My babies.

Just wanted to stick this one in.  Christmas morning.  My babies with their stockings.  I cross stitched them for the kids.  Kat's the the same one I made when she was a baby.  You can't see, but it's of a little blond girl standing beside a manger with baby Jesus in it. 

This is actually Andy's second stocking.  When he was in Middle School, he asked for a new stocking.  Apparently he thought he was to old for his Santa and Teddy Bear stocking.  So, we found the one he has above.  It's a church in the background with deer in the foreground.  He thinks it is much more "manly".

My babies...they're growing up way to fast!

Water and electricity

When you live in the country, there are two things you think about having...and NOT having.

Power and Water.

Growing up and living my entire life on the Great Plains, I'm used to being aware of the importance of both power and water. We lost power on a frequent enough basis that we kids used to joke that the power would go out any time a cow peed near a power pole.

And there are a lot of cattle--and a fair number of power lines in SW KS!

Even today, the power will flicker, flash off and come back on fairly often. If we have a bad storm, the power can go off. Blizzards, thunderstorms, straight line winds; all can and do take out the power. I am prepared for the power to go out. I have lamps, we can keep warm, and usually, we have water available. So, a power outage is inconvenient, but not a big deal.

But when you well goes out...that's another story.

I don't have backup plans. I don't cope as well without water when I do have power. I worry more about the well and the water situation more. Maybe that's because I know that the maintenance of the well is OUR responsibility. The electricity? That's someone elses problem. They have to worry about the logistics of getting it back on. But water? That's all on us.
And since I don't know how domestic wells are set up...it's a big worry for me.

With the drought going on and on , Kev and I have discussed our water situation. We've worried about running out of water. We worry because we don't have a clue as to how deep the well is, how much water is in it, or how old it is. No one could tell us any of this information when we bought the house. We've been running on faith with it. Faith that it's nice and deep. Faith that we have plenty of water. Faith that the well will run. Faith that we'll conserve and use our water wisely. Water is not an endless commodity out here and we try to be responsible users.

Friday afternoon, around 4, Andy called with news that no one wants to hear when it's 106 and dry..."Mom, there's no water."

I hoped that perhaps, with the demands on the electrical system, that we'd just blown a fuse. So, I told him to hang on, and we'd (meaning Kev) would look at it when we got home--around 8 p.m. because Miss Kat had a Volleyball scrimmage.

Once we got home, Kev went out and checked the breakers and flipped them off and on. Still no water. At 9, I decided to go back to bed and read for a while. As I walked by Andy's bathroom, I stepped in a wet spot.

What? I assumed that one of the dogs had been laying there licking themselves or maybe it was blood. (Emily, the lab. had scratched her neck raw earlier that day and it was still a mess.) So, I flipped on the light and discovered water. Looking in Andy's bathroom, I saw the sink full of water and water was running over onto the floor. The bathroom was flooded and, water even dripped through the floor down into the garage.

While I was glad to see we had water...I wasn't prepared for the mess. Apparently, Andy had tried the faucet in his bathroom and didn't get it turned off. We're guessing that Kev must have restarted the pump when he flipped the breakers and it just took a while for the water to fill the pressure tank and then come inside the house.

So, we cleaned up the mess, put fans out to dry out the carpet and the garage, and went to bed.

All was normal again until...Sunday at lunch time. I was fixing lunch, went to turn on the water...

And nothing.

No water again. And, of course, it was 106...again.

I'd done 2 loads of laundry and had Kat's clothes in the washer. I immediately shut off the washer, and we waited, hoping it would "fix itself" like it did Friday night.

By 4:30, Kat had given up on waiting. So we loaded up her laundry and drove to my Mom's to use her washer. While there, Dad gave me the name of a Well Guy he really likes. Dad even thought he'd come on a Sunday--when most Well guys won't. I Kev with the number.

In the meantime, Dad decided he'd call the Well guy himself. But, fortunately, Kev had just called him. (And of course the well guy told Dad, "Hell NO!" he wouldn't come see us if we were related to him. All good natured teasing...)

