PORTFOLIO

Yesterday when my mother and I were in Wal-Mart I picked up supplies for my portfolio. I got a 1 inch binder, some separation tabs, and page covers. I quickly realized though when I started running off my school work that the 1 inch binder was going to be WAY to small for everything. I sent the binder back into Devils Lake with my mother so that she could exchange it for a 3 inch binder and also pick up another set of tabs because I do not have enough of them either. After looking at what I have printed so far, I think the portfolio will be very impressive. It is rather large so when I go to job interviews I will bring a smaller binder with only a few of the best pieces of work that I have done that would be associated with the job that I am applying for.

Cassie wants to get her hair cut short. She has informed me of this numerous times in the last week. I called Salon 2000 in Devils Lake to see if I could get her in sometime. I just got an answering machine. I left a message but they have not called back so I don't know exactly when I will get her in yet. I better do it now though since she wants it done because she could change her mind next week and it really does need to be trimmed anyway.

A LITTLE SHOPPING AND SOME SHITTY NEWS

After spending 2 days at Billy's the girls and I are finally home. Darren left a message on my cell phone to let me know that his paycheck had already been sent out in the mail so Billy and I did not have to drag the kids all over half of North Dakota. Instead, the girls and I went to town and picking up Darren's things and got our Wal-Mart shopping. My mom helped out by coming along with us when she was done with work. I also made it to a great little thrift shop in Devils Lake called Joseph's Closet. I found 2 sweat out fits, a snow suit, boots, shoes, and tennis shoes for next summer for Jessie and I found 3 nice Carter sleepers and two pretty tops for Cassidy under $30! I am a huge believer of trying to find clothes and footwear for the kids second-hand before buying them at Wal-Mart or a department store.

While I was in D.L. I got a crappy phone call from Billy. Billy and her husband decided to have the dog that was bit by the skunk put to sleep today. They didn't feel like quarantining her was the right thing for the dog and since I, the girls, and all of them have been around the dog they wanted to play it safe and make sure that the dog did not have rabies just in case she may have infected one of us. I feel horrible for Billy and Vince. They loved that dog and she was great with the kids. I feel terrible for them.

I have a nasty transcription assignment that has to be handed in before 10 a.m. tomorrow morning so I need to get cracking on that tonight. It is basically done, all I really have to do is make sure wording and grammar are correct and make sure everything in the report is in the correct order. My mother is not working tomorrow so we may go to her place for a bit so I can get some extra homework for next week started too.

NOT MUCH GOING ON HERE

I have been busy since classes started again. I am not doing too bad, and for the most part I have been able to keep up with all 5 classes. The only one that I find "hard" is my Applied Medical Transcription II class. It really isn't all that hard there is just so much to transcribe that sucks, but that is going to be my life now so I better get used to it.

I watched the boys for Billy yesterday so that she could take one of her brothers to Minneuwaukan. I am watching them for her again today because she had to make a trip to Ruby. Since it has been raining most of last night and this morning Vinny is home. Yesterday Vinny came home early too while I was watching the boys and after Billy got back home we all went out to the barn and helped Vinny clear it out. What a task that was. I should have taken before and after pictures of it but I didn't. Vinny practically gutted the building and removed the wood floor. Beneath the floor were rocks that had to be picked out. Some even had to be dug out with a spade shovel.

When Billy gets home today I have to run to Tunbridge, ND and get Darren's paycheck. I have to take the paycheck to Devils Lake and put it in our checking account and take out $150 in cash. Darren wants me to run to Wal-Mart and get him a case of coke and I then need to run out to the reservation and buy him a cartoon of cigarettes. After I am done in D.L. I have to drive out to Edinburg and take Darren the cash, coke, and cigarettes. Thank God Billy is coming with me. I would not make this trip alone. It sucks because we will be on the road all day so I am going to have to buy at least 1 meal and eating out is so expensive that I hate thinking about it. But Darren wants this stuff now so I have to make the trek.

