New Year's Resolutions

Almost a week into the new year now, and some folks, were they aware of what my resolutions are, may think I've not been very good at keeping them. Not that I made a serious list of them - I like to try not to set myself up for failure. But one of the things I keep saying I'm gonna do is be more faithful in my blog entries. Since it's been over a month since I last posted, you could say I haven't done a very good job of it. You could, but I'm not gonna! I'm choosing to look at the bright side, build some positive momentum here, create my own excellent reality. And the fact is, with this posting, I'm currently blogging almost twice as frequently as I previously did. Dang - I'm good!

Hope your resolutions - and your year - are going well for you, too!

publish post or perish...

Unbelievable that it has been almost 2 months since I've written anything here. Just way too lame. So I thought I'd post something, anything, really, just to try to get back into the habit (like I ever succeeded in forming one where this is concerned!)

Anyhow, like everyone else, things just seem to get crazy busy, but I know that's no good excuse - it's get somethin' writ or get off the post time!

Been doing some brainstorming lately, and have an urge to try a few things out - like maybe a little sketchbook idea thats been rustling about in my head lately. Really need to figure out a few technical, how-to-blog related issues so I can just post one blog and let it go off into its own pages. Unfortunately, I'm such a technilliterate, I don't even know what that's called, let alone how to do it! But I'll try to figure it out, and return (soon I hope!) with the fruits of my labor...

Spice

This is my other Quarter Horse (the sighted one), Spice. Unfortunately, she blinked when Rick took this pic-but I looked worse in the other shots, and I figure Spice isn't nearly as vain as I am, so what the hell!

The goofy looking white thing I'm holding is my bicycle helmet, which tries to pass as regular riding gear (I'm not so vain I'm willing to risk scrambling my brains in case of a nasty spill, so I try to remember to wear it anyhow.) I'm hoping Santa Rick might remember me putting a real riding helmet on my wish list this holiday!

Spicey is a really awesome horse, great personality, big heart, and very well trained (which I take no credit for, since she came that way when our friend Amanda gave her to us last year.)

She pulled up lame last time out though - hugh bummer - and I guess only time will tell if that's the reason we received her gratus - as did Amanda before us! There was no swelling, no heat, and she hadn't had this problem on previous excursions, so I am really, really REALLY hoping she just pulled something or stepped wrong or some other relatively minor thing that will prove to be just temporary. We'll see. Eithor way though, we love her, so I guess she's stuck with us!

Old Friends

This is my friend since 9th grade, Erin. She moved back to Cleveland years ago, but we try to get togetherwhenever we can - which isn't often enough for me! She came East recently and we were able to spend a few hours together. She is one of the most positive people I know, even though she's been through some rough timesover the years. I know she's my friend, and you may think I'm prejudiced because of that, but I think she just sparkles!

So the thing she is holding in her hands is a rock I painted a couple years ago, one of several paperweights I created to keep the oversized guest book I made for my niece's outdoor wedding from blowing away. It was a garden theme, green and purple were the colors of choice, and they just so happened to be getting married underneath a grape arbor. I liked the Thomas Manne quote and the silly little rock so much I decided to keep one for myself. It just kinda of makes me smile when I look at it.

Here's the quote, if you're curious:

So life's year begins and closes;

days though shortening still can shine.

What though youth brings love and roses,

Age still leaves us friends and wine.

Erin and Paul (her husband) and I share a fondness for the purple stuff (and the red and the white and the blush...) so I often think of them when I look at that rock (it hangs out in my garden in the summer.)

So while Erin was here, she mentioned something about how much she likes that rock. (Oh yeah, here's a close-up pic...)

Anyhow, the rock now resides in Cleveland, and it still makes me happy, knowing my friends have it; perhaps they think of me whenever they walk past it!

Goat

Now that I have my priorities in order (good moms really probably should mention their child's wedding before they rattle on about their new pet - I suppose! :) I figure it's a prime opportunity to let you in on a little event that happened here a few months ago (sometime early July, I believe...

