The Wild West Show

RACCOON ARTICLE

2011-02-10T18:41:00.000-06:00

My brothers article appeared in the Grand Forks Herald the other day and I found it online. I am posting the link for others to read it. If you have the time, you should read it. It's entertaining.

http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/192878/

ROCKY RACCOON

2011-02-09T13:40:00.002-06:00

Late Tuesday afternoon my friend, Ben, hit me up on Facebook chat to wish me happy birthday. He also told me about a funny sports story that my brother was currently en-route to check out.

The Carrington, ND wrestling team was disqualified from continuing participation in the regional tournament when it was discovered that the Carrington team came into contact with a live raccoon and were unsure if it had rabies. Somehow the players came across a raccoon that they thought was dead, picked it up, and put it in storage on the bus. Later, when the storage was open, the raccoon ran out alive and well. This story even landed in The Washington Post. (If you don't believe me, just click here)

Now this I find very amusing and disturbing. I feel bad the team couldn't compete in the finals over a raccoon, but what coach, under any reason, thinks that it is okay for kids to pickup and play with roadkill? And why would you want to pick up a dead animal and put it on the bus?

I have to admit that I laughed pretty good when I read this. I cannot wait to talk to my brother and find out what happened. That is something that is going to be talked about forever!

Now I can't get The Beatles song Rocky Raccoon out of my head.

DUMB IDEA

2011-01-28T17:44:00.003-06:00

Today I made one of the dumbest decisions ever.

Since I have a lot of free-time now, I got a goofy idea in my head to shovel off the roof and clear out the ice dams. This would have been a wonderful time for procrastination to kick in, but it didn't, and I headed outside.

The extention ladder was buried way back in the garage behind some old junk and the 4 snowmobiles that belong to the family. With some ease, and a few movements that resembled a bad rendition of Swan Lake, I got the ladder out without breaking my neck.

When I got on top the roof and stood up in calf deep snow, I quickly realized what a very bad idea this was and I should just quit right away; go back down the ladder, put it back in the garage, and go back inside and maybe read a book instead. This was going to take a very long time. The snow was piled insanely high and the ice dams were a good 5 inches thick and spread out 1 foot across the roof. However, my parents didn't raise a quitter and when I put my mind to get something done I do not stop until it's finished (I'm stubborn that way), so I made myself start in on the task.

It took me roughly four and a half hours to get everything accomplished with the use of my ever-trusty transfer shovel and a big snow shovel that I borrowed from my parents house. The only thing that I wasn't able to remove was a section of ice dam about 10 ft in length on the north side of the roof. Everything else came down pretty easy, it was just very time consuming.

My back is very upset with me for deciding to go ahead with the roof cleaning. It's been screaming at me since I finished. Tonight I am going to put the girls down a little early for bed, fill the tub with super hot water, and relax in it for as long as my back wants to be there. I owe it at least that.

Tonight at the grocery store, one of the local men hung up an ad for snow/ice dam removal with roof/yard cleaning. I called him to check it out. He does the whole thing for roughly $100 depending on how bad, or how easy, the job actually is. After what I went through today, paying him the $100 next time around is more than well worth it.

But, hey, at least my roof is clean!

A BIT BRIGHTER

2011-01-26T18:48:00.002-06:00

Good news. I heard from unemployment today and I will be receiving UI benefits once a week for 12 weeks. So I'm all good on that level. Yee-haw!

On the other hand....my car has been making weird noises for three days now. I finally took it up to Cenex late this afternoon to have the mechanics look at it. Wouldn't you know my luck; the trailing bar on the back right snapped completely in half. They ordered a new bar (should be in on Friday) and two of the guys welded it together really good so that I can at least drive my car until the new piece is on. I am surprised that the tire didn't just fly off the car the way the mechanics could slide it back and forth even while it was sitting on the ground.

Cassidy lost another tooth, but it was lost at daycare. The daycare provider, her husband, and the other daycare children tried looking for it but they couldn't find it anywhere. Cassidy is going to write the Tooth fairy a note about her lost tooth. She is worried the Tooth fairy won't visit her. I reassured her that the Tooth fairy will understand and she will still get something for it...even if it's missing. I don't think she believes me, and I told her she is just going to have to trust me on this one.

I am very happy with the new fence. Next spring when I replace the wire around the slough I am going to use more 12.5 high tinsel electric fence. It's strong as hell and isn't breaking. At the most, all I have needed to do to it was go out to the wire stretcher and give it three good yanks and then it's nice and tight again. I also have to admit that the wire is holding one heck of a charge. I accidentally brushed up against it and it made me move pretty quick. From here on out, all my fences are going to be 12.5.

Tomorrow is supposed to be the warmest day of the week. I am going to get outside and try to get some of the crap inside of the garage taken care of and then also go through the trunk of my car. Just the thought of the car trunk alone makes me cringe...but it has to be done.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Wednesday!

THIS IS NOT MY YEAR

2011-01-24T18:13:00.002-06:00

Well, needless to say, the New Year is also a jerk. Apparently it's not my year to make it ahead or get along with anybody.

Unfortunately, I have been chasing horses since the day after Christmas because my fence kept coming down. It took a few days to figure out what was going on. There is a herd of 62 deer living in the shelter belt inside my pasture. They took up residency when two people from town started to feed them during bow hunting season. There is nothing wrong with feeding the deer and this is something that they usually do every year because they don't like to see the deer starve, but 10 deer rapidly turned to 60 when the deer figured out there was good food lying around and this year they decided to stay in my shelter belt.

The townsfolk started to get very upset with the horses running around town everyday. I wasn't any happier than they were about it, trust me. Good Lord, who enjoys herding horses home with their car in 20 below weather and putting up fence every single day for a month. If they thought I was having fun, they were seriously mistaken. I was also getting concerned about the horses reaching the highway. If they were out there in the middle of the night nobody would see them and they would end up killing somebody if they were ever hit by a car. They were becoming downright dangerous. However, the true source of my problem was the deer, not the horses, and I have to admit that I was getting very tired of everyone screaming over the horses while nobody said a single word to the men who drew all the wonderful beasts in. Don't get me wrong, I really like the two men who are feeding the deer. They are good, decent stand-up folks, but they did create a headache for me this year.

I broke down and bought everything I needed for a 12.5 gauge high tinsel electric fence. It was expensive, but also my very last resort. You cannot do much more after putting up a brand new fence. When you do that, you have pretty much hit the bottom of the barrel. I also called the ND Game & Fish and told them that if they didn't help with the deer wiping out my fence I was going to start shooting them out my back door. After I hung up the phone I had two men from the Game & Fish at my door in 45 minutes. The NDGF walked around the property, saw all the deer, found their bedding spots, and eyed the grain elevator where all the food for the deer was being supplied. Unfortunately because of the great thermal protection my shelter belt gives and the 24/7 food supply from the elevator there was nothing they could do because the deer would just return within minutes. They said the next step is to contact the Department of Agriculture to see if any animals can be baited or trapped.

Luckily, since putting up the new fence the deer have not been able to break it so far (knock on wood). But the moment that they do go through it and my horses get out, I will become an avid hunter, pro-poacher, and a life long member of the NRA and will not give a damn what any of my neighbors think of it. Be prepared everyone, because I am going to become the female version of Ted Nugent overnight.

Wednesday was not a good day either. I was let go from my job up at the hog farm. I am not going to go into any of the details. All I have to say is that I absolutely loved that job, it was perfect for me, and I was sad to go. I have high respect for all the managers and co-workers. They did pay me the full bonus that some of the employees will be receiving next month, I filed for unemployment and am waiting to hear back from them, and I did get my taxes filed on Friday and should get my return in two weeks, so I should be okay for a little while.

There is everything in a nutshell. I will write more when I have the time. Right now what I really want to do is to go to town, tie one on with my best buddy, and talk about everything that's going on and heed some of his advice. If anyone can make me see the good points in life when I am at my worst, it is definitely him.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2011-01-01T11:23:00.002-06:00

Winter has been a jerk this year and I am ready to it in the snowballs as hard as I possibly can.

Two weeks ago we were blessed with a winter storm that covered us in more than 15 inches of snow. I wasn't able to make it to work for 2 days because my driveway was filled in and nobody was around to blow the snow out. It didn't matter too much because my car was barely visible in the back yard. My father eventually made it over and blew out the drive. *Thanks Pops!*

The amount of snow we got it pushed down the west fence to my horse pasture. Dumb and Dumber (aka; Mack and Oreo) got out and were running around town. Someone was nice enough to chase them back into my yard and closed my cattle gate going across the driveway. I called into work and told them I would be late. I finished fixing fence and got the horses put away around noon. I walked to my car to leave for work...and the back passenger side tire was completely flat and was sitting on the rim. I had to take the tire off, run up to Cenex to have it repaired, and then put the tire back on my car. By this time it was already 1:30. I called the barn and the barn manager told me not to worry about getting to work but I do have to find time to make up the day.

The following day we had bad weather moving in so most of us out-of-towners left the barn early. When I got to York I noticed that Dumb and Dumber were standing down at my neighbors barn "visiting" his horses. I went home and checked my place. Some deer blew through my electric fence scattering wire and insulator clips everywhere. I quickly gathered up the clips and repaired the fence and then drove down to my neighbors barn and herded the horses home with my car. They have been behaving since repairing the fence. The next time they get out I am going to let my neighbor shoot them on sight. Okay, maybe not literally, but I am sick and tired of chasing horses in the winter.

There was icky weather again last night for New Years. Jessie and I went to the Leeds Community Center for supper. Cassidy didn't want to come with so she stayed with her Nana. Jessie and I gorged ourselves on primb rib and a lobster tail prepared and served by KJ's bar. The food was outstanding. We hung out at Nana's place for a while and I left around 10:30 because I was supposed to work early New Years morning at the barn. My mom kept the girls over night so I didn't have to wake them up at 5 in the morning.

Unfortunately I didn't make it up to the barn. It was still blowing really bad at 6 am. Snow plows had not cleared highway 2 yet making driving conditions extremely tough. I made it half way to road 281 when I had to give up. The white-out conditions and the huge snow drifts were very bad.

So far, I have missed 3 days of work due to bad road conditions. The way this winter is shaping up, I am sure there are going to be many more storm days I will have to take. Things would be so bad if my driveway didn't blow in so darn bad. I tell ya what....I will give a $50 Cenex fuel card to the first person who cleans out my drive after the next snow fall so I can get to work.

I hope everyone has a splendid New Year!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2010-12-26T15:48:00.002-06:00

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday. All of us here did.....well, for the most part anyway.

The barn manager was able to get all of us out of the barn by 1:30 pm on Christmas Eve. I got home as quickly as I could and I packed up some clothing and all the Christmas gifts (which weren't many) and headed over to my parents house in Leeds for the weekend.

My brother and his girlfriend, Emily, had arrived the day before so they were already there when I showed up. My girls were also at my mothers because she kept them overnight on Thursday so I could get to work early on Christmas Eve. I had just enough time to get the girls bathed and take a shower myself and then we were off to 5 o'clock mass.

My mother made cheesy ham chowder and white chicken chili for supper. We devoured it, along with some of her yummy homemade buns, and then started unwrapping gifts.

The girls had a good Christmas. They got Pillow Pets, Squinkies, Zoobles, Play Dough, Breyer horses, Go-Go the walking dog, and many many many more items. They got some clothes too that they needed. They weren't too thrilled about it, but what child is excited about getting clothes. I got some mittens, a scarf, warm stocking cap, two Boondock Saints DVDs, a clutch wallet, two cute ceramic cowboy snowmen, and a gift card to RCC so I can buy some more jeans.

Santa dropped of a Nintendo DS for Cassidy, a Leapster Explorer for Jessie, and an awesome pair of New Balance shoes for me. I really needed the shoes. My old Nike's had completely fallen apart. The rubber soles came off the bottom and what was left of them was tearing away from the bottom of the shoe. I mean, these old shoes weren't even fit for a homeless man, so I was very happy to get the shoes.

The only thing that was missing this year was someone to share it with. I hung a pair of wranglers on the mantle and asked Santa to fill them up for me. Oh well, some other time I guess.

2010-12-26T15:32:00.009-06:00

Cassidy with her Squinkies from Emily.

Jessie giving love to her unicorn Pillow Pet.

Goofy Jessie.

Grandpa's job at Christmas is digging all the toys out of their packages.

Cassidy and her Go-Go Walking Dog from Auntie Lynnette.

The only decent shot my brother got of me.

Goofy Cassidy.

Cassidy and her ladybug Pillow Pet.

Jessie sporting her new kitty hat.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

2010-11-24T18:13:00.002-06:00

I am proud to say that I got the Christmas tree completely up yesterday. After making sure the lights were all staying lit, I let my girls put all the ornaments on it. I will have to take a picture and post it.

I have to work the Thanksgiving holiday and the weekend. Since the barn cannot shut down for the holidays because the animals still need to be cared for, we all take turns working the holidays.

We are supposed to get some heavy snow throughout the night. I hope that I can make it to work tomorrow.

That's pretty much my day. I wish all of you out there a very safe and happy Thanksgiving!

OH CHRISTMAS TREE

2010-11-22T19:19:00.003-06:00

So....the whole happiness of putting up the Christmas tree is starting to fall short. After getting halfway through putting the branches on the artificial tree, I noticed that I missed a section and had to remove all the branches to get what I missed put on the tree. Once that chore was completed (for the second time) I was able to start on the lights. I got the first string of lights on the tree, and I was feeling optimistic that the rest was going to be a piece of cake, when the remaining strings of lights would only light-up halfway through the strand. I tried replacing the bulbs and changed fuses in the light cords, but nothing worked. I will have to forget about the lights right now and pick up a few new sets on my next trip into town. While I was fighting the Christmas tree last night, the song The Twelve Pains of Christmas was going through my head. I realized shortly that I had swiftly transformed into the man that hollers about the Christmas lights all the way through the song. One phrase in the song that stuck out in my mind while I was fighting with the lights was, "NOW WHY THE HELL ARE THEY BLINKING!" After laughing at myself for a few moments, I knew the time had come to just give up and continue again later. I haven't dared to start on it yet. I will let you all know how it goes when I get brave enough to face the tree again.

A LITTLE RANTING

2010-11-20T21:32:00.003-06:00

Here in good 'ol North Dakota our winter is finally setting in. We are getting snowfall and it's almost inhumanely cold outside. Watching the snow gathering on the ground, it has put me in the Christmas mood even though Thanksgiving hasn't come and gone yet. So, because of the snow (and my festive mood) my girls and I have decided to put up the Christmas tree. Because of my decision, ost of my friends and either called me a nerd or crazy, but I don't care.

Another thought crossed my mind after I decided to put up the Christmas tree. How come Christmas trees and cats cannot get along? I have two cats and while our short-haired calico cat never bothers the tree and sleeps under it upon the tree skirt, but our stupid Siamese mix with a severe learning disability; he cannot be in the living room alone with the tree for three minutes before he tries to climb up the steel base and rip every ornament off with wicked speed and precision. By the time this Christmas season is over with, I will only have two ornaments to pack and put away with the tree...that is if the tree makes it through the wrath of the Siamese cat.

Something that has started getting to me is how businesses dislike the use of the word "Christmas" and prefer Holiday. We need to be more accepting of national (and international) holidays and use the correct terms. If I cannot say "Merry Christmas" I do not want to hear words like Kwanzaa or Cinco de Mayo. It really pisses me off when I see the super markets with printed adds and banners inside the stors for international holidays that scream "LET US HELP FOR CINCO DE MAYO", yet when Christmas rolls around the banners days "HAPPY HOLIDAYS".

While I am at it, I also could go on about the law that past in Florida where it is now against the law to raise or kill horses for their meat. I am a horse owner and I love them. But Florida, do you realize what you have done? You killed your horse market and all those race horses and all the breeding stock that you fancy just depreciated vastly. I eat beef, chicken, pork, and deer. And who am I to tell someone what kind of meat they can eat. Just because France eats horse, doesn't mean I am going to judge them since I eat meat like no one's business. Now, this doesn't mean I am going to slaughter my horses and eat them. God No. I wouldn't dream of it. You have to keep in check of animal welfare. When animals get old and sickly and it has been determined that the horses life will not flourish, the appropriate thing is to put them down. If you put them down, why contribute it to a market? If there is no market for the animal, there will be no sales. If there is no sales for the animal, there is no value. Without value people will not want to even consider owning this animal. Without some profit people will not have the money or means to put a sick animal down because the meager price of the animal does not justify the cost of doing so. There will be a mass pandemic of mangy, sickly, malnourished animals that people cannot afford to take care of nor would some even have the money to give the horse the vet care it would need and it wouldn't surprise me if people started shooting them because they cannot sell or take care of the animal. People will stop purchasing horses because it will cost more to own and take care of the animal then the worth of the animal itself. PETA's solution is to try to rescue them or just set them free. Set them free? All the wild horses would take over the plains and prairie grasses and their populations would be worse then the hundreds of deer that are already a pain in the ass. I say if you want to eat it, go for it. But it doesn't mean that I am going to try it. I love my horses, but they have a purpose. And if it ever happens that one of my horses should become injured or sick, I will do the appropriate thing whatever it may be. I have already sold one horse last winter because the vet care it was going to take to make the horses life comfortable was something I definately couldn't afford so I was forced to find her a home that could provide good care. If I couldn't do that, and the horse became uncomfortable and started suffering my only choice would have been to put her down. Anyway, if other states follow through with what Florida has done, I worry about the welfare of the equine.

One last thought on the whole thing....how does PETA and all the other animal lovers out there
think the super markets get their meat? Without the processing of animals you wouldn't have hamburger, hams, steak, fried chicken, and even fish! You cannot get the meat without killing the animal. I'm just sayin.

Phew!! I feel better now that's all out. I don't mean to offend or make anyone upset. But all sides need to be viewed here. I don't want any hater comments or anything like that. I am not trying to get the world to look at it my way. It's just my personal opinion and only that. I'm an animal lover, but I do understand that all things have their place.

UPDATE

2010-11-05T15:59:00.003-05:00

Sorry about such a delayed post. It's been well over a month since I posted anything. It's difficult to achieve since neither my laptop or home PC is working at the moment. On the plus side, it has kept me off Facebook and away from Farmville.

The girls had a wonderful Halloween. We starting trick-or-treating at 5:30 and finished around 8 pm. I was a little disappointed in the Halloween party at the community center. This year there were only 2 games, a setup to take a Halloween picture and a small supper. I think next year we are going to skip the community center and and just go out collecting candy.

