"progress" i guess?

Just wanted to throw this up there.

More red, more orange, much more yellow

than my prior post in June

Spaghetti and Meatballs

i LOVE Italian food. No if, ands or buts about it. I do. Any noodle, any sauce, garlic bread, some vino and I'm there! Yumm, yummm, YUMMY!!!
Preferably a nice, sweet vino! :)

My husband? Not so much. He's not really a fan of Italian food. Wait, to say he's not a fan is an understatement!
I can, in rare instances get him to agree to Italian for dinner. His choice? Chicken Alfredo. Hates red sauce. Hate it!
How can a person hate red sauce? Red sauce IS Italian food. You can't HAVE Italian food withOUT red sauce. It's un-Itialian. Right?

When I make red sauce for myself, I usually make something else for him. Once in a while, I will not make something else for him. This means, he either has to suffer through the red sauce, or cook for himself.

And, let me add, that when I make Italian...it's not normally "from a can". I don't buy pre-made meatballs. I use ground beef and add my own spices and seasonings and make them fresh. I don't buy a 99¢ can of "Spaghetti sauce" and call it good. No ma'am! I either start from scratch with tomato sauce or diced tomatoes if I'm in the mood for a chunky sauce; or a high end jar of Spaghetti sauce, and add additional seasonings/spices.
So, keep in mind this is not a thrown together out of the can/pre-made meal.

Sunday.......his mom and grandmother come over to the house. Hubby was in a fishing tournament with his dad and a few other guys Saturday. Granny didn't know that we would be there all day, and that there was a meal at the end.
Granny calls us about 6pm or so....."When are you guys going to be back, I cooked dinner".
Mom informs Granny that we wouldn't be back for a while, and that the people that put on the tournament would be feeding us......
So....Sunday Mom and Granny come over. Granny brings the dinner she made the night before. What was that dinner you ask?
Spaghetti and Meatballs.
Does hubby complain?
NOPE!
Does he eat Granny's Spaghetti and Meatballs?
Yep!
Is it the pre-made/out of the can type of dish?
Yep!
UGH!

Tragic Death of 13 to 14 horses in Magnolia, Tx

Yesterday morning, early, a fire broke out at Magnolia's Goslin/Nix Arabian training center. A passerby notice the barn in flames, called 911 and woke up the owners.

14 horses were saved, but 13 were killed and one is reportedly still missing.

Follow the links below, and help out if you can. Freddy and Jennifer are good people. I know them from working on the Arab show circuit a few years back.

Article one Arab Horsemens distress fund link

Every "Horse-Person" should read......

From Julie Thorson's Horse Talk Blog....... Please take the time to read it.

Report On Horse Processing Released to Congress

Busy bee!

Can you say busy? LIFE has been on FFWD since January 1, I think. Yikes.

Last weekend I took photos at a friends' wedding, and had a photo session with my niece, Shelby.
This weekend I'm off to AuStIn for a weekend photography class with Kevin Gourley .
Next weekend (friday through Tuesday) I will be in FlOrIdA visiting my friend Holly and her family.
The weekend after that? Back to trimming hooves with my husband...... and that is just the last few weeks. I could go on, or go backwards....but I think that shows you how busy I've been.

Alduca is with his Auntie Jen for the weekend, while the rest of the critters will be watched by my M.I.L (mom-in-law) and Shelby. I hope they have fun, because they will have their hands full with all those critters!

I hope everyone has a good weekend! I Hope to come back with lots of new ideas for my photography. Oh, and I hope to have time to update my photo blog and my FB page for my photography as well!

I had to post this

Just so everyone has an idea of where we are at....really.

I'm NOT kidding people, WE need RAIN!!!

What a night! Errr, I mean Morning!

Have I mentioned that my Big, 80lb lap dog of a dog Tucker is a BIG baby when it comes to Thunderstorms? Well, if I haven't, he is. He hates them. He's torn up some things in the house, whines, pants, and just in general gets very worried and concerned.

Unbenounced to me, there were storms brewing when we went to bed last night. I, being wide awake was up for about 2 hours after my DH went to sleep. I woke up about 1:30 to heavy breathing, and a great deal of commotion in the bed. Keeping it 'G' rated people, get your minds outta the gutter. It was Tucker. He was upset.
I took a minute and listened and watched.......lightning, thunder, check. That's why Tucker is upset.
He settled down next to me and I commenced to rubbing his ears. Peetie was also upset, which was odd. To me, that was a dead give away that this was to be a pretty bad storm.
Grabbed the trusty phone and went to the radar on weather.com.
It. Was. nasty. Orange and Red all over the place. Thunderstorm Watch till 9am, Thunderstorm warning till 2:30am. That quickly changed to 3am, and then 3:30am.

