Rich

When I was a teenager in Northern Michigan, I was a die hard downhill skier. We had a few excellent ski resorts in my area. Before I had a drivers license and couldnt get a ride from anyone, I have been known in the company of my high school friend Rich, to ride the 'Pud' bus to the slopes. By 'Pud' bus, I mean the county's small bus system, it is called dial-a-ride and when a bus is going your way, they pick you up wherever your at for a dollar (back then it was $1). A lot of losers(DUI's, jobless, ect..) rode the buses, hence the name 'Pud'. My first job was at the closest resort to where I lived. Rich and I both worked there. We'd get there early and ski until we had to work. Our employment there gave us excellent discounts and a season pass only cost me 1/2 price. Which meant I could ski anytime the runs were open. Night skiing was always my favorite. The slopes were not too full after dark unless one of the local radio stations had some promotional event going on.The tourists were easy to spot. Neon ski clothes, and a neon lift (chairlift) ticket taped to thier jacket's zipper. All of us locals had season passes, a little picture badge to wear around your neck or on a clip. Usually the lift operators knew us locals all by name and by the color of our ski gear/apparel. We hated it when the tourists invaded our turf on the weekends. But, the weekends brought NasStar Racing. They had 2 kinds of races:
1. downhill, a steep descent in a race against time
2. slalom, raced on a sharply twisting course marked off by flags

I once won a gold in the slalom. My friend Rich was a talented skier, he rarely never won anything BUT gold pins. We had a great boss and he let us race on our breaks when we worked saturdays.

Best friend L. was not an excellent skier. But she came along to be a good sport and she also thought Rich was hot. Besides, the local resort was the hot spot in the winter. L. used to snow-plow her way just about everywhere and stayed on the simple runs, never venturing with us when we took off in a pack, whooping and hollering down the black diamond and double black runs. She'd always be waiting at the bottom of the hill, usually talking to some guy hitting on her. Best friend L. was never at a loss of men wooing her, she had a pretty good following.

Anyhow, what got me reminiscing was this evening, I cleaned out 3 jewelry boxes, one that I had packed away a very long time ago. Inside I had my NasStar pins and 4 of Rich's Gold pins he had won during the winters of '85 and '86. A Rossignol key chain that came with my last new pair of skis and a picture of Rich in much better days. His Kevin Bacon styled hair and his big, even toothed smile, and his trademark black ski clothing, he was standing on his bright red skis. I looked at his picture and remembered him riding me double on the handle bars of his BMX bike before we could drive. I remember how bad I made him feel when I started dating M. who that the cool car and was 2 years older than us. Rich still came around, flopped on my bed and we listened to Metallica, Quiet Riot, and other metal bands. We just talked and hung out. Rich was the oldest in his large Catholic family. I visited him a lot at his home, a warm and friendly house it seemed when I was there. Rich never seemed really happy to me. He used to do stupid stuff, like jump off the chairlift at a high point before it quit, he was agile as a cat, but still he took big risks. Once he told our High School Principle to "F*ck Off", the guy needed to be told that, but ummmmmmmm not by a student. He moved down state to Ann Arbor right after we graduated. Rich was very smart, he scored 3rd highest on his ACT's in our school system. He had plans to attend the University the following fall. Best friend L. and I were attending college a lot closer to home.

On our X-mas break my first year in college, I bumped into Rich at the local ski resort. He looked bad, like he was living a hard life for all of his barely 19 years. He was skiing with a money crowd, but the kind that didnt come from good money. He was drunk or messed up on something that last day I saw him. I remember our last chair lift ride up the back of the mountain. We were sitting side by side just like we did years before, swinging our skis and watching the people under us. Rich didnt have much to say except he dropped out of college and was playing his sax at gigs for money. His parents followed his move down state, he was happy about that. Then we jumped off the lift. When we reached the end of our ramp and we were both poised at the top of the mountain preparing for our steep descent, Rich leaned over and gave me a huge goggle and ski boot clanking hug. He let go and disappeared into the blowing snow. Almost a year later to that day, Rich overdosed on New Years Eve. Intentional? I do not know, maybe.

Rich's sister M. is 2 years younger than him and looks just like him. I bumped into her about 3 years ago in my home town. She went off to school and married a chiropractor. She seemed quite happy. We talked inside Wal-Mart off to a corner that was not so busy. She said both her parents has passed away. Things were always strange after Rich died she said. Her parents never got over it, especially her father. She had moved back to our hometown when she married and they were living on Maple street in her parent's house. I was suprised they still owned the remodeled farmhouse. I drove by there a few days after our visit and noticed a lot of flowers and welcome signs in the yard. Tonite I emailed her a copy of the picture of Rich, she was delighted and sent me back one of he and I sitting inside our schools gym looking like a couple of flash dance characters...it was funny. I had some HUGE 80's hair going on...

Random Thoughts Friday

Wee One and I went swimming. It was fun. Toddler Terror had a blast inside his little floaty-tube. He wears a a floaty swimsuit (has a floaty sewed inside front/back). His Aunt J. gave it to him last summer when we were swimming Lake Superior, the current is suprisingly strong. He bobbled around the pool like a little cork today. We threw his big green ball and he laughed at mom when I put on son #1's swimming goggles and dove under water, then tickled his feet. We used Aunt S.'s dive sticks and Wee One threw them from his floaty while I dived, he enjoyed that! So did I, until he conked me in the head throwing one, then I needed a break.

We were barely home long enough to get our dry clothes on and Wee One was fast asleep. So, I went outside and brushed, fly sprayed Scooter, looked at his hooves, gave him a sliced apple. Then I came back inside and did some messy desk rearranging. I had some random thoughts going thru my mind. Ill share, I KNOW y'all are just dying to know.....okay maybe not, but humor me, pleease.

