We are home after a fabulous week at the beach. Here is a little of what we did.
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| Easter Mimosas |
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| Kids racing dad…dad won |
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| Me sun bathing |
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| Of course my M&P came along for the fun |
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| Dad and E kite flying |
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| Not really a pet |
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| This is Squirmy and Betsy |
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| Lobster bake |
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| Me smooching on my man |
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| I really like him |
Unless you are sick. I woke up this morning not feeling super chipper. My neck was a little stiff, my glands a little swollen and achy, so I did what any normal person would do, I went for a run. I adore running along the beach. Not in the sand, but on the street right next to it. The sound of my shoes, the quiet, the ocean…paradise. My daughter’s friend is training for her high school track team, so they came along. I felt pretty good until I stopped, then it was downhill from there. Which doesn’s really make sense in terms of running because going downhill is easier than up, but the point is, I felt icky.
I have been determined not to let my body’s attitude beat me, so I continued on with our days plans to visit the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, shopping and make a delicious lunch of homemade sushi, but I did opt to stay home and rest this evening.
I had no intention of being cooped up, but at least it’s Tuesday and there are new episodes of NCIS and NCIS LA!! Travelled 6 hours to watch TV, read blogs, post on FB, and text friends…thank God there is a gorgeous ocean view right outside my window!
After a very busy morning and afternoon, my family is having a bit of a rest, so I am doing what I always do when I have a few extra minutes on my hands, I read all of you. While hanging out at Brigid’s place I read an awesome post about protection without a gun and in the comments I read…
Guffaw in AZ said…
Paranoia presumes mental aberration – no real threat.
Thinking defensively when there’s a real threat, or possible real threat.
That’s realistic.
Great Post!
I love that comment.
I can’t figure out how to link and all that with my iPad. Hopefully the link works. If not search Home On The Range, it’s worth it.
Our family had a glorious Easter. I know “glorious”, not one you hear a lot, but it really is the word that best discribes our day. I also use the word dandy on an almost daily basis.
Every single moment of yesterday was perfect. Nothing extraordinary happened, but something about this place, all being together, the food, the wine…I was in the absolute best mood.
My husband made the observation that last year at this time I was the farthest thing from relaxed. I had just started carrying my gun, it was the first time I had carried it out of Virginia, I was still very very jumpy and I was still trying to convince myself and my family that nothing more than a not nice guy had taken a few bucks from me. I re-read a post I wrote while I was here last year and I talked about how nothing bad really happened that day in the parking lot. That I wasn’t even sure if the guy had nefarious intent. My husband said he knew at the time he read that post, that what I was writing couldn’t be true. That there was no way for me to be as rocked to the core terrified because some guy asked for money, but he didn’t ask me about it.
I did leave here last year more calm and more at ease. I felt more comfortable in my skin and more comfortable with my gun.
This year I am doing dandy, but my poor husband really needed this vacation. His work has been mighty stressful. He just opened a new office in a new market for his company and I am sure you can imagine the pressure associated with that. I wouldn’t say we have ever said I “need” a vacation, but this year, he needed one. I have loved seeing him relaxed and rejuvenated. We are only on day 2, so I have high hopes for the rest of the week.
Another upside to this place is that all the sun and fun wipe our kids out. I truly enjoy them, but I also truly enjoy when they are asleep. Last night they settled into watch a movie and were asleep by 7:30. Our older children decided to do the hot tub thing and my husband and I decided to sneak off and watch a movie. This has become a brand new favorite activity for us.
Since my husband loves me, he said he would make me a martini and then try to find a death movie for me to watch. That’s his way of teasing me about the fact that I now watch things other than “What About Bob”. He found the movie 300 on TNT.
I realize most of you have most likely already seen it. My husband is currently laughing his ass off at me that I write about movies 4 years after they were released to a group of people who probably saw them the weekend they were released, but I am waaayyyyy late to the party, so ya all are just gonna have to relive them all with me.
I had never heard of the movie and I had no idea what it was about, but our only other option was Yogi Bear and since Yogi doesn’t get shot in that movie, I opted for 300.
