Silly boys, girls hunt too

It's the second morning of open season. The biggest hunting season of all- deer hunting with a gun. I know many of you ladies don't even know exactly where your husbands are right now..."Oh, he went somewhere with so-an-so." And some husbands will come back telling stories like "I didn't see anything" again, simply because they were in a stand but so tired that they had fallen asleep. And then there are the die hards. I just observed the sun rise over the treetops this am but my husband has already been gone for hours. He is a local. He normally will head out on his own for 1-2 days then it may be off with a hunting crew KT has put together. honestly, these are the days where I feel the need to wear blaze orange even in my own home. Shots seem to fire all around our house. I barely let the yellow lab finish her duties outside for fear she may be mistaken. And the road out in front which is lucky to see 3-5 cars all day sounds like a highway at 5 am. Yesterday we made sure we left in the early am and did not return until dusk.

Jordan climbed his first tree yesterday. He sat all afternoon with Todd. They saw a pheasant. And while they did that, Andrew and I tried on a completely different pair of shoes- rollar skates. Oh, the good ol' days. Natalie Smith, if you are still out there, I wonder if you can still skate??? The splits under the limbo bar...the wind jacket that fluttered as she zoomed by on those speed skates whose wheels glowed in the dark. Andrew is an expert on those skates. It's fun to watch him.

I finally found my boots! I mean, I got my kill. After searching everywhere, I think this is it. Can't wait for the party night! I am so thankful I have had such great help this year. Some new ideas have formed and certainly great, great raffle and auction items. I have suck great friends and family.

Speaking of friends, I can't wait to show you the hunting video Kathy, Kelly, and I made. We had an extremely successful hunt that day. All blood trails lead to a kill. I once again grew foot-size envy for those who wear 6-6.5. They even had a full length mirror in their aisle! Why didn't the size 9s? Come on! But that didn't stop me! As all hunters do, we displayed out kill on the rooftop of the car. The response we got from the crowd that gathered...priceless. As one fellow hunter screamed from the other side of the parking lot, "Is there a sale???" Now I know why the back of the truck bed is open (as if the deer is so big, it couldn't be closed)...but to be gawked at is really fun!

To another pair of friends who shared leftover meat... We have sent off elk meat, deer sausage, fish... At times we have gotten salmon, turkey pot pies, goose sausage. Well, my good friends Michelle and Jeanne were kind enough to deliver a shoe leftover. They had spotted them on a hunting expedition at DSW, thought of me immediately, and down it went. The next day, it was delivered to my doorstep. I will be sure to pay them back! Nice!

And to my surprise, a precious gift from a good friend Ann. She thought of our mission on a Fleet Farm hunting trip expedition. A beautiful Christmas ornament- "He hunts, therefore I shop."

To all good friends, Happy Hunting! On this thanksgiving week, I am so thankful to have all of you. I want to make sure that I have your emails. I am planning on sending out a finalized list of all of the raffle and auction items we have this year. So, if you have gotten my emails in the past, you are in. If you have not, please send me an email paula.carlton@aurora.org. Thanks.

This is the last official week the hunting season is open until the show off party to benefit Chix. Best wishes!
Paula