Vans & Roses

On Monday, the Hubs will take possession of this.  And it's about time!  His current van is a 2002 that he bought when we  moved here in 2003.  He has put over 200,000 miles on it.  It's time to retire the beast before it costs us any more $$ to keep going. 

It made us realize that I have had my Tahoe for 5 years, this month.  I don't know what the deal is, but I absolutely LOVE my 'Ho!  I love the looks of it and totally love the way it drives and handles.  My last couple of vehicles in Alaska were Chevy S-10 Blazers and I loved them as well.  I can only imagine how awesome it would have been to have had a Tahoe in Alaska!  The 'Ho is an '03 and I only have 128,000 miles on it.  I am hoping it will last a very long time.  I don't particularly care for the looks of the newer models and it's a good thing!  Chuck checked the prices on them, just out of curiosity,  while he was looking for his van, and they are like $50-$60,000.  I'm not even sure if that was the Z-71 model.  Yikes!  How do people afford payments???  If I recall, for mine, we financed about $30,000 for 5 years and my payments are $468 a month.  It must be that a person buying a brand new one has to decide between a house payment or a truck payment!  LOL

Chuck picked my 1st roses for me yesterday AM.  My favorites bloomed beautifully and the bush id LOADED with buds! This is not a great picture.  These are actually a salmon color, with tinges of deep pink.  Ya' know!  The camera on this iPhone4 that I have really sucks compared to my 3GS.  I'll be so glad when I can upgrade in November!

What a dork I am.  Here is a MUCH better shot taken with my 'real' camera.  Nikon to the rescue!  This shows the true colors.

Anyway, the roses have started blooming early this year.  Last year they bloomed after I went to Alaska and I'm pretty sure it was sometime in May.  This will start my summer of fresh roses by my computer every day.  Chuck will pick me fresh ones, every couple of days :)  He has his moments.  Wonder who he'll pick them for whilst I'm gone??  Susie & Dixie, mayhaps :)

I'm getting down to the serious stuff in getting ready for my trip  I was commiserating last  night with Terri (lovely daughter) as to what knitting projects I should bring.  I have so many projects lined up, it's hard to decide, but I did narrow it down to "the less complicated, the better".  I've only been serious about knitting for a year, and I really don't have a lot of experience or confidence going for me yet.  I'm so easily distracted, that if I can't focus entirely on what I'm doing, I make mistakes.  If I don't catch it right away, it's difficult to fix and often I have had to rip something all out and start over.  But as I was about to say, there will be a LOT of distractions in that house while I'm there.  I can't wait :)

Back to the knitting thing.  For some reason, I am having the WORST time with a baby blanket I am trying to knit!  Its ridiculous.  I'm making it for the gal that works for Chuck.  She is due next week (in fact they are inducing her on Tues.)  I have known abut her pregnancy since the 1st moment she found out.  She helped me pick out the yarn & I got it right away.  I already had a pattern I wanted to try.  So, yeah.....this was about 8 months ago.  I didn't start it right away because I had several Christmas gifts I was making, figured I would start it after the New Year and have it finished in plenty of time.  I was so wrong!

This was when I learned how dangerous distractions can be.  I "thought" I was comfortable with the pattern.  I "thought" I could knit on it while watching TV.  I "thought" wrong!  Twice I found mistakes and had to undo a few rows, stitch by stitch and redo them.  (very slow process)  The 3rd time I screwed up, I took it as a sign that this wasn't the pattern for me!  I found a new pattern that I liked even better and I seemed to get along alot better with it.  In fact, I was zipping right along and had the blanket about 2/3 completed when I went to San Diego.  When I came home, however, that had all changed.  Murphy had pulled the needles out of the knitting, she chewed on the needles making them worthless and she chewed up and pulled out a bunch of the yarn!  It was a mess.  So.....I had to start over. 

I've been working on it every chance I get, but have had a couple of set backs.  A couple of those opportunities happened to be in the middle of the night, when my hip & leg are hurting and I can't sleep.  That's when I get up and take a couple of pain pills.  Yep, you guessed it.  I shouldn't be knitting during those times.  It took 2 screw ups before I finally got the hint.  I do believe I will be taking this project to Alaska to finish & will mail it to her.  The baby will never know the difference.  But I've gotta tell ya'.  It's great yarn and I DID love it, but I am so damn sick of it it's not even funny!!

