New Day Beginning

I woke up this morning, banged into the doors on the armoir as I was heading to the bathroom, cussed loudly, and was working on the start of a bad day, until I caught the sunrise through the kitchen window. It took my breath away and all of a sudden, the day is a beautiful gift. All I can say is WOW and Thanks!

Carpe Momento!

Conflicted

I feel a little like the weather this Sprinter/Sprummer a little conflicted and not sure what to do from day to day. This is a crazy post, maybe I got too much sleep last night or the hot bubble bath before going to bed did something to my brain, but I am conflicted today in a number of ways.

Am I bored, or do I have so much on my plate that I can't seem to concentrate? Do I want to think or do other things than those that are on my "to do" list...YES! Do I stay or do I go, do I settle or do I leap, am I safe or should I be more on the edge taking more risk...it's all boiling up in my overactive mind. I get bored easily, and I must say that I have kept myself in check and lived a rather boring existence for the past while. I don't know maybe I just need an adrenaline fix or a shot in the butt, but I know I am in desperate need of something to calm or excite my senses.

I hope this is not just a mid-life crises, I can't even think that I am mid-life. I rather think I am in my prime and just getting started. I did determine last night as I was drifting into oblivion that the boxes of stuff in my basement need to find new homes. So that is now on the "get 'r done" list. Not exciting but liberating. I can think of a few other liberating ideas....ummm.

The Adventures of Hossy Von Goosey

Life has been fun since Hoss came to town. He is such a character! He has actually been sleeping in the garage with the other dogs for the past 2 nights and I gotta tell ya, getting a full night of sleep is heaven. Here are just a few shots of the Hossy Von Goosey boy. With Bruce - Yea he is finally going on walks with us (Bruce, that is), Hossy and Tessie and the kitty boy Sebastian.

He has doubled in size and his teeth are a force to be reckoned with!

Dirty Nose

Ok, last critter picture, it's been a great week for silly animal stunts. This is our barn kitty, Dirty nose. The spot on her nose is actually pigment, but I thought it was dirt so that's how she got the tag. Karen tried to rename her Callie, but she prefers Dirty or Dirds, or Pretty Dirty. Anyway, this year has been so weird weather wise, that the cats are having a tough time shedding their winter fur, making massive mats in thier coats, I guess it's what you call the mange. Anyway, Dirds was trying to pull it out with her teeth, so I helped her by cutting off what she would let me and then she'd pull the rest. She has a nice mohawk of smooth fur down her back. We finally got most of the hairballs, but it left her looking pretty funky. But just so you know, she still thinks she's sexy!

Life is good!

Hannah

I walked in my office last night and caught Hannah phoning in an order for kittie treats...I knew I shouldn't leave my credit card laying around!

My Mom

I love my mom with all my heart, she is the most fun to go exploring with, whether it is out throught the fields, old church houses, abandoned farm houses, or just roaming through cemetaries or the desert. I have learned so much from her through the years, mostly about forgiveness, and unconditional love and never giving up. She is kind hearted to everyone she meets humans and animals alike. She would gladly give you the shirt off her back or the couch from her living room. She is blind to the faults of others, she believes in family and love and the lord. It's not in her to ever intentionally hurt someone or to make anyone feel bad. She gives even when she has nothing left to give and does it gladly and with love.

She has shared a lot of experiences with me, some great and some....not so much. She is tolerant of my direct personality, lets me spout even when it hurts her heart to listen to me. She has seen much, suffered more than most, had a broken heart for more years than it was ever whole. She's loved and lost and loved again, it's amazing to me that she can be there for each one of us when we need her and yet when we don't still love us when we have gone on our merry ways.

I know she is proud of each of her children, for the differences, the accomplishments, the people we are and more so, the people she still hopes and knows we can become. I have always been impressed to walk into her bedroom at night and see her on her knees. It is the most powerful example to me. I love you mom, not only on mother's day, but on every other day. xoxo

Hogendaas

Heavy on the Hog! This boy can eat and then he crashes..... BTW the green in his ear is his tattoo. He will also get a microchip so the boogers better not think about taking him.

He's Home!

And all tuckered out from his big trip. He did great! Ate, drank, pooped, peed went for a walk, met all the other dogs, had an encounter with Hannah....out like a light!

