Shooting Range

Last weekend, Andrew and I took the Midland Shooters Association range orientation course with a friend.  We had tried to attend previously, but we arrived 6 minutes before it started which was apparently "too late", and we were refused entry.

We were a little bitter about that, so we decided to wait a few months before returning.  I'm sure they noticed our absence and felt badly for turning us away.  That's what we like to think, anyway.  Unfortunately, it's the only range in this area so there was no option of opting for the competition to strengthen our protest.

I don't remember the orientation itself; lots of safety preaching and a couple of examples of how dangerous this hobby can be.  One lady apparently shot herself in the hand by holding the gun to her hand and pressing the trigger.  Pretty sure I'm not going to do that.  Actually, that sounds like exactly the kind of thing I would do.

I do remember that I can buy a t-shirt for $15.  Perhaps they could offer a t-shirt as part of the $200 membership fee.  Or as a consolation to anyone who had previously tried to attend the orientation, but didn't arrive before the 30 minute cut-off.  The tour of the range was a little more interesting and we figured out where we would mostly likely spend our time during visits. 

The next day, I packed up Mary and some snacks, Andrew packed up enough guns and ammunition to support a rebel army, and we headed back to the range for the afternoon.  The tour guide was adamant that they encourage children to use the range so long as they are within arm length of an adult and wear proper ear protection.  Sure enough, Mary was not the only kid at the range that day.

Mary shot a handgun and a rifle (she preferred the latter).  However, her favorite activity was reloading the magazines and sweeping up the empty shells.

I shot my 9mm Glock and Andrew's 22.  I don't enjoy shooting the 45, or really anything more powerful than my Glock. 

I am a pretty decent shot, although I could use some work on stabilizing my aim.  I can line up pretty well, but then looking down the barrel I notice my hand shakes like a dithery old lady, or at least that's how it looks when you're trying to line up a distant target.

The association offers several classes, including concealed weapons permit, and a defense class where you learn how to use your gun in a real life situation.  I'm not sure that either would be of any practical use for me, but the second sounds like a lot of fun. 

 

Home on the Range

Mary adapted her piano music this week.

 

 

Music City - Nashville!

Every year, I go on a summer trip with a group of wonderful ladies.

In May 2003, I joined an iVillage group called November Moms; a group of women who were also expecting a baby in November 2003.  
Over the years, friendships have developed and it has become a group where "anything goes"; the good, the bad, and the ugly.  If you need to vent, share a funny story, could use some support, or just want to share a good dirty joke - this is the group of ladies to be around, either by email, FaceBook, phone, or in person.  Many of us have met over the years and the annual "Mommy Meet" took off for the first time a few years back in Chicago.  The purpose of the mommy-meet is to leave the kids at home, visit a new US destination, be spoiled, eat well, and have fun!
We all come from different backgrounds, from across the country, and our lives have changed over the years, but we all share one thing in common - we all have an 8 year old born the same month of the same year.
We tried to get on Oprah one year to share our fuzzy-feel-good story, but I think we forgot to apply, or something.

This summer, we headed to the Music City of Nashville, Tennessee.  I'd never been to Nashville. 

Once we all got to the hotel, we hung out in the lobby for a while, chatting.  Girls can chat forever, and soon it was time to get ready for dinner.  We ate at Pucketts; surprisingly amazing food, especially their homemade corn bread which looked like a little pancake and tasted like heaven.  A live band was playing that night and, even though they were pretty good, the lead singer continually flipped her hair back and it got a little annoying.  Like watching someone with an exaggerated tic.

 

 

 

The next day was spa day at River Canyon Spa, after a yummy breakfast in a little patisserie downtown.  We had each selected a "package" and included in mine was a pedicure, full body massage, and a hot tub soak.  A few years ago, in Chicago, Cheryl and I took a detour from the group and ended up in a Chinese massage parlor with what appeared to be hookers for masseurs and a pimp for a cashier.  Cheryl paid way too much tip and we both left feeling rather smutty.  Thankfully, we had both purchased a Chinese straw hat so we were able to salvage some sense of dignity as we walked around the city that day.

