SADDLE UP

We have four horses

and Mr. Gorgeous LOVES his horses
I am still in the 101 stages of learning about horses

I love them too

but they are big

and strong

and can hurt you

and run fast

and have a mind of their own sometimes

and can hurt you

 

For example

(don't worry, I am not hurt)

A couple of weeks ago we went with some friends on a Trail Ride 

only about a 3 hour ride, no big deal really

BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY

This was not my first rodeo folks

(ok....only my second)

I thought I'd be able to handle myself pretty good   

and my friend the whole while kept telling me

that she wasn't a good horse rider

pfssst.....well, she was freaking Calamity Jane compared to me

and her husband

well

you could call him Roy Rogers

or the Horse Whisperer

From left to right

Mr. Gorgeous

me....the horse whimp

Calamity Jane

Roy Rogers

I was impressed however by me and my friends horse STYLE

I had a blue helmet and blue blouse

and she was all in pink

good to know

that if the EMT's have to attend to you

you look color co-ordinated   

The ride started off just fine and I was feeling

confident----ish

But the trouble all started for me

when we had this big hill to go down

Well..........DANG

 the rest of my group handled it just fine

and mozeeed (new word..or spelling anyway)    on down

Well my heart started beating hard

and I was getting all panicy

I kept trying to tell my horse
 

OK...STEP HERE
NO...NOT THERE FREAKAZOID

I SAID STEP HERE
ok....FINE
step wherever you want

just do not kill me going down this hill   

(sometimes horses have a mind of their own..so I found out)    

 ....lo though I ride through the valley of death, 

I shall fear no horse.....

OK...so I survived (thanks to my little prayer) feeling a little less then horse savy

and then came our first ...FIRST I TELL YOU

river crossing

    (me and Roy Rogers)

Crossing the river was not really the big deal here

it was the going DOWN the bank

and then coming back UP the bank

By then I could feel a bit of an anxiety attack coming on

and my horse felt my anxiety

and decided to JOIN IN on the whole anxiety ride

so he was having his own little rodeo

I AM GETTING OFF RIGHT NOW!!!...I said to my husband

So he got off his horse too

and walked with me for a bit

so that Black Stallion on Steroids

and I could calm down

whew

(did I mention horses can hurt you)    

We told our friends to go on ahead of us and we would catch up

then after a bit

they came and told us there was another river crossing up ahead

so

It was either wade across the river and get soaked

or mount up

I mounted up

and had a little chat with my horse about glue factories

     

 WE HAD SIX

SIX I TELL YOU

river crossings to do

but I think I put the fear of glue into my horse

and he was much better the rest of the ride

I was really kinda angry with myself

that I had lost my Annie Oakley MoJo

The end of the ride was here

at EM-TE town

such a cool place

   

Hubby...aka Festus
going to check out the joint

probably a good place for him 

 

me and The Horse Whisperer
FINALLY getting a chance to relax and CHILL

 

We all had a GREAT steak dinner here

 

going to check out the double decker out houses

yup...I'll stick to the UPPER level thank you

maybe I need to give up my horse riding
and become ONE with MISS KITTY

But
that all being said
IT WAS A GREAT DAY
I'M ALIVE
great friends
beautiful nature
a sense of accomplishment

Yup
I'll do it again


and to end this story

 love ya cowboy

WAITIN' ON A WOMAN

Yes I know it has been awhile since I did a post

Not much to report

other then the same ol' same ol'

And THIS might be my shortest post Ever

(for me)

Waitin' on a Woman

That woman being ME

You see 

I have this adorable husband

who I lovingly call "Mr Gorgeous"

Many of you know our story

and some of you do not

But I AM NOT going to relate that here

Suffice it to say

he was my sweetheart when I was still in high school

and he was 4 years older

Forty years later

and a lot of living in between

we are back together

When He gets an idea in his head

he wants to do it NOW
especially when It is when he wants to go somewhere

"Hey....I need to go (hither and yon) and do

(such and what)

and if you want to come

I AM READY TO GO NOW"

WHAT !!!!!!!!!

