Sunshine on My Shoulder

Younger son's last weekend at home. Blueberry pancakes for breakfast (thanks, Mama Bear), a morning of target shooting, late pizza lunch, Barnes & Noble (thanks to Debi, we each got a new book), and now home where younger son continues room-cleaning and packing and husband and older son build shipping crates for him. The photo is from the drive home from shooting, taken with my point-and-shoot digital through the windshield (no, I was not driving). Rainbows don't usually happen at 1:30 in the afternoon, so I'm thinking this was meant for us on our special weekend. I'm thinking Mother Nature knows how this other mother is feeling about now.

In with the New

When I was growing up, we would open our presents on Christmas morning. When not in use or being played with, the opened presents would stay underneath the tree until it came down on New Year's Day. The husband didn't like this, so it never became a tradition in our family unit. The tree seems empty once there's nothing beneath it, and I often don't think about plugging in the lights. It is as if its purpose has been served and it is just, just there. It looks even emptier now that the ornaments, garlands, and lights have been removed.

Hmm?

Chinese food on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eves is another family tradition; this was my fortune from last night's dinner. Perhaps this is not the time to say that my Christmas presents included an unsuccessful attempt by the sons to purchase one of the guns sold after my dad's death. Let's just say that if I encounter the problem of having too much free time, I have several new books, fiction and crafty, and several new yarns with which to fill it. And a new gun, a near duplicate of the one that was Dad's favorite.

First Annual Mombat Birthday Shoot

Best day shooting yet. I got the sight zeroed in by myself and then discovered just how boring shooting with a bipod and a scope at 25 yards can be. Next time, I'll shoot at 50 yards. Eventually, I'd like to be able to shoot standing and holding the rifle on my own; from there, it would be nice to be able to use just the rifle's iron sight, not a scope.