October 5, 2008
I arrived back in the states at 10:30 PM. Tired and hungry after a flight that took me from Bali, to Taiwan, to Seattle and finally to Spokane. RD, ever thoughtful, had a fleece jacket for me…Spokane in October is a lot chillier than Bali!
After a good night’s sleep we drove to Leavenworth to visit my parents for a few days and give them their Christmas present. Several years ago I gave them a “mail station” a little contraption that allowed them to send and receive e-mails but there was always the limitation of not being able to send photo’s and their not being able to see my website so I “thought” a computer would be a great gift.
After 3 days of RD earning his sainthood by patiently trying to teach my Mother how to get on-line she finally proclaimed it elder abuse…I think she’s going to need a little more time to get the hang of it.
From there we drove back to Spokane and spent the night with our friends Dean and Diane before going to a Montana Grizzlies football game at EWU the next day. Such fun to cheer the Griz on to victory once again. After the game we went out to dinner and just generally enjoyed our time with good friends.
We then drove to Missoula and had dinner with Bev and Clancy. The next morning I had a mammogram (oh joy), blood drawn in preparation for a doctor’s appointment later in the month and a much needed haircut. I was trying to grow my hair out a bit (last haircut was July) but the ends were so badly damaged from salt, sun and the silicone band of my scuba mask that I am back to square one.
Once we hit Clancy we spent a few days in preparation for our trip into the Bob Marshall Wilderness, preparing and packing food and gear, sighting in rifles and organizing horses/mules and their gear. By the afternoon of Thursday the 16th Steve, Laura, RD and I were 12 miles into a 16 mile ride, the wind was blowing snow in my face and I was thinking “I’m a long way from Bali now!”
We spent 5 days riding, hiking, chopping wood, eating great food and having some laughs. Laura attempted to cut her finger off but thankfully failed, RD got a bit beyond tipsy one night (picture him staring at the floor, while trying to eat dinner, to keep from falling off his chair), and my horse got a rope burn and limped the first five miles out leaving me feeling every one of my nearly 50 years.
Photo's of our trip into the woods:
http://picasaweb.google.com/RDandLisa/LimestoneTripFall2008#
October 24-28, 2008
The weekend was spent in Missoula with the kids; Clancy, Britta and Bridger, as well as Justin and Dawn. RD spent the entire time trying to get Bridger to say Grandpa but I think the closest he got was Da-di-da (a variation on Dada to be sure). On Sunday night we had dinner at Julie and Darrell’s house (Britta’s parents) and got to meet Julie’s parents as well. I finally got to hold Bridger on Monday (as RD’s Mom says, “he sure is a fool for that baby”) while RD was taking pictures…he sure is heavy!
On Monday all I heard was “can you open a little wider please?” I had a Gyno appointment in the AM and my teeth cleaned in the PM. It’s so much fun coming back to the states!
October 30, 2008
I got up bright and early this morning and went herding cows with Chris, Steve and Cody. RD told me it would take 2-3 hours and sent me on my way…when I got to the barn and asked Cody he said “whatever Dad told you, add 3-4 hours” both Steve and Chris asked me if I had packed a lunch. I hadn’t. Obviously RD does not believe in full disclosure because Steve swears he told him we would be back at 3 or 4 in the afternoon. After riding up into the mountains I received some brief instructions and was sent off to “sweep” cattle out of the high pastures and to keep riding until I hit the fence then to follow it down the hill. I found out rather quickly that I am not as good a rider as I thought I was, but it was loads of fun none-the-less (and Chris shared his sandwich with me so I didn’t starve). I was sore but felt really good after a full day of non-stop riding (9:30-3:30). I was really bad but think I could definitely get better with a little practice (and it would have really helped to see a layout of the area we were in so I would have had a clearer picture of what we were trying to accomplish…these guys all grew up riding these mountains and forget that I have no idea where I am going!)
October 31, 2008
After a day of running to town for a few errands (like washing my car and filling it with gas for winter storage) I had a quiet afternoon paying bills, trying to get my divemaster insurance paid (unsuccessfully I might add) and packing my bag for my trip to Texas. RD and Clancy went shooting (everyone has new “pre-Obama” weapons “just in case”) and by evening Britta and Bridger had arrived from Missoula and Justin and Dawn had driven down from Helena for one final family get together. It being Halloween we were regularly interrupted by Fairy Princess’s, a building contractor, and Superman of course made an appearance.
November 1, 2008
I can’t believe how quickly my time in Montana has gone by! After a breakfast of homemade apple pie Barb drove me to the airport and drank coffee with me until it was time to board. The flight to Salt Lake City was uneventful until it came time to land. The flight attendant made a quick pass through the airplane telling everyone to make sure their seat belt was fastened low and tight then kneeled down to the woman in front of me and said “Hold that baby low and tight, we have a problem”. No announcement was made to any of the rest of us. As we landed I heard a left rear tire flap, flap, flapping but it was an inordinately smooth landing compared to some I have experienced. It was a bit unnerving to see the fire trucks that were lining the runway turn off their flashing red lights and drive slowly away as we taxied in. They wouldn’t say what the problem was, but whatever it was our pilot obviously did a masterful job.
November 2-10
I spent another amazing week in Houston with my dear friends Kathleen and Gene. Always a time of great shopping, eating, and talking.
November 11
Back in Doha, 30 minutes after getting out of the cab at the villa (guards at the security gate had to ask my villa # because none of them recognized me) the doorbell rang. A guy I didn’t know was standing at the door saying “I hear you’re a PT can you help me”? I’ve been gone for almost 6 months!
November 12
Mark the calendar, I found JIF peanut butter…I bought two!
November 16
Today we had to take our car in to get inspected, renew the insurance and re-register it (it all expired while we were out of the country) and it only took 7 hours…. When we got to the inspection station (2 hours before our appointment just to be on the safe side) there were two lines. A really long line (20 cars) and another one with two cars in it. RD was aiming for the long line but I asked him to drop me off near the “office” (an air conditioned “mobile” home). As I walked up the “security” guard walked over to me and I told him I was early for my appointment (10:00 but we were told to be there 30 minutes early) but didn’t know which line to get into…the long one or the short one. He asked me if I knew how to drive while mimicking steering with his hands (honest to God, I’m not kidding). When I said yes he said “if you drive instead of your husband you can get in the short line”. No brainer…move over RD.
From there we drove to the insurance company and gave them our inspection papers and 2500 QR. Actually easier than we expected. Then we had to take all of that information and go to a Department of Traffic “booth” at the mall to get it registered…not so easy, as we had to find it and when we did, the guy was off on a “15 minute break”. It seems everything in this town is time consuming.
It appears that finally they are showing AMERICAN FOOTBALL here in Qatar! LIVE! At 9 PM the Philly/Bengals game was on! Can you believe it was a tie! The bad part was there was supposed to be a Rams vs. 49ers at midnight but Qatar programming didn’t know how to handle the overtime so instead of just cutting to the 2nd game when the first one was over they decided to start it at the beginning…one hour after the game had already started. I decided to not stay up until 4AM…another no brainer. 
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