Sandi Chats

"Shooters ready!  Shooters on the line!  Shooters...SET!" Everyone at the line is poised with hand on gun ready to shoot when the light comes on.  Six guns are fired, which sounds almost like one shot, guns are holstered and shooters look to see who shot the fastest.  This is our Thursday nights each week as we gather in Valentine to join other shooters for practice. We began our Cowboy Fast Draw (not Quick Draw which is a bit of a different sport) involvement over 5 years ago when Mike joined the local club.  A few weeks later he encouraged me to ride along so I could "visit with the women" and I have been shooting ever since. Cowboy Fast Draw  has been around for about 15 years now.  It began in Deadwood, South Dakota and has grown into a world organization.  It is now headquartered out of Fernley, Nevada with clubs scattered coast to coast in the US.  We belong to the Sparks Spurs which began in Sparks, Nebraska. We recently reloca...

I see Facebook posts about trips to foreign and exotic places and find myself just a little bit envious.  And while I tend to be a bit of a homebody, there is the desire to do some traveling. I will probably not be visiting any foreign lands for several reasons. 1. They are only accessible by boat or plane and neither is my preferred method of travel.  2. There is a great deal of the United States that I have yet to see and feel I need to spend my time taking in the sights of my own country before I travel abroad.  3. And since I am now 64 years old, I will probably never even see all I want in this country, let alone foreign lands. So far we haven't ventured a long ways away, but there are many beautiful sights close by that are worthy of a trip.  In the fall of 2009 we decided that we would sneak up to the Black Hills for a scenic autumn tour of the Hills.  As luck would have it, the Hills got an early fall snowstorm the week before we left.  We had no ...

January 1st is the official "start over" date internationally.  This is the day that the new diet begins and that leaves are turned over and new projects begun.  This could happen any other day of the year but somehow January 1st is an easy date to track progress from, just a good time for a "do over". I have made the exact same resolutions for probably the last 10 years, with just about no success whatsoever.  I am going to lose weight (each year the specific number of pounds changes depending on how much I gained last year), get our finances in order and clean and organize the house. Last year I resolved to lose 80 lbs, which was a pretty ambitious goal, and actually managed to lose 25, which is better than any other year.  In April I organized a yard sale for the Bargain Buyway and cleaned out closets, cupboards and drawers, which was at least a step in the right direction although a small step.  And finances didn't really get any make over, we are still ...

I began this blog last summer but never really put it out there except to one friend for critique.  Then I lost interest, mostly because I was pretty much there by myself and no one was really reading it anyway.  But it's a new year with new goals, and this is one of mine.  So read away and feel free to comment.  I always love it when my daughter blogs, and while I may not be as witty and clever as she is, I hope I can at least bring a smile to your day or help you see just a bit of yourself in me. My topics will probably change from blog to blog, and some of them may not speak to you as well as others, but keep reading.  I'm sure we can find something in common.