October 22, 2017 Sunday#cutelittleoliveplants#TheLodge#Horseshow#winterinGreatFalls

Get Faith
Psalm 128:1-3  "Blessed is every one who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways,  When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.  Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house, your children like olive plants all around your table."  Sorry but this arouses funny thoughts in my head.  I pictured a table of greenery people sitting around a dining room table with little olive plant children and they were eating things from the garden which in this case seems like cannibalism - but they are all very happy!  You are what you eat!  Joy to the world!  And, we are blessed!

On this day
I was still working for Quality a couple days a week to pay for our health care.  On this day I worked at one of the Frames and Framing Stores which were retail outlets, one in West Bloomfield and the other in Birmingham.  Not sure which one.  I did really enjoy working those stores.  When I got home Mark had made dinner and Marty and Dave  came over to eat. (Not surprising - Mark was a great cook) Ty stopped by later.  It was why my house was referred to as the Lodge.  I guess it kinda still is.

1883 - The New York Horse show opened. The first national horse show was formed by the newly organized National Horse Show Association of America. This must have been after the ban about any kind of gambling or horse shows from an earlier year.

Great Falls Montana

Great Falls in the winter. The Missouri river and Flag Hill are pictured leftmost with the downtown area to the right.

Enjoy the day!  Make it memorable!  Happy Birthday to Katie M!

October 21, 2017 Saturday#pilatesistake#hatchetburyingtoday#practicefun#Mermaids!

Get Fit
Oh my gosh, I forgot it was Saturday and I should do my AM yoga!  I did Pilates instead.  I hate when I step outside the box. I did enjoy the Pilates though.  What did you do?

Get Faith
Proverbs 100:12  "Hatred stirs old quarrels, but love overlooks insults."  Do you keep an old hatred going?  It is something that takes energy and thought.  You must be careful not to run into that person at places you might want to go like, family functions, etc.  If your paths cross at a social event you might be forced to speak with that person to save face or look like a horrible person and snubbing them.  Love does heal all if you can find a way to bury the hatchet.  I'm still digging a hole for the hatchet.

On this day
1989  Nicole and I had a busy day. First we went to Merri's volleyball game and then to Sean's birthday party at McDonald's.  Nicole grew up with cousins activities and a large social group of friends and their kids.  For a lot of her young life she thought they were all family.  I believe it is why she has great social skills in all situations.  Practice!

1797 - "Old Ironsides," the U.S. Navy frigate Constitution, was launched in Boston's harbor.  Wasn't there an old TV show about this?  c'mon!

Great Falls Montana
Arts and culture[edit]

Gibson Park

Mermaids swimming in the pool of the Sip 'n' Dip lounge in Great Falls
Great Falls has a symphony orchestra, founded in 1959, which generally offers multiple concert series throughout the year, also sponsoring a Youth Orchestra, the Cascade String Quartet, the Chinook Winds Quintet, other chamber ensembles and an educational outreach program. Well-known performers brought in to perform with Great Falls Symphony have included Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Midori, Joshua Bell, James Galway, Christopher Parkening and Evelyn Glennie.[51]


The community also is notable for the unique Sip 'n Dip Lounge, a tiki bar located downtown in the O'Haire Motor Inn. Built in 1962, it features an indoor swimming pool visible through a window in the bar where women dressed as "mermaids" swim underwater. In 2003, GQ Magazine rated the lounge as one of the top 10 bars in the world,[52] and the #1 bar in the world "worth flying for".[53] With the added feature of an octogenarian piano player named "Piano Pat," noted for her "unusual covers" of songs by Frank Sinatra and other performers of the 1960s, Frommer's travel guide calls it "one of the kitschiest, wackiest, and flat-out coolest nightspots, not just in Montana, but in the entire West."[54]

This is our destination tonight!!!!!

Enjoy the day!  Make it memorable!  Happy Birthday to Linda Z and Millie!!

October 20, 2017 Friday #Workout!#forgive#LSCORA#NOLA#819thRedHorse!

Get Fit
Been working out the legs and arms with weights this week and today the Pilates ring.  Squats with a resistance band around the legs gives an extra push.  Cmon! You know you feel better when you work out regularly!

