Most of the Family Has Left...

and we are TUCKERED OUT!

Gobble Gobble!

Wishing your families the happiest of Thanksgivings!

A Rant!

I really hate ranting about something so close to Thanksgiving. This should be a time of giving thanks for all the things I've been blessed with but I'm ticked off. Why you ask? I can't stand irresponsible dog owners!

As you know, we returned Foxy to her owners. Well, she showed up again yesterday morning. The husband took her home and no one would come out of the house. So, he left her. She was back within a few minutes of him returning home. She stayed at the house all day. When I got home, she was gone. I let the dogs out and Lucky ran to the other neighbor's house. Guess who he went to get, yep, Foxy. He brought her back to the house.

I loaded her up and took her back to HER home. The owner came out this time. He said he noticed she was gone this morning but didn't have our phone number. HELLO! YOU CAN SEE MY HOUSE FROM YOURS! CAN YOU NOT DRIVE OVER AND GET YOUR OWN DOG!!!

So I gave him our numbers so he'd have them. He said he was gonna have to get a collar and tie her up. Well, she's in heat so she's running around to all the houses around and driving the males crazy. Lucky barked all evening and night cause I took his girlfriend away. So distressed.

First thing this morning, guess who's running up and down my yard fence. Yep, Foxy. Has the owner tried to call? NOPE! Can we let our dogs out? NOPE! The husband took her back home. This time he sat in the drive and honked. Still, no one came out. Truck is there but no one will come out. He put her back in the pen. I'm sure she'll be back sometime today. Just a matter of time.

Yes, I have 5 dogs. And I am responsible for those 5 dogs. I make sure they stay where they're suppose to and don't bother anyone else in the area. If they did, I would ensure it didn't happen again. This family has one dog. Why can they not take care of one dog? Basically, they don't care and I'm pissed about it. Cause now, they are gonna have one dog plus however many babies she eventually has from running all over the country side.

I will now return to the regularly scheduled programming......

Multiple Crime Scenes Found

I think a hate crime has been committed at Crazy M. I don't like to even believe that my babies could be responsible for it but the evidence is undeniable. Facts are facts, my kiddos hate doggie beds!

Since the demise of the last two, I had put out some old over-sized couch pillows. They had been out in the barn so I thought they would serve the same purpose as the doggie beds. Well, they lasted all of maybe three days.

I saw Tractor Supply had 'em on sale again for $7.99. I mentioned it to the Husband. He gave me a glare. Guess he's tired of helping me clean the yard. I did throw out some old towels for them to lay on. At least if they play tug a war with them, they don't explode everywhere!

**Update on Foxy, the last dog that showed up. We found out that she belonged to a family down the road. We took her home today. If anyone donated to the Wayward Dog would like a refund since she's been returned, let me know. I will send it back ASAP.**

Run Forrest Run!!

I ran in a 5K race this morning. It was the first race I've ran in about two years. See, I used to run a lot. Spent many a Saturdays running in races. It became a hobby when I lost weight about 6 years ago. I got pretty good at it.

But as you know, life happens and priorities change. My running came to a stop. My hobby went to the wayside. I kept saying I would get back to it but never did. I finally decided to sign up and pay for a race, that way I would have to go. I picked the very first race I ever ran to start over again.

We got up bright an early this morning and drove over 2 hours in the rain. It was overcast and cool. Here's the starting line picture. I look all happy. But in my head, I was saying, "Remember this face cause I'm gonna die!" I hadn't ran in over a month.



The course had changed since the last time I ran. They added more HILLS! What were they thinkin'!! No one on the race committee cleared this with me. Lord have mercy, I was dying!

Here I am coming in at the finish line. Not such a happy face anymore. Now I'm thinkin' "Please don't throw up, please don't throw up!"




I am so out of shape. But I did place 4th in my age division, just out of the medals DANG IT! The husband was proud of me. He said he misses me racing. I miss it too. So I'm gonna try to prioritize better from now on and get to running. Plus it will help me fit back into my clothes. That's always a plus.

Now I just hope I can get out of bed in the morning.

When You Live on a Dirt Road...

You think I need to wash my truck? Someone actually wrote "wash me" on the tailgate but you can't see it anymore. HA, what were they thinkin'! Peer pressure has never worked on me.

A coworker told me I needed to wash it yesterday. I, oh course, asked why? He said "cause it's BROWN!" My response, "It's Fall, brown is in." Sheesh, you'd think they'd never see a truck covered in 3 inches of dirt downtown.

The only thing that may get me in trouble is the license plate. You can barely make out the numbers, only because they are raised. (I fuzzed them out in the pic. Don't want y'all trackin' me down!) I'm waiting to get pulled over though. It's just a matter of time. You think the "brown is in" line will work with a cop? Yea, me either. Maybe if I say it while I'm resting the twins on the window sill of the door and throwing my hair back. Yea, that'll do it! I'm ready now!

What Could Possibly Be Down There?

Whatever it is, it must be very interesting!

A Day of Buckin'

Sunday was spent at the arena buckin' calves. We headed out bright and early at 6:30 to a friend's place. We, along with our friend, rent-a-husband and two others bucked calves. I would guess there was about 100 or more lil babies ran thru the chute.

