Job & Horses

After today I will only have 3 1/2 days with the students and 5 days of work! YES! I'm looking forward to the time off!

I can't remember if I said anything about applying to a different district. It has several schools closer to home and so I finally decided to apply. That was back in January. Just recently, a position opened up similar to what I do now. There are not that many in the district so I was pleased to have the opportunity to apply.

I went to the interview and I believe it went well. From what I understand there are quite a few applicants as they told me they were interviewing 2 days all afternoon. I felt I did a good job and now I just have to wait and see. I really like their program and how they utilize technology in the district. My job would be more like a helping teacher for other teachers as well as some administration type of work.

There were 8 people in the room with me and so I had a lot of eyes staring at me. I worked really hard to talk at a normal pace and make eye contact with everyone. Anyhow, we'll see what happens. Either way, I will be happy. I have a lot of friends in my current district and I work in two great schools. I also have a lot planned for my schools next year. So, it is in God's hands. If the door opens, I will walk through it. If it doesn't, then I'll stay where I am at.

I took some pictures of Cowgirl and I thought I'd share with you. I also worked her last night. She has not been touched in months. I pulled her out and she was a little skiddish, but she was fine. So, I worked her in the round pen to make sure she wasn't going to do anything stupid. I then saddled her and worked her again. She did nothing! Never even showed signs of bucking. I was so impressed with this mare. I'd love to see her go as we need the money, but boy do I like how smart she is. If I didn't like Romeo so much I would sell him and keep her. But, I like Romeo for other reasons so, for now, he stays. :)

After I worked her with the saddle on I worked with her flexing. Horses have to be taught how to bend their heads around and to be soft in the face and neck. So, that's what we are working on. I then worked on teaching her to back with a bit. She did ok with that too.

My plan is to do that for another two weeks and then I'll work on sitting on her and breaking her. I believe it will be as easy if not easier than it was with Romeo. I'm very anxious to get started, especially after last night.

After that, I rode Badger. I took Ringo, Ryan's pup, with me so he could learn how to follow the horse. He did pretty well and listened for the most part. We are still working on that, but he's learning. If he doesn't listen then we put a leash on him for the rest of the evening. He's super smart so he'll catch on. It's so nice having a dog with brains!

Puuuuuussssshhhhhhh!!!!!!!

The guys trying to push one of the mules up the embankment Memorial Day Weekend. You can click on Texas to see more pictures from that weekend. I have added the ones Rebeccca sent me.

It’s Thursday, wow! Where did the week go? On Wednesday I finally got to ride Badger. I hadn’t ridden him in over a week. He had definitely put on some weight which is not good since he was already on the heavy side. We loped a 2 ½ times each way around the big pasture and he got pretty sweated up. So, I’m going to ride him today and Friday. Hopefully that will help with this weekend’s runs. I have one on Saturday and Sunday. This is a busy weekend. I have a barrel race in Rosenberg. It’s an NBHA. Then, on Sunday I have a GCBRA in Alvin and the Rodeo Sweethearts in Rosenberg. So, we’re going to get signed up early for the GCBRA and get there to run at 2 pm. Then, after I run, we’re going to load up and head over the Rodeo Sweethearts. I don’t plan to run as that is too much for Badger, but I have to help out since I’m part of that association.

I’m anxious to make my run as the last two runs we have made he was sore in the hocks and hit a barrel. (My leg still has the healing mark to prove it.) I know this weekend is going to be a lot of fun as he is on top of his game and ready to make some money.

I’m so ready for the summer break. We have two horses that have GOT to be sold! I need to work one on the barrels more and work on some basic riding skills to make him more desirable to buy. I also need to get our mare broke. We didn’t think she’d be able to be broke until the fall, but she had a little growth spurt and is big enough to break. That will, hopefully, make her more tangible to sell. Darn this market! I took some new pics of her this evening and will upload them tomorrow. She looks so much better than she did in January.

Shelby is also going through a growth spurt. She has been eating VERY well and looks like she is growing each day. She is such a ham too. Today, I laid her down for her evening nap because she was getting sassy. So, then I shut her door and turn on her video monitor so I can keep an eye on her. As I’m watching her I see her trying to sit up. Keep in mind, she’s laying in her bed. It was pretty awesome to watch her. She wasn’t crying or fussing. She was just trying to sit up. She did pretty well. Enough for me to watch her to make sure she didn’t get herself in a bind. Needless to say, she wasn’t ready for her nap yet so I had to go and get her out of bed. I took her back outside and fed her while we waited for Ryan to get home. It wasn’t long after he got home that I went riding and Shelby (after seeing me again) started to cry. Ryan told me she continued to fuss and cry so he hauled back to her room for a nap.

Memorial Day Weekend Pictures

Click on the Texas and Shelby's link to see more pictures.