Is Richard Simmons really gay? at this link it quotes him as saying "I might as well be gay."

I have a lot of change. It is everywhere, car, truck, desk, purse, drawer, 2 jars, 2 old ashtrays....these are the ones I can recall off the top of my head. Pennies, dimes, knickles, quarters. I want one of those change rolling machines.

I think I need some prozac.

I wish the bad-mannered draft/ponycross owner would call.

I am beginning to suspect the rumors of C.L. and C.T. being lesbians is true. Ive seen them 3X on different back roads with one car parked and them both sitting together in another car.

How did this lightbulb get inside a Man's Anus?

Why does it seem our judicial system is designed to protect the criminals and prosecute the innocent? This is unacceptable.

We have no 4th of July plans, no fireworks either. I do NOT want to go to the lake w/ sister-in-law S. and hubby's brother.

I want to start Smoking again. The craving is huge!

I really do not believe they found Noah's Ark.

I miss son #1 a lot. I want to see the movie Click with Adam Sandler. It would be great to go with son #1, Sandler is his favorite actor. But, I know son #1 is having the time of his life.....

There are a lot of religious bloggers, lots of born agains blogging about it. I did an Oklahoma blog search and I felt like I clicked a religious button.

I wonder if I'll ever recover my Lost Faith.

Are those 2 pieces of cheesecake going straight to my already huge ass? No beer for 2 days just incase.

My house doesnt have many groceries. I really need to get to the grocery store and just DO IT(marathon shopping trip). I wish I could get by shopping monthly, like I do with horse feed, but that wont work, bread goes stale......

Okay, enough from my fuzzy mind. Y'all are off the hook.

TGIF....Right?

This is the kind of day I am having(in reference to the above picture). Friday seemed like it would never get here. Even tho mine has started out frustrating, I think it'll just get better...right? My computer is a nice, fast one. It'll be 2 years old upcoming X-mas. I still like it. I have TONS of memory left. It is a more stream-lined version tower/desktop, takes up very little room, I like the flat panel LCD moniter, it is bright and clear. We can only get dial-up here but our privately owned phone company just switched to fiberoptics and recently buried our phone lines. So, since my AOL software is 2 years old and has some glitches, like shutting my puter down ect..just stupid annoying crap, I called AOL to check into 'fast speed connection' and a question I had before I installed the new AOL 9.0 I received in the mail. Here is what I went thru:

First I give all my info to robot lady voice. Then I am instructed to choose off the menu....like I am at red Lobster ordering my side dishes or something. (I WISH!)

I say aloud my selection off the phone menu, robot lady voice gets it wrong, I do NOT want account billing help. I WANT software support. Robot lady voice says"please hold, I do not know your selection".

I sit there listen to bad 70's porn music.

Wee one is pushing every button on the dishwasher. I lead him away, give him some builiding blocks, attempt to play with him while on hold.

The porn music stops, I hear ringing, I hear click/click....nothing for 20 seconds..then more bad 70's porn music.

Wee one has no interest in blocks or playing w/ mom, he would rather throw his stuffed animal into the kitchen sink, get it out, then repeat the cycle.

I am still holding, I decide to install the new version software on my computer myself, while holding. It freezes up my computer when I click the button I am NOT a new subscriber. A long string of 4-letter words comes out of my mouth. Wee one informs me has has to 'poop'. So, I put him on his potty chair for the 25th time this morning.

I end up unplugging my computer and restarting it. Wee one is happily sitting on his potty singing "I farted, I farted, I farted". The bad porn music stops and I hear ringing. The ringing is answered by a foreigner. He is polite and seems knowledgable, or I think so, I can only understand every 3rd word. I check on Wee One, he is ready to get up. I help him, while listening to the foreigner. Wee One did not poop. I am not happy.

I go back to my puter, still listening to the foreign guy, he says he needs a different physical address because mine is not showing up in the database. Im like "WTF?" So, I tell him forget about the high speed stuff, I need help installing the new AOL software. Foreigner says he cant help, he'll switch me to someone who can. I hear click/click...more bad porn music.

I set Toddler Terror at the dining room table with his waterproof markers and color book, he seems happy, I go back to getting my computer working while listening to bad porn. I lean back in my chair to check on Toddler Terror and I see him squatted down under the table grunting. He just crapped his pants.

Okay, by now I am very frustrated, I have a dull headache from the 70's bad porn music. I hang up the phone and go change Wee One's britches. After that mess is dealt with, I come back to my puter, set Toddler Terror in the chair next to me with his brothers gameboy, and install the software again. Thankfully this time it works. I took 2 college semesters on this kind of sh*t and I am still technically challenged.

There was a closet here at my house that the door would not shut, probly because I shoved everything in it that did not have a place. I cleaned out that closet. I think I gave myself a back strain dragging trash bags to our outside trash can......I hope hubby was not wanting that oblong funny looking metal part-thing.......

This afternoon I was supposed to go to Tulsa to pick up hubby's new boots. I decided I am NOT going to drive down there on a friday pre-holiday, probably payday for everyone, rush hour traffic. Instead, Wee One and I are going to hit the pool at sister-in-law S.'s house, they are gone away camping (like everyone but me). Sister-in-law S. called a few days ago and asked hubby and I to watch thier house and feed the wild cat that lives in thier old barn. She also said to feel free to use thier pool, which I am!

E.T.

