where have you been???

Im sure thats what all of you have been thinking. Sorry I havent been blogging. I have been extremely busy with Rhy and DC. We're swimming, reading lots of books, crafting, trying to stay on top of my homeschool curriculum, etc , etc. Since you last heard of me I have been attending School District Training for the 2008 -2009 school year, organizing my soccer team (yes Im the coach of the Turney Silvers U6 team), organizing the preschool board member files for 08-09 year, taking three showers a day (sooo tiresome), visiting with my hubby (he returned on weds, July23rd), and more - more - more.So I have pulled together a resume for the university temporary pool, the substitute teaching, medical technician (B.S. req.), and a few other places. My only problem: what to do with the little one! I may have to place her in a different school (allday preK prgm) at which time I will have to resign my position as school board president. boohoo! Considering I really like the teacher and the kids we've come to know.Im taking three showers a day because, once when I wake, then another after swim, then another after my exercise class. Boy Im ready to rub my skin off!So DC is off to another fire in Wyoming tomorrow! We had him for seven days and while eating dinner - the phone rang. Without picking up the phone, we looked at each other instantly knowing what it meant. Yep! We had to finish our evening out and rush home to pack his fire bags! Boo hoo! We pray for his safe return from Wyoming.On a side note my auntie N lost her husband last week. May the Lord bless her heart to heal quickly. I know she'll need time but I want to say NAna I love you and we will be here for you.Please try to be patient with Auntie GP, she means well, and the two of you need to get along better. Please.In the midst of this all I have turned 31 years old. Yuck! On a brighter side my nephew MTG has turned 11years old. Yea! M. Happy Birthday kid. I love you and wish only the best for you. I will make you a card and send it out when I buy a stamp. Dont hold your breathe. LOLFYI my cousin L, in Texas, I still have your Christmas present and Easter gift from '06 and '08. I'll get that to you just as soon as I can find my old address book. :o) Love you all and wish you many blessings. Life is short and make the most of everyday.

Basin Complex Fire Blew up!

DC said alot of the crew members are getting sick from poison oak.

Poor guys! They cant wait to get home. We keep praying DC stays safe and healthy.

Recently I found a blospot called "wildland firefighters' wives" and I love it.

I have a connection with these women. They feel and experience all the same things

I go through with FF hubbies. Its piece of mind reading these ladies blog entries.

Sometimes they make me laugh and sometimes they make me cry. Drop in on the site to the left and give it a read. You'll get a better idea of what my everyday is like. seriously I could have written all the entries myself. :-)

SUNDAY - Day 14 has arrived - thank heaven.

More Pictures from DC's samsung.

I love that we can get photos from him while on assignment.

Makes us feel better, just like were there with him.

Helps us with missing him - we dont get as sad. We get homesick for DC something fierce!

We didnt hear from DC for two days - getting worried -

he finally called yesterday evening, whew!

He said that the past weeks nightshifts have been uneventful.

Then the firestorm blew in!! These are some pictures he sent via Verizon airways. Enjoy!

random pictures of Basin Complex Fire

Dozers, a hotshots best friend!!

Picture of the hotshots on the fire line. Clearing to prevent

flames from jumping up the slope.

Crews lined up on Hwy 1

Platte Canyon Fire Crew from CO doing mop up.

Update on Basin Complex Fire

Map as of July 16th. Two fires combines and continues to burn.

I think this is the biggest fire DC has been assigned to. His 14the day is coming up, which means he will have two days of mandatory rest. But the fire is only 65% contained. There are approx. 15 Hotshot crews from AZ and NM on this fire. I dont think any of them will travel home for their R&R. I have a feeling he'll stay in Cali and be placed back at the Basin Fire. boo hoo!

Which means he'll be out there for another 2 weeks following R&R.

Dont know if I mentioned DC moved to the Basin Complex Fire in Cali.

This is a map of the fire on July 6th. Red indicates what has burned.

DC and his crew with their buggies, an engine, and the excursion.

DC is lucky he doesnt have to travel in the buggies. He gets to lounge in the excursion.

