Fishon!!!! Finally....

Yep, you read it right!! I FINALLY caught me a damn salmon :) Woooohoooo

We went out on Wednesday after work, we did not take the boat out, easier to just hit the bank with Tyler, he cleared a decent spot for the 3 of us. It was kindof a pain with having to deal with bushes for casting, but it worked and I caught a fish before Derek did.. hehe

In about 2 hours time I caught 2 (but lost one, the bastard found a way to come off my line AND get me snagged up on something underwater at the same time, I lost my lure too!) and then Derek caught 2, so we took home 3 nice fish. We tried to filet one, we kinda butchered it!! lol I think dad would be ashamed of that filet job...

Tyler caught the mammajamma of the day, he brought in a big 'ole daddy of a fish, the sucker was almost double in size the average salmon being caught, had to be a good 6 pounder!! I shoulda taken a pic, he was nice.

I'm a little bummed that we are getting hay this weekend, although it's gonna be a great weekend, I REALLY want to be FISHIN!! lol I think I'm addicted already cuz I just wanna be out there every day.. I guess I still have quite a few weeks of fishin ahead of me, they are really runnin up the river now, it is exciting.

Fishin & Ridin

We spent 3 days on the river in the past week, the Humpies & Silvers are runnin.. It was the first river excursions for the boat, it did pretty well although Derek & I both agree that we far prefer to have 2 in the boat vs the 3 we had on Thursday & Saturday (Tyler was with us). The boat handled well with the wakes as there were a lot of people out on Saturday and Sunday, most were pretty courteous, only a few jackasses.

Tyler was the only one to catch a fish on Thursday, he caught this little bullhead fish (above) and then later he caught the nice one shown below. He has a knack for snagging baby fish! I think he even had another on that he couldnt get in the boat. Here we are providing a nice boat for him to fish out of and how does he thank us.. by catchin the fish while we catch nothin!! ;)

Here's the "fish tale" of the weekend! We were anchored down on Saturday and I had my lure out quite a ways behind the boat and I decided I'd had enough of not catching anything so I started to reel in to put a different lure on. As I'm slowly reeling in, all the sudden my line was snagged straight down in front of me.. my brain was trying to process how this was possible but I felt no fish on my line, never felt any change in my line until I was "snagged". The guys asked if I had a fish, I was like "uh no!" So my line keeps dissappearing now towards the front of the boat, I am flipping my bail letting more line out as I dont want to break my line or my pole on this snag and my line just keeps dissappearing even though the boat is not moving, hmmm my brain is really starting to wonder what the hell kind of snag is this that goes upriver yet there cant be a fish, I never felt a bump or anything!

So about this time that I keep letting out line, the guys start to really question my "snag" which we finally realize is impossible to actually be a snag that I MUST have a fish and it MUST be a sturgeon! So then I finally feel a bump bump and I start to reel.. the only problem?? I'm not able to reel anything in, as I'm reeling my line is just spooling out from this fish taking my line, I keep tightening my tension down and this fish continues to take my line and I'm trying and trying to reel when all the sudden he just spits out my lure and I reel in a big fat.... NOTHING! I am convinced had the boat not been anchored down, this fish would have pulled us upriver, it was that big. We never saw it, but I could tell by the pull (once I even realized I had a fish on) that he was a mammajamma! Sturgeons can get huge, I think the minimum size you can keep is almost 4' long!! Wow, that would have been a great battle.

But unfortunately that was the most excitement I had in 3 days of fishing! :( Derek had 2 on his line on Saturday but never got them in the boat and same on Sunday, he had one on but it never made it in the boat either. I hear reports that the fishing is pretty good, we think it's still a little slow but I look foward to getting out as much as possible, I want some fish!! The fish should really start to come up river soon, there were lots out there, we saw them rolling and jumping all over the place, just didnt see a ton of them making it into the boats!

Shana and I rode on Friday up at Heart Lake in Anacortes with Wendy and Nikki. We had a really nice ride, got in 3.5 hours plus a nice lunch at Whistle Lake. I LOVE the pic of Shana on Edgar, she looks so cute up there on him!

I like the look of a horses head, heading down the trail..

The trails up there are really nice!

Lunch at Whistle Lake..

Unfortunately Edgar is still pretty lame.. I am SO DAMN FRUSTRATED about it.. I dont mind riding Oakley, just sucks that I have someone now to ride Edgar and he is still lame, I think he needs the rest of the year off. Oakley did okay, he had a shithead moment twice on the trail. First time we were heading up a very long continuous hill and about 4/5 of the way up, he decided he had had enough! He refused to go on and when I pushed him on, he threw his head up, bolted forward at a fast walk, starting walking from side/side.. Once we peaked that very long section, he went back to being his good 'ole normal self. But then on our way back (we went a different route) we were almost to the trailhead and heading down a really steep section. Shana got off Edgar as his shoulder really bothered him going downhill and Oakley started to throw a fit, he spun around on the trail and there was not much room to deal with a difficult horse, there was a dropoff on the one side, uphill on the other. Well I tried to get him to go down normal, but he was acting very dangerously with thinking about bucking and trying to run off the trail and spinning around, so I got off and lead him down as well. Once at the bottom I got back on and he was great for the rest of the ride back.

