Montana Thoughts

     It's been a rough week here and that's the reason I haven't posted.      This past Saturday morning Michele and I had to put our beloved Brookie Dog down after 14 1/2 years. The last week was a dramatic down turn in her quality of life. The last 8 months we've had to clean up after her uncontrollable bowel movements. We've had blankets covering the floor to protect the carpet. She's a Rottweiler Malamute X and for a big dogs, 14 years is a long time. She had dramatic  weight loss and her hips were so bad that she could barely pull herself up and stand. When she did she couldn't walk far before falling over.      We were giving her a cortisone shot monthly and daily doses Tramadol  an it helped for a while but over time she just got worse.       She was my boo boo dog and I was really attached to her. and it pained me a lot I will forever love her and remember her as she was, not what she b...

                                                                                                                                              Jan 17, 2015      Michele and I got up early and headed to Montana City to pick up 2 bountiful Baskets. one for us and one for her ...

                                                                                                                                              Jan 16, 2015        Woke up a little after 4am to the sound of Brooke moving around and the smell of poop. Yep, Brooke poo...

                                                                                                                                              Jan 15, 2015       The last couple of days I'm been feeling really bad about not keeping up with my waking and calorie countin...

                                                                                                                                              Jan 14, 2015      Woke up to 7 degrees and didn't feel like walking, so I didn't. Lounged around the house for an hour before headi...

                                                                                                                                              Jan 12, 2015 Here I go again....      Monday was a relaxing boring day in the life. Got up, showered, fed the dogs got dressed, played with Sasha before heading to work.       Work was productive and...

                                                                                                                                               Jan 11, 2015       Today was the one year anniversary of us bringing Sasha home from friends house in Kalispell, Montana....

                                                                                                                                           Jan 10, 2015       Saturday turned out more productive then I had planned. I had no real plans for the day but since I've been having some truck ...

      Well here I am again playing catch up. Missed yesterday and today.       Thursday was a good day all around. it was a good day at work. Got a lot of product made and and orders out to customers. The boss and the wife stopped in for a bit and discussed more on the inventory. It's going to be a long process getting where we need to be but it will better in the long run.      Got home from work and we decided to have steaks for dinner so out on the deck again in single digit temp cooking. It's so worth it. We ended up with steak, garlic mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. After a few hours of senseless television it was bed time.     Got up this morning and let the dogs out  before getting some breakfast and checking my email and Facebook. Threw on some clothes and started my truck and while that was warming up I threw the ball for Sasha. Done with Sasha, and said my goodbyes to Michele s...

                                                                                                                                            Jan 7, 2015       Today was good day.       Got up early and felt good and that's always a good sign. I did how...

      Missed a day and now gotta make up for it.      Yesterday, Jan 5th wasn't a good day in the life. Truly, I had my first bad day at work and didn't do much. Truthfully, I can't hardly remember yesterday. I do know that Michele made a great, delicious winter beef barley stew. The best part of the day was coming home to Michele, Sasha, Brooke and the smell of  dinner. Watched some TV and went to bed.      Today didn't start off well. Another bad beginning and middle of work. After a little blow up and venting, the work day ended on a plus. A few changes are going to implement at work in the new future and I was a little confused and under informed. It's going to be a growing experience for everyone. Michele has been there longer and me and is better adjusted of how things work there. Plus, not much bothers her,  and I envy her.      Didn't keep track of my calories but I know I didn't eat mu...

      Woke to it snowing and really didn't feel like to doing anything but pulling the blankets up and sleeping but that didn't last. I did have one errand to run so I forced my self out of bed, getting dressing and out the door. As I was leaving, Little Sasha really wanted to play with her frisbee. I told her I would play when I got back and through the gate I went.       I decided to take  the scenic route on my errand and drive over the causeway at Lake Helena. As I approached the causeway I could see people out on the ice fishing. It was 4 degrees and a decent wind and they're out there sitting, some in huts and some not. "Crazy", I thought was I drove past.      Upon returning home, Sasha was waiting and ready.  I Stepped in the house, told Michele I was home, grabbed the Frisbee and Sasha and I were out the door. After giving Sasha 15 throws we headed inside to relax.       After...

     I really didn't do much today. The only real accomplishment was getting a haircut. I really needed one because I was starting to look like a long haired hippie.  I do like having longer hair in the winter to thwart off the cold weather.      After getting a haircut I decided I would head downtown to the walking mall to stop by a local store, Lasso The Moon to pick up something for a Geocache of mine. If you don't know about Geocaching, you should check it out at www.geocaching.com. To my surprise as I got to the store there was a sign on the door that read "Closed for Inventory" Bummer! Well it wasn't all in vain as I got some cool pictures of the gulch (walking mall) and the fire tower covered in snow.      Upon returning to the  house I was a little hungry and decided on making some Coney Dogs with some on the Chili Sauce I received in a care package from my family. The coney dogs were delicious and filling b...

Well I did good today.      I managed to get up early, drink a breakfast/weight loss shake and get a 2 mile walk in before work. It was a cold walk at  5 degrees along the Missouri River/Hauser Lake at Black Sandy Recreation area. The walk was nice and the river frozen, which surprised me because just a week before I was kayaking in this location. Not today though. There were a couple of ice fisherman trying their best nearby.      Got to work and got some of the older orders complete, boxed up and shipped out. After that I worked on re organizing our KANBAN card system before returning to soldering componets on to the circuit boards I inspected earlier in the week until quitting time. Remind me to explain my work in more detail in another post.     At home now and relaxing with the dogs, Sasha (Husky Mix), Brookie (Rottweiler Malamute Mix) and my girlfriend Michele. Michele has Lasagna in the oven and the TV on watching Ant...

Greetings!      I hope everyone had a great new year's eve and looking forward to the coming year.      Well, again this year I'm going to try and write every evening about my day. This, I hope will help me remember what I did throughout the year so can have a year in review and keep track of my goals. I'm sure they're will be some skipped days as we plan to do some hiking, camping and traveling along the way.       My main goal is to lose weight. I did very well two years ago, losing 50lbs before heading back to Pennsylvania to visit family and friends. I fell off the wagon and can't seem to get back on it. Damn! I'm also turning 45 this year and after back surgery, 2 hernia surgeries and a torn quadriceps I want to get into a little better shape.      I plan on walking every morning before work and weather permitting plan on adding some kayaking to the list. I also plan on using the Bow Flex tha...