It was a Merry Christmas.

Well basking in the after light of a wonderful Christmas, the thought occurred to me to share with you all some of our wonderful presents.
TLC made out like the little bandit he is. He got some really cool things. A fire truck, a huge ride on pedal tractor, a remote control car, a lot of train stuff and a "Little Peoples" construction set that he loves.
The Hunter got several Cabela's gift cards. His favorite thing on earth. We really should own stock in that company.
I was the proud recipient of a genuine official Crazy M Ranch desk calender. I LOVE IT! You to can own one. Check out the Wife at Gizzards and Calf Fries. She has all kinds of cool stuff. My other favorite thing was a little pink circus hippo ornament. I may have to leave it out all year.
And of course My most favorite favorite thing was watching TLC play with all his new toys and spending time with all my family. Vaquero Girl remembered the mashed potatoes and as a bonus made green bean casserole. (I could eat that stuff every day). I hope you all had a great Christmas too.

TLC's First trip to the snow.

On Tuesday The Hunter, The Best Sister in the world and I took TLC to the snow for the first time. It was about a two hour trip. Thank goodness for portable DVD players. It was great because it was Tuesday and there was no one in the snow park. Hunter bought us sled like things and everything. TLC even made a snowman with his favorite aunt. I can't wait to go back, and I don't even like the snow.

Friends

What makes you "like" or "not like" someone? This was my thought today as TLC and I headed out of my little valley to visit a friend and her little girl.
The person I went to see is also my running partner. I met her through another friend about two years ago.(They are Neighbors) We will call friend one. Mrs. S and Friend to Mrs. R.
Mrs S is kind of an intense in your face person. As I started getting to know her I found out why. She had a pretty f'ed up childhood. All in all she turned out pretty good. She put herself through college and ended up with a BA. She is, as far as I can tell, a very loyal and smart and funny person. Mrs R is also one of my good friends. She however does not really like Mrs. S. Mrs S doesn't really know this. She gets her feelings hurt by it quite regularly. Mrs R feels that Mrs. S is too clingy and nosy. That she doesn't understand boundaries.
After I started running with Mrs S, Mrs. R got real pissy about it. Not really to me but to Mrs. S. It has made me feel uncomfortable to go over to either of their houses. (They live next door to each other)
I can sort of see why Mrs. R would feel like Mrs. S is a little forward. However, knowing Mrs S's back story I can understand why she is like that.
I guess this whole rambling blog comes down to If you don't like someone let them know it. Don't invite them to your parties etc. And for goodness sake don't introduce them to people if you can't handle your friends having a friend more then you. Cripes I feel like I am in high school again.
Sorry for the vent.

New

So we got the new fence up! I love it. No one can see into my yard (unless you happen to be standing in just the right spot and tilt your head to the left and stand on your tip toes.) I now live in a compound.
The Hunter leaves tomorrow for Idaho. He is about a giddy as a school girl. A very hairy, gruff, masculine school girl. He will only be gone for 10 days. I am not sure how I feel about this. Usually I am pretty stoked. The Hunter and I need time away from each other regularly. I guess it's because I know Vaquero Girl and I have to put our fugly horse down on Monday. She has become way to blind. It's really the best thing to do. It just sucks. I know it will suck and then the next day I'll be fine. It's just the anticipation I hate. It's like "just wait till your father gets home." I would rather just have it done.
Also, The Hunter is going alone (unless you count the dog). Usually his dad or a buddy goes too. This year no one is available. It makes me a little nervous.
That is about it these days. Peace out.

Halloween aftermath

We had a really great Halloween. This was the first time TLC got to to door to door. He was Yoda. I wanted to be princess Leia but couldn't find a costume in time so I was just a cute mom instead. The Hunter decided to pay tribute to our fav team and dyed his beard. Who do you think he looks like?
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Bye bye goats.

So We sold the goats. That's right folks, I am officially goat free.....for now.
We sold them to some very nice people who ARE NOT going to eat them. They are going to use them for the same thing we did. Packing. Only, the husband seemed like he actually had the patience to deal with critters. I love the Hunter, but a "stock man" he ain't.

Oh boy! New toy!