All About Horses

My husband can be a bit trying at times.  People really close to me, know exactly how kindly I am phrasing that.  But I have been sitting here watching him out my window, as he works with Dixie in the round pen. He has a way with animals.  At least with dogs & horses.  I don't approve of all of his 'methods', but he is pretty good.
He's been standing in the middle, and has her running the perimeter.  He will point and say 'turn' and she stops and heads in the opposite direction.  He'll sit on the milk can in the middle of the ring and say 'stop, Dixie' and she does.  'Come Dixie' and she walks to him.  'Kiss' and her nose is in his face.  It amazes me how well he has trained her.  How well he works with her, and she's almost as dedicated to him as Gus is!  In reality, I think the part he likes best is pointing his finger at her and having her respond.  We learned 2 things about each other early on.  I know not to slap him in the face (only happened once) and he knows not to point his finger at me for any reason!

 Anyway, here is Dixie when we first got her. (March '09) She was 19 months old at the time.  We had already bought her Mama, Susie, a year prior.  When our friend decided he also wanted to sell Susie's 'kid', we jumped on it!  I promptly registered her as Sweet Sue's Little Dixie, ( as Susie's registered name is Jack's Sweet Sue and Susie's mama had Dixie in her name, so I liked the combo).  Dixie had been running free with J's other horses most of her life, and no one had ever worked with her much at all.  There was much to be done, as she was a wild, crazy little sh**!

 This is Dixie last fall, getting trained on pulling the buggy.  She took to it right away, pretty much like everything else Chuck has tried to teach her.  She will pretty much do anything for him.  Totally unlike Susie, who was 17 when we got her and extremely set in her ways!!  I was worried about how they'd get along when we reunited them.  Wondered if they'd remember each other.  It was amazing!  If horses could hug, they'd have been hugging for days!  Sadly, they are now inseparable, which can be a BIG problem at times!  But that's another story.

Chuck is working with Dixie to get her ready to go on a Cattle Round-up in Wyoming.  He was at the ranch last year with our BIL for a hunting trip and became good friends with the owner of the ranch.  He's been invited back to participate in their Spring Cattle Round-up for branding season.  It will be a dream come true for this old cowboy.  I sure wish he could have done it while I could still ride.  How I would love to go with him and spend a couple weeks at the ranch, riding Susie on all the trails on that beautiful ranch of theirs!   Anyway, he's been working with her everyday, to get her 'exercised up' and in shape, as well as training her on 'herding'.  That means that they have been herding Susie around the pasture and she doesn't like that one little bit!!  Susie is usually the one that is herding Dixie around!  It's hysterical and I must get a video to share!

So, I will return from Alaska on May 23rd and he will load up the horses and head out on May 26th.  Uggg.....the thought of returning home after that long flight and having to jump right into getting his laundry done and getting him packed and ready in 2 days blows my mind right now, but once he's gone, I can kick back for 2 weeks and prepare for my surgery.  He'll return on June 8th or 9th and I go under the knife on June 11th.  It all sounded good when we planned it, but now that it's getting close, it seems like we could have/should have done something different, but it'll all work out.

Time Slips Away

Nothing real special going on.....just a bazillion things that need to be done and I actually feel like doing them today!  As soon as I get off the computer.  Ha!  Which was just about to happen, when I remembered that I started blogging again and needed to get with it.  Ahem!

Some of you know that I have started knitting.  Terri got me into it back in May on my last visit to Alaska.  Those of you that know me really, really well, also know that when I get hooked on something, it becomes an addiction.  All consuming obsession.  At least for awhile.  Until the next addiction comes along.  Anyway, I have about 5 WIPs {Works in Progress} and at least 20 lined up.  Seriously!  Probably more.  I have been buying delightful and delicious and beautiful yarn like it is going out of style!  I TRY to be sensible about it.  I TRY to only buy yarn if I have a project in mind and the pattern in hand.  That works most of the time.  Sometimes the yarn is too amazing and/or the price is too amazing and I just can't resist.  The problem with that is, I'm not real sure how much to buy so.........you got it!  I tend to 'over buy'.  Damn, but it's fun!  Only problem is, knitting goes  kinda slow.  Many years ago, I used to crochet and that is a lot faster, but knitting is much more satisfying, somehow.  Plus most knitted items are much nicer than crocheted items.  I know I'll get faster at it, as time goes by, but I'll never be able to keep up with the buying!

