Miscellany, miscellany...

one

a little r&r

Guess who was in town for Thanksgiving!!

CageFighter!! It had been two years since I saw him last, and it was SO GREAT to hug him! I know I've said it before, but I adore this guy!!

Which of course got me to thinking about how cute and little he was when I met him 12 years ago...

I mean who wouldn't love that face?!?!

two

fight, fight!

There was a series of cage fights in Phoenix on Saturday night, so I recruited Diddy to head into the ghetto with me to watch them. (And hang out with CageFighter, see above. :))

It was my first live fight experience. I was a little nervous, thinking that I just may hate the whole thing. No worries, though. I LOVED it! 

Diddy tried to tell Dirty that I was yelling all loud and getting into it and he wasn't. But that was not the case. He was into it just as much as I was.

My concern now is that I may have a heart attack when I watch CageFighter live - I didn't even know these guys and I was all riled up!

three

is this really happening?


A couple of weekends ago Diddy and I were standing in my driveway chatting when the guy across the street came out of his garage and asked if he could trim my Palo Verde tree.


Apparently he bought a new tree trimming apparatus and wanted to try it out on my tree, which wasn't overgrown much at all. He used his new tool for a while then walked across the street and got a pair of smaller trimmers and cut a few more branches then, while he was walking away he said, "I forgot to tell you - I do the fun part, you have to do the clean up."


What?? Luckily Diddy was there to help me pick up the pieces.


four
the countdown


In just ten days, Diddy, Dirty, and I will leave AZ headed for Vegas. It is our annual trip for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and we are stoked!!


I'm going out on a limb here, but I think we are going to - WOO - blow it all out!


head on over to Carissa's page and link-up!

The Ride From Snowy River

About a year ago, I shared with you all the story of the end of my horseback riding career. And I had really held to that until our last trip to the ranch last weekend.

On Thursday, Papa and I were talking and he mentioned that on Saturday, he would like to ride from the gate, along the ridge, then down to the hogan. Then told me that if I would like to ride, he would saddle a horse for me. (Hello, passive aggressive, I'm Airplane, nice to meet you.) I said I would go ahead and ride with him.

After all, he made it sound like a leisurely ride. From the gate, along the ridge, down to the hogan. That is basically only one elevation change - I can handle that. 

I was so misled.

We got dropped off at the gate. Then almost immediately went down into the badlands. Rode through there for a little, came back out of the badlands, rode along the ridge, rode back down, back up, back down, and then ran across the open prairie.

Admittedly, that may be a little exaggerated, but not much.

I will agree that the reason I don't like to ride a horse is because I'm a control freak and that is not a situation in which I am in control. But that doesn't make it wrong. It is just the reality of the situation.

What I really don't like is going downhill - it just defies everything that I believe to be logical.

So, either way. I make it down the first hill with no problems. As we were riding around in the badlands for a while I was telling Papa how I really disliked the downhill portion, and he said, "just stay right behind my horse, and we'll take it slow."

Ok, I can do that.

So we cruise around for a while and are slowly making our way up a hill to the ridge, I am following right behind Papa's horse when all of the sudden his horse goes into a hole, his back legs buried up to the flanks. I freaked out a little, but my horse took control and went around, as Papa's horse got out of the hole.

Later, I was talking to my cousin who was also on the ride, and she said that when his horse went into that hole she just closed her eyes and figured her horse would get her to the top. Probably not a bad idea.

The rest of the ride was semi-uneventful. Though there was a lot of wind and a couple of times that I thought we were going to relive the descent scene of Return to Snowy River. We all survived the ride, but we never found the hogan.

(It occurred to me that not everyone has seen The Man From Snowy River and Return to Snowy River, so this wouldn't make sense to those people without watching this video.)

Thankful

It is not enough to be thankful for the blessings we receive throughout the year, we should share those blessings with others.

Today I am thankful...

...for the sounds of my family in the kitchen, laughing and arguing while preparing the Thanksgiving meal.

...for Granny B. She makes me crazy, and I may have just uttered a bad word because she tried to put my coffee cup in the dishwasher while I was still drinking out of it, but I am so thankful that I have had 30 plus years with her.