Like ...Really I say  

NOW    

 He says.... as he puts on his coat

I'll wait for you in the truck

ok

BUT FIRST

I need to

change my cloths

put on a bra 

throw on some makeup

and because I do have some OCD issues

 First

I have to check the burners on the stove

SEVERAL times

make sure all the windows are closed 

and heaven forbid

I need to pick up a bit

cause if a burglar comes

I WANT MY HOUSE TO BE NEAT

so as not to be thought of as a slob

important

So...

MUCH LATER

while this Mr. Gorgeous of mine

is waiting, waiting, waiting in the truck

cause he is READY TO GO

I am afraid

He'll always be

waitin' on a woman

    

(disclaimer...I NEVER EVER look that glamorous) 

TIME AFTER TIME

(yes I know, all my titles seem to be SONG oriented)

I LOVE MUSIC

This may seem a little incohesive...

but after a conversation with my mom

I thought of this post

for those of you who have been reading my posts

you know my parents are not doing well

health wise

it is sad

up days....down days

but on one of the DOWN DAY conversations with my mom

she was feeling

What is the Sense of it all

for what purpose did I work all my life

YOUR DAD worked since he was 8 years old (yes)

and what do we have to show for it

to take with us

Understand, my parents have GREAT FAITH

and they KNOW

it's not about WHAT we take with us

cause as far as "material things"

that would be nothing

not so much What we take with us

but what did we leave behind

 so

mom and I talked about that

   (photo from 50th wedding anniversary)

 (photo from 2004)

(recently)

I won't go into the trials and struggles

of their situation now

WE ALL HAVE THEM...OR WILL HAVE THEM

but its about

TIME AFTER TIME

Recently I received a photo from my son's wife

of their little 4 year old

who has just started T-ball

   the quality isn't that great

but it sure took me back in TIME

when all 4 of my sons played baseball

sports of all kinds

and yet

here it is again , repeating itself

a continuance of What WAS

a reminder

that life will go on and on and on

and it is important to dwell on the values, roots, foundations

of life

YES MOM

what you left behind was

a solid truth of what is

what will always be

and what once was

Children who do not know their past will never understand 

their future

(Christopher Columbus)        

It is a continuance

 

this is a photo of me and my grandparents

who I ADORE

and they too

took NOTHING with them

but what they left behind

was invaluable

the lessons, the love, the legacy

Remember the history of our people

Everytime someone forgets, someone else disappears

(Alice Hoffman, author) 

so here I am

looking at myself, my life, my example

 with my 5 children...one who left us TO SOON

What will I ultimately leave behind FOR THEM

(photo about 10 years old) 

Will they forgive my faults, shortcomings, failures

and instead

seek out the GOOD I tried to instill in them

the truths

(ha ha, I always told my kids, don't listen to what I said, listen to what I meant)  

by the same token

sadly

Don't always follow my footsteps

just Follow the truths I TOLD YOU ABOUT

Ok

I told you this would perhaps be a little

discombobulated

but stuff rolling around in my head here

What we LEAVE BEHIND

is of greatest value

My parents LOVED me despite the possible

many ways I disappointed them 

they had to Re-Adjust THEIR dreams for me

to the dreams I had interpreted for myself

and accept that

and love me still

Same for my children

and grandchildren

OH HOW I WANT THEM TO REACH THE STARS

take over the galaxy

yet....they will course their own way

but the TRUTHS and VALUES

will have been cemented in them....

