PRO's & CONS of living in the country

PROS

1. In the evening when my husband remembers he left something on in the shop and he takes off outside in his tighty whities, I don't have to be embarrased!

2. My daughter can look like Orphan Annie outside playing in her Minnie Mouse nightgown and no one is here to be judgemental!

3. I can wear a tank top that makes me look completely trashy and shows every "curve" aka FAT ROLL when I want to get a little tan! (my husband already knows what I look like!

4.When I am doing yard work listening to my I pod I can sing along as loud as I want to and it is only my daughter telling me "mom that is not very pretty"

5. I don't have to worry about my child getting abducted if I leave her alone outside for 5 minutes!

6. There is just nothing like the smell of the freshly worked dirt when they are summer fallowing!

7. I really never have to wash my car cause it just gets extremely dirty again right away!

8. Unless they pave all of these roads I will never have to drive one of those ugly ass Toyota Prius's

9. I am able to teach my daughter what it is to work hard to earn what you get!

10. (this one is a true story from just the other evening) when I am mowing and I feel something crawling down my back and I flip out strip off all of my clothing (and I do mean all) and run screaming into the shower,leaving all of my clothing and shoes in the yard. It is just my husband and my daughter left there shaking their heads and thinking I am in fact crazy!


CONS

1. After living in Billings I got really used to just running to any store I wanted when I was out of something, I have a hard time planning meals in advance so I never have what I need when I need it. I always forget something!

2. Snakes- I don't care if they aren't poisonous they are still CREEPY and I am terrified!

3. DUST- I know everyone has dust but we will talk at the end of the summer during harvest and the combines and trucks are driving through my yard, that is an entirely different sort of dusting problem!!

4. The Dog refuses to wear a collar of any sort, be it flea or anything! And it takes a couple of us to coax him into any vehicle because he just knows we are gonna make him go back to that fenced in yard in Billings!

5. I almost refuse to drive home from town by myself after dark because I am terrified of the dark! I mean TERRIFIED! Always have been, and then the movie The Hills Have Eyes had a horrible effect on my mental stability!

6. Sitting on an The Navy Base in Everett Wa, waiting for my Brothers ship to come in. My daughter has to go to the bathroom so I go to take her to the porta potties and she loudly exclaims " I WANT TO POOP OUTSIDE"!!! NICE Not embarrassing at all.

7. My 3 year old daughter's best friend is a stick! She named.... stick! Because she really doesn't have anyone her age to play with! The dog and the girl constantly fight over "stick" the dog wants you to throw it and the girl gets all defensive yelling at the dog because it is her Best Friend and she loves him!

8. The ROADS- But I get to yell at my dad about that, so it makes it almost worth it!

Ok so just a quick post! I am in Everett WA i am having a wonderful time despite the half sick kid sleeping beside me! I get to bring my brother home for a couple of weeks, I got to see my good friend Sherina, and I may have had one to many cocktails in the Hotel Bar! TEEHEE! Anywho it is gorgeous country out here and I will hopefull post some pictures and Blog some more later! Have I mentioned I LOVE to travel!!

Top Ten rules of being a ranch wife!!

This is super funny and very true!!


by Gina Curry of Working Ranch magazine

1. Always load your horse last in the trailer so it is the first one to jump out. By the time he's got his horse unloaded you will have your cinch pulled and be mounted up ready to go - lessening the chance of him riding off without you with your horse trying to follow while you are still trying to get your foot in the stirrup.

2. Never - and I repeat - ever believe the phrase "We'll be right back," when he has asked you to help him do something out on the ranch. The echoing words, "this will only take a little while" have filtered through the willing ears of generations of ranch wives and still today should invoke sincere distrust in the woman who hears them.

3. Always know there is NO romantic intention when he pleadingly asks you to take a ride in the pckup with him around the ranch while he checks water tanks and looks at cattle. What that sweet request really means is he wants someone to open the gates.

4. He will always expect you to quickly be able to find one stray in a four-section brush-covered pasture, but he will never be able to find the mayonnaise jar in four-square feet of refrigerator.

5. Count every head of everything you see - cattle, especially, but sometimes horses, deer, quail or whatever moves. Count it in the gate, out the gate or on the horizon. The first time you don't count is when he will have expected that you did. That blank eyelash-batting look you give him when he asks "How many?" will not be acceptable.