Kat and I finished up her laundry and headed home. By this time, it was around 7. We pulled into our house at 8.

Kev told me that the Well Guy had just left and that he'd have to come back tomorrow because he'd have to check out our pump.

Ugg. A new pump would be $1500 or more. But...we need water. So, I asked Kev if he looked at the well and if he could tell how much water was in there, or if it was dry. Kev looked at me and just walked over to the sink and turned it on.

WATER! We had water!

And then he laughed--at me--cause once again...he was a BIG FAT LIAR.

The Well Guy had fixed it. Our pressure regulator was fried. Deader than dead. It was an electrical issue--not a water issue.

And MY idiot husband led me on, let me worry about having to pay a $1500 to $3000 bill. Let me worry about not having water. Let me worry about how I was going to water my chickens. Letting me worry knowing that it was fixed.

Jerk.

But, once his joke was over and done...Kev said that the Well Guytold him that he's replaced over 300 regulators this summer. We're all putting demands on our wells that they aren't used to having, and aren't set up to handle. We also learned that several families have had to dig new wells, or deeper wells because theirs have gone dry. This drought is serious folks. It's very serious.

We avoided a major personal disaster this time, but I still can't help but worry about the availability of water now and in the future.

A day trip

Kevin and I took a quick trip to Wichita on Saturday. We've kind of made it a tradition to go to the Wichita Garden Show since we've moved here. Kevin is our gardener. He likes to play outside with his pond and yard and the green house and garden. Me? I like to watch him play outside, but somehow, I always get roped into helping.

Now, if I could get flowers to grow like this in our area, I would. I love ground cover with lots of color. Kev made me take pictures of every waterfall there.

The Theme for the garden competition this year was "In the movies". We saw the "Secret Garden," "Up," Mr. Miagi's Courtyard," (From "The Karate Kid"), "Avatar" and "Jurassic Park."

Guess which one he lived in. It was also the most popular exhibit there. Long lines all day long.

Kev really liked this small waterfall on this ONE rock. I told him he could probably find a rock this big to use at home, but he informed me that he'd need a bigger tractor to move a rock this big. And then, he proceeded to stop at every single tractor vendor there and look at bigger tractors. Did I mention that I have ONE payment left on our tractor?

We always have fun at the Garden Show. After we left there, we walked through Gander Mountain...and didn't buy a thing! Then, lunch at Red Lobster followed by a trip to Lowe's where I picked out some pretty new garage doors. We priced them and decided that we didn't like those garage doors after all.

Our final stop was at the local antique mall. We made it around the outside edges of the store and bought my Dad a birthday present and ourselves a small copper skillet to hang on the wall. We decided we'd have to go back because we saw a lot of cool stuff.

It was a nice day trip and it was nice to get away and just do something fun for a change. No pressure to buy anything, we didn't have anywhere we had to be, so we just saw what we wanted to see, went where we wanted to go and had a nice time...just the two of us.

Frosting on the cake

I did it. It's done!

Since November, I've paid off $3000 in medical bills. I mailed the last three checks last night. How'd I do it?

• Last semester, I taught a section of College Orientation. I earned some extra money for that.
• I got a raise that was paid in November, but it was retroactive back to July.
• Kevin has been working like crazy, earning a lot of overtime.
• Kev also had maxed out his vacation time, so had to cash some in.

And every extra dime we earned went towards paying off those darn medical bills of mine. (And with Christmas and the start of a new college semester for Andy and quarterly insurance, it wasn't easy.) I stuck to my budget and to my guns and we managed to pay it all off.

I can't help but think of the other things that money could have been used for, but I need to thank the stars that it was here when we needed it. Kev's overtime hours should be ending soon, and I'm glad. While we needed that money, I like having him at home on weekends and he needs a little down time. I'm not teaching a class this semester, but I did put my name in the hat to teach some outreach classes and perhaps I'll teach again soon.