Shelby eating strawberries. Celsey is a friend's daughter.


Shelby getting ready for the pool.


Shelby's famous "Scrunchy" face.


Shelby hanging out in the shade next to the mule.



I was swinging Shelby in the water. She was having so much fun and was laughing.

Shelby sleeping on the mule after playing in the water.

This is something new she is doing. "What's up?"

Memorial Day Weekend

This is long, so be sure to scroll down to the bottom to see the all the cute pictures of Shelby and the horses.

On Saturday we headed to a friend’s place in Eagle Lake to spend some time by the water. We had a good time and took tons of pictures of Shelby playing in the water. There wasn’t really a beach front since it was on the river, so we had her play in a little pool that was there. She had never been in water that deep or the cold before so it took some getting used to. If you click on her link you’ll see all the funny faces she made while getting used to the water. Once she got used to it she had a lot of fun playing and splashing in the water.

We did take her to the end of the boat ramp on the Colorado river for a little while. It was really muddy and so we didn’t stay that long since she started sinking in the mud.

We had so much fun we decided to come back today (Sunday) with the horse trailer so we could stay the night. It makes it a lot easier because it gives us a ‘home’ for Shelby to go and take a nap or watch a video for down time. As I type I’m putting her down for a nap. She was screaming, but has settled down and is now ready to sleep. Hopefully Ryan won’t come in and wake her up.

We were going to go to the beach but a line of thunderstorms was coming through so we decided to wait. It was good for Shelby so she could take a nap. Unfortunately, the thunderstorms are passing so I’m not sure if we’ll be able to go to the area where the beach is at cause we have to get a ride in the mule to get to the nice area. Oh well…I’m sure they will come and get us after a while.

Shelby normally lays down with no problems, but because she’s in a strange bed (her play pen) and a strange area (the horse trailer) it takes a little more for her to settle down. I’m glad to see she’s adjusting and didn’t cry more than a few minutes. It will make the trip to MI easier, I hope.

I only have 9 more days of school. This week is a 4 day week and then next week is a 4 day week for the kids but a 5 day week for us. I’m really looking forward to the summer and enjoying more time with Shelby and riding the horses. My true loves…oh, and of course Ryan! J

Well, I guess that’s about it for now. I’m sure I’ll have more to say after we go to the sandbar on the river. Even though the water is dirty, it is still nice not to have to deal with the salt water. The ocean looks so pretty on TV or in the pictures, but it sure does taste bad! HA!

It is now Monday evening and what an adventure the last 24 hours have been! We did head down to the river to enjoy some time by the water. What made it interesting is how we go there and how we left. I learned to get to the Colorado River can be tricky. We took the mules down the road, through a HUGE pasture and eventually to a thicket of trees with a drop off of 100+ feet. So, the tricky part was finding a way to get down to the river where the sandbar was. Jesse, one of our friends, took off on foot to scope out the thick wooded area that had grapevines everywhere. After about 10 min he came back and told us he found a spot to go down.

As I tell you this, keep in mind I have my 7 month old daughter with me throughout this adventure. We started towards what looks like a rainforest when I realize we are going to go through this thick brush. I took a thick beach towel and covered Shelby with it to help protect her from any strange brush, etc. She didn’t like that too much cause, like her Mom, she is adventurous and didn’t want to miss a moment. We started going through the brush and grapevines which led us to the steep drop.

That’s when the “feeling” came to my stomach. You know that “feeling” you get as you reach the top of the first hill of the biggest roller coaster? Yes, so I felt a little exhilaration, but panic as I realized I’m going down this “roller coaster” with my most prized gift…Shelby. Jesse warned me not to panic as we might slip, but he assured me we were not going to roll over. So, off we went, down the steep incline and sure enough the last ¼ of the way we started to slip. We slid the rest of the way to safety. Phew…deep breath…breathe….It was a lot of fun, but scary too since I had Shelby in my arms trying to peak through the blanket with the big, excited eyes of an adventurous child.

So, then we drive off down the sandbar a little way to find a good place that had shade to park the mules. I changed Shelby into her swimsuit, which is tooooooo cute and took her off into the river. She had sooooo much fun. She laughed and giggled while splashing in the water. Ryan took tons of pictures so we could save those memories for us and share them with you.

After a few hours the thought that had been sitting in the back of mind was starting to become a reality. We had to go UP that STEEP hill we slid down. Jesse kept reassuring us it would be no problem, but I have to admit I was feeling very doubtful. By the time we packed up it was around 7:30 PM. Shelby’s bed time is usually around 8 pm. That’s when she begins to rub her eyes and start fussing. So, I was a bit concerned with how I was going to deal with that if we were delayed for a long time as the men determined how we were going to get back up that hill, which looked like a mountain to me!

