Day 24-11

Am getting more nervous but excited, too, since I decided to try for my Distinguished Expert Qualification in rifle this morning. My dear friend Chris will witness and my dear husband and son will spot and keep my magazines loaded. For those of you unfamiliar with shooting ranges, the NRA has a qualifications book that covers most firearms. You choose a weapon type, take a basic safety class and then begin working through a series of qualifications/examinations to establish expertise. As you complete a series you receive a "rocker" bar and the final test is the DE, which must be witnessed by a certified firearms instructor. I began with handgun and completed my DE in March of 2009 (started in Sept of 2009) so I'm way behind on completing my rifle series. I want to brag about Chris just a bit, I've mentioned her before and she's the instructor who got me into this. She was the first woman in the US to become triple certified in handgun, rifle, and shotgun. Since then a small number of women have joined those ranks, I believe two or three more women and some men as well from Doug's Cherry Creek Shooting Center. I don't have the statistics at the moment, but it at least was the case last year that a disproportionately high number of all the DE qualifications nationwide have come from CCSC. If you have interest at all, I'd encourage you to check it out. Please be aware they place a very high focus on safety and run a tight range in terms of regulations, knowing that when a sport is safe it's fun. There are a wide variety of classes to choose from, ways to get started without investing initially in equipment, you can even rent eye and ear protection. Plus, it's in the beautiful Cherry Creek State Park, which I enjoy as much in winter. Here's their website if you have interest in checking it out: http://www.familyshootingcenter.com/ and here is Chris' email if you're interested in checking on her firearm classes: hotbrass@comcast.net.

We're still running 90 mph around here trying to get everything ready and as usual, "it ain't gonna happen". But progress is better than nothing, and we're celebrating an early Father's Day this year so will have our summer feast (we try to have a feast for every season!) tonight. In many ways I'll be sad to see this particular day end but since they always do I'll send a note once again tomorrow. Please know that, although there's really nothing to do except wait and pray, I appreciate so very much all the kind offers of help. Who knows what we'll end up needing, but I promise to let you all know if something comes up and thank you, thank you again for the offers!