• I spent last night -- from 8:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. -- on the sets of Up to the Minute and the CBS Morning News with television anchor Meg Oliver, a UM journalism alumna that I'm interviewing for a Montanan article.
• I got to shake hands with a hero of mine, Ralph Nader, after Meg finished interviewing him about his new book and documentary film. She asked the question we all really want to know: Is he running in 2008? Nader: It's too early to say.
• After sleeping from 6:30 to 10 a.m., I got up and went to a taping of the Martha Stewart Show. (For those of you who don't know, I'm a big Martha fan. My boss has even started calling me "Martha Stephens.") The taping was really fun -- it airs Monday, so look for me in the audience! -- and the set is absolutely gorgeous.
  

• You know all four seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction.
• You only own four spices: salt, pepper, ketchup and ranch dressing.
• You can write a check at McDonalds.
• You think the start of elk season is a national holiday.
• You have 10 favorite recipes for elk meat.
• At least twice a year, the kitchen doubles as a meat processing plant.
• You frequently clean grease off your barbecue so the bears don't.
• You tell North Dakota jokes.
• You design your kids' Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
• Your grandparents drive 65 mph through a blizzard without flinching.
• Your snowblower gets stuck on the roof.
• You have more miles on your snowblower than your car.
• Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled in with snow.
• The local paper covers national and international headlines on one page, but requires six pages for local sports.
• The major county fund-raiser isn't bingo -- it's sausage making.
• You attend a formal event in your best clothes, your finest jewelry, and your Sorels.
• The trunk of your car doubles as a deep freezer.
• You often switch from heat to A/C in the same day.
• Maps and gloves are kept in your vehicle's "jockey box."
• You pronounce the H in "vehicle."
• You leave your keys in your "outfit."
• Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor.
• "Vacation" means going to Billings for the weekend.
• You measure distance in hours.
• You know several people who have hit deer more than once.
• You know more than one person who has been mauled by a grizzly bear.
• The most effective mosquito repellent is a shotgun.
• You use a down comforter in the summer.
• You see people wearing hunting clothes to social events.
• You install security lights on your house and garage, and leave both doors unlocked.
• You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend knows how to use them.
• There are seven empty cars running in the parking lot at the food store at any given time.
• It takes you three hours to go to the store for one item even when you're in a rush, because you have to stop and talk to everyone.
• You actually get these jokes and forward them to all your Montana friends.

1. I just bought a pair of sock garters.
2. I have become one of those women who carry Kleenex everywhere they go.
3. It did not even occur to me to drink on New Year's Eve.
4. My best friend just turned 40! (Oh, dear, that means I'm next.)
5. I just said "Oh, dear."

Everything that moves
loves
and is afraid.
~Madeline DeFrees

• Do not scare them by shouting, etc., when they scratch in the bad area. Just firmly say "NO," move them to the good area, and then kindly show them what you expect of them. Try not to humiliate them too much. :-)
• Make sure the new scratching area is something they will really like -- a carpet-covered post, a sisal mat, a cardboard scratching box, a wooden milk crate or rough board. It needs some texture and should be something that will stay put and not slide across the floor. Rub some catnip into it.
• You can temporarily protect and discourage scratching on your furniture by covering it with aluminum foil or plastic wrap.
• Be sure to be effusive when they use the new area. GOOD kitty!
• Remember that they're not just sharpening their claws, they're stretching their back muscles. It's important and instinctive.

(Not my photo.)

This Flickr photoset is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

1. Finish my thesis and get my MFA!
2. Stay off the computer until my morning routine is done.
   
3. Blog only once per week -- excluding photos, one-sentence posts such as bumperstickers and article links, and emergency posts.
4. Answer email the same day I read it.
5. Quit drinking diet Coke.
6. Get at least 30 minutes of brisk exercise every day (unless I'm sick).
7. Follow my five-part, self-invented diet: A) Eat refined carbs only before noon. (If a chocolate croissant is what it takes to get me to eat breakfast, so be it.) B) Eat only protein, vegetables, complex carbs and good fats for lunch and snacks. C) Eat only protein, vegetables and good fats for dinner. D) Supplement as needed with red wine and dark chocolate. C) Eat every four to five hours.
8. If above diet doesn't result in weight loss after two months, go on Weight Watchers.
9. Keep fresh flowers in the house.
   
10. Love myself enough to actually do these things.