Do you ever see someone that catches your eye for one reason or another and think to yourself:  "That's what I think my Xangan friend (whomever) looks like!?"  I do that all the time & wonder if it's intuition & whether that really is who I imagine it to be.  I should just start approaching those folks & ask them. 

Mon Apr 13th

Just realized it was the 13th of March when I last posted.  Maybe I have a theme here - the 13th of every month.  Not at all superstitious about anything.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter.  I cooked for the gang & over-ate.  I'm paranoid about eating much of anything when I'm dieting, but sometimes you just have to let go and enjoy a holiday with the family.  The weather was pretty chilly - in the 40's, but we did the egghunt outside & all got prizes, etc.  Altogether a great time!

As I said, I'm totally engrossed in the diet thing & am happy to report that my weight is down 30 lbs since I began the January diet!!  I feel so much better.  Clothes are fitting again - even a size or two down - and the best part is that my back is feeling better not having to lug the fat around.  My feet feel better (I have achilles tendonitis) without that extra poundage & my double chin is gone!  I feel good da da da da da da da.....(as in James Brown)..

All our horses & other farm critters are doing pretty good.  One horse has a bit of thrush in one hoof, but I think I have it well under control.  We lost a favorite cat to coyotes this past winter and I'm still mourning him, but am on the look for a kitten to replace him.  Not that anything could do that, but at least it's a comfort in that area.  The goats and horses are beginning to shed out & the hair is flying.  It gets in your nose and on your face & the more you try to get it off, the more it clings.  Atchoo!!  I bought a new thing called a "Furminator" that is supposed to get rid of all that undercoat with one brushing.  I'll let you know how that goes.

My mom had a knee replacement this past Wednesday.  Can you believe she insisted on going to church yesterday?!  She even forgets to take her walker with her & just starts walking across the room.  She's such an amazing woman!  So strong and determined for a 79 year old!  I want to grow up to be like her.

Well - no new news.  Just glad to be on with the warmer weather (soon).  I'm ready to plant the garden and get some flowers blooming & get some color on my bod.  I know I'll be better able to stoop over and plant that corn this year without all the blubber!

That's all, folks.

Tidbits of my life these days....

Yesterday morning as I was milling about doing chores, I noticed buds on the trees and some spring flowers emerging.  Little green tips of crocus, daffodils and tulips are braving the cold to peek up through the mulch.  Hey, little ones!  Be careful - it's still dipping below that freezing mark at night.  The electric buckets are still plugged in & the heaters in the stock tanks are still doing their job of keeping ice from forming on top of the water.  But there is hope.  These little signs of spring are so beautiful.  It's my favorite time of year. 

Easter isn't far away - also my favorite holiday!  HOPE is so uplifting and life-giving and so needed in my little corner of the world.  Winter blahs always take a toll on me.  Depression rears its ugly head and the cold, gray days seem to drag on and on.  But - off with you, you dreary days.  It's time to get happy again.

I said I'd tell you about my weight battles.  I've once again begun Weight Watchers.  It's working.  I'm down 22 lbs. since the beginning of January!  Yay!  I need to get rid of about 20 more & I will.  With the warmer weather comes the notion that I'll be walking again and even getting back on the golf course.  I'm ready to ride these horses, even though that's not great exercise.  The poor beasts are the ones getting a workout, but hey - they need it too.  They've been standing around trying to keep warm all winter & I'm here to help them do their workouts.  Getting back to the WW meetings, I'm someone who needs that group support.  We're all in the same boat and are in those meetings for the same reason.  It's great to share ideas and recipes and get that round of applause when have a couple of pounds of weight loss to report!  Corny?  Yeah, but it works for me.  I'm also feeding hubby the healthy stuff.  He's lost more than me, but I don't care.  He needs it too & it's so wonderful to have a partner who shares everything with me - even our popcorn (instead of the fat appetizers we used to indulge in) at "happy hour" - our favorite time of day!

Speaking of the better half, he's in Florida on a golf vacation with "the boys"!  I'm happy for him.  He deserves the break and is enjoying it immensely.  He works hard all year long and takes care of me beautifully.  I'd love to have gone along, but again - it's a "man trip".  Besides, anyone who has a farm can tell you that you don't get to both leave to go anywhere at the same time.  Someone has to stay behind to feed & care for all the critters.  I feel like my whole life is a vacation.  I'm truly blessed.  And soon I'll be able to bask in the sun on the deck while he's at the office!