Last week little Jessie got really sick. I took her to see a doctor on Monday who though Jessie just had a stomach bug and sent us home. Monday night was terrible, so I took Jessie back on Tuesday morning and made the doctor do lab tests. Jessie's test came back with a high white blood cell count of 38,200. The doctor suspected a UTI, but Jessie didn't have any symptoms of one. To help bring the WBC down, the doctor had Jessie do IV treatments for the next three days at the hospital. Our primary doctor heard what was going on and he knew neither my mother or I thought it was a UTI and agreed to see Jessie on Thursday morning. He examined Jessie and sent us up for an x-ray right away. Here poor little Jessie had pneumonia. He kept her on an extra day of IV and made sure we had enough antibiotic. It has been a week and Jessie is feeling much better now and is starting to act like herself.

Late afternoon on Wednesday, my father and I moved my horses from their pasture back to my place for the winter. I am looking forward to being able to ride at my leisure again. I wanted to go out this weekend, but decided not to since it's deer hunting opening this weekend. The last thing I want is for my horse to be shot out from underneath me.

Work has been going wonderful. I have been spending a lot more time in the barn doing hands-on work. One of the barn supervisors pulled the muscles in his back and cannot do a lot of the harder work in the barn, so he is doing my paperwork in the office while I work out in the barn. We had a meeting with the owner of the barn on Tuesday, and he told us we will all be getting Hexagon Farm jackets. The next time we go to the warehouse to pick up our paychecks, we are to stop in the office and get fitted for them. I cannot wait! I have never had ANY company clothing of any type and I think it's awesome we are getting our own jackets.

I WAS VIOLATED

2010-09-16T22:12:00.002-05:00

Okay, so I may not have been physically violated, but my eye site sure was.

Hexagon, the hog barn where I work, is a bio hazard safe environment and all employees are required to shower upon entering the barn. It's not mandatory to shower out, but the general public appreciates it. Hexagon also employs a few older men who are pushing into their 70's.

See where this is going yet???

The last couple of weeks I have started arriving at Hexagon earlier than usual to help get some extra hours on my paycheck. On this particular day of arriving early at the barn, one of the older men was in the process of showering out to go check the newly purchased pigs in the quarantine barns located adjacent to the main barn. Just as I walked into to the barn to shower in for work, the man stepped out of his shower door in his tighty-whites to grab some Q-barn clothes in the cabinets across the hall from the shower doors because he forgot to grab some Q clothing when he came in. He let out a loud "WHOA!", and all I could say was "Jesus Paul!" and I turned around quickly and looked straight up at the ceiling so he could grab his clothes and get back in the shower. To make the situation worse, the barn manager happened to see it all through the pass-through cubby hole in the side of the wall that we use to push our lunches through to the other side of the barn. By lunch time, everyone knew what happened that morning.

After showering and punching in, I told the barn manager that Hexagon would pay for the life-long therapy I am going to have to receive after seeing that. He wiped away his tears and stopped laughing long enough to agree.

I swear I am going to wake up screaming until I die.

BUFFALO THEORY

2010-09-14T19:10:00.002-05:00

I saw this posted on a friends Facebook page. I can still remember watching this very episode of Cheers where Cliff is talking to Norman about beer consumption. I totally ripped this off of my friends Facebook site to share with all of you. When I read this, it reminds me of my best friend and it makes me laugh.

"Well ya see, Norm, it's like this. A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers!"

Amen, Cliff. Amen!

CHECK THIS OUT

2010-09-14T16:52:00.005-05:00

Now that Labor Day has passed, I really should get outside and take down the tent that has been in my front yard for the last two weeks. I put it up for the girls to play in and I had the best intentions to take it down a few days after it was up. However, the girls left the door and windows to the tent wide open, and with all the rain we have recieved, it has turned into an indoor/outdoor swimming pool. I am a tad bit on the lazy side, so I was waiting for Mother Nature to dry out the tent for me. The thought of taking a bunch of towels outside to soak up all the water on the tent floor didn't fancy me. Alas, Mother Nature pulled a fast one on me. Since putting up the tent, we haven't gotten one day of moderately decent camping/tenting weather until yesterday. So, today I am going to trudge outside with some towels and do it myself. Thank you, Mother Nature, for the motivation against laziness.

I have a friend who started a blog very recently. I would like you to check it out. He writes about music, entertainment, and other things. It's titled On The Record With Ben and he is a reporter for the Jamestown Sun newspaper. I enjoy reading it and I hope you do too. I have made a permenant link for Ben's blog off to the right in case you want to go back to it sometime and cannot remember the address.

FROGS

2010-08-21T20:51:00.002-05:00

Last night the girls were catching every tree frog they found in the yard. Cassidy wanted to keep some of them. I tried talking her out of it, but she has a lot of her mother's stubbornness inside her. Once she makes up her mind about something, there is no letting go of it. So I found my old 10-gallon fish aquarium and cleaned it out. I filled it with sand and put a little bit of water in it so Cassidy and Jessie could put the frogs in it. The girls decided the tank was full when they had 8 frogs in it. When it was time to go inside and get ready for bed Cassidy asked me if we could bring the frogs inside. I thought about it, and against better judgement, I told Cassidy we could keep the tank on the kitchen floor, but if 1 frog escaped they all had to go back outside. My intention was to let the frogs go after the girls fell asleep, but Cassidy would have been devastated if I let them go without her being there to help so I left the tank on the kitchen floor and went to bed.

Around midnight the frogs started to get noisy. I mean really NOISY. They croaked, chirped, and squeaked all night long. It sounded like I was camping right next to a swamp. I was really close to chucking them all out the door when they settled down and things once again were quiet.

I love to embrace my girls childhood while it lasts. I love doing things with them that I liked to do when I was a child. Yes, catching frogs was from the past too, but I have learned that inside is no place for a herd of frogs. Next time, the frogs are going to stay outside.

BUSY

2010-08-19T22:35:00.002-05:00

I have had a really busy couple of days. Yesterday, I had to leave work early and take Jessie to the dentist in Minot. She was hit in the mouth at daycare and it broke her tooth. The dentist was able to squeeze us in at 4:30 pm. The dentist was able to fix her tooth and Jessie did very well during the visit. Afterwards, we had supper at McDonald's and then went across the street to Target and did school clothes shopping for both her and Cassidy. On our way home, we met my mother and Cassidy in Rugby and went to the Fair Grounds to see my moms aunt and uncle who were down for the Good Sam Samboree. We didn't get home until almost ten.

Today was the open house at Leeds Public School and the new preschool they started. Cassidy met with her teacher, Mrs. Darling, and Jessie was able to meet Mrs. Haagenson and Mrs. McGarvey. They had a good time and also did some arts/crafts with their teachers. They are both excited for school. I hope they continue to like it once it starts. I know Cassidy will do great. She has been hollering to go back to school for a month so she can see her friends. It's Jessie that I worry about. She is such a mommies-girl that I don't know how she is going to handle the first few days.

I hope to get the rest of the siding on my house this fall. My father said he is going to come over and help me with it. The North side of the house is starting to get really bad. It needs to be fixed before it literally falls apart. My father is also going to help me get the deck on my house. The deck for the house has only been sitting in the back yard for seven years waiting to be put back on the house. It's going to be really nice to have my deck. I cannot wait to get it on, put up a nice little table and a couple of chairs and sit out there in the evening. Next, I am going to have to start working on the inside of the house. The floor needs to be fixed in some places, I need new linoleum in the kitchen, and the bathtub in the main bathroom still needs to be replaced. I also want to take the ridiculously small bathtub out of my bedroom bathroom and put in a shower instead. It will be nice to have a private shower. Also, I still need to get hay arranged for the horses and get it moved in. I have talked to a couple of people and they are not sure if they will have enough or not. I am still waiting for another person to get back to me about hay. There is just so much to do that I don't know how it is all possibly get done. But I will push forward until it's finished.

I am excited. I got a raise at work already. I still cannot believe I am making decent money doing something that doesn't feel like a job. I wonder if it will ever seem like "work" at some point. It's just so much fun. I just hope I don't die this winter driving to Cando every day. If it snows, I am not sure how I am going to get out of my drive. That's another thing I am going to have to work on this fall before it snows.

Things just never seem to stop over here, but I do not mind it. I love it and that is what makes my house a home. It's especially rewarding when I have four little arms wrap around my neck at the end of the night and tell me that I am the greatest mommy ever when I feel like I am failing. I love my girls!

NOT MUCH

2010-08-13T20:51:00.002-05:00

We had a barn meeting the day on Wednesday. We went over the new employee handbook and also went over safety in the barn around the sows and boars. I and Kevin Blake were also appointed as the safety representatives in our barn, Hexagon. Each barn needs two reps. We will be going to meetings once every three months at the feed mill with the safety reps from Coolin and Dakota barns. Kevin is covering farrowing and I am covering breeding. It's nothing big, just check lists we have to do every so often, check fire extinguishers, and that kind of stuff.

Cassidy lost her first tooth a couple of weeks ago. The tooth fairy gave her two dollars for her tooth. The next day she told Nana and Auntie Lynnette that she got two pennies. I think I am going to have to spend a little more time going over coins and how much they are worth with Cassidy.

They started a preschool in Leeds so Jessie will be attending preschool this year. I am excited about it and so is Jessie. She cannot wait to use her unicorn backpack.

I haven't been doing a lot of riding this summer. I would like to do more, but my job keeps me busy. I am definitely not complaining. Things are pretty good around here. The girls and I are doing well and loving life the simple way. Sometimes I feel bad about it, but for most of the time I think how much they are learning to enjoy the smaller simpler things to life and you don't need to "keep up with the Jones" to be happy.

I hope everyone is doing well.

2010-08-13T20:45:00.003-05:00

As promised, here are the pictures from Leeds Days. The girls and I spent pretty much the entire day up at the swimming pool. They had all sorts of water games as well as blow-up games. My favorite water game was the watermelon toss. They took a small watermelon, covered it in sunscreen and then threw it in the pool. Everyone jumped into the pool and tried to catch the melon. The first person to actually carry the melon to the side of the pool won. It must have taken at least a good 20 minutes before someone was able to hold the greased melon. It's a great way to keep a bunch of kids in the pool occupied for a while. My second favorite was the foam search put on by the Leeds Volunteer Fire Department. They covered the basketball court will foam and threw in coins and poker chips. The kids got to keep the coins and traded the chips in for candy. Everyone had lots of fun.

2010-08-13T20:23:00.013-05:00

Cassidy and her goofy smile.

Jessie being Jessie.

The clothing relay swim.

The young kids getting ready for their relay.

The watermelon scramble. It was funny to watch.

Cassidy doing the football throw.

Blake did the water balloon shaving.

The bouncy house.

Paige and Katlyn jousting.

Devin getting ready for wrestling.

Cassidy and Jessie during the foam search.

WOW, WHAT A MONTH

2010-07-14T23:55:00.002-05:00

I have been super busy lately that I don't know if I am coming or going. However, I cannot complain. It's a good busy.

On July 4th my horses got out of the pasture and decided to tour the country side. They ended up amost 6 miles south of town. I called one of my neighbors and she brought her horse trailer out to where they were and helped me load them up and bring them home. Thankfully they have not gotten out since....and it better stay that way.

The girls started their swimming lessons last week while my cousin from West Fargo was here to babysit for me since my full-time babysitter was on vacation. The girls absolutely love swimming and they are doing very well. Jessie had done so well in her preschool swimming class that they tested her out and bumped her up to level 1 swimming. It's fun to watch them have a good time in the pool. Their last swimming lesson is tomorrow. I will have pics then to post. On Saturday I, my girls, and a three of my guy friends went swimming at the pool. The four of us even started acting like some of the little kids in the pool. We were dunking each other, splashing around, and even playing chicken. All the lifeguards are highschool students that we know very well so we got away with acting stupid. I think they let us do it more for the entertainment value more than anything. Then we ended the evening by watching a couple of movies before calling it a night. It was super fun and I hope we can do it again soon.

I absolutely love my job at Hexagon Farm. With my position also comes a great amount of responsibility and care. More so than I thought when I first started. The data entry work that I do pretty much keeps the entire barn running. All the daily and weekly reports come from me, as well as the sow cards, lists of the pigs due to farrow, anything that needs to be bred, returns, and any pig that has aborted, come up lame, is sick, needs to be sold, new gilt arrivals, giving all the new gilts tag numbers and correct identification corresponding with their genetics, even any of the deaths, and also from time-to-time I have to look up and find the correct tag number for a sow that has lost her ID tag. It all shows up on my desk and comes to/through me. If I have anything incorrect in the computer, it will effect everyone from breeding all the way down to farrowing. I also go into the barn daily to collect some information that I need, so I stay PLENTY busy. At first, It thought it was just going to be a little monkey job. I had no idea how much care of the barn, and pigs, they put into my hands when they gave me this job. AND I LOVE IT!

Every week the barn manager has given me a few more tasks than the week before and I have been keeping up with it really well. I am also proud to say that I haven't had any big "Oh Shit" moments yet with my data entry. Last week the manager even let me call a meeting with all the barn managers and the employees that hand write most of the data. I went over changes I wanted to make to some forms so I could understand them better, demanded initials and dates on all the papers......and yes, even clean handwritting. Any form that I cannot read is now given back to the employee who filled it out and that employee has to rewrite ALL the information. The meeting lasted 2 hours because we all had good ideas and opinions on how to make things run well for all of us. They are all wonderful people and they all know their jobs, I think that's why the barn runs as smooth as it does.

Hexagon is also a barn full of pranksters too. Remember when I papered the managers office door after starting there? Well, the manager wasn't sure who it was, but narrowed it down to either myself or a gal that works in farrowing. I left my desk to get sow locations in room 23 one day and when I came back to my desk I noticed that my coffee was gone. One thing you don't do is mess with my coffee. Most people do not want to speak to me until I have had my morning coffee. I thought the guy who runs the breeding side of the barn took my coffee because we have been harrassing each other a lot lately. So, while breeding was on their 9 o'clock break, I took a tube of lube from the supply shelf and smeared a generous amount underneith the handles of all the coolers that the breeders use to carry the tubes of semen around in. It was very hard not to laugh when all 4 of the breeders put their hands in lube at the same exact time. Of course they started in on me. I told them I didn't do it and whoever took my coffee probably messed with their coolers. The line worked and they started going after some other people, but not until I and the breeders shouted at each other for a few minutes first. After a little while, the manager came into the room to see what the noise was about. He had a big shit-eating grin on his face and right away I knew.....It wasn't Wes who took my coffee....it was the manager. After the breeders went back into the barn, I told the manager what he did wasn't cool because I was almost positive it was Wes or one of his boys and now they are all going to come after me because I put lube on the coolers. The manager said he heard us shouting and decided to let us "fight it out" for a bit before coming into the room. When I walked away to start more paperwork, I heard the manager call from his office, "It's just all in good fun, Nellie. They will get you for me." So now I kiss ass with the breeders just for the sole fact they have access to semen and I do not want anything of mine spermed.

That has pretty much summed up my last month and a half. Nothing too exciting or out of the ordinary has happened, and I preferre to keep it that way.

MY WEEKEND

2010-05-09T11:34:00.004-05:00

The job has been going very well. Friday all I did was office work and entered a lot of information into the computer system. All the staff is wonderful to work with and it doesn't even feel like a job. It feels like 20 friends just hanging out for the day. On Friday, I was the last one to leave Hexagon and I decided that it was the managers turn to get his fair share of the pranking. I took some sheets of paper and stapled them three across and ten high making one super giant sheet of paper. I then taped it to the front of the managers office door and drew a square with a stick-figure man in it and wrote the word MENS across the top and then shut the door. The manager was not working on Friday because he has to work today. The weekend employees got to look at it all day yesterday without the manager being in. I cannot wait to get to work on Monday and find out what the manager thought of his door.

The kittens were finally able to leave the house. After I got done with work on Friday, the girls and I took one kitten into town to a friends house and then we took the others over to a neighbors place near York. The girls got me talked into keeping one of the kittens, but I am almost regretting making the decision. He is cute and cuddly, but he's still a kitten and likes to tear up things, claw my furniture, and he is starting to get a little anti-litter box. I think I may let the girls play with him a little bit today when they get home, and then explain to them that he really needs to be with the other two kittens at the neighbors house and see what happens. I am hoping they will understand.

Yesterday, my mom and I jumped in her Jeep and went to Devils Lake. We stopped by Wal-Mart and then we were going to go over to the Dairy Queen and pick up sundae's and take them over to my Grandma at the Good Samaritan Center. When we were leaving the Wal-Mart parking lot, a noise that sounded like marbles rolling around started to come from the bottom of her Jeep. We pulled over in the Wally's parking lot and checked the bottom of the Jeep. We didn't notice anything unusual, so we called my dad, who just happened to be in DL at the same time. He came over and checked it out. Turns out that something happened to the crank case and we were not going to be able to drive it home. We had to call Cowboys Towing and have him come over, put it on a trailer, and have it hauled all the way back to York. Around 9 o'clock that evening, mom and I headed back into town with a different vehicle so we could get our shopping finished. We didn't get home last night until close to 11 pm. Our family has completely exhausted our extra vehicles. My dad is driving his little blue wagon, I am driving my dad's blue Reliant, and my mom has her escort that she takes to work and back. If anything else happens to another vehicle, someone is not getting to work. I am going to call Cenex Monday and see when they can get my car in. It has to get done soon...and now will will be working on moms Jeep as well.

Today I need to get my house cleaned up. Since starting my job I have been neglecting the home a little bit. When I am finished with that, I need to go outside and move the bale feeder so I can clean up some of the old hay that the horses haven't been eating. I also need to get my wire ran on the new posts I put in. I haven't been able to put the rest of the wood posts in because the slough water is still overflowing into the pasture, but I should be able to work around it and get what I have up finished with minimal difficulty.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the wonderful moms out there. I know there is a bunch of you!

MORE PIG STUFF

2010-05-03T18:10:00.003-05:00

Today was another good day at the hog farm. This morning I got to help load the 25-day-old piglets onto the semi for transportation over to the nursery barn. I had a blast herding 500 piglets down the hallway and up the semi ramp. They hop when they run and their ears flop all over the place. They are really cute and fun to watch. I also got to worm the pregnant pigs that are close to giving birth, and vaccinate the piglets we pulled off the sows for weaning. Only downside of today was that the Storage King bin outside the building ran out of feed. The feeders run on an automatic system that fills tubes with feed at a specific time each day. A tube comes down from the ceiling and hangs above each pigs feed trough, so at feeding time, all we have to do is walk by and hit the release latch that lets the premeasured feed fall into the troughs. Rooms 24 through 16 had feed in the tubes, but we had to go through rooms 1 through 15 and fill the feeders by hand with huge carts full of feed. There are 24 pigs in each room, so we had to hand-feed about 360 pigs. I still thought it was fun though. Barn work definitely suits me. Tomorrow I will be with Kevin, the barn manager, and he will be showing me how to enter information on all the pigs into the computer system. When I start doing my data entry, I hope I can still help out in the barn. I am glad that we only have to enter the information on the pigs in Hexagon (the barn I work in) and not all the barns. Hexagon has close to 6,000 pigs. The entire farm had about 40,000 pigs. The barns are at different locations and each barn is set up for different stages of the pigs. In Hexagon, we artificially inseminate the sows, take care of them while they are pregnant, then move them to farrowing stalls when they are 5 days away from giving birth, help the sows deliver if needed and watch over the piglets while they are tiny, we take care of the piglets and then wean them when the are 17 days old, and once they are 25-days-old, a semi comes over and we load the piglets up where they are moved down the road to the nursery barns. There is a lot of stuff to be done in between that needs to be taken care of too, so it really keeps you moving. I am finally having fun at a job that really doesn't feel like a job to me.