We only bucked 9 of the 10 babies we just weaned. Itty Bitty went for the ride but nothing else. She is so small, we won't breed her for buckin' anyhow so we didn't want to take the chance of hurting her. She hung out in the back pen, cheering her friends on.

We were pretty happy with the group as a whole. Two will definitely be headed to the sale barn. One bull calf may get another chance. The other six showed us enough to keep.

Here are a couple flicks I took. I really did a bad job with our calves. I think I was trying to watch to much to actually take a good picture. My timing was off real bad.

We made it home at dark. As we pulled up the drive, the truck lights caught the devastation in the yard. Another doggie bed experienced a slow and painful death. It's innards strewn throughout the side yard. What do ya expect with 5 dogs in a yard all day? RIP doggie bed #2.

Christmas Photo Outtakes

We attempted to make our Christmas card picture this morning. Of course we didn't do it the last two weekends when the weather was perfect. We waited till it was windy.

We took the dogs out for a walk, in hopes to get some of their pent up energy out. Then we figured we'd give it a go. Enjoy the outtakes!

I guess I was taking up too much of the bench. Pepper could only get her nose poked out.

So many paws flyin' around, I had a wardrobe malfunction!

I promise I didn't break down crying! Really!

Diesel and Foxy fightin' under the bench.

Resuming their fight in my lap.

Diesel decided he had enough. He ran behind the tripod and laid down!

Amazingly all the dogs did pretty well. I think we did manage to get a good picture. You'll have to wait for that one though!

God and Dog

Do I Smell Like Alpo?

I'm really startin' to wonder. I had the day off today due to the holiday. I planned on spending the day cleaning around the house. Mid-morning the dogs started barking. I look out the door and what do I see....a stray dog!

It looked like the one that came by a few weeks ago. I went out and took her picture. Sent it to the husband and asked if it was the same dog. He called me back and said it was. He asked if I sent out the word that I would be home today cause she just happen to show up! Whatever!

She went out to the barn so I followed. She looked as though she was scavenging for food. I poured her a bowl and she acted like she hadn't ate in days.

The husband was actually disappointed when she disappeared last time. He kinda liked her. Thought she acted like she would work cattle. So he told me to let her be.

I turned the other kiddos out.

They all smelled and ran about. Lucky Dog even had to give an okay.

The most trouble I had was with Diesel. He did NOT like her jumping up on me. He growled and bit at her. She does good to sit and let me pet her. But she really feeds off the others and gets hyper.

If she does stay, we will have to find the money to get her spayed. Not gonna increase the dog population.

**Update on Lucky Dog...He is the happiest dog. Have you ever seen a dog smile? He seems to smile every day. Slowly but surely gettin' over his timidness. Loves to be petted and rubbed. I'm so happy he found us.**

Calf Lockdown

You ever seen a calf pen-itentiary?! HAHA! I crack myself up sometimes.

I'm sure they feel as though they are in baby jail.

Poor things just want their mommas. Crying all the time.

They can keep filin' appeals but I know the warden. He's a hard a$$, they're stuck like chuck until they serve their time. No good time credit given here.

Whatcha Think?

So I am doing that arts and crafts show early December. I thought I needed to take more than just my prints. Been doing some experimenting on different projects. I came up with this....

It's a magnet. Measures around 4x5.

Then a great blogger friend suggested I make lil pictures. So I made some minis.

They measure around 2x3. That way if someone can't afford a large print, maybe they will buy a mini-one?

So what do ya think? Would you buy this stuff? Price range from $5-$10.

Welcome to Our World...

our very loud world!

We tried gatherin' cows and calves today. It was goin' slicker en snot this morning. Everything went into the pen right off the bat. Ran to get a spare trailer. Loaded some of the calves in the first trailer. Then decided we needed to get some of the cows outta the way. Loaded a few on the back of trailer number one.

Then pulled trailer number two up. Put more cows on the front of it. Then tried getting the rest of the calves. Well, that's when it got a little "western"! When it's just me and the husband, we can't be in all the spots needed. So a black bull calf decided he was part gazelle and jumped the panel. Out he went. No way to get him back.

We weren't gonna worry 'bout it though. Continued working on gettin' the others loaded. But then it came to Mad Dog (I named him that because of the way he stares me down all the time). You remember him....

I swear he hates me. He realized he no longer wanted to be in the pen. As I was on the outside of the pen, he runs full on straight towards me and BUSTS thru the panels! Holy Moly!

We managed to get everything else loaded. Took one trailer load home. Went back with the mommas to the two renegades. Found the black bull. Got dark before we found Mad Dog. Hopin' after we left, he finally came out from hiding.

Picked up the last load of cattle and headed home. Made it twelve miles from the house and had a blow out! GAH! Nothing worse than trying to change a tire on a trailer load of cattle in the dark. We did have a guy stop and shine his headlights on us to help. We so appreciated him.

Managed to make it home and unload with no issues. Thank goodness!

A Long Day

I was in my office yesterday afternoon doing normal work stuff when my coworker walked up and said there was a shooting. Shootings don't usually mean a whole lot to me personally, but this time I was sittin' in my office at Fort Hood.

