like my mom said, this is doable. We just have to get it fixed as soon as possible so he can get back out there. Hopefully he can go back two… maybe even three more times. It’s sad that our hope is the horror to so many living there.

oh crappy day

Somewhere near Rock Springs, Wyoming the transmission in Ryan’s truck gave out. He managed to limp it to a dealership who estimated it to cost $10,000 to fix. After many google searches and several phone calls we discovered that price was way too high. Thousands of miles from home with a job waiting on him and no other choices. He was stuck and they knew it. It’s horrible to realize that people would take advantage of someone in a situation like that.

Basically it came down to three options. 1. Wait until Monday and let the dealership fix the tranny. 2. Trade for a different truck. 3. Send my dad and brother out to trailer it home.

Eventually the dealership came within $500 of what we’d researched. They had expected him to jump on it right away. When he didn’t they knew he was calling around and didn’t want GM corporate to catch wind of it. However, after they took a good look at it they realized there was more wrong than just a transmission so the estimate jumped back up to $10,000. So I think… last time I talked to him he was considering trading.

He called Incident Command and told him the soonest he could get it fixed was Monday considering the holiday. They still have a 12 hour drive so the soonest he could get to Redding, California would be Tuesday. They told him to get it fixed and get out there. However Ryan just talked to them and they may cancel him b/c they have other resources that are closer than he is.

A friend of mine said in times like this her mom always used to say “This too shall pass.” While it helps, a little, it doesn’t make dealing with this any easier. And I’m pretty much removed from the whole thing. Poor Ryan is out there dealing with all of it by himself.

The maiden voyage

After less than 48 hours of putting his engine on ‘the board’ to go out west Ryan got his orders to be in Redding, CA by July 5. Redding is north west of Sacramento and just south of the Oregon border. That area has been the hardest hit by wildfires. So he made a few calls, rounded up two other guys, packed his red bag, double checked his equipment and finalized his paperwork.

Mapquest tells me the trip will be over 1800 miles and take two days. They’ll travel I-80 all the way out going through Cheyenne, Salt Lake City and Reno. An overnight stop in Wyoming tonight and they’ll arrive in Redding tomorrow. Ryan doesn’t know which complex he’ll be assigned to yet. He’ll get his orders from the Incident Command Post when they arrive.

He’s going with two other guys, both college aged. John has been out on a wildfire once and this will be Nick’s first experience. They are one of the biggest reasons I’m more nervous this time around. Ryan is responsible for them out there so I do hope they’re careful.

I went to Ames this morning to see them off. It was really neat watching Ryan go through the engine showing them where things are stored and how to work the pump and hose reel. This engine has seemed like an uphill battle sometimes but it was pretty awesome to see it this morning. I’m so proud of Ryan. He really did it.

They will work 10-12 hour days for 2 weeks straight. Which means he’ll be home around July 20^th. Unless of course they ask him to do a consecutive detail in which case he’ll take three days off out there and work another two weeks before coming home.

Hmm… what am I going to do for the next 18 days?

Happy "almost" 30th Birthday!

I’ve done a lot of lying the past two months in order to pull off a surprise “almost” 30^th birthday party for Ryan. His actual birthday isn’t until July 25^th. But knowing he’s been out west fighting wildfires over his birthday for the past two years I decided to throw the celebration a little early. Not only would he really be surprised, but I could rest assured that the guest of honor would probably be there.

Fire became the theme – red, black and white paper products. I found a fire truck cake pan that Ryan’s mom turned into an amazing work of art. Someone actually asked me if I bought it. And I did all of Ryan’s favorites – his favorite beer, his favorite pop, his favorite cake, his favorite appetizers.

Many, many thanks are owed to Ryan’s mom Jane and his sisters Michele and Melissa for their awesome efforts in the kitchen. Honestly, I think I only made two dishes for the festivities. To my mom who graciously gave up spending the day with her grandchildren to help clean and shoulder me through a brief break down after clipping the sump pump hose with the lawn mower and watching our tree snap in half that morning.

And Jason. Our terrific friends Jason and Stefany. Jason got Ryan out of the house at 9 a.m. and somehow managed to keep him occupied until 7:30 p.m. on the dot. I’ve no idea how he did it – but my kudos to him.

Ryan was completely taken by surprise when he pulled into our driveway and the garage door opened to reveal a ton of people. It was a lot of fun to do something so special for him. There were four wheeler rides, much too much food, good company, great conversation and lots of laughs. Hopefully good times were had by all.