THINGS ARE LOOKIN UP

2010-05-01T22:28:00.002-05:00

My dad's car has been running pretty good, but the fuel pump doesn't work right. I haven't taken the car on long trips just in case something should go wrong. I cannot wait to have my car fixed and get it back. I miss it.

Last week I applied for a job at the hog farm in Cando. The same day I handed in my application, I was given a tour of the barns and all the facilities. It's a pretty big place. They currently have about 40,000 pigs and there is 6,000 pigs in each barn. They deliver 450 to 500 piglets a day! I started job shadowing on Friday and it was pretty good. It definitely wasn't what I was expecting.....in a good way. I got to help feed, tag, vaccinate, and deliver pigs. The day flew by fast and I learned so much about pigs in 6 hours then I ever have known before. All the stuff I thought I knew about pigs and the new stuff I learned was almost ridiculous, but I did enjoy it. I will finish job shadowing on Tuesday. When I finish work on Tuesday, I and the manager of the barn I have been working in will discuss how I like the main functions of the barn and where I fit in best at. It sounds like he wants me to do most of the data entry work in the office and help out two or three days a week inside the barn. However, they start work at 7 am and my daycare doesn't open until 7. We will have to see if they are willing to let me work around my daycare hours. If not, I won't be able to take the job...if they do, then I am all for staying working there. So far, they have been allowing me to show up at 8 o'clock for the job shadowing.

On Monday, the kittens will be six weeks old. They have started to eat dry cat food, drinking water, and using the litter box. I think I am going to keep them for about another week and then give them to their new homes. One of my friends in Leeds wants one, and "home of the pillow fish" is getting the other three. I think the kittens are adorable, but I cannot wait for them to be gone. I am definitely a one-cat-woman.

Today my mom and I took the girls to the Just For Kix Spring dance show in Devils Lake. It was really cute to see all the little kids dancing their routines. I also discovered that a lot of people that we know have children in Just For Kix. My girls want to start going to Just For Kix, but it's very expensive. I will have to think about it. One thing that I feel bad about being a single parent, is that my girls miss out on a lot of those fun activities because I do not have the money for it. I wish I could be able to pay for dancing, Clover Buds, camps, etc...but I can't. I hate thinking about how my girls have to miss out on those kinds of things. I almost started crying today at the Just For Kix show when Jessie looked at me and said, "Mommy, I really want to dance." Hopefully, someday, I will be able to say yes without having to worry about where the money is going to come from.

THE HECKLING CONTINUES...

2010-04-15T18:29:00.003-05:00

I was on my way home after work today and my truck engine started to make a loud ticking sound with every rotation. I slowed down to about 40 miles per hour and drove it to Cenex so the mechanic could listen to it. The mechanic gave me a really bad look when he heard the engine. He said the sound IS a rod getting ready to give out. He told me to go home and park it, because it will not make another trip to Leeds and back without leaving me stranded on the road. Just what I didn't want to hear. The engine in my truck is hard to come across if I wanted to find a used engine and put it in the truck. The current engine might be repairable, but he will have to pull the engine out, check/replace the rod, then check the crank shaft to make sure there isn't any damage to that. He said the parts are not all that expensive, but the labor will be horrible. Now I have to decide if it's worth saving or not. However, since I live on a mini-farm and have horses, I don't see how I cannot go without my truck. Damn it anyway.

In the span of two days, I have lost both vehicles. Now I don't have anything to drive. My parents have a vehicle that I may be able to use, but it can't go long distances and there are still problems with that vehicle that haven't been worked out yet. I could at least use it to go back and forth to work, but nothing else. I don't want to have that car bomb out on me either, and the way things are going, there is a great possibility of that happening.

The ONLY thing left that could go wrong is something with the house. I have been praying more now than any other time I can remember, hoping that everything will work out okay. I am a struggling single mother of two wonderful little girls who can just barely pay the bills and take care of my children's needs. I don't know how much more stress and pressure of life I can take. I am getting ready to toss in the towel.

I am sure it will all workout in time, but I would just like all the bad stuff to end. Right now would work just fine for me.

I BELIEVE I AM BEING HECKLED BY A HIGHER POWER

2010-04-14T19:07:00.002-05:00

Lately things have been going well for us up until last week. Now I am starting to feel like a one-legged cat trying to bury a turd on a frozen pond.

It was brought to my father's attention that the man who owns the North side of the pasture that I share a fence line with plans to let a friend, whom is getting a divorce, put some horses in his side of the land. I am not upset about this. Since it is his pasture, he can do what he wants with it. What upset me, was that he wasn't going to tell anyone about it. I would have appreciated a phone call about it so I knew what was going on. I have heard that this other man has about 7 horses and a stallion. Nobody knows if all the horses are coming over or just a few of them. I have tried to buy the North side from him for years, but he doesn't want to sell. The last offer I got from him about the land was $6000, that is $1000 an acre, and to me it isn't worth that much. Farm land isn't even worth that much. I made the decision to just put up a new fence. It's something that I should have done about 5 years ago, when I knew I wasn't going to be able to purchase the land. I got the T-posts up and the wood posts in. I also got a decent corner up as well. Now all I have to do is wait for some of the water in the slough to recede and then I can put up the North West line, string the wire, and I will be done.

This Monday while I was in Leeds my car made a popping noise, almost like it back-fired. Then a lot of white smoke came out of the exhaust and the car would not go faster than about 3 miles an hour with the gas pedal pressed all the way to the floor. I was able to drive it to my parents house. My dad took a look at the car and said whatever happened was not good. He called the mechanic at the York Farmers Union and the mechanic guessed that it was the head gasket. When I talked to him today about it, he is now thinking it could be a rod went through the wall of a piston. Cenex Farmers Union is working on a lot of Spring vehicles for farmers right now, and I have been told that it's going to be a while before they can get my car in. I am going to wait and have Cenex do the work on my car. I could go out and find someone else to fix it, but I have credit at Cenex and I just paid my account off, so it's a clean account and the only charge on it will be the expense of fixing the car...which I know will be at least $1500 minimum. It will be a much larger amount if they have to put a new crate engine in it. So now I am driving my '77 farm truck that gets 10 miles to the gallon at best. Oh well, it's at least something and I'm not hoofing it.

I have sent out a lot of applications for work-at-home medical transcription. I have my Associates in transcription and it would be nice to use it. I applied to 7 different companies. Three of them have already emailed me back and said that even though my resume is really impressive, I do not have enough experience to work for them. Most companies that I have found want at least 3 to 5 years of experience. Regardless of how much experience they want, I have been applying to every company I've come across, and I will continue to do so until I find something. If anyone out there has a connection inside a medical transcription company, clinic, or hospital please put in a good word for me. My job with Verety ends on May 12th and I want to have another job by then. My biggest expenses right now are gas and daycare. Between those two, I spend roughly $800 a month. Driving to Devils Lake or Rugby for a minimum wage job is a bit out of the question. I would barely make enough to just pay those two bills, and I still have monthly utilities to pay.

I am trying to stay positive and upbeat with everything going on. Lord knows it's extremely hard to do so, and I have very weak moments when I don't know how I am going to manage everything. Thank you to the few good friends that I have for all the encouragement, support, and words you have given me to keep me going. You do not know how much I appreciate everything.

OUT AND ABOUT

2010-03-31T22:23:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I got a phone call from one of our neighbors. They heard we had kittens and would like all of them for farm cats out at their place. I told them that one person in Leeds wants one of them, but I would be glad to give them the rest of the kittens if they wanted them. It will be a few more weeks yet until they are ready to go. Our neighbor also invited the girls over to play, which was very nice. The girls have wanted to go over there to play with their boys for a while, but I have been so caught up with everything else going on, I haven't had the time to call them. The children played well and the girls were able to feed their ponies and look at their elk. I really enjoyed it too. It was nice to be able to sit and watch the girls play while having adult conversation...something I rarely get now days outside of work.

When we were leaving our neighbors, I noticed the car had a very flat tire in the front. My neighbors husband tried to fill it with air, but there was a hole in the tire that was letting out the air almost as fast as he was putting it in. Thankfully, he was nice enough to put the spare tire on so I could at least drive it home. I called Cenex this morning, and they put two new tires on the front and brought it back to my house before I had to leave for work. I am hoping this is the only car problem I have this summer.

This afternoon after Cassidy got home from school, I took the girls into Devils Lake to the theater. They wanted to see How To Train Your Dragon and today was the last showing. I love doing things with my girls, and lately I have been so busy that we haven't had time for extra stuff. I am starting to feel bad because I cannot spend as much time with Cassidy and Jessie that I would like to. I really miss being able to stay home with them. I thought taking time to go to the show would be a wonderful treat for them. The girls really liked it and it was better than I thought it would be, but if anyone else out there has been thinking of going to it, wait until it comes out on video.

I have been able to work with my horses a little bit the last few days. They are coming around pretty good. I was able to catch, saddle, and ride my sorrel gelding without many problems. I still have some problems with the appaloosa, but he does let me touch him and I was able to saddle him yesterday. He still hates vehicles with a passion. He jumps and will start bucking when one passes. I may have to have someone else finish break him for me. I will have to call a few people and see who I can find to do it.

LAMBS

2010-03-28T23:40:00.004-05:00

My girls have wanted to see real baby lambs for a long time. I told them I would try to find some, but I never held much hope for it, because I wasn't sure if I knew anyone who had sheep around here. A few weeks later after the girls told me they wanted to see lambs, it donned on me that David Erie, a gentleman near town, still raised sheep. I ran into him one day at the grocery story last fall and asked him about it. He said that he would give me a call when some baby lambs were born so the girls could play with them. I forgot all about speaking to him about it until he called me Friday afternoon to let me know he had 3 lambs that were a few weeks old and he would be around on Sunday if we wanted to come out and see them. So, after the girls got home today from spending the weekend with their father, we met David at the farm to see the lambs. I have to admit that they were super cute...but what baby animal isn't cute? He also had baby piglets and a bunch of younger cows that the girls got to see, along with one very hyper dog named Buddy.

The girls and I had a lot of fun visiting David and checking out all of his animals. When we were there, he didn't have any baby cows yet, but is expecting some very soon. He is going to let us know when his cows start calving so the girls can see the baby cows too.

I love spring time because of all the new baby animals that are around to check out. The girls and I love seeing all the baby horses, pigs, cats, dogs, and now even sheep and cows! The girls and I could sit with foals all day long and watch foals play, eat, and even sleep. There is something so innocent about the baby animals that makes a person feel good...at least I do anyway, and I hope that when my girls get older they will appreciate it too. Not a lot of children get to experience things that we do. I also have to thank our friends and neighbors. We wouldn't be able to do it without them!

When we were leaving Eries, the girls wanted to go see their Nana to tell her all about the baby lambs and the other animals we saw. When we got to Nana's, she was making some of her yummy homemade buns. The girls wanted to help Nana, so Nana put them to work. They love baking with Nana. I hope the girls are paying attention so they can make Nana's buns for me when they get older. I have tried to make Nana's buns myself, but they just don't turn out like hers do.

Also, last Monday, our calio cat gave birth to 4 baby kittens. I don't have very good pics of them yet. Hopefully I will get some soon when the girls are not playing with them. I swear we are going to have 4 of the most tame and well handled kittens that anyone has ever seen thanks to my girls. There are 3 white ones and one black and white spotted one. The girls want to keep the black/white one, but I don't know if I want to have two cats or not. I think 1 at a time is pretty much my limit when it comes to cats. We will see what happens when the kittens get a little bit bigger. I do, however, have a friend that already wants one. Now I just have to find homes for the remaining 2 or 3.

2010-03-28T23:32:00.006-05:00

David Erie Holding a lamb so the girls could pet it.

Cassidy and Jessie with the lamb. Cassidy was unsure of it at first cause it was moving around a lot.

Some ewes with their lambs.

A baby lamb resting.

The girls with Buddy the dog.

Jessie baking buns with Nana.

I AM PISSED

2010-03-18T10:15:00.002-05:00

I am really upset. When I was working this weekend, someone was in my yard and was messing with my horses.

I love my horses and would never intentionally hurt them. They are big yard dogs and like attention. They always come up for oats and apples when the girls and I are in the yard. The day before yesterday I noticed a drastic change in their behavior.

The girls wanted to go riding after I got off of work, so I gathered up my stuff and went out to the pasture to get one of the horses. The horses were spooky and didn't want me close to them. In fact, I couldn't get any closer than about 30 ft to them. This is odd, because they always come for attention or treats. I got some grain and put that in the feeder but they would not come up to the feeder while we were standing next to it. I tried apples next, but they wouldn't take them out of my hand, but they did eat the apples off the ground when I backed away. I also noticed that they are extremely head shy now too.

I don't know who was in my yard while I was gone, what they did, or how long they were there, but whatever they did, really messed up my horses mentally. I had one extremely great riding horse and I had just started saddle breaking the appaloosa and he was doing remarkable. Now I am going to have to start at ground zero and start training all over again with both of them.

My mother kept my girls overnight for me last night so I could try working with them a little bit. Using a little time and a lot of patience, I was able to catch my sorrel gelding. I brushed his coat and took time to comb out his mane. I also tried working with his head for a while so he would get used to it. I spent a good 3 hours working with him out in the yard. He did okay, but he wasn't himself.

I am going to call and file a police report so this can be tracked just in case it happens again or if any of the neighbors experience any behavioral problems with their animals. I know in the past, some neighbors have had issues with people coming into their yards and bothering the animals. I always felt bad, but I never truly knew how much it makes a person upset until I happened to me. If I catch who did this to my horses I will take them to court.

A GOOD WEEKEND

2010-03-15T18:59:00.002-05:00

Today was the first day that we have seen the sun here in at least a week. The weather was wonderful, and it's starting to feel a little more like Spring. Lets hope it stays this way for a while. The girls have been able to burn off some cabin fever, which has made things easier for me, and bedtime goes a lot smoother.

On Saturday, Rainy invited me for a Girls Night Out with her and a couple of friends from Devils Lake. We had a really good time and it helped me get my mind of things, vent, and we were there to support each other in a lot of things. We also did a lot of story sharing and laughing. I haven't been out with the girls in a VERY long time. It was defiantly over due and well needed. Great girlfriends are wonderful to have.

Things have been going well. As Verety disconnects service to the McDonald's chains, I worry about unemployment coming sooner than May 12th. As there become less and less stores to take orders for, they will not need all 259 employees. I am scared that one day I will sit down for my shift and my computer access to Verety will be shut off. I pray that nothing happens until something new has come along.

I started to saddle break my black/white blanket appaloosa. He is coming along pretty good and isn't too saddle shy. He still has a problem with the passing semis and trucks when I am leading him up and down the road with the saddle on. In time, he should become used to all the vehicles. The last think I want is for him to be spooky around them when I try to get on him. That would only lead to one really bad outcome.

COREY HAIM 1972-2010

2010-03-10T17:32:00.002-06:00

Today, I was surprised to read online that child actor, Corey Haim has died. I know he was a troubled man who fought some tough personal battles in his life, but I really liked his performance in the movie The Lost Boys and his reality TV show, with friend/actor Corey Feldman, The Two Coreys.

It's sad to hear such news of people so young. If better choices were made, and mistakes learned from, maybe most of the young and famous would still be around 50 years later.

RIP Mr. Haim. I hope God has brought you peace at last.

AND THE SEARCH CONTINUES....AGAIN

2010-03-09T21:41:00.002-06:00

Today when I got to work, there was an email from my supervisor in my inbox. I assumed that it was the weekly report of how my scores were on monitoring. I am proud of myself. I have been going on 5 straight weeks in a row with 100% scores. I was horrified to discover that instead of scores, it was a Dear John letter from the Verety company that was sent out to everyone (managers, supervisors, agents,...everyone) at 10 o'clock this morning.

The letter started out by saying that they made a decision to close the Verety business. For sometime, management had been carefully viewing other options, but this was their only choice and has nothing to do with our performance. Given the circumstances, Verety must be closed in the next 60 days. Which gives me, roughly, until May 12th to find another job.

I am going to stay with Verety up till the end. In the meantime, I am going to be putting in applications and searching for a new job. I have to find a job that is going to pay me well enough to be able to afford my daycare, fuel in my car if I have to drive a long distance, and my monthly bills. If I cannot find something, I am even thinking about putting harder thought into moving if I have to. That means selling the two remaining horses, giving up my home, and moving away from my parents....and if I move, I am going to MOVE. I refuse to move back to Devils Lake and I cannot see myself ever living in a big town such as Fargo or Bismarck. I have always wanted to live in Montana.

However, this are not decisions that I will be making overnight. They are something I have to give extreme thought to. But, if I want to move, there will be no better time than after Verety closes and Cassidy is finished with Kindergarten.

LUNA HAS A NEW HOME

2010-03-02T13:41:00.003-06:00

Brent and Bryce, the twin sons of the gentleman who bought Luna, showed up yesterday at 6pm to get Luna. They didn't stay very long, they had another horse to pick from a friend in Devils Lake on their way back to Adams. Also, my girls were home and outside playing when the twins arrived, so they saw Luna go. The poor little girls were crushed and didn't want Luna to go yet. Neither did I, but I knew that if the twins didn't take her when they did, I wouldn't have been able to let go of her at all.

I haven't broke down too much about it yet. I know what I did was the right thing for her and that the Vigens will give her a great home, but it still hurts. Luna was a huge piece of my childhood growing up, and I feel like I just gave away my childhood and every great memory that went with it.

2010-03-02T13:32:00.005-06:00

BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE LEEDS

2010-03-01T09:12:00.004-06:00

If anyone watched WDAZ 10 o'clock news last night, you would have seen the controversy at Leeds Public High School. The school board made a decision to end the sports co-op between Leeds and Minneuwakan, making some parents and residents extremely upset. Leeds decided to co-op with Maddock for all of their sports, thus leaving Minneuwakan. There was a big town meeting last night about it, which I did not attend.