Get Faith
Matthew 6:12  "Our Father.... forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."  This is so hard.  I have been carrying a grudge on someone for almost 40 years and it haunts me, now it has been compounded and I let it really upset me.  My thoughts toward them are so angry and I need to resolve it.  I can say I forgive but it keeps popping back up and reminding me that I haven't yet forgiven them.  Do you have something in your life that is dragging you down? That you can't get rid of?  Let's pray.

On this day
1988  I worked at Quality Picture Frame Company on this day, Chris was in Las Vegas.  I checked orders to see if everything was progressing.  There is nothing worse than a customer coming in to pick up a beloved family heirloom and having it not be finished.  Family pictures are treasures.  When I left the shop it says I stopped at some customers, mostly photo studios, HA Powell, Leo Knight and at Somerset Mall.  I enjoyed the camaraderie with the people we provided framing for.  When I got home I went for a walk around the block with Nicole, now 3 years old, she was probably on some type of riding tricycle or something.  I stopped to see Rose next door and she talked Nicole into staying for dinner with her boys - Josh and David.  I went home grabbed some dinner and mailed out voting ballots for Lake St Clair Offshore Racing Assn.  Because I was the newsletter editor and had the mailing info I also got this job.  I was also on the phone with a lot of club members that night.  I have always been an overly busy person.

1803 - The U.S. Senate approved the Louisiana Purchase. Good new we got New Orleans!!!

Great Falls Montana

Military[edit]

Great Falls is home to Malmstrom Air Force Base and the 341st Missile Wing. The 341st Operations Group provides the forces to launch, monitor and secure the wing's Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and missile alert facilities (MAF).

These ICBMs and MAFs are dispersed over the largest missile complex in the Western Hemisphere, an area encompassing some 23,000 sq mi (60,000 km²) (approximately the size of the state of West Virginia).

The group manages a variety of equipment, facilities, and vehicles worth more than $5 billion.

Great Falls International Airport is home to the Montana Air National Guard's 120th Airlift Wing. The 120AW is composed of C-130 Hercules (C-130H) cargo aircraft and associated support personnel.

Great Falls is also home to the 889th Army Reserve Unit.

The 819th Red Horse rapid deployment unit is also located on Malmstrom AFB  seems appropriate!

Enjoy the day!  Make it memorable!  Happy Birthday to Aaron G!

October 19, 2017 Thursday #Lutheranism101 #Nicolethenapper#TheDow^#Census

Get Faith
Bible study at church on Lutheranism 101.  He selected the book that the Missouri Synod printed on this teaching so we have a lot of interesting conversations.  Myself, having been raised in the Missouri Synod church and made the decision to move to the ELCA Lutheran church has mixed understanding of this book.  I know what I was taught in confirmation class and what I had in my head from that - but I also have issues with their interpretation of the Bible.  Today's study was on (but not only) women in the church.  I  found it very enlightening.

On this day
1987 -- I found today's memory funny.  It said I was babysitting Josh and David from next door.  I would have also had my two year old, Nicole.  So, after lunch I took David to school for kindergarten and when I got back Josh took a nap.  It doesn't say that Nicole took a nap because she never, hardly ever took a nap  -- then.  Now she can take a nap 15 minutes after getting out of bed in the morning. Go figure!

1987 - The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 508 points. It was the worst one-day percentage decline, 22.6%, in history.    Surprisingly enough, Ronald Reagan was President.

Great Falls Montana
2010 census[edit]

As of the census^[2] of 2010, there were 58,505 people, 25,301 households, and 15,135 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,684.9 inhabitants per square mile (1,036.6/km²). There were 26,854 housing units at an average density of 1,232.4 per square mile (475.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 88.5% Caucasian, 1.1% African American, 5.0% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.6% from other races, and 3.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.4% of the population.

There were 25,301 households of which 28.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.6% were married couples living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 40.2% were non-families. 33.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.88.

The median age in the city was 39 years. 22.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.5% were from 25 to 44; 26.5% were from 45 to 64; and 16.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.9% male and 51.1% female.  Interesting!

Enjoy the day!  Make it memorable!  Happy Birthday John B 

October 18, 2017 Wednesday #nomoreRita#dountoothers#boyscoutsandhalloween#Greatfallstectoniczone!