By the time we got settled and figured out which of the 900 remotes went to the TV in our room and then how to work it, we had missed about 25 minutes of the it. I am trying to watch as my husband is trying to explain what happened leading up to this point in the movie and I was a little confused, but by the end of the first commercial, I caught up.
I was surprised at how much I liked this movie. It didn’t have guns, but it had a whole heck of a lot of warrior mindset. No surprise here, I loved the queen. The movie was chuck full of quotable lines, but my favorite was…
Persian Emissary: “Our arrows will blot out the sun!” Stelios: “Then we will fight in the shade.”
I really want to see it again from the beginning without an overly excited man in my ear giving me a history lesson at the same time.
Formula for a super fabulous day…beach, family, food, wine, Easter Egg Hunt, hot tub, more food, more wine, and a death movie.
Both of our latest Give-A-Way winners wrote me a little note to share with all of you. I am so excited for them and for the opportunity to be an encouragement to them as they embark on this new adventure of self reliance and self protection.
From winner #28
I entered this contest because I have recently purchased my first gun, and now I want to become the most proficient at using it that I ever can be. Seeing how the state of the world has become so violent and crime-riddled, I didn’t feel safe any longer, even in my own home. That’s when I realized that I had to let go of my old fears of owning and shooting a weapon, and take the proverbial bull (barrel) by the horns. You see, I was a student of Yoga, a pacifist, and against the death penalty, and guns didn’t seem to have any place in my lifestyle. All of that has changed as this world has changed so much as to be unrecognizable from my childhood world. We could safely play outdoors at night then, unafraid of monsters lurking in the shadows who would hurt us.
After studious searches over the internet, I decided on a Glock 19, 9mm semi-automatic handgun as my first gun purchase, and a Browning Buck Mark .22 handgun for practice and fun, as my second gun. The Glock 19 seemed like a gun that could protect myself and my family if the need ever arose and we were invaded in our own home. I just wanted to at least having a fighting chance should someone decide to break-in and physically harm me or mine. Being that I am a mere 5’3″ and handicapped with life-long rhuematoid arthritis, I wouldn’t have stood a chance if someone wanted to overpower me and/or harm me. I know from personal experience what it’s like to be assaulted and violated in the worst way. I was once held captive at knifepoint for hours, and raped by someone whom I knew and thought I could trust. I never ever want to be so helpless again and brutalized at some madman’s whim. I am ecstatic that I’m going to be able to take the classes to learn how to shoot the gun, and clean it, and to act responsibly and legally with all aspects of gun ownership. With all the support and encouragement here at A Girl And Her Gun’s blog and FB page, I am taking control of my life, standing tall and facing my past and future fears of the known, and the unknown … and I’ve never felt stronger nor more capable of changing my life, than I do right now with all of you and your support and friendship. Thank you for making this possible. I can hardly wait to set-up the classes and get out to the firing range.
Kindest Regards,
Mazie
And from winner #20
Tomorrow morning my family is heading to the Outer Banks, NC for Spring Break. We are lucky in that our vacations are always fabulous. My kids are great travelers both by air and by car. We love stopping at little hole in the wall diners and even if something goes wrong, we seriously, just laugh. I love it, but I will tell you with all the great memories we have had, I have never looked forward to a vacation more.
No real reason other than a busy life and a real desire to just be with the people I love. I am extremely fond of them and I am looking forward to 10 days of spoiling them and loving on them and doing the whole wife/mommy thing without the distractions of normal life.
I might blog, but it’s more likely I will post a quick note here or there on FB.
Try not to do anything funny, fabulous or earth shattering while I am gone. Sure I want you all to go on without me, but not as much as I want to be here for all your ups and downs.
Be safe, watch your six and if all else fails, fight!
I am not a fan of being afraid. I do think it serves a limited purpose of warning one of danger and that is a good thing, but mostly I think it serves to paralyze us or at least me.