Long story short, Jesse put his mule in 4 wheel drive and took off up the hill. I chose to walk up the steep bank with the fear of him flipping. Good choice since he got stuck in the slick mud about ½ the way up. Ugh…Then, the guys decided to have LeeJ, who had the other mule, which was not 4 wheel drive, up the same bank. He got stuck about 20 or so feet before the first mule. Great, two stuck mules, 5-6 kids, and 8 adults all looking up at these stuck mules and wondering how we were going to get back. We were several miles away from where we were staying and in the middle of nowhere. Seriously, look at the pics if you don’t believe me.

As I’m looking at this situation and wondering what on earth were they going to do someone (Ryan said it was his idea) came up with the GENIOUS idea to take a rope, put it on the 1st mule, put it around the tree above it, and then tie it to the 2nd mule. Then, the 2nd mule would go in reverse, which would then pull the 1st mule up towards the tree! A simple machine…sorda…as a teacher, I can really appreciate this simple, but very effective way of solving a really difficult problem. So, then, the 1st mule was up out of the mud enough so that it was able to pull the 2nd mule up the bank. We all then climbed up the bank and got back on the mules. All we had to do is go through the thick brush and grapevines and were back in the pastures and heading back to the camp. Phew!

The rest of the evening was, thankfully, uneventful. Shelby went to bed around 9 pm after giving her a shower. Well, that was kinda interesting since I’ve only given her baths in her safe, non-slip, bathtub. Hahaha…babies are VERY slippery when they are wet and covered in soap. Ryan and I had to team up. I held her and he hosed her.

Anyhow, around 11 pm I went with some friends on a pontoon down the river while Ryan stayed behind to take care of Shelby. It was very relaxing to drive down the river. So relaxing it made me very sleepy. We got back around midnight and it wasn’t long after that when I went to bed. Everyone stayed up and partied til late in the night. I woke up at 2 am and heard them, went back to sleep, woke up at 3 am when Ryan stumbled back into the trailer then again at 4 am when Shelby woke up. I brought her to bed with us and she slept til 6:20 am. Ugh…I was so tired and she was so not tired! So, we hung out til 8 am when she got tired again and slept THREE HOURS. That was wonderful! I even woke up before she did.

We were all going to go back down to the river again. Yes, we were going to take the mules down that embankment again! The guys had a plan though…leave one mule behind so it could pull the other one up when we wanted to leave. Anyhow, at that time Jesse and Rebecca’s son, Colton, went to check on the dogs. (They had dogs there cause they would go hog hunting in the morning.) Anyhow, one of the dogs had gotten poked by a tusk of a hog right next to his private parts. The poor dog had some fat seep out of the hole. Jesse thought it was guts. Anyhow, we all decided to pack up and Ryan offered to take the dog to the vet. He figured the injured dog would be more comfortable in the back of our enclosed trailer and not bothered by the other dogs.

So, we take the dog with us and stop by the Wharton vet. I hadn’t been to this facility and was anxious to see it. The facility is VERY nice and has a wonderful set up for large animals. I was happy to know I have to wonderful vets so close to where we lived. A back up is always really nice to have incase of an emergency.

Ryan has his way with vets. He has been in surgeries with vets and seen lots of interesting surgeries. Anyhow, this vet was alone and asked Ryan to help out with getting the dog put out so he could cut him open and find out whether it was fat that had fallen out or his guts. We were REALLY hoping it was fat. Next thing I know they are cutting the dog open and digging around his guts. Very cool to see! However, Shelby started fussing and I didn’t think the vet needed us in there with Shelby squealing…yes…squealing…it’s something she learned this weekend. So, I took her out to the horse trailer and we waited for Ryan to return. The good news was it was fat that had fallen out and I believe the dog will be in the vet’s clinic for a couple of days, but he should be fine.

So, after that we came home. We were so tired from the adventurous 24 hours we just laid around the rest of the afternoon and took a nap when Shelby did. It is now going on 11 pm and I ‘m awake writing this cause I took my nap and wasn’t sleepy at my normal bed time. I can see this is VERY long so, I better close here. Enjoy the pictures of Shelby. My friend, Rebecca, is going to email me the pictures of the mules going up the embankment so I hope to add them soon. I’ll let you know when I do.

PS: Happy Memorial Day – God bless all my friends and family who have or are serving in the military!

PSS: Happy Birthday to my sister Michelle! I’m so sorry I didn’t call today! It was 11 pm your time before I realized today was the 25th and I hadn’t called. L I hope you had a great weekend and I look forward to hearing about it! Love ya!

Shelby & Horses

I thought this was cute picture of Shelby peaking over Daddy's shoulder. She was getting ready to drive up the house with him.

Shelby giving Twister some kisses.

Oh my, what big eyes you have!

Shelby petting Romeo's face.