There were various loud bangs and booms outside. And, at one point, I was pretty sure we lost a good size limb on the back side of the house. One more thing to pick up later, right?

Tucker would calm down, and then get upset again. About 2:30 Peetie decided he wanted to go out. And he was serious. When I got close to the door, I heard a scratching noise. The dogs in the back? Nope.....it was coming from the front door.
What to my sleep deprived eyes did appear, but the little mouthy terrier that we were watching for our M.I.A. neighbor.
I hollered to DH. "Hannah is at the door, soaking we. Do you want me to let her in?"
"Yeah" he rasped....."just grab a towel and dry her off".
And that is what I did. She was sitting on the porch (uncovered, by the way) soaking wet, shivering, looking up at me.......poor doggie.

So, enter new doggie. She was super hyper. Running through the house at mach 9, banking off the furniture and if we'd had a rug it would have been in a heap from her using it as traction to get another running go.

I went to let Peetie in, and took the time to peek outside and see what was going on. Rain, lots of puddles, dark....very dark. Except when the lightning illuminated the sky.
The limb that fell? Nope, not in the back, it was in the front. And, just for fun, it was laying over the fence. Or....was it?
Ummmmmm fence? Where is the fence? Where is the horse??? Ohhhh lordy!
3AM and I've got to search for a horse and fix a fence? UGH!
"DH, GET UP! We need to find a horse and fix a fence!"
DH - mumble grumble......grrrrrr
Dressed, grabbed flashlight and out we went in to the dark, rainy night to locate the horse and fix the fence.
We found the horse. Still in his pasture, thank goodness. What a good boy, respectful of the fence even when it's down!
Fixed the front half of the fence. And walked the rest of the fence. AT 3AM!
Drudged through the puddles, the muck, the sink holes I found while walking the fence line.
Had another horse MIA.......Walked his pasture and found him. Thank goodness. :)

It's now about 3:45 and I get back inside. DH? Back in BED! What?? I was out walking fence checking critters and he went back inside after fence fixing. Yay. At least he helped move the limb and fix the fence, right?

Now, I'm not the type of person who does well going back to bed after I've woken up when I won't get a full nights sleep. So...at about 4am when I needed up at 6? I got about an hours worth of sleep and was back at it.

It. Is. Going. To. Be. A. Long. LOng. LONG DAY!

Thumbs Up Blogger Award

For Bloggers doing an A+ job of Blogging!

All awards have to start somewhere, right? Here is my contribution to the world of Blogging Awards.

The "rules" are pretty simple.

Take the picture that appears on this post, and post it in the awards section of your blog.

IN a post, name 5 bloggers who you think are doing an A+ job on their blog, and tell them why you think so. Then leave them a comment on their most recent post to let them know they have been given this award.

In that post also tell why you blog, what got you into blogging, and why you keep doing it.

Also, post a link to this post so that everyone who receives this award can leave a comment on this post. I'd love to see how many bloggers this award reaches. So please leave a comment here, with a link to your Thumbs Up Award post!

Happy Blogging!

I'm giving this award to: Steph/The Aspiring Equestrian, eventer79/weareflyingsolo, Jen/HunterInTraining, sydney/Bitless Horse, and Julie/RidingAside

It has been a long time since I did a Friday Fill In

1. I see clearly now, the rain won't come.
2. I love things made from scratch.
3. They begin with the letter "A".
4. I was so much younger so many years earlier.
5. This I know: Texas weather is unpredictable.
6. I have no idea what's for dinner.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going to bed EARLY, tomorrow my plans include OutDoor Expo @ BRC and Sunday, I want to Relax, but have to work!

Photos of the Owies

Left Hind Cannon Bone

Left Front inside between coronet/pastern

Part II - Guys, we don't ask questions to be a PAIN in the Butt, really!

Sunday PM I go to feed Alduca. Now, we all know Alduca hasn't had the easiest time of it for the last few years. Bounced around from home to home, starved to near death.....to be saved by a lady who found my "Missing Horse" ads all over the Internet...... Just a quick re-cap for ya in case you forgot.

What do I find? Blood. Left Front pastern. Bleeding. Nasty cut. Run into the house, get gloves, antibiotic ointment, warm water, scrubby, and any other needed items to clean an owie...