My neighbor has the coolest windmill. It is little A.s family. They all went on a campout to the lake for the holiday. Her grandmother asked me to feed thier animals, just tonite only. Little A's father is coming home late tonight from his pipline job and will take care of them until saturday, then he is going to the lake to camp as well. I am not sure who is taking over feeding duties after that, A's grandma said she had it covered. I am inclined to think that she might make a daily trip in from the campground because she was worried about her garden and a calf acting sickly. So I went over there about 30 minutes ago. Her little brown and white pony looking happy amongst the cows and calfs. The little sickly calf looked okay, he was nursing off his mama and up on his feet. I gave him another lookover before I left and he seemed alert, no head hanging going on. I was satisfied. The geese threw a fit when I entered the yard, I carried my long stick (used to be a shovel handle) and kept the little buggers in front of me until I was out of thier reach. They squawked the entire time I was feeding, they even tried to chase me out of the yard when I departed! They are great watch dogs. Maybe Ill get a pair of those myself......maybe not, they crap everywhere! ICK

My friend E.T. yep those are her initials, has some beautiful Palomino horses(they really belong to her parent's, she owns one horse). I met E. when we attended the same out of town OSU satellite campus for 2 semesters in 2000. We became good friends and we also car-pooled. She is 11 years younger than me, has been married 2X and has 2 children. Her children live with her parents when they are not with thier prospective fathers. E. also lives with them when without a current man or on the down slide of one. I think everyone has a friend like E. I'll never understand her, but Ill always be her friend. Most of the time her personal life is a complete chaotic mess but the girl is a hoot to hang with. We go thru spells like this : she gets a 'new man' and is off with him for months at a time, I usually dont hear much from her during these times except the occassional phone call or a quick lunch date or bumping into eachother in town which always brings on a 30 minute chat wherever we might be standing at that moment-grocery store, gas station, bank or what have you. Then, when her 'new man' becomes old hat or just out the door, she has all the time in the world for me. She also changes new vehicles like she changes her men or her underwear so I never recognize her half the time! It doesnt hurt that her father is a long time loan officer at one of the better of the 2 banks in town (the town son #1 attends school in).



While Wee One was napping, my house phone beeped and it was E. She was bored she said, at her parents house. Her man is off working somewhere and she is staying with her parents until Sunday. I told her she should come visit but she had another idea. After I told her about the Old Guy being sore and me wanting to ride, she invited me over to ride at her parents 102 acre place when Wee One woke up. Of course, I jumped all over that! So when Wee one woke up, I threw my saddle in the trunk, packed him a small snack/play pack and we went for the 20 mi ride to E's folks. She has some nice parents. They are a bit odd in a religious sort of way so I mind my potty mouth when around them. They arent old style religion like the Catholic ways I was raised with, but that new stuff, hollering, smacking, and yelling about the lake of fire crap. Her mother is a big woman with tight gray curls, she recently had back surgey, a L4-5 fusion (I think) and was thrilled I came over to ride her obese gelding, Nugget.


Her horse was so FAT! I thought my horse and the horses in my care were fat with fat dimples, Nugget had horse cellulite! I am not joking. I had to use E's mothers special order EXTRA LARGE big girth off of her saddle, it was made similar to an Austrailian girth but fit a western saddle. It was strange looking. It almost did not fit my pleasure saddle but I am glad it did, her mom's saddle looked thick and hard, I'd never feel a horse sitting in hers. E. has a daughter 3 months younger than Wee One. E's parents dote on her 2 kids and made thier back yard into a playground that even I thought looked like fun to play in and I am an adult! E's mom offered to keep Wee One while we rode. He seemed fine with her, too busy with his new playmate and new playground that was fenced in for NO ESCAPE. I should have taken a picture of thier backyard and had hubby fashion one similar for us here at home because Wee One had an absolute blast and was not able to escape the confines of the back yard. I took my cell phone because I was worried about her mother's back and Toddler Terror's antics. She was 3 months post surgery and she said she felt great but was still doing her physical therapy for back strengthening and her MD said no riding yet...bummer for her.

E. and I had a good ride. She filled me in on the gossip about her last soon-to-be ex husband going to jail and then getting out and then going back to jail again. She always picks the losers but they usually have a good job or come from money. E. was full of good local gossip and I found myself listening as intently to her as I was to Nugget who was plodding along and swishing his tail at the occassional fly. He was pretty perky for a fat boy and did not need much smooching to get him into a slow comfy lope. We reached a soft, short, grassy spot that went on for ages. Nugget was barefooted and I didnt want him to get sore since he had not been ridden much lately, we steered clear of the rocks and dirt road. We did cross the paved road in front of the house to get to the smoother, grassy pasture. Nugget worked himself up into a lather and he was nice going in a hackmore. I like riding a bitless horse, it is a big difference from a horse that uses a bit. We rode for about an hour, it was HOT in the afternoon sun. When we got back home, we hosed and scraped the horses good, turned them back out after they cooled and dried. Wee One was tired but not ready to leave just yet. So we sat out on thier back shaded deck and watched the horses roll after thier ride and then graze, we chatted about horses in general. AFter I finished my glass of tea and Wee One polished off his popsicle, we made the 20 minute drive home.


While driving home, I saw Him . He was driving his Dodge pick up pulling an empty horse trailer. He was alone, sitting relaxed while talking on his cell phone, wearing his cowboy hat that he always does when he is not working. We were both stopped at the only stoplight in a 45 mile radius, just my luck! I saw him before he saw me, he waved. Did he hesitate? Maybe. Maybe, he was talking to his new girlfriend. Is that why he is way over here in my part of the woods? I heard he was seeing a gal who worked for a lawyer who had offices all over my part of Oklahoma. Did he leave law enforcement for a better paying job? I had no idea. He loved police work, investigations, helping people, getting the bad guy. But, he always wanted to make more money....Why was my stomache doing a flip flop? Geesh, I am really crazy. Wee One protesting loudly from the back seat that he dropped his musical toy and couldnt reach it snapped me back to the present.



