Horses in disguise?

So the pups turned six months old on Aug 14th. I don't know about you, but when I think of six month old puppies, I think of something like this.....

There is a disconnect between what I envisioned, and what is true.
I have these.....

 

Which is a very far cry from this....

Or this....

 

I think they are horses, in disguise......

 

Long time no see

I'm beginning think I should change my name to "Catch Up Mama."  And I feel like I may have said that before.

I'm going to credit Limatunes for bringing me out of the woodwork. I was perusing her blog yesterday, and when I was finished reading her latest posts, I realized that she has me linked in her sidebar, and then I realized it's been a long time since I posted. How embarrassing.

So here's a quick rundown:

• Puppies - grow like weeds. I swear we leave for an hour and when we come back they are bigger. They are both over 50lbs now, and aren't quite 6 months old yet. Will try to post some new pictures soon.
• Appleseed - FINALLY. Officially scored Rifleman and took an "Orange Hat" (joined the instructor in training program). This was a long road and a lot of hard work, but
•  Soldier Girl - she's been back home since mid-may, and is making college plans.
• Training & Teaching - hubs and I have joined forces with a new tactical range, and we've been helping them make improvements and doing some teaching and training out there. More on that in a separate post.
• Life - has just been busy. It may be time to assess and scale back to only the most important things again. I hate it when I have to do this, because I hate telling that I can't help them.

So back to Limatunes......I read her blog post yesterday titled "Fight Like A Girl And Other Lessons From A Stabbing"  - if you haven't read it, GO DO IT NOW. Because that's the bulk of what I want to talk about today. I'll wait......

All done? It's a sobering read, isn't it? I train every single day, and still it made me think of areas that I need to work on. I want to address some of the same points that Limatunes does.

Mindset
As John Adams said about the American Revolution, a battle is most often won or lost in the heart and mind. If, in your heart and mind, you think you could never harm another person even if it meant your own life, then I submit to you that you *will* lose the fight. If instead, you believe in your heart and your mind that you will do anything to protect yourself or your loved ones, then you are already in a winning position.

That mindset did not protect her from being attacked. It only helped her make the decision to fight once the attack happened.
Even with that fighting mindset she was taken by surprise. Rushing from work to school she was emailing her boyfriend when she walked into the parking garage. She threw her bags in her car and was about to get in herself when she felt something at her neck.

This falls under Awareness, and as Lima discusses the Color Codes Of Awareness.
Should you try to live in Condition Yellow all the time? Yes, as much as possible.
Is it possible, 100% of the time? No. We get distracted by many different things (me included), and we all have to sleep at some point, right?
Should this young woman have put her phone away before entering the parking garage? Yes.
Did she deserve to get attacked because she hadn't? Hell, no!
Do I blame her for not seeing the attack coming? Absolutely not. Criminals rely on the element of surprise. They are always one step ahead, because they know what they are going to do, and they didn't give us a written gameplan.



The Attack

Angela's attacker put a knife to her throat and said, "We're going for a ride."
Angela made a bold decision. With a knife to her throat she chose to fight. She wasn't some sort of martial arts master. She took a self defense class and she chose to use what she had learned. She set a boundary that she wasn't going to cross and she fought. It was that simple.

I believe this was a pivotal decision. She chose to fight. With a knife to her throat.
Statistically, Crime Scene B is always far worse than Crime Scene A. What does that mean? If you comply with your attackers wishes to go to another location, things will end up far worse than if you stay and fight at Crime Scene A.

The Defensive Weapon
I hear too many people say "Oh, I don't need to train to fight, I carry _____ on me all the time." (Gun, knife, pepper spray, etc) 
First and foremost - YOU ARE THE DEFENSIVE WEAPON. All the other stuff you might carry are TOOLS to aid in a fight.
Angela had pepper spray, and she even tried to deploy it. But it was in her bag (where pepper spray often lives) and she couldn't get to it. Even if it had been in her pocket, she may not have been able to deploy it.
If you carry defensive tools, you owe it to yourself to TRAIN with it. If you don't train with it, there's a good chance you'll forget it's even there if you get attacked.

The Call
The only thing I will say about the call to 911 is this: This is a prime example of why you cannot depend on police to protect you from harm. Their job is to clean up the mess and locate and punish the criminals, not to protect you. Please don't take that as an insult to law enforcement. They simply cannot predict crime any better than anyone else, and when the call goes in to 911, the information has to be disseminated and units deployed. You are already there, so you should be the one protecting you.

The Injury
This really got me thinking. I carry very basic first aid supplies in my bag, unless I'm going to the range, and then I carry a larger kit. Poor planning, on my part. I wouldn't have the supplies to treat a stab wound until help could come. This will be remedied in short order.

Fitness

Angela fought for roughly three minutes (an eternity in a fight). She was stabbed and while bleeding internally she ran down four flights of a parking garage to help.

Many Americans would not have the physical stamina to make it through half of that.

People, you owe it to yourself. Take care of your body. Help it to be strong and fit. You are worth it, your loved ones are worth it. Is it hard work? Yep. Is it hard to find the time? Sometimes. But like Lima said: It may very well be the difference between life and death.