First and foremost; my daughter attends Leeds Public for an education, not for sports. If she decides later on that she would like to play sports, that is fine with me. But her education comes first. My daughter is only in Kindergarten, so it will be a while before we get into sports. Second; the co-op with Minneuwakan happened after I graduated high school, so there isn't a sentimental element there for me. Third; Minneuwakan may be co-oping with Ft. Totten now, which I think is alright because Minneuwakan has kids from Ft. Totten attending their school, so why shouldn't those kids be able to play sports with their friends? Leeds has been co-oped with Maddock for a very long time for football, so there is already a co-op established that is very long standing. They were talking about a 3-way co-op between Leeds, Minneuwakan, and Maddock. But I don't know how well that would have worked. Maddock and Ft. Totten are really distanced from each other. They are not even close to each other.

Some community members are very upset. After the school board voted on this issue, the Leeds Superintendent put in his resignation, and just Wednesday of last week the school Principal also put in his resignation. There is also word of 6 teachers also resigning. People are worried about loosing the school. I honestly do not see the school closing because of lack of staff. I know for a fact that 3 of the six teachers are leaving NOT because of the co-op issue, but because of medical and personal reasons unrelated to the issue.

Some people have talked to me about it because the York mayor is also the President of the Leeds School Board. I am not biased on the issue because I am on the York city council and that I know the Mayor personally. The boards decision does not bother me one way or the other. I am perfectly fine with it. However, that is not the case for 80% of the residents in Leeds. I am sure people will be mad because I am staying out of it as much as I can, and because I support the school board.

HEARTBREAK ALERT

2010-02-28T08:33:00.002-06:00

I just made a tough decision. I decided to find a new home for my sorrel mare Luna. In reality, I am not going to be able to afford the care that she will now need because of her navicular. I hate thinking that she will no longer be mine, and it makes me very sad. I love her, but finding her a home where her navicular will be taken care of properly is the best thing for her.

A man called me yesterday about my horse. He decided to take her and is sending his two sons down today to pick her up. I almost told him that I had changed my mind, but I knew it would have been a very selfish thing to do, and wouldn't be in the best interest of my horse.

Yesterday, I talked to the girls about Luna going to a new home. They were very sad about it, as was I, but I told them if we are going to have animals we had to be able to take care of them, and mommy wasn't going to be able to care for Luna. Cassidy cried a lot and Jessie seemed so-so with it. I am sure that will change today though. I told them it was okay to be sad about it, but we are doing what is best for Luna by sending her to a new home.

Today I am going to take the girls outside so they can ride Luna one more time before the men get here to pick her up. I am also going to take pictures and cut some hair from underneath her tail. I am really going to miss my mare. I broke her 19 years ago when she was only year and a half. While I was breaking her, my dad and I fell in love with her. My dad bought her and gave her to me as a surprise. I'm not going to go on about the story, I know I have posted it before. It's heart wrenching to think about at the moment.

We will still have Mack and Oreo. I am going to start working with Oreo very soon since the weather is warming up. Mack is 10-years-old and a little on the lazy side. He isn't like Luna at all, but he should make a very good horse for the girls. I am hoping since Oreo is younger he will have a little get-up-and-go to him. We will have to see how it works out.

I will post more this evening after Luna is gone.

A SMALL UPDATE

2010-02-23T12:50:00.003-06:00

I am back from hiatus.

It isn't by choice that I have not posted in over a month. My home PC got infected with a nasty virus and was out of commission for a while. I had a friend fix it, and three days after I got it back, it picked up another virus that totally wiped out my tool bar and I don't know what to do about that. So, I will be posting before or after work until my home computer is fixed.

My 31st birthday was on February 8th. I didn't do anything exciting. The girls and I ate supper at my moms and she brought a cake home. Other than that, it was the same daily routine. Birthdays have just become another day-in-the-life to me. That must be a sign that I'm getting old.

Over the weekend my horses decided to test the limits of my pasture fence. They escaped three times. They were never hurt and the worst they did was run around town and poop on every single street in town. I fixed the fence on Saturday and they have not been out since. I hope it stays that way until I can put up my new fence this spring.

I have made the decision to find a home for my mare with navicular. She is eventually going to get to the point where my girls will be to heavy for her. I want her to go to a good home where there are small children and she can be ridden. I may have found someone who will take her. It isn't 100% yet. They are supposed to call me and arrange to take a look at my mare. And who knows, I may even wuss-out on the last moment and decide not to get rid of her because of sentimental value. I guess I will make that decision when the time comes....whenever that will be.

Peace-Out Cub Scouts!!

FROST BITE SUCKS

2010-01-09T11:32:00.002-06:00

Tractors are very useful. You can plant and harvest crops with them, push snow out of your yard, level out dirt, use it to get almost any vehicle unstuck, and move hay. I don't own a tractor. This is something I should seriously invest in if I am going to keep my horses. I have to use a pitchfork and toss hay into the hay ring twice a day so that my horses have something to eat. I don't mind doing this at all. It gives me something constructive to do, along with a great upper body workout, and if the hay isn't frozen together from snow and ice it doesn't take very long to accomplish.

On the extremely cold, very windy, -30 windshield temperatures the day before yesterday I was outside feeding my horses. I had on my new Itasca works book, my new work jacket, a stocking cap, and a really thick pair of gloves (all of this except for the gloves were purchased with my TSC gift card I got for Christmas.) To say it was cold was a major understatement. As I was pitching hay I could feel the wind go right through my jacket and gloves like I was bearing skin on a hot July day. I came back into the house to warm up and caught a look of my face in the mirror. The reflected image looked just like what a person expected to see. A bright red face with water at the corners of my eyes from the wind blowing into them. However, my nose did not resemble the rest of my face. Along the right side of my nose was a white area that went from the front of the nostril, over the tip of my nose, and ran half way up the right side of the nose. It wasn't a pale skin color, nor did it match the tan carpet of my living room floor, it was white as pure driven snow. I had frost bite.

I let my nose warm up naturally while I was gawking at it. I couldn't believe it. I had spent many winter days in my younger childhood snowmobiling, making forts, sledding, even riding and not once had I developed frost bite anywhere. I was praying to God that the white area would not turn black. Missing half of my nose was not an attractive thought. After a very long while the white patch faded and was replaced by a very red area that resembled a bad sun burn. It started to get some sensation back and I was overcome with relief. The change in color and the fact that I was starting to feel something let me know that blood flow had finally started to return to the right side of my nose.

The pain in my nose is odd. It burns like a sunburn to the fourth power, there is also still a tingling numbness amongst the sunburn like my nose has fallen asleep, and it also itches....BAD! As much as I really want to, I know better than to even attempt scratching it. It's excruciating to even gently rub my nose against one of my fingers and yawning is a whole new level of pain. If you don't believe me, try yawning right now and pay attention to how your nose moves and scrunches up. The right side of my nose will always be sensitive now. On chilly days I will have to pay attention and make sure my nose is well covered because it will be prone to frost bite. I used to think scarfs were stupid. I believed that they were just some fashion item that a lot of people bought into. I learned my lesson. Scarfs are not stupid and they actually hold a good purpose. I am going to wear a scarf every time I go out, especially when I am feeding the horses.

My nose will be okay, it's just going to take a little time for the redness to go away. I think that it should be gone in time for me to attend Dougapalooza with minimal harassment from my friends. However, it is Doug's birthday, and I think that will take all focus off my nose....well, it should anyway, for we will be celebrating Doug!

VACUUM

2010-01-05T17:42:00.005-06:00

In my last post, I forgot to mention the best Christmas present that I received this year; A Dirt Devil Vision Cyclone vacuum. I needed a new vacuum for a really long time. The other vacuum I had was second hand. It worked fairly decent, but only for a little while. In the end, it wouldn't pick up a damn thing.

I am totally in awe of this new machine. I think I am the only person who gets excited to break out their vacuum and start cleaning the carpets. It's the Monica Lewinsky of vacuums. I was vacuuming my bedroom yesterday, and a sock had eluded me by hiding under the bed. This wasn't a standard every day sock. It was one of my heavy duty, 1/2 inch thick, what I wear when I am outside doing chores socks. I was vacuuming around the bed and just barely brushed the tip of the sock, and before I could finish thinking "oh shit", the vacuum sucked the entire sock up in .06 seconds. I immediately turned off the vacuum, got out my screwdriver, and opened the guard on the bottom of the vacuum. The sock was wrapped around the brush pretty good, but I was able to get it out with minimal effort. I replaced the guard and turned it back on. The vacuum still worked amazingly after eating the sock. In my opinion, if a vacuum is going to completely suck up a huge sock like that and still work, it's worth it's weight in gold. I was really impressed.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2010-01-01T13:43:00.002-06:00

I, like everyone else in the Midwest, started the Christmas holiday out by being lucky enough to attend the worst Christmas Blizzard Ever 2009. My brother made it my parents place before the awful weather hit. My poor sister did not make it to Leeds until the day after Christmas. She ended up spending Christmas Eve in a suburb of Minneapolis, and then had to stop in Fargo on Christmas Day. We didn't open presents or anything until she made it home okay. For Christmas, I received an RCC gift card from Mike, a TSC gift card, a really cool Farm Girl shirt and a pair of socks from my dad, a new Stephen King book, a music CD, and a baking dish that now replaced the Pampered Chef dish that my girls broke way back when.

It was nice to have our family together for a little while. That doesn't happen often, and when it does, we have things going on and we are all in a rush to be doing something. It was nice to sit and just enjoy the company. Even if I had wanted to go home at some point with the girls, there was no way I couldn't. My yard and driveway fills in really bad when it's snowing and blowing. My place was completely blocked, and had to be cleaned out before I could even think of getting home. The first decent day after the storm, my dad went to my place and cleaned out the yard for me.

I hope everyone had fun ringing in the New Year. I stayed home with the girls and we watched movies. After the girls were in bed, I laid down in bed and started reading my Stephen King book; Under The Dome. It's a 1,000+ page book....and I read 648 pages. I must say, it's a really good book. I will probably finish it up by tomorrow. I was thinking of going to the Community Center in Leeds to the annual New Years Eve supper that the local bar hosts, but it was cold and I didn't want to drag the girls out in the weather. Besides, the three of us had a great time hanging out together and you cannot beat moments like those.

A SURPRISE GIFT

2009-12-21T16:33:00.004-06:00

Cassidy came home from school today with a really large Christmas present. When I asked her if everyone got a present when leaving the school, she told me no, and that only a few people got them. This made me curious so I opened up the card taped to the present. The card was signed by the Leeds Lutheran Church Circle. This made me even more curious since we are Catholics and do not attend the Leeds Lutheran Church. I let Cassidy open the gift and inside the box was a little blond doll, a new pair of blue jeans, a long sleeved pink shirt, and this really cute fuzzy zip up sweater to go over the shirt. I am very thankful that someone in the Leeds Lutheran Church thought of her this Christmas. Blessings do happen at unexpected moments. I send out a BIG thank you to who ever bought the items for Cassidy. It's appreciated greatly.

MY SATURDAY E.R. VISIT

2009-12-20T20:42:00.004-06:00

I was looking forward to the weekend on Friday. The Ex had picked up the girls for the weekend and I didn't have to work too early in the morning...which meant, this mother was going to get some well deserved sleeping in time. I jumped into bed around 9 o'clock (pretty sad for a Friday night, I know) and was excited for all the sleep I was going to get. I passed out five minutes after my head ht the pillow.

Around 2 o'clock in the morning, I was awakened by a bad itching feeling that went from head-to-toe. Not giving the itching a second thought, I scratched the hell out of myself and fell back asleep. Twenty minutes after I fell asleep, I awoke to more itching. This patterned repeated all through the night and into the early morning. At 7 o'clock in the morning, I had enough of all the itching, so I headed to the shower thinking it would help. I got to the bathroom, peeled out of my clothes, and then turned on the bathroom light...and that's when I got my first look at myself.

To put it mildly, I was hideous. If you ask my mother, she will tell you I looked like the Elephant Man. I had a complete body rash that went from the top of my head down to my feet. My eyes were so puffy, you would have sworn there were cotton balls under my eyelids. The rash was so terrible that I had it on the palms of my hands, in my arm pits, along my butt, and even between my toes. After getting over from being in awe of myself, I jumped in the shower. Big mistake. When the hot water hit my skin, it felt like the worlds worst sunburn standing 7 feet from the sun. After finishing my shower, I got light headed. I got out of the shower and went back to my bed and laid down. When I hit my bed, my ears got super sensitive and I could hear air moving around my bedroom....and the furnace wasn't running. When I could hear the air moving in the house, I knew I was in trouble, so I called my mom and told her she had to take me to the Devils Lake Emergency Room.

The ER doctor took at look at my stomach and said, "Oh my"...not a good thing you want to hear your doctor say...and continued inspecting my rash. I had a fever and my throat was red, but it wasn't sore. After I was completely checked out, the doctor said that I had a strep rash...which is like the Scarlett fever of strep throat. I have never heard of this in my life, but I guess when some people have strep throat they can break out in a terrible, hideous, monster looking rash. All the antibiotics that I was taking for 3 weeks made me feel better and took away all the symptoms of my strep, but it never really went away and I have been carrying it with me all this time. Of all the luck, instead of getting a sore throat again, it came back as a nasty ass rash!!! I got two more butt injections in the ER (this makes butt shots 3 and 4 for those of you keeping count). One was a long lasting antibiotic that doesn't need any pill follow up, and another prednisolone shot. I also got prescriptions for prednisolone tablets and Benadryl. Right now, my medicine cabinet looks a miniature pharmacy. I have everything in there that anyone could possibly need.

So, after getting out of the ER, mom bought me a Milky Way coffee at The Coffee Connection and we picked up food at McDonald's. I told mom if she wanted to go shopping, that was fine with me, but I was not getting out of the Jeep and walking around in public while I had the rash. She just laughed at me and understood. After all, she did call me the Elephant Man...When we got to mom's house, I stayed at her place and helped her wrap all the Christmas gifts. Around 8 o'clock on Saturday night, I left my mom's place and went home to sleep. I fell asleep shortly after getting home and stayed soundly asleep all night long. It was wonderful.

Today, I still have some signs of the rash. I have some light pinkish marks on my face, stomach, and along my legs, but they are not near as bright as they used to be. I hope tomorrow there will be no signs of the rash at all!!

MOMMY IS A SQUEALER

2009-12-18T13:55:00.003-06:00

When Cassidy started Kindergarten this year, I told myself I wasn't going to be one of "those" mothers. You know the ones I am talking about; the ones that always complain to the Principal because something is happening on the playground, in the classroom, or being picked on all the time, and the ones that go over board and seriously over react in simple situations that don't require much to resolve. I'm also not going to be the parent that harps because their child isn't first in sports or anything like that. Don't get me wrong. I will be there to defend Cassidy when something does happen. I just want her to be able to stick up for herself and be tough, but not so tough that she is considered a bully.

Thursday, Cassidy came inside the house after she got off the bus. She took off her glove and showed me this huge bite mark on her finger. She said that she turned around and knelled on the bus seat to wave at a friend that was sitting behind her. As Cassidy was waving, this "friend" grabbed her wrist and bit down on her finger and then started to laugh. Being the tough person that I am, I had a mental image go through my head that I hoped Cassidy took her fist and popped this "friend" right in the face. Now, I know that's wrong, but that's what I would have done. Cassidy said she didn't do anything and just turned around and sat back down. I told Cassidy the next time something happens on the bus, she needs to immediately talk to the bus driver because they are there to help if there are any problems. I also made a quick call to the school principal. I hated doing it, but I wanted the other child to know that they were not going to get away with picking on either of my girls. The principal was surprised to hear what the other child had done, and she promised me that she would speak to the child first thing tomorrow morning and tell them that is 100% not acceptable behavior on the bus. I thanked the principal and then hung up.

I kind of feel like a shit for doing that. I don't want Cassidy labeled as "the squealer" either. I would prefer she try to handle it without me getting involved as much as possible. Since she is only 6, I will have to intervene now-and-then. Again, don't get me wrong. I am not running away from the responsibility myself, I would just like to see Cassidy handle those situations well too. I don't want the other kids to harass Cassidy more because her mom called the principal. Peer pressure for small children is terrible. I know they don't say a lot of things because they don't want to be teased more or picked on then they already are. They only want the other children to like them. They think that if they don't tell anyone if anything bad is happening, then these other kids will like them. It's awful they have to think that they will gain acceptance this way.

Yesterday, Cassidy told me that things were okay on the bus and she didn't sit next to the "friend." I thought that was a wonderful first step that Cassidy took. By staying away, this child will not be able to do anything to her. I am hoping that Cassidy doesn't have any more problems on the bus this year.

NEW ROOMS

2009-12-15T15:52:00.003-06:00

When I get stressed or something bothers me, my natural automatic response to it is to keep myself occupied. And I don't mean cross stitch, puzzles, or reading a book. I have to have something that keeps me moving and my hands busy. I rarely notice what I am doing or how much I accomplish until I step back and look around. These moments are bitter sweet. I get a lot of shit done, but something has to dramatically shift in my life to do it, and a majority of the time it's not a shift that someone would want to welcome. I have done this since I can remember when and drives some people nuts. Today was one of those days.

I started with picking up the living room, and then I moved to the kitchen. When I was done in the kitchen, I decided to start cleaning up the girls toy room and bedroom. When I was done with the girls rooms, I decided that today would be a good day to switch the two rooms around. I have no idea what possessed me to think of doing such a thing. I had to move all the toys and junk from the toy room to the living room, then the dressers needed to be moved into the "old" toy room before I could take the bunk beds apart. I vacuumed the "old" toy room and got the two dressers moved in. Right now, the bunk beds are still in the "old" bedroom until I can find someone to help me get the top bunk bed down on the floor. Then, I will be able to everything into the new bedroom and the toys can come out of my living room and go into the new toy room. In the process of all this, I was able to pitch hay for the horses, cook two meals for Jessie, and keep Jessie occupied while I was cleaning everything else. I also went through ALL the toys and threw a bunch out that the girls do not play with anymore.

Tomorrow, I am not sure what I am going to do. I have the day off of work and I absolutely have to have something to do. If it was still 40 above zero, I would actually go and clean out my entire garage so that I can finally park my car in it...but that's not going to happen until spring now. I am not going to freeze my ass off while I am working.

YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME

2009-12-12T21:10:00.005-06:00

With money being super tight, trying to figure out how to put together a cheap Christmas, and trying to work out my daycare issue, I didn't think things could possibly get any shittier for me then they already have.

I was completely wrong.