It has been well documented on this blog just how I have let fear control my whole life. No need to go there again, but it is worth saying that I think I have done a very good job of not only facing my fears, but seeking them out. Finding what scares me and taking it on. I have loved the confidence and strength it gives me to attack it instead of avoid or or even just deal as it comes. This morning I woke up at 4am and couldn’t go back to sleep, so I opened up a piece of junk email. For whatever reason I read it all and then clicked on one of the links. The link led me somewhere and I read this quote...
Don’t manage your fear. Lead your fear. Take charge. When fear climbs on your shoulder and starts nattering in your ear, here’s what you do: You stand master .-Danielle LaPorte
I can not tell you all the ways I love this quote. You stand master…brilliant. Good idea. I think I will.
For the past 2 days I have been afraid to face something. It doesn’t matter what, but the point is, I have been so afraid that I have been consumed by it and in turn paralyzed by it.
The only person that might have suffered more from my fear than me would be Arete. Unfortunately for him, he was my sounding board and it wasn’t pretty. The more I tried to talk it through the more afraid I became. This morning after I had thoroughly worked myself up I decided ENOUGH! This is no way to live, so I bit the bullet and faced said fear.
I was again reminded that fear is often much worse than the reality. The issue was resolved beyond my expectations. I suspect that fear will, at sometime, creep into my life again, but the good thing is that I am getting faster and better and dealing with it each time it does.
The only possible downside is that Arete now has first hand proof that I am a full fledged nut and probably isn’t gonna let me anywhere near a knife, but I am hoping a little crazy is good in the art of learning how to kill.
P.S. I really mean in the art of self defense, but kill is more dramatic and cray like:)
It’s Thursday so I met my husband and his work peeps for an hour of shooting at lunch. Same ‘ol same. I am out of cards, so I got a couple of man sized targets and did a lot of low ready, aim, shoot, back down and tried to increase the speed between each low ready, aim, shoot. Just wanting to see if I could improve my accuracy and get a faster sight picture. Nothing fancy.
These were shot around 12 yards with the trust M&P 9mm
Things were going along swimmingly except that my gun was only locking back 1 out of the 3 times I emptied a magazine. Put in a magazine nothing, next one slide would lock back, then next one, nope. I cleaned my gun like Old NFO suggested. Not the problem. Odd. Just kept shooting until my gun jammed. I did the tap, rack, bang, of course, and nothing. Drop the magazine, rack, nothing. No jam, look a little closer at the magazine and bullets start pouring out the top and then this…
So, now I am thinking it is the magazines. The 2 that came with it seem to be fine, but the 2 I bought later for my trip to Memphis, those are the boogers.
I am finishing up homework with the kiddos and then I am off to say good-bye to Newbius. I thought I would share my post about the time he took me to the range. I pray he knew how much his kindness meant to me.
The other day I got an email from a woman who wanted to enter the Give-A-Way and along with her information she included a little bit about why she decided to enter. This is what she wrote…
I have already got my class picked out if I win! There is a group called CA Gun Girls who have their own office on my local range’s property, and I would love some training from them!
Thank you for what you do. I’m so sorry that you had to go through a traumatic experience; I wish you could have gotten into guns without a perpetrator being involved. I’m new to guns, but just got there because of a disturbing new story involving two bad guys with a hunting knife, and one determined mom with a pistol and a newborn to protect. (Her 20-something husband had died only days earlier of cancer, and these jerks were ramming down her door to presumably steal his pain mess.) She successfully killed one and the other fled. But what would I do? Be left a victim. Nope. So I took the basic NRA class and want to keep going! As you can see from my address, I live in a gun-hostile state. I cannot even get my dream gun – Glock 19, Gen 4, bec they only allow the Gen 3s. I cannot carry concealed because I have no “reason” to. So, I am pretty limited but want to learn anyway. Because in the next few years my husband will be moving on to the next rung on the ladder of his career, and maybe, just maybe, we will end up in red state!
I loved that she was being proactive in her life, so I asked her if I could share her story. I think it’s great when a woman takes control and does something to prepare herself before the bad guy has a chance to strike. She said sure I could share and then sent me an email she sent to The Cornered Cat. It adds a little more to her story.
