My Birthday and Thanksgiving

Well, we finally got our first decent snow here in Montana.  With that cold air came some beautiful scenery and sunsets.

Sunset at Emigrant and Chico Peaks

Thunder and Storm got to experience their first snow.  That was pretty funny, but I couldn't capture it very well with photos.  The cats would put their paws in the snow, then shake them, and lick their paws.  They tried licking the snow on the ground.  Watching them walk through the snow was amusing; they'd stop often to shake their paws.

My Aunt Anita came over to the house for the week of November 13.  She had come from Deer Lodge to go to a conference in Mammoth regarding outside contracting.  She didn't really know that my birthday was that week, but I didn't get an opportunity to explain to her that I had plans for my birthday.

My birthday was eventful.  I drove to Bozeman to have lunch with my aunts Jean and Zana.  Jean only had one day off that week, so I decided that I would go see her.  We met at Walmart.  Dad, Bonnie, and Wilma happened to be in Walmart at the same time, though Dad and Bonnie had forgotten that I would be in town.  They'd already eaten because they took Steve to the airport that day, so Jean and I walked to Santa Fe Red's.  It's been a long time since I've seen Zana, so I was happy to visit with her.

Zana had to go home because the kids were going to get out of school soon, so Jean and I spent the rest of the afternoon together.  We walked around Gallatin Valley Mall and then had to say our farewells.  I don't get to see Jean often enough.  On our previous schedules we both had quite a bit of time with each other, but lately it's been kind of tight.

We had a quiet but fun Thanksgiving at my house this year.  Jean came over from Bozeman, and Dad and Bonnie came from Livingston.  Dad and Bonnie provided the turkey, stuffing, and gravy.  Jean baked the pumpkin pie, and of course, made her famous dinner rolls.  I made the vegetables: carrots with lemon dill butter, asparagus with Parmesan, and green beans with bacon and onions.  We had riced potatoes and cranberry sauce too.  Scott and Amanda Skyped us that afternoon.  That was Dad's first time using Skype to video chat.  He got to see what Scott's and Amanda's place looked like.  After feasting, Jean and Bonnie helped with cleaning.  I taught Dad how to play Phase 10, another first for him.  That afternoon we watched NCIS and ate pumpkin pie à la mode.  Jean commented that this was the first Thanksgiving that she has had at the house since she graduated from high school.

No, it's not Halloween, and no, Dad and Bonnie don't drink! lol

My CPO Certification

The past two weeks have been pretty busy for me, not so much because of so many activities, but because I had a really short amount of time to study for my CPO certification.  That's right, I'm a Certified Pool Operator through the National Swimming Pool Foundation.

Now that my hotel is under new management (but we still have the same owners), we needed to have someone at our hotel who had CPO certification to comply with standards of care.  Previously our General Manager had that certification, but our new GM doesn't want to take care of the pool in that way.  I already had some general understanding about how to take care of the pool and had been doing some of it since I started as a night auditor in 2004.  Our maintenance man recently resigned, and I was a logical choice for the certification.

There were several cities that I could take the class in, so I chose Helena, MT.  I hadn't seen Adam since July and this was a great opportunity to do just that.  The class was scheduled for November 1.

Unfortunately I got my materials rather late and only had a limited amount of time to study.  As a matter of fact, I got them last Wednesday, Oct. 26.  I literally had six days to read the material and do an eight-hour online course before going to a class.  I got the materials in the afternoon on Wednesday, but I didn't have time to do anything with them because I had to do beginning-of-the-month bookkeeping.  Thursday I had to go to Bozeman, and that day was shot.  Friday I was able to study at work, thanks to my GM who was able to help take care of the desk while I studied.  That evening, I had to go to Livingston for car repair and to get some clothes for Betty, my grandaunt.  (Some of her clothes were getting pretty worn.)  Saturday I was able to do some minor studying at work, but I was able to really put some hours into it in the evening.  While I was at work on Sunday, October 30, I worked as long as I could on the online course that we were required to take before the actual class.

I headed to Helena after I got off of work.  It takes three hours to drive from Gardiner to Helena.  From my house to Adam's, it is about 190 miles.  I avoided the construction between Three Forks and Helena by taking the route through Boulder.  That evening, Adam and I had dinner at Applebee's.  After dinner I finished the online course.  I wanted to have Monday to spend with Adam since I came out in part to be able to have fun with him.

Monday we ate breakfast/lunch at IHOP.  I tell you, it's one of my favorite restaurants:  waffles with blueberry topping, scrambled eggs, bacon, and the most important part of breakfast: coffee.  That afternoon we toured the Montana State Capitol building and then went to the Montana State Historical Society.  I wish we had more time to spend at the MSHS, which is actually a museum.  There was a lot of really cool artifacts there that we didn't have time to look at.  We did, however, get a good chance to see the Charles Russell exhibit.

"When the Land Belonged to God" by C. M. Russell

"All Who Know Me Respect Me" by C. M. Russell

That night, Adam and I played Army of Two.  I hadn't played it before, and had a good time doing it.  I don't do a lot of video games, and mostly watch movies.  I have an old X-Box, but that's the extent of my gameness.

On Tuesday, Nov. 1 I went to my class for becoming a Certified Pool Operator.  Basically they went over the same stuff that the online course went over and then we did a test.  I felt satisfied with my test score and I definitely passed.  That night Adam made some food and we watched Captain America.

I had to go back home yesterday, so we went to IHOP for breakfast before he had to go to work.  I had a great time at his house.  We don't get to see each other often enough.

Once home, Jean and I watched The Addams Family.  It might have been a couple days late, but we hadn't seen each other for a week anyway.  While I was out of town, Jean was able to come to the house and take care of the cats for me.

All in all, I've had a pretty eventful week.

50th Blog

This is my 50th blog entry at this website.  "Where's Wayno?" is relatively new.  I started writing about what's been going on in my life on the blog at MySpace August 15, 2006.  I wrote about the movies I watched, the things that happened, and how I felt about various issues.  Realizing that MySpace's website wasn't very conducive to a blog writer, I wrote my last entry there on May 21, 2010.  I haven't counted how many blogs I wrote in those four years, and MySpace certainly doesn't help that.

I started this blog April 11, 2010 with my trip to the Bahamas.  I've separated how I blog now.  This site is specifically made for the events that go on in my life.  I've pretty much abandoned movie reviews since I watch so many movies, and have less time to write about them.  I got the impression that my friends wanted to hear about me rather than what I watch. I have tried to use as much media as I can to make this blog as fun as I could with the technology at my disposal.  I've put my opinions on a different blog anonymously.  As a front desk worker at a hotel, I've learned though experience that some anonymity makes it easier to work with people directly, especially while working in the hospitality industry.

Thank you to all my friends who care about me enough to read what's been going on in my life.  This site is truly dedicated to you for the kindness you show me. :)

I'm standing on a cliff next to Natural Bridge.