Today, mom gave me money to treat my girls to a movie. We went to Devils Lake and saw the new Disney film, The Princess and The Frog. It was a good show and we all enjoyed it. When the girls and I got back to my moms, I attempted to help her put up her Christmas tree. I didn't get much done, the girls got extremely tired, my mom was getting pretty crabby, and it was time to go home. Everyone needed a break from each other. After the girls and I got home, we started watching Grandma Got Ran Over By Reindeer. Cassidy got up to go use the bathroom. The cat followed her. Cassidy must have thought the cat was thirsty because the cat jumped in the tub and laid down. When Cassidy got done going to the bathroom, she went over to the tub to turn it on to give the cat a drink. When Cassidy leaned against the tub, the top edge of the tub collapsed and created a big ass hole along the top edge of the tub. I repeat; This isn't just a little crack, it's a huge ass hole! I didn't get upset with Cassidy. It was not her fault. There had been a big crack running along the top of the tub for a while. I was going to buy a fiberglass repair kit to fix it, but I don't have to worry about a kit, now I need a whole new damn bathtub.

I want to go out to my front yard and scream "Why me?" as loud as I possibly can. But what good would that do? It's not like someone is going to hear me, and even if they did, what would they do? Also, it would only be affirming my neighbors suspicions of me being a nut case.

This sucks so much, and it couldn't have happened at a worse time. I will admit that any time it would have happened wouldn't have been a good time, but with things tight like they are and Christmas two weeks away.........why now? But just like everything else, I will take a deep breath, suck it in, and just deal with it. A person cannot change what is done, but they can take it and make it better. A tub is a necessity, and we don't want to stink. The new tub has become top priority in my household. I will now be working my ass off to be able to purchase a new tub in 4 weeks. It's going to take at least that many weeks to establish a good enough paycheck.

Most of you think I am handling things well lately. I say Thank You to all of you, but I'm not taking it as well as you really think I am. I am mad, upset, depressed, and very much borderline insane right now. I don't know how much more of it I can take. It's situations and times like these that make people want to check out.

I HATE MONEY

2009-12-09T15:27:00.005-06:00

All of you know I am pretty content with life and I don't get excited about much, except when it comes to horses. However, nothing pisses me off more than when you mess with my money. I hate money. It truly is the root of all evil in this world. A person cannot survive without it....well, you could, but I guarantee you would be uncomfortable without most modern conveniences.

My job is a bit crazy right now. The company is experiencing hardship, just like every other business out there, and they were going to lay off employees. A bunch of us put up a big stink about it because they just hired a bunch of new people. What company in their right mind hires a bunch of people and then decides they have to lay off? After a few weeks, the company decided that instead of lay offs, they were going to cut every ones hours down to 18 hours a week. If we want more hours, we are responsible for checking the schedule board and picking up shifts that other employees post for pick-up. This is crazy, insane, and almost impossible because everyone is scrambling to pick up hours so they can all make 40 hours a week, and it's hard to meet 40 hours a week when nobody wants to give up any of the 18 hours that they have. And if someone does post hours, you better be looking at the break board when they do it, or the hours are gone as soon as they are posted. I am lucky if I make 25 hours a week. This makes the paycheck look pretty said.

Also, I was going through my accounts last week and noticed that I did not have a child support payment come in. This surprised me. I get a child support payment the same day that I get paid from my job. I thought the payment may be posting late because of the Thanksgiving holiday. The more I thought about it, the more that didn't add up. If that was the case, my paycheck should have been late too. I use the child support payments to pay my child care provider for when my girls are in daycare. My daycare does not do credit, so I have to pay her Friday of each week. I did not have the child support payment to pay my day care provider, so my girls cannot go back until she gets her payment for last week. My daycare provider isn't being rude or doing it to be mean, she is just running a business and I totally understand where she is coming from. I was hoping I would have the payment in my account today so that I would be set up to bring the girls back to daycare on Monday. When I checked my account today, there was still no child support posted.

I called the ND Child Support Division in Devils Lake and asked them to check on it. I was surprised to find out that another person receiving child support has an ex who is working for the same company as my ex, and they had previously called in because they were missing their payment too. From what I was told, the woman who does payroll for the company my ex works for was out sick with the flu, so she was late at getting the money out for child support. This made me a little upset, but you can't hold being sick against someone. I did tell the person I was speaking to that I haven't had a payment since November 18th and I couldn't work until my daycare provider got paid. The child support division thought my last payment on November 18th was odd as well. Child support is going to make some calls, speak with my ex's employer about the last payment, and then call me back. I am hoping that I will have some type of payment extremely soon. This is the first time EVER that a child support payment from my ex has been late. I understand that it's not his fault, but the company he works for. However, I need this money for child care expenses and bills to be covered that I cannot cover with my paycheck.

Now all I can really do is hope that something posts tomorrow or Monday morning. If not, I will have to come up with other sources. I hate doing that and it makes me mad. I am so annoyed with everything right now, it's eating me alive!

CUSTOMER SERVICE

2009-12-09T15:27:00.004-06:00

I have worked a lot of customer service jobs over the years, and when you work in customer service, there are people out there that never fail to let you down on how retarded some of the human race can be. Now, I am not calling myself super smart or anything, but I do have common sense. A great perk about my job is that I get to work from a home computer set up at my parents house. The downside is that it's fast-food. I'm not going to complain. At least it's a job that I can do in my pajama's if I want too. But, some of these people really make me laugh and annoy me at the same time.

I had a lady today ask me, after I took her order, if she should pay me or pay the person at the window. Seriously?! You have no idea how badly I wanted to tell her to go ahead and try cramming her money into the slots in the speaker post. I would have paid to watch that. Another woman got irritated when she asked for a plan cheeseburger with no cheese and I put a plain hamburger on her order. She specifically demanded a cheeseburger with no cheese. I hope she realised when she got home that she just ordered an expensive hamburger. A majority of the customers also have this habit of placing their orders and then screaming, "I want my order to go!" Yes sir, however you are in the drive-thru, are you not? What scares me the most about these people is that 99% of them are ordering Happy Meals for the children screaming in their cars, so you know they are reproducing!

After these two orders, I remembered a call I took when I handled customer service for The Sharper Image catalog. A woman called because a bathroom radio/CD player she purchased was not working correctly after a few weeks of having the item. After what felt like an hour of going over the item with her, she told me she had a little bar that kept blinking right before the radio/CD player shut off. I took my glasses off and hung my head. I politely explained to her that was the battery power display. She had low batteries and they needed to be changed. She was adamant that she had good batteries in the unit. She had a package of Energizer batteries with an expiration date of 12/12 on the package so she knew the batteries weren't dead. At this point, I banged my head on my desk and I had to explain to her that the date she was reading on the package of her batteries was the shelf life of the batteries. It didn't mean that the batteries were going to keep working until 12/12. She got a little upset and was pretty sure I was incorrect about what I was talking about. Miraculously, I talked her into changing the batteries and was surprised when the unit worked. She started to ask me date questions about the batteries, and I told her as calmly as I could, that she would have to direct those questions to Energizer, not me. By far, this has been my favorite customer service call yet. My heart goes out to the Energizer customer service representative that woman spoke to.

JUST SHOOT ME PLEASE

2009-12-02T22:20:00.002-06:00

This is a recap to bring people up to speed on whats going on.

Three weeks ago, I got strep throat. Last week, I had to go back into the clinic because it had started to come back. I was giving an injection of Rocephin in the butt and a different prescription. Today I had to go back to the clinic because during the night it became very difficult to breath and my chest felt like an elephant was squatting on it.

I saw my doctor at 10:30 this morning. During my exam, we had to pause for five minutes so I could take the time to throw up in a cute little blue sack. Then the doctor sent me over to Mercy Hospital to have a chest x-ray performed because he said my chest sound like "an old rusty gate swinging in the wind." I returned to the clinic to wait for the results of the x-ray and threw up some more. The x-ray's didn't show any pneumonia, some places were a little cloudy, but not really that bad at all. My doc decided to give me a steroid injection (a second shot in my butt!!) to help speed up the effect of the steroid, and he also prescribed steroid tablets that I have to take for 10 days.

As soon as I got to my car, I had to throw up again. I didn't care about dignity after the shot in my butt, so I just kicked the car door open, leaned over, and threw up on the clinic parking lot. It was a good 10 minutes until I felt well enough to start driving. As I was driving through town, I felt nauseous again and pulled over near the McDonald's and threw up some more on the side of the road. I wasn't sure if I was going to make the drive home or not, so I just sat in the car and waited to see what would happen. I started to feel okay, so I headed home. I got to the BTR elevator outside of Leeds when I had to throw up again. I had a car in front of me, a car behind me, a car passing me, and no place to pull over........so I will let you use your imagination on what happened next.

I got home at 1 o'clock. I put my pajamas on, threw my jacket, sweatshirt, and pants in the washing machine, and laid down. I don't think I was in bed for 5 minutes and I was fast asleep. I didn't wake up until a quarter after five. I got clothes on, went to the grocery store, and then picked up the kids from daycare and came home. I have been sick for 3 full weeks now and have suffered from almost everything I can possibly imagine. I cannot wait to see what I catch next. I just hope that I feel good during Christmas.

OH CHRISTMAS TREE

2009-12-01T15:09:00.002-06:00

For Thanksgiving, I went to Jamestown for the day and spent it with my brother. We ate a lot, drove around, went shopping, and had a really good time together. I left Jamestown really late that night and came home. Now I can't wait for Christmas when the whole family is together. It will be a lot of fun.

Saturday afternoon, I decided to put up the Christmas tree. Last year, the plastic base for it broke and I got a metal tree stand to replace it with. The metal stand didn't work all that well because the post for my artificial tree kept slipping in the metal stand, causing the tree to have a really wicked left shift lean to it...or it would topple over if we were not careful around it. I decided to run into Devils Lake and get an appropriate base for it. The only base I could find for an artificial tree was at K-Mart, and it wasn't a normal "plain Jane" stand, it was a heavy duty rotating stand and it was expensive. Because of the price, I decided to run to Rugby and look for a stand. I couldn't find any stands in Rugby at all. At one of my last stops in Rugby, I was told by a man that it's near impossible to find an artificial base, and places only sell the big green bases for real trees since most trees now come with a base already. It was about 8 in the evening and I was upset that I spent all day looking for a stand and I should have just bought the one at K-Mart. *I believe this is when I suffered my first aneurysm of the Christmas season. I couldn't set the tree up without a base, and the branches to the tree were scattered all over my living room.* I made a call to a friend, and they happened to be in Devils Lake, so they picked up the stand up at K-Mart for me and drop it off at my house.

It was close to 9 o'clock, and now that I had the base, I started putting up the tree. I got three rows of branches on my tree, and then my light strings decided that they only wanted to light up half way *Aneurysm #2.* I was tired and didn't want to mess with it anymore, so I left it like it was and went to bed. The next morning, I sat down with all my light strings and spent about 4 hours getting them to completely light up and then finished putting up the tree. I had the girls put the ornaments on the tree. They did a fantastic job decorating it. After it was all decorated, I went and plugged it in....and the stupid light strings only lit up half way again *Aneurysm #3.* I decided to say the heck with it and left them like they were. It still looks really pretty, but I am bummed that the lights decided to be stupid. I don't dare turn the base on at all so the tree can rotate it. I hate to think about the mishaps that could happen with that....also, it won't tempt the cat to attack the ornaments.

Now, I just have to get all the decorations up on the inside of the house and I am all set for Christmas. I don't know why I decorate the inside of my home. It's not like I have a lot of people coming over or anything. I think I mainly do it for the girls.

FALL FESTIVAL

2009-11-21T09:37:00.002-06:00

Until last night, I never knew exactly what it was like for a parent to sit and watch their children's school programs. I went through most of the day yesterday anxious and excited as the time for Cassidy's school program approached. Not only was it Cassidy's first program, but it was mine too. I think I may have been just as excited, or more, about it then Cassidy.

I picked up the girls from daycare, got them to my mom's house and gave them baths, then got them dress and ready to go. After the girls were done, I curled my hair, put my makeup on, and changed my clothes. When I finished, we had just enough time to make it up to the school by 7 o'clock. When we got to the school, my mom found a place to sit in the gymnasium while Jessie and I walked Cassidy down to the Kindergarten room to meet up with her teacher and the rest of her classmates, and then Jessie and I went back to the gym and sat with my mom. I kept an open mind about the program before it started. After all, the Fall Festival was put on by just the elementary children. We were not sitting down to watch the Trans Siberian Orchestra by any means. I knew it probably wasn't going to be the best thing I ever heard in my life, but I was still very happy to be there.

My open mindedness was correct. To be polite, the majority of the Festival was a bit hard on the ears. Only about four kids in the Kindergarten class knew all the words, they sang faster than the poor piano player could keep up with them, and of course there were occasionally the little children antics that were funny. The older grades and the elementary band didn't do too bad. At the end, all of the grades sang together and it sounded pretty decent. One of my favorite parts was an attempt at square dancing during one of the songs that looked like a scene off the movie The Outsiders. Cassidy's favorite part of the program was being able to keep the little flashlight she used during the last song in the Festival.

I give a lot of credit to the parents that endure all the concerts, programs, plays, banquets, and so on. Now I know what it's like. It can be difficult to sit through things like that, but as a parent you do it because you love your child, and that's what your child is happiest and most proud of at that moment. You want to support them and show them that you care. No matter how much you don't want to be there, you go anyway.

My heart swelled last night. It made me feel good to see Cassidy so happy and proud of herself. I was proud too as I watched her on stage singing her little heart out and smiling the whole time. I look forward to any choir, band, or program that she is in now that she is in school. I will not trade those moments for anything in the world.

PROGRAM TONIGHT

2009-11-20T09:21:00.002-06:00

I am happy to say that my step has finally gone away. It's nice to be able to swallow again without agonizing pain.

Cassidy has her Fall Festival program tonight at the school. I am excited to go. My mom is coming with us too. After the program, the girls will leave for the weekend with their father. While the girls are gone, I am going to try to get my house back in order, and probably spend a majority of my free time riding.

I have noticed that my navicular horse it starting to favor her front leg more. I have been reading and researching things on navicular horses. So far, the best information I have found has come from a man by the name of Pete Ramey. There are also several different types of boots to put on horses depending on their needs. I read a statement from a woman who had a show horse develop navicular. After boots and the proper treatment, she is now jumping the horse again. I cannot imagine being able to show jump a horse with navicular...but I guess anything is possible. I really want to get more info on it. I would like to have my horse free of leg pain and be able to ride her. She was my childhood, and I am not going to give up on her.

STREP IS GETTING BETTER

2009-11-14T20:39:00.003-06:00

My mother had the girls until this morning. I must say, with all the rest that I have had, I do feel much better. The fever is gone, no more body aches, but I still have a sore throat, and I have a lump on bottom right side of my jaw that doesn't seem to want to go away. I see the doctor again on Monday. Hopefully, he will tell me what the lump is. Better yet, it would be nice if it miraculously disappeared on it's own by tomorrow.

I had to run to Devils Lake today and pick up medicine for Jessie. She got a runny nose at my mom's place, and by this morning she had a pretty bad cough to go with the runny nose. Jessie was put on a Z-Pack, so she only has 5 days of meds. I hope it's enough to clear up what she has. Cassidy, fortunately, has not been sick yet.

I am excited for Friday. Cassidy has her very first music program at the school. They are putting on a Fall Festival Nov. 20th at 7:30 pm at the School gym. I cannot wait to go!! I am going to have to find something really nice for her to wear that night. The girls are supposed to go to their dads that evening. I left a message for him about the Festival and told him he should come watch it, and then he and the girls can leave for Minot right after it got done.....but he hasn't replied back yet.....which really doesn't surprise me.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

STREP THROAT

2009-11-12T15:37:00.002-06:00

Tuesday morning I woke up with a sore throat. It wasn't bad, so I didn't think too much of it. That even, after the girls were in bed, around 10:30 I starting getting a fever, my body was extremely achy, and I was fighting chills and sweating spells all night. When I woke up yesterday, my throat hurt so bad I didn't even want to talk, my ears were burning, and I still had a fever. I decided to make an appointment to go see a doctor, because I thought it was an ear infection.

I saw the doctor and he said my ears were good, but he was very concerned about my throat. He took swab samples and sent them to the lab. When my lab results came back, they were positive for strep throat. He put me on penicillin and also a Nystatin mouth wash to help fight the bacteria. He also wrote me a note to fax to my job. No customer service work for me until at least Tuesday.

My mom called last night and said she would take the day off of work, and she would come over in the morning, get Cassidy ready for school and take her to the school, and she would take Jessie home with her so I could get as much rest as I possibly could. I sent her home with pajama's and an extra change of clothing just in case mom decided to keep them over night.

I love my mom. She is such a blessing to have. I got an email from a friend of mine who just got over strep about a month ago. She said that Mucinex really worked for her throat and had less irritation with it. After getting her email, I called my mom to see if she and Jessie were going to go to town today, and asked her if she could pick up some Mucinex for me so I could try it. When she arrived at my house, not only did she have the Mucinex, but she also had a large Milky Way coffee drink from The Coffee Connection for me. A short while after my mom left, another friend came by the house and threw a box of Chloraseptic throat lozenges in my front door and left right away. After I finish my coffee, I am going to try a lozenge. Hopefully that will help some too.

I have been sleeping all day, and I must say all the sleep has made me feel good so far. I just want the pain in my throat to be gone, or at least subside a little bit, and I will be feeling well. I have no idea how I caught strep throat. Nobody I know has been sick, and when I have been hanging around my friends they have all seemed to be very healthy. I just hope neither of my two girls catch it from me.

HAIRCUTS AND HALLOWEEN!!

2009-10-31T20:24:00.010-05:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!

The girls and I had a pretty good Halloween holiday. To start the day off, we went to Devils Lake and the girls had haircut appointments with my friend Tawny at Performance in Hair. The girls were not happy about going, but calmed down during the car ride there. Cassidy had her haircut first. She let us cut it super short so it doesn't take 20 minutes to comb out anymore. Jessie went next and asked for a haircut just like Nana's. The girls behaved very well, and they look super cute with their new haircuts.

At 3:30, we went over to the Leeds Community Center for a Halloween party before trick-or-treating. I must say, compared to all the years before, this party was actually pretty dull. There was only 3 different games to play, there was one craft table, a spot set up for pictures to be taken, all the games ran out of prizes before my girls got to play them, and the party only lasted for one hour. Oh well, they thought it was fun anyway.

My mom drove the girls and I around at 5 o'clock for trick-or-treating. The girls did very well, and Jessie only took one break. Jessie sat in the Jeep with Nana while Cassidy and I went to the doors to collect candy. After about a half hour, she was ready to go some more. There was one house in Leeds that Jessie didn't like. The house belongs to the Himle's and they decorate it really nicely every year. The husband likes to dress up, sit outside, and scare all the kids when they come up to the door. It's pretty funny to watch. The girls and I got up to the door and they got their candy. When they turned around to leave, two of the "decorations" on the deck started to move. It spooked Cassie, but she just ran off the porch quickly. Jessie on the other hand was so scared that she wouldn't move. She even refused to turn around and step down the porch because one of them tried to pick her up. I had to lift her to get her off the deck. When we walked away, Jessie told me "I'm not going to Himle's anymore. It's scary, and that guy tried to pick me up." I just smiled and tried not to laugh.