Anyhow, it turned out to be a good day. I am exhausted but its a good feeling exhaustion not a drained one but the kind that lets you sleep well at nite. Maybe I can hold off on the whiskey toddy tonite...........nahhh the more I think about it, the more I know Ill enjoy that chilled Canadian Mist on the rocks after a hot shower.

Respecting the Dead

Paying my respects at cemeteries is something I seldom do. But yesterday early evening, I received a call from Aunt Bernie who lives on a small reservation in Kansas. She asked me to go to the cemetery and make sure Uncle C.'s headstone and grave were not dirty or overgrown with weeds. She was concerned because she has not been down in a month to care for his grave because she has been feeling poorly. Of course I said yes. Uncle C. is a full blooded Osage who accepted me and taught me so much about Osages. He made me welcome which in turn made the acception of my Chippewa presence acceptable admist the Osages. Uncle C. took me under his wing, guided me, and made me an 'adopted part of his clan'. I will forever be grateful to him, he is indeed a wonderful man. Some day, I'll tell you about how I came to meet Uncle C. and Auntie Bernie upon my immediate move to Oklahoma. I honestly believe my own tribal spirits had a hand in our meeting. I found his grave and headstone in good shape, all I had to do was pull a few rogue weeds and brush off grass clippings.

I took my camera on my little adventure which I went on ALONE. I was suprised to see that Governor Joe had a new headstone!


Governor Joe
Paw-ne-no-pr-she
died January18,1883 aged 50
Governor of the Great and Little Osages, Governor Joe negotiated the Cherokees and the US Goverment for the purchase of what is now Osage Reservation......

There is a lot more on the headstone, but I thought you might like an idea about Governor Joe.


Look who I suprsied! This doe appeared to be all by herself, but she never did flag her tail or run off. I suspect she had a little one hunkered down nearby. She was munching on some grass.


A neighborhood horse friend.


A big hill I drive down on a regular basis. Sometimes people like to stereotype Oklahoma as a FLAT state.....that is UNTRUE. Oklahoma is full of hills, valleys, cliff, canyons, acres of sloping praires, and lots of trees and woodlands. I have the best all around landscape, 'cept for missing the Great Lakes.


The longhorns live at the bottom of the hill.



Look at this ragamuffin bunch running about and swatting flys, it was feeding time for them.


This is a nice group of horses. Fat and healthy!


I snapped this picture of Wee One and his daddy back when it was still chilly outdoors and BEFORE hubby shaved his scraggly goatee and gave his hair a trim, he has thick, wavy hair that becomes unmanagable (like in the pic!) His forehead is kinda white because he wears a hat outside all the time but he stays that dark year-round. Wee one looks very pale next to his daddy! I think this was when he was having one of his ear infections, for him to be laying so still or asleep for a long period of time.

Today I think Ill vegetate on the couch for a bit. The Old Guy is still sore, he is unridable today. sigh........The first time in his 27 years he has been sore for more than just one day. The teenager with the draft/pony cross with bad ground manners has not called back about training. Cousin L. mentioned this past weekend he has a broodmare who is rideable and he did not have a foal out of her this year, he was in his 'round about way I think, asking me to put some trail miles on her for his wife's nieces and nephews. Maybe Ill call him tonite and see what this 'broodmare is all about'. I am pretty sure I know which horse he is talking about and she is a tall, stocky roping bred mare who throws some nice foals. She has been a pasture horse for about the last 5-6 years but always seemed calm and not prone to spooking. I am nearing the time I do not want to commit myself to any training jobs. We'll be leaving the end of July to see my family in N.MI and to pick up our 12 yo who's been visiting them all summer. I am just........not sure.......I think I need a personal assistant or a manager, I hate getting bogged down in details!

ever have the urge to throw your cell phone into the trashcan? I just had to overcome that urge a few minutes ago, I WANT AND NEED A NEW PHONE! grrrr! and...Ive been spending wayyyyy to much time w/ my 2 yo, I am picking up some bad habits.

A Little Bit of This

Today I came across Ride For Dreams and I felt like sharing this neat story with y'all. It is Kimball Foord's blog. It tells about he and his QuarterHorse Cody, and also his Austrailian Shepard Cheyenne, as they ride across Canada to raise money for CanTRA-Canadian Therapeutic Riding Association . Pretty cool.



