The Circle Continues

There are moments in life that words cant express. Well, I never seem to run out of words to express myself but hubby is a quiet man. He doesnt say much and he certainly doesnt talk about his feelings or emotions. So its lucky for him I am always armed with my camera so I can capture those nonexistent emotions on his face!

The look on his face in that picture is the proudest I think I have ever seen him.

Horses are an major part of our life. Not only are they a key "tool" for working on the ranch, they are friends, therapist (for me and him though he will never admit it) and occasionally (until the age of about 9) babysitters. Our kids are around horses from the time they are born and our horses know the kids. This is how hubby was raised, its how I wish I was raised and it is how our children are being raised.

I dont think there is anything that could have made my cowboy any happier and more proud in life then taking his son on his first horseback ride. Except for the fact that our Little Man obviously has the "horse fever" as he loved it as much as his daddy did.

And that is how the circle continues.

Old Married Woman

Yep, thats me. I wish I could deny it. Well, the old part, but it's true. I have officially become an old married woman.

I am super excited that hubby bought me a new vaccum cleaner!!

I have killed, and yes, killed, dead, finineto one and am currently working on finishing off the second one. I do not blame myself however I am sure that hubby does to a point. Judging by the looks I get when he is sitting on the floor "fixing" them over and over, I can rest assured, he does blame me. I can't help the dog fur or the sand tracked in, however I probably could have paid a little closer attention to the paper clips, Barbie shoes, or the stringy thingy that got wrapped up and somehow managed to create a wicked burning smell minus smoke.

After walking in our house last week to the mixed aroma of something burning and Febreeze, he sat down and bought me a new one. Not brand NEW, but new to me. Used off of eBay but I am super excited. It even have a shampooer!

Hopefully this one has a much longer life expectancy then the rest of them. There is a vaccum doctor that specializes in the brand of my new cleaning partner in North Platte, so there is hope for professional intervention should this one have a mishap with a Barbie shoe. I wonder if they will give me the same look hubby does??

Language Barrier

My husband and I do not speak the same language. I know, NEWSFLASH!!! But no, seriously in this case, we do not speak the same language. I speak Midwestern Michigan and he speaks Great Plains Sandhills. We do both speak English, which is helpful. At times.


For example out here we have breakfast, dinner and supper. No Lunch. Well, do have lunch but it isnt called lunch. Lunch is dinner and dinner is supper. Throughly confused. Yep, me to and its almost been a year.


Thankfully, hubby and I are not the only couple afflected with this problem. Most of the "imported" significant others grew up eating LUNCH at noon and DINNER at 6. From Oregon to South Dakota to Michigan. Maybe its the Sandhillers who got it backwards.


Another example was provided to be my our Pastor. He is from New England yet has been here for years and he still faces the language barrier. His example was when he told his congregation that Easter dinner/supper was "dish to pass". He was met with looks of confusion until someone caught on and informed him it was called "carry in" here.


My favorite example of course involves my husband and a simple conversation of evening plans for a few days down the road. I told him we were "going to have dinner at the bar after I got back into town from picking up the girl scout cookies."


"OK" was the response. So I figured communication had happened. His receptors had successfully received my the message.


Speach Class 115....whoohooo...I DID learn something in college!


Fast forward 2 days and I am cleaning out the horse trailer at 1145am the day of cookie pick up, which didnt start until 5pm and he knew this because I had ask/begged him to drive the trailer down with me to get the cookies. He comes out to the trailer and says "Are you ready?"


"Ready for what?" Thinking "do I look ready for ANYTHING".....I am cleaning out a horse trailer that hasnt been cleaned in MONTHS and during that time has hauled horses, cows, pissed off cows and random lost calves. In nonranch wife terms (pardon my language): it was full of shit. Literally.


"Ready for dinner?"


Uh oh....message may have been received by his receptors but it was an inaccurate message on my part.


Language barrier.

"Uhhh...oops. I meant supper." He just shook his head, went into the house and proceeded to make his own dinner.


Of course there is more to that situation then just Midwestern Michigander vs. Great Plains Sandhiller speach. There is the concept that if, just IF, hubby had listened to the entire conversation about dinner/supper and meeting in town AFTER the cookies had been picked up at 5pm he MIGHT have figured it out then. He could have decoded the message he received.


Alas that is a whole different chapter in the on-going language barrier between men and women.

Empress of the Universe

That has always been my goal in life. Well, according to my family that is. I want to be in control. I want to be the one with my finger on "the button". You know, "the button" that once it is pushed crazy things happen, like small countries made of sand turn into skating rinks and stupid people are eradicated from the population.

