Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Better late than never! Like most we were short on cash for the holiday. I am NOT creative, at least when it comes to putting a vision into reality. So we were going to pretty much ignore the holiday, just putting up a few lights and spending the holiday with family. Instead we were given (through an online thing) a gift card. The gift card let us give gifts to the family we spent Christmas with and give cards. It was nice to do something for them. We did not get gifts for each other. Well nothing under the tree. Paul did a bunch of stuff with the truck for me. He and Ron put new wipers on, replaced my light switch, put a trailer brake controller in it, steps (yeah I'm short!) and put the stereo in from the blue truck. Pretty nice! Paul got a harmonica and some time to himself, a much coveted thing. It was exactly what we needed. The family did much the same thing that we did, keeping it simple. I spent Christmas eve with Ron and Lisa at the barn and at work with Paul watching movies. Christmas day found us at Mick and Julies. We played games, visited and worked on a murder mystery puzzle. It was one of those rare picture perfect days. This morning the peace of Christmas continued. We went crabbing with the guys in the bay. More visiting and camaraderie. We ended up with 18 rather large crab. Th day was finished with a Christmas dinner with Ron, Lisa and Teresa. I love this peace that has fallen over our little part of the world. I really hope it continues and wish that each of you have the same peace in your part of the world as we do.

seven Pounds (WARNING SPOILER ATTACHED!)

My husband works at the movie theater. Because of that on occasion I get to sit in on a preview of amovie before they actually open. This is rare and a special treat. Last week was one of those times. I watched seven pounds. I am not sure what I was expecting but what I saw did not match . The basic flow was alright, eventually coming together. It held my interest and I didn't fall asleep (We started it at 11:3opm). The acting was pretty good. So what was the problem? It was the topic of the movie that did me in. It was all about making amends by suicide and thus donating organs to save 7 other people. A heart, eyes, kidney, parts of his liver were donated. As you know my mom was a transplant patient, receiving a kidney and a liver. You may also know that Paul's dad committed suicide as well as my godfather. Both subjects are a bit touchy for me. The movie left me with afeeling of being rather lost, lonely and thinking about those two people and their families who gave their organs to mom and our family. I would like to thank them, but I don't know who they are. So its a silent thank you to them. Anyway, I am done rambling.

Truck

Alright, an update on the crash. For those that don't know we ended up with 94 Dodge Ram 1500 with a canopy. It is an automatic (I am pretty lazy when it comes to driving and don't want to drive a stick), has a 360 V8 (not a clue, but LOTS of POWER!). Overall its a nice truck. A few scrapes and scars but they give it character. It gets really bad gas mileage (12 mpg roughly). With the big engine that makes since. So you may be asking why we would buy this. Well it does everything we need. Its a 4x4 so snow trips wont be a problem and neither will mountain drives. Camping will be a breeze, dogs can be taken to the beach without a mess and whatever we need to haul wont be a problem. also it can tow a horse if needed to do so. Yesterday I got a chance to use her for hauling things. We needed beet pulp and discovered that there is currently a shortage in our area. Not sure why. So we were off to coquille for it. We ended up with 12 bags (600lbs). Then it was off to farrs where we picked up 3 bags of pellets (150 lbs) for the stalls. All of which was put in the back of the truck and i didn't even notice that 750 lbs was in the truck. The cost off all this peace of mind? $3600. Not bad Not bad at all.

Little Truck Heading to truck heaven ) :

I was in an accident last night that totaled it (99.9% sure, thought the insurance companies have yet to assess it. I am okay other than a big bruise from the seatbelt, a strained neck muscle and a very sore wrist. They took me to the hospital by ambulance to check me out. NOT fun! I was coming around the corner by the millington cemetary in the left lane and a car pulled out of frontage road as I was coming down the hill. He made it across the right lane and stalled in the left with a little less than half his car in my lane. I hit the brake and swerved a little (the wheels locked, no ABS) and ended up hitting the front driver side of the car. I spun and realized I had no steering, quickly followed by no brakes. I headed for the guard rail and bounced off. The other driver is fine. Though I took a few good chunks off his car. Oh and on top of that the jeep (Paul came after it happened) tire was slashed by a metal sign that a previous accident had knocked over. So we had to get 4 new tires (because of the sensors and things) AHHHHHHH!
There are a multitude of things bad about this. One of the worst for me is that this little truck has been with us for some really hard times (dad dying,Puls dad dying,..) as well as really good times. The rain storm in which Paul, Uncle Mike and I had to rescue the lawn tractor from a flood. Many long drives to Portland in which Mom and I actually talked and really bonded. Camping trips to diamond lake and trips to the lake in the snow. Fishing trips with Paul where we talked and had quality time. More recently there was a trip to Sally where I had the privelege of spendoing the day and riding with my causin. Also more recent, nearly daily trips to the barn where I not only get to enjoy the horses, but have gained another family. Taking the girls to the beach for runs. The list goes on. I have sold rigs before, but have never lost them like this. It is a surreal experience. Now we worry about how we will afford another vehicle that we have to have. We are both going different directions at different times, at least 5 days a week. I keep telling my self that it will work out.