The flag we hung up on Friday. I had the flag for a very long time. I just never had a pole. I finally bought one! Now, I need a TX flag to go on the other side of our driveway!

Mom Boudrie's New Horse

We got the news last night that Nancy found another horse! YEA! If you remember, she brought Shiner to us because he was not working out for her. Hopefully this new horse will be the perfect fit!

Here are some pictures of her and her new steed.

This weekend we plan to go to the beach with Shelby. It will be her first time, so I'm pretty excited to take her and see how she reacts. She has more bathing suits than me and she's only 7 months old! HA! They were all gifts from those who love her. I bought her sunscreen a week or so ago, so we just need to get those swimmer diapers and she's ready to go! It will be fun to do something without the horses!!

Here is a picture of a rocking horse Grandma Nancy bought for Shelby. We are going their in August for Gavin and Wendy's wedding. I'm sure Shelby will enjoy it!

These are Iris' from Nancy's front yard. They were so pretty I thought I'd share. I put the rest of the pictures she sent me under the "New Mexico" link.

Romeo, My Romeo...

We went Rossy's last night to ride and show a horse to Kelsey, Rossy's daughter. I rode Badger for the first time since we had his hock injected. I long trotted him a while then loped him in the arena before taking him around the barrrels. He felt normal...which was great! I decided to trot him around the barrels first to see if he was going to limp. No problems...so I loped him around the barrels and he did GREAT! He got down and really turned the barrels hard, which is hard to do at a lope cause there is minimal momentum. I was so thrilled to have my boy feeling better again! I loped a couple of more times and called it a night. He wasn't dropping his shoulder and he was working really nice. I'm learning him and learning to read him. I now know, if he drops his shoulder he's starting to hurt.

After that, I rode Romeo. This was his first time outside of a fenced in area. (Rossy's arena is not fenced off.) He was a little more squirrely, but worked VERY nicely. I am working on working in a nice circle and going in a straight line. (Young horses tend to do the 'drunk' swagger until they learn what they are supposed to do it!) He still needs to work on that, but he did great! He even loped nice circles, which is something I struggled with in the fenced in arena. I trotted him around the barrels several times. The second time around he decided the dirt was going to jump up and nibble on his legs, so we had to work through that. Anyhow, he has no clue why he was turning around this round objects, but he's doing it very nicely for a beginner. I love the way his body follows his head! It's exactly how I like him to turn. I'm anxious for the light to come on above his ears so we can learn how to set and turn. Right now we are just doing the pattern.

I was on one of my last trips around the barrels when he decided to attempt to start bucking. I had to pull him around and get after him. All the training we did to get him to this point...to prepare for the 'he might want to buck' had paid off! We got out of the buck in no time and was back to work. I took him one more trip around the barrels and he did it the best that last time so I stopped.

Shelby News:
Shelby tried an Avocado a couple of nights ago. LOL I have to feed her avocado again so you can see the face she makes. She is not sure if she likes it, but she kept eating it anyhow. She is so anxious to eat our food I believe she'll eat anything we give to her off of our plate. Anyhow, we are starting to introduce her to a few bites of easy to chew foods. She knows how to gum it until it turns to mush, which is good. She also eats and likes marshmallows. Ms. Brenda, her babysitter, introduced her to them. I went to pick her up earlier this week and it was funny to watch her eat the little pieces of marshmallow.

She has been eating a lot more lately, so I'm pretty sure she's fixin' to grow! I'm sure we'll be changing out her clothes again. It seems like I'm doing that every few weeks. Out with the old, in with the new. I'm sometimes sad to see some of her cute little outfits packed up and put away.

Crawfish & Calf Fries

This was a long weekend of being sick. I thought, on Friday, I was getting better. But, I was wrong! It’s now Sunday and I’m just starting to feel better. I’m now coughing a lot. I don’t do it all day, but out of nowhere I’ll have a coughing fit. I should’ve went to the doctor last week. Had I known this wasn’t just a cold I would have gone so I could have gotten on an antibiotic. I told Ryan if he starts feeling this way he’s going to the doctor.



Saturday morning we took Badger in to get his right hock injected. I can’t ride him for three days, so I was not able to go to my barrel race. I’m not always the best decision maker and so it was probably good he couldn’t run cause I would have sucked it up and gone to the barrel race. Because I was so sick, sitting around home was the much better decision even if it wasn’t mine. Hopefully Badger will start feeling better soon and running again. We don’t have a barrel race til May 30. The two weeks off will help him, I’m sure.



LOL – I am watching the Red Wings as I write this and Shelby is in her entertainment center. I laugh because I have wanted an Iphone for a month or so now, but I’m holding off til the time is right. Anyhow, the commercial came on for the Iphone and I see Shelby cranking her head around so she can see the commercial. LOL “Yea, there’s an app for that!”