To add to my 5 WIPs, I am starting another one today.  Bernat yarn company has what they call a Mystery Afghan Knit-A-Long {KAL} that started today. They tel you how many skeins of yarn and how many colors you will need, and even suggest several color ways for you. Each Wednesday morning they give you a "Clue" which gives you the instructions for making squares for the afghan.  This morning we got instructions to make 8 squares.  No picture or anything, so it will be a mystery until one is finished....which is the whole point.  In fact, the whole look of the afghan will be a mystery until it is completed.  I shouldn't be doing it because I already have so many other things going, but I couldn't resist!  So, once I get off here and do a little housework, I will get started on it and see what I come up with :)

In other news, my booth at the antique mall is doing good AND bad.  Sounds crazy, and it is.  Things have been selling lately, which is good......and 2 more high priced items got stolen, which is bad.  These 2 items were big enough that I thought they were safe from being stuck in a pocket or purse, but I guess I was wrong.  Then again, it COULD always be another vendor, who is free to come and go with big boxes and bags.  That has been known to happen before, as well.  This past weekend, Chuck went with me to my booth cuz I wanted his input on doing some rearranging in my limited space.  A couple of good things came out of that.  They finally had a space available in their big display cases where people display jewelry and small items.  So I finally got to rent a shelf in that for $10 a month.  That will be available on the 1st of March.  In addition to that, Chuck discovered that a larger booth was available to rent and rented it for me, so we will be moving into a space about 3 times the size of what I have.  I will have room for a large cabinet that locks and some other display options that will improve sales and allow me to put more things out for sale.  I'm excited.  I was feeling like the whole scenario was a fizzle and about to just pack it in, when suddenly things are looking up!!  My "new" cabinet will be Chuck's gun cabinet.  He finally bought a gun safe a couple of months ago for his extensive gun collection, thank God!  I was always so worried about so many people knowing about his guns, and the potential of someone breaking in and stealing them, and God knows what else!  Anyway, that leaves the gun cabinet that I bought him back in 1976, all sad and empty.  I had thought to fill it with yarn, LOL.  His idea of putting shelves in it for me to use in my booth is most excellent!  Plus!  I could even sell that, if I'm of a mind to!  I remember scrimping and saving up the $100 to buy that for him, way back then and now it is valued at about $450.  Sweet!!  I guess getting old has it's advantages!  Hahahaha {did I say that?}

Okay.....I've babbled on enough for today.  Off to do a bit of  tidying up before I start that new knitting project!

Priorities

I can never seem to get my priorities straight.   Why is it so hard for me to keep up with this whole blogging concept when it really is important to me?  I have a bad memory for details, like dates and timelines of particular events and I've counted on being able to refer to my blog for the bits missing from my wee little brain.  I think about things that I wanna blog about every day, but they don't materialize.  And yes, I make notes and jot things down and they get lost in the shuffle of grocery lists and reminders for other things and eventually just get purged from the clutter.  Then, of course, is the realization that I FaceBook with most of the few readers I have, so what I write is redundant. But I can't refer back to FB now can I?  So I need to do this for ME.  Heh.  There are a lot of things I need to do for me. So, I am just going to go forth with some photos and highlights and see what I can accomplish before my darling spouse demands something.  LOL

First. My adorable eldest grand-daughter and our Roller Derby team, the Midnight Sun Roller Girlz, had their 1st big Scrimmage against an opposing team, The Denali Destroyer Dolls, on Sept 24th.
Prior to the scrimmage, they had a photo shoot at a car dealership that is one of their sponsors.  Believe it or not, this is my little "Muffin Girl", aka Riley who is now know as "Boom-Dot Saint".  Boom for short.

Isn't she something?!?  A local Vintage clothing store let them pick outfits to use and she sure did good!

Here's a good shot of her during the scrimmage, slipping by the blocker (in the white shirt, that should have stopped her. heh)and helping to clear the path for the Jammer of the moment.  The MSRG won the scrimmage by an astronomical score of 149-15!  The team has been working SO hard and OMG, did it ever pay off!!  So proud of all of them!  Best part?  No serious injuries.