...for the love and support of my family. I know that I can be a pain and sometimes even difficult to deal with, but they love me unconditionally.

...for the opportunity to be an aunt. (And the best one ever, I might add.) 

...for my job. I love it.

...for the ability and freedom to try all of the things I have even a little interest in.

...for Crossfit. I've never felt better in my life. I love my gym, the people there, the support. It's like I finally found the place I belong.

...for the familiar smell of the wood in the table that I got from the ranch house. It didn't occur to me when I got the table that it would hold the smell of a ranch meal cooking.

...for my friends. I have been truly blessed in life with some of the best friends a girl could ask for. Each one has come into my life when I needed them and enhanced every day since.

...for the men and women in uniform who protect and serve every day. Soldiers, fire fighters, police officers - you make this world a better place and do not get the credit that you deserve.

...for the people who read this blog. Even though I'm a totally inconsistent entertainer.

Bittersweet...

...Memories. That's all I am taking with me.


The family ranch has been sold.


For a lot of reasons, this was the best decision for the family.


But for a lot of reasons, it was also a very difficult one to make.


For over 30 years, H&M ran cattle and sheep on that ranch. There is a lot of history and a lot of stories about the time there. And I wish that I knew it all.


For my part, I certainly have stories and memories and I will likely share some with you in the next week or so.


For now, please enjoy the pictures that I have taken in our last two trips up to ship cattle.

I will miss this water tank and windmill - they are my favorite things to take pictures of. Also, I'm loving Instagram now!

Dirty taught me about an app that allows you take a lot of pictures and then put them together in a panoramic shot - clearly, I enjoyed it. (I think if you click on these it will bring them up in a bigger size on your screen so you can see more detail.)

There's that windmill and water tank again... One of the things that upsets me (for all of you) is that there is a not a camera that can capture the sheer beauty of Elephant Butte in the background of this picture. Seriously, I have taken A LOT of photos of that butte, and not one of them even comes close to how awe inspiring it is in reality.

Another Instagram photo. This is on the south side of the ranch, just coming through the gate.

This is a full circle view. Papa and I climbed up onto a hill of the badlands to look for a bull and I took advantage of the vantage point to get what I think is a pretty cool picture.

H watching the sorting and shipping of the steers and heifers during Halloween weekend.

Tiny loves the ranch!

That hat that Bunner is wearing was Popie's hat. I absolutely LOVE that he wears that hat. Every time I see it, I smile.

Tiny apparently does not like to have his picture taken...

Biggie doesn't mind it so much though.

Miscellany Monday - Making a Comeback!

one

 BigSurprise came to town last weekend for a quick visit. It was everything that you can imagine, and more! We laughed so hard we cried! 

I really should get better at documenting my life with pictures. Maybe one of these days...

For now, you will have to sustain with this picture of BigSurprise, me, and Dirty at the baggage claim - you got a lot of luggage in your name - sorry, I got sidetracked.

Dirty and I thought we were hilarious with our sign to greet BigSurprise at the gate!

two

The sisters, Rejuba, and I hosted a baby shower for Banana this weekend - you can head over to her blog to see pictures of the festivities.

(See #1 regarding being better about documenting my life...)

After the shower, I hung around Sissy's house until Biggie's football game started - Tiny slept through the entire shower and woke up right as everyone was leaving. Match had put him to sleep right after his bath so when he woke up he had some crazy hair - I wanted to take his picture and this is what he did...

three

Can't forget a picture of Biggie at his game. He was not all about me taking his picture...

I'm still trying to figure out Instagram...

four

I got an iPhone. And I'm totally overwhelmed by it!

Do you use Pinterest? I'm totally overwhelmed by it as well!

five

If the definition of "whelm" is "to submerge; engulf" - is overwhelm redundant?

six

I owe you lots of posts - and I'm going to try to get some down in the next couple of days, I promise.

seven

Did you read The Hunger Games? I LOVED the series! Have never been more into a series of books.

Well, they made a movie. And though I have no faith in Hollywood, I watched the trailer today for the movie - and I think they may have done it!

I'm all of the sudden super excited to see the movie!