(no matter how they may try and fight that)

I am thankful for children who love me

and Parents who have led me and guided me

and GRANDPARENTS who before all that

layed out the same "lifes map"

thankful for a husband who loves me

despite my whinning and  boob-a-loobing 

 BECAUSE

in the end

it's what we leave behind

SHINE LIKE A DOMAN 

(which as been changed from Rhianna's song, Shine like a Diamond)

Doman, being the last name of my sons 

and maiden name of my daughter   

SHINE SHINE SHINE

and walk proud, confident, and assured

that what is now

was laid before you

Generations, and Generations ago

 

   

CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES, COME ON

I just finished reading this really Cute, Lovable book

 

 

Seriously, darling

 

Anyway..............it gave me my inspiration for this post

hang with me here

 

To put it in a nutshell

it is about a very old lady, quite eccentric, but a LOVER OF LIFE

and PEOPLE

She'd say the craziest things and affected so many people

 

In part of the story she is talking about her LOVE OF THOMAS EDISON

 

 

a friend of hers (story character Elna) tells this story:

 

She loved electricity and appreciated it more than anyone he had ever met before.

She wanted to meet Thomas Edison. She wanted to shake his hand and had a picture of him in her house.

She was upset that there was not a national holiday for Thomas Edison.

Why He lit the entire world!!  (she said) Just think, without old Tom Edison we would all still be sitting in the dark, no lights, no radio, no electric garage door openers. I think, after the Lord, of course, I'd rank him number two, that's how highly I think of old Tom.

She said...that even though they did not have a national holiday, she personally celebrated his birthday every year by turning on all her electrical appliances at once and leaving them on all day.

 

SO THAT GOT ME THINKING

 

If you could pick someone you wanted a holiday, celebration

named after

who would YOU pick

 

There are lots of holidays out there

Presidents Day

Columbus Day

Valentines Day (yeah he was a person, not just cupid)

St. Patricks Day

 

For Canada I did some research but didn't find much

other then Victoria Day

a day actually named after a person

I figured, surely there must have been some trapper

or pioneer, Eskimo

who was worthy of a holiday

 

Other then these two

 

 

Bob and Doug McKenzie

I like these guys

 

So I had to start thinking who's out there 

that is worthy of a day

named after Them

surely worth celebrating

 

So

since I am now a country girl

And live around fields and fields of crops

how about JOHN DEERE

 

 

I don't think there's a farmer out there who wouldn't agree

He was the founder of Deere & Company

Wow, just think of all the equipment with his name on it

out there

 

John Deere (Feb 7, 1804 - May 17, 1886)

He invented this stuff a long time ago

He started out as a blacksmith in Rutland Vermont

and one day

had this HUGE BRAINSTORM

hey, There has to be an easier way to do things

in these parts

 

We even wear his hats and t-shirts

 

Surely he deserves a celebrated day on his behalf

Then in the spirit of Elna like in the book

We could all have a parade

and drive our John Deere Equipment down the roads

and high five everyone

 

Or , again, since living in Canada

where would we be without SKATES

 

The oldest pair of skates known date back to about 3000 B.C., found at the bottom of a lake in Switzerland. The skates were made from the leg bones of large animals, holes were bored at each end of the bone and leather straps were used to tie the skates on. An old Dutch word for skate is "schenkel" which means "leg bone".

Around the 14th Century, the Dutch started using wooden platform skates with flat iron bottom runners. The skates were attached to the skater's shoes with leather straps. Poles were used to propel the skater. Around 1500, the Dutch added a narrow metal double edged blade, making the poles a thing of the past, as the skater could now push and glide with his feet (called the "Dutch Roll").

 

Now where would any good Canadian be

without their skates

HOCKEY ?????

I tell ya, they take their hockey Seriously around here

like scary seriously

 

and just think

Without skates, there would be no guys

in tight pants and sequined shirts

during the Olympic figure skating events

 

So

all that being said

this is a serious situation folks

we need more reasons to Celebrate

and have days off work at the very least

 

WHO WOULD YOU NOMINATE

for a day a year

tell me

 

Celebrate the happiness that friends are always giving

make every day a holiday and celebrate

just living

(anonymous)

 

And.....since I just lost 10 lbs

I think that calls for a PIZZA

wow

maybe we need a holiday for the Pizza dude