Tawny styling Cassidy's hair.

Jessie ready for her haircut.

Tawny cutting Jessie's hair.

The girls making funny faces with Tawny.

My two adorable babes!

The Himle's home. This is such an awesome place at night on Halloween.

The girls getting some candy.

Cassidy and Jessie at a house.

Cassidy and Jessie's daycare provider, Jody, and her husband Rob.

ELEMENTARY HALLOWEEN PARTY

2009-10-30T16:32:00.014-05:00

Today at 1:30, I picked Jessie up from daycare and we headed up to the school for the Kindergarten Halloween Party. All the children in elementary dressed up in their costumes, paraded through the classrooms (and even went through the high school rooms), then went back to their own rooms to have hot dogs, cupcakes, chips, and juice. Parents, brothers, and sisters were invited to go, so Jessie and I went so I could take pictures of all of it.

I am proud of my girls, they behaved themselves and had a lot of fun. Jessie even put on her Halloween costume and walked with Cassidy through the school during the Halloween parade.

Enjoy the pics!!

The Kindergarten class all dressed up for the parade. Back row; Aiden, Mailiya, Cassidy, Abby, Kurtis, and Kaylee. Middle row; McKenna, Desidy, Sloane, Holden, and A.J. Front row; Cody, Jerrick, and Caleb.

Cassidy dressed up in her dog costume.

Jessie begged to be a unicorn this year.

Desidy Schwanke as Thomas the Steam Engine.

Kurtis Nelson as Albert Enstien.

Brooks and Carson Tracy as Mario and Luigi.

Adam Fisher dressed as a cowboy. I sooo want his costume.

Mrs. Nybo getting Cassidy her hot dog.

The Kindergarten class enjoying their food.

The kids playing a number game. Cassidy and Jessie both won a game and got to pick a prize out of the treasure chest.

BIRTHDAY PICTURES

2009-10-30T16:13:00.008-05:00

Here are some of the pictures from Cassidy's birthday party. She had a lot of friends show up for the party. Thirteen friends to be exact!! They were Desidy Schwanke, Sloane Follman, McKenna Tofsrud, Camiee Wangler, Abby Letzinger, Kaylee and Brock Hansen, Kurtis Nelson, Holden Kersten, Jerrick McGarvey, and Tristin, Izik, and Joseph Burtchell. All those kids made for a lot of entertainment, and I am very glad that I only held the party for two hours. I now appreciate the fact that I only have two girls. If I had anymore children, I would go crazy!!!

Party favor cups filled with Fun Size bag of M&M's, flutes, hand-clapers, slinkys, and large Halloween Glow Sticks.

Cassidy showing her Disney Princess Art Set from Sloane Follman.

Cassidy opening a Little Petshop gift from Desidy Schwanke.

More Little Petshop animals from mom.

Cassidy's Littlest Petshop cake she picked herself.

Jerrick McGarvey, Desidy Schwanke, Kaylee Hanson, and Jessie.

Holden Kersten, Kurtis Nelson, and Jerrick McGarvey playing with balloons.

Jessie Ann being cute.

IT'S NAVICULAR

2009-10-30T11:08:00.002-05:00

The vet confirmed navicular is the source of Luna's problem. The vet said that she is technically now a retired horse. It is not recommended that she carry anything heavier than 90 lbs., so Luna is a strictly kids-only horse. She will no longer be able to go for 10 mile rides. The vet said that Luna can no longer run, and that I don't even trot her, just keep her at a slow and steady walk. I cannot bred her because her leg will not be able to support the weight of a pregnant belly.

When Luna is ridden, the vet suggested a special boot that helps supports and cushions the leg. She also prescribed ButePaste, which is an anti-inflammatory, which should also help. I have to give the ButePaste to Luna 2 times a day for 3 days before she is ridden. I am going to check online to see what types of boots are available and how expensive they are.

I am glad that the news wasn't too grave. However, I am disappointed that I can no longer ride my horse, but the girls will still be able to, and that makes me feel better about it. My horse has given me many years of wonderful experiences, and now it's my girls turn to enjoy that.

I guess there was a good reason why I received Mack as a gift. Someone up above knew I would be needing him.

CHOYA ? - 2009

2009-10-24T20:14:00.005-05:00

Today, at 6:30 this evening, we said good-bye to out Leopard Appaloosa mare, Choya. As much as it hurts, she is resting in peace. She is no longer blind and will not have to struggle through anymore winters. I am proud that our family was able to give this horse a very peaceful and relaxed 12 years of her life before she passed away. Sunday will be especially difficult for me. The girls are with their father, and they were not here to say their good-byes to her. It's going to be hard to stay strong when they cry.

FARRIER COULDN'T HELP, SO OFF TO THE VET

2009-10-23T11:20:00.002-05:00

The farrier came out yesterday to examine Luna. He didn’t find anything wrong with the hoof, and at the time, she wasn’t showing any signs of lameness. He examined the leg and she showed a little tenderness in her leg, and said Luna’s problem is probably navicular and she would need to be taken to the vet and have the leg x-rayed. Since Luna did not show lameness, after the farrier left I tried taking her for another ride. However, we got about a quarter mile down the road, and she started to limp again.

I called my vet today and set up an exam for Luna at 2:30pm on Monday. I am hoping for the best. If it is navicular, it can’t be fixed, but we can maintain the leg and keep her comfortable, but the problem will eventually get worse and the harder it will be to maintain. I will have to decided what is okay for Luna and what is also the humane thing to do.

I am not very surprised that Luna developed a navicular problem. For 10 years I rode her every day, all day long. Luna loves to be ridden. When you saddle her up, she is ready to go, and has a very hard time standing still because she is ready to move. I guess it’s fare to say that I literally rode the legs right off my horse.

MORE HORSE WOES

2009-10-21T10:59:00.003-05:00

I will be posting pictures of Cassidy's birthday party as soon as I find the computer cord to my camera, until then, no pictures will be posted.

I helped my friend clean her horse barn most of the day Sunday. I went back out yesterday while she was at work to finish up what we didn't get done on Sunday. It felt great to go out and help her get everything taken care of. I enjoy work like that. It doesn't feel like I am working at all.

I have made the decision to just be a two-horse-owning family. Four is hard to take care of, three gets a little bit crowded, but two is just right. I want to keep my mothers black/white appaloosa gelding, so I made the decision to sell my 19-year-old mare. She is well broke, child friendly, and my 6-year-old daughter rides her by herself. I can also get more money for my well-broke mare then my mom's gelding. However, after making this decision, I have come across a BIG problem.

I saddled up my mare, Luna, for a ride the other day. She had been showing signs of lameness off and on over the summer, but has been doing pretty good lately. I rode her down the road and back, and she did just great. I saddled my sorrel gelding, Mack, and waited for my friend, Brandie, who came out to ride with me. We took off on the horses and got about a mile north of my house when Luna started limping. I told Brandie I had to get the horse back to the house so I could check her out. I cleaned out her hoof and it was dry and clean. There were no hot or soft spots when I pushed down on the inside of the hoof, so I don't believe there is an abscess or infection in it. However, there is definitely a problem somewhere, because when I would let go of her leg so she could put it down on the ground, she kept her leg in the air and didn't want to put weight on it. I have tried calling farriers to come out and check the hoof. So far, no one has gotten back to me. If her hooves are good, then it is more than likely a hock (ankle) problem, and here is where it gets hard. If it's a hock problem, there is only so much a vet can do, and a majority of legs problems ARE NOT fixable, no matter how hard you try. I cannot ride her until she has been checked out, so she is a yard ornament right now. I cannot sell her as a riding horse if she is lame, and I do not want her next owners to have any problems. If it is a problem that the farrier and vet cannot fix, then I will have to put her down because nothing else can be done for her. If I bred horses, she would be okay, but I don't have the facility for raising foals. I just ride, and if she cannot be ridden because of injury, the humane thing would be to put her down.....unless someone wants her as a brood mare. However, I want to be down to just two horses by the time snow flies, so there is a time limit on everything.

I hate thinking about it. I would rather sell her and see her go to a good home then have to put her down. My father bought Luna for me when I was an eighth grader and started attending a new school. I grew up sitting on the back of Luna, spending many days riding country roads and through fields exploring everything. We have had our share of great adventures, and Lord knows the mishaps during some of them. She's a wonderful horse. It sucks making the decision to put a good horse down. I don't think there is a horse owner out there that likes putting a good horse down, but there is no other options if a farrier and vet cannot fix what is injured.

HEAT, PARTIES, AND AN OLD HORSE

2009-10-15T08:39:00.003-05:00

Klemetsruds Plumbing and Heating was here yesterday morning and installed my new furnace. It's nice to know that I have a furnace that will not crap out on me anymore....knock on wood!

Cassidy's birthday party is Saturday. She picked out a Littlest Petshop birthday cake last week. It should be arriving at the grocery store today, so I will have to pick it up before work. Yesterday, after the furnace was installed, I went to Devils Lake and bought party stuff, a set of Littlest Petshop animals, and some new dress up shoes for Cassidy. I also bought her a brand new snow outfit complete with a jacket, snow pants, and boots. She really needed it. She is getting so tall, that she outgrows everything super fast.

I got a call last night from the lady I got my hay from. She is trying to get her place ready for her son's confirmation party, but she has been so busy, that she is falling behind on everything and wanted to know if I would come out to her farm and help her this Sunday after lunch to get everything ready for the confirmation party. I feel really good when I can help those who have helped me when I have needed it, so I told her that I would be there.

We had a lot of snowfall here yesterday. We were in a winter weather advisory until 7 this morning. I hope it goes away and we have a nice weekend. I really wasn't prepared for the snow to come so soon. I still have my pool up (but the water is out of it), there are kid toys in the yard, my picnic tables still need to be set away, and there are other little odds and ends that I have to find a place in the garage for. I also need to clean out my garage so I can try and park my car in it this winter.

All four horses seem to be doing okay right now, except for my mom's leopard appaloosa mare; Choya. I am pretty sure her days are being numbered. She it completely blind now. She runs into everything, and has bounced off my fence at least six times since coming home. She doesn't really move around the pasture on her own. My big sorrel mare guides her and pushes her where she needs to be. Also, her chewing is getting poor. It's going to be very tough for her to eat the hay this winter, and I absolutely cannot afford to have special hay grind for her. I have talked to the girls, and have explained that everything lives for a while and then dies. Choys ia old for a horse. She is in her 30's and has had a very good life with us. They don't like to talk about Choya dying, but they know it's going to happen. Whether we put her down, or she dies before we do that, I know the girls are going to be very sad and miss her a lot. Choya is Jessie's favorite horse.

HORSE WORK

2009-10-13T18:21:00.002-05:00

As much as I love them, the horses have really become a burden; financially and otherwise. The hay for the winter costs over $600 for three horses. I have no electric waters, so I have to pail fresh water every day in the winter from my bath tub. I do not own a tractor of my own, so I have to have someone do it for me, or I have to pitch it over the fence twice a day. In short, I pretty much do not have the means it takes to properly take care of the animals without other people helping me all the time.

I have considered selling them. It's not my first choice of options, but the only rational one that sounds like the right thing to do. Horses are pretty much my life outside of my girls. I ride when I can, I enjoy babying them and working with them, and in the summer it's a piece of cake to care for them. It's the winter months that are the hardest.

Because of my dilemma, I called a friend who had been considering purchasing some horses but wasn't sure if he was ready to be a horse owner or not. I told my friend that if he boarded my horses for the winter (I will provide all the hay they need), the horses could be his for the winter and beginning spring months. He could ride them whenever, take them places, they were his. The only stipulations were he had to take all three of the horses, and he HAD to keep them all winter. He was ecstatic over the offer. He checked with is parents and brother, since that is where he would be keeping them, and it was a go.

Last Friday, I got a call from a sweetheart of a neighbor that lives south of York. I was getting my hay from her this year. The hay was ready and they were bringing it into the yard, so I could come out and get it. I called my friend to let him know. We were going to haul the hay straight out to his parents farm. He said he had to go to his parents place to get the trailer and he would come right over. I thought it was taking him a very unusual length of time to call me back, and when he did, he said his brother had a change of heart and didn't want the horses out at his place any more.

It almost devastated me. I was not planning to keep the horses this winter, so I didn't have a place set up for hay, I only had a light electric fence up, and my parents had two of my horses at their place I had to move to my house. There was a good day and a half of work that I needed to do to be prepared for keeping the horses over the winter. I called a friend from Leeds. She came over and helped me put in a better fence and get an area setup for hay. I called the gal I was getting hay from, and told her I didn't' have a way to get it and if she could bring it here. After another few hours, we got hay delivery arranged and all the hay was stacked in my yard by 7:30 p.m.

Today, I took the horse trailer to the Farmers Union and had a tire fixed on it so I could run over to my parents and pick up the two horses from their house. I got the two horses home and things went okay. My two older mares don't really care for Mack and have been picking on him, but he seems to be okay with it.

Tomorrow is my day off. I have the guys coming to put in the new furnace in my house. When they leave I need to go outside and clean up the yard, and walk the fence and do repairs in the fence line where it is hanging down to make sure it is okay for winter.

A LITTLE BIT OF THOUGHT

2009-10-13T18:17:00.003-05:00

After giving it a little thought, and one phone call to my mother, I have decided to keep posting, at least for a little while longer. There have been so many people that I know of who started blogging around the same time as I, and a majority of them don't anymore. It saddens me because I can no longer read what they are up to. So, please hang with me a little while longer.

THINKING ABOUT SHUTTING HER DOWN

2009-10-12T14:33:00.003-05:00

Four years ago, I started this blog so that friends and family could keep up with what I was doing, and to also share pictures of myself, children, family, pets, and stupid stuff that was going on for me on a day-to-day basis. Not that I thought anyone really gave a hoot, but it gave me something to do as a stay-at-home mother.

I was good at posting every day, even when nothing happened. I posted countless pictures of my girls, horses, and even one real plumbers crack that I even look up every now and then for a good laugh. I even learned how to put songs on my blog that helped reflect my mood.

I have shared a lot of things with all all of you in those four years. Humorous stories, sad ones, scary ones, every day things, and there was even the very rare "fight" between blogs.

I sit here now, contemplating over closing it down. Over the years, I have slacked at posting regularly, and there are only 4 people who really read this anyway. It's a great outsource for my thoughts and feelings when something is getting to me or I have something funny to tell. However, who wants to hear about the ordinary stuff since things don't change much for me anymore. Some people even expressed their disapproval of what I have posted.

So....I haven't made a complete decision on it, but I have thought about it. Has anyone else been thinking of doing the same?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CASSIDY!!

2009-10-07T10:12:00.002-05:00

Today is Cassidy's 6th birthday. I have spent the majority of the day baking cupcakes for the Kindergarten class. I was going to do it last night, but I was out of eggs. I had to wait until morning to get eggs from the grocery store. We are going to celebrate her birthday next weekend. I will send out invites to everyone. I sure hope you can all join us. I would have had it this weekend, but the girls are with their father this weekend, and I am sure he has something planned in Minot.

I am getting tired of this stupid crazy fall weather. It's so cold, and I think we have gotten some kind of rainfall every day for the last week and a half. I want sunshine for just one day before it snows. Is that too much to ask for?

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP

2009-10-06T11:46:00.003-05:00

When the alarm went off this morning, I was still really tired. I was fumbling for some clothing to put on, and grabbed a sweatshirt and jeans. I noticed as I was putting on the jeans, that they were oddly wet. I looked down, and sure enough, there was a big wet spot on the leg. I took the jeans off and smelled the wet spot........one of my cats peed all over my jeans! what a wonderful start to the day!

This morning I took Cassie to school. She said she wanted to eat breakfast with me in the cafeteria. It wasn't expensive. Cassie got her breakfast free and I only had to pay $1.50 for my carmel roll and juice. It was really nice to spend the extra little time with her before she had to go to her classroom.

Johnson's Plumbing was at my house at 8:30. The motor for the furnace had fallen apart. The service man said they needed to order parts for it, and they should get them quickly, and as soon as they arrive, he will be back to put them in. He did get it running so I do have heat in my house, the furnace is just really loud when it kicks in now.

It's Cassidy's 6th birthday tomorrow. I am going to bake cupcakes so she has something to take to class tomorrow. I am just trying to figure out how I am going to get 15 cupcakes to the school without killing half of them during the car ride.

THEY WERE HERE, THEN THEY WERE GONE

2009-10-05T15:23:00.002-05:00

A man from Community Actions made it out today. He was here for maybe 10 minutes. Turns out that I have an extremly old furnace, and instead of bothering with time to fix it, the are going to replace it. The man from Community Action made a call to Johnson's Plumbing in Rugby to try and get someone out here today, however, it didn't sound very promising. Johnson's wasn't sure if they could do it cause they have been pretty busy lately with calls themselves. Johnson's are going to check with some of the workers and see if it is possible to get out here today. If not, someone from Johnson's will be here in the morning. So, now I sit here and wait for Johnson's to call me. I have to admit, I am a bit bummed out. I was hoping it could get done today. Oh well.

GIVE ME SOMETHING WARM

2009-10-05T09:21:00.003-05:00

It has been almost a week since the furnace died. Since then, I have been using space heaters and my oven to keep the house warm. I must say, the heaters and oven are doing a pretty fair job at keep the house warm. I was contacted by Community Actions in Devils Lake this morning. Someone is coming out to take a look at the furnace and hopefully get it running, and then maybe replacing it down the line.

I am dissapointed that our fall has been so dreary and cold. I was hoping for some more nice warm weather before we had to worry about snow. Snow is in the forecast for tonight and this weekend. Yuck! I guess it's time to break out all the winter boots, hats, and mittens. Ready or not, it's coming.

Cassidy's birthday is Wednesday. She will be turning 6. Tomorrow evening I am going to bake some cupcakes so she has something to take to school. Their father has them this weekend, so we probably won't celebrate her birthday at my mom's house until next weekend. Which reminds me....if I don't want to make invitations this year, I need to get out and pick some up.

A TRYING TIME

2009-10-02T09:29:00.000-05:00

The light at the end of the tunnel on life has been flickering pretty good lately. The saying goes, "If God leads you to it, He will see you through it." I have been saying many prayers and hoping that the phrase is correct. Last Thursday started things out with a bang. Well, not a bang, a good fight actually, that set the mood for the rest of the week. It was so ridiculous that I still cannot believe it, but real enough that my very best friend is still not speaking to me. Time will tell if pride can be swallowed and apologies can be made. I am tyring to keep positive. Nothing hurts worse then when a friend flips out and you don't understand why.

