My Dad

Today is my Dad’s birthday.

Never mind how old he is.

He is timeless.

He is my foundation.

And my example.

He is firm and unshakable in his love.

For his wife.

For his children.

For his family.

For his Gospel.

And yet he continues to grow.

To reach out to experience new things

new places

new methods

new ideas.

He doesn’t let anything slow him down.

Ok, we are ALL getting a bit slower,

but that’s not a bad thing.

Taking a moment to reflect, 

to enjoy,

to remember,

to imagine the possibilities.

He taught me to reach out.

With my mind,

with my heart,

with my talents.

Always expanding,

always learning,

always loving.

You can choose your path.

You can walk it with eagerness,

and confidence,

and with compassion.

Always looking up.

To our Father,

to the possibilities,

to the beauty.

These are the things our Dad taught

me that I hold dear in my heart

and try my best to emulate.

A smile changes the whole world.

And your smile means the world to me.

Happy Birthday Dad.

I love you!

Prepping and Random Thoughts

I'm getting ready for "The Big Trip".

Yes, it gets Capital Letters.

I needed a bunch of chicken feed.

I have 13 little babies (who aren't so little

any more - they are teenagers now...)

and they are getting "special"

Chick Starter / Grower.

I've never done that before.

I just fed them the same stuff

everybody else was getting.

There's something to this special feed stuff.

These girls are GROWING.

Or time is flying faster than I'm paying

attention to and they are older

than I remember...

LOL

Anyhow.

I needed 50# of that.

And 50# of layer for the others.

I bought 100# at the feed mill

2 weeks ago, but we aren't going

to have enough to make it til

my next trip to the mill.

And I needed 50# of alfalfa cubes

to soak for the horses.

I was going to make a trip into town

to the local Tractor Supply.

If I run up the highway, I can be there in

about 20 minutes.

But loading / unloading 50# bags in and out

of my trunk in my VW isn't fun.

So I decided to take a road trip in the Trooper!

I love that little truck!

It still starts right up and runs great.

But I don't think I trust it on the highway.

The tires are OLD.

And I wouldn't like them to blow out

while doing highway speeds.

(That's assuming the truck can DO highway speeds.)

So I took "surface roads".

The air conditioning died in it...

in 1992.

For real.

I used to buzz around town with FOUR

car seats and 4 little boys.

All the giant windows open,

hair flying,

books on tape playing,

it was AWESOME.

(and hot)

The only updating the truck has had is a 

really nice stereo we added when Kyle

was using it as his daily driver.

So today I plugged in my phone

and played The Piano Guys at full blast

as I bopped around town.

Windows open,

hair flying,

It was really fun!

It also took 2 hours.

(I went to WalMart and hit TWO

school zones on the way home...)

I had planned to take Beau with me

because I was also going to Town Hall 

to drop off some typing and an invoice,

but decided to leave him home.

Good choice.

And now,

I'm prepping food for Rod and Kyle

while Mom is prepping for a "little procedure"

(HA!)

My hands are cutting chicken

and my thoughts are in Tucson.

There is bacon in the oven,

chicken nuggets in the fry pan,

jalapeno poppers in the air fryer,

and ...

I just looked up and saw a cow in the yard.

Luckily not MY cow in MY yard.

Brock's cows are out again.

Sigh.

Anyhow.

There WILL be deconstructed stuffed

green peppers in little freezer trays,

And "loaded fotato" (cauliflower, bacon chunks,

chicken chunks, cheese and a yummy sauce).

And country style ribs.

And steak.

Sometime between today and tomorrow.

This was lunch yesterday.

Konjac noodles, left over steak,

diced zucchini, and a little feta cheese.

It was yummy.

I eat it with chop sticks.

Feels more authentic.

And takes longer,

And is FUN.

(Food should be fun!) 

Rollin' To Boulder

I'm sitting in my classroom.

My students are reviewing Chapter 5.

I am BORED.

I pulled out my laptop and wished

Moana a Happy Birthday.

And then I checked

the weather for this weekend in

BOULDER COLORADO.

80's with 50% Humidity.

HEAVEN!!!!!

And why do I care?