Oakley has his moments where it is just safer to get off. He is still young and immature at times, so instead of fighting him, I got off. Maybe that is letting the horse win, but when I'm staring at a cliff and my horse has ZERO regard for where he is stepping, it would be dumb for me to try to fight him. It was a long day packing my ass around, so it didnt bother me at all to get off for 5 minutes and walk him, his back might have been a little sore as well going downhill. I had a saddle on him that I think fits him about as perfect as a saddle can fit. ZERO dry spots when I got off him and the next day he was only a tiny bit sore, which is GREAT when he's packing a heavy load.

I started painting the house too a week ago, and well thats about as far as I got! About 1/3 done. It looks really good, I'm being very meticulous about it, maybe I told you the story already of firing Derek! lol I just havent had time to get out and paint more this past week or weekend with fishing opening. Plus I had my skin tags removed last week which was scary for me. I was VERY apprehensive about the whole deal but it wasnt quite as bad as I imagined, actually the few days after visiting Miss Lancelot were worse than having them cut off. I had one under my boob that irritated me the most, then the neck flappy came off and then a few under my armpits. The shot to numb them up was not too bad in all reality, but a couple of them did NOT get numb enough and I could feel her cutting my skin away!! UGGHH that was not real pleasant! ;) But now they are healing up real good and maybe in a week I can shave again and I wont have to be embarassed anymore about my flappies of skin under my arms. The neck one didnt bother me, but it was weird having it cut off though, because it has been a part of me for so long.. seems silly really to be attached to something so little, but for the first couple days it was like I lost a part of me... mostly because that one was visible to the general eye. I did NOT have my mini-me brain removed, it was too large for her to do at that appointment, maybe in the future, but thats gonna take some guts to go in for cuz they will have to stitch that one.. What would I ever do without that little extra brain, it's probably what keeps me functional! lol

Pole Dancin'

We spent a couple hours on Sunday looking for a new salmon/river fishing pole for me.. we literally were in/out of about 10 stores between Marysville and Burlington, it was quite commical, we would jump out of the truck, briskly want into store, not find what we wanted, briskly walk back out, drive off to next store down the road and repeated that over and over and over again.. We did not find what we wanted so Derek & I went back out to Lynnwood/Everett last night and finally found a pole. We actually bought a pole at Walmart (an Ugly Stick) then went to a Big 5 type sportstore and found a slightly better version of the same pole for same price so then we had to go back to Walmart to take the other one back.. But I now have a great rod and a really pretty reel. Although I think Derek is a little jealous (sorry my person!!!) because my reel is in his favorite color and I know he wants it real bad but I dont think I can part with it, I like it too much!!

Toucan Sam I am..

Saturday night I'm fast asleep, dreaming... 3:30 I wake up and am lying there in the dark and my nose is smelling smoke. I had to lay there a few seconds wondering if I was still in a dream or if I was truly smelling fire smoke in my house! I woke up Derek and asked him "Hey do you smell smoke or is it just me" See the fan was on my side of the bed blowing straight at my face/body and the window to our bedroom is on the opposite side of the room as the fan.. so I was feeling very concerned at this point.

Derek says "yeah I smell it too" so we jump out of bed and are smelling it throughout the house as well, but no fire in our house so we go on the front porch.. a car happens to drive by and we can see a smog of smoke rolling up over the top of the back side of the shop and we start to panic a tiny bit and run back to the bedroom, get dressed quickly then Derek opens the shop to be sure it is not on fire.. No fire there..

So we walk down the street a little and can see the haze of smoke but cannot find a fire, so we jump in the truck (we had to drag the kiddos out of our bed, they were not too thrilled to be woken at 3:30am but as soon as we said "do you want to go for a ride", they woke up right now!) anyways, we jumped in the truck and drove the neighborhood trying to find a fire incase someone else hadnt woken up yet.. no fires anywhere..

It was very bizzarre. We think that someone had to have gotten up in the middle of the night and started a fire in their fireplace and maybe since it was first fire of the year, it was extra strong or something I dont know.. I just know my darn nose is like that of a bloodhound and if we are ever on fire, I may just get us up before the smoke alarms even go off!! :) Derek likes to tease me about my nose sensitivity, it seems to grow stronger every year. It was just a strange evening.

