tornado

global warming

Thanks to my girl Lora for this cute picture, though I noticed that apparently my new underwear aren't the most current version.

Natural Woman - well kind of

I finally took the plunge last night. About a year and a half ago, I colored my hair and it turned out kind of a brassy red. Unfortunatly, my hair doesn't grow fast, so the tips were still a bit brassy while the roots have come in brown - and gray then some got lightened by all my time outside. Four colors on one head - at least in their current proportions - just smacks of something unsavory. So last night, I decided I had some things that needed doing- and I bought haircolor in my natural shade ( and yes, Jerra, I took a snip of my hair an dcompared the roots with the box)- kind of a light brown - and then some highlighter to adjust the highlights that the sun gave me - and the ones leftover from last summer.

So this morning, I feel better somehow. I left my hair down, which I seldom do at work, but it feels good to like how it looks.

Last week I pretty much hit rock bottom, worried about my folks and all they are going through, problems with my youngest son, Justin still looking for permanent employment, disagreements with my middle son and my daughter running out of money when I didn't have any to give her. Then there was some drama with my ex, who, God bless his soul, didn't pay support for 17 years and now owes this huge debt. Well, Florida took away his driver's license until he can get some of it paid off - and he asked me to help out by saying that I had gotten money from him - even though I didn't. Add in a lack of help at work - through no one's fault - which made me skip lunch twice and still leave work late.

I didn't sleep well all week - then ended up getting sick and called into work. I never call in sick - I hate to leave my mess for someone else to deal with - so for me to actually call in sick - you know it had to be bad. Friday I decided enough was enough - and I went to the spa for a massage. Then I took a night off football practice to fold my laundry - which has not been put away properly in months - the pile was not pretty. And last night was the final bit - new underwear ( sorry TMI), new haircolor, and some Key Lime Pie for dinner. Okay - we had fruit and chicken and corn and black beans - but mostly we had pie.

And this morning, the sun seemed to shine a little brighter and I feel much better.

What do you get...

when you take an old set of wooden steps
a couple of 4 foot 2X4s
a 4 foot peice of left over plywood
some discarded wooden window trim
and a LOT of nails?

A new hay manger for the goats! They kept standing on the old one, until the 150 pounds of goat weight knocked it down. They LOVE alfalfa and Timoty grass hay - but they trample as much as the eat when I just put a bale out for them - so there has to be a manger to keep the hay dry and off the ground. So Justin, Jake and I nailed the steps to the frame and then placed the manger on top of the steps for support. The little goats now can reach the hay, the big goats have steps for standing on - instead of the little 2X2 frame - and the rain still stays out with the plywood cover.

We also introduced Yoshi to her new pen yesterday. I stood it up on end, tipped it over the fence into the goat pen, and then promptly set it down. The goats immediately hopped in and started nibbling the wood. We put Yoshi in the pen - and she was not impressed about bein picked up. In a great turn of events, when I fed Yoshi - who has been hogging everyone else's food for about a week now - the chickens descended on her plate and finished most of her dinner!

A little sensitivity please.

I saw an interview with Terri Irwin, who has been very brave in light of the glaring media coverage of her husband's death. It was heartbreaking as she recounted meeting her husband and saying it was "love at first sight". What a tragedy for true love to exist adn be lost - and in my humble estimation, that is one of the greatest tragedies ever. What saddens me, though is that she actually had to make a statement that the video of her husband's accident wouldn't be aired. Holy moley - who was the insensitive bean who even asked to air it? There is nothing to be gained other than morbid curiosity - especially since it was an accident - not a calculated risk like Mr. Irwin was known for.

It astonishes me that people cannot just let things be - have respect for others need for privacy and allow them some dignity. The poor woman has lost her husband and is faced with the daily task of raising two babies and running a business. I just had to say how astounded I was at her class in handling all of this - I don't think I would have been nearly as calm or polite about it.

Never a dull moment

Baby Mocha came to live at the Ridge last night. She was dropped off after her stint at the county fair petting zoo. Though, I don't have a good picture of her yet - this is a pretty good likeness of how she looks in my mind. It was raining last night, so her wool was all a mass of tiny ringlets as she happily walked about exploring her new home. What a beauty she is. She stayed with us on her first night ever - two months ago - slept wrapped up in my bed - promptly peed on me in the morning - and I have been looking forward to having her back ever since. She greeted me this morning as I came out to check on her - a bit taller, but still the same sweet face.

Birdie has been in the house all weekend - especially since the weather couldn't decide to be summer or fall. Since she was a preemie - she is disposed to pneumonia - but 5 days of Navajo Tea and Raw honey - some peppermint, some garlic and a shot of antibiotics later, she looks much better. Oh yea, and she is eating like a hog!

Speaking of hogs - Yoshi, the pot-bellied pig, got out of her pen about a week and a half ago. She was in heat and decided she didn't want to be alone. So we put her in with the goats. She is pretty happy about that - but her new favorite pastime is knocking over the 5 gallon waterers in the pens to make a mud bath. The ground is nice and muddy - but she isn't my favorite girl at the moment and the chickens think she's a pest.

We had a nice bonfire yesterday, right before the rain hit - and burned lots of branches which had fallen over the last several months. About an hour later, a new branch crashed through the spotlight I put up in August - sending dogs flying and glass shards everywhere. Ever try to use a broom and dustpan surrounded by herding dogs? Yep, it was a real photo opportunity missed.