Next up is the news that I have rented a booth in a local antique shop, called Betty's Attic.  I have so much Depression Glass and other collectables that I really need to get rid of and what better way?  I rented the booth a week ago or so, but it won't be available until Oct 25, so that gives me lots of time for pricing and gathering my stuff.  I have no place to properly display my treasures and many of them are still packed away in boxes under the house.  I will keep my family treasures and a few other things and sell the rest. I'm starting with a fairly small booth and can always move up if need be.  If it goes well, i will buy more stuff to resell.  If not, no big deal.  This is my soon to be area (not my stuff in it, obviously)

I can paint, put up shelves (which I must do) add tables, etc.  Chuck is in charge of that, of course :)

And speaking of Chuck, he bought a buggy and has been training Dixie to pull it. She's a fast learner and eager to please.  Mission accomplished.

 The one above is them returning from about a 3 hour trip around the back roads yesterday.  She was a very good girl!

This, however, is how my Sweet Susie acted up  the whole time they were gone!  Actually she just paced and whinnied the whole time, only rearing up when they finally got back.  So anxious when her kid is out of her sight!!  And so excited to have her back :).  Dang horses are worse than kids. Well, actually, she acts like a typical mother!  What am I thinking?  LOL


Let's see, what else.  About a month ago I had a perm.  Bound and determined to have curly hair again.  It's been a couple years that I have been doing the straight thing after many years of spiral and piggy-back perms.  It came out good.  My wonderful Hairstylist did a great job. But.....I hated it.  It's just not "me" anymore.  SO.....last week she tried a new straightening process on me!  I had to leave it in for 72 hours.  Could not wash my hair for 3 days, which is bad enough on it's own, but the stuff she used was kinda icky.  My hair felt like it had been over moussed and gelled.  Dry and stiff and icky.  But now that I can wash it, which I did 3 times Friday pm, at the exact moment that the clock struck the 72 hour mark (6:58 PM) it is fairly straight and best of all....silky and shiny again!!  Yay!!  I love my Becky, like Poolie loves her Joannie.  She's a terrific gal and an awesome stylist and colorist.  We have a lot of fun with my hair and I trust her with my beloved locks!

As I was typing this, I was thinking that I wish I could get my s&%t together and chronicle everything via photos (with details) on Flickr.....like our lovely Karyl does.  I SO need to organize what pictures I have and need to be taking lots more!  One of my biggest problems is that I am not working and also that some days I am able to do more than other days, depending on my pain level.  I used to have such 'structured days' and I deffo function better that way.  I just can't seem to get a grip on this new way of life and make the best use of my time and resources.  I hate the intrusion of having to schedule anything, and yet I find I can't accomplish what I want unless I do!  Ah, well.....as one of my former blog buddies used to say (and probably still does!) "It'll all work out in the end. It always does!".  LOL

Hot & Crispy

Wow.  It was 102 here yesterday and they are calling for 104 today. Ugh.....  That is just wrong! So, I shall light a candle and say a prayer for the man that invented Air Conditioning and stay inside and let my Bionic Hip heal, while the electric meter spins in a wild frenzy to keep me cooool............I think some knitting might be in order today.

Chuck rounded up a couple of strays young men in the neighborhood to help him get hay for "The Girls".  The guy we buy it from grows the most awesome weed free Bermuda and he was baling

yesterday, so Chuck headed over for a couple of loads.  208 bales of fresher than fresh, yummy hay for our babies.  They were sure happy last night to get that treat, since their pasture is all dry and depleted.  We need rain SOOOO bad!  It's been weeks upon weeks since we've had anything significant.  But what a miserable day to have to get the hay at 102 degrees!  With hay, it's all about the timing and ya can't take a chance and wait, so that hard working man of mine was hard at it yesterday!

