Just Call Me Rambo

Man, I had a good weekend.

Friday night, we went to the neighbors for some relaxation.

I had to take a test at work earlier for some certification, so I was wiped out by Friday night. Went over and had a nice relaxing evening. Hung out for a bit but then came home and watched some Friday Night Lights.

Slept in until 10:30 on Saturday morning. I haven't done that in FOREVER, so it was nice. Got up and farted around for a while. Did some light cleaning. We had to make the Wal-Mart run so we got dressed and hopped in the car. On the way to Wal-Mart, we had to stop by a neighbors house. Remember that church I told you about that has the rummage sale? Well, I had done some massive cleaning out of light of my life's room and we had a crapload of stuff to donate. The neighbor is someone that my mom went to high school with and she hadn't been to visit with her yet. Well, this neighbor is a talker (in a good way). She invited us in after we unloaded the car and stayed and visited for about an hour. I heard some good stories that I'll share here one day.

Anyway, we finally got to Wal-Mart about an hour and a half later. Keep in mind, this Wal-Mart is about 30 minutes away from the city where we live.

Not even 5 minutes after arriving, we saw our neighbors B, M and C. While I was standing there talking to them, we caught sight of my aunt and she told us we just missed my other aunt and grandmother! It was so funny seeing all these people in Wal-Mart at one time.

After Wal-Mart, we stopped by a near-by BBQ place and picked up a catfish platter and a BBQ sandwich with slaw on it. Man, that stuff is GOOD. That tarter sauce with the catfish platter is to die for.

We went home to unload the groceries and to eat dinner. After we ate, we went over to the neighbors (again!). The girls hung out while B, L and I watched "National Security". It was sorta....blah. Not good but not necessarily bad. I wouldn't recommend it except as a time waster. B and I ended up doing a couple of shots of Jagermeister. It made me pleasantly buzzy. Not that hyper buzzy, but the nice lazy kind.

Got up on Sunday and went to church. Mom had gotten a panini maker for Christmas and wanted to try it out (K, if you're reading this, that was the best gift you've given her....it makes wonderful sandwiches). We used to go to this little cafe back where we used to live and they made these wonderful sandwiches with turkey, swiss cheese, bacon and ranch dressing on rye bread. I had forgotten how much I love rye bread. Anyway, mom re-created this sandwich and used the panini press. They came out delicious.

Went to visit my aunts and grandmother. We had a nice visit with them.

When we returned, I had told B and L I wanted to come over and walk their land. They live on a lot of land that has 2 ponds on it. I wanted to walk it to 1) see the land and 2) take some pictures.

The light wasn't that good due to it being overcast and close to 5 pm. B and I went walking anyway. I saw the little pond (perfect for parties) and the larger one. We walked a bit and when we came back around to the little pond, L met us on the 4-wheeler.

He had his pistol with him and offered to teach me to shoot it. I had been wanting to learn to shoot for a while, so I was all game for it. I got to shoot it in the water (don't worry, no fish were harmed in the telling of this tale). We then found a target for me to shoot at but I couldn't hit it to save my hide! I didn't do too bad though.

We walked back up to the house and when we got there, L told me we'd do some target practice. Apparently, he had enough confidence in my shooting abilities that I was granted another lesson right then and there.

He brought out an empty water bottle and tossed it up in the air. Wherever it landed was where I was to shoot. It landed about 4 feet in front of the water main. I made L move the bottle because as a novice gunslinger, I wasn't about to be responsible for them being without water while repairs were made to the shot-up water main.

Anyway, I got practice shooting some more. After I emptied the first clip (see, I'm already all over the gangsta talk), I went over to check out my progress as I had never hit the bottle (I nicked it a bit, but it just fell over). Turns out, I wasn't hitting that far from the target. One was about a foot and a half beyond it, but most were 6-10 inches all around it. Not too bad for a newbie.