So I picked up a like new Jogging stroller yesterday. I never would have dream't that I would get so excited about a stupid jogging stroller (or poop). This is a pretty nice one. It's made by a company called B.O.B. New, they are like 300 bucks. Yikes. I got it on craigslist for 45 dollars. The lady says "oh I can't remeber if we ever even used it". It certainly didn't look like it.
Today I actually jogged without TLC, (for anyone interested 2.75 miles in 25 min) so I didn't get to try it out. But I'll have my jogging pal take a picture on Tuesday.

Guilty Pleasures

Ok so I have a couple little guilty pleasures. The worst and most embarrassing for me is.....

.....I watch "The Ghost Whisperer". (Don't judge) I can't help it. I love that show. I sit there thinking how ridiculous it is and how bad the acting is and by the end of the show I am crying like some little girl. (Sigh) Oh well. I was just wondering what some of your little guilty pleasures might be. Feel free to make me feel better about mine.

Poop!

Huge news. TLC has actually pooped in the toilet all by himself twice now. I was thrilled! I never thought I would be so excited about poop. I let him run around necked these days and he has been really good about going potty all by himself with out help. He even go's in the big boy potty...standing up! But the poop...I can't tell you how excited I am about this. I didn't take pictures for you. I thought that may be a little overboard.

Nothin big

So nothin big goin on today so I just thought I would give my old fingers a little work out.
Hunting season has been going of for about a month now. Still nothin dead (except a few mice and a couple voles) However it's about to kick in to high gear. The Hunter is leaving on the 10th for Wyoming and won't be back till the 21st. Then he will leave again on the 8th of October and won't be back till the 24th. It seems like a lot of time when I look at it on paper. However it always go's really fast once he's gone. Hmmph kinda like being married.
Running again on Saturday without kids(yeah) then on Sunday the Scotish Highland games. Mmmm men in kilts speaking in Galic. Fun. I mean come on who can resist a good kaber toss?

Missed by one

So my friend and I have been running together (three times a week thank you very much) with TLC and her adorable little girl. Today I convinced her to go run at a place called snake road. It's a dead end road that a lot of folks run and walk on. Plenty of hills and flats to have a great workout. There is also a trail head for hikers. We parked in the staging area and I reassured her I had parked there many times it would be fine. People are in and out all the time. Grabbed the mase (one can't be to careful)locked our doors and off we went. We ran for about 50 minutes when we got back to the trucks, someone had smashed her drivers side window and taken her purse and diaper bag. Part of me felt so bad because it was my idea to run there. The other part of me felt relived that she parked closer to the road otherwise it probably would have been my window.
Lesson learned.
#1 Don't park in that parking area!
#2 Don't bring purse and diaper bag on a workout then leave it in your car.

Life with the hunter: chapter 105

So in this episode of "life with the hunter"....

The Hunter and I went to bed and as we lay there trying to fall asleep we here the squeak, squeak chomp chomp of a little mouse. At first Hunter thinks it's outside on the patio. No I say, I think it's in the closet. Hunter tells me that he will put a new trap in the closet tomorrow. (He loves teeny tiny hunting as much as the big stuff) About midnight I wake up. Something is clunking around behind the bed. (INFO. We sleep in the basement/laundry room/waterheater closet so we have a very weird and large concrete step behind our bed. It's part of the foundation. Our headboard is pushed up against it and we keep shoes and stuff up there. It's wide enough that you could fit a twin size bed on. We also have two large mirrors sitting on it proped up against the wall. Oh yeah and it's carpeted up to the ceiling. I know it sounds lovely) So I try and ignore this noise. But really I am thinkin that little f'er is not in the closet it's in the room. I am also thinking he's going to run right across my head and get tangled in my hair. That would really piss me off. Then I hear it over by our storm door. Then by the laundry baskets. I sit up and turn on the flash light. The nasty little mouse is sitting on the top of the laundry basket and looking at me. Of course The Hunter is not waking up because he has ear plugs in. So I get up and find a bucket (again this is not just a bedroom but a laundry room) and try and catch it. It jumps down behind the basket. So I open the door and think it runs out. I get back in bed. Then I hear it again. Now Hunter wakes up. What the heck are you doing? he asks. We have a mouse in the room. Where he says? I don't know, I think it ran under the bed. Then we here it by the baskets again. I get up and look for it with the flash light. It runs across my feet and I yelp and jump. Now I am really pissed. Hunter tells me to step on it and kill it. I am not killing it with my bare feet I say. He tries to go back to sleep. Then he jumps out of bed. I think it just ran across me he says. Now all of the sudden this is serious. He shines the light behind us and it's climbing up the wall! Holy crap! He knocks it down trying to catch it in the bucket and it falls between the mirrors. He then tries to crush it between the mirrors. (yuck) That doesn't work so he yells at me to get something sharp. I don't have anything sharp down here! He jumps of the step and runs upstairs to get his knife. (It's rather large as you can imagine) He then STABS the mouse right in the middle. (double yuck) then scoops it in the bucket puts the lid on and we both got a great nights sleep. This whole little escapae only took one hour. The moral of the story is Don't wake up the hunter or his wife.

