The Flea: Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve was a little different this year. There is a friend of mine that apparently likes guns and owns a few. He wanted to get a little group together to shoot a little. Now if you knew me and guns you would laugh. I get so nervous around them. I don’t like. I used to love the ones my parents had on their wall when I was going up, but to handle one I get very jumpy. I guess I see them as too destructive and that they can go off in a blink of an eye. When we all got to the shooting range I was a bit jumpy at some of the loud guns that people were firing. I am not sure why someone would want a gun that loud, but I don’t know anything about guns so oh well.

My friend has mostly 22. to shoot. I felt better with a 22. knowing that it was not very powerful, would not kick much, and it's relatively harmless when it comes to guns. He has hand guns, and two riffles, one with a scope and another with a lever action. When asked what one I wanted to shoot I picked the riffle with the lever action. It was calling my name. Handguns worry me more than a riffle for some reason. There was only one down part to this range. You could not tell how well you were doing since you had to leave your target out on the open rage area. You had to wait until there was a break (about 30 mins) and you could go check your target. So there I was, shooting not knowing if I was hitting the target. I then switched to a hand gun. I did not like that as much. It was ok, but I am riffle kind of girl I guess. Have I shot much? No. My dad took us to shoot bottles once on property that he used to own. I was a kid. I don’t even know how long ago that was. I have not shot since.

It was time for the break and I was able to look at my target. Holy smokes batman, I was right on. Everyone was surprised that I did so well. I got the “Wow, don’t piss you off.” Comment. LOL

Miles parents invited my parents over for Christmas Eve dinner. It was very nice of them. They are very nice people and I am glad that everyone had a nice night. You can’t beat Loren’s impersonations of his grandma and just about everyone else. I don’t know how he does it.
Then came Christmas. It was a mellow day of waking up late, go to my parents house and then to my Aunt Linda’s. My brother is in Thailand. That kind of threw things off. I’m not used to him not being there. He called to say Merry Christmas, but I missed his call. I was bummed. It was nice to see my family. I always enjoy seeing Tosca and Dom. I have no grandparents left so it’s great to be with my great Aunt and Uncle. I had a nice day and always enjoy the spirit of the holiday.

My great aunt and uncle

Tosca and I

My dad's 32 Ford

My dad got a new front end on it so it has been sitting in a shop forever. He was nice enough to pull it out so I could get a picture of it. I know he was not too happy about it being dirty. I thought it looked great.

You will always find me in front of a fire. If there is one going and a place to sit, then I am there. Sonoma joined in on the warmth. As a kid I would sit in front of the fire all the time. I did not care that it was on brick or stone, I was there. I would get a blanket and fall asleep lying in front of the crackling fire. Some of my best memories are in front of a fire. The flicker of the flame is breathtaking. It adds a peace that you cant get otherwise. A softness like a gentle touch when it flickers of your face. Or when a room lights up with the flames from a fire, it’s so wonderful. I think the best is the cabin on a cool winter night all warm and snuggly in front of the fire. That’s the best. Just the thought of it makes me feel good and brings a smile to my face.

Thank you for a nice dinner.

See that target in the center kind of out there? That's what I was shooting at. :-)

First time ever shooting.

This is not the gun that was loud enough and kicked enough to make me, gasp, sqeak, laugh, and put the gun down fast to get away from it. (Yes, that happened.)