Catching Up

I’ve not posted because I’ve been in a sales conference most of the week.

Not that things haven’t happened, they have.

So here’s a random posting just to catch y’all up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s muggy here in San Antonio.

I am a hormonal, menopausal woman.

Heat and hormonal, menopausal women do not mix.

If you don’t believe me, get yo’ butt down here and watch me in action.

If ThatManILove even sees a trace of a bead of sweat above my lip, he tries to attack me...says, “Oh, honey, c’mere, I just gotta have a hug right now.”

He thinks it’s hilarious.  When he starts walking towards me and I’m in the throes of a hot flash, I swear my head rotates on my neck just like Reagan’s did in “The Exorcist.”

And still he persists.

He is pretty funny!

Did I say it’s muggy in San Antonio?

But at night, the weather has been lovely.  We’ve had some visitors while we’re here, and have met with some friends for dinner.

So far, a great time...and at the sales conference, I’ve met tons of my co-workers, which is also a great thing!

I’ll post some of the fun stuff in the next couple of days.

Happy trails ‘til then!

Anybody have a swimming pool filled with ice cubes?  If so, I'm in.  But I'm wearing my swimsuit.

Things I See on My Travels - Part 2

Y'all know me...I'm always looking for the cool and unusual.

I don't know if this qualifies, theoretically.  I hadn't even finished reading it when I experienced a hot flash in sympathy.

I hate that.

Whoever Designed This Sticker Never Experienced Menopause

Finding Friday

I found this sweet planter at an antiques mall, one of those consignment-type malls.  I don't think it's antique, but I DO think it's cool!  And a mere $34 bucks, to boot.  It's taller than me.

I LOVE it and I can't wait until it's filled with spring flowers, trailing down the sides. 


Yummy.


What did you find on Friday?

It's fun to find cool stuff!

Things I See on My Travels - part 1

Sometimes, ya know, a picture speaks a thousand words.  And this picture gives a whole new meaning to BabyPhonics....when you're raised in West Texas, that is.  I mean, "thayut i-ah-ssss....".

I just can't make this stuff up.  Ahhhh swaaaarrrre.

The Buzz....in the Wall....in my House....

If you’ve been following my blog, you already know I didn’t sleep last night.

I heard a noise in one of my interior walls in my house, and told ThatManILove about it.  He had me call the electrician this morning, and they came out about 9:45 a.m.  I was in a meeting, so had my friend Martha come open the door and show them the wall.

Could they hear a freakin’ thing?

No.

They called me, and told me so.   It turns out that one of the electricians has recently married one of my good friends, and he recognized my name.  I immediately felt better. I had a brain wave, and asked him to do something for me.  Two things, exactly.

ThatManILove has installed security lights in the trees, and around the perimeter of our house.    He has these lights on a timer.  Unfortunately, one of our trees is so tall, and the electricians put a light waaaayyyyyy up in the top.  And that light...was out.

So, here were my requests.

 Will you please go up in the attic and check things out, just to make sure nothing’s wrong?

And will you check all the lights around the house, and in that tree, and make sure that they are all working?  Change out the burned-out lights?

The electrician went up in the attic, and nothing was buzzing or humming. 

So, they went to work on the security lighting.  And turned them on to test them.

And guess what?

They heard the noise. 

In the wall.

THEY HEARD THE NOISE!

They started tracing the problem, and found it was tied to the security lights.  Whenever the original electricians had installed the lighting, they had run the wires into the house, and had attached them to one of the studs at the front of the house.  

Over time, the attachment thingy had worked its way loose from the stud, and in some sort of “the thigh bone is connected to the leg bone” way, 30’ down the wall, was causing another stud to vibrate.

And thusly, the mystery of the vibrating buzzing “Oh my God I hope it’s not a short!” wall was served.

And I can breathe again.

Thanks, Clint, for pushing through and finding the solution.

And thanks, Lord, for putting the right electrician at my house today.  I am thankful.

It's Wednesday night (though this will post Thursday morning).  My dogs are snoring.  And I'm tired. So, now, I'm gonna try to go to sleep.  And while I sleep, maybe another miracle will happen, and I'll wake up looking like that picture of that beautiful girl I posted yesterday.

Blessings to each of you, and thanks for your comments.

Sleep.  Sleep.  I need sleep.

I...Didn't Sleep At All Last Night.

It’s 3 a.m., and I can’t sleep.

Tylenol PM at 10 p.m. - check.

Melatonin at 1:30 a.m. - check.

Wide awake at 3 a.m. - check.

It’s been a busy week, and I’m already tired.  Tomorrow, or should I say today, is hump day.  Halfway through the week.  

I’m almost asleep, and my mind just replays the past two days, every conversation, every thought, and plays on my insecurities.

Insecurities?  Like I have freakin’ time to have insecurities.  I don’t.  Have time, that is.

That man I love is out of town until tomorrow night.  It will be good to have him home. 

Today, I noticed a buzzing in the wall, I think it’s electrical.  I told him about it tonight, and he said, “Babe.  Call an electrician first thing in the morning.  It could be a short.”

i told him I would, we finished our phone call, and then I thought, “Crap. I bet it’s freezing in the morning and I won’t be able to get an electrician.  And then, what if it is a short?  What if the house burns down?”

Yeah.  Really conducive to sleep.

Guess I’ll make up sleep tomorrow night - after my 7 am breakfast run, and 8:30 meeting, then scheduling appointments for the next week, then a 3 p.m. conference call.  I feel like every part of me is s.c.r.e.a.m.i.n.g.  Here's proof.

Ayyyyyy!  Such is mi vida loca.

I only wish I looked that good on a bad hair day!

Come Fly With Me

I’m so excited.