Conclusion
I'll just reiterate all of what Lima said. There is no better way to say it.

Be aware. Be aware of your surroundings and those around you. Be aware of pre-fight indicators.

If you carry a defensive tool train with it. Have it accessible, ready to use and in good working order.

If your defensive tool is not available or not functioning be prepared to fight without it.

Be prepared to give an exact location to responders but don't rely solely on that to save you. Run, move, treat, seek alternative sources of help at the scene.

Have the skills and tools to treat injuries to yourself and others.

Be fit enough to fight. 

Fight!

Fight and survive!

Cuteness overload commencing....

If you caught my last blog post dated over a month ago, you know why it's been a month since I posted. :)

Introducing the two newest members of our household! These were taken the day they came home. They were condemned to the cones of shame for 10-14 days after their spay/neuter procedures.....do you really think plastic e-collars are meant to hold up to razor sharp pirhana puppy teeth? Noooooo. We did manage to keep them on them for about 11 days, but there were many repairs that needed to be made during that time, and FORGET keeping them "sendentary" during that time!

Baby girl pup at 9 weeks old

Baby boy pup at 9 weeks old

They were so little back then......the boy weighed in at 12.5 lbs when he had his surgery (we don't have a surgery date weight for her - not sure if they didn't weigh her, or she wouldn't hold still....my guess is the latter).

Names? Oh yeah, names!
We settled on Lula for her (yes, as in UpLula!) and Gunny (as in R. Lee) for him. :)

Lula is our crazy insane high energy oh my god I can't go to sleep or I'll miss something pup.
Gunny is mostly calm, serious, and laid back. But his sister can get him all wound up of course!

These last few weeks we've been working on potty training (I think we are FINALLY there! Knock on wood), a very few basic commands (sit, stay, down) and eating, playing and sleeping. These little buggers go 0-60 and then 60-0. Multiple times a day. We go through a 25lb bag of puppy food in about a week and a half. And I swear they grow in their sleep.

Here's more recent pics, from just a few days ago.

It's hard to tell the actual size of them in these pics, so we took some with Soldier Girl (she's back, by the way!) so far away family members could get a better idea of how big they are.

Soldier Girl is about 5'6", and you can see they're above knee height. Latest weigh in (yesterday) has Lula weighing in at 27.6lbs, and Gunny weighing in at 26.2lbs. And they're 100 days old today!

The poor cat still isn't quite sure what to make of them, but she's slowly coming out of hiding, and even interacting with them a tiny bit - at least until the puppy teeth go into motion and the chase drive is activated. I'm confident that we'll all live in harmony. Eventually. :)

Prayers for my fellow Texans

The sleepy little town of West, Texas needs prayers and support.

Located just north of Waco, with a population of only about 2800 people, the fire and subsequent explosion at the fertilizer plant has caused mass destruction in this little town. Many people injured or died, most everyone displaced since the town was evacuated.

The blast was felt clear up to Amarillo (and beyond), where seismographs recorded a shockwave of 2.1 on the richter scale. This is a huge, heartbreaking tragedy.

My fellow Texans need prayers and support. If you can help with any type of donations, that would be fantastic too. This link shows places that are accepting donations, but blood donations are desperately needed.

Make way for puppies!

The mister and I had a moment of sheer insanity the other day. We signed adoption papers for TWO nine week old puppies!

No pics of my own yet, since the babies won't come home until later this week, but I found a couple of pics on the rescue organization's site. 

Daisy (mama) and pups

Hungry pups!

We're pondering names! One male, one female - brother and sister. We think they are part Anatolian Shepard. (If you aren't sure what those are...check this out. They'll probably be pretty big!)

Some names that have come up.....
Bonnie & Clyde
Smith & Wesson
M______ & P______ (following the Smith & Wesson theme - but with names that actually start with those letters)
Mosin & Mauser

If you were crazy enough to adopt two puppies at the same time, what would YOU name them?

I'd like to thank the Academy.....

My one year blogaversary came and went with virtually zero notice by me. Oops!

The truth of the matter is, I've been SO busy for the last few months, that I've barely had time to blog (you didn't notice?), forget trying to keep up with all my favorite gun bloggers too!

So what has been keeping me so busy? Training. And training. Oh, and more training. Did I mention training?
And not just training, but lots of INSTRUCTOR training as well!

A year ago, I really was just starting on this journey, trying to figure out what to do next.
Remember this post?
Well, I jumped in with everything I had and got 'er done. I feel all official and what not.
Don't get me wrong, there is LOTS more for me to learn! But I feel like I can finally start giving back now.

Between the hubster and I, we have logged nearly 400 hours of training - since SEPTEMBER 2012.
From basic to advanced pistol, rifle, and even.........armed/unarmed self defense.

I guess we don't like to do anything half way around here. :)

I owe a debt of gratitude to a lot of fantastic people. I'm not going to name names, because I know I will leave some people out, and then I'll feel guilty.