Our Boy Hoss

This is Hoss getting ready to board the plane in Kalispell, MT. He will arrive in Denver around 4:00 this afternoon. I am sure it is a bitter sweet morning for the little gal holding him. It is always hard to say good-bye to your babies, but he will be very much loved and well taken care of here with us. I am so excited to meet our new little boy. Hurry up Hoss!

Sure signs of Spring

This morning I saw my first hummingbird, a Ruby Throat, YEA! I hurried and got the feeders out and filled up, haven't seen one since....

Then on my way to the post office, I almost ran over a little snake on the road, another sure sign, YEA!

This little fella was born a week or so ago, we refer to him as the Oreo baby.

And this is the little Paint baby and her momma that was born a couple of weeks ago.

Add in the jack rabbit with the deathwish that ran in front of my car and all the birds on my feeder and I would say that we a FINALLY getting to Spring and it's about dang time!

Hoss or Billy Jack? Torn between 2 names

Hoss is coming to the Ponderosa

On Wednesday 5/5 Hoss will be rounding out the bunkhouse here at the Ponderosa. Some of you probably think we are crazy, and I've got to admit, I wonder myself...it is already a bit of a circus around here. Dira went into her first heat cycle a couple of days ago, so we have been shuffling dogs between the kennels and the garage to keep her separated from Booner. Anyone who knows Booner, knows he is too old to father puppies, but he is determined to keep trying and he is very vocal! We know one of the gals is cycling when Booner starts the moaning and carrying on. It is almost painful to listen to him, ya gotta love the big lug.

Today was a trip to the vet with Dira and Sadie, Dira got her microchip and Sadie got her shots. Both were a little unsure about the car ride and way too curious about all the smells in the vet's office. But they did great. Sadie weighed in at 67 lbs and Dira right behind her at 64 lbs.

Back to Hoss, he was born about 8 weeks ago in Kalispell, MT. He will be flying to us (big trip for the little guy) on Wednesday. We are excited about having him come to live with us, it will be exciting and a lot more work to have such a young fella, but I'm guessing he will fit right in. And now instead of 6 walks a day, there could be more or at least some wrastling (yes wrastling) to help him with the energy levels. Stay turned, more pictures to come.

My new job

I spent time in Sioux Falls, SD this week with my new team. We decided to take the opportunity to explore just alittle bit (well mostly the exploring was for me) They took me to the falls for which the city is named. I had no idea (guess I should have figured with the name, duh!) that the falls would be so beautiful and huge. As you can see from the pictures, spring run off is in full force. The building across the river is the old Queen Bee Mill, they thought at one point that they could harness the power of the falls to run the mill, that was in the spring, by the fall the water is just a trickle. The ruins are what is left of the mill, pretty cool place to spend the evening.

I am really loving my new job, it is a lot of work and a lot of learning, but this week it has really taken off, so it is getting fun. My team has been great to work with and I enjoy spending time with them, you gotta love the folks from this area and the "you betchas" I even slip sometimes. So in the picture from left to right are Pam, Jean, Jon (my boss) Dick and me. I figure I will be spending a fair amount of time in the upper midwest, so I better figure out everything thing I need to see and explore while I'm there.

Thoughts...

I have been struck lately by the resiliency of some people who are facing down life changing events. It makes me think about events in my own world and how they might not be as big a deal as I make them. I was looking through my box of positive affirmations today looking for something that would change my perspective a bit. It is sometimes difficult for me to stay on the positive side of the street, so I take all the help I can get (reminds me I need to down a couple of St. John's yet today...) anyway, here is the affirmation for today. If it fits, take it, if it doesn't well, keep moving along little doggy.

"I speak and think positively" "I listen to what I say. If I hear myself using negative or limiting words, I stop myself and change them"

She's here!

Dira made the long flight from Slovakia to Denver last week arriving, safe sound and happy to be in her new home. She is a great addition, after a little bit of growling and eyeing each other up, Dira and Sadie are best of friends. As you can see from the pictures, the one thing they definitely have in common is a love for orange balls and chasing after them. Our daily walks have increased from 2 to 4 or more, yes I have even lost a couple of pounds so far. I swear they would both run until they died. Yesterday we took them all for a long walk in the middle of the day, it was pretty warm, so as soon as they caught wind of the water, they were gone. Booner is the swimmer in the picture, but trust me, they were all in.