Cuz Nancy and I are taking a

"spur of the moment, spontaneous,

we can cuz we are OLD are OLD 

people do stuff like this"

trip.

To Boulder!

Totally random.

Cuz the south is NASTY in August.

We were actually going to meet

in Boise since Rozann loved it there...

We were both flying through Denver

in order to get there, so we decided

to just meet in DENVER!

And then Nanc found a lovely little

Air BnB in Boulder,

so we decided, why not?

I'm not excited AT ALL!

Except for dreaming about it

every. single. night.

We have no plans.

Except our little place is a one bedroom

with no kitchen.

So we are going to eat out.

And it has a pretty little stream.

So we are going to sit out.

And it's very close to the hiking trails.

So we might walk out.

We are both bringing our Kindles.

We might read out.

Or we might nap.

Or we might sketch.

Or we might talk.

Or we might shop.

Or we might.... who knows???

I can't wait!

This has been an awesome year!

I got to spend an amazing weekend with Soni and her girls

and then I got to hit Tucson and visit

Mom and Dad

and Sondra came

 and Rozann and Greg and their kids 

and Nancy and Reid and their kids and grands,

and even GARY was there!

(First time since Sundance!)

And now another weekend with Nancy.

This whole retired thing is amazing!

Never before have I had the kind of time

it takes to travel and spend time with the people I love.

I highly recommend it!

Hopefully I remember to take a bunch of pictures.

Which I will share when I get back.

But first I have to go teach my students

some more insurance stuff.

"Working" This Week

I got a phone call on Friday

asking if I could work down at

Town Hall again this week.

The secretary was going to be out

for this entire week.

She would only need me from 10 - 2.

Sure!

I got there about 10:00 on Monday morning

and Deb (the Town Treasurer) said she forgot

that Matt, her assistant was also out

for the week and could I work a little

longer each day than we had originally planned.

Yesterday I worked from 10-4.

Work being a relative term.

Last time they had a big project 

for me to do.

This time I have been answering the phones.

They ring a couple times each hour.

Maybe.

I made some changes on a town resolution

in preparation for the town council meeting

Monday night. That took 2 minutes.

And I made a run to Chick-Fil-A for

everybody at lunch time.

Other than that - I read a book.

Today I got there at 10 again and the Town

Administrator said "Oh good! You are here!

I have a big project for you!"

Yea! I'd way rather be busy.

Turns out his big project was xeroxing

a large personnel file for an attorney

up in Orlando. It took 20 minutes.

Then he needed it mailed.

So I hopped in my truck (I drove our old

Isuzu Trooper today just for fun)

and went up the road to the Post Office

and mailed it for him.

As long as I was only 2 blocks from my house,

I stopped by and wrote a check for my farrier

who decided to change my Thursday appointment

to today. He just lets himself into the property.

The horses all know that when you open the

gate into the barn, they are supposed to go

stand in their own stalls.

It's pretty easy.

I just leave his check under a magnet on a 

metal filing cabinet we have out there.

There was a LOW flying helicopter buzzing

our property, so when I got back to Town Hall

I asked them about it. The Town Fire Chief

happened to be there and he said it was

mosquito control, dropping pellets.

Weird!

But glad they are doing something

about all the mosquitoes!

Hope it works!

I spent the rest of the day reading 

a book and listening to the roof 

sounding like it was going to cave

in on me.

We had a roofing crew there yesterday

and today putting a new roof on Town Hall.

It's an OLD building.

About 3:30 Deb came and told me she

was leaving for the day to take her dog

to the vet. Then Denine, the Building Dept

manager came by to tell me Doug (the Town

Administrator) wanted to shut down and send

everybody home because the smell of the 

roof tar was giving him a headache.

Since Deb, Denine and Doug are the only people

there, if they leave, I need to leave too!

About that time, Daryl dropped by.

He's the Code Inspector.

Incidentally, the lady I'm covering for is

DOROTHY!

Yup.

Debby, Denine, Dorothy, Doug & Daryl.

I could never work there full time.

Unless I changed my name to...

Delila?

Hahahahahaha

Anyhow.

I'm back there again tomorrow.

I've downloaded a couple of new books

to my Kindle, since its unlikely they will

have anything for me to do again.