I spent the weekend painting the house.. only got about 1/3 of it done at this point but it's a great start. Derek was working on the shed as I worked on the house, thank goodness for IPods!! :) When Derek quit working on the shed, he started to help on the house.. Well, he was not doing a very good job. lol He was not putting the paint on thick enough so I was seeing I would have to go back over his areas entirely and he was not very careful with keeping the brown off the white edges, so I told him in an irritated tone with a smile, that if he wasnt going to do it right, just stop doing it. He walked around the corner to what I assumed was in the house. So I'm on the one side of the house grunting out loud every few seconds as I'm repainting his areas, I climb up the ladder, down the ladder, move the ladder.. grrr Then I get the ladder to the edge of the house and see out of the corner of my eye he is right there around the corner painting the side of the house (and not very well at that!) I smile and he says "Yeah I hear you grunting over there!" lol I just laughed and then I look at his work and said something like, if you arent going to do it right, then dont do it at all.. and then something about firing him. He wasnt too dissappointed I dont think.

It actually was probably all part of his plan. See he knows how anal I was being about painting the house, I was being very slow and meticulous about my paint job, I did not want to have to put a second coat on.. maybe minor touchups here/there is all that was required with my paintjob. So he probably did it halfass so that he would get fired and not have to deal with it.. I'm on to him, I know how guys work! :)

So I have about 1/3 or more of the house finished, it looks really good. I mean it's not perfect and if you stand up close you can find minor flaws in my paintjob, there is a point that my analness stops and says, good enough! :) But it has to be MY decision and not someone elses.. LOL But if you stand back, my paintjob looks flawless, LIKE ME!! hahaha

Tucker Saddle Pictures

I am just using this post to post pictures of our saddle for sale so those that dont want to download a bunch of pictures can go here to see them all :)


I uploaded this first picture because although much smaller, this picture shows the true color of the saddle. The other larger pictures were taken with a flash and do not properly reflect the color at all.

First side is right side.. Obviously ! :) The right side has almost zero scuff marks on it and no scratches.

The left side has some scratches, not sure why they all are on the one side! Nothing major really.

Gel Cushioned Seat! :) No scratches or tears in it at all.


Front View...

Back view...


Underside..

Tucker Tag.. from what I understand the m at the end confirms it is Medium Tree.

That about covers all the angles I believe.. :)

My Teeth Still Hurt...

ugghh.. damn dentist! 10 minutes into my teeth drilling I start to feel pain, I'm laying there on the gas wondering if I am imagining it or if it is real because I KNOW how my brain works and then as she continued to drill on, I realized Oh Shit, I'm feelin it!! So my face was numb and my nose was swollen for the entire workday and today (2 days later) my gums/teeth still are pretty sore....

OHH>>> The curse of our boat has been lifted!! Not sure what we did "right" but this past weekend we went out to Lake McMurray in Mt Vernon area and proceeded to land 16 fish in our boat!! 15 of them were Perch which is what we were fishin for, the first fish of the day was an ugly trout I caught that had I think parasites on it.. yuck, we tossed him back overboard even though he was gonna die cuz he was a swollower.. maybe it was a she! :) My parents outfished us by about 8 fish (they are the Perch Masters) and we all outfished Eric & Andrea.. I felt bad for them, they were using the same thing as us, fishin the same whole and they got maybe 4 fish. It was their 1yr anniversary, wish they had had better luck. I fileted all the fish when I got home and it amounted to almost a sandwich baggie worth of fish strips! lol

And we are having to sell Derek's Tucker Saddle afterall. Bummer. If you know anyone interested, would like to get $950 for it. NICE Saddle!!

I'm Doctor'd Out..

This is the month for seein the doctor! 2 weeks ago I had a dentist appointment, ya know the once or twice a year checkup.. damn I have 2 cavities! So on Monday I get to go back to the dentist to fix that, the good thing is that they have the GAS, so I will be loopeying it up!

Tuesday of this week I went to my doctor to find out why my foot swells up and hurts real bad every now/then.. apparently there is nothing wrong with the bone, she said I might have tendonitis in my foot or soft tissue damage and that I could go see a foot specialist if I really want.. we'll see, maybe down the road. I dont recall ever injuring my foot, it just flares up and will be sore for a couple weeks and then it will go away for months.

Then 2 days later (today) I go in for my yearly girly exam inwhich I talked to her about my bitchy aunt that comes to town with a vengeance almost every other month.. so I may go back into the doctor later this month or next to get that resolved.

And then I have an appointment in 2 weeks to go back to my doctor to have some skin flaps removed.. What the Heck! :) So lets count between doctor and dentist in a 30 day period, I will have been in 6 times...

Pictures from Lk Wenatchee

Here are some pics that Dawn sent to me from this past weekend.

Here is Rob & Rick with their brother Mackenzie and sister Asa. It was the first time the older boys had met their younger siblings and I was very happy for all 4 of them to have some time together to start bonding... Rob & Rick were also able to see their dad Dee whom they hadnt seen in many years. I'm so glad this weekend happened!

