2008 in Retrospect...

Today is New Year's Eve...I can't believe another year has come and gone, but welcome 2009 with open arms! :-)
2008 has been quite a bittersweet year. When I look back at everything that has happened in my life in such a short time, it makes me very aware that God really does carry you when you can't walk, and when you get to the other side of things, He gives you blessings beyond belief.
January 2008:
The heart-breaking end of a 6 year relationship with a man I thought I would spend the rest of my life with. But it was also the beginning of another adventure. :-)
February 2008:
Purchased my little 101 year old "hovel" on a farm and moved to Yutan, NE. I grew up in the country and when my folks split up we moved to town. I spent nearly 30 years feeling like a piece of me was missing. When I found this place, I felt like I had found home again. So like Jed Clampet, I loaded up the dog kennel on a flatbed trailer, packed everything I owned and moved! Finally, I was able to have my horse, Cowboy with me where I could see him every day. I also brought with me my two blue heelers Lucy (who was pregnant) and Neuman, Lucy's pup from another litter I couldn't part with!
March 2008:
My friend Barb was diagnosed with Cancer. We had talked about her wanting to get a horse as she had ridden as a kid as well and missed it just like I did. I told her "NO MARES". On March 29th, Ki, the mare, came home with us.
Lucy gave birth to 5 puppies!
April 2008:
Suffered my 5th heart attack. Quit smoking.
May 2008:
Petey (Sweetpea), one of Lucy's puppies was adopted as another family member, as I just couldn't bare to part with her.
Sent my son Tyler down to live with his dad, uncle, and oma in Topeka.
June 2008:
Tornadoes and flash flooding....consistent digging and piling dirt around the foundation of the house!
July 2008:
Another stay in the hospital!
August 2008:
The devastating "down-sizing" of a job I absolutely loved after nearly 6 years.
The stray cat in the barn had kittens.
September 2008:
Job hunting, and more job hunting!
October 2008:
Accepted a job, called sister Kathy on my second day at work as I crouched under the table in the conference room stating, "What the hell was I thinking???? I think I made a huge mistake!"
November 2008:
The loss of another job...grateful to be put out of my misery!
Thanksgiving at Kathy's house and the privilege of having my other sister Kara and her family stay with me. :-)
December 2008:
The job search continues.
Pipes froze due to temps.
Ozzie (one of the kittens) now lives on my back porch.
Spent Christmas with my friend Barb and her family.

I have been so fortunate to have friends and family who are always there for me. Life doesn't always work out the way we want it to, but it does go the way it is supposed to go. That is life, on life's terms.

I'm still waiting to get to the other side of the "seemingly bad" and look forward to seeing what the new year will bring. :-)

So come ooooonnnnnnn NEW YEAR! This one has had it! ;-)

Happy New Year Everyone!

Holiday Sentiments

What a wonderfully laid back day it was today! I got up, fixed a cup of coffee and headed out to the barn to give the horses their Christmas goodies. Today, they each got a full scoop of grain, a whole bale of hay, and some apple treats!

My morning was spend talking with friends and family exchanging Christmas cheer and sentiments.

Later, I went to my friend Barb's house to spend Christmas with her and her family. Barb's family consists of husband Keith, daughters Rhiannon and Koren, and son-in-law Phillip. She also has three pugs, Scarlet, Rhett, Dexter, and a Boston terrier named Stitch! Below is a picture of Scarlet and I giving our version of "Bah Humbug!"

The day was filled with laughter as on one occasion I bent down to give Rhett Butler a bite, and low and behold let a not so silent fart that lasted nearly 10 seconds. All I could do was pray that it would be over soon and that not everyone heard it! Barb and I laughed until we nearly cried. I kept hearing my dear Grandma Ford in my head saying "Yee dawgies girl! If you'd have fingered that one, you could have played Yankee Doodle!"

I got the opportunity to play Wii, which I had never seen or played before. Barb was quite pleased with herself that she kicked my butt in a boxing match. I swear I nearly dislocated my shoulder!

While we were playing, Phillip came out and showed me the biggest bottle of tequila I have ever seen in my life! He pointed out that it was still quite full, and I informed him that if he would have shown me that back in my drinking days that most likely if I had been there earlier, it was water and he just didn't know it! :-)

It was hard to pull myself away from the fun, but I knew if I didn't get home soon, I would have three very upset heelers to contend with! When I arrived home, two of the three were happy to see me, while the other one (Petey) hid behind the couch as she had torn up yet another of my DVDs!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I'm pooped and on my way to bed now. Thanks again to family and friends for everything you do! :-)

A White Christmas!

Although temps have plummeted enough to create some obstacles to overcome here at the farm, the peace and beauty of the farm makes it all worthwhile. :-)

I got up this morning and observed my morning ritual of getting a cup of coffee and sitting down at the kitchen table. When I looked out the window, it was so quiet and WHITE outside! The sun is out today so the snow is very bright and it looks like God sprinkled glitter everywhere. It definitely looks like a holiday....yeah.......definitely.......definitely a holiday. :-)

My family and friends are all in my thoughts...so here's to wishing everyone a very MERRY CHRISTMAS! :-)

"The Night Before Competition"

This wonderful poem was written by my dear friend Bonnie. I had the privilege to ride and shoot with Bonnie in some Cowboy Mounted Shooting competitions. Not only is Bonnie a sharp shooter, but a teacher, writer, and artist as well! Thanks for the smiles Bonnie!

