Turn Around, Don't Drown

I know many of y'all are dealing with snow out the wazoo.  We aren't cold enough to have snow but we did get rain, lots and lots of rain!  So much that I called into work on Friday to say I would be late.  I prefer to drown in the daylight if it's gonna happen.  Just kidding.

I did want to wait till it was daylight before I left the house.  I also wanted to give the water a chance to subside, even though it was still raining.  I headed out and came to our bridge.  The water was just under it.  But it was over the road on the other side.



Our little creek had turned into a river.



Plus there was this issue.  A pointy broken tree in my path.  I decided I better go another way.  If the water was over the road here, it was most likely over the road at the next bridge.  I backed up the road to turn around.



The bridge on the other road was okay to cross.  Then it's just 10 miles of dirt road.  Blah!

When I came home that evening the water was still right under the bridge but no longer over the road.  The big pointy stick was still there too but I managed to drive by it this time.



Now we're just dealing with cold temps and mud.  Have I told y'all lately how much I hate mud?  I do, I really, really do.

Happy Birthday Brit!!

My niece is celebrating her 17th birthday on Saturday.  I can't believe how the years have flown by.  Here's the husband holding her while she blew out her candles on her 2nd birthday.





She's a spit-fire for sure.  And a tough as nails cowgirl.  




Have an awesome birthday Brit!!  We love you!

Who's That Punk?

That's a good description of her too...a punk!

She is actually one of the husband's favorites out of the 2009 calf crop.  Her name is Jasper.  She is out of a longhorn cow (Sapphire) and a silver brindle bull (246).  Thus her wild coloring!  She has a little attitude as well.  While she was at the house, she loved to chase the dogs out of her pen.

I'm sure it would tickle her pink to know that y'all asked about her.

Gimme Some Sugar

Caught the wild child reaching to give her momma a smooch.  Just a lil cow love goin' on.

Bikini Challenge-Self Control, Where Have You Been?

I'm proud of myself for this past week.  Let me tell ya why.  I ate out three times which is not that big of a deal.  But TWICE I ate at a Mexican food restaurant.  This means unlimited chips and salsa!  And guess what, I didn't eat ONE chip.  That is amazing!  I could eat my weight in chips and salsa.  I heart chips and salsa.

When I sat at the table, I thought to myself, is that chip worth the disappointment I will face when I get on the scale.  Nope, not worth it.  So while everyone else munched away, I sat contently drinking my water, extremely proud of my self control.  As far as my main meals, I ordered chicken tortilla soup on the first day and chicken soup the other.

On Saturday, we stopped at a steak house on the way home from the lease.  I ordered a grilled chicken breast which I only ate half plus a salad and baked potato with a smidge of butter.  Yummo!

Oh, today my supervisor brought me and my coworker valentine cookies.  Of course, he left them on my desk the entire day.  I didn't eat a single one!  I'm on a mission.

Here's my eating plan...I choose to eat small meals and snack throughout the day.  It works well for me.  I have to snack to have energy to run in the evenings prior to supper plus it keeps your metabolism going.  But my snacks consist of carrot/celery sticks, apple and cheese stick, yogurt or whole wheat crackers.

Most importantly, I have an awesome husband that supports me.  He gets up every morning to make my oatmeal and pack my lunch.  Makes sure I have all my healthy snacks.  Will even count out crackers to ensure I eat only one serving size!  When we do eat out, he always asks if it's okay with me and if there is something healthy for me to eat there.  Plus he allows me to make exercise a priority.  His positive support makes all the difference in the world.

With my self control back over my mouth, I accomplished a few other things.

I lost 2 lbs this week.

I decreased my 3 mile time by 2 minutes and 40 seconds in three weeks!

I ran my 5 miles on Saturday just a little faster than last week.

And with all this running, I know my butt jiggle has decreased to at least a 7.

Y'all inspire me to keep going.  I hope if you're working on a goal you're making progress.

The Wild Child

Went to check the girls at our other lease.  Wanted to see how the new baby was doing after the cold spell we had a week ago.

All the girls were up by the gate when we arrived.  They were happy to see us.  And really happy we brought cubes to feed.



You notice the lil calfer up there.  She's a stinker.  But the cutest stinker you'll ever see.  She was givin' Blaze what for.



She'd butt heads and kick...



Gave Blaze her crazy eyes...



She was bullyin' all the weanling heifers.  Kickin' at them and pushin' her weight around.  She even kicked at some of the other cows.  I know I'm gonna keep my distance from her rear end.

