Adventures Today and Yesterday

I have returned! You missed me, right?  I know you did! Well, it's Friday.  Wonderful, blessed, spectacular Friday!  In our house this means frozen pizza at lunch before hubby goes to work and movies!   Sometimes popcorn but not tonight.  Wasn't in the mood.  Still working on that stupid chips craving.  I've been through two cans of chips and served frito pie last night.  This morning I had to run into town for milk (that's 11 miles one way) and to make the trip extra fruitful I bought soda, cadbury creme eggs (hubby's favorite spring treat).

There has been a lot of construction going on around us. In September of 2011 there was a lot of wildfires in Texas and the place where I live now was in the midst of a large one.  I did not live here then.  We moved about six months later.  The fire did not ruin the house here but shutters were burned off and wires melted.  The trees and land surrounding us, however, was damaged badly.  A neighbor's house was lost entirely.  So, while I am surrounded by forest and trees, they are nearly all dead, burned trees.  Someone bought the land to the right of my house recently and approached us with a plan to clear it out for his cattle production.  Either for grain or graze, we're not sure which he will choose.  They have been making quick work of clearing it all out and yesterday the work began near the house.  Adventure of the day:  trying to keep curious children from venturing into unsafe territory to watch the men work.  Blessing of the day, watching the sunset from my couch for the first time.

I feel obligated to add that while I did not live here at the time of the fire my mother is two houses down.  I could not reach her on the phone the day I learned of the fire and I felt true fear.  Not only mom but my aunt and nephew lived across the street.  I feared for them all.  It did not help that the news reported residents who would not leave the area and I already knew it was my family.  The very same day my stepmother went into the hospital for an angiogram which alone was somewhat nerve-wracking but my very ill father went with.  He was too sick to go too and wound up in the hospital.  So in one day my mom's neighborhood was on fire, dad was in the hospital, and stepmother was too.  Let's add bickering brother and sister in the mix.  Yes, I was in tears.  All that said, Dad didn't stay in the hospital.  The angiogram didn't bring bad news.  None of my family lost their homes or even suffered much damage to their homes though property was another story.  I'm sure it's the result of prayer.  I spent days in prayer and I wasn't the only one.

I said all that to say, the burned trees make me sad.  They bring to mind that awful day when I feared for so many of my family's lives and homes at once.  Lesson:  be cautious when the weather is dry.  Be cautious always, but especially when it's dry, hot and windy.  The biggest cause of grass fires are the cigarette butts people toss.  It never used to bother me but I flinch in anger every time I see it now.  Be responsible.

Goodnight all!  Happy Friday!

Getting to know me

This morning, as I laughed with my family I thought to myself that a blog to share our laughter and many adventures could be a wonderful thing.  Then again, maybe it won't be.  Maybe no one will read any of it.  What if not one person ever even sees this?  Well, as we like to say, the world's not going to explode.  Life will go on and I will go on living it with or without a blog.  But I really believe that putting some precious, or even not so precious moments on here will be worthwhile.  If for no other reason than to improve my writing skills.

So, where do I start?  My family is a good place.

I have been married to my husband for sixteen years.  No, they have not all been wonderful, but most of them have.  We have argued, yelled, screamed and even slammed doors on occasion but most of the time we're silly together.  We laugh, a lot.  You've heard of puppy mills right? Well, we were a baby mill.  Basically, I was pregnant for nine years.  That's what it felt like at times.  Five kids and my body said no more.  Now my oldest is 14 and my youngest is seven.  Guess what I learned?  I prefer older children to toddlers but newborns are the dog's bark.  Yes, I said dog.  We have three.  Our oldest is a catahoula mix rescued from the shelter on the due date for my last baby.  Baby was born two weeks later.  About two years after adopting our sweet Suzie she had puppies.  I know, we should've had her fixed by then.  Hindsight's always 20/20.  Anyway, eight puppies by the neighbor's lab.  We kept one.  The only brown one.  Guess what we named him....Hershey.  In fact, I think the only reason he was the one chosen was because he was brown and we wanted to name him Hershey. Even as a puppy I knew he was "off."  Oh well, he's family now and we love him.  BTW, those two are both fixed.  Last dog is a recent addition named Smokey.  Another adoptee and not home long enough to have been fixed but it will be done.  Smokey is our first outdoors only dog.  I love my dogs and generally want them in the house but Smokey has a job and it requires him to be outside. He is training to be guardian to our other recent additions...goats.

Nearly one year ago we moved into the country after spending our entire lives living in town.  Since then I have decided to start a hobby farm.  This is ambitious since I homeschool our five little angels. Should you decide to keep reading this you will come to know them well.  Since our "farm" is brand new it has relatively few animals.  Two actually.  One "wether" goat (a goat that has been "fixed") and an intact buck (the opposite of a wether).  The goats are named Burger and Doritos.  Soon we'll have chickens with names like Popeye's, Church's and KFC.  When those are all used up we'll use Tyson, Pilgrim's Pride, etc...  Our rooster will be Foghorn Leghorn.  All good farms have a garden and so do we.  Onions, potatoes, peas, carrots, and more planned for later.

Now you are caught up to current events so I will talk briefly about today and leave you all to ponder the deep thoughts you've read up to this point.  Each morning at six my children wake up to bottle-feed the goats.  Despite the early hour this is a very exciting part of their day.  They chose to be the ones and I agreed...rather quickly.  Not that it matters though.  They make enough noise to wake the dead, but there are worse things to wake up to than kids heating milk and playing with goats (whose pen is just outside my bedroom window).  Life starts each day with play or, if you're me, the sound of play which is nearly as good.        

Today was simple.  Goats were fed, we had school, we played outside on the tire swing, and we planted our herb garden.  Caught a cute pic of Smokey and Doritos resting in the sunshine and spent a few minutes trying to decide where to plant plum trees.  Throughout the whole thing I had this awful craving for chips and salsa and even after a trip to the Mexican restaurant which, miraculously, is only a mile away (how does that happen in the middle of nowhere?) I am still craving them.  What's the deal? I thought craving go away after you eat the food you're craving but my lust for chips and salsa cannot be satiated.

I will end here.  There have been enough profound thoughts to keep you busy for a while I'm sure.  Tomorrow I will appear again to regale you with new ones.  Goodnight.