The Night Before Competition
by Bonnie Andersen
‘Twas the night before competition, when all through the camp
Not a shooter was stirring, not even the champ;
The holsters were hung by the trailer door with care,
In hopes that clean pistols would soon be in there;
The Wranglers were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of new buckles danced in their heads;
And Ma in her Wah-Makers, and I in my chaps,
Had just settled down for an evening night cap,
When out in the arena there arose such a clatter,
I fell out of the trailer to see what was the matter.
Away to the crows nest I flew like a quail,
Threw open the door and leaned over the rail.
The moon on the breast of the newly plowed ground
Gave the luster of mid-day to the objects around,
When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature rider dressed in all his cowboy gear,
The little old codger was lively and quick,
I knew in a moment this was no hick.
More rapid than eagle the courses he flew,
And he shot, and shouted, like a true buckaroo;
The "X", and the Post, and the Dice and the Arrow!
The Double Run Down, the "T" and the Desperado!
To cross the time line, in just a blur!
Now Giddy-Up! Giddy-Up! Whip and Spur!
As lightening and thunder before the storm brews,
The black powder from pistol, at each shot it spews,
So around the barrel the courses they flew,
With guns a blazing, one shot takes two.
And then in an instant, he was done with the run,
He slowed down his horse and holstered his gun.
I drew in my head and turned around,
Down the steps of the crow’s nest, I flew with a bound.
I rounded the corner and opened the gate,
Strolled into the arena to ponder and wait.
He was dressed all in leather, from his head to his foot,
His clothes were all tarnished with black powder soot;
A box full of ammo he pulled from his bag,
He lit up a smoke and took a log drag.
His eyes were all wrinkled! Their glow was quite scary,
His cheeks were all weathered and really quite hairy.
His droll little mouth was tight as a rope,
And years of hard labor made his shoulders slope.
The .45 pistol he held in his grip,
With a matching one attached to his hip;
His legs were bowed and his boots were quite dusty,
He winced as he moved as if his joints were all rusty.
He was as tough as they come, in a cowboy way,
And I thought as I watched him, he was good in his day;
A wink of his eye and a tip of his hat,
Soon gave me to know I was right about that.
He spoke not a word, as was the creed,
And loaded his pistol; then mounted his steed,
Raising the reins within his left hand,
He gave me a nod, and looked over the land.
He rode to the hill and turned to the side,
Raised his hat in farewell, and thanks for the ride.
But I heard him exclaim, as he rode out in the night,
"Keep your butt in the saddle and a balloon in your sights."

Oh, the lessons in life...

The other day I woke to find the temp in my house at 50 degrees. We had a major cold front move in that dropped the temps to an average of 3 degrees and wind chills in the -degrees. I quickly cleaned out my wood burning stove in efforts to get things warmed up. I stumbled into the kitchen to make some coffee and discovered that I had no water in the kitchen, the pipes had frozen. Oh the joys of living in a 101 year old farm house. :-) I immediately stuck the blow dryer down the hole under the sink to begin thawing the pipes and was lucky to have water within 20 minutes and no damage. Lesson: When temps are this low, always leave the water trickling so it won't freeze!

The next task on my list was the morning ritual of going out and feeding the horses. I noticed when I got to the barn that their water was getting low. There isn't a water pump in the barn, so I have to string a garden hose from the pump out by the garage to the barn. Not a big deal and I have been really good at disconnecting the hose when I'm finished and walking the water out of the hose so it won't freeze. However, this particular morning water must have accumulated in the hose as it was frozen solid and no water was coming through. I thought perhaps if I worked my way up the hose bending it to break the ice up, I might be able to get some progress. Nope...no joy here. The horses still had enough water to last them until the next day so I decided to bring the hose inside the house to thaw.

I spent nearly 1/2 hour wrestling with the frozen hose trying to coil it up to bring it inside. I finally got it to where it was manageable to carry and was gingerly carrying it up to the house when suddenly I found myself parallel to the ground. Yet another life lesson: Crocks (or as my sister Kara refers to the knock-offs as "Crooks") will keep your feet very warm, but they are made out of rubber and have no tread. Lesson: Not recommend to wear during snowy, slick conditions. I lay there for a moment flatly stating "This is going to leave a mark", then picked myself up and went inside struggling with the discombobulated hose.

The next morning, I was able to easily coil the hose up and prided myself in the fact that I had positioned both ends of the hose to drain into the sink so I wouldn't have a water mess to clean up. I did notice that I had cracked the hose in one place where I had bent it to break the ice, so I patched it up with good ol' duct tape and proceeded out to water the horses.

I got everything hooked up and in position. I turned on the water only to observe what was once a hose was now a "soaker hose"! Lesson: Never bend or kink a frozen hose in attempts to break the ice. Every place I had bent the hose had a left a hole in the hose! Who knew???

