Wh What?

Call me old fashioned! I can take it.
It's ok.
I don't claim to be hip and cool anyway, after all I have a daughter I'll need to embarass soon as she becomes a teen.
So the grandmother (not my Mother) is visiting and took my "little" who is seven, to get a manicure...fun, plain girl fun right? Well, they came home to present their beautiful hands....Grandma wearing ballerina pink and grandCHILD wearing RED HOT hooker, porn star RED!!!!!!!!!! eeeeekkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk woooonggg woooonggg That is the sound of my head spinning around backward and my eyes popping out (wh-wooga wh-wooga).
The response I got was....."she wanted green...or purple....so I said YES to red" . Ok, how about a little NO every now and then? It didn't hurt me! I heard NO NO NO all the time....I also heard the non-commital "we'll see" which you know means NO.
I think Nancy Reagan said it best...."JUST say NO!"

Countdown to the big day...

...well, not the big wedding day but my birthday....which is Wed. March 17th.
I look forward to it now more than I ever have in my life. This is why...

Thursday, March 23rd, 2006 I spent a week in the pulmonary intensive care unit on oxygen and coumadin following a diagnosis of pulmonary emboli or blood clots in the lung. I've blogged about this before but I re-visit it to stay thankful! I've recovered since and done well but I lost a career over it. I had been in the Colorado Springs Police Academy as a recruit. I lost my peace of mind over it for awhile. Anytime I had a leg cramp, I worried it was again another clot. I've recovered from that too.

So Birthdays are extra special to me now! And I'm not sure how I'm going to spend it--- I DO know that I will spend it being thankful to God and the great things he does. It just wasn't my time.

Branded!

By now if you follow my blog or just read it from time to time, you know my boyfriend Chad--now Fiance Chad and I spend a lot of weekends on the farm. His parents operate a large cattle ranch in Eastern Colorado, Lincoln county, and that's the next one over to the East of us here in El Paso County.

This past weekend, my little seven year old girl helped her soon-to-be cousins with branding the Taylor calves. My friend responded to my Facebook page as "she'll be a well-rounded" girl. I believe she will. The actual branding skill will only come in handy should she decide to become a rancher but she learned more than that this weekend. You learn teamwork. One person takes the front of the animal, the second pulls the hind leg so no one gets kicked. There's a person stepping in to vaccinate, one stepping in to do the branding. The calf kicks like a three year old throwing a temper tantrum like you've never seen! It's hard to continue to hold such an obstinate beast. They want UP, and NOW! Anyway, I feel as though hard work and getting dirty is good for kids. At the end of it all, they realize they can do amazing things. They can deal with emotions and fears. And the love and support of family who are right there with them. It was bonding of sorts for Han and her "cousins". She finished up and took away a great deal from the experience. I'm proud of my little "cowgirl in training".

Once you've restrained an angry bovine beast, you're on your way to being ready for almost anything!




-Branding at the Taylor Ranch in Lincoln County. March 7th, 2010