First, I want to say thank you again to everyone who has entered the Give-A-Way.  I truly thought maybe 20 people would enter and after the 3rd day with only entry, I thought, well this is going to be easy, but on day 6, here I sit with  hundreds of entries.

I think it is remarkable how many of you are taking a proactive steps in defense of your life and freedoms.  You rock!!!

Second, I really want to apologize.  This blog thing is kicking my butt.  I had no idea how many emails I would get from so many of you.

I love it.

I love not getting an ounce of sleep because there is something about me, that has compelled you to want to share part of your life’s story with me.  I promise you I am reading them all and I care very much.  I am humbled and blessed by each of you.  I am trying to respond and to visit everyone’s blogs, but sometime I read one and think I will get to it, but then more pour in and I don’t back to it.  I need a better system.

Let me tell you that it never, ever, not once occurred to me that anyone would read this blog.  I was woefully unprepared for the way it has exploded over the past few months.  I am trying to balance my real life with my virtual life.  I have made real friends through this blog.  People I have connected with and who have impacted my life on a deeper more personal level and it is important to me that I nurture those relationships.  I want to give back by commenting on their blogs, sending emails, and just being there for them.  I also have a ton of kids and a hubby who need me plus I am still trying to learn all things guns.  So, if I have not gotten back to you please know that it is an oversight.  I can not guarantee I will get back to you, but I am trying. I appreciate your comments on this blog and through email.  Really, I do.

Thirdly, to all you bloggers out there…sorry again.  I am realizing(I kind of suspected) I don’t know what the heck I am doing.  If I have forgot to credit you or ask your permission or broke a rule, I really didn’t mean to.  Thank God for North sending me emails from time to time to tell me how jacked up I am and telling me how to fix it, or this could have been even uglier.

Basically, what I am trying to say is that I am all kinds of whacked, but I am having a blast and trying extremely hard.

That is all. Carry on.

As I have mentioned before, I don’t cuss, but if I were going to, this is how I would do it.

Grumpy Bastard

I have never read this blog before and I know he is seriously frustrated and he should be. Very good points, but I nearly peed my pants from laughing.

Excellent use of profanity.

*He is probably a huge blogger, but I am new and just now making my way around the blog-o-sphere, so I am late coming to all the jewels that are out there. I am finding that I have been very, very sheltered.

An excellent post over at Home On The Range. 

I am spending so much time on this dang computer reading gun blog after gun blog that I need to hire some folks to clean my house, take care of my kids and service my husband.

And by service my husband I mean cook him meals and care for his children.

The prostitute is for me.

I am hoping she can give me a few pointers on how to move things a long a little quicker and still knock his socks off.

I wonder if anyone has ever incorporated blogging into foreplay.

Dang, now I am getting excited. Where’s my husband?

Collin Goddard and The Brady Campaign have a very interesting approach to violence.

The basic principal is for people to walk around blindly hoping nothing bad happens to them and if something bad does happen, you are to give the bad guy everything he wants.

In the event that things starts to get ugly,  just play dead and again hope you make it out alive, but whatever you do, do not fight back.

The bad guy might get mad.

If by some miracle you do make it out of there, then you have a new mission.

Spend the rest of your life trying to convenience the rest of the world what a great plan being a victim is.

The only thing stupider then their plan, would be me. I actually followed it to a “T”.

I walked around blindly giving no thought to my safety, until the bad guy wouldn’t let me any longer.

Their plan didn’t serve me to well and it sucked the day my eyes were slammed wide open.

Let me just say…

IT ISN’T A GOOD PLAN!

Here’s a better one…

STOP walking around blindly.

STOP with the victim mindset.

It is isn’t serving you or me or anyone well.

Make a plan.

One that includes being responsible for your own life.

Carry a gun, don’t carry a gun, I don’t care(except you really should carry a gun and actually, I care deeply), but have a plan to be proactive in defense of YOUR life.

I can promise you, the bad guy has a plan for you and it ain’t pretty.

Here is one of the many things I do as part of my plan…

This is my holster.  This is my gun.  It is loaded.  It is chambered.  And except for the very rare occasion when the law prevents me, it resides on my left hip.

For more on this go to Weer’d World

A woman sent me a very lovely email telling me about her story and asking to be entered in the Give-A-Way and at the end of her email she said…

No offense, but you don’t seem like a person who would have a tattoo, so what’s up with the tats?

She was not being rude and I was not offended or bothered in the least. We have shared a couple emails since and all is good.

I was surprised a little by the question because it seems like now a days everyone has a tattoo or at least someone from every walk of life.

However, she is not the first person to ask me about them. I used to get that a lot.

A few years ago, I was a youth leader at a church and one day when I bent over to pick something up, my blouse revealed one of my tattoos. A parent was standing there and when she saw it she was shocked and not a happy camper. She was so upset by it that she went to the pastor to complain. She couldn’t believe a person like me had a tattoo and she wanted me to get up in front of the church to renounce all tattoos and admit my mistake.

I did not do that.

I like tattoos, especially mine.

I was a little late coming to the game though.

I was not a rebellious teenager, but a 26 year old college professor.

Getting a tat was not something I had ever thought to do. Not because I was against them, I just never thought about them one way or the other.

One day I was at a local brewery with some colleagues when one of the women suggested we get tattoos. I think it started out as a joke, but 3 days later we were at Beachin Tattoo in southern California getting all tatted up.

I am sure getting a tattoo is not considered wild anymore, but for me it was the closest thing to wild as I had ever gotten.

Plus I was nervous.

The thought of some person jamming a needle into my flesh didn’t sound all that appealing.

I was the not the cool cat that I am now.