I recieved notification that I qualified for my Southwest Airlines “companion pass” today.

And people, that’s no easy feat.

Basically, what this means is that ThatManILove can travel anywhere I go on Southwest Airlines for $5 per trip.  That’s a deal and a half.

Here’s the email I sent him:

"Subject:  Yahoooooooo!  Rapid Rewards Companion Pass Qualification...

I didn't think I'd made it.  Now...you'd better be nice and come home more often or I'll find another companion to fly the friendly skies with....like Becky.  Or Connie.  Or Tamra.  

And you know that will COST YOU MONEY....

love ya"

He has not responded.  But he will, because he knows one thing - girls hanging together means shopping.  Or worse yet, gambling.

Hunting Photography from February 5

Told y'all I went hunting!  Here are some shots of Zanna the Wonderdog hard at work yesterday...doing what she loves best, pointing and retrieving chukkar, pheasant, and quail.

Bird up!

Zanna going after it...

Zanna bringing the bird back...

Almost home!

Zanna bringing the bird to Andy

Zanna on point again

And bringing back her bird.

Bird flushed

Hunter bearing down

Shot and falling...

Still falling...

And Zanna bringing it back.

It's a big one!

What a fun day!

Beautiful!!

Hunting - What A Girl Does Best...

Zack The Wonderdog - Stitches, Take Two

A week ago Thursday, I received a call from my dog trainer, Andy, who had current custody of Zack and Zanna the Wonderdogs while I was traveling.

Andy and Zack had been hunting, and Zack went after a felled chukkar.  When he retrieved it to hand, Andy noticed that there was quite a bit of blood.  He examined the bird, and then looked at Zack.

Zack had somehow sliced his leg, down the front, just above the wrist of his paw.  He even sliced into the muscle.  We don’t know if he hit a mesquite thorn, some barbed wire, or just a sharp branch.  But slice it, he did.  He layed that sucker open.  Andy rushed Zack to the vet in Big Spring.  The vet sedated Zack, and stitched up muscle and skin.  My sweet dogsitter Casey drove to Big Spring and picked Zack up, brought him home, and gave him sweet loving care until I could fly home.

We’ve kept him quiet, no walks around the neighborhood, no climbing trees, and he’s been grounded from the dog park.  We had to give that muscle time to heal.  He's been such a good dog, dealing with his quiet time with grace (and good drugs!).

Today at lunch, I took Zack to my local vet to get the stitches out.  I was pleased to see that Zack’s hair was growing back full and the incision was straight and clean.  My vet took out the stitches.  I asked about rebandaging the wound, but doc decided that since the incision had healed and hair was growing back, to leave it unbandaged.  He thought Zack would leave it alone.

Casey went by the house to check on Zack this afternoon, and this is what she found.

She texted me this picture, then called me immediately,  more than a little upset and panicked.  I called the vet to let them know we were en route, and asked Casey to load Zack and meet me at the vet’s office.  How did this happen?  We should have bandaged his leg  back up.  Zack was doing what any dog will do -  self-healing by licking, and broke the incision wide open again.

So our darling Zack spends another night at the vet, post surgery, and tomorrow, we’ll start this process all over again.  We will bandage post-stitch removal, I promise.

Pray for our sweet Wonderdog, will you?  He told* me today he’d rather be hunting than taking all these antibiotics and pain pills.  And though he likes the cool colors of VetWrap, he’d rather be au naturel. Because he's gorgeous without VetWrap, "don't ya know, Mom? I don't need any decoration."

I told him to quit licking his wounds - they’d heal a lot quicker if he did it our way.

He looked at me with that “Oh, Mom, puh-lease” look.

*Yes, my dogs talk.  Don't yours?

Got Gas?

It’s cold in my little corner of the desert.  Way cold.

ThatManILove has been freezing his butt off out in the field, but at least he has accommodations on location. 

Zanna the WonderDog has been working with her trainer.  Hopefully, she’ll return home tomorrow.  

Zack the WonderDog slit his leg open last week hunting, so he’s been recuperating at the house.  He gets his stitches out tomorrow.

So...with Zanna and ThatManILove out of town, Zack has been taking full advantage of sleeping in my bed.  And to be honest, he’s been a welcome source of heat as wind chill takes us 5 degrees below zero the last couple of days.   Us West Texans just don’t know how to operate when it’s that cold, ya know?

So, yeah, when I’m home, I’m glad Zack’s all cuddled up beside me.  Well, most of the time.

When he has gas?

Oh. My.

It. Is. Horrible.

I want to wake him up, and banish him to his kennel immediately;  however, the damage is already done.

And it’s cold.

But I told you that already.

Hormonal Weather

What a beautiful day!


It got to 72 degrees today here in my small town, in the West of Texas.  ThatManILove is out on a job, so I met a girlfriend for supper at McAlister's Deli.  Trying to stay on my purely healthy salad for dinner diet (oh yeah on my best day) and most days, it's working.


And while we were at the restaurant, I turned around, looked through the window, saw the highly touted "cold front" come in.  I remarked to my friend, "I see that front is almost here - but there is no wind.  What's pushing that sucker?"


And before I could finish my sentence, that sucker, Ol' Man Winter, came in all-abluster.  Oh, yes, he did.
Before we left, 30 minutes later, the temperature had dropped 25 degrees.


And while ago, it started snowing.  In one day, our temps have gone from 72 to 27.  That's worse than the mood swings of any hormonal woman I know.


Wait.  Did I say that?


I know not of which I speak.  (Can you pass me that washtowel, please?  I need to wipe my forehead.  Feeling a little clammy...)

C'mon, snow day.  C'mon!!  Get thy white, sticky stuff in heah!!

I LOVE Snow...Don't you?