Proprieties

Every day we are faced with proprieties and what we choose can affect not only our lives but others as well. Recently I was faced with a decision whether to go to a specialized gun class or church. The class leader was telling me about the class and it sounded mildly interesting but it was being held on a Sunday morning. I pointed this out and told him that I wasn’t interested on attending during a Sunday morning because of church. His reply was something to the effect as too which is more important going to church or missing one Sunday to experience the opportunity to shoot a bunch of different guns. I decided right then that I would not be going to the class – however I really wished I had said what I was thinking at the time. I was thinking that without God on my side it really would not matter how many guns I have fired. I have to say that he was very insisting that I needed to take this class to find a gun that fits my hand. Now this guy did not know that the officer that had just helped me learn to slight the gun had stated that the gun was a good fit for me. (For a good double-action pull, your finger should engage the trigger at the first joint, not on the tip.) So I came away from the conversation feeling like the man was just trying to fill his class and earn another $50  – which is not a good feeling after attending the first regular meeting. To join this club I was told I would need to pay $50 to the national membership and another $5 per month to attend the local meetings.

Today I had to decide if I was going to go to the regular gun club meeting which would mean engaging in another conversation with this person or shopping for garden supplies. The topic of today meeting was self-defense when you do not have your gun so it was a fairly easy decision to skip this meeting (I have a green belt in Martial Arts). After talking it over with both Bill and a friend I have decided to look for another gun training class/club. I also found out that an old friend is opening an indoor firing range just outside of town in May which will be a far safer place to shoot then were we shot in January.

In the meantime I will be practicing on how to develop a smooth double action pull since I still seem to pull to the left when I shoot. This usually means I increase the grip pressure while shot breaks, bending my wrist to the left or I relax my elbow while the shot breaks.

This is the dry-fire technique which I will be practicing at home to help correct this problem. First, I will make sure that the firearm is completely unloaded. I reload with safe-T  caps to protect the gun while dry firing. Put the ammunition aside. Then, grip the firearm in the usual manner. Take a firm, but not overly tight grip. If your knuckles are white, you are gripping too hard. Hold the gun level at about waist height. Place an empty cartridge case on the top strap of a revolver or on the top of the slide of a semi-auto. Now, pull the trigger through in one motion without causing the cartridge case to fall off the gun. After you can reliably do this, try two shots in succession, then three, etc. Practicing in this manner will help you remove any trace of jerkiness from your trigger pull. Doing this exercise for 15 minutes twice a day will shrink the size of your groups on the range and eventually increase your speed at double action firing.

One thing I truly believe is a quote from the following book. “We are individually responsible for our own survival and well-being.”
Personal Defense for Women

The next major decision today was pricing and designing the vertical trellis for the gardens.After dragging Bill from one end of Home Depot to the other and back again (a few times) I finally decided on a design that should work at less than half the original cost. I will return later this week with the truck to buy the supplies for the first trellis. Building these trellis are the next most important thing I need to get done after building the grids.Of course we did not leave the store empty-handed as I brought some bird netting and lawn staples. The netting will be placed over the beds after the trellis are in place. Last year I could not find the netting anywhere when I needed it so this year it will be in the garage waiting for me to use it.

Next we drove to Big Lots to check out their “greenhouse” that they had on sale and to get water. I passed on this greenhouse before heading to Wal-Mart. This was a quick trip to pick up the groceries and the last of the seeds and bulb sets that I need for this month’s planting.

I planned on just relaxing the rest of the evening since it was after five but the garden was calling so I cut the boards for the next grid. Bill helped me glue and screw it together after he finished working on the lawn mower. I managed to get it half painted before it became to dark to paint the other side. This grid is painted red. Bill asked me why I never painted it green and I told him that last year I numbered the beds 1 though 10 but I really could not remember which bed was number one. I plan on painting each grid a different color so that the beds will be named by the color of the grid. and also it will make the garden more colorful especially in the winter. Besides if you can’t have fun in the garden design then where can you have fun!

Since I could not finish the painting of the grid I want downstairs to the gym and workout shoulders and abs.

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Today’s organization challenge is to declutter or shred paper piles.

Making Friends

Friends are wonderful to have but in this day and age making friends seems to be harder to do for a lot of people. Work, family responsibilities and life’s little problems all makes it more difficult to meet people and to even keep in touch with friends we do have.

There is an old rhyme that says “Make new friends and keep the old. Old is silver and the other is gold.” This is good advise but sometimes easier said than done because most friendships need a little nudge every once in a while.

Here are a few ways to spark a new friendship or boost an old one.