This has some echoes of the "Pony Tracks" tale I posted late this spring (but with a twist to the ending.) This time I was alerted to an alien presence when an old man knocked on the door and asked if I had a goat that got loose.

"Goat?" I asked, thinking not at all about goats, but about whether or not the creature he was talking about might actually be my llama - in - residence, one who might , perhaps, have just jumped the fence.

"No," he said, shaking his head back and forth (and no doubt a little annoyed); "this looked like a goat, maybe a baby goat.

"Oh...you're sure it wasn't a little llama? ... cause we have one of those,"I persisted in my pre-coffee fog.

"No, no, this is definitely a goat," he said.

Duh, I thought - I'm sure he must know the difference between a llama and a goat.

But mention of a goat on the lam, so to speak, did help boost the adrenalen, and I sprang into action. Sure enough, out on the road was a little goat, wandering about. Now I remembered Rick telling me he'd seen a goat a few days before, meandering around the road a few miles away. A lost goat! It needed my help(of course!) I mentioned the sighting to the old man.

We tried to herd the goat into the yard. It took a little doing, following the little critter around, trying not to scare it...how cute, how cute! I'm sure I must have kept saying that. And he was! But unfortunately I got so wrapped up in catching the goat, I never even noticed the man was leaving until after he got in his pick up and drove away. Drats! I didn't even catch his name. I soon focused back on the goat, however... Who did he belong to, and what do we do with this goat until we find the answer to that question?

So we asked all around the neighborhood, and no one seemed to know a thing about who it might belong to, so now... well, I suppose we have a new pet!

But that was oh so long ago (ok, say July), and we still have that little stray goat. We played around with some names for a while - Lily, Billy, William, no doubt a few others as well. Finally came up with a frivolous, goofy ass name, Sweet William Go-Tee - but really, mostly we just call him Gooooaat (pronounced deeply and streeeetched out, of course!)

So almost three months later - and I really do hope whoever lost their goat just simply didn't want to be bothered by another billy... Anyhow, he is very cute, as you'll be able to see as soon as I post a pic of him . . .

...and whoever he used to live with better not come looking now - we just love this little guy!

Here he is trimming the rose bush...

I'll take a shot at posting some more pics of goat soon (due to popular demand, of course!)

Dustin and Cori Get Married...

Yikes! I've definitely slipped on my new and improved attempts at more consistent blog posting. Ah well, I'm back now...

...with my son married off, a new (old) job, and a new critter (a stray goat that wandered into the yard and just sorta stayed-more on that later.)

For now, let's see if I can find a nice picture of the newlyweds...
Ahh, there they are - don't they make a cute couple! This was one of the few you could see both of their faces and the lake behind them (Rick took these pics, and while we had front row seats, we were off to one side and couldn't get a great angle. Anyhow...)

It was a beautiful wedding, a sunset ceremony held outside right by Conneaut Lake, where they both grew up. The weather couldn't have been better, and I managed to survive having to sit beside my ex-husband for the entire ceremony. Dustin and Cori have been married for almost a month now (the Big Day was August 17) and married life seems to be suiting them well. Cheers to them! OK, lets see if I can get a few more pictures posted...

















Obviously, one of them smooching; the other is their grand entrance at the reception...

...and here's a pic of moi, the proud mom, with my son Dustin. Geeze, I'm starting to feel oldish!Dustin and Cori are telling me they're planning on making me a grandma 4 or 5 times over! I'll keep you posted... er, umm, at least I'll TRY!

High Voltage!

My friend Mick and I went to a nearby gravel pit to catch the setting sun one beautiful (and chilly!) day last week. We took turns shooting pics of each other hamming it up - and both particularly enjoyed this sign (Danger...) Don't I look shocked?!

If you would like to check out more great photos from Mick, here's a link to his Flickr gallery: flickr photos