Safety procedures were taken and we were locked down. I knew I had to call the husband before it hit the media. I finally reached him and told him what was going on and that I was okay. Tried to keep him from worryin'.

Then Rent-a-Husband tried calling me. The cell phone service was very bad by that time and I couldn't respond to him. He was in Vegas for the PBR finals and heard about it.

Called my mom. She said she had just heard the news on the radio. She said she looked at her co-worker and said my daughter is there.

Tried to reassure everyone that I was safe. The husband was gettin' inundated with calls from family and friends that heard the news. As well as callin' family to let them know I was okay.

We were finally allowed to leave base around 7pm. The traffic to get out was horrible. While sittin' in line to leave, I saw the local PD leaving. SWAT team hangin' off the side of the van. Then as I approached the gate, soldiers armed with rifles were checking cars. Very eerie sight.

I managed to get home around 10pm. So happy to be home. The husband finally got home around 1am from work. I could see the relief on his face when he saw me. Poor guy was so worried. I think the whole situation was much worse for him than me.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their loved ones. Please keep them in yours.

I Can Do the Work of Four Men

The husband sent one of your not so great buckin' yearling bulls to a neighbor. He needed a bull for his heifers and we needed one less mouth to feed. It worked out well for both of us.

Yesterday, the neighbor was to bring Bruiser back. When I got home from work, he still wasn't here. I let the dogs out and walked out to the mailbox. Of course, when I got to the end of the drive, I heard the truck and trailer heading this way. I managed to wrangle all five dogs back up the drive and into the yard by the time he was pulling off the road.

Much to my surprise, another truck followed the neighbor in. So I walk out to the load alley and waited for him to back the trailer up. Four guys get out. I head to open the gate to the alley and one runs up and says "Ma'am, let me get that gate for ya." First of all, he reeks of alcohol. I could smell him a mile away. Secondly, I don't need some man to open my gate. I nicely say no, I can handle it and open the gate.

As I'm waiting, they start asking about where Bruiser needs to go, do they need to open/close any more gates, yada, yada, yada. I tell them everything is ready, just run him off the trailer. Well, then they decide I'm not in a safe place. Not that I don't work these bulls all the time or anything. I tell them I'm fine...RUN HIM OFF THE TRAILER!

They finally realize I'm not moving and open the trailer. Bruiser runs down the alley and stops. I stand there, knowing he will go on around because Death Wish is in a pen nearby. Bruiser will run to him. The alcohol laden guy stands at the end of the alley "shushing" him. Bruiser pays him no nevermind. He finally walks away. I stand in the pen watching him when the guy says "I don't know what got into him. He was calm at our place."

Hmmm. I'd say he was calm right now. But what do I know. I closed the gate and walked out. All four guys loaded themselves up and left. Still don't know why it took four guys to bring him. I went into the barn and got a some cubes. Called Bruiser up to the fence and fed him by hand. He's a wild beast, I tell ya!

Wordless Wednesday

Thought this was appropriate for my entry...

An Award Made Just For Lil Ol Me!

I usually don't post awards. Mainly because I can't decide on who to give them to so I just don't do them at all. But this time I made an exception. Why you ask? Because this lovely lady(who tells it like it is) at Life in 3 Dee made the award specifically for me! Can you believe that!

Here are the rules: You must post this on your site, linking it back to the blogger who gave it to you. Then pass it on to someone you feel is worthy of it (not the blogger you received it from). The award may be added to your sidebar if you like but it's not a requirement.

So I am sending my award to......

Drum roll please....

Mommy in Spurs

If you haven't stopped over and read about Lil Mama and her husband, you have been missin' some FUNNY stuff! Talk about LOL! She is a hoot. I promise you'll leave with a smile!

So Bad I Forgot to Title the Post!

You ever feel like you dig and dig but still don't get anywhere? That's what I'm feelin' right now. And this time change isn't helpin'!

The husband and I both work "real" jobs. Hardly see each other during the week. On the weekends, we would like to rest but have chores to do around the place.

This weekend it was still too muddy to do much. We did put out hay. The husband took me muddin' in an open cab tractor (not on purpose). Somehow, I was the one with mud all over her back and hair! Oh yea, I was sittin' over the back wheel.

Plus I'm gettin' ready for an arts and craft show. Trying to get things put together and created. I'm nervous. Scared of failure! Yikes, now y'all know!

And I got a photography job to take pictures of three BBQ restaurants (all at least over 2 hours away). Spoke to the general manager today and got his ideas. Have to start that in a couple weeks.

Husband wants to wean and buck calves next weekend.

Need to clean the house for visitors over Thanksgiving.

Oh yea, suppose to be training for a 5K that I signed up for on the 21st. Hmmm, hadn't run in three weeks. Just hadn't seemed that important in the grand scheme of things. Was more interested in coming home to the dogs in the evenings.

Excuse me, Harley needs out.....

Diesel thought he needed in!

I'm tired, going to bed!

No Time....

to post, so I'll give y'all a few pics...

Me and Lucky Dog

The Husband and Zena