Thanks to:
Strong women that inspire me. Shooters, trainers, activists, warrior princesses (and I don't mean Xena), bloggers, organizers.
Men that actually encourage and HELP women in not only the shooting sports, but also in other areas of the self defense world. Men that don't spout a bunch of hot air and then get cranky when they are questioned, but men that are interested more in correct and useful information instead of stroking their own egos.
Training counselors that would give you the shirt off their back if you ever needed it.
Anyone that has taken the time to encourage me and tell me that I have the strength to do all of this.

And most of all....my husband. He's the one that started the wheels in motion for me on this crazy adventure. I have loved every minute of it so far. 

March Appleseed - AAR

I had hoped to get this post up sooner, but it's been a busy couple of weeks in the 2A household. (Who am I kidding? It's been a busy few MONTHS. I need a vacation!)

I am happy to report that my marksmanship skills are improving! Even though we were shooting in the cold, rain, wind and mud, I had an incredible time and wouldn't have traded the experience for anything.

First off, this was the view immediately to my left.....

That's Mr. 2A, providing what he calls "motivation" with his RIFLEMAN sticker adhered to the stock of his Remington 597......I call it gloating. (Ok, it did motivate me a little.)

Second, see all those chunks of dirt mud? This photo was actually taken on day two, so the ground had dried out a bit from the cold wind that moved in. On day one, you'd walk downrange to check your target, and by the time you got back to the firing line, you were a good 4" taller because of the mud caked on the bottom of your shoes. 

I didn't shoot my Remington this time. We scored a used Ruger 10/22 and made some modifications to it.

Hogue stock (a dream if you're shooting in the rain), TechSites, extended mag release, and standard GI sling.

This one fits me much better than the Remington (although I did have it there as a backup, just in case!). I had trouble with mag changes on the Remington, having to break position to even find the mag release much less reach the mag well. Not a problem on the 10/22 - extended mag release made it a breeze to drop the mags, and the reach to seat a new one in the mag well was perfect. 

Ok, so on to the AQT's!

Mr. 2A shot only one AQT, and managed to beat his previous qualifying score of 211.....with a 233!!! 

After this AQT, he accepted an Instructor In Training hat, and worked the line. :) 

I went through all six AQT's and did pretty well myself. Sadly, not quite a RIFLEMAN yet....but the main thing I really need to work on is my timing.

Stage 1: Ok, I could use some practice here too. This stage is standing, 10 rounds, 2 minutes. I need to control my figure 8 better and work on my arm strength so my arms don't get as tired as quick.

Stage 2: This one hurt me. Standing to seated/kneeling, 5 rounds left, 5 rounds right, 55 seconds. I didn't get all my rounds off, simply because I didn't remember my Rifleman's Cadence. "Breathe in, breathe out, squeeze" stepped up or slowed down to fit your timing requirements. Had I completed this round....I would have qualified.

Stage 3: Standing to prone, 3 shots, 3 shots, 4 shots, 65 seconds. I need to work on cadence, as well as making sure I've got NPOA (natural point of aim) before squeezing that trigger. 

Stage 4: Prone, 2 shots, 2 shots, 3 shots 3 shots, 5 minutes. I need to remember to slooooow down here, but overall I'm pretty happy with this one.

Best score of the day = 200. Ten points shy of qualifying RIFLEMAN.
Practice, practice, practice....dry fire, dry fire, dry fire....and I'm going to try again in April. I'm after an Instructor In Training hat too. ;)

I must say, I really love what goes into precision marksmanship. So much, that I'm looking around for places I can start doing long range rifle shooting, and maybe even some competitions. I have a long way to go before I have a chance at winning anything....but don't forget....I've only been shooting rifles for 3 months now!

One more picture to leave you with. My final redcoat target of the weekend.

Of course, this one wasn't timed....... If  you can't quite read the distances on those (simulated distance)....
Top row: 100 yards
2nd row: 200 yards
3rd row: square 250 yd 'headshot'  and 300 yard silhouette
4th row: 400 yards

Gotta work on that timing thing...... :)

Must Read

Ladies & Gentleman,

Please take a few minutes out of your day today to hop on over to My Mind Won't Stop and read The Patriot Movement - The Three Percenters.

James so eloquently put into words much of what has been on my mind lately.

Appleseed Part Deux - Coming Soon!

OMG! I have a week and a half before our next Appleseed event! (Mar 9/10)

So much for my grand plans to practice-practice-practice to perfect my skills before then! I have barely touched my rifle at all!

Throw in the fact that we managed to score a Ruger 10/22 (which seems to fit me better - I can actually do a mag change without breaking position!) that I've barely shot, and that is having some issues with trigger reset at the moment....well, I've always learned best under pressure. :)  If my husband were reading over my shoulder he would pipe in and tell you that there "typically" would be a frustration melt-down or two along the way when working under pressure, but not this time, dammit! I'm going to push myself over the next week and a half, but I'm not going to stress over it.
If we can't get the trigger reset figured out, I'll just shoot with the Remington again, and pray. A lot. :)

I'm going to practice, and then go and have fun, and hopefully earn one of these.....

The coveted RIFLEMAN patch!