Between the heat and the Japanese Beetles, my poor rose garden is looking pretty sad.  I do believe that Chuck finally got the Beetles under control and with plenty of watering, the roses finally seem to be making a come-back.  I'll be so glad when I am able to get out in the yard and take care of some of this stuff.  All of my flower beds and plants need a lot more TLC than poor Chuck is able to give them when he gets home at night.  Hopefully, it won't be long and I can get out and do more. {and hopefully, it will be cooler by then too, so this Yankee doesn't melt!}

Today is the half-way mark to being able to get back to doing some normal daily activities.  It's been 3 weeks today since my surgery and there are so many things that I can't do for "6 weeks".  My follow-up appt with the surgeon is the 28th and I can't wait!  The incision has healed 'nicely' and I'm finally able to leave it un-bandaged and I'm past the point of any risk for infection, so that's a plus.  They actually "glued" the incision, so I haven't had to deal with those nasty staples, like I did for my back (all 24 of them. yuck).  There has been so much improvement the past week or so, I am finally able to get a feel for how much better off I am going to be. I am feeling better in general, but also gaining in strength and stability each day.  The Physical Therapy is rather rigorous, but so very beneficial.  I have gone from my walker, to using only a cane and half the time, I walk off and forget that.  Chuck is paranoid that I'll fall and 'disrupt my ball joint" as he puts it.  LOL  Actually, as time goes by it IS getting harder to keep from doing the things I'm not supposed to do.  This last 3 weeks might be tougher than the 1st 3 weeks.  Still can't bend over (but I 'can') still cant get my leg past that 90 degree point, still can't sit in chairs too low, still can't 'twist & shout', but......Boy Howdy, can I walk!!  Not for miles and miles, yet, but a hellovalot further than I was able to!  Still can't drive, tho'.  Some surgeons say 2 weeks, mine is all about waiting 6 weeks.  I could understand that while I was dependent on Percocet to keep me pain free, but I'm down to Vicodin now and much less often.  Anyway, I'll be a good girl and wait for his okay, but I am sure antsy to DRIVE!!!!!!!!!!!  Places to go. Things to do. People to see.  Primarily......lunch with Victoria!!!!!

Well, me thinks I shall go check on some blogs, check in with FB and tend to my knitting!  See ya'.

CAN WE GO HOME NOW????

I have mentioned on previous posts that I have been working on Hubby's tax info. As background for some of you, he has his own small construction company. His original plan, when we came to Arkansas 7 1/2 years ago (eeep) was to start a construction company, build it up, sell it and we would return HOME to Alaska. At that time he figured it would take about 2 years. So, we packed up all his tools and equipment on his flat bed truck, loaded the motorhome and headed for Arkansas in August of 2003. {side note....Morg@n Stanley had lost most of our retirement funds for us and this was his "fix" for that)

He did really well, but things took a bit of a different turn than I expected. Anyways, after a year and a half of living in the motorhome I finally told him that he had to "shit or get off the pot". It was my hope that he would 'get off the pot' and we would just go home! But NoOoOoO.......He decided to take a dump! Told me to start looking for a house. The one time in allllll these years I stand up to him and it back fired!

After searching and searching and spending all my spare time driving around the country side looking at houses (wish I'd had my iPhone with the GPS then!)I finally found this one and it was perfect!Out of town, but not too far. 5 acres, with lots of room for the horses he has always wanted. And a nice, well built, well laid out home......so. Here we are. Sold our dream home in Alaska (that we planned and waited so many years to build....sigh) and bought this place. Am I happy? Not usually, but most days I try to make the best of it. I miss my Terri and the kids SOOOO much! And I miss Alaska and the unique and awesome lifestyle. And I miss my friends. {Don't even need to get into missing the 70 degree summers and how I hate 100 plus with dripping humidity} Don't get me wrong. Chuck misses Terri and the kids, too. A lot. Alaska, not so much (the dork), but he calls himself a "realist" and this is the way it has to be. What he thinks is the right thing for us. OK.

Anyway, Hubby is happy. Doing what he loves and he is very successful and has a great business and a terrific reputation. He's all hands on but has 2 people working full time and a couple of part timers come and go. We are surviving nicely, in these bad economic times and are VERY fortunate!

So, back to our tax info. I was totaling up everything and when I was done, I turned to him and said, "OMG! You grossed over $237,000. last year!!" He said, "Holy crap! That's almost a 1/4 of a million dollars!". I got up, walked over to him, put my arms around his neck, looked into his eyes and quietly asked........."can we go home now?". The SOB laughed. But only until I wapped him upside the head!

I tried. What can I say? Never hurts to ask.