What a buzzard! Hard work my foot! j/k

Rhyan and Mommy!

A current picture of me and my little girl.

She was very insistent on holding those silk flowers.

Babysitter needed!!!

Sometimes I forget she's still a little munchkin. I see her as a big girl that can make it on her own. She doesnt need me to feed her with a spoon, she doesnt need my help going potty or wiping her bottom. She dresses herself, takes her own showers, etc etc.

With this as her daily routine - I have more free time. But I forget shes still my little four yr old baby. Im always reminded when she rambling nonsense in the back seat of the jeep. She will sing crazy songs, cry when I discipline her too harshly, and I forget she cant keep up with mommy.

I wore this little one out today with all my errands and I did it last week too, on Monday. Poor kid, shes on the go with me all day long. Little food, only water, no treats, no games, no television, in and out of the car for hours throughout town. Its days like this I wish I had a babysitter.

I called a lady today about watching Rhy but no reply. Guess she doesnt wanna watch our lil girl.

For the past two wks Rhy has been singing "I Am A CHild of God".

(I was gonna go on about this topic but its 10:38pm and she needs to get to bed. She went to bed at 12am last night and I woke her up at 8:30am this morning. No nap all day long. So I better get off the computer, brush her teeth and put her to bed. By the way. We left the house today at 10:30am for Preschool rdg time at the library , ran errands, watched a matinee, made appts, grocery shopped, and made it home at 9:15pm. Ate dinner at 9:30pm. Too much for this little kid. Nothing for mommy. But this is what happens when DC is out of town. ) talk with you all later!!!!

Demobbed and Sightseeing???Hey Buddy get to the next FIRE!!! j/k

Taking in the fresh Pacific Coast air at Pismo Beach. (Hope I spelled it right?)
Rhyan has been anticipating her trip to the West Coast
and the Pacific Ocean. Too bad daddies there without
her. The kid bugs us constantly for a drive to the
Beach. She cant wait to make sandcastles
and pick up sea shells.

DC sent Rhy a text and said this lil crab princess told him

tell his little Princess she says, "HELLO from the Pacific Coast".

Too adorabl!!!

Los Padres Nat'l Forest still burns But DC has moved on...

Check out DC - is he posing? Hey mister where's your

modesty?! LOL

Pretty neat - all these pictures were taken with

his little samsung phone.

So as DC and his crew packed up for a long day on the mtn. They were notified of a reassignment. So off they went after the long paper work of "demobbing" 'em to the East Basin Complex. Havent done my homework so I havent the clue?

So here are a few pictures from yesterdays events on the mtn.

Day Three of GAP FIRE Assignment

I think I already posted this one but if not this is

from Yesterday when the fire was running up the slope.

Crazy how fire works. It has a mind of its own.

Lunch Break for the crew. At first I thought, Gee whata easy job.

All they do is sit around! Only Picking on you hunny.

Im sure this is time well spent.

When DC sent me this pic. the subject line read: HOTSHOT COUNTRY CONT. BRUSH.

Pretty outrageous. Does that look like a flame in the background??

Can you see the Fire line that the crew dug on top the ridge.
To the left of the fireline on the left slope you can see
the red retardant dropped by the aircraft.

See the Hotshot behind the tree.

Because the fire can run up the slope, a preventative

measure taken was to dig this line.

The goal of the fireline is preventing the fire from going any further than the ridge.

Hopefully the line will create a burnout. If not, the fire would continue

down the ridge and into the canyon and make another run.

I havent checked the inciweb site (www.inciweb.org) in awhile.

I dont what % contained the fire is. Usually when the fire is at 90% contained -

a type 2 Incident Command Team will take over.

The type 1 IC Teams (currently working the Gap Fire) as well as the Hotshots

are all reserved for extreme fires and initial attack (IA). Initial attack means just that - they

are on scene first and get the fire under control. As soon as containment reaches 80 to 90%

and the threat of the fire blowing up is minimal - the fire assignment gets handed over to

a Type 2 or Type 3 IC Team for Clean-up. So when that happens, DC either gets reassigned to

another crucial fire or is sent home. Very rare but sometimes they clean up and go sit (Staged) in

an area where summer thunderstorms are expected. And they wait. Wait for a fire call.