Saturday night was the big crawfish boil that everyone goes to. Ryan looks forward to this every year. Anyhow, I was a bit worried I wouldn’t be going cause I was so sick. About ½ way through the day I got my voice back and felt my temp kinda break to a more comfortable level (after sleeping all day) so I decided to go with him for a couple of hours. It was nothing exciting, but I thought I’d share some pics of the event with you. Yes, they (not me) really eat those nasty bugs!

Here's a video of Ryan eating his crawfish...

On Sunday afternoon, Glenda came over and she and Ryan fried some ‘calf fries’. Again, Nope, I don’t eat those either. Incase you don’t know what calf fries are; they are what makes a bull a steer. You do the math…Apparently they were very tasty. I made chicken tortilla soup and had that instead.

Sunday evening we decided to burn some wood. Ryan suggested S’mores and we both agreed we couldn’t go without them. So, he ran down to the store and picked them up while Shelby and I stayed behind so I could feed her dinner. After we made the S’mores and started to eat them Shelby looked at us like “Are you seriously going to eat those in front of me without sharing?” Poor little thing….she can’t wait til she is big enough to eat the good stuff!



Here are some pics from the weekend...





Ryan and Pam enjoying some crawfish together.





Glenda and Shelby - Glenda will be moving to Alabama soon to get closer to her son and his wife (and hopefully grandchildren...she's still waiting) in Atlanta. We will be sad to see her go, but we know how wonderful it would be to be closer to family.






Ryan's red whiskers from the crawfish.






I can't tell whether she's thinking "I don't think so" or "Let me suck it's head!"

Sick...again...and lame horse

I'm sick again! UGH!!! Today I sound the worst, but I probably feel the best I have all week. I had a swollen throat which made it hard to swallow, congestion, sneezing, coughing...oh what fun! I think the hardest part is being a Mom when you feel like doo doo...basically, as you Moms know, you suck it up! I'm so grateful that Shelby is a good girl and is easily entertained and pleased. So, we spent a lot of time on the floor. She rolled and I moaned! HA! And, if you are wondering why Ryan didn't participate more it is because he had to go do all the outside chores...and there's plenty to do!

Today my voice is fading quickly and my nose is stuffy, but at least I can swallow again!

Also, I went to sandy's arena last night with Badger and Romeo. Badger was warming up funny but I just thought he was a little stiff. So, I went to trot him around the barrels and he was gimping really bad. I noticed it while riding and Sandy and Ryan saw it from the ground. Needless to say, I got off immediately and he was done for the night. GREAT! So, now he's out!

We planned to take him to Gem's to have him worked on, but she's not available now til next week. We had the heat sensor thing put on him earlier this week and he showed heat in his back (ya, that $300 pad (Right Pad) was worth it...NOT!...needless to say we're sending it back!) and his right hock had a lot of heat on it too. I think he's gimping cause of his hock. I'm not sure what would make it hurt so badly, but that comes with the territory so we need to figure out why. I am winning the 2D in the NBHA and have brought home a pay check everytime I run (if I don't hit a barrel) so I'm bummed it is VERY unlikely I'll be able to go Sunday.

I don't think I'll ever have a horse as tough as Twister, my paint horse. Man, the horse is tough! We worked him 5x harder than we have any of our other horses and he did it all without a lame step! I mean did it all....carried the flag in a drill team, heeled, ran barrels...and all w/in 2 hours!

On a positive note, Romeo did a FABULOUS job last night. I loped him for the first time. THe hardest part was getting him into the lope (he has a tad bit of a lazy streak and he'll test you to see if he can get away with it). NO PROBLEMS...he loped off smooth as silk and added a "Yes Ma'Am" at the end of it! What a thrill! That helped make up for Badger coming up lame. I thought I was being an over achiever by making the goal of running him in the Novice barrels next January, but I think we might get to do it. This boy is smooth, smart and he is real caddy even though he is 16 hands! I just love him and can't wait for school to be out so I can ride him on a regular basis!

I think that's the best part of my job...I love working, but I also love having a break! I really do have the best of all worlds...I work with kids and teachers everyday using technology and I go home at night and play 'cowgirl.' I dont' know if I could ask for anything more.

Finally, some exciting news....Charlene, my step-mom, is a grandma for the 2nd time! (Of course, that's not counting all of our rugrats (my 6 nephews and Shelby). Her daughter, Cynthia, had a healthy baby boy on Saturday. Charlene was able to be in the room with her during delivery. I thought she was brave cause I don't care to ever be near another delivery room unless I have to be due to my own pregnant situation. :) I'm anxiously waiting for pictures (HING HINT Charlene) so I can post them and share with you all!

TGIF!

Pictures and Videos

Here are the pictures I said I would upload.