I have not done a whole lot of work with the palomino lately. I have been too busy with other things. My mom did watch the girls for me the other day so that I could take the palomino into the round pen and get some ground work going. I have him picking up all his feet pretty well and he will flex his neck pretty good and walk a moderately wide circle. I have not make him run the circle yet because he is still a little playful. He is fun to watch though sometimes when he really gets into playing. The man I got my hay from called me the other day and will have my 20 bales ready in about 2 weeks. He will call me when field work slows down and then we can pick the hay up. My dad wants to move a large chicken coop in for a lean shelter soon too. I would like to have something in too before it snows. I was hoping to have the building I want to use for a barn but I will have to get about 5 guys together to move the building. It will all come together in time. I just have to be patient.

SKUNK'D

The last couple of days I have spent time out at Billy’s house. I was getting bored and this way I and Billy can have good adult conversations and all 4 kids can play. On Monday it was getting close to supper time so Billy and I started throwing something together. All of a sudden Billy starting freaking out, “OH MY GOD! THERE IS A SKUNK IN THE YARD, JANELLE!” Sure enough, when I looked out the kitchen window Billy’s 3 dogs were growling, barking, and trying to tear apart the skunk. Before we could get the kitchen window closed one of the dogs chucked the skunk right beside the house just as it sprayed and ran off to hide in the barn. The house filled with the wonderful smell of skunk pretty fast. I thought dead skunk on the road was bad, but his is a whole new definition of bad skunk smell. The scent even hung in our clothing and I could smell it in the laundry the next day. YUCK! The skunk did bite one of their dogs that was not up to date on its vaccination shots so they are waiting for it to come back in the yard so her husband can shoot it and then they will send the head in to make sure that it is not infested with rabies.

THINGS

I am sure that most of you heard that the person that killed my mother’s cousin was caught the other day in a field north of Drake, N.D. The girlfriend was caught first about three days prior to the capture of Jermey Brooks. Brooks is also wanted in Louisiana for a murder and is wanted for questioning in two Kentucky murders. This guy is not a nice fellow. I hope there is enough to put this guy away forever.

According to the comments, Billy likes the yellow and green halter colors. Karissa likes the Purple and green. April votes BLUE, and I like the green and blue colors also. After adding these few votes neon green is the winning color. I am going to have to find a saddle blanket that will match it. It should be easy to find one. Neon green is becoming a popular color. I am so excited to be doing work with horses again. I have really missed it and working with horses is what I really want to be doing. Now that the are a bit older it is a little easier to do more horse things. Right now, I have the palomino leading well and I have started working on getting him to pick up his feet so that a ferrier can work on his hooves. He does raise his front feet fairly well. I still have to work on getting him to lift his back feet. The process on the back feet has been slow partially because that is the side that scares me the most.

I received my $849 in books for the fall semester that starts in a few weeks. I cannot believe how much these stupid books cost. I am thankful though that most of these books are reference books and I will use them throughout my job. My classes this semester are Medical Coding I, Advanced Medical Transcription, Humane Diseases & Surgical Procedures, Front Office Administration, and Health & Wellness. I am not sure if I can do all 5 classes but I am going to try it out. I hope that I can.

Darren is really enjoying the construction job and the paychecks have been very good too. After a few more checks, we should be out of debt and caught up on bills. He gets along very well with the people he works with. One of the workers just happens to be my father’s cousin.

HALTER HELP

I am trying to decide on what color of halter to purchase for the palomino. There are many colors available and I want to make sure that it is a nice bright one. I was playing around with my photo editor and I changed the color of the halter to a few that I picked out. Which color(s) do you like?

VISIT FROM FRIENDS AND MURDER IN THE FAMILY

Rainy, Jason, Forrester, and Eris came out to visit for a little while yesterday evening. They were mainly here because Darren sold his junky motocycle to Jason. Jason wanted the frame to build his very own bike from the ground up. Darren had to leave for work after he and Jason got the bike. Once the bike was taken care of I took the 4 of them out to see our new palomino. We came back to the house and I saddled up my sorrel mare and everyone had a ride on the horse. Even Rainy and Jason had a ride. After riding I treated them to some ice cream and then they took off around 9 o'clock or a little after.