Deb said she thought of a great project

for me, but when she got to the office

this morning, she couldn't remember what it was.

Maybe she'll remember tomorrow.

Anyhow.

That's what I've been doing this week.

Hope you have been more productive 

than I have!

Have a great Wednesday!

I Swear All We Do Is Drive

Today found me back on the road again.

This time I took our black truck

(Rod usually drives it, so today he drove the Trooper)

and headed up to our feed mill.

It's a nice drive.

Only 80 miles one way.

Which is just a short hop.

When you figure over the weekend I drove

to Tampa and back.

150 miles one way.

And tomorrow I'm heading down to West Palm.

A 110 mile trip.

And of course the ranch is 200 miles.
(Kyle came home today... he has
been up there since Monday.)
He tried camping, now he is doing
the "hotel thing".
Showers and actual beds are good things!

So 80 miles feels like a short hop!

I had a good book to listen to on tape.

Read by a lady with a strong English accent.

So I've been thinking / talking in "English"

all day long!

Listening to books sure makes the miles

go by more quickly.

Also, when I was done picking up the feed,

Sondra called and we had a nice visit for

a couple of minutes while I was in the drive-thru

ordering some lunch for the road home.

The guys at the feed mill are really sweet.

I just pull my truck in and somebody

comes out and backs it into the loading bay

for me. It's better for their loading bay

and my tailgate that way.

Backing with an audience

It appears I'm not the only one with
backing issues....

Wednesday

It's just Wednesday.

The day after Rod's birthday.

The day the Trim Healthy Poddy is released.

(They do a weekly podcast, I listen to it

while I stand at the sink and wash eggs...)

The day I stand at the sink and wash eggs.

(hahahahaha)

This morning I sat in my chair and started

my morning workout video (which I am 

LOVING, by the way)

and my text message notification went off.

(Mine is a door bell because it freaks Beau out.)

(I'm a mean Mommy)

It was Nancy!

We texted back and forth for a few minutes

and then gave up and picked up the phone.

Had a nice visit!

Until she walked into a spider web.

(Ahem - did you LIVE????)

As soon as I hung up, Kyle called.

He was having some truck issues and needed

a sounding board. I'm good at listening.

Mostly because I just listen.

I don't try to diagnose or fix.

Cuz I have NO IDEA what he's talking about.

Hahahahahahaha

We had a nice visit until Linda, her daughter Gina,

Son-in-law Colton, and new granddaughter, Lucy

showed up at the ranch.

They were there yesterday! And they are there

again today! Who knew!

Hopefully they have a nice visit and he gets a handle

on whatever is wrong with his truck.

He's coming home tomorrow - so will probably

spend the weekend working on it.

THEN I sat down in my chair and did my workout.

Just an hour or 2 late.

But that's ok, I loved chatting with family!

(Somewhere in there I fed all the critters too....)

They were happy.

(The critters)

Roxy was running around under my feet 

and didn't make the picture.

The brown cow and Beau were playing together.

They like each other.

They both have rubber noses.

This is Beau's other favorite place.

(Well, this is the cow trough, he is equally fond 

of the horse trough...)

This is what we do for fun during the day.

Just hang around in the cow pasture,

visiting the animals,

sitting in the shade (or the water,

as the case may be...).

Hope your Wednesday is as happy and peaceful!

Happy Birthday to my DARLING!

Today is my darling husband's birthday.

None ya business how old!

(and let's not discuss my "C" in math either, ok?)

But I do really know how old he is...

LOL

He has been working incredibly hard.

I nearly said "lately".

But that's not true.

He is ALWAYS working incredibly hard.

He is the hardest working human I know.

And considering I know Kyle, that's saying something!

He is working both jobs again today.

But decided to come home early tonight,

so we can go out to dinner 

and celebrate the day of his birth.

He is the best thing that ever happened to me.

He grounds me, keeps me on the straight 

and narrow, and makes my life fantastic.

He is thoughtful, kind, loving, considerate,

the King of Ministering,

and the best Dad around.

And yes, none of these pictures are particularly

flattering, but he is either at work, working,

or he is at home, working.

We'll try for a selfie tonight!

No promises.

LOL

Happy Birthday my Darling!!!!

I love you!!!