I was tellin' the husband what a lil tooter she was and she turned to give me her "Who me?" look.



Whatever Lil Missy, I know your game.  You ain't foolin' me!

Come Out, Come Out Where Ever You Are

We went in halves with Rent-a-husband on a lease.  Last week, both of our weanling bulls calves were turned out on the acreage.  Of course, a few days later, we get a call that one of our misfits (brindle named Monkey Butt) got out.  The neighbor was nice enough to get him back in.

Rent-a-husband went the next day to check on 'em.  He couldn't find the escapee.  Everything else was there.  We just hoped he would make his way back to the herd.

Yesterday we went to check things out.  See, the lease is about 2 hours from the house so it's not real convenient for us to just pop over.  So we get there and start calling for them.  No luck.  The husband decides to drive down to a corner and see if we can find them where Rent-a-husband said they were hanging out.

Sure enough, we find them along the fence line near a creek.  But as we moved closer, they took off running thru the brush.  We only got a second to see the pack.  I couldn't make out if Monkey Butt was with them.  The husband thinks he saw him.

We drive back out to a clearing and call them again.  Thinking they will come to feed.  But they're not to be seen.  So we hunt for them in this...





Oh, and it was windy and raining.  And I couldn't see anything but cedar.  The calves were probably 10 feet away from me snickerin' the entire time.  Little heathens!  We never did find them.  Finally gave up and left.  What a busted trip!

My Modeling Days

So have I told y'all that I once modeled?

That's right, the wife had the look and the walk.

I appeared in print ads.

Well at least one print ad for a western store.

I'm sure the sales went thru the roof after it ran in the paper.

How could you resist this....

Don't you want to buy boots now!

How about them plaid pants?!  I'm totally rockin' 'em!

And the balled fists...Mama's gonna knock you out.

It was the 70's, we all did crazy things during that time.

What's Up Itty?

This weekend I glanced out the window at the pasture.  My first thought was how in the world did Diesel get out of the yard!  Then I looked closer and saw that it was actually Itty Bitty!



She has figured out how to get her share of the hay.  The heifers can't push her out of the way in there.

I think my mini breeding idea may come to fruition.  I've found the husband on the internet lookin' at mini bulls to breed with.  We discussed breeding some of our smaller cows to mini bulls, like Itty Bitty's mom.  I told the husband I could fence off the East pasture for my mini herd.  He laughed but I think he's seriously considering it!

Workout Wednesdays (Or Late Tuesdays)

So I've decided to set aside one day a week to discuss my progress with my running/workouts/weight loss.  That way if you don't want to hear about it, you will now know not to check in on Wednesdays.

First, I'm gonna give ya a little history on me.  I never had a weight issue until after the husband and I got married.  It steadily increased until I was almost 200 lbs.  (Wow, that's hard for me to imagine!)  I was barely fittin' into my size 16s and was miserable with myself.



My turning point occurred when the husband and the rent a husband joined a gym.  The husband came home and told me he got a family membership because it was cheaper.  He said he knew I wouldn't go for long cause I quit everything.  Talk about piss me off!  That set the fire under my butt.  I started working out and joined Weight Watchers online to learn portion control.  Turns out, I lasted longer at the gym than either of the guys!

By 2005, I weighed 124 lbs.  I was a food and exercise nazi.  Nothing got in the way of me eating right and running.  Lookin' back, I was really too skinny.



In 2006, I got a new job, moved to a new town and my priorities changed.  My focus was no longer on my eating and running.  Over the last three years, my weight has gradually increased.  Today I weigh about 162 lbs.  My goal is to be down to 135 by July.  I'm hoping to get back to my sexy Betty Crocker body!



So my progress this week:
I started the week on Sunday with a long run to build endurance.  I set my pace at a comfortable rate, which is 5 mph for me.  Then I just jogged.  I told the husband that my goal was 5 miles and he looked quite surprised.  But I felt good and thought I could hold the pace.  At 60 mins, I hit 5 miles!  The husband was very proud of me.

I decided to start my strength training.  I bought a kettle bell.  Thought I would try it.  I'm thinkin' it might be dangerous swingin' this 10 lb. handled ball around especially since I'm known to be a klutz!  It does get the sweat goin'.  I only did one workout off the DVD that came with it.  My inner thighs and lower back are sore today.  Muscles I haven't used in awhile!