I think I've got it sighted in (thanks to Mr. J - would have been lost without ya!) and just need to practice with the various positions and the sling. Wish me luck!

Project Appleseed

If you have never heard of Project Appleseed, you owe it to yourself and your fellow Americans to go check out www.appleseedinfo.org.

Project Appleseed is an activity of The Revolutionary War Veterans Association, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, dedicated to teaching every American our shared heritage and history as well as traditional rifle marksmanship skills.

It was two very intensive days, and I'm exhausted and sore as all get-out, but it was all well worth it.

Going into this, I had very little rifle experience (and not a lot of interest in them, either), and really no idea what to expect from this except that we'd be shooting rifles. I was eager to learn, but more than a little nervous, too.

What I got was two fast-paced days of top-notch instruction, history lessons (not the stuff from your school days text books, either - the REAL history) and a new appreciation for our country's rich history and perseverance in times of trouble and what it takes to reach the status of "Rifleman." 

While I didn't qualify as "Rifleman" this time, I did at least score "Marksman" and impress the hell out of myself with what I can do if I try. Mr. 2A, on the other hand, did qualify as "Rifleman." :)
What does that mean? Well, here's a breakdown of the qualification target.

Scaled down target, posted at 25 yards. Simulates shooting at 100 yds in Stage 1 (largest target), 200 yards in Stage 2 (second row), 300 yards in Stage 3 (third row) and 400 yards in Stage 4 (bottom row).
No big deal, right? Let's add in the time limits and various shooting positions and see what you think then!

Stage 1: 10 rounds, standing, 2 minutes
Stage 2: Start from standing, and on "Fire" command, drop to sitting or kneeling, fire 2 shots at the left target, re-load, fire 3 more at the left target and then fire 5 at the right target. In 50 seconds.
Stage 3: Start from standing with 2 rounds loaded. On "Fire" drop to prone, fire 2 rounds at left target, re-load, fire one more at left target, then fire 3 at center target, then fire 4 at the right target. In 60 seconds.
Stage 4: Starting from prone, on "Fire" command, fire two rounds at the first target (left) and two more at the second target, then 3 each at the last two targets. In 5 minutes. (Now that may not seem too bad, but remember, you're still in rush-rush-hurry-hurry mode from the last two stages. The important thing on this last stage is to calm and center yourself and take your time. Not an easy thing to do!)

We went through this SIX times, and they took our best target as our final score. I only shot four rounds before I dropped out.

My poor body took such a beating from all the up-down-standing-sitting-kneeling, and my neck will be sore for days. Throw in the mental stress with the time limits, and the mind games you play with yourself when checking your target after each stage......well, it's a beating!
But you know what? I'm going to do it again, and I'm going to earn that damn "Rifleman" patch. Only 3 people qualified yesterday (out of about 25) and I want to join those ranks!

So let's talk about the hubby qualifying. He actually qualified on a couple of rounds - round 3, and again on round 6. Round six was his highest score at 211 (you must score 210 or higher to make Rifleman), but I'm particularly impressed with his round 3.
During round 3, I fired 3 rounds into the last target, and when I went to take aim for the last shot, I realized something was wrong. My front sight post was missing. It had been there for all other shots in this stage, but suddenly it was gone.
During a 2-3 minute prep period between stages 3 & 4, my dear hubby ran down the hill to the car after an allen wrench, ran back up the hill and fixed my front sight post to get me squared away (by this time everyone else had begun stage 4 shooting), got back into his loop sling, plopped down into prone (panting from his sprint session) and managed to hit all 4 of his targets in stage 4.
His score was 210. 

I should also mention that he earned his Rifleman status on his three year tumor-versary.
The guy never ceases to amaze me with what he can do!

Coming up for air

With only a day and a half left in 2012, I thought maybe I should post something. :)

It's been crazy since my last post. Good and bad.

Soldier Girl made it home for the holidays, and I'm thrilled to have her here for a few more days before she has to go back to AIT. The day I picked her up from the airport, we went straight to the range so she could play with some of our new toys. :) We went again yesterday and she got to shoot a Desert Eagle, an SKS and an M1, among other things. She had a great time, and we're hoping to get her back over there tomorrow to try out some other fun toys.

Christmas was quiet and relaxed, which is how I like it. 

Work is another story......

We have been absolutely swamped at the range these last couple of weeks. I don't know if it's just that everyone is off of work and trying out their new Christmas gifts, or if it's all the gun control talk, or both. But it's been very crowded, all day, every day - and gun sales have been plentiful.
I guess we'll see what happens after New Year's when everyone goes back to work.

I won't say much about Sandy Hook, since so many others have said it so much better than I ever could, but I will say that I am deeply saddened at the tragic loss of innocent lives. 

But I'm also deeply angered at the garbage that is being spewed by the current administration about "gun control." Disarming law abiding citizens is certainly NOT the way to prevent crazed criminals from killing innocent people. Criminals don't obtain things legally, so they will have guns no matter what laws are passed. Us law abiding citizens shouldn't be stripped of a means to defend ourselves when necessary.

I know I'm likely preaching to the choir here.....so I'll leave it at that. For now.