On another front, we opened a letter from the County Conservation office last night. Apparently Miss Kat won an award for a limerick she wrote last spring. We've been invited to the annual banquet for a free steak dinner where she'll receive her award. She hasn't decided if she can "fit" the banquet into her busy schedule yet, but even so, I'm proud of her...if only she could remember her limerick! I'm not biased at all, but I think she has a future as a writer--maybe even a paid writer!

Her award was just frosting on the cake.

Cheaters

Three cowboys were riding in the pickup, all three sitting in the front seat.

Which one is the real cowboy?

The one in the middle.

Because he doesn't have to drive, and he doesn't have to open the gate.

Somehow, I'm never the "real" cowboy, cause I always have to open the gate.

Barbed wire gates are sometimes difficult to open. If it's a new gate, and it's nice and tight, it's almost impossible to open.

Here's how you open a barbed wire gate...

If it's a tight gate, you lean against the fence post.

Wrap your arm around the other side of the post and grab the gate post and pull it towards you. This lessens the tension on the loop allowing you to lift the loop off the gate post and open the gate. And sometimes, you just don't have enough lead in your britches to pull that gate. At times like that, your Dad, brother, or husband come to the rescue. But they whine and pout about having to help you out--especially if they were sitting in the middle.

I much prefer using a cheater to open gates, like this one...This is a nice way to open a new gate. All I had to do was lift on the handle (on the right side) and it pulled the gate post in and I just pop the cheater off the post and open the gate. Of course you can just drop the gate, but usually, you have to drag it inside, while the guy driving comes in the pasture. Then, they wait until you close the gate.

This is one of the nicer cheaters I've used. Sometimes, a cheater is simply a stick of wood chained to the fence post. You wrap it around the gate post, and lean on it for that extra leverage to move the gate post.

In this case, everyone loves a cheater! Especially me.

Prairie Fire

Two weeks ago, Kev and I had run down to Mom's to work on her yard project. On our way home, we saw smoke northeast of Ashland. We knew the Englewood Volunteer Fire Department had already been on one fire that day, and we wondered if they'd get called out again...they did.

As we drove closer to home, the smoke kept getting bigger and bigger and darker and darker. There was also lightening occurring around us, and we're guessed the fire was started by lightening--always a risk on the prairie when it's dry...and it has been. We passed the Bucklin Volunteer Fire Department headed south to the fire, so we knew that it was a big fire.

We knew that any fire over here was going to be tough to put out. Lots of pastures, lots of canyons, and areas where you can't get a fire truck to, and lots of oil wells and storage tanks full of oil.

Sunday, we drove down through the area where they fire had been. It burned 4400 acres before the fire departments got it under control. I'm not even sure how many fire departments answered the call, but I know they had guys come from far western Kansas and Oklahoma. (Rural firefighters are great at helping each other out. They thrive on grass fires and get excited when they get called out.)

The day after the fire, this area got between 3 and 6 inches of rain, so it's already greened up nicely. I took these pictures on the Mt. Jesus road in Clark County--just north of Mt Jesus and just south of where we lived when I was a girl.

I did have to laugh at the fence. A brand-spankin' new fence...hedge posts...A nice tight fence...


The top of many posts were there, as were the bottoms...just nothing in between.

In a few weeks, you'll never know that a fire went through here...well, you won't unless they don't get that fence fixed!

Pictures from our walk

I am a dork. Karin left a comment on my last post about there not being any pictures...and while we didn't take the camera...we did take Kev's cell phone. I did take 4 pictures, which are below. Now, lat night, as I remembered those pictures, I thought that it would be pretty easy to upload the pictures straight to the computer because a USB cord came with the stupid phone, so it should be easy-peasy, right?

WRONG.

After messing with the phone for 30 minutes, I did what every person does...I asked my kids to help.

And, after Andy and I messing for several minutes, we decided to bluetooth the pictures to his smart phone and then he could email them to me. But, guess what...bluetoothing didn't work for some obscure reason that we no longer cared to solve. So, I resorted to texting Andy the pictures and then he emailed them back to me. Something that should have been so simple turned out to be a major production.

And with that, all of you had just better appreciate these pictures!