Saturday was my Grandma's 80th birthday party at the Good Samaritan Center in Devils Lake. A lot of family was able to make it, and it was good to see most of them. I ate, drank a lot of coffee, and enjoyed a piece of better cream cake that had some really hideous tasting purple frosting on it. Earlier that morning, I vented to Rainy about Thursdays event and she decided that I needed some cheering up. So, Rainy, her husband Jason, and their children came out to my house for a cook-out and bonfire after the birthday party. After eating good food off the grill, I took all the kids out for a horseback ride. Rainy got pics of all the children when they were riding....Rainy even got on my horse for a ride, and I cannot remember the last time she did that! When all the kids (and Rainy) were finished riding, Jason took off on my horse and rode for a little while. Later in the evening Brandie, her man-friend Eric, Will, my brother Mike, and my cousin Ethan showed up for the bonfire. We all shared a lot of stories and laughed pretty good. It was a great way to get my mind off of every thing going on.

Wednesday, after Cassie was in school and Jessie was at daycare, I was at home cleaning. I wasn't home for a half hour, when all of a sudden my furnace made the loudest, scariest noise I had ever heard. It sounded like someone was coming through the side of my house with a very large drill. It took me 10 seconds to realize it was coming from the furnace so I ran over and shut it off as my house was filling with the smell of burnt rubber. I waited 20 minutes and tried to turn it back on, but all it would do was hum for 5 seconds and then die. I made calls to everyone I knew to get space heaters. I was able to get two from a couple of friends. I have been using those and my oven to keep my house warm. I have to go through a Mickey Mouse system to get help with my furnace. Dakota Prairie Community Action in Devils Lake said I have to qualify for Fuel Assistance and they could help fix or even replace my furnace. I called Social Services and talked to my case worker. I got a FA application in the mail yesterday and ran over to Moller's Incorporated to fax it. It will take a few days for the application to be approved.....so, my furnace probably won't be touched until middle of next week. Until then, I am doing what I can to keep my place warm. If it ever stops raining, and the sun would shine, that would be a lot better too.

Yesterday, my daycare provider called. Jessie had a temp and I needed to get her to the doctor. I called my mom at the hospital, and she was able to get her into a doctor right away. Influenza test came back negative (thank god), but she did have swollen tonsils, and a temp of 101.6. Jessie was given an antibiotic, more albuterol for her nebulizer, and a steroid albuterol she takes at night for 5 nights. And, because of her temp, she cannot go to daycare until her fever stays down for two days without Tylenol....so, no work for me.

I will keep in touch and let you all know how everything goes. Wish me luck, I have to call Social Services today and see if they got my application for FA, and if they did, if it's possible to get it accepted today so I have heat soon. With my luck, I will run out of propane while running the stove for heat.

A FRIEND TO ME

2009-10-02T08:09:00.003-05:00

Lyrics by Garth Brooks

Well you and I
We're buddies
And we've been since we first met
Me and you
Well we've sure been through
Our share of laughter and regret.

Lord knows we've had our bad days
And more than once we've disagreed
But you've always been a friend to me.

You can be so stubborn
There's times I think you just like to fight
And I hope and pray
I live to see the day
When you say I might be right.

And there's times I'd rather kill you
Thank listen to your honesty
But you've always been a friend to me.

You've always been
Time and again
The one to take my hand
And show me it's okay to be
Just the way I am
With no apology.

Oh you've always been
And you will 'til God knows when
Yes you've always been a friend to me.

RAMBLING

2009-09-21T09:58:00.003-05:00

Cassidy is really liking school. She comes home every day and shows me what they did in school, and she tells me about her day. I am happy that she is doing so well. Sometimes, she doesn't like to do her homework before she goes outside to play, but with some encouragement, we get it done together. I did get one phone call from the school last week. She got a little rough on the playground, and thought it was funny to throw rocks, name call, and depants some of the kids. It had been going on for a little bit and the teacher and principal of the elementary school tried to handle it without calling me, but she wasn't listening to them. I spoke to Cassidy about it and explained that it hurts peoples feelings when she does that. Nobody will want to play with her if she is mean, and her recesses will be taken away too. She promised me she wouldn't do it anymore, and so far, things have been going good on the playground and I have not gotten any more phone calls.

Cassidy also learned how to ride her bike last week without training wheels. We were at a friends house and all the kids were riding their bikes and she wanted to ride like them. When we got home, we got out her bike and I taught her how to ride it. In three days she was zipping around like a pro. Now, before bed, she likes to ride her bike down the dirt road and back. I almost cried one day watching her. I cannot believe how much she is growing. Pretty soon, she will be off doing her own thing and mom won't have to be around all the time. It makes me sad thinking about it.

Jessie is doing awesome. She is still a mommies girl. I can't do too much without her right behind me. It's okay, but sometimes it can be a bit much. She rides her trike and tries to keep up with Cassidy, but Cassidy moves too fast for her. Jessie really likes to ride our new horse, Mack. Jessie is definitely more "cowgirl" than Cassidy is. Jessie has already informed me she wants cowgirl boots and a hat to wear when she rides. I don't know if they make cowboy hats that small.....and if they do, I am sure they are not cheap. I may have to save that for a Christmas or Birthday gift.

My job is starting to pick up, so I am getting a lot more hours than I used to. Sometimes I was luck to break 6 hours a week. Now, I am working about 23 hours a week. I hope the hours continue to pick up. Other than that, I try to get out and ride horse every day. Now that both the girls and bigger, and I have time after work before they need to be picked up from daycare, I find a lot more time to ride. I have really missed that since having the girls. It will be nice when both Cassidy and Jessie are riding by themselves so we can all go out riding together. I would love to find a job centered around horses. If horses were my job, it wouldn't feel like I was going to "work" every day. I think I am starting to understand the phrase, "When you do something you love or have a passion for, you will never work a day in your life." I really want to expand my little place here, put up a barn with 4 to 6 stalls, and start working with horses. I would love a full-time horse operation....that would be my heaven on earth. Also, there are many days that I prefer the company of my horses over most people.

PATRICK SWAYZE 1952 - 2009

2009-09-14T20:48:00.002-05:00

Hollywood definately got a bit darker today with the passing of Patrick Swayze. I remember watching him in movies such as The Outsiders, Dirty Dancing, Ghost, The North & South, and (my favorite) Roadhouse.

For me, he was too young to pass on as early as he did. I was hoping that he would win his battle over cancer, even though extremely few beat the cancer that he had. I am going to miss him. I was hoping he would be around at least another 30 years.

When God needed someone to entertain heaven, he definately took one of the best this time around.

RIP Patrick. Now you are pain-free.

MECURCHIO

2009-09-01T22:11:00.004-05:00

Last winter I posted about my friend, Blaine Albertson, passing away. He was a country man, the family owned horses, and Blaine loved to ride. With his passing, the family had to make some hard choices. One of the hardest choices that they had to make (I believe) was to sell the horses. The family didn't want Blaine's horse to go to just anyone. They wanted to make sure the horse had a good home where he would be rode and be well taken care of. So, they decided to give the horse to me.

The family and I talked back and forth all winter about the horse. Because of the bad winter and the shortage of hay everyone was experiencing, I was not able to pick up the horse. I didn't have the extra hay for another horse, nor would I be able to get a horse trailer into their yard. After a month or two, I stopped hearing from the family. This spring, I called and left a message about the horse. I thought they may have decided to keep him or found a different home for him. About a month passed and I received a phone call from Blaine's widow, Theresa. They still had the horse and still wanted me to have him. Only stipulation was that the horse had to be picked up by September. The day after Theresa called me, I went to pick up the horse.

I got to their farm and all the horses were standing in the yard. Blaine's horse definitely stuck out from the rest. The horse's name is Mecurchio (we call him Mack for short) and he is a big sorrel gelding with a white blaze and three unbelievable white socks. When we walked up to the fence, Mack came right up and begged for attention by following us around and nudging us with his nose to be pet. I brought my saddle and bridle along to ride him quickly before loading him in the trailer so I knew what to expect when I got him home. He was slow, didn't like to lope too much, and if you were lucky enough to get him into a lope he would kick back with his right hind leg going into the lope, but for me that was okay. I knew he was too lazy to run away with the girls if they wanted to ride him, and the kick back was only from a lack of being ridden.

Mack has been here at my place now for almost 2 weeks. He has become buddies with my mother's black and white blanket appaloosa, he is fed oats twice a day, and is ridden for a minimum of two hours ever day. I am happy to say that he easily goes into a lope now and does not kick back anymore. One of his favorite treats are apples so he gets many apples a day from the girls. I am very impressed with Mack. He has been a great addition to our herd. He is a complete love without a mean bone in his body. He is wonderful with the girls. He lets them pull on his mane, hang from his neck, and they run around and pat him all over his body and he doesn't shy or move away from them. In fact, he follows them around the pasture for more attention.

I am very grateful to the Albertson family for giving me this bitter-sweet gift. Mack is getting back into shape and turning out to be a great riding horse. He is also a constant reminder of Blaine and his love for horses. I sometimes wonder if Blaine looks down on me from time-to-time when I ride Mack,..........if he does, I hope I make him proud.

2009-09-01T22:01:00.006-05:00

You can see Mack's socks very well in this pic.

My mom's black/white blanket appaloosa gelding, Oreo.

Oreo and Mack.

The two boys are best buddies.

Mack's pretty blaze.

I thought this was a good pic of Oreo so I just threw it in.

CASSIDY'S FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

2009-09-01T21:33:00.002-05:00

Last Monday, I was one of the happiest momma's on the planet. My eldest daughter, Cassidy, started Kindergarten.

The Sunday before school, Cassidy excitedly picked out a new outfit from Nana that she wanted to wear, she stuffed everything imaginable inside her Dora the Explorer back pack that she got from Auntie Lynnette at her last birthday party, and went to bed early without a fuss. Cassidy woke up and got out of bed right away Monday morning when I went to wake her up, and got dressed all by herself without me having to ask her.

Instead of riding the bus to school on the first day, she wanted me to take her. I gladly told her I would since I wanted to take pictures too. Cassidy talked and giggled in the car all the way to the school. When we arrived, she jumped out of the car and headed for the school door immediately. Poor Jessie and I had to run to keep up with her. When we got inside the classroom, Cassidy put everything inside her desk, said "See you after school mom." and took off to play with her classmates. I was able to slow her down long enough to take a few pictures before I left.

I am proud of myself. I didn't cry like I thought I would. I think it's mainly because I am used to taking her to daycare. However, by mid-afternoon, I was really close to calling the school to see how she was doing, but I over came the temptation, and didn't. I am proud of Cassidy too. She absolutely loves school and cannot wait to go back each day and every day I pick her up, she is excited to show me what she did in school.

I remember when she was just a little baby. I thought the day would never come when she would start school. Now that she is in Kindergarten, I wonder what happened to my baby and think how quickly she turned into a smart, bright, little girl. Our days used to be waking up in the morning, having breakfast, playing until nap time, and then finding something to do outside until supper time. Now I wake her up and she gets ready for school, then I take the girls to daycare and Cassie has breakfast and then gets on the bus. She rides the bus to daycare after school and then I pick both the girls up when I get done with work. Boy how things have changed, but I am proud of her and so happy that she likes school. I cannot wait until she gets older and starts sports and other things. I am looking forward to attending games, concerts, and even band if she wants to play an instrument.

2009-09-01T21:21:00.006-05:00

Cassidy anxious to get int the school to start her first day.

Proudly standing in front of her classroom door.

Cassidy and her teacher, Mrs. Nybo.

Desidy Schwanke and Cassidy at their desks. Desidy is Cassidy's best friend.

Cassidy's classroom.

Cassidy playing with teh girls before class starts.

SULLY'S HILL 2009

2009-08-13T12:05:00.004-05:00

Brandie and I started to feel a bit guilty about taking the girls to the Internation Peace Garden and her boys didn't get to go. So, the next day, we decided to take all the kids to Sully's Hill for an outdoor lunch and nature hiking.

We got to Sully's Hill and started the motor trail to get to a nice little picnic area. About a quarter mile along the trail, we came along all the wild buffalo sleeping next to the road. Since they were right next to the road, we got a lot of good pictures of them.

We got to our picnic area and had KFC with juice boxes and then decided to finish up the motor trail and save the hiking until the end. We stopped at the hill which Sully's Hill is named for. All the kids wanted to climb to the top. Brandie and I are both smokers so were weren't looking forward to the climb as much as the kids. The climb was worth all the panting and side pinching aches. The view from the top is incredible. Then we made a quick stop at the prairie dog town.

The hiking trail starts at the visitors center. We parked her van in the parking lot and made off on the trail. What they don't tell you when the trail starts, is that the trail doesn't go in a full circle anymore like it used to....instead, it takes you two miles to a dead end where the lake has come over the old trail so you cannot get across. We had to turn around and start back another 2 miles with 5 tired, thirsty, hungry, crabby kids. No so much fun. When we got back to the van, I gave them all cold full bottles of water and I still had some snacks to hand out. We sat around in the shade for a good hour before anyone felt like moving and then left the preservatory. On the way back, we stopped by this really cool playground place that has a formation of rocks on the side of a hill and real teepees. We let the kids play for a while, while Brandie and I took pictures of the place.

Even though they day really tired us out, we had a very fun day with the kids, and they really enjoyed the wild animals, scenery, and the hiking trail too. But now we know, we only walk half of the trail and then turn around!

2009-08-13T11:28:00.013-05:00

Sully's Hill entrance.

Scenery from the motor trail.

Leaves.

The buffalo were sleeping right next to the road.

Buffalo bull.

Wetland sign.

Some wetlands.

Tristin, Cassidy, Izik, Joseph, and Jessie.

The climb to the top of Sully's Hill.

Outlook from the top of Sully's Hill.

You have no idea how hard I was praying for a prairie dog to come screaming out of the hole.

Cassidy and Tristin

Miss Jessie

Me sitting among the wildflowers.

INTERNATIONAL PEACE GARDENS 2009

2009-08-13T10:57:00.002-05:00

Brandie Duran and I decided to take the girls on a trip up to the International Peace Garden a few weeks ago. Brandie had never been to The Garden before and I promised her a while ago that I would take her up there sometime. It was a warm day, neither of us were working, and we didn't want to sit at home, so we made a spur-0f-the-moment decision to go.

The girls watched movies on the way up while Brandie and I chatted about everything going on in our lives. It didn't take too long to get there, and the weather was georgous and HOT. Our first stop was at the Floral Clock. Brandie asked if there was a significant reason why the clock was set at 3:15. I told her it was a real working clock and that was the actual time. She didn't believe me at first, but someone from The Garden was near by and explained the clock to Brandie. After the clock, we took the US motor tour which took us through the campground, by the Masonic lodge building, and the Historic Lodge. All the buildings were open and we could go through them....we really wanted to go inside the lodge, but didn't know much time it would take, so we didn't. That will be done on the next trip up. After finishing up the US motor tour, we walked through The Garden itself. It was full of beautiful flowers and hundreds of people (International Band Camp was going on). We took a lot of pics. I was dissappointed about one thing though. They had they main water source turned off because of construction inside the park, so the huge fountain and reflection pool in the middle of the Garden were not working and filled with nasty yellow slimy brown stuff...as well as the cascading panels that flow from The Peace Towers. I want to go back up after the remodling is done so I can get pics of the huge fountain and reflection pool. After walking The Garden, we took the Canadian motor tour and then headed for home.

At the border, it had to have been check-every-damn-car day. We were told to park the car in the border garage, then they brought us inside to fill out some very minor paper work; mostly name, address, are you bringing fruit, tobaccoo, or animals across the border...that kind of stuff. Then 3 really cute border agents inspected the car. I felt sorry for the poor agent that came across the half eaten cheeseburgers from Dairy Queen in the back seat where the girls were sitting. Lord knows what else they found that was leftover from the girls many car trips. I cringe thinking about it. It wasn't too long and they sent us on our way home. We didn't get back to Leeds/York until around 7:30 pm, but we had a very fun time.

I am hoping that sometime in the future, when the girls are a bit bigger, we can go camping for a full weekend.

2009-08-13T10:17:00.019-05:00

Entrance to the Peace Garden.

The International Peace Garden.

The girls and I in front of the floral clock.

Taking a break from all teh walking.

The historic lodge. My future house will look like this.

The Masonic building in the garden.

The Peace Tower from the US side of the motor tour road.

The Peace Tower. One sits on US soil, and the other on Canadian soil.

The 9/11 Memorial.

The Bell Tower.

Me being silly.

A photo in front of the fountain.

The only working fountain the garden.

The Peace Polls.

I love how the Peace Tower looks in the background of the Peace Pole.

Random shot of the garden.

Some funky plant that I thought was pretty cool.

Jessie, Mom, and Cassidy among the Peace Polls.

The Wheel Turtle in Dunseith, ND.

STUFF

2009-06-25T10:37:00.002-05:00

Training for Verety has been going good. I was worried the first day I went in, but it's a pretty simple job to do once you know where every button is located on the computer. Once that's down, it's a cake walk. I go in for certification testing today at Noon. We take live calls until we get 10 perfect calls in a row in a 3 hour period. When we complete our 10 perfect calls, we are done, and they will send me home with my Dell computer and all the equipment to start working out of my parents house immediately. I am just hoping that I don't have to work this weekend. I do not have a sitter for the girls and my mom took a trip to Minneapolis to visit my sister for a few days.

The kitten is doing great. She finally has figured out that we are her family now and has turned into a rambunctious freak of nature. She jumps all over my furnature, shreads up any piece of paper on the floor, she has been chewing through the girls socks if they are not put away, and tries to climb everything in the house. I love her, and she is cute, but I am wondering why I made the decision to go through they kitten phase again.

The day before yesterday I got our pool setup. It was a little bit grimey when I unrolled it, but nothing too serious. When it was all up, I let it dry out for a day, and then yesterday I swept out the pool with a broom and got all the crap out of it and started to fill it up. It's still filling right now and I am hoping that it will be close to full when I leave for certification.

Rainy and I are pretty sure we are going to have a lawn party/bonfire out here at my place on Saturday. It will be fun. Rainy hasn't been able to make a lawn party since September of last year. It would be nice if Jason could make it too, but he has something going on and won't be able to make it. I want to introduce Jason to my neighbors. I think everyone would get a kick out of him. If any of you are around, feel free to drop on by if you want to. The bonfire normally burns until 4:30 - 5 am....but you don't have to stay that long if you don't want to.

Peace, readers!