The patient was none too happy during the scrubbing/cleaning process. He would jerk his leg every time I touched it with something. He got scolded a few times, and after about 10 mins, it was cleaned up, with meds applied. Go me!
Or so I thought.
I was gathering up my 'goodies' when he turned his hind end my direction. This is when I noticed the OTHER OWIE! Left hind cannon bone, just above his ankle. OK, so yeah....I started yelling at DH.
Another cleaning/scrubbing of this wound and a much less happy Duca. This one was a scrape with 2 little puncture wounds. EEK. I cleaned and medicated and gave the poor guy two grams of bute.

So, post 'operation' I walk my 'happy' self over to the fence that is near the new horse. What do I find? Damaged wire. HUmmmmmmm..imagine that. Looks like a horse got his leg through it....once, maybe twice. Hummmm, two Duca owies, damaged fence? Coincidence? I think not!

Now, I peer at the neighbors fence. OR LACK THERE OF! No fence on their side. Just ours.

DIDn'T I just ASK DH about that?

Fellas - lemme give you a bit of advice. When your OH/GF/SO (which ever cutesie term you use) asks you questions, she is not always trying to be a BiT#H. She has a VALID reason for the interrogation. Trust me. You may NOT always see the logic behind it, but trust me, IT'S THERE!
Example?
Take my questions to DH about the fence. Had his answer been "I don't know babe, let's go look" then look is what we would have done.
Had he said "they said they are putting up another fence line, but using ours for now" we would have immediately gone and put up hot wire on our side to help prevent 'friendly gestures' through/over the fence.
Had he said "I don't know" I WOULD HAVE FOUND OUT MYSELF.

Guys, next time your gal asks a question, and you don't know the answer. FESS up! It might save you some aggravation later!

Guys, we don't ask questions to be a PAIN in the Butt, really!

Part 1

Friday evening my DH (who wasn't very D at that moment, if ya know what I mean) was asked by the neighbors to help drive a few T-posts in the ground for their fence for their new horse. Ok, no biggie. They didn't have a T-post driver and DH didn't mind helping..........

When DH got back, I asked him where he'd been. He told me. Not too long after that, here comes said neighbor riding a small sorrel gelding down the road. Enter new horse.

So, using the "Thinking side of my brain" I ask DH, "Are they using our fence line for one of theirs, or did they put up a new fence?"

DH replies "No, they put up a new fence".

Me "So our horses can't get to theirs?"

DH "Nope"

Satisfied that DH knew what he was talking about (he was over there helping, after all) the conversation ended and we headed out to dinner.

I'm sure he thought I was being a butt head with the questions......but I was worried about my horses. Our horses are nosey, imagine that. They get excited every time a trailer pulls into the driveway, horse trailer or otherwise. My filly even gets excited about flatbed trailers. She's odd, right?
And, not to mention potential owie's from playing over/through/under the fence....I have no idea if NEW HORSE is current on shots/negative coggins etc.....don't' want them playing over the fence.

PSA - Organizational Advice

For those that need a little help in the organization department......here is what I did to get my bills in 'order'.

I'm the bill payer in the house. If I left it up to my husband we'd be living in darkness every other month and getting collection phone calls out the wazooooh! So, I'd taken it upon my self to handle our bills.
I was good at it.
Everything was paid on time.
Then, "life" got busy.......My brain went on "life overload".....I thought I had it together but it didn't...... Let me explain.

We bought our house via OWNER FINANCE. We rented it for about a year before buying it. Our "mortgage company" is a very nice older couple who live about 9 miles from us, so most of the time I just run the payment over and drop it in their mailbox. Our mortgage is due on the 15th of the month. January 15th, 2011 came and went. I thought I paid it. We went out of town for my DH's grandpa's funeral.
While out of town our "mortgage company" calls, it was January 24th. They just wanted to check and make sure everything was alright. I told them well, not really, and explained where we were and why. They were understanding, and sympathetic, and said they just wanted to remind us about our payment.
MY JAW DROPPED. Payment? I put it in the mail. Right? I swear I did? Maybe?
I let them know that I was pretty sure I'd mailed it and would double check when I got home and apologized a million times before we hung up.
Wow.....what was happening? I forgot to pay a bill. That was SO not me.

I did, in a brief moment of....well.....during a brief lapse in judgement as DH to be responsible for the bills. I did a lot, it was the least he could do, right?
WRONG! I spent the entire month so worried about the bills getting paid I drove myself and him nutso! So, I took back over the following month.