In other news.....Mr 2A and I have been very busy working on several certifications, and we'll be teaching some classes very soon. I promise to post more about that in the next week or two.

Until then, I hope everyone has a happy and safe New Year's!

Fantastic week!

We had a nice quiet Thanksgiving last week with family. I got to talk to my soldier girl twice last week on the phone, and we're counting the days til she gets home for Christmas. :)

I'm still absolutely loving my job at the range! We've been quite busy, and I love meeting all the gun-loving people I would've never had a chance to meet if it weren't for this job! They're all super friendly too, and want to share their toys!

I met a police officer that brought in an AR with an EoTech sight on it. I have looked at EoTech's in various LGS, but never actually used one, and he asked me if I wanted to shoot it. I politely declined, and he then INSISTED that I shoot it. LOL Then we had a disagreement about how many rounds I was going to fire. We settled on 5, even though he really wanted me to shoot a whole magazine. :)
I tell ya....it took SO much restraint not to flip the switch on that thing to "AUTO." But I love my job and want to keep it so I resisted. :)

My co-workers have great toys as well!

I shot one of these.....

....and one of these.....

And I got two new toys of my own this last week!

The M&P is my new EDC - or will be once I find the right holster for it. I've been wearing it at work in a Fobus, but need something a little more concealable for outside of work. I think I want something similar to TT Gun Leather's snap holster, but I'm a little shy about spending that much on a holster, having never used an OWB before.

But I'm also considering a Skeleton from PHLster.com......
Holster shopping is kind of like bathing suit shopping for me....I need to try it on and stare critically in the mirror for an hour or two before actually purchasing something (or in the case of the bathing suit....talking myself out of it and never actually buying anything!). So holster shopping on the internet is torture for me. :(

Hubs upgraded the trigger with an Apex kit, and put TruGlo sights on it for me, and I love it!
I just got an extra pinky extension for the factory mag (why do they send you ONE flat and ONE pinky extension?!) as well as a 17 round mag and an XGrip adapter. I obviously won't carry it that way (well, maybe at work just to see how many people ask questions LOL) but I will be great for range time.

The Mossberg........LOVE! We picked it up last Friday, and immediately put two boxes of slugs through it (we don't allow shot at our range). I don't know much about shotguns, but Damn. I love this thing. And I love the quarter sized holes that slugs punch neatly through paper targets.
As we arrived on the firing line with it, a couple of the guys at work said "Do you know how to shoot from the hip?" I looked at them like they were crazy and said "Yeah, I've done that. But I ain't doing that today." My soldier girl called ma B-A-M-F for shooting it from the shoulder with slugs. I just laughed at her. :)
Hubs has a running list of upgrades for the shotty already, but he won't let me see it. :(
I'll try to update as it morphs through the various stages of  "upgrades."

And on a final note for today......THIS is is the scene in my garage right now. That big tub on the left? That's a 50 gallon tote. FULL. And this isn't even all of it. So if you need brass, or know anyone that does, hit me up. I'm sure we can work something out. ;)

Have a great weekend y'all! I'm going to go help a friend with some home repairs, then go out to dinner and do some birthday shooting! :)

One of these days....

...I'll get to the point where I can sort out all of the thoughts rambling around in my head, post about them daily, and stop playing these catch up games!

JOB
New job is going great! I've met a ton of great people, seen and shot some really cool toys, have expanded my wish list a lot, and have done a little bit of one-on-one teaching.
The range has been insanely busy. I don't know if it's because we're new, or because of the Election Day outcome, or a mixture of both. But it's a good problem to have!

SOLDIER GIRL
She's doing well at AIT, and her brigade marched in a Veteran's Day parade this past Monday. Sadly, I have no pictures of that. She's counting the days til she gets to come home for Christmas (and so am I!).

CHEMO
We're still battling the monster, but making progress, we think. Another MRI coming up on Monday, and we're praying that the chemo is still kicking the tumor's ass. It sure isn't being kind to the Mr.

MISC
I have a birthday coming up, and it looks like I will be getting a new firearm! I've got my eye on a S&W M&P 9 compact. Hubs has a full size VTAC model, which I love to shoot, but it's just a little big for me to conceal. So I'm leaning towards the compact version. Too bad those VTAC sights are so expensive, though, I'd love to put them on a compact!

Hubs and I will be taking some instructor training here in a couple of weeks, and I'm really looking forward to it! I won't let the cat out of the bag just yet as to what, exactly, but it will be a great addition to the classes our range already offers.

The invitation is still out there for an Dallas area peeps to stop by (email me for details please) and visit the range! You'll love the place, and I would love to see some write-ups out there!

That's all I got. More soon!

Calling Dallas area bloggers

I'm attempting to help the gun range I work at get some positive press, and I'd like to personally invite all you Dallas area bloggers to come check the place out. :)

I don't have the authority to say "Come shoot for free" but maybe it would be enough if I told you that you can shoot pistols, rifles (up to, but not including 50BMG) and shot guns (slugs only) on a single lane (no moving lanes when you want to switch from one to the other) in a climate controlled range with clean air that is recycled every 87 seconds?