Hello from Hell

So let me just say yesterday was the first day in about two weeks that TLC has taken a nap. To any of you that have children you know HOW CRUCIAL the "nap" is. To those of you with out the blessing of offspring, it's a very painful thing. I am hoping it's just a phase. He's only two. I mean he just turned two in June. I am so not ready for him to give up on the nap thing yet. Any way, needless to say I have been feeling a little out of joint lately. OK, OK, I am a bitch. Other then that not much is happening. We are just enjoying the mild summer. I actually wish it were a little hotter. My tan is starting to fade. Hopefully I can work on it next weekend. I will flying solo to the last big show of the season. It's in Murieta which is right near Sacramento. Murieta is an old Indian word for "face of the sun". After I show maybe I'll go up to the reining pen and lay around in a bikini and try and find a sugar daddy. I could really use one. Kisses to all. (unless you have cooties then just a fist bump.

A Gift for TLC

So we have been pretty busy around here, doin this and that. I think I found a home in Utah for Dozer (boo hoo), I attended my first gay wedding, and I won a little high point award for the spring series I was showing in. Yesterday The Hunter brought home a present for TLC. I think he created a monster.


I tried and tried to upload the video but it was taking to long.
Sorry. It was pretty cute. I'll try again later.

I have been thinking....We all know that's scary.

So I haven't decided yet, but I think I may start a second blog called "Life with The Hunter and Goats" Most of the really good stuff involves him. He's usually why I am mad, sad, or laughing my butt off, and goats are just kinda cool.

Right now we are having goat issues. We have four goats. Dick, Dan, Diesel and Dozer. We have had Diesel and Dozer the longest. We got them as kids about three or four month old. They are now three. We have just bought them saddles and they can start carrying weight. Both are good packers. However, (you knew that was coming) Dozer has always been a little stand offish. It's getting worse. He has hooked The Hunter twice. He is always the one to escape (which means a lot of fence work for The Hunter) and he doesn't like to be caught. The Hunter, who has the Patience of a nat, has been close to killing him several times. He has even tried hobbles (I didn't know they made them for goats either) I personally think all this mucking around has made Dozer more wary of Hunter. Goats hold grudges like old Italian women. Goats also will do things to get a reaction out of you. As it turns out they are pretty smart critters. They say they can be about as smart as a four year old child. Now The Hunter wants to sell him. The only thing that sucks about this is I am already attached. Of course he has threatened to sell him before and I talked him out of it So I guess we'll see.

The 4th of July ect.

I don't know how one person can feel so busy and still not have any thing to blog about. TLC turned 2 whole years old. The Hunter and I celebrated four blissful years of marriage. We celebrated his birthday and our anniversary on the horrible camping trip (see previous blog.) Then VG and I had a huge two day garage sale. It was ok. I got rid of a lot of stuff. Of course I will also be taking a lot of stuff to Good Will. Then came the Fourth of July. Of course TLC is sick (as always). He had like three good days and then back to the boogie nose. (We go back to the Dr tomorrow). It was a pretty busy Forth. Vaquero Girl, TLC and I went to a parade not in our town but the neighboring one. We had a couple friends riding their horses in it.





Then it was home for lunch and a nap and then to the Horseman's Arena for a bbq and fireworks. It just so happens that our arena makes a super awesome place to watch them from. My best bud, Mrs G and her darling little children came down to play too. We set up a kiddie pool in the arena. Talk about perfect. It was like being at the beach with out the worry of an undertow takin your kids out to sea. (I don't have those pics yet.)

