Yellowstone Bound!

My son is about to begin the adventure of a lifetime. He recently landed a job at Yellowstone National Park for the upcoming tourist season, and we are all so excited! I must confess that while I am thrilled for him, I'm just a little bit jealous, too. I originally found the job when I was dreaming of mountains and places with seasons, and wanting to be there myself.

I had looked to see if there were seasonal jobs at Yellowstone, and sure enough, there they were! Working in the gift shop appealed to me, and I practiced saying, "Welcome to Yellowstone! May I help you?" as I walked around the house doing chores. But alas, with 3 dogs and a squirrel, the chances of me greeting you at Yellowstone any time soon are slim to none. But Alan is single and free, and when he heard me talking about my "dream" job one day he announced, "I'd like to do that."

"You're kidding," I replied.

"No," he said. "It sounds like fun, and it would give me the chance to go somewhere and do something different."

So he applied and guess which job he landed? That's right! He'll be working in the gift shop at Old Faithful! It's really neat for someone his age because he will be able to live in a dorm setting and there is a cafeteria for the employees with 3(?) squares a day. His room and board fees (about $12 a day) will be deducted from his pay check ,so no one has to worry about running out of money for rent. There are organized activities for the employees during their off-duty time, but I think just living at Yellowstone is enough!

The time is nearing for him to leave, and I will be taking him up there. Road trip! Even though the park may not be open for me, just being in that part of the country is exciting. So if you are tired of the same boring entries for our family blog, just hold tight! There are beautiful pictures and fun stories coming.!

Alan will be documenting his personal adventures on his new blog, Alan at Yellowstone. I can't wait to see what happens!

The Bun is in the Oven…And It’s Rising!

Yesterday the mother of my grandbaby came by our house. She wasn’t feeling very well, and since my house is much closer to her office than is her house, Mandy decided to come see her old mom and take a nap before heading home. She was still very dizzy when it was time to go home (even when sitting down), so I drove her home and had her dad meet me there on his way home from work so he could bring me home. We ended up taking her to a night clinic, where she was diagnosed with a severe case of vertigo (just what every pregnant woman needs).

However, before we left, I was able to snap this picture of her and Pod:


I am so excited! (Have I mentioned that before?) I changed my “first quilting” efforts from the John Deere quilt that I had started to a totally new quilt. Mandy and Jeromy seem to have a thing for owls, and the colors that they are using for their nursery have a lot of yellow, brown, blue, etc. (no pastel bunnies and bears for them!), so I found this material:


Here’s the back (it doesn’t show up in the picture as dark and chocolately as the brown material actually is):


We are about halfway to a grandbaby, so I have to hurry up and finish that quilt! I also have been thinking of “grandma” names. I have been threatening to have Pod call me “Beautiful Lady”, but Mandy says that it is way too hard to say. My mother was “Dee Dee”, and my sister’s grandkids call her “Gee Gee”. Should I continue the trend and have Pod call me “Lee Lee”? I have a distant cousin whose grandchildren call her, “Honey”, which I think is just adorable. I also have an affinity for having Pod just call me “Ma”. That’s what we all called my mother’s mother ; she was the grandmother who actually loved us. I guess Pod will call me whatever she wants – as long as she calls me!