Or if you're a lady blogger, come see us on Tuesday nights, and shoot for just $5.

If you want to come check it out, feel free to email me at twoamama_AT_gmail_DOT_com and I'll give you the name and address of the place.

Silly me, I think I'm going to be able to keep my privacy now that I'm working there and blogging about it! Seriously, though...just trying to avoid crazy stalker fan-boi types - even though every one at the range open carries. ;)

Hope to hear from you, and see you soon!

Quick Update: New Job!

I'm a few weeks into the new job at the range, and I'm absolutely loving it!

The owners are wonderful people, my co-workers are already like family to me, and I get to talk guns/ammo and training every day I'm there, with customers from all walks of life. And I'm getting paid to do it! :)

If you had asked me five years ago what I'd be doing today, I never would have imagined it would be this. But I truly feel like I've found my calling in life (as goofy as that may sound).

Once I settle in a little more, I'll be taking some NRA instructor level courses, and hopefully will get to start teaching some classes! :)

That's it for now....gotta go get ready to head to my dream job! :)

Playing Catch Up Again! - Road Trip

I feel like I've been in a constant state of motion these last few weeks! But it has been a fantastic few weeks, and I want to share it with you!!! :)

On October 1st, the hubs and I piled our bags into the car and made the 16 hour drive to South Carolina to see Soldier Girl graduate from basic training. We didn't hit the road nearly as early as we would have liked (4:30PM instead of 8AM) which meant we drove through the night, and arrived at our hotel in Columbia at around 9:30AM on the 2nd.
After napping for a few hours, we got up and got ready to go to a meet up with some other army families that I had gotten to know from a Facebook group over the course of eleven long weeks.

While we were getting ready to go, I took a moment to clean my glasses and managed to snap them in half. It was a clean break right on the bridge, too. Am I talented or what? LOL

Gorilla Glue to the rescue - sort of. I got through the evening with them glued, but of course they snapped again when I took them off back at the hotel room. We re-glued again, and I managed to get through the Family Day briefing and a trip to the post optical shop where we found some new frames that my existing lenses sort of fit into. Not a great solution, but we could only do so much 1000 miles from home. At least I could see!

The Family Day briefing was incredible!!! There were speeches and live music, and lots of cheering, and then finally, this.....

Three companies marching onto the field as one.....what a proud moment for me. <3
The music still gives me goosebumps!

Once they released the soldiers to find their families, chaos ensued. Hundreds of parents, grandparents, siblings, wives, husbands, boyfriends and girlfriends all trying to find their soldiers in a sea of camouflage. LOL 
I found my girl soon enough, and managed to sneak up on her and grab her in the biggest bear hug. We both started crying. It was SO good to see her face in person after 11 long weeks!
I noticed when I hugged her that she was all wiry and muscle-y! LOL

Me and my Soldier Girl!

Me and the Soldier Girls. We adopted this gal for Family Day, since her family couldn't make it.

We spent some time doing brief meet-n-greets of her Battle Buddies and their families, and then went to sign the gals out for the day. We were restricted to on-post only, so we hit the PX (and the optical shop) to do some shopping, lunch, and visiting). Then we wandered over to the U.S. Army Basic Combat Training Museum, which was really cool!

Outside the museum.

A piece of one of the World Trade Center buildings from the 9/11 attacks.

After the museum, we did a little more wandering around, but ended up back at the PX, just kicking back at a table and talking. She had to be back at her company by 2030, and we dropped her off a little bit early to make sure she made it on time. Then it was back to the hotel for us to get some sleep, and get ready for Graduation Day!
Sadly the weather did not cooperate, and the graduation ceremonies were moved inside. This meant that these soldiers didn't get to do Pass & Review, but the graduation ceremony was awesome regardless! (Sorry for the crappy video work, but just LISTEN! Again with the goosebumps!)

After the graduation ceremony was over, we went back over to the company area to get Soldier Girl all checked out, get all her orders signed off on, and get her stuff packed into the car, so we could drive her to her AIT post.

This photo cracks me up! She actually said "Really Mom?"
I just wanted a record of her carrying 100lbs of gear without complaining! LOL

She said her first order of business was to hit up a Five Guys, but it was a little early in the day for that so she settled for Waffle House instead. :) After our bellies were full, we went back to the hotel and just hung out for a few hours. She sorted all her gear and re-packed it all. We watched TV and surfed the net (she had to get caught up on Facebook, you know!). We ran out and did a little shopping (which she griped about - she didn't want to put those Class A's back on! LOL) and then got a good night's sleep.
The next morning, we loaded up the car and hit the road for her next post. Within minutes of being in the car, I looked back and saw this:

Apparently, all soldiers fresh out of basic do this. Sleep when you can.
She did it every time we got in the car. LOL

Once we reached her new post (Friday 10/5) , we were sent to three different buildings to get her checked in. But once all the paperwork was done, she was granted a weekend off-post pass (yay for Columbus Day being a federal holiday, right?) So we went and checked into a hotel and proceeded to be lazy for a few hours. We did a little bit of sightseeing, and tried to find a gun range that fit our time schedule, but unfortunately that didn't work out too well. So mostly we just hung out, drove around town so she could see where things were, and did laundry at the hotel.