Early last week, my mother got some terrible news about a cousin that lived in Minnesota. My mother's cousing was found murdered in her home. She was upposed to go on a dinner date with a friend but she never showed up for the date. The friend went to check her house and found the house locked and mom's cousins Jeep was gone so she figured she was out somewhere and just forgot about the date. The next day the friend still had not heard from her and became concerned so she called the son. The son had a key to the house so he went over and opened it up and found his mother dead. Pretty shocking! I never thought it would happen to someone in our family. There has been news that her ATM card had been used in Minnesota and the guy was caught on the servailence camera and the attendant said that he mentioned North Dakota. The Jeep was just recently found in Fargo the other day. It is creepy to think that that guy who murdered our family member is so close to us right now and nobody knows where he is. Below are two news articles about it.

This article from StarTribune.com

Wright County officials seek vehicle linked to woman's suspicious death
Joy Powell, Star Tribune

Wright County sheriff's deputies are asking for the public's help in tracking down a vehicle linked to a woman's suspicious death, which was reported Saturday.

The family and employer of Ruth Ouverson, 58, confirmed that she was found dead in her home in Marysville Township. The death is being investigated as a possible homicide.

Authorities are asking for help locating her 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee. It's dark blue with Minnesota license plate! HVT377.

Should anyone spot the vehicle, deputies warn to not approach it but to instead call 911 or the Sheriff's Office at 763-682-7622.

Sheriff's Lt. Greg Howell said no further details were being released Sunday about the death. "We're still trying to sort this out," he said.

"We'd like to have extra sets of eyes out there looking for this vehicle," Howell said.

Ouverson's son, Troy Ouverson of Buffalo, Minn., said late Sunday afternoon that his father had just arrived home from a motorcycle rally in Sturgis, S.D., and the family was declining to comment at this time.

Ruth Ouverson lived with her husband, Douglas, 63, in a house on 10 acres about 2 miles north of Montrose.

Ruth Ouverson worked for many years for the Rockford School District, where she headed the early childhood programs, working with preschool children and their parents.

"She's going to be missed," district Superintendent Michael Smith said! Saturday evening of the personable woman, whom he described a! s well- respected and with a knack for understanding toddlers.

"She had that ability to understand the preschool-age child, and not everybody has that gift. She was very personable with them," Smith said.

"She was very conscientious. She was a professional person who really wanted the best for the children whom she worked with," he said. "We were fortunate to have a leader in that Early Childhood Program who met the needs of the children in the Rockford area schools."
_______________________________________

Minnesota Murder Victim's Jeep Found In Fargo
Aug 13 2007 6:24AM
Associated Press (Don Haney, KFGO, Fargo) FARGO, N.D. (AP)

Authorities in Fargo have recovered a vehicle belonging to a Minnesota murder victim.

Police found the 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee abandoned in the parking lot of the Fargo Wal-Mart yesterday.

Sergeant Glen Hanson says there was no sign of the driver.

Minnesota authorities say the Jeep belonged to 58-year-old Ruth Ouverson. She was found dead in her home near Montrose on August fourth.

A man driving the Jeep was Filmed on surveillance video at a Monticello (mawn-tuh-SEHL'-oh) convenience store last week. The man also was seen using the victim's ATM card at a convenience store in Buffalo (Minnesota), and asked store employees for directions to I-94 and mentioned North Dakota.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 08-13-07 0612CDT

MORE SWIMMING LESSON PICS

Cassie finished up her swimming lessons roughly three weeks ago. She did very well and passed Level I swimming. She learned how to float by herself, doggy-paddle, lay on her back and look up at the sky, free-jump into the pool, and she even went down the slide and the small diving board twice. I meant to post these pictures a long time ago.

Cassie was really excited and very nervous at the same time but she was determined to go off the low diving board like the other kids were doing.

Ali, Kaci's sister, slowly lowered Cassie down to Kaci.

Kaci caught Cassie coming down into the water so that Cassie's head would not go under water. There were some kids in Cassie's class that just ran right off the end of the board without a care. For some reason, Cassie has always hated water in her face...even in the bath tub.

Cassie floating in the water while playing with a couple of blow-up rings. She really liked the rings. I have no idea what they were for because they were not used during Cassie's class.