Normally, I am not a confrontational type person. I am out-spoken and take up for myself when it is needed but rarely do I go about looking for drama. This afternoon when Wee One and I were up at the Tribal Clinic to file all the appropriate paperwork with contract health to get his surgery paid for, we had to wait in a small line. Nothing unusual about that at the appointment desk but it was odd at the contract health office. I overheard some of the ladies waiting and it was about mammograms or something similar type test that needed approval from contract health. So, Wee One and I were 2nd in line, waiting our turn patiently. He didnt feel very well and I was holding all 30lbs of him with his little blonde, curly head on my shoulder. A new group of 2 ladies and 2 teen-aged girls got into line behind the older women who had sat down behind me on the hard wooden bench. The teenagers just kind of stared off into space like sometimes teenagers do, not at all interested in thier surroundings. I turned my back a bit to them to get the glare of the sun from a window nearby out of Wee one's eyes and I over heard the older, tall frizzy headed new comer say "Another line. I am tired of these lines. Especially when they are filled with blonde haired blue-eyed people that are more white than any kind of Indian Blood I ever saw". I knew this comment was directed at me. I knew this because the older ladies were obviously Osages, you can just tell, they were most likely full blooded. The tall frizzy headed lady NEVER should have said something like that in regards to me. She really got my hackles up, in a BAD way. I set Wee One down next to one of the older ladies to keep our place in line and walked behind the bench. I just so happened to have my Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB Card w/ my pic) in my hand to give to the contract health secretary (they need to see the blood quantum seal that doesnt show up when copied) My blood quantum is 1/2, that means I am 1/2 Native American. I approached that tall, frizzy headed lady. I said " I do not appreciate your comment about 'white' people', here is my card, you see here, it says 1/2. Mind if I ask about yours?" The spacey eyed teenagers woke up instantly with a suprise look on thier faces, tall frizzy head's friend got busy getting herself a drink from the drinking fountain. Tall, frizzy head said " I dont think" when I cut her off. I said, "No, you obviously dont think before you shoot your mouth off." Then I went and gathered up Wee One before she really p*ssed me off. Luckily it was our turn into the secretarie's office. While walking away, I heard, I think it came from one of the teenagers, "She told you mom!". Then a few giggles from the teenagers and possibly a few from the older Osage ladies too.


I Like green. Its one of my favorite colors. When I think of green, I also think of hubby's eyes, money, pasture grass, my thriving houseplants, long summer days, but NOT a saddle pad or horse tack in ANY form.................this poor horse is fashion challenged but since the stirrups look sorta short, he might belong to a child, if that is the case, all is forgiven!



Wee One has learned some new words from his 2 little cousins he played with today. He learned "shut up" and "make me" and " your a dumbo" and " not me" and now he chants " I farted, I farted, I farted!" Ack! who needs daycare to teach Toddler Terror bad things when he has his little cousins to teach him!?! His new-bad-words vocabulary was suffering since his older brother has been away. Wee One hasnt learned any new bad words since May. No more play dates over at the cousins house!



The Old Guy is feeling better tonite. He is still sore, but nothing like he was this morning. Of course vet J. suggested Bute, which I am leary about, do not want to ask for any stomach problems. I still have the vial I can inject instead of those huge pills that are sometimes given. The Old Guy gets fed 3X a day his Purina Equine Senior feed. Morning, noon, and night. Most people grain thier horses morning/night but since I am home and able to grain him at noon, I do because it is better for his digestive system. When I worked away from home, he was on a morning/night schedule. I cut back his feed today about 1/3 making him graze much more. A lot of times, after he eats his grain he might pick around the pasture a bit but not into any serious grazing unless he has another horse to graze-compete with. I kept him up from in his 'corner' so I could keep a close eye on him if he got worse with his lameness but he didnt. He wasnt happy about the feed cutback, but his fat ass isint suffering, that is for sure! I noticed he spent a lot of the day grazing instead of dozing or standing staring at the house. This kept him up and moving, I think tomorrow he'll be okay again. Tonite, I put inside his stall should the heathen brats start up thier antics again.

I went for a drive ALONE earlier tonite. No Toddler Terror hollering from the back seat and No Husband's presence to irritate...until I got home of course. Anyhow, I took my camera and Ill post the pictures sometime tomorrow, whenever I load them onto my puter........I think I'll have a whiskey, maybe it'll help me sleep tonite.

Wednesday's Agenda

On todays agenda: to damn much! Well........sorta. I am in the process of doing some house cleaning I did not do on Monday because I used the 'sore arms' excuse. Toddler Terror did not allow much sleep last nite, his allergies were bothering him, he was up/down all nite. I have a bothersome twitching going on in my left eye, I think it is the direct result from lack of sufficient sleep. The heathens down the street were doing fireworks again in the road until about 11:30 pm and had the Old Guy all stirred up, he did his routine of trying to get in the middle of all the action. He is very sore today. Limping round a bit, not laying down or anything TOO serious but enough to cause me to worry incessantly. Sigh.......despite the fact I put him back on his arthritis Supplement he is still sore. I am at a loss...............I'll call J. the vet and see what she recommends other than BUTE . Best friend L. took the day off to get some stuff moved out of her old house. I think she said she sold it when I talked to her last nite, but she was on her cell phone that is a POS like mine and she kept breaking up. Anyhow, the part we did get was we'd hook up for lunch today. I have to be in town anyhow, I have some legal paperwork tribal stuff to do and some other papers to get notarized, blah blah BORING stuff but it needs done.

I think this horse looks unhappy...............

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star-jones-reynolds is a woman I cannot stand! Anyone else agree? I am glad she's leaving The View (a show I never watched) but really, I am tired of seeing her face in the news. I think she looks SICK . Another bad move by The View is that they have hired Rosie O'Donnell.........I think the show has a death wish. Rosie is another 'personality' that irritates me to NO END. What is Barbara Walters thinking?!?!! On a sad note Charlie Gibson left GMA for the World Eveing News. I think Charlie deserved the anchor position. I like Charlie, I also like GMA. I am going to miss him!

I'll catch y'all later.......

Picture Perfect

Earlier today when I was making my blog rounds. I read something over at kt living that gave me the jolt(more like a slap in the face) I needed to get over that stupid phunk I was in. While over there reading the shift that almost broke me , I realized I had no reason to be such a whiner. Her post was a wake up call and it made me take a step back and look at myself. I realized, I had no right to be whining about my little phunk. Look at what I received in the mail from my girl FixCat . It cheered me up a lot. Thank you, Fixcat! I really needed the lip balm because my lips are sun-burnt. I have never tried this stuff, Im happy to say I LOVE Burt's Bees stuff. It has a cool tingly feeling right after its put on, but it made my lips feel so smooth and soft. I can tell a huge difference in a few hours after using it, my lips no longer are stinging. When Wee One and I were driving earlier from town, I made the mistake of putting some Lancome lip gloss on them (it was handy at the time) and it hurt after the long-wearing lip gloss dried. OUCH!