I do have to say that he is pretty amazing. He is 70, going on 50, I'd say. High energy,{pain in the ass}, hard working,{superior attitude} ambitious,{BIG ego}, healthy, generous {show off}......we are very fortunate, indeed. Gotta take the bad with the good and just let it go.........LOL

But seriously. 1/4 of a million dollars! The 1st year {2004} he did about $89,000. I think. It's been growing ever since, but then so does the overhead. Hell, just his materials this year came to almost $100,000., sub-contractors were $80,000, payroll, equipment, maintenance, vehicles, hay and horse feed! There's no end to it! So, yes....while we are pretty comfortable, his gross is NOT what we live on! I wish!! I'd be flying to Alaska every month!!

We've had some rough times since coming here. Things that put a huge wedge between us, when for over 30 years we had what I thought was the "perfect relationship". Things that made me resent him.....that I may or may not be 'over'. My Mom died in a damn Assisted Living home before I could get her down here (if she could have even made the trip). He put me in a precarious situation that turned around and bit him squarely in the ass, but I'm the one that suffered for it. Went thru the whole I filed for divorce thing and survived that, but the aftermath has been rough. I think my surgery was a big turning point for us and although our relationship is very different than it was, it's pretty darn good right now! Guess that's a story for another day......maybe.

What'll She Get Into Next???

Okay.....so Murphy likes to carry stuff around. I first noticed it when I saw her jump down from my sewing machine table and a minute later heard a 'clunk' from the dining room. Upon investigation, I found that she had picked up and carried off a small pair of scissors. Since then, she has graduated to my big sewing scissors, plucked a ring off my dresser, carried off post it notes and memo pads, as well as envelopes (the kind with important stuff inside!). She dragged a tote bag (with candles in it) from the sewing room, down the steps to the living room! She even managed to turn on the faucet at the kitchen sink one day. I rather suspect that was an 'accident', as it hasn't happened since and considering how much she loves water, she would do it again if she truly knew how.

So, I ask you......how does one 'cat proof' such items?? Yes, yes, Chuck! I know!! Put my scissors away, jewelry in my jewelry boxes, etc, etc. But what's next? Can't put everything away! This cat just gets more interesting {and challenging} every day. But her entertainment value is priceless!!

My PC is finally in the hands of the Geek Squad. I sure hope it's an easy fix and doesn't take them too long! Actually, I don't care what the problem is, as long as it's covered by my warranty :).

It was really hard to walk into Best Buy with it today and leave without looking around. So many toys and toy accessories! Too much fun stuff under one roof. I didn't dare avert my eyes from the front door as I was making my way back out.

Well, that's about it for today. I AM feeling some better today, which means I've had to start working on Chuck's paperwork for the business to get to the Accountant. I hate this stuff and if any of you knew what sort of bookkeeping system I have (as in NONE) you would groan at the stupidity of it all. Once I get my PC back, all that will change, because there has to be an easy peasy way to do all of this that even I can do, with out the aid of megabucks software!

SUPER MURPHY!

I am here to tell you that my new kitty is amazing!  Getting through this holiday season will be a breeze, with her around.  I mean....check it out....

 She kept an eye on me at the computer and supervised the making of a bunch of Christmas cards.

 She helped decorate the tree.

 She LOVES to help with the dishes!

 And she was a huge help with sending out the Christmas cards!!

I simply can not believe that I was ready to take her back!  I guess she tuned in to my frustration and decided to pitch in and make up for all the biting and terrorizing.  Quite honestly, I still think she has an invisible friend that she tears around the house with, but I'm cool with that.

As for the tree, she has only broken 2 ornaments.  The 1st one was no big deal.  The second one was from a set of 4 that I had bought for our 1st Christmas tree, at Bresee's Department Store about 100 years ago.  But, hey....it's only an ornament.  Besides, the really treasured ones that were my Mom's from her and Dad's early days are safely at the top of the tree!

Hubs has not made the Holiday Season nearly as pleasant as Murphy has!  He has been cranky to the max.  Part of his crankiness is due to the amount of $$ I spend on Christmas gifts.  But there are 10 grandkids!  {Our lovely 5 in Alaska that you always hear about and the 5 resulting from his 1st marriage that I rarely speak about because there just isn't that much interaction}.  Anyway, even tho' I have cut down considerably the past couple of years, it's still a reason for him to be pi$$y.  And yet!  He wants to make sure they have what they want, etc.  He just has no clue as to what things cost, unless it's sold at Lowe's or the lumber company.  Hee hee.  