Laundry guard. And Facebook.
The important stuff, you know!

The hubs and I had to hit the road on Sunday, so we had to take Soldier Girl back to her company early (she had a pass til 1400 on Monday), but that allowed her plenty of time to get all her stuff unpacked and put away, and of course to catch up with Facebook and texting with friends. ;)

When it came time to say good bye, I was ok, until I saw she had tears in her eyes. I told her to knock it off, and then started to cry too. LOL She texted me for the next 6 hours, just talking about random things, until she finally decided to turn in.

We arrived back at home at around 430AM on Monday, and went straight to bed for a few hours.

It was an amazing, wonderful, emotional trip - and worth every single second.
I am so proud of my kid!!! She has really changed, for the better of course. She's polite & respectful, carries a crapload of gear without complaint, answers all questions with "Yes/No ma'am/sir" and cusses like a sailor soldier. :) LOL

She's two weeks into classes at AIT, and she has more freedom than at BCT. Her company seems more like a college campus than the army, except for the road marches and multiple daily formations. Everyone is really laid back - a bunch of self professed geeks. :)
She's getting to know her battle buddies, is very grateful to only have 5 bunk mates instead of 27, and pretty much gets to text/facebook her mama whenever she wants.
She scored a 90 on her first test, which makes me proud, because it's pretty technical stuff (hubs understands it, but it's way over my head!).

Sorry this is so incredibly long.....but I guess when you can't post for so long, that's just how it is!

Next up: the new JOB!!! Look for that soon!

PAR-TAY!

Soldier Girl is graduating after all!!
She got a chance to re-test on PT, and with a battle buddy kicking her ass the whole way, she scored above the standard and passed. WHEW!!!

I knew she could do it, I just didn't know if she knew she could do it! Thanks to all that said a prayer for her!

This is probably my shortest post ever, but I still have a ton of things to do before we hit the road!

I promise to take tons of pics, and I'll try to update somewhere along the way. :)

One happy mama. <3

Countdown & Chemo

Just four more days til I get to see my soldier girl!!! I still have a ton of things to do before we hit the road on Monday, but figured I should post an update here before time gets away from me any further.

On Tuesday this week, I received a very tearful phone call from my daughter. It was only a seven minute call but it seemed like it lasted an eternity. She called to tell me that she had failed her makeup PT test. :( She was calling from a payphone and the connection was terrible, but I think what she said was that the first time she had problems with her pushups, and on the makeup she was over her run time by 30 seconds. She didn't know if she was going to have another opportunity to re-test or if she would just be moved to FTU. I'm praying that she gets another chance (or has already had another chance and just hasn't had an opportunity to call) and putting positive mom vibes out for her, even having conversations with her in my head, telling her to get her mind right and get this done.

I would love it if you would help me put those positive vibes out there for her too!


Chemo is done for this round, and though hubs still feels like utter crap, we have good news to report! Also on Tuesday this week (Tuesday was quite a rollercoaster!), hubs went in for an MRI to see if the chemo was doing what it was intended to do. I hate MRI days. Yes, the hubby hates them too, what with the needles and whirring-clicking-banging-humming of the MRI machine, and then the wait to see his neuro-oncologist, they turn into all day affairs every time. I don't usually go with him, since I would do the same thing there as I do at home - worry and pace, worry and pace.  And that's what I did all day Tuesday. I tried to stay busy, but my mind kept wandering back to the worry.

When he finally got home, he said that his doc was running more than three hours behind schedule* and he didn't wait to see her. Chemo not only makes him tired and seriously nauseous, but cranky and impatient too. So he left a message with the receptionist to have the doc call him with results.

*Neuro-oncologists aren't a dime a dozen, and choices are limited. We love this doctor, and she will give us as much time as we need or want during a scheduled appointment. Which is also why she runs so far behind schedule - she offers the same to all of her patients.

Luckily, she called just an hour or so after hubs got home, with results from his MRI. The tumor has "shrunk significantly"!!! Remember, it was only 3mm when they caught it in early August. But the chemo is doing it's job!! This probably means a few more rounds of chemo, but it's better than having another surgery! Woot!!!

I know I haven't done much talking about shooting lately, but that's because we haven't been shooting lately. I miss it. :'( I need to go shoot! 

I start the new job at the range the week after we return, so maybe I'll have opportunities to throw some lead downrange after work once or twice a week.

I also need to fill you all in on my self defense class! That will be a long post, so it will have to wait til I have some time to sit and write some more, but so far I'm loving it! I'm covered in bruises, and I hurt from strained this and pulled that - but I have already learned things I could put into practice right now if I had to. Hopefully I'll have a chance to write that post during our 17 hour trip to see my soldier girl. :)

Until then, take care of yourselves and shoot straight!

Countdown, Combatives, Chemo and a Chorus

Just 10 more days before I get to see my soldier girl! 