6. Know that you will never be able to ride a horse or drive a pickup to suit him. Given the choice of jobs, choose throwing the feed off the back of the pickup. If he is on the back and you are driving, the opportunity for constant criticism of speed, ability and your eyesight will be utilized to the full extent. "How in the dickens could you NOT see that hole?"

7. Never let yourself be on foot in the alley when he is sorting cattle horseback. When he has shoved 20 head of running, bucking, kicking yearlings at you and then hollers "Hold 'em, hold 'em" at the top of his lungs, don't think that you really can do it without loss of life or limb. Contrary to what he will lead you to believe, walking back to the house is always an option that has been used quite successfully by ranch wives throughout time.

8. Don't expect him to correctly close the snap-on tops on the plastic refrigerator containers, but know he will expect you to always close every gate. His reasoning, the cows wll get out; the food will not.

9. Always praise him when he helps in the kitchen - the very same way he does when you help with the ranch work - or not.

10. Know that when you step out of the house you move from the "wife" department to "hired hand" status. Although the word "hired" indicates there will be a paycheck that you will never see, rest assured you will have job security. The price is just right. And most of the time you will be "the best help he has" even if it is because you are the ONLY help he has.

Mayonaise Jar & Two Beers

Mayonnaise Jar &Two Beers...
 
When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 Beers.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.
 
When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.
  He then asked the students if the jar was full.
  They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.
  The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.
  He then asked the students again if the jar was full.
  They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
  Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
  He asked once more if the jar was full.
  The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.
  The students laughed..

'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
 
  The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else---the small stuff.
 
 
'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
 
  The same goes for life.
  If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.  

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
 
 
Spend time with your children.
  Spend time with your parents.
  Visit with grandparents.
  T ake time to get medical checkups.
  Take your spouse out to dinner.
  Play another 18..
  There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.
  Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter.
  Set your priorities.
 
  The rest is just sand.
 
  One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented.
  The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.'

The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.


 
LIFE ISN'T ABOUT WAITING FOR THE STORM TO PASS...
...IT'S LEARNING HOW TO DANCE IN THE RAIN
 

His High Blood Pressure is going to kill ME

So yesterday my wonderful husband hauled wheat to Pompeys Pillar (I know, we wait until the price goes completely to crap and then we sell it) Anyhow on the way back he stopped by walmart to pick up a few things. He stopped by the Blood Pressure chair thingy they have there and his Blood Pressure was a touch high, just a touch not yet to Hypertension or anything like that! But Harold being the big fat Hypocondriac he is, gets home hauls in like 5 or 6 5 gallon jugs of water, checks his blood pressure again and of course it is even higher! So this gets his very parpanoid mind a workin, and he starts "researching" High Blood Pressure online. (never a good idea for a hypocondriac)! He does stumble onto the Prilosec (for indegestion, which he takes every other day) site, and it says right there in Big letters that it may cause High Blood Pressure, Heart Palpatations and something else... oh yeah anal seepage LOL I am totally kidding on that last part.
So to the point of this story he calls me at work just convinced that the makers of Prilosec are on a mission to give him High B.P and he just knows he is gonna die. So he does what any rational person would do he decides to stop taking it! A OK. So now he checks his Blood Pressure at least once an hour and it is all over the place of course after working outside, after taking a nap, or wrestling with MaKenzie, IT IS GONNA BE DIFFERENT! All in all it is averaging on the High side of NORMAL. So what does he do he goes through every type of food we have and checks sodium levels on everything and decides we won't buy this stuff anymore.
So I get home from work this morning and he makes me check my Blood Pressure (I always run on the very low side of Normal) and i did again today only today it is quite a bit lower than my normal B.P. within reason of Normal. So I did tell him since mine is so low, if I gave up all the salt, the smoking, and all the fun stuff I might just Die cause then my B.P would drop drasticly. LOL. I CAN find the bright side of any situation!!!