 

 

 

My pedicurist at the River Canyon Spa (which ironically claimed home in a strip mall with neither canyon nor river) was a very chatty Kathy and told me all the places I must and must not visit during my stay in Nashville.  All this information I promptly forgot as I have the short term memory of, wait, what was I saying?  This is why I never ask for directions.

She also told me that if I happened to scuff my new nail polish she would happily repaint me.  This comment guilted me into being paranoid over my toes the rest of the spa visit. 

 

My masseuse was approximately 6'11', weighing in at around 350lbs.  I got "the guy".  He started pretty attentive, but then I'm sure he fell asleep during the massage.

 

The hot tub soak was less impressive.  Highlights included the cool light effects and the variety of chocolates (I found and raided the hidden stash of Hersheys replenishments, I was so hungry).  Unfortunately, it was very similar to, well, just taking a bath.



Everyone was starving after the spa so we headed around the corner to eat at the Wild Iris and, again, we were very happy with the food.

That night we headed to Broadway to hit some honky-tonk bars.  Our two "must do" bars were Tootsies and Legends, but it seemed like every bar we visited showcased some serious talent. 

We had some other pressing business to attend to that night.  We had to ride the electric bull!  It took a little footwork, but we found the bull upstairs in a bar.  I'm afraid you won't find the bull riding photographs on this blog.  This is a family oriented blog and the pictures are, well, less than graceful.  We had a lot of fun and I might just mention that I rode the bull for the longest time.  Strangers were chanting my name, I felt like a champion.  A bull riding champion.

Of course, we had to visit the Grand Ole Opry, so next day we bought a tour ticket and spent the afternoon walking around backstage, in the dressing room areas, and on the famous stage. 

 

 

 

This is apparently a very famous character.  One of those "you had to grow up in America" moments.  Maybe the US equivalent of Benny Hill, or Victor Meldrew?

We had heard about a "nice hotel" in the area so we decided to pay it a visit on the way back.  This "hotel" was pretty amazing.  More like a little vacation complex with multiple "villages" and probably more restaurants and stores than my hometown.  We found some good gelato.

This place reminded me of the Butterfly Center back home at Oasis Lakeland Village near Penrith, only it was like having 20 butterfly centers attached by a series of hotel lobbies, and a river.

After spending some time in a fancy (and very expensive) leatherwear store, we headed back to town to take a conciliatory boot shopping spree.  Our mission was to find these $700 boots for $49.99 (or less).

 

One of us (who probably wishes to remain anonymous) found a similar pair for $400 and decided she could hide that credit card bill from her husband. 

That night we ate at Merchants and did some bar hopping before heading back for a final chin-wag at the hotel.  The next day we left for home, after deciding that next year should be Vegas.

Summer vacation was slipping by so quickly, and I still had to teach Mary to ride her bike, build a stalagmite experiment in the kitchen, make some Pinterest polymer balls, get Mary to the dinosaur kids workshop at the museum, and find somewhere to watch the Olympics because we're too cheap for cable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Fun 1

Summer for us began June 8th, and we celebrated by heading out to Monahans Sand Dunes that night for a BBQ dinner with some friends, followed by a walk over the dunes to watch the sunset. 

Apparently, I don't have any pictures of the sunset, but it was very pretty.

The next day, I took a "Painting with Spirit - don't be koi with me" class/lunch with a friend.  My "spirit" sucked and I was a little disappointed with the result, so I framed it and hung it in the main room of our house.  Tonia held onto hers pretty tightly, otherwise I might have swapped them in the car.  She definitely had more artistic flair, whereas I am clearly more of a paint-by-numbers type.

 

 

When you have 10 weeks of vacation in the summer, you imagine all kinds of wonderful projects you can undertake (I'll learn Spanish!  I could take a pottery class!  I think I'll train for that marathon!").

 

This year was no different, so I headed to Hobby Lobby, loaded up on water colors and expensive paper and set about improving my artistic ability.  By August 8th, I felt I'd done enough growth...

 



Other summer activities included a two week swim camp for Mary (or, drop your kids off so they can play around in the pool while we pay a couple of teenagers to monitor them between texting), followed by a visit to my friend in Bandera, TX.  Her grandmother owns a house on the river so we spent a few days lounging around, swimming in the Medina River, BBQing, and feeding the local deer. 