So today I go into town to buy another hose....given what I have had to learn the hard way, I think this one will last a while!

P.S. For those of you wondering, yes...I think my mother may have dropped me on my head when I was born. :-)

The Best Laid Plans....

This is Ozzie, Oz for short. He is the last remaining kitten from the litter I found in the barn in August. As you can see he is a little black fur ball with eyes and I be surprised if he even weighs two pounds.

Since I moved to the farm, critters have come and gone, but somehow I never get used to them dying or disappearing. I try very hard not to get too attached, but my avid love of animals tends to always get in the way.

Oz was the only male born in the litter and is and always has been the "mama's boy". Zippy (the mom) continues to live and hunt in the barn and for whatever reason, Oz refuses to wean himself, nor does she encourage it even tho she has no milk to offer him. I have been worried about Oz getting dehydrated as he won't drink the water I set out every day. I also set out kitten chow. So I started taking out powdered milk for him in hopes that he will eventually start drinking out of the water bowl as well. He has gotten to the point that every morning I go out to the barn to feed the horses, he comes running and acts as if he is starving. I have worried that he can't take care of himself and won't survive the winter.

Well, yesterday he didn't show. I thought maybe he was off hunting with his mom (ha!) but then she appeared. No Ozzie. And wherever she is, Ozzie is... I thought that maybe he would be there in the evening when I put the horses to bed for the night. Again, he didn't show.

So this morning, I headed out to the barn again in hopes that he would be there, and was disappointed to only see Zippy again. I emailed my friend Barb (who is Ozzie's surrogate owner) to let her know he is gone. We both beat ourselves up for not bringing him inside.

I decided to go out and comb the wooded area of the farm in hopes of finding him. As I headed out, I decided to check the barn again. To my surprise, there he was! He came out of nowhere! I was so excited to see him I almost scared him. Barb and I had decided that if by some miracle he ever came back that one of us would make him a house cat. This is where the "best laid plans" come in:

I called Barb to let her know the good news. I decided to bring Oz into the house and see how he did with the three heelers (with cat killing instincts). Oz was a little nervous at first but quickly acclimated to being inside. He never left the kitchen table and didn't seem to be too concerned about the three dogs looking at him with lunch in their eyes. The dogs were more upset than anyone! Lucy kept pretending to sniff and lick him and then quickly try and snag him with her teeth!

I mixed Oz up some warm milk and he sat contently on the table drinking his milk and walking across my laptop as I was using it.


I was just thinking to myself that this could work, when suddenly Oz walked across the table, butted me in the head with his head, purred, then turned around and exploded diarrhea all over me, the table, my cell phone, and the computer mouse! He just kept walking across the table as if this was just a normal event in the day and life of Oz. I, on the other hand sat gagging, paralyzed in disbelief with a lap full of Ozzie poo. Funny thing is, the dogs quickly disappeared through the pet door and didn't come back in!I called Barb to let her know that Oz is ALL hers. Needless to say, Oz is back out in the barn with his mom.

So it just goes to show that sometimes the best laid plans are better left to those more qualified to handle them! :-)

Congrats Cassie!

Better late than never! Last Friday I had the honor of attending my niece Cassie's graduation from cosmetology school! Well done, Cassie! She looked so pretty and my heart filled with emotion as all of her classmates stood in line to hug and congratulate her.

As I watched, I couldn't help but remember waaaay back when I finally graduated cosmetology school. At that time it was a nine month course which took me 18 months to complete! School interfered with my priority of partying first, so it was very difficult to get up on Saturday mornings to attend! My sister Kara used to come into my room and sing to me in my hungover state, "Beauty School Drop Out.....Go Back to High School"! Wow, sure glad those days are over! :-)

Merry Christmas!

Compliments of my creative and perverse humored sister, Kara! Hope this brings you as many laughs as it brought me! :-) For those of you who are wondering who these people are, this is my mom (Crazy Jane), three older sisters (Kristin, Kathy & Kara), and me!

How Do You Keep A Turkey In Suspense?

This is the thanksgiving phone call I have called my Aunt Ann with nearly every year, for years. :-) Tradition...I guess it comes in many shapes and forms.

This was a Thanksgiving I was really looking forward to this year. Although emotionally reflecting was painful at times, I took comfort in being able to freely be with my family this year. I was like a kid at Christmas time anticipating the moment we would all be together again.

My sister Kara, my brother-in-law Clay, and my niece and nephew Payton and Scott were all coming from Colorado, so I spent two days painting the "creepy green room" getting it ready for them to sleep in. I'm glad I had a project, or I would have been climbing the walls. :-)

Everyone arrived safe and sound and we went to my sister Kathy's house for Thanksgiving dinner. As always, the food was wonderful (special thanks to bro-in-law Steve for being quite the baker this year!). My Mom and Russ, sister Kristin and nephew Kameron, were also there. My son Tyler came later in the day and I was so excited to see him as I didn't think he would be here until that Friday.

Way too much to write about! Below are some pics I took with my handy dandy cell phone!