Yep, that "button".

That was in my 20's and now that I am officially in my 30's I have come to my senses and realized that 1) I am not that mean of a person and 2) that is way to much power for my emotional unstability (especially when pregnant) and 3) I would feel really bad and I try to live my life without regrets. I think I would probably regret demolishing a small country.

Though I can think of one or two that would probably make life alot easier for the rest of the world but that could be my preggo hormones talking again.

Anyhoo, recently Stinkerbell informed us that "when I am president I will stop people from tearing down trees. That is mean and unfair to the trees."

This is an innocent enough statement form my little environmentalist however the ensuing stomping of feet, hands on hips and shaking of head let me know that mini-me's emotions are kicking into high gear.

She took off to save the trees (and the dolphins but after she helped hubby feed the calves) and I thought about the "when I am President" part of the conversation. My mind wandered back to all the plans I had for "the button" and I instantly got scared. I was scared for the world. I thought back to the drama of cleaning her room, the yelling and screaming involved with the possiblity of a skunk within' 3 mile radius of the house. I was faced with a dilemma......one that parents should never have to make..... do you support your child in all their hopes and dreams or protect the world from her temper tantrums?

Today she helped me make the agonizing decision. Today, she destroyed her lunch and lunch box after a classmate announced that there was a Mountain Lion in town. For some reason, after the town crier made his announcement she felt it necessary to throw the lunch box onto the ground and stomp on it, breaking the plastic sandwhich container which had her noodles in it AND breaking open the Go-Gurt. Of course, then the town crier had to come outside and let me know what she did, so I investigated and this time, they were not exaggerating the damage.

Yes.....if that is what happens when an unreliable source tells her there is a Mountain Lion in town can you imagine what would happen if a reliable source gave her information and "the button" was in reach.

She could possibly restructure the geography of the world map.

I think it would be safer for all involved if she stayed with her original plan of being a vet. I know for a fact she wouldnt hurt an animal. When she questions WHY I dont think her being the leader of the most powerful country in the world is the best occupation for her I will remind her of her noodles covered in Go-Gurt that she is having for lunch today.

What a difference a year makes

WOW! One year ago today all our hopes and prayers were answered and our dreams were finally within reasonable reach. One year ago today after 16 months of discussion, and 6 weeks of sleepless nights and tears and bargaining with God and everyone else in the world, we finally got what we wanted all along.


One year ago today we were granted permission to relocate to Nebraska and bring Stinkerbell with us.

While this was everything we had wanted, like anything else, it came with consequences. For us personally, we lose precious time with Stinkerbell in the summertime. For Stinkerbell, she loses precious time with the other half of her family. Both are things that we knew were going to be challenging to face however were something that was necessary.

Was it necessary? Yes, I believe it was necessary. For all of us. Change is never easy and this was no exception, however the hardest things in life often reap the greatest rewards. Stinkerbell is thriving here! She loves school, has a great group of friends and is growing into the young lady I aways hoped she would be. Would this have happened in Michigan as well? Probably, but she wouldnt be the same kid with the same freedoms she has here. She asks me to take her into town to ride bikes with the kids. She wouldnt be able to have that option in MI. It wasnt safe enough. She sat after school and chatted with the junior high girls while watching high school track practice. She performed in the school talent show, and I know for a fact that would not have happened in Michigan. She is losing her shyness and inhibitions, becoming herself. Thats all any parent can ask or hope for.

As for hubby and I....I honestly believe that if we had not been able to make the move back to NE, our marriage would have suffered. He wasnt happy in MI. He never would be. He isnt someone you can stick in a big town and have work in retail and be happy. However, he did it and he did it for us. There isnt more you can ask for in a husband then someone who will sacrifice the only life they have ever known to be with you. For that, I will forever be thankful.

As for me, well, most of you know how I feel about the Sandhills. The magic of the sand got into my blood and helped me realize the person I truely am inside. I dont care about make up or fashion (well, a little about fashion). I care about my family and friends, about the ranch and the animals on it. I care about being the best mom I can be, the best mom I can be and the best friend and family member I can be. The distractions of life in the fast lane of MI are gone, so I can just be me.

Again, what more can a person ask for.

Spring Storms

Storms are part of springtime. Most of the time, I dont mind them to much. I love a good thunderstorm at night, when I can snuggle up close to hubby and watch the lightening out the bedroom window. And I love the crispness of the air after a good down pour.