Yesterday I was pushing myself at a faster pace on the treadmill.  I had ran 25 minutes when my I-Pod fell and knocked the emergency clip off.  The treadmill came to a screeching halt and I lost all my data.  I was SO mad!  I'm gonna tape the clip down so that doesn't happen again.

I let my knees rest today and tomorrow I'll be back at it.

Diesel aka "Hank the Cow Dog"

Diesel decided he wants to be a cow dog.




The husband was trying to get Smoke up to the barn to feed this morning.  Smoke wasn't cooperating.  Diesel slapped on his cow dog cape and ran out to help.




In his mind, he thinks he is doin' all the good!  Smoke didn't know what to think of the lil pest.




He tries real hard.




And got Smoke headed in the right direction.




But then he tends to switch sides/directions and gets in the way of progress.




And his puppy ears don't seem to listen when he's excited.  He would get Smoke on the right path.  Then cut him off.  We'd yell at him to stop but like a teenager, he ignores his parents real well.

Maybe if the husband will work with him, he'll get a cow dog.  One minor thing with that idea though, husband and Diesel both lack patience.  Mom may have to get involved in this one!

A Sunday Stroll

We took the monsters out for a walk yesterday afternoon.  The kiddos were needing to run.  It was beautiful outside, sunny, warm, no wind.  I think it was in the high 60s or low 70s.

We headed out to the tank in the back pasture.  Which is quite full from all the rain we've had.

It had rained the last few days.  So our pasture looks like swamp land.  Water is standing everywhere.  Luckily, we wore our mud boots for our little stroll.

Diesel was so happy to get to go to the tank.  He is still such a puppy.  So much energy!

He was splashin' thru the water, having so much fun.

He went for a little swim.

Diesel loves the water.  It's fun to watch him splash thru the tank.  He runs full blast around the outside of the tank, terrorizing the other dogs.

I think we managed to burn some of his puppy energy.  But it doesn't take long for him to recharge!

And We Have Lift Off!

Yes, my butt cheeks have lifted off the back of my legs!! I so know y'all wanted to hear that!

I'm thinkin' that means the butt jiggle is down another point.  Hip hip hooray!

I just ran 3 miles in 33:30 which is better than the 35:35 I ran the other day.  I think that's pretty good considering I'm only running every other day.  Trying to get my knees back into it gradually.

Plus I've lost 3 lbs!

To all y'all gals out there with similar goals, keep at it.  We're gonna be some hot chics before too long!

Fire in the Sky

Wasn't that sunset amazing?!  It stopped me in my tracks.

The Story of Doodle

Snickerdoodle, she's one of the very first rodeo bred cows we bought.  So she holds a special place in our hearts.




About 4 years ago, I had just moved to our new town for my new job.  The husband was still living in Stephenville.  Doodle, along with others, were at a lease.  This lease was cursed!  Only bad things happened there.

One day Doodle got out on the neighbor's place.  No big deal really, she just got in with his cows.  Well, BIG DEAL to him.  He chased her in his truck over a cattle guard.  Doodle broke her front leg.  The guy called to tell us he caught her and was going to have her hauled to the killer's!  Excuse me, WHAT?!!

The husband went ballistic.  Told him not to touch her and he would be there shortly.  He managed to get her loaded on a trailer and moved to a nearby friend's pens.  Called our vet friend and asked what could be done.    He said he could do experimental surgery on her to pin and cast the leg.  It had never been done on a large animal but it worked on small ones.  We didn't have anything to lose so let's do it!

So in the pen, they romped Doodle.  Laid her out and started.  Dr. Broady shaved her leg.




Then the husband started up his welder to generate power for the power tools.  As the husband held her leg, they drilled holes for the pins.




Then the husband had to hold her leg straight for Dr. Broady to cast it.  Notice the husband put his cap over Doodle's eyes. LOL




Shortly thereafter, Doodle was up.




But the weeks that followed were stressful.  We had to fight infection.  A friend was into herbal remedies and fed her all kinds of stuff.  We didn't care what it was as long as it helped.   And I guess it did.  Doodle got better.  The vet was truly amazed that she lived.  He eventually removed the pins and she was as good as new!

Today her right leg is thicker than her left but other than that, you'd never know.  The husband and I always cringe when we see her running.  Not too long ago, we found her hauling butt down the side of a creek, jumping the ravine.  Silly girl!  We lecture her to be careful but as you can see from the first picture, she don't listen very well.