One last vent about cell phones, except this one is really more about digital cameras. Point and click digital cameras are nice and all, but they aren't really designed for many outdoor shots in the bright sunshine. You simply can't see the screen. I'm amazed these turned out at all! New on my Christmas list is a SLR digital camera...I so prefer the viewfinder and not the LCD screen.

Vent over...Here's the pictures. Everyone, get ready to ooh and awww.


Flat Kansas.
The trees are growing at the bottom of the spring. You can't see these trees if you are up on top of the canyons--well, you can't see them from the trail and you can't see them from where we were picking up rocks.

One of our "waterfalls". This is the type of rock we picked up--just not pieces this big.

This was the coolest drop off. It was probably 3 feet to the bottom of the draw. You can see where years of water have smoothed out the rock. One rock. It was so cool.

And...at this point, I gave up using the cellphone to take pictures. But, at least you get a small idea of some of the beauty we enjoyed.

Peter Pan

Approximately 10 years ago, Kev and I attended Miss Kat's first school program. She was in preschool in the "4-year-old" class. There was also a "3-year-old" class which performed first. You know how most preschool concerts are...lots and lots of cute little kids who might like to sing, but they get very shy when up on a stage in front of lots and lots of grown-ups. And, we all enjoy watching the kids never knowing what to expect. After all, Andy picked his nose during his first concert...

The 3 year-old kids performed first. And, most of them barely whispered their songs and there was a lot of fidgeting and chewing on fingers and bashfulness. Except for this one little boy...He stood towards the edge of the stage, this tiny little boy with big eyes and a head full of blond hair. He was wearing a bright yellow shirt. He alone on that stage wasn't shy. He was singing and wiggling to the music, you might not have heard any of the other kids sing, but you could hear this kid. He stole the show--without meaning too, he was just having a good time singing.

I didn't know who that little boy was at the time, but I did learn his name...Dual. We later became good friends with his family. They and Dual have brought a lot of joy into our lives. In fact, they've become family to us. Because of that, this past weekend, we drove to Hutch to watch Dual perform in the Hutchinson Family Theater production of Peter Pan. Dual was cast in the role of Michael, the youngest of the Darling Children. We were in awe of the professionalism of the production--all volunteer. 140 characters cast in this production. (Dual wasn't the only one from his family on stage, Miss Bailey was one of Tiger Lily's Indian dancers.) This was Dual's second time performing. Imagine, performing once, then being cast as one of the major characters in your second performance...

Dual did a fantastic job. He nailed his lines, his acting was very natural and his singing was spectacular. I couldn't have been more proud of my own kids. Watching him on stage, we all realized that this was where he belonged. And, although he's now a "mature" 13, he still has a lot of that 3 year old kid in him, stealing the show and enjoying himself on stage.

Makin Bacon

Not that kind of bacon. Sheesh.

Two weeks ago, we and some friends of of ours butchered and processed 5 pigs. At that time, we made sausage, polish sausage, brats, and packaged pork chops and rib and ground pork. We brought home the side meat and the ham to cure and smoke.

Bacon is made by taking the side meat and rubbing it with salt and brown sugar. Then, it's put somewhere cool--between the temperatures of 35 and 45 degrees--to cure. The salt and sugar are absorbed into the meat and some of the liquid drains off. After curing for 2 weeks, we smoked it for a couple of hours.
This is what you get... In this photo, you see the side meat from 2 pigs. Probably 40 lbs of "bacon".

After it's smoked, we put it in the freezer for it to firm up making it easier for us to slice. In the above picture, you can see a slab that we'd cut a few slices from. Doesn't that look good?

Here's a shot of Kev slicing the bacon. Isn't he cute? I think so :)

Yum...lots and lots of bacon...

From this point, we wrapped it up in freezer paper and some we vacuum sealed. We wound up with 35 packages of bacon. I can assure you that the bacon tastes wonderful...but you'll just have to take my word for it.

Lady Deuces Basketball

We watched the final game of the Jr High Season last night. The girls were in the Championship game playing against my Alma mater...Ashland.