In Michigan, the weather man says "watches and warnings for this time and this area" and usually, they are on target within a few minutes. The skies darken, the thunder rumbles, rain and then its done.

Thats not exactly how we roll in the Sandhills.

For starters, I dont have any local television stations to tune, nor do I have a weather radio or regular radio to turn into therefore we rely on The Weather Channel and weather.com. And our eyes. Without trees in the way we get the priviledge of watching the storms build before they hit. The typically clear blue skies will have a dark shadow of clouds in the distance and for most of the day, you can watch them roll on in over the hills.

Its something neat to see. Unless you have an over-active imagination, which I have been told (accused) of having on more then a few occasions. THEN the thunderstorm I have been hoping for all after noon has, in my mind, turned into gale force winds, hail, lightening and tornados.

Oh wait...that is exactly what we had yesterday!!!!!

The winds started Monday night and blew ALL DAY TUESDAY at 50+ mph. I have friends who lost shingles off their roofs and tin from their barns, one lost her swing set and a chiminea (not sure if the swing set is why she lost the chiminea, but I know the wind was involved). Forget about branches and trees because in wind like that, they dont stand a chance.

I prayed all day for the wind to stop...as did most everyone in the county. Especially when we heard about 2 range fires that were burning and the wind certainly wasnt helping with that.

The clouds were building and the sky to the west was black. Hubby left to go check on some friends who were in the path of the fires, and of course, that left me alone. With a terrible thunderstorm brewing. And my over-active imagination.

I was sitting exactly where I am right now when suddenly I noticed the silence. More then just my sleeping infant. Looking out the window I was shocked to see that the 50+mph winds had stopped. Just like that. No slight die off, no easy breeze blowing. Just stopped.

Moments like that are where the phrase "calm before the storm" rings in my head.

Looking out the other window was when I saw the very low, blacker the black clouds that had placed themselves on the hills just behind our barn.

At this time, my MIL calls, asks if its raining at my place yet, and says "if you feel nervous, come to our house".

Which is exactly what I did. I did remember to turn off and unplug the computer and satellite AND grab a bottle for the baby. I walked out the door and was struck again by the eeriness of the atmosphere. Also by how all our horses had come down from the hills and were staring at the same place, the hills behind the barn. The horses who were in the corrals were also staring and when I looked at my dogs....they were staring there also. Thankfully they were all looking in the opposite direction of where I was going to be headed, so I jumped into my car and left.

Pulled into my MIL drive and she informs me that they just issued a tornado warning for NW Arthur County. Which just happens to be where we live. Great.....now a tornado. Hubby out on the roads somewhere, but at least baby boy and I were not at home alone if something should happen.

Mental note: Buy radio TOMORROW.

The hail hits, the rain comes, the lightening continues and the thunder rolls. The sky is an omnious color but thankfully, no tornado. Hubby calls to make sure we are all ok because he had heard on the radio that the "center of rotation" was located at the highway interchange, which is 4 miles from where we were.

In a matter of an hour, it was all over. Hail covered the yards and roads and my MIL lost a screen, some patio furniture flipped over and a few large tree branches landed on her clothing line but otherwise, we were all good. I got large tree branches and thats about it. On my drive back to my house I noticed that all the cattle were headed back into the hills, which is a good sign. It means that things have calmed down and they can relax. If the cows relax, then I can relax.

Spring storms in the Sandhills are nothing like spring storms in Michigan. The landscape is different so the storms will obviously be different. I am not sure I will ever get used to thunderstorms out here. Even without radios or televison to hold my hand, I have way to much warning for my over-active imagination!

Snakes in the House

Oh here we go. My LEAST favorite time of year. The time of year when baby calves are romping in the fields, colts are kicking up their heels, baby birdies are chirp chirp chirping outside windows in the morning. The air is cool and crisp in the morning (perfect hoodie weather, even over my expanding waist line) but warms up enough that I can open and KEEP OPEN the moon roof on my car.

Spring time.

I should love spring time. It signals new beginnings and fresh starts. It also signals spring cleaning but I choose to ignore that sign.

It also signifiy's infestation. A "Sandhills Epidemic" (I dont need the W.H.O. to help ME proclaim an epidemic or pandemic or anything other kind of demic. I can call this one all on my own.)

Snakes in the House.

Yes, MY FREAKING NIGHTMARE COMES TRUE!!!! Let me start right now that I am NOT a part of this club right now. If I was a member of this club I would not be blogging about it because I do not have a laptop and I am sure it is very hard to type on the desktop while I am sitting on the roof.

