Catching Up

Des put one of my yarns in a Treasury West at Etsy!

I had things to write about Friday night but was too tired. I had things to write about yesterday but didn't want to detract from Des. So maybe tonight I can do a little catching up.

Friday we decided to do an impromptu birthday party for Des. Tony had gotten off work early Fri. morning, had some time to sleep, and didn't have to go in to work. My dh was working late, but he had to work today too. And we couldn't do the birthday yesterday because Richie and I had class all day.

So I rubbed down, marinated and oven-braised 10 pounds (yes, 10 POUNDS) of pork ribs. Baked some Funfetti cupcakes and a dark chocolate sheet cake from scratch, and made a vat of scalloped potatoes. Took the whole shebang 30 miles to Des' house and made cole slaw there. Tony had bought 5 pounds of steak which he also marinated, cut into squares about 3" on each side and about 2" thick and grilled. He took several of the slabs of ribs and threw them on the grill for just a few minutes too. Being the carnivores that we are, steak, ribs, and cake were just enough for a party. LoL.

We gave each kid a little goodie bag with valentine candy in it. Des got her windows tinted on the car and a yarn swift (from Tony), a couple handmade bracelets from a local art shop (from Jeremiah), a ball winder (from us) and a red leather handbag from Tony's mom, Cheryl. Quite a nice birthday. My sister's dh and my niece came, sister came late, and Cheryl showed up... we had ONE slab of ribs left and 3 pieces of steak. We all didn't get home until midnight, and that was all the fun we could have without going right to bed.

I gave Richie a mug for Valentine's day. It was one of the ones I painted at the Liza Moz'. I will post pics of all the stuff tomorrow, didn't have my act together to photograph them today. I painted the bottom half of the mug to look like a brown/gold plaid flannel with a little green and red stripe 'cause he wears flannel for like 6 months of the year. The top of the mug looked like a Chocolate Chip Cookie. I filled it with some cookies. It has a lid, for travel. He loved it!

Also for Valentine's Day, we took a CCW (Carried or Concealed Weapons) self-defense course at Coal Creek Armory. It was fun. The instructor had a good sense of humor. He said all gun accidents are Ignorance or Carelessness. I said, "If a person can't get the hammer to go back down on his gun, and hits it with the palm of his hand, and shoots a hole in his brand new bed, is that Ignorance, or Carelessness?" He looked over at Richard (saw him turning pink) and said, "There is Something Wrong with the GUN." ROFLOL! Later when he was talking about stance, he said, "How many of you shoot low?" Richard said, "I shoot low because I am short!" Everybody laughed.

We both did well... 100% on our written exams and 100% on the range test. The range test involved shooting 12 rounds at 9 feet, 12 at 15 feet, 12 at 45 feet, and then another 12 quick-fire at 9 feet. The number of rounds landing outside the 7 ring (which is basically the whole body) counted off. I got 47 out of 48 inside the 9 ring (a 4" wide by 6" tall area) and ONE in the 7 ring (from 45 feet). Richard got only 2 outside the 9 ring, but he got more in dead center than I did. Pretty good shooting.

The instructor said that when we were done, most of us would have 2 Barney bullets left over, and if we felt compelled to have to shoot our target somewhere outside the rings (the head, the groin, you get the picture) we could use those 2 bullets. Richard didn't use his, because he is a party pooper. So when I was done, I had 4 bullets leftover. I asked the instructor if I could take out the guy's right ear, and then I put all 4 bullets in the right side of the target face in an area the size of the end of your thumb. When I walked out into the armory with the target, several men from the class said, "Whoa!". And one said, "There is a woman you don't want mad at you." LoL.

I don't know but someone said you had to have 70%, which means one could shoot 14 rounds completely outside the body outline and still pass. There were 2 old ladies in the class, in their late 60s, who had never either one shot their guns before. They both passed, though their targets were shot to hell. Bullets everywhere, and that was with the instructor "helping" them aim. And, turns out TN is a "shall issue" state. Some states are "may" issue - if you pass the course and your background check, they still "may or may not" issue a carry permit. But in TN if you pass the course, meet your background check, and apply for the license, they "shall" issue it. Really kinda scary in light of what we saw yesterday, LoL.

A few statistics: The class had 25 people in it originally. One guy came in late, making 26. But for percentages sake, I will go with 25. There were 2 black men (8%). There were 5 ladies (20%), 4 out of 5 of them were in their 60s (80% of the women). I felt like a duck out of water, until I got to take the range test. Then I felt right at home. LOL.

Today we did NOTHING. Well we went to Joann Fabrics and spent a little (too much) money, and I had a nap. This evening I finally conquered the Week-long Living-room Laundry Battle. But, I have a load in the dryer even as we speak. ~~ sigh ~~ Oh and I finished and felted my OTHER purple handspun slipper. Not anything to brag about.