Side note: The Hunter went on a three day camping trip with Mr G and the goats in the Trinity Alps. He said it worked out awesome.




This weekend should be a good one. Denisarita unpaid ranch slave is having her annual Slip N Slide party. I can't wait. I look forward to it all year. I hope that TLC will be well by then. As it turns out, He love the water. You never saw a kid so happy to be in the pool! Then next weekend I have a show. Then the weekend after that I am in my cousins big gay wedding. That will be a first for me.

Camping

OH MY GOODNESS! Had I known that everybody in CA was going to be going to this tiny little lake up in the middle of bum F no where. I think I may have just said screw it. After a two hour drive (TLC did awesome) The Hunter and I pull into this camping area. (He is already irritated because we are camping somewhere that isn't 100 miles from everything. Yeah he's that guy) The place is packed. I mean P.A.C.K.E.D! He of course wanted to just keep driving but all our friends were there. (He pouted in the trailer for about an hour)I said Se La Vie and commenced to puttin on my sun tan oil and took TLC down to play with all his little friends. The first night was really rough. TLC didn't sleep at all. I think Hunter and I only got about an hours sleep altogether. The next day my very good friend and her husband took TLC and I out on a boat for nap time. They have two kids right about his age and the boat works like magic every time. Then MVGF (my very good friend) and I got to sunbath on the boat while the kiddos napped. My darling Mother and The Best Sister in the world got there that afternoon with their crazy little dog. Lucky us there was a huge family reunion going on and they had a guess what??? That's right a live band, that played until 10:30 at night. That was fun for little kids that are trying to go to sleep. TLC slept much better the second night. Best sister ever said she wanted to go home the next day. So did the Hunter. So I said OK. We hung around till about 4:30 then packed up and came home. I got a killer tan happened and TLC had a good time. The Hunter didn't shoot anyone so altogether I'd say it was a success. I am however glad to be home.
This is what The Hunter looks like when he's trying not to kill people.


My pal and her two boys on their boat


If you look up in the Left corner you can see feet, that would be my sister getting tossed of the innertube.

A great day!

I had the best day today! I got up nice and early to go to a little one day show series I've been doing with Bob. The weather was perfect. Not to hot but still warm enough to make me (and Bob) sweat a little. He did so much better last time I entered the same four classes. Warm up walk trot, Walk trot, Sr horse and HUS (hunter under saddle) Novice Amateur. He was so good! The Judge told me after the first class that he would like to see me move out a little. Me, the one who is usually trying to keep my horse from leaping over the rail. Next class same thing, he said It looked like I was trying to show a western pleasure horse English. Holy Cow. Then I won my next two classes. In the last class he placed me over a horse that is a WAY better mover. He said he placed the "broke" horse over the better mover because my transitions were better. I swear to you I almost fell out of my saddle. My horse the more broke horse? I believe I felt the world jar a little on it's axis. Mom didn't show her horse today (although he was pretty good just puttering around the show) so we were home by one opposed to our usual seven.

Side note: I was getting mom to help me take off my field boots (big tall English boots) I kept telling her to pull harder. It was really hurting my foot. I was yelling at her to hurry up that she was getting weaker and my foot hurt. Finally after MUCH huffing and puffing and yanking it finally came off. Just at that moment I looked at the boot and said, oh, I guess I should have unlaced it first. Sorry mom.

I got to spend the remainder of the afternoon with The Hunters family at a little barbecue for the June birthdays. TLC included. Can you all believe he'll be TWO next Thursday! I can't. He got some pretty cool trucks and miscellaneous boy toys from the aunts and cousins. All together It was a pretty awesome day. I should even get a high point trophy for the spring series. And maybe get my picture in the PCQHA (Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Association) newsletter. Yeah me.