Dear Kathy,
I just discovered you 2 days ago and I feel like I owe you so much! Your wonderful, wonderful site has addressed every imaginable concern a woman could have regarding the proper safety/care/use of firearms. Couple that with masterful writing (and impeccable grammar, which is probably my love language) and you have THE most valuable site online for your audience.
Just the night before I discovered the Cornered Cat, I forced my husband to listen to me ruminate once again about all the reasons I was afraid to “pull the trigger” and get that Glock. He has no aversion to me owning and practicing with a firearm – he was raised on a farm in Minnesota and shot/hunted with the men in his family. It is ME who needs convincing that I should be trusted with such a responsibility.
I grew up in rural North Dakota where guns are part of life. Somehow, I managed to avoid exposure to them while my dad and siblings went hunting with rifles and shotguns and took classes called “Hunter Safety.” My friends and their families all hunted with guns, I had access to friends’ farms had I the notion to learn and practice, and my high school boyfriend’s dad was a gunsmith – just think of how rich my early education could have been! But no. Instead, I find myself in my early 30s just beginning to learn about all things handguns.
My sister and I had been wanting CC permits for some time. We married men whose jobs took us far from our the safe land of North Dakota, where keys are left in the ignition and homes are never locked. My sister is on the east coast, and I find myself on the west coast. Our cities are very different from the town of 300 we knew and loved. When this story broke around New Year’s this year was the final straw for us. http://www.kfor.com/news/kfor-blanchard-woman-shoots-and-kills-intruder-20120101,0,2752550.story. This amazing young woman said something that reverberated through me – “There is nothing more dangerous than a mom with a baby.” She’s right. I am a law-abiding citizen who would not even be intentionally rude…but all that goes right out the window if I think you are after my child.
Having wanted to learn about handguns, married to a very busy man and wanting an effective way to protect myself and my little sons, I knew then that it was time to enroll in class. But I was scared because I thought, “You know, if you don’t grow up using guns, you probably shouldn’t try to learn later in life. How can you really catch up? No patriarch to guide you, you must trust the stranger teaching the class and hope you digest all the vital information from the textbook.” But I did it because I figured if I didn’t want to continue with it, at least I’d be richer for the experience. I’m so glad I just made myself do it. That NRA Basic Pistol class was lots of fun. And it made me think, “I like it! I can do this.”
I came home, threw myself online and started to learn all that I could. Then I got scared again; there were terms I had never encountered, freak accidents being reported, and naysayers that thought women should leave the guns to men. I’m a registered nurse who spent time working in an ER; I have seen what bullets do to human flesh. I have 5 and 3 year old boys; I live in a town home – would I be able to even use my gun without fear of hurting my sons or my neighbors? I had gone from being so excited to learn something new (I’m presently a stay at home mom, and I rarely am away from the kids) to feeling foolish for entertaining such wild notions about range practice and having a lethal weapon around. I felt guilty about spending the extra money, or for knowing I’d need to be away from my family to practice at the range (no way am I bringing them there if I want to get any shooting done). I made myself sign up for the next class so I couldn’t quit out of fear, and then began badgering my husband about whether I should have a gun or not.
I felt such sweet relief when I began to read the Cornered Cat’s content. Here was a site that understood how I felt and the challenges that I was encountering! Turns out, being a woman who has children and who is a novice does not mean that she does not deserve to learn about and practice with firearms! I was scared to carry before, but I now think that would be a very good option for me in the future, after further study and experience. I cannot carry right now, because my county forbids it for almost everyone. One has to appear before a judge and state the reason one needs to carry. It is so specific; one man I know, who carries tens of thousands of dollars on his person could not obtain one because he doesn’t also carry jewels! We don’t plan to live here for more than a couple of years, but the next place I live will hopefully allow CC.
How cool is she? Now, she didn’t win the contest, but I hope she will get some training anyway. Feel free to offer her words of praise and encouragement.