There's a pretty big rivalry between the Deuces and the Bluejays. It was very evident last night, as the girls game looked more like a football game than a basketball game.

I don't think that we played as physically when I was in school. Man, there were girls on both teams getting hurt last night. No blood, but lots of heads banging the floors, hands getting stepped on, bodies slamming into the floor and into each other. Both teams were in the Bonus early, both teams had girls in foul trouble in the first quarter! Girls who never foul had 4 fouls!

It was intense.

What's worse, is that whenever we play Ashland, my Alma mater, I really really want to beat them. It's an intense emotion, and nothing is more satisfying as beating them. (I didn't expect to feel this way when we moved here, but I do.)

Back to last night's game... since it was so intense, Miss Kat did not get to play, and I'm glad. I don't think I could have handled the pressure, because I was having trouble anyway. It would only have been worse if she had been playing, because then I'd have wanted her to shine and to kick some Bluejay butt at the same time.

The girls finally won, 45 to 37, but they had to fight for every basket and they had to fight to win. It was a really good game and I'm really glad the girls kicked butt!

Congratulations Lady Deuces--Undefeated Champions of the Southern Plains Iroquois League!

The 1918 flu

I was just looking at a book we have about the 1918 flu epidemic. Now, let me immediately remind everyone that I personally, was not alive in 1918. And, yet I personally knew people who were alive and who's lives were affected by the flu. They were old by the time I knew them, but I heard their stories and think that a few of them need to be remembered.

I'm to young to know about the fear that epidemics brought to parents in the past, but I know my parents and others of their generation talk about polio scares which was "their" epidemic. Those of us born after 1950 or so, have never experienced that kind of fear.

I've said before that I like to walk through cemeteries and look at the tombstones. You can track epidemics there by clusters of death dates. In local cemeteries, you see young adults--from 18-25 years of age dying in the years of 1918 through 1921 or so. Many of those folks died of the flu.

My Woodruff Grandparents were born in 1900 and 1906. The flu epidemic was very real to them--as were other epidemics. But this one struck the healthy and killed quickly. I remember Grandad telling how the school in Fowler closed one winter, and maybe two winters to keep kids from getting the flu. He graduated from High School a year "late" because of the school closing.

And, there were Jim and Grace G. I remember Jim and Grace only as little old people, but... they had each been married before. Jim's wife died of the flu, and Grace's husband died of the flu. Each had children to care for, and married each other shortly after the death of their spouses. They had a child or two together, and lived a long life together. And yet, how different their lives might have been if their first spouses had survived.

I also remember we kids talking about Walt? McKinney--who died of the flu. (Mom, was he George's son or brother, or am I mixed up?) But, I remember we kids talking about him dying, and how devastated his parents were. Even if this memory of mine isn't accurate; it does demonstrate that the flu epidemic of 1918 was something that impressed we kids who grew up in Big E.

I remember people talking about friends and family who died of the flu. I remember them talking about it and just shaking their heads as they remembered. To me, it was always a puzzle. What was it about the flu that made this generation have conversations like:

"What ever happened to his son "JOE'?

"Oh, he died of the flu back in '19."

"Oh."

And then, they'd both simply shake their heads in a mutual ritual of remembrance for something that needed no further explanation. Having never experienced that, and not really truly understanding that bond, it's something that's always fascinated me.

I hope I never do understand that bond.

Lake Charles

There's a "Lake" on the campus of DC3. I use the quotes, because in MY mind...it's a pond, not a lake. But, hey, it's name is "Lake" Charles, so there ya go.

these two guys--above live at the lake. There are several geese that winter over, but this guy/gal stayed all summer long too. The white fellow is a duck, not a goose. He and his mate also live at the lake. Unfortunately, his lady love died about a month ago. Since then, this duck and this goose have been hanging out together. The duck is not nearly as shy as the goose, as the duck will walk right up to people hoping for a handout.

This view is of the "lake" from my building. Not a bad view...not bad at all! And, this shot was taken mid September--a time when the grass is normally more brown and dry looking. But, with all the rain we've had this summer, it's still nice and green.

