You need to smile

It’s late at night and I’m sitting here thinking about smiling. I’m sooooooo tired of people telling me I don’t smile anymore. I’m also tired of people constantly asking me why I’m mad. Truthfully, I’ve been asked that my whole life, and I’m just really tired of it.

First off, who walks around with a smile on their face all day, every day? The answer, no one. I have these weird frown lines. I don’t know why. Have you watched tv? There are some actors/actresses that have smile lines. I swear, even when they are upset their face looks like they are smiling. The two actresses that stick out to me are Leighton Meister (aka Blair Waldorf from Gossip Girl) and Erin Krakow (Elizabeth Thatcher Thornton from When Calls the Heart). I swear, they always have a smile even when they are supposed to be sad. (more…)

Thoughts 6 Days Post Lockdown

I’m not here to debate if opening up was the thing to do or not. Not even going there. I don’t know the answer. I don’t get paid the big bucks to have that answer. Now that we are clear on that…

I can’t remember if it was late last fall or early this spring, the time really doesn’t matter, just know it was more recent than not. The hubs and I got into a huge fight. We’re talking, one of the worst fights since we’ve been together. It was a bad night. Reason for the fight I won’t divulge because truthfully I don’t remember what sparked it. I know some of what was said, but I’m not airing my dirty laundry on the interwebs.

But, the part I do want to share were some of the results. Truly, just 1 result. So, we agreed that we were going to say no a little more and yes a little less. Our relationship and our family were lacking some quality time together. Right after we came to this realization, things seemed to go back to normal. And I was frustrated. (more…)

What Started Out As (Part 1)

What started out as mowing the lawn… quickly ended into a project that wound up looking like this…

Let’s start at the beginning.

So, last summer my I went to mow our lawn. I had been borrowing my parent’s lawnmower… My lawnmower sucked. Dad’s lawnmower had a flat tire, so I started ours up. I got pelted by rocks. I cried. It was a bad ordeal.

Hubby had been wanting to buy a zero turn mower since we bought our original mower (back in May 2011, just before the Joplin Tornado hit). (more…)

Breaking a Calf to Lead

We’ve been having fun around these parts. When you can’t go anywhere or do anything, might as well make the most of it the best way you can. 

When I was younger, I wanted nothing more than to show at the fair. While I showed horses so I could compete that way, that’s not really the type of horse showing I wanted to do. Plus, it wasn’t the same as if I showed livestock. I had the privilege later in my FFA years to show sheep. And through friends, I learned how to show hogs, goats, and cattle.

I really wanted to show cattle, but it wasn’t in the cards for my family and me while I was growing up. No big deal. And maybe the little won’t want to show cattle. But right now she’s a PeeWee… So we have our bottle calf and we’re going to try and show in the PeeWee show at the fair.

Part of what is required for that is breaking this stubborn calf to lead on a halter and rope. I put stubborn up against stubborn. We’ll see who wins. Wish us luck!! Oh, and hope that we don’t break any toes in the process!

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Opening Back Up… Slowly… Day 51

I want to add a precursor that I didn’t write this. Gosh, I wish I had because do you know how many times I’ve seen this going around on Facebook? But… there is a lot of truth held in these words. Be Kind. Everyone is fighting their own battle. I won’t sit here and blow smoke up your skirt and say it is right or wrong to open back up. I don’t know the answer. What I do know is you are smart and you can make decisions for yourself. Do what is right for you and your family. Just don’t get upset for someone who is doing what is right for theirs.

What I can tell you is that the governors are basing their recommendations off a lot of information from a lot of highly paid people who should be experts in their field. Sometimes you or I may not agree with it, but you do have to consider that. Now, I think if they are making it based on political standpoints, I believe that is wrong. If you disagree with me, that’s okay. We can agree to disagree. I think this should be about the people, not a political standpoint. That’s my 2 cents worth. 

Now I present you… your dinner… oh wait, no… something to keep in mind.

As governors are trying to figure out how to ease back in to a new normal, please remember:

🛑 Some people don’t agree with the state opening…. that’s okay. Be kind.

🏡 Some people are still planning to stay home…. that’s okay. Be kind.

🦠 Some are still scared of getting the virus and a second wave happening….that’s okay. Be kind.

💰 Some are sighing with relief to go back to work knowing they may not lose their business or their homes….that’s okay. Be kind.

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I’m a Jerk… Coronavirus Day 49

I’m a jerk and here’s a picture of a load of bricks. Scratching your head yet? Well… Here’s the story…

My hubby (and I…) bought a camper just before all this coronavirus stuff hit the roof. The sad fact of the matter was, we had discussed this last fall, but then nothing more was really said. Then come January, I was told by a couple of different people (none family members or him) that I was buying said camper. I got a little annoyed because we really hadn’t decided one way or the other.

Then he bought the camper, hauled it to our house, and parked it. The goal was to remodel it and have it ready to go by last weekend when we were supposed to have our Trails for Kids fundraising horse ride. Well, the ride had to be postponed as we all know. And the camper wasn’t ready anyway. (more…)

Book Review: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

Hubby used to drive an hour to work and an hour home. Because of that, he used to listen to books on the drive. This was one of the books he “read” and he just about “ran off the road” laughing. Not really, but something just cracked him up. He told me and told me I needed to read this book. Since we had it in audible, that meant I had to listen to it. Listening to books isn’t quite my strong suit, so it took me a while to get through it. I started it in September of 2018, then didn’t touch it again until February 2020. I finally finished it.

This is such a good book. Seriously.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

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Book Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I started reading this book. I never made it all the way through. It’s interesting. I didn’t remember a lot of what I read… nor do I remember watching the movie. What the heck? I remember Professor Umbridge and I hate Professor Umbridge, but… oy! I couldn’t even remember watching this movie. Hubby would say, oh yeah, or this and that… but not me.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

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Crazy Weather… Coronavirus Day 47

I mentioned the other day that the weather has been crazy! Well, that’s no joke. But what’s really interesting is… we haven’t heard a whole lot about tornadoes lately. I’m scared of tornadoes. But they seem to be fairly scarce these days. I can’t help but wonder if they got wind of Coronavirus. haha. There actually was a tornado that hit down south… some people weren’t allowed into a tornado shelter because they didn’t have masks on. That’s not right. But that’s neither here nor there. I wasn’t there, it just made the news. I can’t do anything about it.

We had a tornado hit local here last night though. In fact, in the area near my old house. So after we got the all-clear, we decided we needed some ice cream. We went the LONG way to get ice cream and went to check out the area. If the tornado actually touched down, it was in the middle of a field. 

But then the sky blew up. It was flipping nuts! It looked as though it was absolutely ON FIRE. I’ve never seen such a vibrant orange sky. It was crazy.

With the way this year is headed, I can’t say that anything much surprises me these days.

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Septic Problems – Coronavirus Day 43 & 44

I saw this meme and it cracked me up. Seriously… I think my husband kind of feels this way with everything I’ve made him do since this whole quarantine time. I haven’t sat still once. Not once.

That included this weekend, but this weekend’s project wasn’t my idea. It all started last weekend. Let me set the story…

Last weekend I decided to get the weedeater out. It was messed up so I had it sitting on the bed of my truck. My truck was parked about where this trackhoe thing is in the picture below. I stepped in a bunch of water and it smelled like a sewer. Not a good sign. When hubby got home I had him check it out. The next day he called a septic pump to come clean the septic out. We hadn’t done that since we bought the house so we figured it may be full. (more…)