the news

because nothing big and important has happened or occurred to me to write, here are some random happenings, in the interest of keeping up on posts:

- noon today i head back to casper from evanston, where i've been for this agrifuture meeting since wednesday. it's been a good meeting, and i've enjoyed my time in evanston. the facility is fabulous - it's the restored railroad roundhouse and machine shop - and the whole town is very hospitable. they're really working hard to generate more visitors, and i think it's working. last night i went to dinner with stock growers staff members, and it was very nice.

- i'll head straight to the ranch after leaving, instead of heading back into town first. the ranch is one hour closer than town, and i packed all my riding and hunting clothes and brought them with me wednesday. scott took the day off and is hunting deer today with bob and friends from texas, and this evening my sister melissa will arrive from lander. she's helping us move cows tomorrow, and i'm so happy that i get to join them. originally i was going to have to drive to lander for a day trip and a tour of the new BSL3 lab addition to the state vet lab, but now i've delayed that tour for a month. this BSL3 (biosecurity level 3) addition is a big deal, and good for the state, because now we can work on our own brucellosis issues, and other federally controlled diseases. brucellosis has been a big challenge in our cattle and elk populations.

- i have new shirts! yesterday afternoon when the meeting finished i dropped into the evanston boot barn, because boot barns sometimes have good sales. it's hit and miss, but i found two of my favorite cut of shirts for 50 percent, so i have some new additions. i may be in a 'shirt rut' because the cruel girl arena fit style is all i buy, in different colors/patterns, but it's just that i know they'll fit so well - i can tuck them in and the sleeves are long enough, which are good qualities for shirts to have!

- the leaves are falling. that means i'll have to buy a rake for my yard soon.

- hopefully next week we'll also get our wood stove purchased and installed in the front room of the house. it will be so cozy, especially when it starts snowing and there's a christmas tree in the front window.

- the horses are getting fuzzy! i like late fall, when they start growing their winter hair, but aren't yet completely woolly.

- next week will be the only week for quite a while where i'm in the office all week. november is convention season for the ag groups in wyoming.

- scott's birthday is coming up on nov. 20. we've flip-flopped between birthday weekend plans. right now it's to take friday off - all day for him, half day for me - and then have a party at the house saturday evening.

- i finally got our wedding party invitations ordered. they should be here mid-week next week, if not sooner. i got a great deal, including envelopes and address labels. i made them and added them in at the last minute, when i got to thinking about writing return addresses by hand on several hundred envelopes.

- i'll be out of cell service again all weekend. while no service is inconvenient at times, it's refreshing to shut it off and be un-contactable for several days at a time.

- for some reason that's all i can think of at this time. have a good weekend!