Get Fit
Spent my last morning with Rita.  No more salsa, rhumba, cha cha. The VCR ate this tape too.  Of the twenty of so I had I believe I only have  2 left. I am forced to find more CD workouts or change my schedule to what is on tv and when.  It can't be - "oh well" I quit!

Get Faith
Matthew 25:40  "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers (or sisters) of mine, you did for me."  The study writer related a story of driving a boy that was at a restaurant she went to, to a place 20 miles away.  Even though she didn't know him.  I had a similar experience with a young man, on a freezing cold night that came to my front door.  I'm sure Nicole remembers the occasion.  Part of your brain is saying "noooooo you don't know this kid" and the other part is remembering this verse.  It is a hard call.  We did take him home, quite a distance.  There are many ways to reach out to others, find one, you won't be sorry.

On this day
1986  My kids were little - one and eight so Halloween would have been big decorating fun and excitement.  We were also doing a play in the garage - Sleepy Hollow, with about 15 neighborhood kids.  There was a lot of activity, plus, Mark had taken Marty to the hospital at 5AM with kidney stones.  That meant I had to drive Aaron out to his boy scout meeting in New Baltimore.  I think Nicole and I hung out up there till he was done and we went home to rehearse.  Another great memory of this time was my brother Mark did the music for the play. (video available)

1469 - Ferdinand of Aragon married Isabella of Castile. The marriage united all the dominions of Spain. And now they have separated.

Great Falls Montana

Geography[edit]

Map of Montana showing Glacial Lake Great Falls.

Great Falls is located near several waterfalls on the Missouri River. It lies near the center of Montana on the northern Great Plains. It lies next to the Rocky Mountain Front and is about 100 miles (160 km) south of the Canada–US border.

The city of Great Falls lies atop the Great Falls Tectonic Zone, an intracontinental shear zone between two geologic provinces of basement rock of the Archean period which form part of the North American continent.^[34] The city lies at the southern reach of the Laurentide ice sheet, a vast glacial sheet of ice which covered much of North America during the last glacial period. Approximately 1.5 million years ago, the Missouri River flowed northward into a terminal lake.^[35][36] The Laurentide ice sheet pushed the river southward.^[35][37] Between 15,000 BCE and 11,000 BCE, the Laurentide ice sheet blocked the Missouri River and created Glacial Lake Great Falls.^[9][37][38] About 13,000 BCE, as the glacier retreated, Glacial Lake Great Falls emptied catastrophically in a glacial lake outburst flood.^[9] The current course of the Missouri River essentially marks the southern boundary of the Laurentide ice sheet.^[39] The Missouri River flowed eastward around the glacial mass, settling into its present course.^[35] As the ice retreated, meltwater from Glacial Lake Great Falls poured through the Highwood Mountains and eroded the mile-long, 500-foot-deep (150 m) Shonkin Sag—one of the most famous prehistoric meltwater channels in the world.^[40]

Great Falls is also situated on a fall line unconformity in the Great Falls Tectonic Zone,^[41] as well as atop the Kootenai Formation, a mostly nonmarine sandstone laid down by rivers, glaciers, and lakes in the past.^{[42][43]  Makes me want to go take a look for real!}

^{Enjoy the day!  Make it memorable!  Happy Birthday John!}

October 17, 2017 Tuesday#Jillian#Jesusmyhero#canIholdthebaby?#exposedanddeserted#stackfailure!

Get Fit

Jillian came in today and did some circuit training with me.  Ok, well she was on the CD, but still.  I did the warm up, which is intense and then the weight workout and then she goes back to another aerobic set.  It depends on the day how much I can last for.

Get Faith

Matthew 16:24  "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."  This is from first Gospel book of the New Testament.  The words are from Jesus himself.  People of this day and age do not want to hear about denying themselves anything.  Because "things" mean so much to us.  It is a statement to wake us up to living a better, whole life of following what Jesus told us so that we can have a life of comfort, compassion and joy in the faith.  Believers are happier, they just said so on the TV Today show.  Following Jesus would solve all the problems in this world - love instead of hate, caring for the poor, giving up love of power so we could get rid of war.  Sharing our resources with everyone in the world to make it a better place for everyone.  I can only pray.