Needless to say, since he's been on my case about the fact that I am out of $$ and need some, I have YET to scream at him that I spent my last $200 on a gift for HIM!!  And I have to wait 10 more days until I get the satisfaction of him feeling like a total jerk.  Damn.  But if he gets much worse, I just might take it back.  Buwahahahaha.

Attacked Again!

Three weeks ago, I was ruthlessly attacked by a horrendous hoard of Seed Ticks, left to suffer for many days from my allergic reaction to their teeny tiny little bites. Yesterday, it was poor Chuck's turn. The Chiggers got to him yesterday apparently, and he has been in misery ALL over his body.....and I mean ALL over! I got out the Cortisone Plus and gave him an antihistamine and he is doing much better....for now. But it will be an ongoing battle for awhile. It's amazing he hasn't gotten into them long before now. He's been very fortunate :)

Here it is almost the end of September and everyone is yapping about it being "Fall". It is currently 7:30 PM and 88 degrees! That is NOT Fall weather to this Yankee. Talk to me again in November. Real Fall hits here around Thanksgiving. LOL I'm sure we will get a couple of ice storms in January or so, but I will thoroughly embrace the 40ish temperatures before and after!!

Oh, and when I changed my template I lost my comments....which has something to do with my need to uninstall and reinstall the comment thingy I was using. I'll work on that another day.

The Rose Garden and A Happy Horse

Well, the rose garden is officially finished and hopefully they will actually live and grow up to be somebody!

Chuck worked SO hard on such a hot day to lay this out and get the stone set just right! I love stone, always wanted a stone wall and he has given me the next best thing. He bought a huge truckload of these great stones back when we first bought the house and has made me several flower beds from them.  These pictures aren't the best, but you get the general idea.  Hopefully when the roses take off again and are bursting with green leaves and blossoms, I will get some better pictures to show off.  You can sure see how dry and 'crunchy' our lawn is from the lack of rain! We've even got a couple of tress that are dying... :(

I sound pretty optimistic for someone with 2 brown thumbs, don't I??  But I insist that I should be able to grow roses since it seems that everyone and their brother has roses growing in their yard.  The garden is in direct line of my view to the horse pasture from the window by my computer.  It will sure be pretty WHEN it takes off and they grow nice and pretty.  The lady we bought them from pruned them a LOT....almost like they need to be pruned back about in February, at least in this part of the country. Ah, well. Time will tell.  We got 9 bushes for $60, which is a great deal and not so expensive that we would be out a whole lot if they don't make it.

For my Dixie update, I am SO happy to report that she is doing quite a bit better already!  She seems to be losing some weight on her "crash diet", which helps and she is also getting back to being her frisky self, so we know she is feeling better!  Yesterday, we let her out into the pasture with Susie and they ran and played and Dixie even kicked up her heels a bit!  I was elated!! The farrier will be here again Wednesday to trim her hooves again, which is great cuz they are sure growing fast with no shoes on, as well as her limited exercise.  But she's up to getting a bit more of that, now, from the looks of it and that will aid in the weight loss tremendously!

I Have Totally Lost My MInd

But! Whilst looking for it, I came across these photos I would like to share.

 Jenny Craig for Horses, anyone??  LMAO  Granted the first picture {which is one of my ALL time favorite shots of the Girls} was taken May 12, 2007.  Granted, at that time Dixie {Blonde Butt} was only 2 years old and not yet full grown but almost as tall as her Mama, Susie.  However, as you can see in this photo shot a month ago, she not only is a bit taller (perhaps half a hand) BUTT she is much rounder!  Dixie has definately become one chunk of horse!!

The second photo was shot during the trail ride we went on while Riley and Timmy were here.  I never did get to blog about it, mostly because I spent an entire week driving from there to here and back to there and here again!  The scoop on that is.....every year there is this John Shaddox Memorial Wagon Train that starts out in Harrison, Arkansas a week before the Rodeo of the Ozarks which takes place in Springdale {just a few miles from us}.  It's a pretty neat adventure and there are about 200 participants.  Some ride horses, like Chuck and Riley did, while others drive wagons and buggies and such.  It's quite a big deal.

