Projects, Crashes, and Hormones.. OH MY!!

Well, this is the first chance I've really gotten to sit down and blog in like.. a week and a half! Boy have I been busy.. but I guess it makes the time go faster.

Take a look at my most favorite painting EVER! It is done in pointillism, which is amazing. Have a look. Really, its only relevance to today's blog is that I wish I were there. I'd be the lady with the little bitty dog.

Lots of stuff to tell. Little of this, little of that. First on the agenda:

We now have a new project. His name is John and he's a 15.2 HH bay quarter horse with a sweet looking blaze. We are planning on breaking him and selling him as a roping prospect. We do this from time to time for money and for experience. He will be the 4th one we've started. We are looking forward to it and I'll share his progress here.

Second, the day after we got John, my husband got CREAMED in a car wreck. He's fine but my poor car isn't. Stupid driver didn't even LOOK and then refused to talk to my husband. What is wrong with people? So, we're just thankful that our children weren't in the car at that time. It could have been very bad. Also, the more I deal with car insurance, the more I LOVE Progressive. They are so helpful. Love them. Love.

Third, my poor Baby (the rat terrier) has an incontinence issue AGAIN. We've done this off and on for a few years now. You might remember we gave her an antibiotic shot for her bladder infection, but she started wetting her bed again, so back to the vet. They've put her back on hormones to see if it will clear up then. Anyone ever heard of puppy menopause? Apparently, it exists and my poor Baby has it. GAH!

So, now I've got to get busy cleaning on my very neglected house. (Yea, I'm bad like that) I've already forked some hay over to the girls and John (because left unattended... 2 mares can kill an entire round bale of grass in 2 weeks flat.. or less if you don't grain 2x a day). And.. I get to plan next weekend's agenda (this time it's Tuesday through Friday) which includes moving some hot wire for new grazing, scratching the tilling because my dad so sweetly did that today (stupid stickers.. anyone got a remedy for goat heads PLEASE let me know), taking the fish tank out of my living room to make room for the playpen that we moved last weekend, going to the library, homework, and maybe some SLEEP if I'm lucky!! Everyone take care!

The best things in life

Are FREE! Well, most anyway. If you have an affinity for fine Italian footwear, then you're on your own. I just thought I'd do a blog today about the many fun things that are free and have the added bonus of being terrific memories.

Anyway, Wednesday my mother had to go to Amarillo on a business meeting. Being her first business trip ever, she was understandably nervous. It also happened to coincide with hubby's off day so we all (kids too) decided to go with her. We dropped her off at her meeting and went to the zoo.

The zoo is free! While the Amarillo Zoo is pretty laughable at 15 acres, the kids had a blast. My husband and I thought it was pretty lame (pretty much everything does after the Ft. Worth Zoo), but seeing the look on the kids faces was priceless. Their favorite exhibit was the monkeys, which we watched pee in the water. Gross! The kids thought it was hilarious. We on the other hand, were thinking that the last thing in the world we'd want to do was be the zookeeper in charge of cleaning the monkey exhibit!

There were also real wild mustangs (with saddle marks... wearing halters.. and begging to be fed some grass). There was a rare miniature pony, and some not so miniature *cough*standard*cough* donkeys. Of course, there were goats and sheep! Another rare and exotic animal. Then we saw the coyotes, foxes, raccoons, and.. wait for it.. skunk. Yep. We could have just walked out to the barn, which now reeks of skunk and mothballs. But, the kids had a BLAST and that was all that mattered. For our lame trip to the zoo, we gave 3 bucks as a donation (cause that's all we had) and took away 2 very excited children blathering about bears and monkeys. Trip well worth it.

On this same day, we decided to go to the AQHA museum as well. We'd been there once while my daughter was in school because we had to register the boys. We decided, what the heck! It's free for all AQHA members and their families and it has a hands on learning center, mechanical pony rides, several mini movies, and a hall of fame. Not to mention some very huge (anatomically correct!!) statues of former champions and racers. The kids thought it was awesome (their words, not mine). It's always worth a trip if you want to experience an air conditioned outing.