•  Carry  business or calling cards and give them out when you meet a new person. One with your photo, phone number and any business information will help the person remember you and no need to look for a scrape of paper to exchange numbers.
• Follow up the meeting with a note or email to encourage the friendship.
• Invite the person to do or go somewhere with you – a walk, out to lunch, etc
• Write down important notes about the person – their birthday, family member, pet’s name,etc. Writing things down helps you to remember and you can always do a quick review before you go the meet the person.
•  Be friendly and welcome new people when you see them in the neighborhood or church.
• Don’t limit the type and age group of potential friends.
• Schedule some things to do along with the idea that you might share the time later with a new friend.or even meet a new friend during that time. Maybe a trip to the museum  or a simple walk at the mall.
• Learn something new – take a class or join a group. The more questions you ask the more people you will meet.
• Don’t forget the spiritually connection and the people who attend the same meetings. It is a natural thing to invite these people to attend a bible study or even to go to lunch after church.
• Don’t be afraid to ask people to help you do a project. The project will get finished faster and you will get to know the person better.
• Offer to drive someone to a meeting. Riding together is a great way to learn about each other.
• Don’t be afraid to say “yes” to a new friend.
• Schedule a time to spend with friends throughout the year – a party, movie, game night, etc.
•  Use social media to keep in touch with friends. A simple “like” will let them know you cared enough to read their post! No one wants to know that you made their friend list but they don’t care enough about you to read what you have to say.

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Today’s challenge was to declutter kitchen cabinet shelves. I have the main kitchen cleaned and organized  so I took the day off and want to a meeting this afternoon.

I invited a friend to attend a TWAW Southern IN chapter which stands for The Well Armed Woman Southern Indiana chapter. I learned a lot and had a chance to shoot my gun. I have carried for almost two years but this was the first “true” lesson that I have had from a pro. The officer showed me a better stance and his suggestions improved my sighting from missing the spot to hitting the “sweet” spot with ever round. Note: don’t hold your breathe while shooting but squeeze the trigger on the exhale. The reason: less chest movement  when you exhale.

We are both looking forward to the next meeting!

 

Day for Decisions

I may a lot of decisions today over some things that I have been thinking about for a long time.

I have gotten rid of all the magazines but the Muscle and Fitness and the dog related ones. I saved those until last because deep down I just am not ready to toss them. I know what I plan on doing with the dog ones and they will soon be out of the house but the Muscle and Fitness were giving me problems. First we are not talking a few magazines – nope I have them all from 1993 to 2008. They cover the complete pool table. Now the problem is that I have started lifting again and these are what guided me when I first started years ago and the routines are still great. They are so much better than anything in Shape, Self, and Fitness. Those are the magazines I have tossed in the last month. I thought about tossing these and subscribing to the magazine again but at over $20 a year I think I will pass. These old magazines are thick and packed with lots of information and I have looked at the new issues and they do not measure up to the old ones and besides they have a great on-line website.

The decision was made to keep these for a while but where and how? I could not figure that part out until last night. I was at the end of my rope and asked God to help me decide what to do with them. I woke up with the idea of adding another level of shelves to the back corner but that meant buying another board. Little voice said go to the garage. Okay, but why? I had already gotten all the boards that were their last week. Wrong – I opened the door and there in front of me was the exact board I needed. Where was that board last week ?

This happy girl spent the afternoon painting the last four boards that needed to be finished. I have just the right amount of cement blocks to finish the new shelve. Tomorrow the basement should be done except for adding some artwork to the walls

The other decision was to join or at least to go to a few meetings of The Well Armed Women club.  I had originally applied to start a chapter in our area but that fell apart when my husband had his mini stroke. I could not find a certified  shooting area to meet at and decided to forget the whole thing. Last weekend I read where there were two chapters located near us. The paper did a poor job on reporting the story because it gave no follow-up information about joining. That meant it was time for me to do some online research!  There is a charter  called TWAW Southern Indiana Chapter that meets just north of Seymour once a month. They are having a Christmas party in December so I will wait until January before calling about the first meeting. I know when it is but I will call to see how much ammo I need to bring. Hopefully they will get two new members because I asked a friend who is learning to shoot to attend with me. Now if the weather doesn’t stop us in January we will have a safe place to shoot that is not two hours away.  Learning a few things and meeting some ladies who like to shoot sounds like a great way to start the new year.

I also made the final decision on which greenhouse I plan on building.  I will post more on that when I start building which thinks to the weather has been put off until later.

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Declutter Kid’s stuffed toys