Usually, we don't miss fireworks. Even when Brian is deployed, we go. But, this is the second year in a row that we have missed them. Last year, it was because Brian was in the hospital recovering from his horrible eye injury. This year, it's because we have a child who we send to bed earlier than most and we don't desire to have her awake and about after that bedtime because her already ridiculous behavior borders on unbearable. So. We don't go. And, M2 misses out on fireworks...just another holiday tradition we have sacrificed because of M3's presence. No one enjoys it or feels much compassion about it anymore.
There you go! The promised one-paragraph of woe and angst over daily living in the household. Now, on to other things.
Say "Hello!" to my little friend.
We purchased this firearm prior to the Iraq deployment. The plan was for us to have lots of time for target practice, etc., and maybe even a conceal and carry class.
But, alas. As most ramping up to deployments go, we ran out of time and motivation to do much of anything related to this carefully researched and planned purchase.
My family is full of individuals who have chosen a career path in law enforcement. I'm the only lawyer in the bunch. [Insert joke here]
My husband swears that target practice is a stress reliever. Something about holding a potentially deadly weapon in my hand is a little more anxiety producing for me than relaxing at this stage, but I'll take his word for it. Because I can't run right now (gallbladder less than cooperative), he offered to take me to the sportsmen's club where he is a member to go through a couple rounds of live fire target practice.
So, whatever. Okay. I'm game.
It should be noted that I am barely even a novice at firing a weapon, even my own. But, I intend to get better. First, I'm competitive, so I'd like to be able to do better than hitting a broad side of a barn when my husband and I are shooting. Second, how often in life do you actually have a chance (at nearly 40) to learn a new skill? Third, it's someting we can do together. That's always a plus.
I have to work on my stance. After posting a photo of myself to my Facebook page, my sister offered that I should imagine I'm ready to bump a volleyball. Start there and then put your arms in place. I can do that.
I will practice in the mirror because I know what I should look like, but I can't really tell that I don't look like that when I'm standing there--it's all pretty new.
My ear protection, it should be noted for the record, matched my shirt. That was not on purpose, but I did notice.
I post this photo, not because I'm doing anything particularly interesting, but because you can check out the fact that I'm wearing a pair of cropped pants that I've not worn since 2008 and, even then, they were tight.
The top I'm wearing is really blousey, so it isn't all that flattering in the photos, but I've lost about 10 pounds. That should be documented because, let's be serious, once this gallbladder thing is worked out, it will probably all come back and I'll have to be running blocks and blocks to make it go away again.
I'm very happy to report that after a few instances of not seeing my bullet go through the board (who knows where it wound up) and even more of seeing it somewhere other than in a desirable area on the target, I was able to put together a handy little shot in an area that was quite respectable.
My husband said that I "went all Charlie's Angels on it" which is, I think, high praise.
It was like hitting a golf ball far the first time and realizing that the little white ball waaaaaay out there was YOURS! Wow!
This was a matter of process of elimination. My husband's shots (of course) are on the red or near it. My other shots are too far away to even see them.
I used a handy little app on my Droid that lets me add captions to my photos that I take on my phone. So, I could point out exactly which hole had my name on it.
Good for you. I hope you do find it fun. I wish shooting felt fun to me, rather than a task that I really should become competent at JIC I someday need it. I took hunters safety a couple months ago and have not made time to do any target practice since.
Posted by: Teresa | 12 July 2011 at 07:38 PM