There are other completely free and fun things to do here as well. The library has story times, musical performances, science experiments, entertainers and even free shot clinics and computer classes. Of course, you can always just pick up a book, go to the children's center, and let them play quietly while you catch up on your reading. I encourage you all to check out your local libraries. They have wonderful programs during the summer.

Of course, never under estimate the power of running around outside. While we do have the horses that provide hours of entertainment, they kids have just as much fun running around the yard and under trees pretending they are in the jungle. Grab a few toys and head outside!!!

When in doubt (or it's seriously crummy weather outside), go to the mall. Our mall has an indoor playground, a food court, wishing fountains, Santa and the Easter bunny, and a pet store. When the weather sucks, we walk around, window shop, throw money in the fountain, play with the puppies, and let them run free in the playground.

So, I hope no one has anymore doubts about fun and FREE things to do! I'm off to take a walk!

Award!

I got an AWARD!!! YAY! Well, actually I got it from TWO people so thanks to Beckz and Phnee!!! So, now I have to list 10 honest things about myself. Here goes:

1. I am completely and hopelessly addicted to caffeine. I tried to NOT drink some yesterday and I had a massive headache until I drank TWO cokes.

2. I love 80's movies. It's a passion. 16 candles, Breakfast Club, Dirty Dancing, Princess Bride, Loverboy, Can't Buy Me Love, Lucas... you name it, I probably love it. The 80's were the BEST for movies.

3. I love the oldies... songs that is. Not that old people aren't great, but the songs!!! Even the new songs are mostly samples from old songs. Plus, you have all the great dances.. the twist, limbo, mash potatoes.. LOL!

4. I love ketchup on my mashed potatoes. There. Said it. Proud of it. My whole family thinks I'm nuts, but really, is it any different than ketchup on your french fries?

5. I have a taste for children's books, the mini novel type. My all time favorite is My Teacher Flunked the Planet. They're simple, fun, clean, and have morals. YAY! Seriously, who wants to read their novel with a dictionary?

6. I prefer fast food.. to well.. anything. Taco Villa is my weakness. I can even eat it when I'm sick and can't manage to choke down chicken noodle soup. Salty, fattening, cheesy heaven... mmmmmmm.

7. I hate soup. HATE IT. HATE HATE HATE!!! I have no clue why either. I just prefer to not drink my food.

8. I hate going anywhere by myself. Short of the bathroom, I like to have at least one person go with me. I've always been painfully shy and terrified of society at large and having another person with me makes me feel better.

9. I am a wallflower. Betcha didn't see that one coming. *wink* Really though, unless I know you, I'll keep my distance. Even in a room full of people I know well (like our annual family & friends Halloween party), I'll migrate to the back with one or two people and park there the entire time.

10. I am musically inclined. Well, playing instruments anyway. You wouldn't want to hear me sing. (My kids tell me they don't either) I played the clarinet, the tenor, and dabbled on the piano a bit too. My high school music teacher had me on the track to the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra by the time I graduated, but fate had other plans for me.

And.. that's my 10!! Yes! Now, I'm supposed to send it to 10 other blogs.. but I don't know 10 other blogs.. so I send it to EVERYONE!! WOOT!

SKUNK!!!!!

It was about 10:00 last night. I just happened to con my husband into going out to take the fly mask off Keno and feeding the boys. I noticed some chicken eggs that were smashed outside the barn and hubby said he had seen them that morning, but didn't investigate. So, I trudge to the barn to see how many we had left and there was a.... SKUNK!!!!!

Talk about your back peddle. I didn't know I could run so fast in reverse! I ran smooth over the husband and halfway out in the pasture while hubby tried to get out of my way and ran for the shotgun.

Unfortunately, 4 shots and we couldn't hit him. I DON'T like varmints in my barn thank you very much. Afterwards, we threw an ENTIRE box of mothballs under the barn hoping it would deter him from coming back. It was no use though. He came back for the others sometime during the night and the nest is completely decimated now. The chicken has retreated to her old nest and is futilely trying to hatch her last batch of duds. I feel sorry for the chicken so fixing the coupe is now on the priority list.