Anyhoo, since I had never thought about a tattoo, I had no idea what I wanted to have permanently poked into me.

After looking at a ton of pictures, I finally just had a friend draw a design for me.

My first tattoo is of an AT-6 carrying a banner that reads Women Can. I like airplanes and I love the spirit of women, especially those that have overcome life’s obstacles.

Women flew the AT-6 in WWII and the banner is an homage to Rosie The Riveter.

My second tattoo came just a few months later. It’s an abstract symbol, again done by a friend, representing a quote. I forget who said it, but it comes from a book of women’s quotes, that I have misplaced.

The quote is “In My Friend, I Find A Second Self”

I have no idea what the woman meant when she said it, but to me it doesn’t mean someone exactly like me. It doesn’t mean when I look at them, I see myself. I like who I am, but I don’t want the whole world to be me.

To me, the quote means, someone who I am as comfortable being myself with, as I actually am being myself.

I always am who I am, but not everyone appreciates that. Those who do, they are my friends.

My 3rd tattoo didn’t come for many years later. I was probably 36. It was after our daughters came home from China.

I wanted to do more for the kids still waiting for homes, so my husband and I, along with our good friend and her husband, opened a non- profit organization. We placed grants on special needs children waiting in China.

The non-profit was named after our daughters and since I loved helping the children and I loved our daughters, I got a tattoo to represent both.

I almost got another tattoo a few months ago. I had a local tattoo artist draw up a design with my Glock and the American flag that was to be placed on my right thigh, but life got busy and I just haven’t got back there.

I am not sure that I will. It’s not cheap and I think I would rather spend the money on an actual gun or say a Give-A-Way.

So, that’s what’s up.

Please review the Give-A-Way post for updated requirements. 

The age for this Give -A- Way is 21 or older. 

I did consult with some people and 21 years of age or older is what was recommended to me.

Sorry for any confusion.

I am absolutely for training children, girls and boys, very early, but for the purpose of this  Give-A-Way, the requirement is that the winner be at least 21 years old.

Thank you again to all who have spread the word, donated and especially to those who have entered.

You have kept me very, very busy, but I could not be more thrilled.

I am crazy in love with my handgun and I am beyond anxious to purchase my next one later this month, but, after my trip to the range a few weeks ago and getting to shoot some rifles, I now have a new love.

The thing about me, is that I don’t have to know you well or even understand you to be in love with you.  I knew my husband for about a minute and married him, but eventually, I kind of like to move past the shiny fun parts and get to the heart of the matter.

I have been blog hopping and reading and trying to learn about all things long gun.  So far it has been fun, but not much learning has taken place.

You people know to much.  I mean that in the best possible, you knock my socks off, but I can’t keep up, kind of way.

It all starts to blend together after a while.  I think it will get much better for me after my trip to North Carolina for the Appleseed event, where I get to shoot more rifles or shotguns, not sure, but until then I could use some clarification.

I need a basic explanation of the difference between a rifle and a shotgun and what the heck they are used for.

Here is what I know or what I think I know…

A riffle uses a regular bullet and can reach a target farther away than a hand gun??

A shotgun uses that casing thing with a lot of tiny “balls”??  Mostly used for hunting??

I know a lot of people talk about a shotgun for home defense, but others talk about an AR or AK which are riffles??  Which one has the pump action??  Shotgun??

A gentleman from my husband’s office sent him home with this pretty little number

Amber Dot Sight, what would it be called, an attachment?

My husband explained what it does and I spent time scooping out all the knick knacks in my house in case any of them ever revolt,  but do I need that?

I realize this is probably a long and exhaustive discussion with many opinions, but I would be most grateful for the basic run down.

Any takers?

Not my favorite kind, but still feels pretty good. In this case really, really good.

We are now officially up to 1000 rounds for the Give-A-way.

A THOUSAND ROUNDS!

This winner is one fortunate lady.

Pay attention all who have entered…look at the number of people who are willing to invest in you and your well being.

Remarkable!

These are some absolutely remarkable people.

A huge thank you to The Calm Gun who is donating 250 rounds and the Old NFO who is donating 200 more!

Tomorrow, I will link both their blogs and add them to the side bar Give-A-way post.

Also, The Calm Gun has a podcast. I am still learning how to do this techy stuff, but if you goggle him, you will find his channel(is it called a channel??). Again, tomorrow when I am at an actual computer I will figure out how to link it directly, but I was so excited to let you all know, I had to type up a quick post.

Thank you so much to all the women who have enterd. I am so excited to see how many of you are taking that first step(or next step) to more more control, more security, more freedom.

I love all the stories you are sharing with me. Thank you for letting me, us, be a small part of your journey.

I had a somewhat low key day where I only needed to do a few of this and that around the house, so instead of doing the this and that I really should have been doing, I played on the computer.

I tried to visit all the blogs of the folks that follow A Girl, but I got side tracked clicking on different blogs on their pages and it spiraled out of control.

I read and clicked and typed and now my eyes are completely bugging out.

It was not a wasted day though. Much was gained.

What I learned…

There are some seriously funny cleaver people out in the blog world. Might have peed my pants a time or two. Sometimes from laughing. Sometimes just because I was to lazy to get up.

There are some seriously smart knowledgable folks out there. I have about 4000 more questions to ask, so I hope Weer’d, JD and the rest of you have cleared your schedules for the next cople of weeks, we have some work to do.

There are some seriously dilugional peeps out there. Some of whom make me glad I carry a gun. Thinking about getting a bigger one.

All in all, not a bad day.

Now that I am seriously in a good mood, but feeling not so smart and a little scared, I am getting off this computer, grabbing some wine and hanging with the populous that reside in my home.