The second thing you should know is that I am beyond ridiculous in my fear of snakes. I am the idiot who runs into the house when she steps on a stick and thinks it might be a gardner snake. I am also the moron who hyperventilates when she actually DOES see a gardner snake. I have caused major headaches to my Eagle Scout father (who believes in the snake relocation program....while I believe in the run them over with the lawn mower program). I am a paranoid, irrational freak.

I have accepted this and I am ok with it.

Let me now tell you how this particular blog entry came to be....it all started on Wednesday after a great lunch with hubby in town (gotta love Tracey's roast beef...YUMMY!!!). He mentions we need to go to the feed store in town to get some mouse posion.

"For what?" as neurons in my brain start firing at 2 billion a nanosecond.
"In the barn....we have a slight mouse problem in the barn" He does not make eye contact me with.

He knows how I think. He knows my neurons are irrational and immediatly start putting together the worst case scenario.

Mice means the cats didnt survive the winter. No Cats means mice and mice mean SNAKES. Snakes mean that I dont go anywhere near the barn until he can assure me that they are gone. If I do have to walk down to see the horses, you can bet I will have on jeans and my boots. Even if it is 90 degrees out...totally covered.

If you want to know how bad it could get after I actually SEE a snake then please read my previous blog http://mom2pippa.blogspot.com/2010/02/me-snakes-shotgun-repost.html.

Yep...irrational fool. Thats me.

Fast-forward to this morning. Out of bed at 630. Hubby goes to take a shower and I sit down to check facebook only to find out that my ranchy wifey friend has killed 3 snakes in her coat room. Well her dog and honey have. In typical facebook status fashion people commented back...and my fabulous neighbors and friends all made it known that many of them are currently or have been in the past dealing with the same problem.

Snakes in the House.

I talked to Shawn about this a few weeks ago. Conversation went something like this....

"Are you sure we cant get snakes in the house?"
"Yes"
"How sure?"
"Completely sure"
"Completely 190% you would stake your life....."
"Stop....there are no snakes in the house. There never have been and there never will be. "
"Is that 190% sure?"

As I said before, he was in the shower when I logged into facebook so when I heard the water shut off, I positioned myself by the door and informed him of the discovery.

"We cannot get snakes in the house."
"How do you know?"
"Stop."
"There is that one place on the side of the basement."
"Stop."
"Make sure the screen door stays closed."
"Stop."

Hmmm.....my next plan....my dogs. They love me and are always concerned about my mental well being, especially when hubby does not appear to be. My dogs are also snake killers. Well, one is a proven snake killer and the other, well......he is not "proven". I worry about him thinking Mr. 5 foot bull snake is hissing at him because he wants to play. Did I mention he likes to run around with all his trophies of the animals who like to "play" with him? Yep.....heart attack waiting to happen with Husker.

Junior didnt get a single snake last summer. A rational person would think "yeah!!! no snakes by the house!!!". However I am not a rational person. My neurons say "he only has one eye and loves to sleep in the sun...he just missed them."

I would like to go on notice now as saying that all snakes scare the begeesus out of me, but out here we dont have just little gardner snakes. We have water snakes, which are harmless and like the water (Shawn is in charge of sprinklers in the yard), and the bull snakes. Big snakes with permanment attitude problems. They are non-venemous, as all of them are, but still........BAD ATTITUDES. And BIG. Like 5-6 feet big. They do have rattlers down in the southern part of the county but no one has ever seen any out by us. At least I can be irrational about non-venemous snakes right now....I dont know what I would do if I had a serious, life threatening one around.

I will hold tight to my husband not lying to me. His mom wouldnt either....and she grew up here sleeping in the basement. Never saw a snake in the house. I will also consider keeping the proven snake killer in the house at night to patrol and the other one outside to keep them away from the house.

Bring on the skunks! Bring on the procupines! I can handle a coyote on my roof but I cannot handle the idea of snakes. Especially, snakes in the house.

Oh yes....here we go........

Silversmith Shop

Because I need one more thing to do, right?


Well, right. But this is different...this is more for me than anything else. I love being crafty and artsy but sadly, I am not very blessed when it comes to figuring out how to make things on my own.


Just ask my husband....as he moved in box after box of scrapbooking schtuff and asked me "where are the scrapbooks?"


Umm....1 book and it only has 5 pages done. Yes, she is almost 8. You see the problem....I love to purchase all the stuff to create more beautiful stuff however never really follow through with my plans.


Sidebar: Photo books are my new bestest friend!