Massacre on the Bus

It sure looks like a massacre happened on the bus (aka trailer).




I'm sure the people driving past us didn't know what to think.




Looks like something out of a slasher movie, huh?




Luckily, the sun was going down as we headed home from Stephenville.




So are you wondering what happened?  Well, we tipped the 2 year old bulls while we were at the arena.  Which means, we cut the ends of their horns off.  It has to be done for safety reasons, safety of other animals and safety for us.

It looks much worse than it really is, I promise.  I was hesitant about posting it but it's part of of the business.  There are rules about how blunt a horn must be in order for the bull to compete.    Plus I realized y'all know how much I care for my animals and wouldn't do anything to cause them intentional harm.

Tadpole is a nice hue of red right now.



The husband said the boys were still peeved at him this morning.  They wouldn't come up to eat while he was around.  So this evening I went out with a can of cubes to see if they were upset with me.   They ran right up and got their treats.  They still love mama.  Do y'all still love us?

Buckin' In the Cold

At least it was above freezin' today.  Not a whole lot but I'll take what I can get.  We hauled the bulls to Stephenville this morning.  We took the weanlings to Rent-a-husband to turn out on a lease for a year.  Then we bucked the two year olds and Stubby.

Our partner on Stubby informed us this last week that he needed to sell his half.  He no longer had the funds to take care of his half and needed the money.  So luckily, after some negotiations, Rent-a-husband will be our new partner!  That makes me happy.  Stubby is my buddy.  He meets me in the evenings at the gate waiting for his treats.  The husband hates that I have made him such a pet.  He was trying to load this morning and Stubby wouldn't move.  He just stood next to me, blocking the alley.  He loves his momma, what can I say.

So today we bucked him for the first time with a rider.  Didn't know what to expect but he pleasantly surprised us.  Wished he would have turned back a little sooner but for his first trip, we're pleased.



Just a little Crazy M history, this arena is the place where the husband and I held our invitational bullriding after our wedding.  Quite the wedding reception huh!  Our wedding invitations read "A bullriding will be held immediately following the ceremony."  Don't see that very often, do ya?

I Want One!

So the other day, when I posted about Itty Bitty, someone asked what we could do with her.  Would we be able to breed her?  My response was yes, we could breed her but it would have to be to a miniature bull but that I didn't think the husband would want to get into breeding mini bucking stock.

Did y'all know that there is actually mini buckin' stock breeders?  We've had some friends with mini bulls in the past.  They use them for youth rodeos.  I think they are too cute.

I found this video on a breeder's website.  The first two minutes explain why they use mini bulls and show some good ones in action.  The rest of the video shows more mini bulls in action but the husband and I weren't real impressed.



So now I really want to breed Itty Bitty and try to get a mini bull.  I asked the husband if I could and he responded with "Can I sell your longhorns?"  Um, NO.  This would be in addition to my longhorns.  It's not a trade deal.  Geez!

So maybe in another year or so, we can find a mini to breed Itty Bitty.  I love the idea!

Blank Stare

I really don't have anything today.  So here's a picture...



And a butt jiggle update.  It's about 9.5 now!  I ran 3 miles today in 35:35, which is no great feat.  Especially since I used to run a 5K in 24 minutes.  But you know what, I got off my butt and on that treadmill.  I get a gold star for effort!

Oh, and I'll share with you a sweet husband story.  This morning I was getting ready for work.  Put on a pair of high waisted dress pants.  Standing in the closet looking for a shirt.  Hubby walks by and says "Hey Urkle!"  He can be so witty sometimes.  And I stress the SOMETIMES part of that statement!

Diesel's New Playmate

Well, maybe not exactly.

I don't think they know quite what to think about each other.

And if Itty Bitty makes any sudden movement towards him, he jets off.  Such a scaredy cat.

Itty Bitty is in the pasture at the house with the bred heifers.  She's so small we wanted to keep her close to home.  We took the other weanling heifers to our lease.  The weanling bulls are penned.  Itty Bitty was so upset to be away from her buddies.  She would sit at the gate to the pens and bawl.  It was so sad.

The husband told me if I didn't have "so many" dogs, we could have put her in the yard.  Whatever!  She's gotten better and the heifers have taken her in pretty well.

She's still skittish though.  I haven't been able to calm her down much.  I'm hoping with her being with the heifers, she may realize I'm the good guy.  I feed a good bit of them by hand.  It'll just take some time and I'm a patient lady.