Kids and Stuff

For all of you having kids out there...and I mean ALL of you, congratulations! I love checking out pictures of your little ones and their new strides in life. Remember when children weren't even a twinkle in our eyes yet and all we were concerned about was where the next piss call was? Oh yeah, and our grades too!

Oh yeah - I want kids one day, definitely. But seeing as it requires a man, and the way I figure, not just any man; I really don't see that happening anytime soon...remember...'Valley of No Men"...So I've acquired an assorted collection of children who think of me as their mother....the four legged kind that is. See, I figured I had to share with everyone my experiences with my kids since everyone I know is popping out a baby every few months or so. Ha! I have you all beat, I've had 16 in the last 6 weeks and more to come! Yes, they are cows, but still....

So for those of you who remember Dixie, she's still around and still thinks she's the same little shit who used to run around the chapter room during meeting terrorizing the president and ripping up toilet paper. Though instead of bugging my sorority sisters, nowadays she brings in the neighbors' cattle and then wants to be rewarded for a job well done. She's lucky she hasn't been shot. Sedona, on the other hand, is getting uglier I believe the older she gets. One can't help but love her, the snoring, the slobbering, the big dog attitude...I mean, who can't love to wake up to a face like that?

There are always cats, I mean after all this is a ranch. But it seems my boys have taken a liking to Sabrina. They go out to pasture with her, eat with her, sleep on her...it's just way too cute. Morris, the big old orange cat is a bit of a drooler. Something I've heard about, but never actually seen. He can soak you in under a minute, but seems to keep most of his affections for Sabrina. As I mentioned before, she is officially retired from Rodeo, and well deserves it. I was a bit worried about her this winter when she dropped some weight, but brought her in from pasture and now she gets all she can eat and gets to hang out with her boyfriend all day long. What a life! All I can say is...when do I get to retire?

Rumba is getting to be one hell of mountain horse. I love taking her out to the sand dunes which are conveniently located nearby. I discovered this was a perfect place for starting young horses since they sink up to their hocks and tire out real quick. That way I only get dumped a few times! Rum won't ever have the heart for barrels, but is starting to rope this spring and maybe by the end of the summer we'll be hitting some jackpots. She should be a mommy herself by next spring if everything goes according to plan. Right now she spends a lot of time out in the field with the ranch horses (about 20 last I counted) whenever I'm not training her. Little Maggie May, my new little girl, started in on her first ground lessons the other day and looks promising. Hopefully I'll have her turning barrels by the end of the summer. She was given to me, so I figured if nothing else I could always sell her at auction, but she's been so great so far I figure I'll keep her.

I also have a miscellaneous collection of horses at various stages of training, their mums and poppa on the property. They are always getting into trouble, and have slowly been tearing apart the dog house I put up of straw for the winter. This picture was taken shortly after it was built. There isn't a whole lot to the top left nowadays.

So I thought I'd share, and for all of you who have expressed interest in a visit (and for those of you who haven't) y'all know your welcome anytime! Great skiing, climbing, biking, rafting....you name it! All close by! Take care of your babies and I'll keep adding to my collection!