The Old Guy back in his 'corner'. I seperated him from the other 2 horses this past weekend. The hard-mouthed, cueless sorrel and BeeBee both left with thier owners..sigh. I'll miss BeeBee for sure, he is such a sweetie. It didnt take him long and he was greeting me with a whinny almost as loud as the Old Guy (BeeBee might be back again soon tho!). The sorrel, eh, he was okay, he came and learned what he needed to learn, but he was not much on personality.I'll move the Old Guy into the big West pasture after the guys are done haying, well actually they are done, they just need to pick up the bales. I walked out there this morning, I saw a HUGE snake that had been sliced up by the cutter, a HUGE snake, a black snake I think. I am glad its a goner now! I do not mind black snakes too much, just when they get big enough to eat our weenie dog Elvis, then I mind A LOT. Maybe that is where little baby rabbits siblings ended up..............

Here is Elvis who got into BIG trouble for chasing baby rabbit into a hole and then tried to dig him out. Poor baby rabbit was near a heart attack I think! I was so mad at Elvis, what a brat.
Good thing Elvis minds, here he is right after I called him away from giving baby rabbit the near heart attack. He is hot. He got a big drink from the hose but ran onto the porch when I sprayed him a tiny bit with it, he is such a sissy.

Our weather has been about 88-90 degrees during the day, these past two afternoons. A nice relief from the big heat-wave we had earlier this summer/late spring. The weatherman says its going to end tomorrow when we'll be back up into the high 90's. Ive accomplished a lot of 'things' that needed to be done outdoors during this small 'cool' spell. I still have a bit of fence to fix but I am going to need a hand doing it, so it'll have to wait until hubby can pry himself away from work to assist me. All the horses in my area have been enjoying the cooler temps. Ive noticed them running and playing much more, even in the late afternoon, which is something they rarely do in the heat of summer at the hottest point of the day.

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I was supposed to go talk to a girl (aged14) and her mother about thier bad-behaved draft/pony cross gelding. Yep, I am serious, he is a draft/pony they said. But, that could mean a lot of things. Anyhow, after Wee One had his nap, we loaded up and started out towards the gelding in need's home. I had just turned onto the highway when I heard my cell phone beeping that I had a message from the bottom of my purse. So I listened to my voice mail, all 2 messages(one was a hang up, I HATE those!). The last one was from the gelding's owner saying her older sister was going into labor and that they were not going to be home for our meeting. So, since Wee One and I were all ready to go somewhere, we went for a road trip out by the Panther Lake Ranch. I didnt mind a whole lot, Wee One seems like he isint feeling real chipper, he is sneezing, just allergy crap. It is probably better for him to be inside instead of the great outdoors until we get this allergy thing fixed.

The Panther Lake Ranch Sign

Some cattle in the shade. All the others ran off except this little black-horned steer, he acted like he might get kinda feisty with me if I came into his pasture.

A horse from the Ranch, I bet this strawberry roanhorse belongs to a girl! See the hearts painted on her face? She also had another one on her other hind-quarter.

Another horse from the Ranch.

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This horse was in a pasture after the Ranch.

This one was in the pasture with the bay horse. They both were kinda scraggly and the sorrel was not so sure about people. The fence they were in was not the best fence either. I am wondering about those horses and who's they are...

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Today was better. It is the first day I felt like taking my camera anywhere. Im glad I did.

Restless Sleep, Broken Dreams

Yesterday the small rays of hope I had of this dark cloud that has been hovering over me for a week, was finally lifting, have vanished. It is like the talons of a vulture have dug in deep and latched onto some tender part of my psyche and refuse to let go. I spent the better part of the day outdoors in the cooler weather accomplishing many things. Toddler Terror was behaving but I suspect his allergies are on the verge of flaring up again and that has his maniac behavior held at bay. I hope this is not the case. I'd take the little maniac monster in him anyday over his feeling poorly from his allergies.

Last night my sleep was restless and full of broken dreams. I dreamt of a white/grey horse behind a wooden fence. At times the beautiful horse was a bright stark white and others a light grey with dark features. The horse had a long, thick, tangled mane. He beckoned me and I climbed the wooden fence and reached the horse, but he turned and walked into the woods on a well worn path. I followed unable to catch this horse until the other side of the woods opened into a clearing full of colored rocks. Rocks like the ones found on the Lake Superior shoreline in Michigan. It was here I found myself a little girl again and sitting beside my mother during Sunday mass inside the Cathedral. The Priest was droning on his sermon and I had my mother's hand inside my own two examining the features of her small hand. Her worn thin wedding rings, the oval shaped manicured fingernails, the blue veins that stood slightly up on the back of her hand. I remember her hand felt warm, soft, and dry. I havent dreamed of my mother for over 20 years. The only dreams I remember of her were the ones I had immediately following her death. I would dream her death was not real and she was infact alive and well. I can also remember the horrible sinking feeling I had when I woke from this dream, knowing it was just that a dream.

Odd how the subconscious mind works. I think mine comes thru my dreams but rarely do I ever remember them vividly like the one last night. Usually they are a fleeting memory or deja vous feeling that lasts mere seconds. My mind is usually so busy from the minute after waking I seldom have time to recover any threads of a dream from the night before.