Usually Lighting fires in the high mtns. Hope you learned someting today.

Its fun being able to tell someone everything Ive picked up from my hubby and the internet.

So NOW, maybe no one will have to ask what DC does for a living.

I'll just refer 'em to my blogspot.

Last Picture! burn in THAT area a success

So the crew successfully burned out that fire but remember that doesnt mean the GAP Fire is extinguished. This only shows a small portion of the larger fire that they stopped from running away and making a new fire. So the main body of the Gap Fire in the Los Padres Nat'l Forest could still be burning very hot. Pretty neat to find out how all this works. Now I have educated you all on a few points of wildland firefighting. Lets join the Hotshots! Good money but a dirty job. Come on ladies... Imagine how many Jimmy Choo's you could buy with one fire paycheck - or Coach handbags. Spark your interest, uh huh?!?!?!

Gap Fire Santa Barbara, CA 2008

As you can see in some of the early evg pictures - in the foreground there's a cleared area. This is a dozer line (fireline made by tractor). Very bottom picture is the fire making its way toward the line. [third from top] the fire at its peak and closest to the crew. The next post is the last picture taken 7 minutes after and you can see the fire burns out.

More pix from Gap Fire - Santa Barbara, CA

The crew is positioned in the path of the fire. Soon the fire will creep over the mtn. The crew is digging a fireline and

back burning. The goal is to reduce the amt of fuel (brush) in the path of the fire so the fire has no fuel to continue to burn.

You all may already know this but those of you (like myself) that dont - I am trying to explain in layman terms. A back burn is when you use fire to combat fire. The crew used drip torches (exactly what it means - fire drips from a gasoline container) to set little ground fires to burn in the direction of the oncoming fire. Meanwhile they will usually use tractors and such to dig a fireline. A fireline is a path dug by hand with shovels (4 feet wide) or tractor (roads width). It exposes dirt and rids the area of fuel (brush, weeds, trees- anything that'll burn). Cool huh? took me two yrs to finally understand all this info.

Gap Fire Assignment 2008 Santa Barbara CA

Plane dropping fire retardant from the air.

Hi all I thought it would be neat to post something about DC and what my everyday life is like during the hot summer months. For the past four or five yrs this is what has occupied our lives during fire season. DC can be out on assignment for up to 14 days, in which he has to take 2 days of mandatory rest. Sometimes they get to come home for those two days - sometimes they rest near the fire in a motel. After the two rest days are up they go back on assignment for another 14 days. This happened to us last year. That was real difficult! DC was away from home for one month fighting wildland fires. I dont know how the wives and companions of those overseas handle the absence of their loved ones. My hubby is still here in the U.S. but the second round of 14 days out Im a wreck and crying my self to sleep. I think the hardest was when DC was posted on a Mtn top in California or Southern AZ - His phone died/no reception (one of the two). I didnt hear from him for 3 days. I nearly had a cow. Then finally he used a satellite phone and called. What a relief. So with that mistake behind us - we make sure we have battery powered phone chargers now. We have atleast four. One in each car and one for each of his firepacks.





So here are a few pictures he sent to me via cellphone on the fireline in Santa Barbara. Pretty neat huh? I didnt know I could fwd the pix from my cell to my email address. Dont know how much the phone bill will be but Im sure its worth it. Especially to see the look on his face when he finds out I have posted him and his info on my blog!! Love you hunny.





Enjoy the pictures guys.

Dispatched to Southern Cali Fire

So DC received a resource order for Redding, California. We raced home from Whitecone, Arizona to visit with him before he departed for a minimum of 2 wks. I was so tired from the weekend activities - It took me fourhrs to drive something that usually takes 2 hours. Reason: I kept falling asleep. Beaten' up from the sun and no A/C house on the reservation I had to drive home and kept driving off the road. I stopped atleast twice to sleep. First time I slept 45minutes and the next an hour. Last leg of trip is 92miles and takes an hour and 15 to drive. I left the fuel station at 10pm and arrived in the garage of our home at 12:45am. Boy was I happy to turn the vehicle off and climb out. I dragged my feet to the bathroom to wash up for bed. And crawled into bed at 1am. Didnt wake til 11am on Sunday. But for a few minutes earlier to say our goodbyes to DC and run thru the shower. Then I crawled back into bed - only to be told to get up by Rhyan.