I knew I needed a new system. but what? I googled different bill organization options......most seemed a bit more $$ than I was willing to part with for something I could almost make myself....
I found myself wandering around Wal-Mart (eeks!) the other other day, and came across a clearance section.
What did I find there?
One of those SMALL pocket calenders.....on sale...for a BUCK! YEP, $1.00. or, .100 cents!
The wheels and gears began spinning in my brain. Slowly at first, then the speed increased. I swore for a moment I smelled smoke!
This could work! This may be the solution to my bill organization conundrum!
I had, in the past, brushed these small, sorry excuses for 'planners' aside like yesterday's trash. They were too small, slight in stature.....the minute boxes in which they expected you to write each days activities were quite comical! But one item? One bill? genius!
I happily made my way to the register with my new found treasure, smile on my face, eyes a twinkle like Santa Clause on Christmas Eve. I purchased my prize, feeling like a cat who'd just eaten the Canary.
I could hardly wait until I got home to write down and organize my bills for the month.
And organize I did! This was last week........So Far, SO GOOD! I love it! No late bills, thus far, and it's so small I can just tuck it in the bag or purse and don't even notice it's there.

So, for those of you who are looking for a neat way to keep up with your bills, try it! Go find a mini calender/organizer and keep track of your bills!

B-U-S-T-E-D!!!

When your husband calls you at work at 11:30 AM and says "Happy Anniversary, Dear" and you go "OH Crap, I Forgot" you know you are in trouble!

Yes folks, I forgot our Anniversary. Busted, I did it. ME who is normally REALLY good with dates and remembering things. ME!

In my defense, I have so much going on right now it's crazy. This year has been total chaos. Also, it's been wacko at the office today. Both my co-workers were late so I was flying solo this am at the Funny Farm. And, well, after all, I am ONLY human!

Contrary to popular belief I can't remember EVERYTHING!

SO......I wonder how the rest of the day is going to go?

HELP ME!

March already?

Where in the heck does the time go?

I mean, just yesterday it was New Years....now we are in March.

This have been more downhill than up this year, I'm afraid. 3 people I was very close to have passed away already......1 in January, 2 in February.
My grandpa in law in January, and February it was my great grandmother, and then my step dad.

I've not known grandpa in law long, almost 4 years.....but I did know him long enough to know what a sweet, kind hearted man he was. He would tell you the same stories over and over again, every time he saw you. He always asked me about the 2 pennies he'd given me..... "you still got that money I gave ya" he'd ask, every time he came by the office or I talked to him on the phone.

My great-grandma and I weren't real close......it's hard to be close to someone when you live almost 2 THOUSAND miles away. BUT, my dh and I did get to see her when we went to NY for Thanksgiving. I'm so glad I did. She was bright, and alert....still living by herself at.....96 ( I think). She lived in an apartment complex for seniors. It was all self care, there was no one there taking care of her day in and day out. I'm so happy she could go that way......the alternative seems not so good.

My step dad. Oh boy, he was a character. He and my mom were not married too long.....7 years this year I think... (I'm bad with dates ) He had a great sense of humor, and fought cancer many times before it finally won in February. The Dr's have given him 30 days....he didn't even make it a week. My mom was devastated....still is. Just a month before that they had to put down their old dog, Max. Max was a Dalmatian/beagle mix. He was toooo cute for words. He had big beagle ears, but was about the size of a Dalmatian with small Dalmatian spots. I'm glad we got to meet Max too, when we went home for Thanksgiving. So now mom finds herself with out her canine companion, and without her partner.
I know it won't fix things.......only time will heal those wounds. BUT, on Saturday we are sending her a puppy. Yep, a puppy. She was talking about getting a puppy from a friend of hers, but wasn't really sure the breed was right for her. I mentioned that we had some lab puppies in the pound down here. She asked for pictures.....and then she fell in love with a chocolate lab mix with white markings on her chest and hind toes. Hershey is a pretty big puppy, and she is ALLLL PUPPY. She's been at our house since last week. We are trying to teach her some manners before she goes home to be mom's best friend. I told her the other day that she had a really big job to do when she got there. I told her she had to look after mom, and protect her, and keep her busy too. That's a tough job, but someones gotta do it. I think Hershey can handle it. She will love mom, and mom already loves her........

So....what will March bring? I'm hoping it brings better, happier things than January and February. If you are the praying kind, say a prayer from Mom and Hershey....that Hershey makes the journey well Saturday, and that the ache in Mom's heart will be eased by her new friend.

Hope all of you out there in blogger land are well......let's turn 2011 around, ok?