In other news, two of our border collie boys got the snip over the weekend, and I listed them in the want ads to try to find them a home without chickens. Our girl Betty also got the snip, and oddly enough, a real sense of calm has come over her. I am hoping that she will put on a little weight now. She is still a bit food aggressive, since the people who had her didn't feed her every day, but she is getting better. It amazes me how nutrition plays such a big role - the boys came to us with demodectic mange, fleas, worms, and a really dull coat. Now they look shiny, if not fat, and all the skin has healed. The fleas are less - and the worms are gone. I joke with my friend who raises goats - that I seem to be developing a reputation - take that skinny animal to the chubby lady - she'll fatten them up!

Two years ago today

On the morning of September 20, 2004 I packed up three kids, two dogs and our suitcases and we moved here. Justin was worried about the emotional fall out, so he had arranged for us to stay at a long-term motel for a week. When I got to town, the hotel had been paid for and he was happy to have us - safe and sound. We were dazed - sleepless, tired and sore from trying to pack up our whole household in two days - and exhaustion had set in.

I remember feeling so cheated - I had given in duirng the divorce preceedings - and felt like I got ripped off. I had a good lawyer, but each time I had to call her, more money was lost - each item he argued with me about - cost more money - and in the end, I decided to save money and just let him have what he wanted. I had to give away my flock of ducks - take less than $500 in the settlement - after paying the lawyer - when I should have received several thousand and a house - and then being forced to leave a place and a family I loved - and people that I fit with.

I still don't feel like I fit exactly - I am not sure that it is a Southern thing - but more, the women I am surrounded by do things that I just don't understand - but that is a whole other issue. I have found a couple of friends here - and really, that is all a person needs.

So to date, everything has been restored that was taken from me, and more over, those things were replaced with better versions. I have my two acres back - only with a nicer house and fencing and woods. I have a husband - only this time, he actually loves me - what a concept. I have kids in good schools - and Bear even wrangled a scholarship - eliminating that whole problem of paying for college. I have fig, pecan, peach, plum, blueberry and cherry trees - replacing the cherry trees I lost. The boys have friends nearby and our house always has extra kids - and while I miss their friends in Indiana, the new friends are great. I cashed out the retirement that I put LOTS of money in while I was married to the Ogre - and that money paid for Bear's car and her housing at school, when the employment money ran out, there was a back up plan - this is so different from being with the Ogre where every expenditure was how he wanted it - and not spent on kids.

I wonder at times why God lets bad things happen to people who don't "deserve" it. I don't have an answer to that one - but I know that when He promises to make all things for teh Good of those who follow Him - He means it - my life bears that out every day. We discussed the existance of God at CCD this week - and I realize that He hasn't dropped me once, even when the day was dark two years ago today.

Thoughts for a Tuesday....

compliments of Steph's mom - and someone who doesn't know how to spell "lose" I don't need any loose weight...

Deep Subject for a Monday

Do you ever wonder what the end of the world will be like? I've seen the armageddon movies - and read Revelations, but I wonder. A good friend of mine used to read a lot about teh mystics in the Church - and St. Malachy predictions about how things would end. One of those included a supposed list, kept in the Vatican, which listed the names of all the popes. The story goes that this list ends with the extreme persecution that the pope after this current pope will lead the flock through- that he is the last of the line of St. Peter as vicar of Rome. I don't know if I believe all that, but the current scuffle between what was said and how the peaceloving faith of Islam has responded, got me thinking this morning.

There were other predictions, historically speaking. The children at Fatima were given three secrets which would be an indication that the end times were upon us. The last of which was a disturbing vision of the pope walking over the bodies of priests. The book I read about these secrets theorized that this was the sex scandal that rocked the Church not so many years ago. Of course, reading that a nun was murdered because of the Pope's remarks and Islamic terrorists taking out theri fury on her - makes me wonder if there is not more tragedy ahead.

There were repetitious messages - that the visions of Mary in Medjugoria, Fatima, Lourdes, and Guadelupe were an indication of urgency - that people needed to perk up and take notice. Some of the messages even say - I come to you more urgently than ever and ask you to pray.

Last night at CCD, we had a group discussion about how different the Christian view is from other views - how we see our world differently. The kids are amazing - talking about Buddhism, Mesopotamians, Egyptian gods, athiests - just amazingly deep for 15 year old kids. When we talked about there being present day martyrs - people who are killed because they will not renouce being Christian, they were astounded that such a thing still went on. If you are interested, you can pick up DC Talk's book Jesus Freaks. (Definitely worth the read.) The comment was made by a brown haired girl with braces who said being Catholic was pretty easy, and she didn't know what she'd do if she had to renounce her faith or die.

And I hope we never have to find out.

Heroes

Oddly enough, every profession has heroes - and nursing is no different. There was of course Florence Nightengale - but before her, there were centuries of wholistic healers in every culture - who looked at the body, mind and spirit to heal.

About 7 years ago, I was lucky enough to meet one of my heroes - and a comment from her son reveals that she is retiring this fall. I can hardly believe it. Shirley was a field nurse back in the itme where there wer few nurses and a lot of sick people who couldn't get into the clinics on the reservation. She did all kinds of medicine in the field - antibiotics, dressings, assessments - you name it.