Musings and birthdays

Well another year has gone. Why does life drag when your young and seem to speed by at lightening speed when your older? It seems like yesterday that I was 23. Tomorrow I will be 33. Ten years just like that. At 23 I had my life figured out (at least a really good pictured of it). By 33 I was going to have a child, a good job, a big house and be reasonably comfortable. What goals have I achieved from that list? Well, I have a house (small but comfortable), comfortable enough to afford a few extras now an then, but not enough to really relax and not worry about money. The child, well thats a long story. When I was young (21,22) I found out that I was unable to have kids. At that age we were devastated. We adjusted and go back and forth with adoption. The final decision has yet to be made. If we do adopt, it will be older kids. That may or many not happen. The job, well I am working on that. If I ever get out of colleges I will be able to get it, hopefully something that I really like. That job will also allow me to take the pressure off my wonderfully supportive husband. I have no idea what the next 10 years will bring. I hope that they fill in the missing parts that I wanted at 23 as well as those that 33 wishes for. The underlying lesson I have learned is that change is good. Both good and bad. Celebrate the good when it comes and don't dwell on the bad. Here's looking at the next ten years!

Life lessons at the barn

I am really new to this. In fact this is my first official blog. Not really sure how much I will use it, but it looks like fun. I will start by writing about the day at the barn. It started with putting medicine in one of their eyes. She got an ulcer on one of her eyes. Apparently horses get them quite often, from bumping there eyes on who knows what. They can lose their eyes from the darn things. Anyway I digress, so put the medicine in her eye, followed by putting her in the field. Then we moved on to putting the rest of the heard out. Spirit, and Little Chief in the field with Beauty and Dreams and Spumoni out to eat grass. This was followed by cleaning stalls (5) and refilling water. the best part of the day was standing in the middle of the field watching all the horse interactions around us. You can learn a LOT about behavior and interactions by watching. I could of spent all day in there, listening and watching them. But alas responsibility called. We moved on to preparing the beet pulp with the vitamins, wormer and salt. This is where our routine became a bit more interesting. As you read Dreams and Spumoni were out eating grass. Well, we learned a really good lesson, put spumoni in her stall before putting hay out. She freaked out, (she is a bit of a bully) pushing dreams (and the human trying to feed) out of her way to get the hay. It was bad for a few intense seconds. Horses jockeying for position and human getting the heck out of the way. Disaster avoided. feeding continues. Then it was time move the boys and beauty out of the field for the night. I get Spirit and then stand at the gate watching as my friend gets beauty to her stall. I then make a critical decision, not to close the gate as beauty is secure, going into her stall. I get spirit into his stall and am taking his halter off when I hear I hear the thunder of hooves heading my way at a gallop followed by a scream of "beauty is loose! Jess!" I look at spirit and tell him to be good just as beauty slided to a stop in front of the stall we are in. The gate isn't latched, I have my foot on the bottom rung and am praying that spirit will be good and not try to bolt out. Luckily he decided that hay was better and he stood behind me with a rather impatient look at beauty, obviously wanting to eat but trying to be good. Beauty in the mean time, is standing on the other side tossing her head clearly unhappy with the whole deal. She was cooperative with being captured and taken to her stall. Moral of the story: LATCH the gate to the field EVERY time there is a loose horse in it! No harm done to humans or horses. Turns out that beauty was cold and not feeling well ( the eye ulcer is VERY painful). We put her sheet on and she was fine, her attitude gone. Horses are a lot like kids, if they are uncomfortable or not feeling good everyone knows about it.

I'm here, I think

Okay, I finally got on here after creating an account then losing it, who knows how. But I am here now so I can comment on your wonderful blogs. I will write more later, when I am more awake.