Now that the excitement is over, I can go over the events of last night. Husband has said that skunks really are pretty and now I can admit that he was kind of cute, but I'm not planning on making him my pet or anything. Although, my mother-in-law had a descented one as a pet. NO thank you.

See y'all for the next country adventure. I'm off to the supermarket to stock up on tomato juice!

Reflections

This morning I received word that the long awaited death of my cousin has finally happened.

Sounds pretty morbid huh? Well, she's been practically vegetative for the last 7 or so years. It was only a matter of time. She and her son were in a horrific car crash that left her virtually comatose and her son with some minor brain damage. Unfortunately, she was DOA, but in some sadistic twist of fate, all emergency workers are required to try and revive victims when they arrive. So, instead of meeting her maker that night, she's been living in a nursing home. She improved at first and then slowly backslid. 7 years of bed sores, feeding tubes, IVs, therapies, and prayer finally led to one single IV and the advice to prepare for imminent death. This morning, she passed peacefully. Unfortunately, the son she was in the car crash with was to be married this morning. Thus, one life ends and another one begins. Life, huh?

So, on such a somber occasion, I chose to reflect on my life. Like the picture? It was one of our colts taking in his first sunrise at our house. Truly breathtaking. How many times do we take the sunrise and set for granted. We always assume there will be another one. We have too much going on, too busy, too tired, you name it and we fail to take in a spectacular scene that happens twice a day. What would happen if we all decided to watch the sun rise and set everyday. So many truly peaceful wonderful experiences could happen. But, nose to the grindstone, we ignore the most beautiful scenes in the world and all we had to do was look out a window.

For the past 26 years (and yea, I seriously had to count how old I was!) I've been living life full steam ahead. My mom refused to let me move up a grade when I was in the 2nd grade. She did it for my own good, to let me have a chance to mature. I didn't see why then, but I do now. I made a point to get good grades. I cried when I got my first B and begged for extra credit when I saw my first C. I ended up graduating with honers a year early and marrying that summer. (Yes, math gurus, that would be 17 and married) I got pregnant at 19, had our first baby at 20, and switched to a work from home job. Our second son came 2 years later, along with various problems in life. I finally started college. Life was going infuriatingly fast.

After seeing how fast life was spinning, I decided to slow down a bit. I cut school part time, spent more time with my kids, went trail riding, and generally started enjoying every minute of downtime I could get. Then, another monkey wrench. Pregnant.. again. I was not a happy camper, but my newest little bundle of joy has proved to be a blessing. He's growing so fast, it just pounds in my head how fast the time flies. Just yesterday I was BEGGING for my pregnancy to be over. Now my sweet little newborn is now a huge 3 month old, and he's only getting bigger. You know what they say about time, it marches on.

So, in memory of Sue Crawford, who's life was over way too early, I encourage everyone who has bothered to read this blog to take some time to reflect on life. Time passes way to quickly. Appreciate it while you can! Take care everyone.

Murphy is a Jerk!!!

You know that whole Murphy's Law thing?

I ought to slug ol' Murphy right in the kisser.

Everyone, meet Keno. My 20some odd "kid broke gen-au-wine pure breed palomino pony". In all actuality, he's a 20something champagne colored gaited mutt with the attitude and energy level of a 2 year old colt. He's in better weight now, and on better (and hotter) feed so he magically perked up. Imagine that. I would have a newer, better pic of him, but good ol' Murphy decided to trip me and let me fall in a pile of recycled hay (if ya know what I mean).

He started out okay. We found out that our "kid-broke" old man is actually a spunky little feller who's barn sour as hell but steady. He rides great (when you're not having a conversation about how the barn isn't on the road map) and he's really a great smooth little guy. So, we figured for my husband's last off cycle that we'd go for a ride. Then.. Murphy. I REALLY HATE him.

The first day (he's off for 4) was 4th of July, so naturally we went to the city fireworks show and then planned to pop some of our own. But, the show was delayed an hour and a half (try explaining THAT to a 3 yer old) and when we finally got back home.. it was raining. Yep. Stoopid Murphy.