Anyway, it's about 83 miles from Harrison to Springdale and each day they would ride 12-16 miles or so.  The day would start at about 6:30 AM, at which time everyone would drive their horse trailers, campers, etc. to the campsite for that evening, and a shuttle would take them back to the camp from the previous night where the horses would be waiting.  They would then ride to the new camp site, wash, rinse, repeat.  There were some really nice campsites.   Farmers and ranchers along the trail would make a field available with plenty of grazing and there would always be a stream nearby.  It would have been a lot nicer if they did it at a cooler time of year, but then it wouldn't coincide with the rodeo, which was the original intent. It is, however, a long HOT ride.  For the riders and for the horses. 

Riley had a great time riding Dixie while Chuck rode Susie {once she got over her case of 'saddle butt'  LOL}  And Chuck was bust fending off all the young cowboys that had a tendency to meander over Riley's way.  Hee hee. 

My day consisted of driving the Tahoe pulling the horse trailer to the next camp site and then heading back home with Timmy and Chuck's sister to gather 'supplies' or do laundry, shower, tend the garden, etc.. Then late in the afternoon we would drive back to horse camp and all spend the night and the next AM, wash, rinse, repeat.  It was an interesting week!

Remember Me???

Well, here I am, all set to post an entry (after ALLLLLLL this time) and find out that there will be changes made to the blog background that I am using. It's all easy to 'fix', I just have to be able to access the website of the blog hosting place to make the necessary changes to keep my template and it has been horrendously busy for the past 2 days! Not sure what you'll see if you do venture over here. Probably just "words on a page". Who knows!

Anyway, it will be 2 weeks tomorrow since Riley and Timmy left and I had fully expected to lapse into a coma of complete and utter grief at their departure. I just knew I was going to be lost in a sea of loneliness, surviving only on Pepsi and very large helping of self pity! Boy, was I ever wrong to think I was gonna have time to indulge myself in THAT particular party!

I don't even know where to begin to tell the tale of what happened these past 2 weeks. I guess with the fact that Chuck had to fly out to upstate New York for his Mother's funeral, just a few days after the kids left. As some of you may or may not know, he has his own construction company. Small but very busy and has 2 full time guys and a couple of part timers going most of the time. His "Main Man" has worked for him for almost 3 years. He has been like family. His FAMILY is like family! His parents live down the road from us and we have been good friends with them for quite some time. He has 2 little boys that his mother is raising because his ex-wife is a no-good druggie, apparently more interested in cooking meth than meals. Whatever. Main Man, himself, is more interested in how many girls he can lure in than he is his kids or work or anything else to do with responsibility!

We have tried and tried to help him in every way possible. By setting a good example, by giving him chance after chance when he has left Chuck in the lurch at work. Doing things with his kids. Financially bailing him out on endless occasions, and yes......that eve includes jail. Cuz he's a good ol' boy and can NOT stay out of trouble. I think Chuck saw him as a "project". Someone that had great potential and that if he could just work with him long enough, he'd make something out of him. He blew that for the last time while Chuck was in New York.

There is SOOOO much background to all of this, but I haven't the ambition to write it all and you'd get bored of reading it, I'm sure. Main Man pulled the boner of a lifetime on the day of MIL's service and the phone calls began! Long story short, Chuck fired him over the phone and here I sat to clean up the mess! Sure kept me busy for a few days!!

I had a constant stream of people at my house and calling me, either defending him or condemning him. I tried to fend them all off and tried to tell them that Chuck would deal with it all upon his return, but everyone figured I could "help" and influence Chuck. Actually, that day......my main objective was to keep his other employee working and for us to find Chuck's van, which Main Man had taken. Once we got that, there were tools missing. Most of which were pertinent to the particular job they were working on. Gads!!!! Then I was busy getting Main Man off all the accounts Chuck has around town before he charged a bunch of stuff. I was too late on a couple of them, but got most of them squared away in time.

I think that gives you the general idea of what's been going on around here and why I didn't have a chance to indulge in my pity party! When the dust settled, which it pretty much has.....it was all a good thing.

1. No pity party. That's good
2. Main Man was a lost cause anyway.
3. Chuck now has 2 full timers that will work out much better anyway.
4. So far, much less stress being taken out on me at the end of a long day of dealing with Main Man and his shit at work.

I might go into more later, but for now this is it. Have a great day and I'll be back!