I have a new horse to look at this afternoon. He has problems. Some bad behavior problems, bad manners is what his owner told me on the phone last night. Most likely he wont need much, a horse's people problems are easily solved. I know I can help this horse and save him from himself.

The Brown Filly

Early yesterday evening, I was outside at my post, oops, I meant the grill. A small movement caught the corner of my eye and there was baby rabbit, he was hopping around and getting closer to me with each hop. He is getting to be a brave little bugger. When I went indoors to fetch a plate for when I took the chops off the grill, I grabbed my camera. Little rabbit was waiting for me and as soon as I snapped his picture, he hopped off under the cedars.

Also yesterday evening, some heathen children from way down the road were riding thier bikes around. They were lighting off fire-crackers or some type popping fireworks in the road on the pavement. The loud sounds had all the horses and cattle in the area in spooked fits. Except, of course, my old guy. He got as close to the black-top road as his pasture fence allows, craned his neck, and even giving the kids an occassional "pay me some attention whinny". He would bolt off and make a quick circle and come right back to the fence waiting for some more fireworks, all the other horses were in the back of thier pastures, as far away from the road as they can get. With the exception of Preacher D's old dun mare, she is deaf and lazy, she doesnt even run to the feed bucket, as far as I can tell.

The week following the weekend celebration in our tiny town, the sheriff and the city lawman had visited the heathen children's house, more than once. Then for a week or so, I didnt see the heathen children anywhere. I was beginning to suspect they were hauled off to juvie, but obviously not.
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Cowboy friend R. called me yesterday afternoon. I had not heard from him in ages, the last time he called was in winter. He got married last fall and since then, I do not think anyones heard much from him. R. married a fussy, city-type girl from B.A. he met at one of the clubs in T-town. As his friends, we dubbed his new girl "Ms. High Society" because she seems to be hell bent on making her way up the local social ladder and into the 'right' crowd. This is something us friends of R. find a bit funny. R. is a good-looking young man, works in his families construction business, cowboys a bit on the side, and about as clueless about social ladders as I am to the mechanics of a cars engine.
Heres our conversation:

After all the pleasantries and informing me he and his family were leaving for Branson first thing Monday morning (today)for a family vacation/reunion type thing, R. got around to telling me why he called.
R."Hey, L(thats me), I need a hand this evening if your not busy."
Me."What ya need?" I learned early on to never answer sure, or yes, until getting the all the facts.
R."My dad and Grandpa bought a couple of colts at a sale a few weeks ago and I need help ponying them up to the house from Uncle B.'s pasture, it is only 3 miles away.Everyone who is capable of helping is at church or not answering thier cell phones" The last part of that remark makes me instantly wary.
Me."I think its more like 4 miles away and why not haul them in the trailer?"
R."They are 2 year olds that are only halter broke, lead broke, the vet had to tranquilize them just so Dad and Gramps could get them into the trailer to get home from the sale barn.They do not trailer well, yet."
Me. Huge eye roll, thinking to myself, this sounds like fun (sarcastically)."Okay." I figured, what the heck, maybe it'll be good for me and snap me out of this phunk.
R."Ive got a horse for you to ride, just bring your own saddle, I know how you only like your saddles." such a smart guy!

So, I make the 15 minute drive over to R.'s parent's place. The only one who greeted me was the cowdogs, barking then wagging thier tails when I called thier names, Bo and Ben. I always remember easy dog names! It has probably saved me from a few dog bites too.

I grab my saddle and pad out of the back of hubby's truck and walk on down the slope to the horse barn and see R. leading a horse to cross ties for saddling. He hollers a greeting and tells me to saddle up this filly he has just tied. When my outdoor eyes adjusted to the inside light, I instantly recognized the dark brown,leggy, narrow built filly waiting to be saddled. It was R.'s Grandpa's horse he sent to the track last winter. I may have groaned my dismay outloud because R. asked me what was wrong. Of course, I said nothing, all the while thinking, I must really have a death wish, but what the heck, Ive ridden worse, right?

The brown filly eyed me as I approached, I extended my hand for the appropriate sniffing, rubbed her shiney, smooth as silk neck, then rubbed her all over so she wasnt suprised when I heaved my heavy western saddle onto her back. She snorted her unhappiness and danced around a bit showing her displeasure of the saddle. When I tightened my cinch, she sucked in a bunch of air, I gave her tummy a small poke and she let it out, I quickly tightened my cinch as tight as I could get it around her lean belly. I realized this girl has learned a few tricks at the track, probably why she is back home.

All the while I was doing this, R. was telling me about the upcoming vacation, his new bride's new employment,thier new house he was building, about the sucky in-town rent house they lived in, just general catching up stuff.I didnt feel much like jabbering so I listened to him, as usual, he didnt seem to mind. R. is never at a loss for conversation. He really is a nice guy.

R. saddled up a sorrel horse I had never seen before, when I asked about the mare, he said she was also 'new' from the sale. He had rode her a few times and she seemed like a nice mare. She was very well built but kinda tall, she had a pretty head and a nice eye about her. I have always thought of sale barn horses as I view playing the lottery. You might win, and you might lose. Ive seen some sale barn horses that are worth thier own weight in gold, I have seen many, many others who were a horse owners worse nightmare.

After we were all saddled and bridled, my leggy filly in a o-ring snaffle, she has never been ridden in anything but that I am sure. My first attempt at mounting sent her doing the jitterbug dance thru the yard, I led her back to the round pen fence, and stealthily put my foot into my stirrup, and quickly swung myself into the saddle before her sidestepping turned into another full blown dance. Sometimes, even my own agility suprises my fat ass!