GOING WELL

2009-06-17T23:50:00.002-05:00

So far, my training for Verety in Rugby is going well. I am really enjoying it. In class today, the instructor encouraged us to chat with other Verety employees while we are working. She showed us how to run the Verety chat site and how to check if certain Verety employees are online. I have never in my life worked for a company that promoted chat while during work, and I think that is pretty cool. I understood a lot of the training class and am excited to start taking live calls...but that won't happen for a few more days. It's a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. I must admit that I was pretty nervous about my first training class, but there are no more worries.

My babysitter and her husband are taking vacation on Thursday and Friday, so I have Brandie's niece at my house tonight through Friday. I picked her up tonight when I got off of work because training starts super early on Thursday and Friday....and this way the girls can sleep in. Darren's fiance is coming to pick up the girls Friday evening when I get off of work. I feel a little sad about it. Now that I am "working", I don't get to spend as much time with my girls as I have been.

Well, I better hit the hay. It's getting very late, 7 am is going to come WAY too quickly. At least I am going to fall asleep easy tonight. There is a thunderstorm moving in and I am watching the lightening, listening to the low thunder with my bedroom window open, there is a slight breeze coming in, and I can smell the lilac bushes outside my house. It feels like a little piece of heaven!

I FINALLY FOUND A JOB

2009-06-12T12:44:00.003-05:00

I have been job hunting for some time. My main problem that I kept running into was that most of the jobs I found were part-time and consisted of evenings and weekends. I cannot do evenings and weekends because I do not have a babysitter for those periods and a part-time job doesn't pay enough to put two girls in daycare and put fuel in my car. A while ago, a friend told me about Verety in Rugby, ND. Verety takes McDonald's drive-thru orders via call center and you can even work from home if you wish. I jumped at it. I received and email from Verety saying that I wouldn't be able to perform the job for them "due to the poor Internet services provided to those living within the York area". My poor Internet service has kept me from many jobs that I could have had. I replied to the email and told them I would be working out of my mother's home since she has DSL. Yesterday I got a phone call from a woman with Verety asking if I was still interested in the job and if I could answer some questions for her over the phone. I told her absolutely and answered all her questions. I start training in Rugby on Tuesday next week. The training schedule is a little quirky. Some days I only go in for a few hours in the evening, sometimes a few hours in the morning, and a few days it's all day long. Training goes for two weeks in Rugby and, when I am finished, they will send someone out to my mother's house and install everything I need...they even provide a computer. Working for a fast food place has never been an appealing job for me, but right now it's a job that I really need, and I am not actually really working inside McDonald's, it's from the comfort of home and that alone is really going to help with gas expense.

APPOINTMENTS

2009-06-12T12:25:00.003-05:00

The girls and I had appointments last week to see the dentist and eye doctor. All visits went okay for me. I wish I could say better for the girls.

At 9 o'clock in the morning we saw the eye doctor in Devils Lake. My vision hadn't really changed too much. The girls really didn't like the optometrist all that much, even after I went first. It took a little while to get them to actually take their vision tests, but once they started they did well. Jessie past her vision test, but her test was pretty basic since she is only 3-years-old. Cassidy has to go back to the eye clinic next Thursday to have another test done. The optometrist said that she has signs of near sightedness and that's unusual for a child her age. She is borderline for glasses, but this other test needs to be done before he makes the final decision on glasses. I am assuming that her near sightedness is coming from all the computer games she plays. I talked to her a little bit about using glasses if she needs them and she named me, nana, and our best friend Bob all having glasses so she is cool with it. After we finished at the eye clinic we rushed out of Devils Lake to get up to Edmore to see the dentist. Cassidy had one tiny cavity starting so the dentist filled that right away while we were there. However, Jessie was referred to a specialist in Minot because all four back molars are bad and need to have steel caps put on them. We are still waiting to hear from Minot on when Jessie's appointment is going to be. Both girls did very well at the dentist. They behaved, were polite, and didn't have any problems with the dentist working on their teeth.

A NEW KITTEN

2009-06-12T12:17:00.001-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, the girls and I went with a friend who was getting a kitten from a lady in Cando, ND. The girls feel in love with a cute calico female kitten and wanted to bring it home. I explained the basics to the girls. If they wanted the kitten, they had to take care of it and still give our big cat, Scrappy, attention too. Also, if they brought the kitten home, there would be no more pets. No puppies or nothing.

We got home and I let the girls play with the kitten in the living room. I thought Scrappy was outside so I didn't have much to worry about. They girls and kitten were not playing long when I saw Scrappy come out from my bedroom. Scrappy sniffed the kitten and then sat down next to Cassidy on the floor. I thought things were going to be alright, until the worst thing in the world that you never want your children to witness happened.

Without making a peep...no growling, hissing, or spitting...Scrappy jumped across Cassidy's lap right on top of the kitten, bit it through the neck, and killed it right in front of the girls. The poor kitten wasn't in the house for 3 minutes until her little life ended. Of course, the girls freaked out. I took the dead kitten outside and then came back in to clean the pool of blood from my living room carpet and wipe the blood off Cassidy's knees. I explained animal nature to them as best as I could and told them not to hate Scrappy for it. Cassidy helped me wrap the kitten up and she picked out a box to bury it in. I let Cassidy pick a spot out in the pasture to bury the kitten. The situation made me feel shitty. I honestly felt like I deserved the Worst Mother Of The Year award. Here I let them bring a kitten home and then it's dead in 3 minutes. It was an awful feeling.

The next day we were getting ready to leave the house. On our way out to the car Cassidy looks at me and says, "Mom, I want to see my baby kitten before we leave". I told her she could because I was getting Jessie into the car. I watch Cassidy as she goes into the pasture, kneels down, and starts talking to the patch of black dirt. Then, as if the kitten itself was standing in front of her, she starts gently patting the dirt as if she was petting the kitten. I had to look away because I was starting to cry. Cassidy came back and got into the car. She was sniffling pretty good and about half a mile out of town I asked her if she was going to be okay and the conversation went like this:

Me: Cassidy, are you going to be okay?

Cassidy: No mommy. My heart stopped beeping.

Me: Your heart stopped beeping?

Cassidy: Yes. I loved my little kitten so much when Scrappy killed her it made my heart stop beeping.

At this point I did start crying. I felt so bad for her. So, I checked the local Tradio ads and there was a gal in Devils Lake who had kittens for give-away. I called her and she said that she had two female calico kittens and would meet me at the TSC parking lot in Devils Lake. Both of the kittens were very cute and I let Cassidy pick out the one she liked the best and we brought it home. I made sure I knew exactly where Scrappy was so she wouldn't get this one, then I brought one of the old huge dog crates inside and set it all up for the kitten. At first, I let the girls play with the kitten when Scrappy was outside. When Scrappy was inside, the kitten was in the kennel where I knew it could not be hurt.

It's been almost two weeks now and the kitten has been a wonderful (sometimes stressful) addition to our family and has healed Cassidy's heart. We can have the kitten out around Scrappy now. Scrappy is still fairly annoyed with the kitten, but she is putting up with her and hasn't tried to eat her yet. We still keep the kitten in the kennel at night for safety...and because I don't want her tearing up everything I own in the middle of the night.

2009-06-12T11:23:00.004-05:00

SICK CHILD AND 1ST LAWN PARTY OF THE YEAR

2009-05-25T13:41:00.003-05:00

I took Jessie to the doctor last week. Her tonsils have been swollen for the last 3 months, she has been doing a lot of mouth breathing, and she snores so bad at night that Cassidy doesn't like to sleep in the same room with her. The doctor suggested that she have her tonsils removed. We has a tentative surgery date in Grand Forks on June 2nd to have them removed. Jessie was also diagnosed as an asthmatic last summer. I want to take her to a pediatrician and get her asthma under control before we go ahead with the surgery. So, I may have to cancel the surgery date and wait until her asthma is under control. The poor little girl coughs constantly, her nose is always running, I have had to give her a lot of nebulizer treatments lately, and sometimes she coughs so hard she throws up.

Last night was a long night. Jessie's asthma flared up and I was up until 3:30 am trying to make her as comfortable as possible. She feel back asleep around 4. Tomorrow I am calling the clinic to see when I can get her in. I feel so bad for her and feel like the shittiest parent in the world.

Saturday evening I hosted my first lawn party of the season. It was a beautiful evening/night for it. Ten of my friends where here with all of their children. I think there was 12 children in all. Everyone brought something to throw on the grill and one friend brought a huge grill so we had two to cook on. We had enough food to feed a small army of 1,000 people. One of my friends grilled peppers and onions with an awesome glaze and also made these really good mushrooms with chives. I am going to have him make those at every lawn party from now on. I was hoping the neighbors would make it over, however, the weather was so nice they had to spend the time seeding farmland, and they also had family from out of town visiting. Hopefully they will be able to make it next time. I feel bad they missed out on some great food this time around. The bonfire burned out at about 5:30 am, and those who stayed that late, left.

It's raining today, so I am thinking of inviting friends over for supper and to watch some Jeff Dunham. It should be a good time.

HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY, ERIS PIERCE!

2009-05-13T11:01:00.002-05:00

Because of my horrid day on Monday, I forgot all about Eris's birthday party at Rainy and Jason's house in Devils Lake. Rainy called yesterday morning to ask if we got the invitation and if we were still coming. I thanked her for calling and told her we would be there.

It was a cute My Little Pony themed birthday party. Eris got a lot of cool gifts, including a real pink leather Harley Davidson jacket. Jason cooked for everyone on the grill, we gorged on chocolate ice cream cake from Dairy Queen, and the adults had a great time conversing on the deck while the kids played in the back yard.

With how shitty things have been for me lately, it was nice to spend a little time away from home, having fun with close friends. I think I need to do that with my friends...MY REAL FRIENDS...more often. However, I know it's difficult since a lot of us live so far away from each other now.

2009-05-13T10:44:00.009-05:00

Eris opening up gifts.

Eris's My Little Pony cake.

Some of the kids.

Jason's pregnant belly.

Would you believe he said he was looking for his lighter?!?

Tawny and Ryan.

Denae, Bradley, and Katie Hillebrand.

The expression says it all!!!

Jason and Rainy were definitely made for each other!

SUBWAY...EAT BUGS

2009-05-11T23:39:00.002-05:00

I had the worst day ever.

I was sleeping in when my phone rang. The phone call started my day on a really bad note. I called Brandie so I could vent, and she came over to talk and hang out. While she was here, we decided to take the girls and her youngest son to a park in Rugby to get away, and out of the house.

Before getting to the park, we stopped at Subway and picked up lunch for the kids. I got halfway through my sub when I looked down and saw a big black bug in my sandwich. Damn near made me puke. On our way back to York, I stopped at Subway and got my money back.

We got home and decided to clean out and wash our vehicles. I got sunburn pretty good on my face, chest, shoulders, and the back of my neck because we were cleaning and washing for a good three hours.

I came inside and started making supper for everyone. Potatoes were boiling on the stove, Jessie and Brandie's youngest son were playing in the toy room, the three older kids were outside. Brandie and I took the opportunity to go outside and have a cigarette since the kids were occupied. No sooner had we gone outside, Brandie's son ran through the living room and locked the dead bolt on the door...locking us outside!

We broke into the house, cleaned up the mess from the boiling stove, fed the kids, I gave my girls a bath, then Brandie and her kids went home, I put my girls to bed.....now I am trying to wind down.

I can only hope that my day goes better tomorrow, but I don't see that happening. How was your day?

COMPASSION

2009-05-09T18:58:00.003-05:00

I read a paragraph off of a friends Facebook page today. As I was reading, I felt my heart open up and thought how wonderful the world could be if everyone was compassionate. Compassion can be a hard thing for some people, and easy for others. For myself, I realized as I was reading, this is what made a very select few of my friends the four greatest friends I will ever have, and I am very proud of those four friends. I am posting it on my blog to share with all of you. Some of you may like it. Some of you may not. To me, it definitely means something.

"Let us not underestimate how hard it is to be compassionate. Compassion is hard because it requires the inner disposition to go with others to the place where they are weak, vulnerable, lonely, and broken. But this is not our spontaneous response to suffering. What we desire most is to do away with suffering by fleeing from it or finding a quick cure for it. As busy, active, relevant ministers, we want to earn our bread by making a real contribution. This means first and foremost doing something to show that our presence makes a difference. And so we ignore our greatest gift, which is our ability to enter into solidarity with those who suffer. Those who can sit in silence with their fellowman, not knowing what to say but knowing that they should be there, can bring new life in a dying heart. Those who are not afraid to hold a hand in gratitude, to shed tears in grief and to let a sigh of distress arise straight from the heart can break through paralyzing boundaries and witness the birth of a new fellowship, the fellowship of the broken."

- Henri Nouwen

The next time you come across someone who is lonely, hurt, or in need, try thinking of what you can do to help that person. It may not take much at all. A smile and kind word could make the biggest difference at that moment. Let's try to stop the fighting, outcasting, and judging of others. It is time to live in peace and unity as one.

ELTON JOHN & BILLY JOEL: FACE 2 FACE 2009

2009-05-03T22:29:00.004-05:00

Cole and I got to Fargo just in time to eat and catch the Ron White comedy show at 8 o'clock. The show was really funny. He had a guy open for him that was Latino, and he put on a really good act too.

Before the Elton John & Billy Joel concert on Saturday, I called an old friend, Jesse Masterson, and he met us at Starbucks. We sat there enjoying coffee and sharing stories for about an hour, and then we all decided to go hit the mall together. We had a lot of fun running around. Before we knew it, it was 5 o'clock, so Cole and I had to leave to get ready for the concert.

We got to the Fargodome about an hour and a half before the show started. The place was already swarming with people. We found our seats and then we went and bought tour T-shirts.

The concert started a little bit late, but it was definitely worth the wait! Elton John and Billy Joel came out and played a set of about six songs together. Then Billy left the stage and Elton played for an hour. When Elton was done, he left the stage and Billy came back and played for an hour. When Billy finished, Elton came back on stage and they played together again for about another half hour or so. All together, the concert went on for three and a half hours. They had the best light show of any concert I have been to and it has been the BEST concert I have seen so far. I will go see their concert if they perform again together.

If anyone reading this has tickets to see this concert, or has been contemplating about going, I say DEFINITELY GO! It is one hell of a show! You will not walk away disappointed.

2009-05-03T22:17:00.007-05:00

TA-TA

2009-05-01T13:00:00.002-05:00

Cole just called. He is west of Devils Lake so he will be here in about half and hour, and my fun weekend is about to begin.

Check back in a few days for pictures of the Ron White show and Elton John & Billy Joel.

I hope everyone has a super weekend!!

WHAT A STINK

2009-04-30T23:02:00.002-05:00

I came home one evening and spooked something in the yard. It was dark, so I couldn't see exactly what it was when it dashed across the yard to get away. I assumed that it was just a stray cat and didn't' give it another thought.

I woke up the next morning and my trash was scattered all over the yard. It kind of reaffirmed my thoughts about a stray cat.

Yesterday, when I went outside for my morning cigarette, I noticed that the dirt under the living room window next to the house was disturbed. I went over to check it out and there was a hole a bit larger than a softball going underneath my house. It got me thinking again, because cats don't do that.

Tonight, after the girls got settled in bed, I heard a rustling outside the door. I turned on the outside light to finally see what was taking up residency in my yard....and it was a skunk....a big skunk. I had my .22 inside the house, but no shells, and I have never really shot anything with it, so it was useless to me. I thought about calling my neighbor across the railroad tracks to come and shoot it for me, but decided against it since it was already 10:30 at night. I have thought about poisoning it, but the with my luck it would die under the house, and I can imagine the stink that would make.

Tomorrow, I am going to have to go out in the yard right away and gather up everything it has dug into and then fill in the hole going under the house. I cannot set my trash outside my house anymore or it will keep coming back.

I have been very fortunate that it hasn't decided to spray anything yet. I can just imagine how long my house would stink if it did.

If anyone has any suggestions about how to get rid of this stunk in the least stinkiest way, please feel free to let me know.

2009-04-30T23:00:00.000-05:00

Me and Brandie

EXCITED ABOUT THE WEEKEND

2009-04-28T16:00:00.002-05:00

This weekend I get to go see Elton John and Billy Joel at the Fargodome. I have been dying to see them in concert since the first time they performed together in ND back in 1997...or was it '96?...I can't remember.

The plan was for Cole to pick me up on Saturday after I dropped the girls off with my mom. He talked to me earlier today and asked if there was anyway he could pick me up in the afternoon on Friday because he had some tickets for Friday night. When I asked him what the tickets were for, he said he got tickets to see Ron White at a comedy club in Fargo. I AM GOING TO SEE RON WHITE!!! I am so excited! I loved Ron White on the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, and now I get to see him live.

I felt a tiny bit horrible for asking my mom to watch the girls on Friday. Friday is my father's birthday. She spoke with my dad and I guess they didn't have plans to do anything, and it was okay with my dad to have the girls a day earlier. When I am in Fargo, I am going to have to find him a really good birthday gift. I will probably find my mom something too for watching the girls.

Cole and I are going to have so much fun this weekend. Friday night it's Ron White, and the next night it's Elton and Billy. Then on Sunday it's brunch at Granite City restaurant. I have never been there before, but I have been told it's the best.

SHRINE CIRCUS

2009-04-27T23:19:00.002-05:00

The Leeds school gave out free tickets to the Shrine Circus, so Brandie and I decided to take the children to it today. I normally go with my mom and the girls, but my mom was working and was not able to join us. The trip was definitely an adventure.

Brandie pulled her two oldest boys out of school early so we could get on the road by 2 o'clock. We arrived in Minot at 3:30, got a decent parking spot, found my dad so we could get into the auditorium, and he showed us to our seats. Then we went down on the main floor and the kids road the ponies and the elephant.

The circus started on time and all the kids had a blast. Jessie's favorite part was the elephants. She couldn't get enough of them. Cassidy pretty much enjoyed it all. Brandies boys did well. Her youngest son got tired half way through and was ready to go home when the circus ended.

On the way out of the auditorium, Brandie bought all the kids balloons. Something that she and I both regretted on the way home, but the kids like them and have played with them a lot.

We are going to try and go again next year. However, next year, Brandie wants to try leaving her youngest son home until he is a bit older.

Thank goodness the circus comes only once a year. I love doing things with the girls, but sometimes it can get a bit crazy like today did. Oh the things we do for our kids!! Brandie and I did have a really good time though, and so did the kids, and that makes it all worth it.

2009-04-27T23:01:00.014-05:00

Cassidy

Jessie

Jessie riding the ponies.

Cassidy riding the poines.

The girls and the ponies.

Cassidy and Jessie getting on an elephant.

The girls enjoying their ride. (Don't ask what happened to the pic. I have no clue.)

Colored poodles.

A performing bear. The girls and I got a picture taken with the bear that I will have to post later.

Performing elephants.

A really crappy pic of the tigers.

Some guy doing something I would never do.

Some of the circus staff at the end of the circus.