I sent off my last stack of letters to her a few days ago - and when I say "stack" I mean it. A total of 15 pieces of mail, so she'll have things to read clear up until graduation day. :) Good thing she doesn't have to do pushups for mail anymore! Not writing letters everyday now has freed up a little time, and at first I felt a little lost as to what to do with the extra time. Then I realized I have a crap ton of things to do, and just over a week to get them accomplished! Yikes!

I've been slowly moving things from my home office into my daughter's room new office to give me a little more space to work (and hopefully the space to start sewing again). My old office will get turned into the reloading room. I've received some criticism from family members over this "Where will she stay when she comes back from AIT." Uhhh, a dorm on the college campus of her choosing? As a dear friend of mine so eloquently put it "She's a grown ass woman now. She can take care of herself." ;)

Anyhow, the office move is almost complete, and then we'll move the reloading bench and the accompanying tools/supplies, and my house might look like a house again, instead of a gun shop!

We started the combatives class on Friday. It was a two hour class, and I already feel like I have tools in my arsenal that I could use right now if I had to. I am battered, sore and bruised, but I'm going to try to participate in today's class today too. We'll see what happens. :)
I've learned how to negotiate my way out of being pinned to the ground, and how to react if shoved into a wall or other vertical surface and come out swinging to create enough space to escape.

Don't misunderstand....there is no false sense of security here with me thinking these will get me out of any situation. I know I have MUCH more to learn. This class has reinforced in my mind that a gun certainly isn't the right tool for every situation - something I already knew.
During the grappling exercise where I had to negotiate my way out of being pinned to the ground, there was no way I could even reach my gun (if I had had it on me). The key was getting out of being pinned down, creating space between me and my attacker and getting out of there when possible.
I had a couple of different partners for this exercise (of varying body types) and I surprised myself by being able to get out of it with even the biggest/heaviest guy in the class, and I'm pretty small (5'2" and 110# soaking wet). It was about knowing how to move to start creating space between us, and fighting dirty where needed.

Hubs starts chemo today, and has an MRI on Tuesday this week. I'm praying for good news, and for the side effects to be minimal.

And finally....I have another blog where hubs' and I talk about life with brain cancer, and I've been doing a "New Music Monday" series (well, trying anyway...sometimes it's Thursday or Saturday before I find the perfect song to post LOL). This weeks entry is by a band called "Otherwise" out of Las Vegas, called "Soldiers." The band describes the song on their youTube page as such:

The song began as a metaphor for the battle that unsigned bands go through to get their message heard as artists, then quickly transformed into an anthem for everyone living on the front-lines of life. "When I started writing the lyrics, I was staring at my bandmates and thinking that they are my brothers in arms," says the singer. "It was going to be our anthem, but by the time I finished I realized it was an anthem for our whole nation. We are all soldiers fighting for something, whether it's to put food on the table, to be heard, or just to be happy. Every soldier is human, and we're all human."

It just fits my life so perfectly right now, for many reasons. Well worth a watch & listen.

ERMEHGHERD!!

It seems like just yesterday I posted Really, Monday? Suddenly, I have 2 weeks before I hit the road to go watch my baby girl graduate from Basic Training. And of course, a billion things to do!

Where did the freaking time go?!?

I've been busy (in case you couldn't tell by my lack of posts!) - so I guess that has helped to pass the time.

I've been busy reading and writing letters....a lost art, really. Most people just pick up the phone or fire off an email, right? Well, you don't get to do that with Basic Training, so letters are IT. I spent hours scouring the 'net for inspirational quotes, grabbing headlines from the news, trolling baby girl's FB page to send her updates, and writing-writing-writing. I have no idea how many letters I've sent her, but I have a stack of 13 letters from her here on my desk. The latest one she wrote over the course of 2-3 days - it's 7 pages long! That made my heart happy. <3
She's doing quite well, but ready for Basic to be in the rearview mirror. 18 days til I get to see her!

Hubs is doing chemo again the week before we go, so I'm praying that most of it is out of his system before we hit the road for the 17 hour drive. His next MRI is during that same week. Praying for good (or at least neutral) news.

In other news....the bruises I got at Krav Maga are still not completely healed. They're a lovely shade of yellow now, so at least they're healing. Sadly, this particular KM school turns out to not be what we were looking for - too much testosterone and too much focus on "if you do this, you can kick anybody's ass." I don't want to kick anybody's ass! I want to do what I have to do to get out of a bad situation alive and be able to go home. So that school is out.
On a positive note, we have found another school that teaches a different style that is focused on the self-defense aspect, and not on beating the crap out of someone just because you can. We observed several classes, asked a ton of questions, and will be participating in a few classes this next week. But I really like what I'm seeing, and that the instructor takes the time to break things down and explain the mechanics of things - instead of throwing you to the wolves (remember folks, I have NO martial arts or self defense experience). They even do knife and gun training - with dummy weapons of course. I expect I'll have lots to say near the end of next week after participating in a few classes.

And finally.....I got a new job. :) At a gun range. :D
It's a web dev position, but they plan to cross train everyone on most everything, so it's going to be a fantastic learning experience for me!

Hello, open door..... :)