Our Trailer after we had the blow out. If you look behind the wheel you'll see how the tire peeled back the alluminum. You can click on pic to enlarge.


Our tire after it blew out.

Ryan's new dog, Ringo. Yea! Another heeler!




Momma Cat and her 3 kittens. There eyes finally opened recently.

That's gonna leave a mark. My leg after I hit the third barrel on Sunday.

Shelby - Spittin' Image of Daddy

Shelby and Ryan playing - Shelby giggling

Shelby playing - after "Operation Clean Up Baby"

Rough Weekend

This weekend was…I guess…tough. Saturday we had a GCBRA barrel race. I was tied for 2nd in the Novice and I had points all over in the open, but was starting to get consistent in the 2D. Oh, and I was only 11 points behind the first place Novice horse. I say “I”, but I guess I need to say “Badger”. Anyhow…Saturday would’ve been our chance to get 1 point behind the leader. My only problem was we hit the 2nd barrel….BARELY…I pushed it up, but didn’t push the barrel very hard because I barely touched it coming around. Anyhow, it went down. There went my chances to get into 1st. Ugh…and come to find out I would’ve placed 2nd in the 2D and would’ve won the Novice class that day which would’ve paid close to $200. That would’ve helped our family too. Aaaahhhh…barrel racing…isn’t it fun? It took most of the day, but I did let it go. I will persevere and I will win that saddle.

On a positive note, Badger really did do well. He didn’t feel like he was firing, but he still clocked where he normally does (if not a tad bit faster) so maybe I’m just getting used to him and his speed.

Anyhow, I had to work the barrel race all day announcing. That was a long day! We had taken Shelby to Pam’s, so at least we didn’t have to worry about her. She went to a birthday party with Pam and had a lot of fun. She was so excited to see us…she couldn’t wait to get a hold of me and give me all sorts of sugars. The joys of Motherhood….I almost forgot all about my barrel mishap. J

Saturday night was NOT fun! Shelby must be teething cause she lost it around 11:30 PM. We gave her some belly medicine and then we ended up giving her some children’s Tylenol cause she felt warm. I then ended up putting her in her bouncy seat and rocked her to sleep. I slept on the floor next to her til 2:30 AM when she woke up again. I then moved her to her bed. She cried again but settled down and went to sleep. This repeated throughout the night every couple of hours. Needless to say, Shelby and I didn’t get much sleep. She woke up again at 6 AM and had enough sleep. So she and I got up again and I fed her. She chilled out in her bouncy seat again and watched TV while I slept on the floor. She eventually fell asleep again. I was able to get some sleep.

After that, we got up again for a while. She started fussing again so I finally gave her some more Tylenol. That knocked her out for two hours straight. I got to sleep another hour and then went out to the barn to pull horses up to get ready for the rodeo.

We got ready for the rodeo and headed down to Wharton. The day proved to be not good for Ryan or me. About 1 mile before the arena, we blew a trailer tire. We knew the tires would need to be replaced soon, but thought we had some time. Unfortunately, we didn’t. Luckily, one of Ryan’s new friends, Worth, came to the rescue. He was at the arena already. He drove down with a block to lift the trailer up so we could quickly change the tire.

We got to the arena in time for me to get things ready with Badger. I was warming him up and I just felt blah. I was physically tired from Saturday night with Shelby and was pretty much out of energy. I drank a Dr. Pepper, but it didn’t really even help me. It was also extremely hot (90s) and I had to wear a long sleeve shirt with the sun blazin’ down on me.

Now, those of you up north where it snows….you think you know hot, but you don’t til you come down south. Those of you who live in the south understand what I’m talking about when I say it was hot! Needless to say, I will be buying some short sleeves shirts to have my sponsors monogram so I can wear them for the summer.

So, I made my run and felt good about it going in. About half way through and coming out of the second barrel I realized my energy was gone. Not only that, but Badger was dropping his shoulder. This doesn’t let us get set up right and he leans too much which can cause us to hit the 3rd barrel. Ugh…which is EXACTLY what happened. What is sad is I was so tired my spirit was gone and I didn’t even care. I guess nothing was on the line besides some money…no points, etc. I don’t think the money was very much anyhow.

Anyhow, having screwed up the third barrel I still ran a 16.5. My ‘competition’ (those I run close in times) were very close to my time. I think I could’ve run a 16.3…a 16.0 won the rodeo…so I wouldn’t have won any money anyhow. Besides, had I not hit the barrel I wouldn’t have this beautiful bruise on my leg. Actually, I haven’t even looked at it so who knows what it is. (I looked at my leg after I got home…see below for more details.) I feel some pain, so I must have a mark. Aaah….yet another reason not to wear skirts! HA.