Nothing much

So not a lot goin on in the life and times of Lil' Mama. Which is amazing because I always feel busy. I did start an E-bay store today. (sublimeequine) to sell some of my accumulation of crap er I mean really great stuff that I no longer use or need. I thought I would try the store for a month and if it works out great if not then I'll just go back to regular e-bay or good old Craigslist. Saturday I'll be at a horse show with Bar Hoppin. It should be like the face of the sun. Also gettin ready to go camping next week. That should be loads and loads of fun. I am sure you'll see pictures and read all about it when I get back. We will be celebrating TLC's second birthday and my Fourth Wedding anniversary. Oh Boy. The Littlest Cowboy was born the day after my second wedding anniversary. I got to spend it in the hospital recovering from a 16 hour labor followed by a c-section. God forbid they just get right to that. On the up side I don't think the Hunter ever got a better present. He by the way just turned 38. I have to say I haven't' seen him look better. (Don't tell him I told you that) He is vain as the dickens.

Drum Roll Please......the winner is.....

MIKEY!
So I chose Mikey as the winner because she involved body fluid in her answer. Here is the story. Although all the situations sounded pretty horrible.

So TLC woke up from his nap. He felt a little warm but I didn't think much of it. It was hot out side and he doesn't have AC in his room. He was also a little cranky. Again, not so unusual (He's a two year old boy). My Sister (The best sister ever!) and I gave him some Sunny D and dragged him off to the fair. We were only there about thirty minuets before he barfed on me. YUCK! So we took his clothes off and came home. I didn't get a corn-dog or funnel cake or nothin! Not even a ride on a Ferris wheel. It ended up he had Rosiola. (He is better now.) So we will just have to go to a neighboring county fair later this year. Tomorrow we are going to the horse expo in Sacramento. (Sacratomatoe, as my Grandma calls it) Should be fun.

So I am not sure what your prize is yet but Mikey you should send me your mailing address so that when I find it I can send it off and you'll get a lovely surprise in the mail...just like Christmas.

didyouknow.

I used to work at a kids camp and we had a game we played called didyouknow. We used the bottle caps from Snapples. We would hide them and then the kid who found it would get a prize.

I decided to start my own little didyouknow game here. Except I will give you a life situation (something that has actually happened to me) question and who ever gives me the best answer or as close to what actually happened wins. I don't know what you win yet but at the very least it would be braggin rights.

So first question.
Do You know what can ruin a County Fair Quicker that spit?

Farm days

So I have been a bad blogger (say that five times fast) Well maybe not bad, just lazy. These are some pics of Farm Days we did for a local kindergarten class about two of three weeks ago.


This is my friend Carla. She couldn't find her crate for her pig (Suzie) So she just put her in the back of her car. Suzie also doesn't like a leash so Carla just leads her every where with grapes.


TLC and Suzie


Hard to tell but this is what it looks like when 5 year olds see a goat or a sheep. They swarm like bees. Very scary stuff.


Let me just say this pony is worth her weight in gold. All those kids running and screaming and waving body parts and she never even flinched. I would say the opposite of my first pony.


This picture is especially for Vaquero Girl. The little girl in the Misses Clause shrug and flip flops cracked her up. What is really frightening Her mother was dressed similarly.


I just thought this lamb was adorable.

Snake update

So The Hunter saw my little friend yesterday, and I found him again today. It would seem he is living under my deck. (I shall call him Silas) Hmm. I think I am OK with this because maybe it will decrease the amount of gophers living in my yard. Although, Loretta Lynn the best little dog you ever saw nabbed one last night. Good dog! She may be a little dense at times but she is good with TLC (surprising) and she is just about as good as a cat with catching mice and the like.



How could you not love that face?

My new......Pet?

So the other day I am puttering about the garden, as one is want to do on a lovely spring day. TLC is sleeping blissfully in his crib and I was getting a lot done in the yard. I was ho-humming to myself thinking about the zucchini and strawberries I just planted. I nonchalantly picked up a crate that was flipped over on the ground.....YIKES BIG SNAKE BIG SNAKE BIG SNAKE!!!!!!!. I actually was saying this out loud as I did the did my finest impression of a gazelle across the yard. As I was doing what we in the family call "the snake dance" I was thinking to my very own self how totally silly I must look. And then began chastising myself. You must understand I am not afraid of snakes, however I do not like to be surprised. So of course I ran in to get the camera to share it with you all. And after I had taken his picture he had the audacity to sit there for twenty minutes, like I didn't even exists. Just to clarify further, this was a gopher snake NOT a rattler. It was however large!
This all happened on Friday. Today after taking my mom and her horse up to the vet I back into my drive way and open the door. All ready to hop out of the truck and there he is, practically under my boots. I almost ran the little bugger over. Then he decided to climb up the wall of my garage instead of going under the gate like a normal snake. I guess we will just have to name him now as it seems he isn't going any where. I sure wish he's catch a few more gophers.