My new adventure is starting in the silversmith shop that my in-laws have had for years! I am very excited because 1) as I stated before, I love to make stuff and 2) what girl doesnt love to make jewelry!


Its more then just jewelry that is made in the shop though. Actually, from what I can tell, the jewelry is a small portion of it. Majority of what is made are custom belt buckles.


Yes, the big blingy ones you see given as prizes for winning rodeos.


I'm very excited!! I started last summer learning the looooong process it takes to hand make a buckle. I mean from the basic.....as in cutting out the buckle shape from a piece of sterling silver or nickel. So far, I can frost buckles and I have spent the last 2 days hand cutting letters out of brass for a high school rodeo coming up in May. I learned how to engrave but I am not very good at that yet. Or any good at all really. All I did manage to accomplish was to get the idea while slicing the tips of my fingers open. Alot.


Mental Note: Do NOT run you fingers across the silver to remove the shards. Not good.


The process is fascinating to me being the buckles are always something I have admired. The craftmanship behind them is very cool, and alot more work then I think anyone thinks it is. We dont use computers to cut out anything, and machines dont dont punch holes or engrave anything desgins. Its all hand cut, hand sodered, hand engraved. So much work but such beautiful results!!

Cutting out brass letters is apparently very theraputic. This is a great thing since my perferred form of therapy has four legs, mane and tail and is a little tougher to call upon during pregnancy. Working in the shop gets me doing something that involves using my brain for more then finding a missing shoe or lost pacifer. It certainly doesnt hurt that I can leave the kids with hubby or if I take the little man, he can sit in his swing or in his pack n' play and play. Or grandma and grand-dad wander on over and steal him. Either way, I can sit in peace and quiet and work.

Add in flexible working hours, a short commute and great bosses who double as baby sitters, its all good for me.

I am learning more and more everyday and the more I learn, I cant wait to learn MORE!! More importantly, this is giving me something for me. Something that I can do, create, and see the results. I'm sure most of my mommy friends will agree, you dont always see the results from your hard work at home. The laundry pile never seems to go down. There are always dirty dishes, food to be made, lunch to pack, practice to drive to, bikes to fix, dogs to find, horses to feed, the list goes on and on. Accomplishment is sometimes hard to visibly see.

I can see what I accomplish when I leave the shop.

I love being a mommy and a wife but its important for me to have something and sometime for just myself. Everyone needs it and I happen to have found my hiding place in the silversmith shop. Its my second favorite place to hide, right behind being on the back of a horse.

I got ROLLED!

This is the announcement my husband just gave as he walked in the door.

"Honey, you missed it, I got ROLLED!!"
"You got what?"
"I got rolled."
"By a cow?"
"Yep!!"

Most wives might be shocked by this announcement but I wasnt. However this is not an announcement that would be made in a daily run-down of a typical 9-5 job. But my husband doesnt have a normal 9-5 job. He is a rancher. And if its one thing I have learned about being in a ranching family its that what we consider normal is most likely considered insansity by others. Pride at being hit by a cow would be a good example of that. Most of my "non-ranch" friends wouldnt even roll down the window to look at a cow, let alone get out of the truck. My ranch friends know exactly what I am talking about.

Heck, their husbands would all be just as proud.

The best part is that I saw it coming. I really did. Driving back from taking Stinkerbell to school I saw the "power ranger" in the calving pasture circling a momma that was stomping, flipping her head around and turning in circles faster then 1100lbs should be able to. Her baby was running away as fast as his day old legs would take him.

You would be very surprised how fast day old legs can more when they want to.

I thought to myself "oh she doesnt look happy". And I was correct.

So when he came in an announced he had been rolled I asked if it was on top of that one hill...YEP!, and did the baby try to run behind the truck...YEP!...and did momma let you know she was ticked before she got you...YEP!. Apparently it was right after I went around the corner that he looked up to see where she was and BAM....she got him right in the chest. Thankfully she only wanted to scare him off otherwise she would have crashed through him instead of into him, more then one time and then sat on his head. If she really wanted to do damage, she would have.

Should I be concerned that he seemed proud of the fact that he got rolled this morning?

In a typical situation, yes...but again, I am married to a cowboy and what is amusing to them is often terrifying to someone else. Which is probably why I married a cowboy.

P.S. the power ranger is not my husband (though sometimes I think he thinks.......nevermind). The power ranger is the old, blue Ford Ranger without a back window, and doors that dont works well, and severeal dings and dents that just happen to be the same size as a crazed cows head. Perfect for tagging calves.