Dira is amazingly smart, she's a beautiful shiny black and about 11 months old. Sadie is a 2 year old sable and incredibly quick and athletic, I don't think I've ever seen a dog run as hard and as fast as she does. I looked out the window today to see Dira and Sadie wrestling on the front lawn, I'm glad they are such great friends already and Dira is so smart, she's bi-lingual!

All animals understand love. Welcome to the Sleepy Turtle Ranch Dira!

Happy Birthday Kary Berry Bean Blossom!

The most fun, hang around, take a few pictures, tour Europe, eat ice cream, bawl our eyes out, laughing, silliest, bestest sister around. Happy Birthday Karen!

Pink Popcorn

Bird and Monk Doo Doo

Way back when...seems like yesterday but a life time has passed. I had the opportunity to go to lunch with some old friends, I wish I had taken pictures of everyone. Paulette, Patty, Patty me and Teresa.

After high school, me and Teresa, aka Monk Doo Doo, worked together at Zions Bank in St. George, we had not seen each other since we both got married almost 30 years ago. What an awesome reunion for us. It seemed like almost no time had passed, although we have both lived many adventures and lifetimes. Very special, I love her tons.

Kicking off the day I got to spend a couple hours with Patty GB and what a treat to be able to wander through her old homestead, such great memories came flooding back as some things sparked times or memories and brought back pieces of childhood and growing up in the innocence of a small town. She probably doesn't realize how much I love and admire her, it was a treat to spend such great time, thanks Patty!

And Paulette, how do you stay so young looking????

Done!

With my part at least...now it's the tax guy's turn. It feels good to have this part done and with a couple of weeks to spare. The problem with having so many ideas all the time, is that it becomes a nightmare for me at tax time. Annie's Baskets, Strapped4Cash, Ann Anderson Consulting, Sleepy Turtle Ranch, yada yada yada! Back to having some fun!

Jetsetting Dira

On April 7th we will be going to the airport to pick up one kennel full of precious cargo. Dira is coming to the Sleepy Turtle Ranch to join Booner, Tessie and Sadie! We figured as long as the economy is the way it is and home prices are the way they are and the likihood of being able to sell the rest of the horses and the ranch is not great, we'd take advantage of staying here a little longer and convert our chicken condo into a 4 star dog kennel.

Dira is 19 months old, she is a papered German Shepherd, she was born and has been raised in Slovakia, so she speaks Slovakian, yikes! (that might be tough, because we don't!) she's super smart, and is just a couple months younger than Sadie who will turn 2 on April 2.

We are super excited to have her join our family. We will also be adding a male in the next couple of months. It is confirmed that Booner is a grandpa and too old to sire puppies, so his job (and he's the best at it) will be to nanny the puppies when they eventually come along.

There are videos of Dira on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYWgQPoIER0 and also at the website www.eurosportk9.com

Blog Surfing

I was bored last night, so just started hitting the "next blog" link at the top of the page. There were some good ones and some boring ones. This one was pretty funny http://badfrigginhair.blogspot.com I feel a little like a voyeur, but it is an interesting way to pass a little time. Try it, you might like it. Be sure to pass on any good blogs you come across.

Feeling Sick Today

Typically I keep my political views to myself, but today I just can't. I feel nauseous at the passing of the "health care bill" mostly because it is more about egos, socialism, loss of freedom and imposition of a change to my life that I DID NOT want. This sweeping bill has little to do with health care, although that will certainly change (and not for the better) and more about increased government control in our everyday lives.

I'm wondering if so many people are out of work, where will the money come from to pay for this stuff and why isn't there at least as much focus on creating jobs and putting people back to work. I'm sure that our illustrious political boneheads are busy slapping each other on the backs this morning and I cannot look at one more smug shot of obama or one more silly teary eyed shot of bidden. Their work is just beginning, the bill is apparently so bad that it will take a truck load of "fixes" to even get it close to what people thought they were voting on and what about all the back room deals, what is that going to cost me???? And what will they focus in on now...the people who didn't vote with them, will they be crucified now? I guess the over 50% of us who thought this was a bad idea don't really count....