Sweet Little Girl? Not in this house

Can any of you please please tell me, at what point exactly did my daughter go from sweet little baby girl, to such a mean little kid? Now don't get me wrong, my daughter is not Horrible by any sense of the word! She just went from very nice, quite shy and quiet. To telling old ladies to "SHUT UP YOUR SO ANNOYING" in the store. (the sad part was is it took everything I had not to laugh because this certain old Lady is not very.... oh how do I say this nicely, well she is a BITCH!!!) Well at least Carol Williams thought this was funny and I think it made her whole day!
I was all prepared for the terrible 2's and was surprised to find out they are not that bad, it is the horrible awful 3's nobody ever told me about! Thanks friends much appreciation for the heads up!!!
So yesterday she decided she was the mamma and she was feeding me some pretzels a few into it she pats me on the head and says "GOOD COW"! Let's just say I was kinda speechless! Oh Lord i could go on for hours about some of the "GREAT THINGS" my daughter does and says now but I would be here for Hours! Feel free to offer any advice, or stories from your children.

What is Normal after your child dies?

Normal is having tears waiting behind every smile when you realize someone important is missing from all the important events in your
family's life.

Normal is trying to decide what to take to the cemetery for Birthdays, X-mas, Thanksgiving, New Years, Valentine's Day, July 4th.

Normal is feeling like you can't sit another minute without getting up and screaming, because you just don't like to sit through anything anymore.

Normal is not sleeping very well because a thousand what if's & why didn't I's go through your head constantly.

Normal is reliving the accident continuously through your eyes and mind, holding your head to make it go away.

Normal is having the TV on the minute you walk into the house to have noise, because the silence is deafening.

Normal is staring at every boy who looks like he is my sons age. And then thinking of the age he'd would be now. Then wondering why it is even important to imagine it, because it will never happen.

Normal is every happy event in your life always being backed up with
sadness lurking close behind, because of the hole in your heart.

Normal is telling the story of your child's death as if it were
an everyday, commonplace activity, and then seeing the horror in
someone's eyes at how awful it sounds. And yet realizing it has
become a part of your "normal."

Normal is each year coming up with the difficult task of how to honor your childs's memory and their birthdays and survive these days. And trying to find the balloon or flag that fit's the occasion. Happy Birthday? Not really.

Normal is my heart warming and yet sinking at the sight of something special he would have loved. Thinking how he would love it, but how he is not here to enjoy it.

Normal is having some people afraid to mention my son. Normal is making sure that others remember him.

Normal is after the funeral is over everyone else goes on with their lives, but we continue to grieve our loss forever.

Normal is weeks, months, and years after the initial shock, the grieving gets worse, not better.

Normal is not listening to people compare anything in their life to this loss, unless they too have lost a child. Nothing compares.

NOTHING.

Even if your child is in the remotest part of the earth away from you - it doesn't compare.

Losing a parent is horrible, but having to bury your own child is unnatural.

Normal is taking pills, and trying not to cry all day, because you know your mental health depends on it.

Normal is realizing you do cry everyday.

Normal is being impatient with everything and everyone but someone stricken with grief over the loss of their child.

Normal is sitting at the computer crying, sharing how you feel with chat buddies who have also lost a child.

Normal is not listening to people make excuses for G-d.
"G-d may have done this because…"

I would like to believe that my son is in "heaven," but hearing people trying to think up excuses as to why a fantastic young man was taken from this earth is not appreciated and makes absolutely no sense to this grieving mother.

Normal is being too tired to care if you paid the bills, cleaned the house, did the laundry or if there is any food.

Normal is wondering this time whether you are going to say you have two children or one child, because you will never see this person again and it is not worth explaining that my son is dead.
And yet when you say you have one child to avoid that problem, you feel horrible as if you have betrayed the dead child.

Normal is asking G-d why he took your child's life instead of yours and asking if there even is a G-d.

Normal is knowing you will never get over this loss, not in a day nor a million years.

Normal is having therapists agree with you that you will never "really" get over the pain and that there is nothing they can do to help you because they know only bringing back your child back from the dead could possibly make it "better."

Normal is learning to lie to everyone you meet and telling them you are fine. You lie because it makes others uncomfortable if you cry. You've learned it's easier to lie to them then to tell them the truth that you still feel empty and it's probably never going to get any better -- ever.

And last of all...

Normal is hiding all the things that have become "normal" for you to
feel, so that everyone around you will think that you are "normal."