It was a crystal clear day the day I took pictures of the lake. No wind--which is rare in itself in Dodge City...the city that is windier than Chicago. (Look it up if you don't believe me.)

This tree I love...it's a big old Cottonwood that grows right on the edge of the Lake. No bench under it, but it's still a nice spot to stop and watch the geese or ducks or even just enjoy the water.

It might not be a true lake, but it's pretty cool!

seriously?

Yep, it's been THAT kind of day. Three toilets...3 of them left "un"flushed.

Just drives me absolutely

INSANE.

That is all...

Prayers please--UPDATE

My BIL, Steve has been missing since Monday morning. He left at 5 a.m. to serve as a guide for a hunter. The pickup with all the gear was found yesterday? Late Monday? I'm not sure of the details (Kev talked to my MIL, not me, and you know guys and information...)

Anyway, It's now Wednesday. He's still missing. Search & Rescue have been called in. Steve's pretty Mountain savvy, and finding the pickup with ALL the gear is worrisome...

So, if you are so inclined, please, say a prayer that Steve is found.

(And, remember, this Steve is my BIL, not my brother, who is also named Steve.)

UPDATE...UPDATE...UPDATE

The lost have been found, safe, whole and tired, but healthy. Basically, the hunter Steve was guiding...well...he wasn't one to listen to his guide. His guide, Steve, stayed with the common senseless hunter and well, that's why they were lost. But, they walked out yesterday afternoon. Safe.

Thank you all for the prayers. It was pretty scary for the entire family. I'm sure that today, Steve is being lectured by his wife on how to keep himself out of trouble!

just so you don't forget me...

1) Right now I want: My backache to go away. It will, in about 5 days. (The headache will go away in about 5 years, when she turns 18.)

2) I wish I knew how to: Walk gracefully and elegantly, never tripping over my own two feet.

3) When I want to indulge myself, I: Take a book into the bathroom, fill the tub with bubbles and hot water, and turn on the jacuzzi, and stay in the tub for as long as I can.

4) You’ll never see me: in a bikini.

5) A childhood memory that I love: Driving to Grandma and Grandads--standing up in the backseat watching the water splash as we crossed the creeks that run across "Old Highway 160". As the car splashed water up, Steve and I would cheer.

6) 2 things I do every single day: Check my email, and take a bath...except yesterday, it was lightening-ing, and I didn't want to get electrocuted.

7) Happiest moment of 2009, so far: Andy's graduation. My chest hurt because I was so proud. And my eyes hurt because I did so much crying.

8) Describe yourself in 3 words: ogre, klutzy, dingy

9)What's your favorite type of Frog: Any frog that doesn't live at my house, or didn't hatch at my house, or doesn't come anywhere near me.

10) You have $40 that you MUST spend on yourself – what do you do with it? Bath stuff? Something for the kitchen? Maybe buy an antique? A book? Embroidery stuff? New shoes? Don't try to pin me down on just one thing!

Rant on...

Can someone explain how a CEO, or President of an institution can justify a nice raise for himself, but tell his entire staff of over 150 people, that they wouldnt be getting a raise.

Someone?

Anyone?

Cause sorry, I don't think that any CEO, or President of an institution is the only one there who deserves a raise at the expense of 150 other people.

And, I will say, that if I were a CEO, or President of an institution and my staff wasn't getting a raise; I wouldn't be getting one either.

Yeah, it just pisses me off.

Rant off...

lightening bugs

It was a beautiful evening last night.

I sat outside at sunset, enjoying the calm and watching the thousands of twinkling lights all across our yard, and the pasture. No one put up Christmas lights, but there were lots of twinkles and flashes of light anyway--from the lightening bugs.

Last night was the perfect night for them to be out. It was warm, and calm. No wind to speak of. And they were out in full force. It was very relaxing to just sit out by the pond, listening to the waterfall, and watching the light show.

The chickens were in bed, the kittens were frolicking in the drive and the lightening bugs were putting on their show. I could see twinkles of light for over a quarter of a mile. I think that next time, I just might take out the camera and try to get a picture. But, then again, I might not. It was simply too relaxing sitting by the pond and enjoying the evening.