This was Sunday.



Todays pictures.

The Oakland Zoo

Today Auntie Cracker, Sweetie Pie, The Best Sister ever TLC and I went to the Oakland Zoo (not to be confused with the S.F zoo which is where the Tiger attack happened a couple years ago). We saw all kinds of wonderful animals (disclaimer: some pics are better then others.) The Oakland zoo is fairly small in comparison to other zoos, i.e the San Fransisco or Central Park. It is however perfect for an low key afternoon with toddlers. It took us about two hours to walk through the gently rolling and beautifully landscaped park. They have really made it feel like a park instead of just a place where animals are kept. All the exhibit areas are large and inviting for both the humans visiting and the animals. After the tour of the zoo we rode the little train they have and the carousel. TLC loved both. I can't wait to go back.

This was the first thing we saw. Sorry for the cage bars. There really was no other way to take the shot with my camera. (The Wife or Trainwreck I ain't)



They have lots o monkeys at this zoo. These are Gibbons. He was putting on quite a little show for us.


There were real giant tortoise there but this pic turned out a little better




I know it's hard to tell from the pic but this is a bat! A huge bat. It's body was about the size of a large house cat. They were so cool. They had a whole bat exhibit!


God forbid we miss the goats!


I find baboons both fascinating and a little scary at the same time. These things are pretty cool.


Just in case your wondering...it's very hard to get a toddler to look at the camera when there are giraffes standing behind him.






The view from the train was really cool. We got a good view of the Oakland and Berkeley skyline.


So this was our last stop. The carousel. TLC loved it. Which totally surprised me.

The longest Parade I have ever been to.

So last weekend, TLC, Auntie Cracker and Sweetie Pie and I went to the Butter and Egg day festival and parade in Petaluma CA. This is a really cool event their town puts on to support the local agricultural business (namely milk and eggs.) Apparently, Petaluma is the egg basket of the world. It is also home to Clover Storneta Farms Dairy. Clover milk and their products are found in all the stores in the area of CA I live in.
It was a two hour parade. Yes 2 hours. The little ones were so good for the whole thing. We got really good seats on the curb and we were able to see everything. I have added so pictures for you.
They had other things to see and do after the parade but it was so packed that Auntie Cracker (who is about 4 months pregnant) and I decided stop while the kids were ahead.


There was a lot of patriotism shown in this parade. This kinda surprised me because Petaluma is kinda an earth cookie peace and love town. I was so happy that they showed so much support for the military and the vets that came out.


lots of floats with giant chickens and eggs.

Why yes..there is a piano on that float. And that feller was a playin it good! And singin too.

Happy California Cow.

This is a local gymnastic club. They were actually doing stuff (as you can see) on the bar while the darn thing was moving.(They were tied off)

Personally I don't feel any parade should be without and Elvis impersonator...

Or a drill team.

The parade had every thing. Really cool cars, old tractors, Fire trucks. Lots of fire trucks. I wish I could show you the whole thing. But you really don't have that kind of time.
Tomorrow we go to the Oakland Zoo. Pictures and post to follow.

Goat Hike number two.

Well the Hunter says the goats only have 4 1/2 months till they need to be ready to pack in the wilds of Wyoming and Idaho. Poor little fellas. They thought they had a pretty good life. Hangin out in the pasture burnin up hay, chewin cud and such. Not any more. This was our second packing outing. The Hunter decided that we need to start adding weight so he loaded them up with twenty pounds each. Yikes! Then we did the same hike as last time....but faster. They were OK after that but on the way back Hunter decided we needed to go up and down hills off trails. If I keep helping him with the goats I am going to be in some super shape.



The Hunter and Dick.


Don't they look cute all tacked up?


This is a little part of where we hike. We walk all the way to the end of the left side ridge. Then we walk back. It takes about two hours or so.