Ryan roped as a heeler on Twister and that didn’t go so well. He missed for the one header that caught. So, it was bad for him too. I didn’t get to watch too much cause Shelby was a bit crabby and tired. I was also talking to a nice girl, Jennifer, that had a two year old little girl. She had the cutest curly, blonde hair. She was very nice. It was nice to meet a nice lady at one of these events. J

Now, I’m sitting in the truck with Ryan heading home and letting it all go. Actually, we’re heading to Sandy’s to pick up a heeler puppy that she is giving to us. Ryan gave his dog to a friend of his. Rena was just not working out in our family. I am glad he’s getting a heeler…and he’s smart too! Rena needed a lot of hands on and we just couldn’t give that to her. I’ve learned dogs are like horses. Not all dogs fit you, just like not all horses fit you. It is better to cut your losses and move on before you are too far into it.

Well, I didn’t plan to write this much, but I guess I can’t help it. I do enjoy my blog.

Off to get ready for another week of work. I’m so ready for summer! I’m so ready to have some time to get everything done. I’m looking forward to getting up early and taking Badger and Romeo to Sandy’s for some early morning riding/schooling. It will be nice to just go myself. Ryan and Shelby will stay behind and do their normal morning routine. Just a few more weeks! I think I can make it!

Ok, I thought I was done sharing our weekend, but boy was I wrong and in for a wonderful surprise. Let me tell you “The rest of the story…”

So, we get the puppy (Ringo) and go home. We get Shelby out of the truck and put her in the stroller, unload the horses, and head down the walkway to the barn to feed and put the horses up. All that went well and so I came in to cool off and cool of Shelby. Long story short (my computer battery is dying), I was feeding her dinner when I kept smelling something. I was trying to figure out if her diaper was dirty or was it the prunes I was feeding her. LOL I guess in a round about way, it was both. J Anyhow, she had a blow out…I mean out of the diaper, onto the bouncy seat, down her leg blow out! We instantly turned into “Operation Baby Clean Up” and together, Ryan and I, stripped her down, cleaned her up a little, and got her into the tub.

Well, we both believe that was her issue last night. We think she was a little backed up and it took a little bit for all the fiber (prunes, green beans, etc) to work through her system. Poor baby…Anyhow, after all that she was her old self and was happy and smiling again.


Oh, and here’s a pic of my leg. When I came in I changed and discovered this….it was a deep puncture and it was kinda nasty. Aren’t you glad I shared??? (I was unable to upload pics today. I'll add them tomorrow. I also have a video of Shelby I'll upload later as well.)

Is it Friday Yet?

The headaches are gone and life is back to normal....BUSY!!

Did I tell you how Ryan sat at the mechanics from 9 am til about 6 pm to get his truck's A/C fixed only to find out something else was wrong with it?!?! STUPID DODGE is all I can say. I swear I'll never let another be put in our name again! Anyhow, fortuantely it's all related and so the insurance is going to pay for that too. PHEW! Hopefully the part will arrive soon and he'll be able to get it fixed.

Also, a friend of ours loaned us his generator so we have a generator for our trailer this weekend. We will probably buy it from him since it is met to be used for trailers only. Ryan hooked it up and it worked perfectly, so YEA!

Ya know, God is so good! That is two problems solved without us doing anything or spending any money. So, the list is getting shorter. PHEW...

I decided to ride in the rodeo this weekend. I emailed the lady in charge and haven't heard back. I told Ryan I'm not going to worry about it and I'll just run Badger twice this weekend and then be more selective in the future. He'll have memorial weekend off, so that is good!

This weekend is a busy one...Saturday I'm helping Donna cause she's in charge of the GCBRA barrel race. Pam is going to watch Shelby so I can focus on my run and helping Donna all day. Sunday may be trickier since Ryan is roping and I'm running barrels. We can't get anyone to help us out with Shelby, but I'm not too worried. I'm sure we'll know someone who can help out. That's what's cool abuot the horse world. People are willing to help out.

In fact, last Sunday I had a fellow barrel racer who I don't really know offer to watch Shelby so I could ride. I thought that was soooo nice of her! I'm sure God will plant someone like that in our lives on Sunday.

As for me, I'm going to "Do Good and Run Fast"...I smell a couple of paychecks coming my way!!!

Terrible Headache is going away

LOL - I was in my school blog (www.thecayblog.blogspot.com) I am using with some 5th grade students....hahaha...I originally posted this to their blog. Wouldn't that have been funny!

Well, my headache got progressively worse. So, I called my dr and got in right away. I was able to get there and back under an hour, which is good. That means I didn't have to take any time off of work! PHEW!

I went to my OBGYN - which was great cause he is BACK! He was out last year during my pregnancy, as you probably remember, with cancer. It was absolutely wonderful to see him! Anyhow, he gave me some suggestions and so I'm going to try that.