Do you go to the cemetary on Memorial Day?

I belong to a discussion board which is frequented by 3000 or so women. Today, I read a post where one member was asking what everyone was doing this past holiday weekend. She had several responses, but not one person said they had actually gone to a cemetery.

I was floored. Going to the cemetery is just what you do on Memorial Weekend. Now, when we lived in Colby, granted, we didn't go to the cemetery there, because we didn't have any friends or family members buried there. But, whenever I've been at my folks' for the holiday, I've gone to at least one of the cemeteries where family have been buried.

When I was younger, I went with Grandma and Grandpa. We'd drive down to Gate, Oklahoma to the cemetery. That's where Grandpa's family is buried. We'd usually run into most of Grandpa's brothers and sisters and have an informal family reunion right there. We never went to where Grandma's parents were buried because they were buried about 100 miles from us, in Lyons.

I kinda enjoy going to the cemetery. I like looking at the old headstones. I walk through areas full of old pioneer names. I count how many stones belong to children. I look to see who died in 1919-1921 and wonder if they died of the Spanish Flu. I see women buried between two men. I see men, who died young, and have a stone for their wives, but no wife was buried there because she remarried and is buried somewhere else.

I like the older stones. The variety of shapes and styles. The tree trunks, the lambs, the angels. I like the new stones that have been personalized. I really liked one in Gate that was probably 5 feet long and for an old Cowboy. He evidently wasn't married because the only name on that stone is his--and it's centered, no room for a woman's name. But, he had a ranch scene etched into his stone. Then, there was a deer hunters stone. He had deer, trees, and a guy in a tree stand etched onto his stone.

Cemeteries are interesting and fascinating. Several years ago, my MIL took me to Ravenna, Ohio to visit the cemetery where my Great Great Grandfather was buried. (He had buried two wives, one in Dayton, Ohio, a second wife was buried in Kansas. He was buried in Kansas, but his third wife had his body moved to Ohio, to be reburied with her.) Near his grave was that of a small child. If I remember correctly, that child had died around the age of five. Someone had recently left a memorial on that grave of a stuffed animal. My kids were mesmerized by that stuffed animal, which had been left for a child who had been dead for 100 years. I was moved by the thought that someone still cared enough to remember that child, and my mind turned to how fragile children's lives were 100 short years ago.

In my mind, Memorial Day is a time to visit the cemetery, to remember not only those who've given their lives for our country, but those who gave their lives giving US life.

Do yourself a favor, next year, go to the cemetery. Walk around, look at the interesting stones, look at the names of people, and the dates they lived. Note how old they were when they died. Take time to look and wonder, and give those folks a moment of your time.

Two checks

Last night, I wrote out two checks.

One was the final payment of our Camper.

The other was the final payment on our Diesel pickup.

I can't express how happy I am to have those two payments GONE. It's a big step towards reaching a goal I have. My goal is to get everything paid off. By paying these two off, we now only have payments on the tractor and the car. The car will be paid off in less than a year. The tractor has 2 years left. If I can manage it, I'll pay both off early too.

But, well...I also have another motive for paying these off now.

See, I can drop the insurance coverage on both. The pickup can now go from full coverage to liability only. And the camper will have a lower premium as well. And I need that break because...

well because....

We decided to buy Andy a new car for graduation.

And, yes, it's a secret. So if anyone tells him...you'll have to deal with Kev. Andy doesn't suspect at all, because his father has said for years and years and years, "I had to buy my first car, so don't expect me to buy you a car." And, when Kev first suggested it to me (yes, it was his idea,) I couldn't believe those words were coming out of his mouth! But after thinking about it for a couple of months, and after driving the Ranger recently, we decided we really needed to do this.

The Ranger has 250,000 miles on it and it's starting to show its age. In addition, Andy will need something more dependable to drive to and from school. And, good lord, a lumber wagon is smoother than that Ranger is anymore! The Ranger needs to retire.

