sloppy Sunday....

South rim of Grand Canyon

A lovely Sunday morning hello to all of you!  Hope everyone has been having a wonderful, fun-filled weekend!  Rob and I had a really nice time in Thermopolis.  This year’s conference was well attended and as I told you, I had fun because Breean was along!

We stopped at Rob’s favorite restaurant on our way over there on Thursday for lunch so he could load up on all the things I refuse to fix him at home.  By that I mean, he had a bacon cheeseburger, fries AND onion rings!  I stuck with a simple turkey Sammie and some split pea soup, myself.  Regardless of what’s going on in my life, I no longer “reward” myself with bad food like Rob does.  I’ve finally come to learn that eating healthy is now a way of life for me, I don’t even like that greasy stuff anymore.  Poor Rob has not gotten there yet.

We got to Thermopolis before we could actually check in so we headed over to the Buffalo park.  It was hilarious watching Thistle “meet” her first live Buffalo through the car window.  There was a great big bull grazing right beside the car and she gave him a piece of her mind.  He didn’t think anything of it, of course, and continued his grazing.  We got some lovely photos that day, of the big guy, as well as two new calves that were having loads of fun running around, kicking up their heels and running back and forth to their huge mothers, just appearing to have a blast.

The big bull Buffalo Thistle met!

Once we got checked in we headed straight for the mineral pool at the hotel.  Boy, that’s some wonderful, healing water!  The pool was already filled with several other planners so we had a nice conversation for quite some time.  Rob doesn’t usually like to stay in the water very long because it’s very hot but thanks to the other planners, I was able to get in a nice long soak.  They are all a great bunch of people, from all over the state.  Since Wyoming is so big, some of them have to travel as long as 8 hours to get to the conference.  This spring conference is always held here while the fall conference moves around to various cities around the state. It was really nice seeing everyone again.

We had a nice cocktail hour with everyone, too, at which time Jim and Breean finally got there.  They had to drop their kids off with Grandma in Worland on their way so they were a little behind schedule…we all know what it’s like to have little kids, right?  Anyway, after a couple of cocktails, the four of us took off for dinner at the Stone’s Throw Restaurant.  It’s up at the airport/golf course and has a great view from up there.  It has changed hands in the last few years and the food isn’t near as good as it used to be but it was okay.  The company made up for it, though and the four of us has a great time.  I felt sorry for the restaurant staff as I don’t think they’d been informed there was a conference in town and just about the whole conference of planners was also there eating and they were slammed!

We awoke Friday morning to much cooler weather so Bree and I decided to just shop in town instead of spend anymore time in the water.  There’s a little natural food store in town that she and I both adore so we spent a lot of time in there replenishing our essential oil larders and I picked up a few groceries that I can’t find elsewhere.  We had a nice lunch at Pumpernick’s and by the time we were done, it was time to rejoin the boys.

It started snowing as we were coming back over the mountain.  As usual, I was totally unprepared as we’ve had such nice weather all week and I was in shorts.  It wasn’t any big deal but as we got up high on the mountain, it was about 30 degrees and I was surely cold in my flip flops and shorts!  It wasn’t much better when we hit Buffalo, either but since it was right at happy hour when we hit town, we went straight there.  Thistle got to come into the Moose and visit with everyone for a little bit.  She was actually quite well behaved!  Our table was full, as usual and we had a great time.  That’s the first happy hour we’ve hit since returning from vacation, so there was lots to talk about. 

Saturday, we woke up to big fat flakes of snow falling and it was about 31 degrees.  Luckily, Rob had covered the few flowers we’ve already planted the night before.  We were really hoping to get some more planting done yesterday but the snow decided to stick around and spit all day.  It was cold enough that we actually lit the wood stove.  This morning, it appears to have all melted away and I think our high is supposed to get back up into the 60’s.  We really needed the moisture but I’d have preferred if it were rain as opposed to snow this time of year!

So, we’re hoping to get a few dahlias planted today.  We had dug up all the bulbs last fall and boy, do they multiply!  They are my favorite flowers in the garden, the flowers themselves get as big as dinner plates.  If we don’t get them into the ground today, I’ll have to do it all myself as Rob has his knee surgery on Tuesday and won’t be kneeling again any time too soon. We had hoped to get the garden tilled up one last time to get the manure worked in but I think it’s too messy out there today and that’s just going to have to wait.  At least I was able to get the lawn mowed before we left for the conference or we’d be walking in a jungle!

Anyway, things are back to normal for a little bit.  We don’t have anymore traveling until May 23^rd when we go to Alabama to visit my relatives for my birthday and a small memorial for my Aunt Becky.  That’s going to be so awesome as I haven’t seen some of my cousins and my uncle Kip in probably 30 years.  It looks like my two cousins whose mother is it that died, however, are mad at my aunt and my mother and may not be joining us.  I think that’s just such a shame.  I don’t think Aunt Becky would be very happy that there are people fighting, I think she’d want us all to get together and be happy.  She was such a loving, kind nurse.  Families are so funny and not always in a ha-ha way. Anyway, I can’t wait to see all the folks I haven’t seen in years.  But I’m also glad I have a few weeks to stay home and be normal for a bit!

Well, I’m off to wake up Rob and see if I can talk him into taking me out to breakfast!  Hope you have a wonderful rest of your weekend!  Hold everyone you love tightly and let them know how much you care!