If that doesn't work, then he's going to have me see a physical therapist for my shoulders. The left is higher than the right and the muscles are tight. I'll probably end up doing that anyhow, but I want to see if the meds he gave me will help with the headaches. I need to figure out which is causing the migraines. Doc also suggested Excedrin Migraine, so I took two of them this morning. I am feeling better, so I hope that helps. Back to work...just wanted to give you an update and let you know I'm still alive and kickin'! HA!

Terrible Headache

I keep getting these horrible headaches. I believe they are borderline migraines. Anyhow, I'm experiencing one today, not good! It is hard enough to keep my eyes open let alone be productive.

Needless to say, it's time to call the doctor. I haven't had headaches this bad in a very long time. My headache is laughing at the Tylenol I took this morning.

Anyhow, here's my run from Saturday.

Do Good, Run Fast...DONE! :)

I'm sooooo proud of Badger! He has really stepped up to my challenges this year and met them all with ease. Badger and I went from running in the 5D (in the 17s)...to the 2D (in the 15s-to low 16s)....Now, to you non-barrel racers that doesn't sound like a lot. But if you run, you understand what a big deal that is for me, us.

This weekend we had two runs in Fulshear and a team roping in Katy. Saturday, I ran a 15.8 to place 2nd in the Open 2D and 2nd in the Novice horse. That moved us up to 2nd (tie) in the standings for Novice and only 11 points behind the 1st place Novice horse. We were barely in the top 10 just a couple of races ago! We had a great run. We had a great run and brought home a check, so we can't complain. I'll add the video later this week.

Sunday morning we had to get up early to be in Katy by 9 AM. We got there only to sit til 11 AM for the roping to start. It was hot, so i spent most of the time in the truck with the a/c running while Shelby took a nap. Ryan's first heeler missed in the 1st round and his 2nd heeler legged (caught 1 leg instead of two). So, by the time he got to the 2nd round I was able to get Shelby in the stroller, pull her up 10+ steps in the colliseum just in time to watch him rope and his 2nd heeler miss. That was dissappointing, but that is how roping is. The bummer is 1st paid $3,000 a man. We sure could have used that!

Speaking of, we have had his condessor on his truck go out, the big window unit in our living room quit working (probably the compressor), our generator for the trailer is not working, I ran over a nail and blew out the tire on our car, and I smashed the side mirror of my truck. So, it was even harder to watch that money slip from our hands. Then, somehow, $80 came up missing out of our winnings/rodeo money. I have looked everywhere and have no idea what could've happened to it. Whoever has it, hopefully, needed it more than us I guess.

Anyhow, sticking with the positive....We then loaded up and headed to Fulshear for the NBHA barrel race. I felt confident after Saturday's run and was looking forward to the run. Again, it was hot, so Ryan got baby duty as I made my run. I wish I had it on video because it felt really good. I felt it was even better than Saturday. The pattern was a 1/2 second bigger, so my 16.418 was a good run in my opinion. I believe we were about 1/10 slower, but can't blame Badger. He had already been to a roping that morning! Anyhow, we placed 4th in the 2D and brought home another check.

I've decided Badger is very good with the average races because he is so consistant, so that will probably be my focus next year. Ryan and I both would rather go to the bigger races and have a chance to win bigger money.

Our weekends are quickly filling up with barrel races and team ropings. So, now it's time to start picking and choosing where to run Badger. It is hard to not run when I'm in the standings, but I need to take care of BAdger. I still hope to run some rodeos and running him two times a weekend is not good for him and will wear him out quickly. I have other horses in the barn, just no time to ride them. In time, right??? :) With that said, I'm planning to back out of the Wharton Rodeo. He doesn't like that arena. I'll also have to skip the Rodeo Sweethearts race. If you remember, I missed out on a 1D buckle my like 1/10 of a second or something like that.

Oh, that reminds me...that will be a fun weekend...3 barrel races in 2 days...I'll probably run at 2 of them. We'll see how Badger feels.

Anyhow...busy, busy, busy...We have got to get some horses sold or ridden to meet the demands of our life.

On to Shelby - She was an angel through this weekend. She had to take a lot of naps in her car seat in the truck and I was very proud of what a trooper she was! She just loves seeing all the people and showing them how cute she is. I always have to stand there as they talk to her amazed at how much she smiles. Of course, some want to hold her and talk to her. She really likes that! I can see the heat being a real challenge for us and our rodeo life with Shelby, but we will get through it.

The good news is we FINALLY got a picture of her tooth. It's not the greatest pic and it's blurry, but I thought y'all would enjoy it. :) She wants to hold and chew on the camera or put her tongue over her tooth, so it's hard to get the pic just right. This has been my most successful attempt and I've been trying for weeks!

Here's a video of her...again, attempting to show the tooth...with no luck!!!