We rode out at a good pace, I got a feel for the filly. She was all legs and I had to ride her mouth constantly, nothing unusual for a horse straight from the track but unsual for me being a leg cue rider. I could feel my arm muscles working overtime. She was built like a cheetah, her DNA was of speed, fast speed. I really wanted to let her gallop when we got to the sandy 2-track short cut to Uncle B.'s pasture. I told R. this and he was all for it. When we finally turned down the sandy road, it looked good, no rocks, just grass and flat, smooth sand. I started out at a lope, the filly fighting for her head the entire time. I looked back to give R. the signal I was letting the filly go, we made eye contact and I let her loose. She was fast, with a huge ground eating stride. I felt like I was flying, I was desperately wishing for goggles or even sunglasses, the wind was whipping tears from my eyes. I never did give the filly her entire head, I still kept some pressure on the reins, it took darn near all my arm stength to get her pulled up back into a fast lope. By now, my arms were feeling that sweet burning pain of muscles held tense for a long period of time. Once the filly was slowed down and going a good steady lope, I glanced back at R. to see him about 25 yards behind me and his sorrel mare giving him a good bucking about every 5th stride. It was funny!!

We reached Uncle B.'s pasture once R. got his unruly mare under control,and caught the 2 year olds without problem. The ride back to R.'s parents house was without incident. the 2 year olds behaved well with the occassional spook or ornery jump. The brown filly seemed to have a good head on her shoulders, smart, and a quick learner. She paid no mind to the 2 year olds antics or the sorrel mares either. SHe didnt neck rein which was a bit of a problem while I was leading one of the youngsters, but I managed. The filly wasnt riding the bit as much on the way back, probably because she got to stretch her long legs that were built for racing. The brown filly and I became quick friends last nite.

This morning, when I woke up about 4 am, my arms were sore. I am never sore in my arms, those muscles rarely get a rest......packing Wee One around at times, carrying 50# sacks of horse feed, hay bales, saddles, groceries, laundry ect...Sore arms I am NOT used to. I took a ibuprophen and laid on the couch half dozing until 5:50 am. Then I got up, went outside and fed the horses, fly sprayed the old guy after a fast brushing, and set little dog Elvis up in his dog pen for the day. I cooked hubby a good breakfast, sent him off to work before 7:30 am and then flopped back on the couch after starting a load of laundry. I havent done much since, I do not think I will either.....


This is a lovely arabian mare. I like Palominos, they are bright and sunny. Well, the one's not left out to fade in the sun are.........

A Talkin' To

This morning I woke up hoping to be over this stupid phunk.

No such luck..................the blues are still lingering about.


So, before I headed outside, I gave myself a 'talking to'. The same 'get over it' speech Ive given friends in the past. I looked at myself in the mirror and said "self, WTF is your problem? Give me one good reason for you to be feeling this way." I was blank........I had not one huge legitimate reason, just many reasons that seemed overwhelming at that moment. I told myself " Get your ass outside, get busy, get something productive done today. Work up a sweat, work until you are bone tired, nearing a heatstroke, and are even too tired to think. Be thankful your old guy is healthy and is outside whinnying his fool head off for you, be thankful your life is A LOT better than other people's. Enough of this phunk sh*t!"


Ummmm.........I'll let you know if the 'talkin' to' worked later. Meanwhile, enjoy your Sunday.

Random Things 'N Stufff

I discovered a new TV show. Hubby came indoors from mowing the lawn and turned on the TV (because it is always off when I am inside, unless Wee One needs quick entertainment so I can accomplish some task). Hubby started watching CMT Small Town Secrets. Since I am not into country music all that much, I never watch that station. I caught 1/2 of the episode and it was pretty good watching.


While I was watching CMT I saw a mike's hard lemonade commercial that showed how to make a SIMPLE frozen drink: 1 bottle of mike's hard lemonade and some ice into a blender, blend it and there ya go! Next trip to town, I am picking some of this stuff up!




Earlier this evening, while standing over my grill cooking and watching my old horse munching in the pasture while Elvis growled from his dog pen at the baby rabbit eating carrot peelings, the funny story best friend L. told me the other nite came back to mind. I found myself giggling like a silly fool all by myself, grilling tongs in one hand and a ice cold budweiser in the other. Best friend L. is deathly afraid of mice and rodents of any sort. She'd rather face off a rattlesnake than a itty bitty field mouse. When Wee One and I visited the other nite, she gave me a play by play recount about her discovery, hunt, and subsequent killing of the pack rat she discovered inside her barn the day before my visit. She even showed me the pack rat's stash of goodies. After I realized I was giggling all alone with my thoughts, that made it all the funnier. Maybe my phunk is lifting or going away or whatever the f*ck those things do. I hope so, because, seriously, being in a phunk isint my style, if I do not snap outta it in the next few days, I am going to see the good doctor.




Sometimes I miss the show arena.....



Sometimes I miss riding english......


Sometimes I even miss saddleseat on the rare occasion....



Wee One has been carrying around his stuffed kitty he got from his great Auntie Evelyn last summer. He has been alternating between the kitty and the stuffed snake he brought home from the zoo. But, tonite the kitty has been in his company more so. He's been pushing it around in his 'play' stroller, wrapping it up in a small blankie, giving it drinks from his sippy cup. So cute!



My friend Melissa (called Lisa for short) has a manx cat. He is FAT and LAZY and a big HOG. She has to take him to the groomers because he is nasty and gets dingleberries on his ass. Gross, I know! Once she asked me to help her cut them off. I was like, "No way, No f*cking way!"

Sometimes she trolls around here......oh well. If my horse got dingleberries on his ass, I wouldnt ask HER to help remove them! She really needs to put that fat cat on a diet...............