Big Sky Blog

So I was just reading the Chronicle online and I noticed an ad for property for sale. Rolling Glen Ranch had a ton of lots for sale, most a little over 5 acres and just short of $60,000. So of course I’d love to buy a nice little plot of land but my mind is thinking over several different things.

Ok it’s a great price and though I probably wouldn’t build now it would be great for retirement. My credit is awful and I know that pretty soon I’ll be returning to school, and that payment plus my rent is going to be hard to make. Still, it’s a nice thought even though I know with my credit right now and finances I’ll never buy it.

Second it really almost made me sad. One of the things that I so love about Montana is the openess. Even driving down 90 now past Belgrade saddens me because it’s growing so fast. I just sit and I think .. how long will it be until Montana turns into another California? Granted it may be 50-100years but in the grand scheme of things that’s not a lot of time. That means my grandchildren won’t get to see, love and enjoy all of the things that I love about this place.

Third, I love Bozeman and lord knows I’m not going to commute that in the winter. It’s just so expensive here compared to the wages I know I’ll make and I hate that. That has always been in my mind the one drawback to this town. But I couldn’t imagine living in Billings because I would be right back in a city the same size of Santa Rosa (where I lived in CA). I look at the real estate ads and they are about the same prices of what homes were in N CA about 3 years ago. I do so wish I could freeze things in time.

If you want to see President George W. Bush when he visits Great Falls on Thursday, February 3, then you need to act quickly!

Maximum capacity in the Four Seasons Arena is about 6,000 people. Marketing Director Lori Cox said Sunday that security and the traveling corps of media representatives and staff members would take up a good number of those seats. The number to call for tickets is 452-9585.

And I’ll repeat my question from the other day: President Kennedy visited Great Falls in 1963…President Reagan visited Great Falls in 1982…but I can’t confirm that any other sitting President has visited Great Falls. I’ve heard of at least one person who swears that President George H.W. Bush visited Great Falls in 1992 — but can find no evidence of same. Can any Big Sky Blog Bloggers or readers confirm or deny?

..by the wonderful U.S. government. While I realize I am tired I am completely unhappy with my deduction. Turbo Tax isn’t feeling all that Turbo right now because I know of one credit they didn’t ask me for (renter’s deduction). I will try and recalculate it tomorrow when I am not quite so tired. I’d forgotten how exausted the change in altitude makes you until your body adjusts. Ahh well it’s very much worth the price.

I was thinking of going down to the Molly but then I thought..you lived there last time .. besides who walks into a bar at 1:15? To David who asked me about well, me .. where to start?

So I’m home once again and couldn’t be happier. I’ve missed the feeling of peace, and internal happiness that Montana always seems to bring to me. It felt so nice driving through Bozeman today and seeing all of the familiar sights that I’ve missed. Even driving N 7th and seeing Taco Time, which still made my stomach turn, brought a sense of completeness because it meant that I had come home.

Yes it is true: President Bush will be visiting Great Falls, Montana – Thursday, February 3rd, 2005.
For more information about the visit or about Great Falls, please visit Great Falls First!

Our very own Canadian in training has made the local paper!

If you want to find out what Kim has been up to check her blog and read where hypothermia almost set in. Scary indeed!

Just did my morning dog walk over sugar crystals. Well, technically I think it was freezing rain, but it was sparkling under the street lamps and crunching under my feet very much the way sugar does. Trust me, I’m a mother of three, I know what it’s like to walk on spilled sugar.

This was a lot of sugar–over the sidewalks and streets of Missoula, sparkling and beautiful. Most of our snow has melted and we’re at the gray, icky stage where everything looks sort of dull and minds turn either to wishes for more snow by weekend so that we can hit the slopes, or perhaps spring crocuses coming early. The sugar-crystal morning makes a nice break from wishful thinking, whatever your wishes may be.

Guess who might — MIGHT — be visiting Great Falls next week? President George W. Bush himself…that’s the rumor, anyway. According to the grapevine, the visit may take place next Thursday, following the President’s State of The Union address. Sam figures that the money spent on travelling might be used more wisely, however. The last time that a President visited Great Falls was in 1963 (as far as I know), when President Kennedy came to town. EDIT: I stand corrected — Aaron pointed out that President Reagan visited GF in 1982…and I’ve heard a rumor that President George H.W. Bush visited in 1992, but I can’t confirm it yet…anyone know for sure?

I can hear you say to yourself, “What’s going on in the lives of the Big Sky Bloggers?” To which I respond…ask, and ye shall receive…

You all remember that semi-pro basketball is coming to Montana, right? Well, I read in Sunday’s Great Falls Tribune that the name of the Great Falls team will be…(drum roll, please)…the Cowboys. The Great Falls Cowboys. Hm. Well, it could be worse, but honestly…Wyoming is the Cowboy State, so their team should have dibs on that name; and in the world of sports, the football team in Dallas pretty much has the name “cowboy” all locked up.

Oh, and if the GF Tribune had a clue, the article about the team (and the league) would be online, but they don’t and it ain’t. Phffft.