On this day

1985  The girls, Merri and Lindsey must have had the day off school.  Andy had a doctor appointment and brought the girls over while he was gone.  Of course they loved being here with their new cousin Nicole, who was only 5 months old.  These days when I see them with Lindsey's new baby - Hudson, it reminds me of how excited they were to hold Nicole and play with her and how nervous I would get because she was so little.  She survived and so will Hudson. 

1739 - Thomas Coram was granted a Royal Charter from George II so a "hospital for the maintenance and education of exposed and deserted young children" in London, England. Now that guy knew the meaning of the above verse.

Great Falls Montana

Now this sounds like it would have been a great thing to watch!

Great Falls quickly became a thriving industrial and supply center. In 1894, naturalist Vernon Bailey passed through and described Great Falls as "a very good town, appears prosperous and booming & I should judge contains 15000 inhabitants."^[33] By the early 1900s, Great Falls was en route to becoming one of Montana's largest cities. The rustic studio of famed Western artist Charles Marion Russell was a popular attraction, as were the famed "Great Falls of the Missouri", after which the city was named. A structure billed as the "world's tallest smokestack" was completed in 1908 by the city's largest employer, the Anaconda Copper Mining Company's smelter, measuring 508 feet (155 m) tall. The Big Stack immediately became a landmark for the community. The Big Stack's 'sister' stack in Anaconda was suffering from cracking and it was decided to remove the support bands from the upper half of the Big Stack and send them to Anaconda. This action proved to be the Big Stack's ultimate demise since the cracks it suffered from rapidly worsened. Citing public safety concerns due to the stack's continual deterioration of its structural integrity it was slated for demolition on September 18, 1982. In an interesting twist of fate the demolition crew failed to accomplish the task on the first try; the two worst cracks in the stack ran from just above ground level to nearly 300 feet up. As the 600 lbs of explosives were set off (which was to create a wedge in the base so it would fall almost vertically into a large trench for the rubble) the cracks 'completed themselves' all the way to the ground—effectively severing the stack into two-thirds and one-third pieces. Much to the delight of the spectating community, the smaller of the two pieces remained standing, but the failed demolition only solidified the safety issue whereas the community cited the event as the stack's defiance. The demolition team who had planted the charges was recalled and several hours later they returned and finished the demolition, after packing another 400 lbs of explosives into the smaller wedge.

Enjoy the day!  Make it memorable!  Happy Birthday Ruth

October 16, 2017 Monday #standupnogrunt#ShineJesusShine#Shewasfine!#Yale#Dam!

Get Fit
I am noticing that I already use my arm strength to stand up from a chair and remember someone saying the sooner you do that the faster you age.  I don't always, but I am conscious of it happening. Today I got the 5lb weights and worked out the arms and legs.  The legs so I can stand up without  holding on and the arms so that if I do need to pull myself up I will be able to.  I just don't want to  be stuck in that chair!  You get up too!!  Oh,  and you can grunt if you want to standing up but it only alerts others to your dilemma!

Get Faith
Luke 11:354-36  "Watch out that the light in you is not darkness.  If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays."  Can you imagine what being in the dark or being full of darkness means?  It sounds sad and lonely, ill and motionless.  When you feel dark it is usually accompanied by depression.  Jesus is the light in the darkness.  I feel like if I don't know Jesus I am full of dark thoughts and sadness.  "So let your light shine in the darkness."  Shine Jesus shine!

On this day
1984  Five days before I had been in the hospital with a collapsed lung.  I was pregnant with Nicole and had quit smoking.  You would think I should have been better, but no.  Although I had been in and had a chest tube for 24 hours with no meds, the only thing that mattered was how the baby was.  On this day I went to the baby doctor - Dr. Damian and he said all was fine.  It was the only thing that mattered.  I see in my journal that the family rallied around me as usual.  Thank God for family!

1701 - The Collegiate School was founded in Killingworth, CT. The school moved to New Haven in 1745 and changed its name to Yale College

  Old school so to speak.

Great Falls Montana

Black Eagle Dam was built in 1890, and by 1912 Rainbow Dam and Volta Dam (now Ryan Dam) were all operating.

 Black Eagle Dam
Yep Rainbow Dam
 Volta or Ryan dam

Enjoy the day!  Make it memorable!