I want to tell you about my little "mission".  There is a place near us that is called a "Personal Care Home".   It is a very poor place as far as conditions are concerned.  It's privately owned - not state funded - and the residents are all ages, the youngest being early 20's and the oldest in their 80's.  All are underprivileged and are not healthy.  Most are mentally deficient, but some are only physically impaired.  The owner of the home takes their social security checks and gives them a small allowance from it.  The rest goes for their housing and meals.  Now for the really sad part of all this.  The building they are in is in such bad shape and not at all sufficient to house 50 plus residents.  The roof leaks and they are short on staff.  There is one shower in the building.  Yes, I said ONE.  Their rooms are small and there are no locks on any doors.  Most rooms consist of a bed and a dresser.  Some have an extra piece of furniture - a chair and coffee table or bookcase, but most have only the bed and dresser.  No room includes a restroom.  There are about four bathrooms in the building- none gender specific and none with locks on the doors.  I assume this is for their safety?  It's very hard for them to have any semblance of dignity with bathroom needs.  They all steal from each other.  They take each other's toothbrushes (yuk), soap, any and all toiletries.  They steal money from each other, clothing, electronic equipment (if they're fortunate enough to have radios or cd players).  They beg for money when they have visitors, which are very few.  The residents are mostly deposited there and forgotten.

I'm burdened beyond belief for these folks.  I pay visits to the home as often as I can - sometimes 3 or 4 days each week.  They want hugs.  They need to be touched.  They light up when I walk in.  They are so starved for attention and love having my visits - or anyone's visits!  One of the ways I serve there is to celebrate each person's birthday.  They wait for me at the door on "their day".  In the beginning, I took only a small gift of a bracelet or a book.  As time has gone on, I've learned more about their needs, which are many, and my gifts have gotten to be much more.  Each gets a new outfit now, a new pair of shoes, or a new CD player or radio.  I've begun copying CD's for them (yeah I know that may not be legal, but I'm not selling them!).  Music is so important to me and so I want others to have that same commodity.  I'm finding that many Goodwill stores get "cd boomboxes" in & I've gotten three of them (better than what I have here at home) for less than $20!  I read to them.  I pray with them.  I take pictures of each resident and give them copies.  I've given little photo albums to them so they can have pics of each other.  I've made a photo collage to hang in the hallway there.  They can giggle and point to themselves in the collage and laugh at each other and themselves.  I take boxes of kleenex, bars of soap, denture cleaners, body lotions. shampoo, deodorant - anything and everything!  I even take toy cars to some of the men.  I've given them flashlights and stuffed toys.  They're like children.  I've caught glances of some of the women cuddling their teddy bears while sleeping.  Remember the mental capabilities here.  Some of the men play with their cars like young boys.  They admire them and raise up the hoods an trunks of those cars and pretend just like a child.  Some had trouble trusting me at first.  Some are schitzophrenic and many are bipolar.  Some have Alzheimers & others are very crippled.  All just want human interaction.  I'm so blessed to be a part of their lives.  They are precious to me.  I can't imagine the hundreds of people in our community who drive by this "home" on a daily basis and simply turn their heads.  I know these folks are loved as much by God as I am. 

Okay, I just wanted to share that joy with you.  Those folks give me reason to celebrate every moment of every day.  I have so much and they have so little.  If you think of other things I might do for them, please give me suggestions!  (I do celebrate every holiday with cards and candy and trinkets for each of them.)

Well, I've got to get on with my day.  I promised my "peeps" at the home that I'd bring them all diet pop and chips this afternoon.  They'll be waiting for me at the door.

Have a blessed day,
"Chick"

AUGUST OF 08????

You have got to be kidding!  It's really been that long, huh?  Okay, well I suppose Xanga wouldn't lie about that last posting date. 

I'm alive and well.  Almost well.  My back is still giving me fits, but other than that I'm surviving this crappy winter.  It's been a tough one for me.  So much ice and cold wind.  The sun looks beautiful from inside the house & then you step outside to do your work & wham - it hits you and immobilizes you for a bit.  I mostly feel sorry for myself but I know it's been hard for the farm animals as well.  They grow these huge, fluffy coats of fur and look so fat and warm out there.  Mother Nature sure does a number on them to care for their needs during the winter season.  Soon I'll be currying that heavy shedding coat of horse hair off of them and laughing about the hair clinging to my face.  Bring it on!  I'm ready!