Later in the day DC called from Kingman, Arizona notifying us of their reassignment to Southern, California. Structures are threatened and four other Type 1 Crews were on route to Somewhere in S. Cali. I will post later when I find out more info. We pray he stays safe and free from harm. May the Lord bless you all.

Moonlight Fire 2007 (Northern California)

Catching the plane from ABQ and Redding, CA for Firefighters up to Moonlight Fire.

Dont play with matches kids!

This is a picture of DC on Fire Assignment in Northern California last summer. Looks like grueling work doesnt it? Can you believe he actually loves to do this. No joke. He absolutely loves to rough it in nature. When we first met I jokingly would refer to him as Grizzly Adams! hahahahah

Its hard work being a Hotshot and hes so happy he completed his task book and officially is an IC Type 5 "Man of Fire" and promoted from squad boss to crew boss. Yea! daddy. See all that terrain in the background that has burned. Now we're working on task books for Incident Commander Type 4. In addition to wildland firefighting he also has his desk duties as a Natural Resource Specialist. Works 16 + hr days and then comes home gives Rhy a bath, reads to her and brushes her teeth. Thanks hunny for all you do. Love you lots!

Not much of an improvement but I feel better.

The picture is fuzzy because I had to run back to the chair before the timer clicked. I know - Im an idiot. But it only holds for two seconds. So you see my own hack job. Not bad right? Well considering I had overprocessed hair an super orange tips with major frizz - its better considering the alternative. My hair was unhealthy to begin with - colored to cover my white hairs. Then endured 3 weeks of chlorinated water in swim lessons - dried my tips feircely. Then tried to cover white again - chlorine washed out all of my previous $3.00 bottle job. After second bottle job my hair was wrecked - I MEAN SUPER NASTY! So disgusted with my hair and no funds to go to the salon. I did it myself. Not bad. By the way by the time you read this post I have again chopped more of my locks. Yes! I know. Quit before I have no more but I needed to cut shorter layers for that just right bounce. LOL! I will post another pix with the most recent cut.

So the office looks better now. First because now we have more space in the office. More space for a couch. Hint Hint hunny! Considering we spend most of our time in the office. really. It like our family room. We have the TV, the computer, my crafts, and Rhy's activity table. We're in there all the time. If DC's on the computer (which is all the time), Rhy and I levitate toward him. Just to be together. Awh! I know. You're all probably saying. Ugh! Too much time together. But we like being together. Well come to think of it - maybe thats why I HAVE to get out and spend time with myself. uh huh.

So now that the folding table is out and replaced with my lovely honey stained craft table. Lets not forget that aweful eyesore of a shelf on top of the table...to a nicely modified, honey stained open shelf - ON THE WALL. Life in the little 12'x14' room is a pleasant again. Clutter greatly reduced! Did you all see that we stained Rhy's little table too! adorable dont ya think. She wasnt happy 'bout it but came to terms when I told her, "no stain, no table". Good mommy. I know Im horrible. I also stained the remaining wood for a miniature TV stand for the 20" screen. So the entire decor coordinates well.

Who needs hair stylists?

Look guys! I cut my hair. I actually cut my own hair and Im excited about it.

Well I could never find anyone here in smalltown, NM to do it right. They always give me a terrible hack job and I cry and cry till I find a way to make it look descent again. So I took matters into my own hands. My hair looks fabulous. Well? descent. First I trimmed the length and then styled - figured what needed to be fixed and rewet. I then layered what needed and whallah! Styled again. Mah velous. I figured cant be any worse than what someone here would do and I paid all of - NOTHING! best part. Im sure you all do this - maybe all the time. But this was a first especially to a short length.