Day 2 started off with a thunderstorm. Then we purchased shots and wormer for the horses (and forgot to give them), a trim for the palomino founder mare (who is still lame from angle changes), moved some fences for grazing, a trip to the store, and a movie. Then.. another thunderstorm. Because, when it finally cools off enough to ride, it rains. Curse you Murphy.

Day 3 started off with a trip to the registration office (to take care of that expired registration from the whirlwind trip). Then the Library where we caught the tail end of an Andy Mason concert, and lunch. By then it was 3000 degrees outside so everyone took a nap and I read my new book. I highly recommend it. (Thanks chat buddies!!). So, it cooled off and we went outside to find.... a lame horse. YAY. Keno is lame! And his eyes are swollen but we can't figure out WHY. There is no heat in the leg, his hooves (although a bit thrushy) are okay, no fever, no wounds. His eyes are puffy for no good reason. He's also a bit tight in the gut but not really colicky. So, a nasty shot of mineral oil and no riding today. Getting kind of sick of Murphy.

Day 4, ANOTHER rainstorm. And... Keno coughs. And coughs. And.... well you get the picture. He has pus coming out of his eyes and he's still lame. So, we clean out the stalls and prepare to give him a good ole shot of penicillin and some stall rest away from his annoying yearling pasture mate. NO WAY JOSE. Keno is hell on wheels when you bring out that needle. So.. Hi Ho Hi Ho... off to the vet we go, where we drop him off because there are no available appointments for the next 2 days. Then, coming home we decide to trim my uncle's yearling. He's decided to turn him out in a 20 acre pasture knee deep in hay grazer with a herd of goats. You CAN'T catch this colt and he doesn't have a halter on if you happened to get next to him anyway. Scratch that. Home for another movie, another book and bed, worrying about my baby. $%($&%($&^#$(%&* Murphy.

So, Keno is home now. He's no longer lame but is still just a tad off. He has ALLERGIES!!! He's allergic to weeds and flies. Dirt lot pony here we come. F U MURPHY.

BTW,off topic, I Haz an Award! BUT.. how do I pick it up?

Happy Updates

Recently one of my whopping 4 followers told me I needed a happy post. Well, I finally have one!!! But first, you must know about the kittens I was socializing. They are from the litter my outside cat had. I raised Callie from a baby and turned her loose to be a barn cat when she was old enough. She's done a great job at picking off the mice and snakes around the place. But before we could get her put in a cage to be fixed, she had these little guys. Cute huh? There is a 4th one we still haven't caught and we've named her Lucy, because.. she's illusive. Get it? Yea, kinda corny.

Anyway, these cute little critters were born underneath my front porch on April 22nd and I got to witness my first ever live animal birth. It was quite amazing. When they were 6 weeks old, we took them from Callie because she wasn't even letting them eat solids yet. (She's STILL nursing Lucy) There were two boys (one black and the orange) and two girls (the other black and Lucy is a grey tabby). The boys warmed up right away and we found them homes quickly. They went within days of each other. But the other black, she's a different story. She was very standoffish and downright mean.

However, once the boys left, she immediately decided that she needed new friends, so she became loving and sweet in a matter of hours. Doesn't she look like a doll? She liked playing in the extra fish tank ornaments. Anyway, I finally found a home for her after several emails from different people. It was difficult meeting with her new owner, but with the news I just received, it was well worth it. I'll share some of the email here.

"I want to let you know about the kitten, she is an absolute joy! ..... she has really lightened things up!She still has her ball and her toilet paper roll, as well as mice and lots of other stuff...tonight her favorite things are the fruit loops I gave her...she is hopping, jumping, and meowing at them. Thank you so much for her. So far her name is 'Mija' (mee-ha) I keep calling her baby girl so i decided to use the Spanish I am studying and give her a Spanish name!"

Doesn't it sound perfect? I just love hearing happy endings and updates from the animals I've placed in new homes. So, there's only one thing left to say. Congratulations Mija!!