Derek & I with his mom Nouna

All of Nouna's kids in one picture!! This hasnt happened in MANY years, maybe at our wedding?? Darren, Dana, Dee, Derek, Dalyce, Nouna, Diana & Dawn.

This is Dana's dog, who enjoyed sitting on laps apparently! The dog weighs more than Nouna I'm sure.. :)

Just a small handful of the children.. all of whom seem to have iron feet as I hardly recall any of the kids with shoes on!

Feelin a little Crispy!!

This past weekend, we spent Thurs night to Sunday at Lake Wenatchee for Derek's Family Reunion which hadnt been held in about 22 years!!

I was almost dreading the trip because of the heat we were having in Western WA with record breaking 103+ weather, I thought Lk Wenatchee would only be hotter! Pretty bad when you have to go to Eastern WA to cool off.. lol It had been soooo long since we had seen some of the family, there was some slight anxiety I guess building up too.

The Weather:
It was not in the 100's, well I dont think it was. :) We had a very nice shaded campsite and although at night when we laid down to sleep, we were pretty warm at first, for the most part it was really perfect weather in the shade and plenty warm enough to get burnt in the sun while swimming! I swam twice on Friday, twice on Saturday and then at 7am Sunday morning!! Yes I braved the water first thing in the morning, it was beautiful with noone else in the water and crystal clear smooth. It was a great way to start the morning of our last day. I think everyone in camp thought I was a little nuts. Next year I may just do that every morning and see if I can snag someone to swim with me.

Dereks nephew Ricky, he and I swam to this island on Friday afternoon, it was exciting to push myself to swim that far, I did not get tired (I didnt swim hard/fast either) and the water was fairly calm although it was at the base of the inlet to the river, so we did have a little current to deal with on our swim back to the main beach. Saturday the water was very choppy and it was fun to float and bobble head through the rolling waves. :)

The Dogs:
Russell & Scout did really well! It was really sappy on the ground over there, so they have some sap stains on their bodies and our shoe bottoms got full of sap, so the dogs stayed in the camper quite a bit, but they seemed fairly content. We had a runner rope for them to go on at times when we were sitting by the campfire and we walked them a few times each day. Poor kids were misarable last week dealing with all the heat at home, they just couldnt get comfy anywhere! The camper didnt get as hot inside as our house was last week.

The Family:
The anxiety of seeing the family after maybe 10+ years for some, was diminished over the weekend. We met husbands we hadnt met before, met lots of children we didnt know. Derek's family is the opposite of my family. In my family circle we have 3 children, oh wait we have 5 kids (2 belong to the girlfriend of a cousin). One of Derek's neices has 5 of her own! Then there are 4 more here, 2 more there, 2 or 3 more here, 2 more there, 1 with Crystal... those are just some of the kids that were there, not to mention the MANY more that were not there! Literally, children everywhere! lol It was great. There were a few family situations that created some tension, but by the end of the weekend, relationships were on the mend and starting fresh and new with hopes for the future. I was very proud of Derek's nephews Rick & Rob who met their brother and sister for the first time ever and I really enjoyed my time with them, bonding and learning more and looking forward to the future.

The Next One:
I believe this will turn into a yearly event that is re-established. Derek's family used to gather every year at Lk Wenatchee and it fizzled out but I am hopeful that this past weekend proved how important this family is and how much it is needed for us all. Derek's mom flew in from AZ, it was really nice to see her (Hi Nouna!) Another brother flew in from Georgia I think is where he lives and then Dee came up from OR. Dana who just lost his wife came with his daughter. There was lots of talk of next year and I know I am already excited about it and looking forward to going back. I have no idea how many were actually there, but including children there were definately over 50!

I Cant Believe:
I wore my bathing suit in PUBLIC with NO shirt over the top!!!! What the heck was I thinking! lol I guess it was so nice and warm and I didnt want to be restricted by a tank top in the water, so I just went all in w/o worrying about what I looked like.. I mean I was in a bathing suit in front of people I know even, which is what usually bothers me more than strangers seeing me! ;) Oh well, right!

Exhausted:
We were worn out by yesterday afternoon, we came home and crashed in our chairs, we were lucky to even have unloaded the camper! Tonight I'll have to do the camping dishes and wash the wet clothes. Derek got quite the sunburn, he was going to swim in his t-shirt but the guys teased him so he thought.. what the heck, how burnt can I get, I'll be underwater mostly.. He'd have been fine if we had put sunscreen on him! Ooops.. ;)

Pictures:
Right! Yeah, I took a few of our dogs in the camper.. but I was too busy swimming and socializing and cooking to deal with taking pics.. maybe I'll snag/steal some pictures off other peoples facebook pages once they post them and then repost them here for you to enjoy! lol