We found a nice car, newer than the one we drive. The price is right. We can get some money on trading in the Ranger, so we decided to do this. Then I checked into insurance. And almost had a heart attack! Car insurance for teenage boys is frighteningly high. Ridiculously high. Insanely high.

So, Kev and I decided we needed to see what we could do to save a little money. And when I was paying bills on Monday night, I realized that I only had 6 coupons left on the pickup. So, I called to see what the balance was. It was so low, that I could afford to pay it off...early! And, I knew that the camper was also almost paid off. Called for the balance on it, and paid it off too!

Now, I can not only put some cash into savings every month, but we can also afford to buy our son a new car! And, we'll save some money on insurance too.

I can't wait until graduation morning, because he's going to be stunned. Shocked. Thrilled. And...family...those of you who will be joining us that day...you'll get to see his excitement with us!

So just remember...keep your mouths shut for two more weeks!

(And, yes, this is safe...Andy never reads my blog...)

Our .5 child

They say that the average American family has 2.5 children. We must be average, because we have a .5 child. We just lost her for a few years.

In 2001, when we bought our place north of Colby, we boarded a horse for a college student, Andi. (Yes, it was confusing, we have our Andy and our new Andi. But, it's easier to remember names that way.) Andi was from Oceanside, California. A world away from Colby, Kansas. But, she was coming to school in Colby and she brought her beloved 21-year-old Arabian horse, Prince.

We had just bought the house and had these corrals and nothing to put in them. Boarding Prince for Andi was a perfect match for both of us. She was an excellent "renter". She took care of Prince, kept his pen clean. And, we quickly got to know her and adopted her into our family.

Prince was a big baby. Andi had had him 5 years or so by this point. When she bought him, he was still a stud, and had been used for breeding. But, Andi wanted to ride him, and not worry about him acting like a stud. So, she had him neutered. Six years later, I'm not sure Prince really knew that he wasn't a stud anymore, because he still reacted to the girls. Anyway, he was really well behaved except he hated being alone. He could not tolerate being alone and would panic. For a couple of weeks, Andi borrowed a horse from another student. Then we had my Dad bring up Mac, one of his lame and retired horses to keep Prince company. They got along wonderfully, and we had Mac and Prince...and Andi for 2 years.

Besides not being able to be alone, Prince also had a special diet. Andi mixed Sr. Feed with Rice Bran and Oats with warm water twice a day. When the weather was cold, Prince got to wear a blanket. In the summer, he got vinegar in his water to keep the flies from biting so bad. And he got showers with Panteen shampoo.

He was spoiled. He was Andi's baby. And, we all grew to love him--Andi too. After her first school year, she moved into a room in our basement and rented it from us. I liked having her around. She came and went, but also interacted with our family. The kids adored her, and she them. We began calling her our ".5" child.

Andi graduated and left our family after 2 years. We greatly missed her. But, we kept in touch by letters. Andi is extremely dyslexic, and reading and writing are very difficult for her, but she wrote letters. You just had to make sure you read them phonetically rather than by how words were spelled. We kept in touch as she moved to horse ranches in Texas and Kentucky and England and Wisconsin and Germany.

And then we lost her. One of her return addresses was rather difficult to decipher, and we lost her.

So a couple of weeks ago, as Andy started sending out his graduation announcements, I contacted a friend at Colby. She was able to get a current address for Andi's parents (who had moved from California to Oregon.) We sent the announcement there.

And yesterday, I get a phone call from Andi! We found her! She found us! And, she's wanting to come see us for Andy's graduation. Timing...the timing really worked out for us. Andi is back in the states, and is going back to school. She had to get an official transcript, so contacted the school in Colby. Prior to this spring, the school still had the Oceanside address. So, if Andi hadn't have come back to the states, and contacted the school, we wouldn't have found her. And, since we moved a year and a half ago, the Colby Post Office probably wouldn't have forwarded our mail, so she might not have been able to find us!

We found each other. We found each other, and we're going to see each other again. This time...this time, I'm going to do better at keeping her found. It's not that easy getting a .5 child, so I'd better keep her.