I went back and got a second clip and practiced some more. On this one, I HIT THE TARGET!!!!! It went straight up in the air and landed about 5 feet behind it's original position! This pistol is a Ruger and it had a short barrel on it which makes it harder to hit what you're aiming at. But I HIT THE TARGET!!!!! L then let me open up and wanted me to take consecutive shots. I didn't really open up that much but I discovered that for the most part, I can can keep hold of the gun and not let it kick up.

I had so much fun. I thought I'd like shooting (really, there's not much I don't like) but I didn't know that I'd love it as much as I did. Granted, it was only this one time (so far) but I got such a rush.

I didn't know emotionally how I'd be when shooting a gun. I'm not a NRA member but neither am I a gun-control freak. I didn't know if I'd freak out after shooting or what, but I didn't. It was such a rush.

I can't wait for my next lesson.

Just call me Rambo.

Later,

Mama Dawg

P.S. for those of you who know me personally, light of my life was safely tucked away inside B and L's house watching TV and playing her DS Lite. So don't panic! :)

The One With the Deer

I got a phone call on Monday from my friend, B. She said her hubby, L, wanted her to call to see if I wanted to come see the deer he had shot that day.

Since I had to go over there anyway to drop something off, it was no big deal. Plus, I wanted to see what the fuss was all about. I had just left my grandma’s house after dropping of my aunt’s extra key to her house (she was moving and needed all the keys back). B’s house is right across the highway from me so I didn’t have to go out of my way (although I would have anyway). I had some milk in the car that I just bought at the store in town on my way in from work. I dropped by the house real quick to drop off the milk and to see if light of my life wanted to come with me. She did, but not to see the deer. She just wanted to play with M. She thinks dead animals are "icky". Sigh....how did I raise such a girly girl?

Anyway, I run over to the house and grab a glass of my wine that I had left over there the other night. I actually finished it off….shame on me! But, in my defense, there wasn’t much left. Just a glassful.

The deer was out in the shed and L had it on the hook(on a pulley) and it was raised off the floor. He had already started skinning it. My landlord was there already with his Bloody Mary in one hand and the digital camera in the other! A few minutes later, B joined us and about 5 minutes after that, P, R and their son C drove up to see the deer. It was a party! On a Monday night! With a dead deer as the main attraction! Whoo hoo!!!!!

It was a nice deer. It was a 10-point buck. For those of you who don’t know what that means (I never asked, just guessed when all the men-folk were talking), it means a male deer with a rack (antlers) that has 10 points in total on it. Points are the tines on the rack. Think of a fork. Most forks have 4 “tines” on it. Well, on an antler, there are “tines” on it as well. They just call them points. Lesson over. Its tongue was sticking out of its little dead mouth and his eyes were glassy. One rack was curved in a little but overall, it was a beautiful deer. Way to go, L!!!!!

I’m of two minds on hunting. There’s the animal lover in me that hates to see dead animals (even skunks on the side of the road….go figure cause they STINK to high heaven) but there’s the other part of me that is SOOOOOO curious about hunting.

I’d like to learn how to shoot a gun and then learn how to hunt. I’ve always been fascinated by guns and hunting, but living in the city all my life and not having a father figure since I was 9 (or ever, if I really stop to think about it), I never had the opportunity to learn.

It’s just the masculine side of me coming out, I guess. The same part of me that’s fascinated by hardware stores. I LOVE power tools and have a very small collection that I take care of and use quite often. My cordless drill/screwdriver combo is my favorite item.

Wow, I veered way off topic on that one. Started out talking about deer and then went to power tools!

I teased B & L and told them that when I lived in the city, my friend R would call to invite me to a new club or ethnic restaurant or movie, but that my friends here in the country call me to come see a dead deer.

My, my, how times have changed! Funny thing is, I’m equally fascinated by both scenarios. I feel at home at a swanky club or in a shed looking at dead animals. Hmmmm….probably bears looking in to, wouldn’t ya say?

Later,
Mama Dawg