Cassie floating in the water while playing with a couple of blow-up rings. She really liked the rings. I have no idea what they were for because they were not used during Cassie's class.

Cassie laying back to look up at the sky. It took a while before she would do it without any help.

Erin and Cassie during one of Cassie's swimming lessons. Erin had a fun time swimming with us during lessons.

Cassidy with her swimming coach Kaci Strand. Kaci let Cassie and I stay an extra half hour after each lesson to swim alone together. It was fun.

Here is the newest addition. I love him! This is the best picture I have of him. I have not gotten a lot of time to take picture of him. You can see in places where his light coat is giving away to a darker color.

This is the sister to my colt. He should be close to this color when he is roughly 2 to 3 years of age. He is going to be soooooo pretty!

This is a pic of the 3 young stallions and 1 gelding.

After coming into the holding yard, all the horses were moved into a large corral where we were able to sort out the 3 young stallions and 1 big gelding. After the 4 horses were sorted out of the herd we were able to push them into the barn without a problem.

Two out the four escapees who are now back in the barn safely where they all belong.

ERIN'S STAY

My cousin Erin from West Fargo stayed with us for close to two weeks. While she was here I taught her how to ride horses all by herself, we went swimming at the local swimming pool, picked chicken eggs, and we hung out at Bob's horse barn A LOT. Erin also helped me out by keeping the girls occupied while I finished up some of my college classes and also helped me during shopping trips. We had a great time while she was here and I hope she can make it up again sometime.

I also took my two mares to Bob's to be bred to his buckskin stallion last week. The mares are still at the horse barn. One does not seem to be coming into heat as we were hoping and the other one doesn't seem to be coming out of heat any time soon. For sure, we will have at least 1 foal this summer. It normally takes 11 months and 11 days for a mare to foal so I do not expect any babies until mid July, which is late for foals. I keep praying that the other horse comes in soon so that we will have 2 foals, but I will take 1 anyway.

Cassidy, Erin, and Jessie. All three of them had a good time together. Cassie keeps asking when Erin is coming "home" again.

The girls loved to be pulled around the floor while sitting in a bed sheet. Poor Erin drug them around for hours.

Erin tried hard every day the first week she was here to pet this foal in Bob's barn. It took a little while, but after a few days the foal did walk up to her and Erin was able to pet it. I love the suprised look onErin's face. She couldn't believe the foal actually let Erin touch her either.

I took this pic as Erin and Luna were in the shade of a big tree taking a break from walking circles in the yard. I really like it.

Erin riding my sorrel mare Luna all by herself.

12-HOUR-OLD MOOSE

The person who took these pictures writes........................


"In my 33 years in Alaska I have never seen a new born baby moose. This one was not even a half a mile from our house. The mother picked a small quiet neighborhood and had her baby in the front yard at 5:30 am. Allen and I were out bike riding when we came upon the pair. The lady across the street from this house told us she saw it being born. We saw them at 5:30 pm. So the little one was 12 hours old. What an awesome place we live in to see such a sight. "

GOOD NEWS

Mike was able to reach my sister last night before the cell phone signals became jammed. Lynnette was at the gym and had no clue as to what Mike was talking about when he told her the I-35W bridge collapsed. After talking to my brother Lynnette left the gym, went home, and called my mom. She was not able to speak long because her phone was ringing like crazy and the hospital called her back to work. She did not have to do any cytotech stuff, but they wanted her on hand for references and information if they needed it. I have not spoken to her today, I don't even know if my mother has, but I am sure that she was a VERY busy woman for a while. Thank God that she is alright and she was not I-35 when the bridge fell.

LYNNETTE, CALL US IMMEDIATELY!!

Interstate 35 W in Minneapolis collapsed falling into the river this evening at rush hour. We have been trying to get a hold of Lynnette since we saw the news report on the new channels, but we have not been able to reach her. I am not sure if she takes 35 W home from Mercy Hospital in St. Paul, but we are very concerned. My mom called and left a voice mail on Lynnette's cell phone but it was really scratchy. I am hoping that she got the message and is okay. Lynnette, if you are reading this please call us and let us know that you are okay. We are worried that you may be hurt.