That January ice storm was something else!  I must say however that it was the most breathtakingly beautiful site I've ever seen.  Our home sits pretty much in the middle of our acreage and gives nice views from ever side.  This first one is from the end of our driveway toward the house.

And this one below is from the front door toward the end of the driveway.  The sun setting and shining up through the ice on the trees and reflecting on the snow was amazing.  The photo doesn't do it justice, but it's the best I have.

And next is a view from another side of the house.  The sun was bright on the fragile ice trees - blinding!

The horses don't mind the snow so much, but the ice was too slippery & dangerous for them to be on & so I kept them inside the barn for days on end.  No wonder my back aches.  Do you realize how much poop one horse can eliminate in one day's time??  And it's HEAVY!  But it smells good.  Honestly, it does!  That's the farmgirl in me.  By the way we have six of the critters.

This next one is of the birthday girl and her mother (my daughter).  Amy is on the left and is our third child.  Kelsey is on the right and is the newly turned 16-year old.  These two look just alike, don't ya think?

Our granddaughter turned 16 this past February.  I'm not really old enough to have teenaged grandbabies, but she went against my rules and did it anyhow.  She's driving.  Not with Grandma, but with her mother.  I went through those years where my three teens sat behind the wheel and learned while their mother shivered in her boots on the passenger seat.  Now it's my daughter's turn to enjoy the ride.  Remember how your right foot would be pressing on the pretend brake on the passenger side?  You can't explain that feeling until you've been there & done that.  I'm hearing that the new driver has only once confused the brake and accelerator.  ONLY ONCE????  You've got to be kidding me.  Thus - her mother instead of me!

It's good to be back.  I'll try to do much better about keeping up.  I tried the MySpace thing.  I don't get it.  Or am I too old to learn those new tricks?  I look forward to getting reaquainted with y'all. 

I'll tell you about my newfound weight loss tomorrow.  Good old Weight Watchers.  They never fail me when I follow the rules.

My personal Olympics!

I suppose you're all watching the Olympics.  I catch some of it here and there, otherwise I'd not get anything else done.  You gotta love Michael Phelps and the Tara "older woman" swimmer.  (Her last  name has escaped me at the moment).  And then that poor soul running through the streets for all those miles last night - oh my.  I can hardly make it to the barn & back sometimes.  As I watched her I was a little distracted by her surroundings.  The city is much prettier than I'd imagined.  The Chinese are very meticulous about cleanliness it seems.  Or perhaps they just want to make that impression for this event?  I'm sure there are millions of peasants in the rice paddies who resent the immense water usage & the extravagant expenses for this event when they are so dirt-poor & can barely manage to live.

All this said, I was going to start out by telling about my own olympic efforts yesterday.  I had picked lots of peppers and pulled onions and was going to can pepper & onion relish yesterday.  And so before I began, I went to the garden to grab a couple of jalapenos & to see if any of the sweet peppers had turned red yet.  As I exited the garden I heard all those beautiful, ripe ears of corn calling "me, me, me".  And so I turned around and started pulling corn.  I ended up with a bushel of corn & six horses waiting on the other side of the fence for the husks.  (Who said those beasts aren't smart?)  It was so nice outside that I dragged a chair under a shade tree and began the task of shucking.  Then I noticed that hubby had decided to mow the yard.  I raced to finish the corn before he reached my space & then raced to throw the husks over the fence into little piles because by this time the equine were getting pissy and biting and kicking each other in anticipation.  After dividing those up I raced to clean up my chair area and throw the little corn ends to the chickens, who were also surrounding me, awaiting their portion of the spoils.  All this was only the beginning of my big race!

To make a long story even longer, I did get all the canning done & the corn is now in quart bags in the freezer.  What a day.  I hit the sack at around midnight - my personal olympics finished.  And not so much as a bronze medal!  (That will come this winter when I dish out my wonderful bounty onto the dinner table!)

It has been a very good year for garden.  I have hundreds of tomatoes that are ripening and will be calling to me soon.  I've only picked about 30 of them so far & just used on the table.  The rest will mostly be turned into salsa and be given to neighbors & church friends.  Nothing better than fresh tomatoes on a BLT or a salad or just cut up with cottage cheese.  I will really miss all the produce when the frost starts withering these beautiful plants, but it will mean a much-needed rest. 

So what do you consider your "personal olympics" this summer?