Attached to the bill was also the government take over of the student lending industry forcing schools and students to now borrow directly from the national treasury, that's another $60+ billion (bet you didn't see or hear about that)and another hit to the education system in this country... But more than that, it is my (and your) tax dollars again on the line. I have recently started back to work and I am less than enthusiastic knowing that a bigger chunk will be coming out of my paycheck to subsidize all this "stuff" that is being passed. I am sick to death of subsidizing people who refuse to work, refuse to step up and take care of themselves and who continually bottom feed through life. I know I should be looking for the positive spin on things (and I will eventually get there) but right now I am so MAD I can barely stand being in the same room with myself. What is wrong with us that we are not doing more to stop this and what the HECK is wrong with our country? If I wanted socialized medicine I would move to Canada, if I wanted the government to run every aspect of my life I could move to Russia. I don't believe that having everything, including health care is a right...it's something you have the priviledge to work for and provide for yourself (or not). In fairness, I do understand things like pre-existing conditions, I'm not saying we shouldn't fix things, I'm just saying it's not the job of the federal government to dictate (hello Hitler!) it to us.

Great Balls of Fire!

What a FUN day! I got up early, got my walk in, had PANCAKES, then headed out to the airport. I ran into my old flying buddies out there who were heading down to Pueblo for lunch. They invited me to fly along, but they were ready to go and I was just getting there, so I decided to not go this time and just fly around the city. I taxi'd down to the self serve pumps for some jet fuel, topped off the tanks and then waited in line with everyone else for my take off sequence. Finally....373WD cleared for take off 1-7-left. A nice take off into the plane dotted sky and the Springtime bumps....

After I landed, I was getting ready to push my plane back into the hangar when a voice behind me about scared the doo out of me. It was my hangar neighbor, Joe. I hadn't seen him for awhile either so after he helped my push my plane in, he asked if I wanted to go flying with him...in his WW2 Sea Fury!!! I didn't hesitate, I said yes so fast it made him laugh....Strapped in, parachutes on, headsets working, briefing on what to do in an emergency...check!

And we are off! It was SO AWESOME! We were looking for a friend's grass landing strip south of Elbert. When he would turn we'd be at a 90 degree angle to the ground...YIKES! We heard his friend on the radio and he guided us to the landing strip where we did some low flyovers...I'm talking 10-15 feet off the ground. At the end of one of low passes, we went into a roll! I did the YEE HAW and felt pure exhilaration! He asked if I wanted to do some more rolls, ABSOLUTELY! So we got clearance in the air space and flew some loops, rolls and point rolls. LOVED IT!

When we landed (which was much too soon for me) he invited me to tag along back to the friends place with a few other pilots, including his son, JP. I went and it was a really fun afternoon. I had to leave about the time the chicken and Brats were coming off the grill, I hadn't planned this adventure and needed to get home to cook dinner there. What a fun day, I am still smiling....Life IS Good!

Tribute

I've put off writing this entry for a couple of weeks, partly because it is so personal to me and partly because it makes things that much more real. February 25th marked the 1 year anniversary of Susan's passing. Today while I was out for my morning walk, I knew it was time to do this. I loved Susan as my friend for a lot of reasons, amongst them:

She kept me honest
She was completely different in many ways from me, but we still had deep common ground
She was as stubborn as she was compassionate
We shared a "secret box"
She would always be there for me, even during the times I wasn't there for her
We shared the longing for...and the pain of not having...children of our own.
We also shared incredible relationships with our nieces
She understood why I was always doing something...trying to fill a hole that can never be filled
She let me be me and I her, we respected the differences and the quirks and the boundaries


Most people thought we were an odd friendship, but most didn't understand the bond that we had and still have.

I still see her rolling her eyes at me and I miss her...

This is how we roll

Out on a walk, with Sebastian in tow. He follows on the ground a lot but he likes to hitch a ride as well. For some reason it is always my left shoulder. Guess that leaves my right arm free to throw the ball for Sadie, an activity that doesn't seem to affect Sebastian in the least. Crazy Cat, Crazy Gal.

Seb and Tessie taking a break.

Still awhile until Spring

For us we still have a few weeks left, but it doesn't keep me from getting a little bit of Spring fever. It is a balmy 52 degrees here today and a little overcast. Seems like a year since Hawaii...

The good news is we will be in Hurricane for a week at the end of the month, YEA!!