My friend, Sarah, also figured this was a great time to dye her hair pink; she'd quit teaching and had at least 9 weeks before she had to show up to start her PhD program in DC.  I tried to persuade Mary to dye her hair pink too, just a strip, but that child of mine is far more conservative than I ever was.  I reminded Mary that her nana often sports a pink strip of hair, and she works for the police department, but Mary could not be swayed.

 

 

Nursing a scorpion sting and a wounded spirit

 

blank tea towels + pens = cheap entertainment

 

 

I love the Texas Hill County.

The next week, we attended a Rockhounds baseball game.  Not that I follow baseball, but Andrew's company has a cool spectator box with air conditioning, flat screen TV, and free wine, so it didn't take much persuading to get me there, even though Andrew himself was out of town with work. 

 

 

Mary likes running around the field after the game

 

 

The next weekend, we took a PBOC camping trip (Permian Basin Outdoors Club) to the Davis Mountains.  Some friends of ours also came along and, while we huddled up in my pop-up camper, they slept outside on the rocks. 

 

Ben (aka, "dad"), had purposely forgotten their tent in his efforts to give his five little girls a more magical camping experience.  This is one brave family; even the visiting javelinas (nasty looking wild pigs) didn't weaken their resolve, and Mary decided to join them under the stars for the night.  I wished we'd arrived with the same strategy; it was a pretty night and nothing compares to falling asleep under a wide, star-filled sky.  But then, nothing really compares to a padded sleeping surface either.

 

McDonald Observatory in the distance

 

 

The following day we went bouldering  at Point of Rocks, which is a place with lots of rocks.  It was quite a climb and even the dogs were worn out.  Some other people from the outdoors group were rappelling and we toyed with the idea of joining them.  However, bouldering seemed like much more fun.  It was a hot day and it was hard to avoid the cacti, but it really was a lot of fun.

 

 

 

Almost half way up and Sushi the beagle started breathing like a Harley Davidson

 

An oasis of shade

 

This is the Texas equivalent of nettles.  Elora (below) learned this the hard way last year as we hiked up a hill in Big Bend, in the dark.

 

Anna is Top Dog!

Pretty Audrey and enthusiastic Mary, with a curious Sadie in the background

 

 

After a pizza and ice-cream lunch (the Ft. Davis store has the best ice-cream), our friends headed home and we took a drive up Sun Drive. 

 

Later, I took Mary to the McDonald Observatory, a place I never tire of visiting.  There, we looked through super sophisticated telescopes and viewed Saturn with her rings.  We also got to see the Hubble Space Station and a couple of other satellites as they passed us by in the pitch black sky.  Add to that a meteor, and we came away happy.

 

The next day, we hung around camp a while and Mary was lassoed. 

 

 

 

 

Later that day, we tried to hike Madera Canyon trail, which we are told is beautiful with trickling streams and prancing wildlife.  However, no dogs were allowed (probably due to the trickling streams and prancing wildlife), so Mary and I headed to Balmorhea while Andrew drove home with the dogs.

 

Accoring to their website, at Balmorhea you can dive into the cool waters of the world’s largest spring-fed swimming pool, which covers 1.75 acres and stays at 72–76 degrees year round. Scuba divers love the clarity even at a 25-foot depth. In addition to swimming and camping, the San Solomon Courts offer motel-style retro lodging built by the CCC in the 1930s with a Southwestern adobe look; most units have kitchens. Canals along the Courts lead to a restored ciénega (wetland), where a window built below ground provides a fish-eye’s view of the underwater world.

 

We had driven passed this park on several occasions, usually on our way up to the mountains.  After our afternoon there, we decided to come back the following weekend and camp a few days.

 

 

My trusty pop-up :)

Balmorhea

Surrounded by fish

 

We spent some time geocaching and found this cute little church (est. 1902), Calera Chapel.

 

Early June, Mary helped some friends run a lemonade stand at the Planetarium during the Venus transit.

 

 

 

The gang made a whopping $40+ and used it for an afternoon trip to Chuck e Cheese.