Things to remember today

As we all head out the door today to relax and enjoy the beautiful day let's pause for a moment and remember all that we hold dear and all of those people that we have been touched by in our lives and have given thier lives for us.

Let's also remember that life is to be enjoyed and that we need to take time to stop what we are doing and bask in the beauty of what we work so hard for. Do something special for yourself today but also do something special for somebody else. Step outside of your comfort zone and so something to help somebody. There are a lot of kids that are serving in the military overseas that are a little outside of their comfort zone doing something to help us. Let's do something kind to return the favor.

Have a safe and happy Memorial Day with warm thoughts from the Bunk House!

Tackle the big things first.

It's only taken about forty-some years to figure out but sometimes you CAN teach an old dog some new tricks. NOT that I'm old...I just feel that way some days. This week's stress curve has been interesting and taxing but the good news is that I DID learn something that I intend to use more often. I guess it's kind of like the old cliche about getting your "plate" too full. Now, I'm not one to waste a good plate- full of food. In fact, I don't usually put something on my plate unless I fully intend to eat it. So, when I get stressed out because my "plate is too full" I don't scrape anything off into the garbage. I simply eat the biggest thing on the plate first. It seems to clear space in a tremendous hurry.

So this week I decided to get my biggest stresses tackled. Stress #1: FAMILY-on MANY levels...mostly my children, their health and safety. Stress #2: Getting some of the sale calves broke to tie and clipped. Stress #3: Getting ad pictures of my favorite calves and an awesome picture of my favorite new Donor while she is still in milk production for the year. Stress #4: Mowers and anything with a motor...power-washer, weed-eater, fans--the current bane of my existence...may they burn in hell! (Just kidding) :) It was amazing how everything else became less stressful as I tackled each challenge. I can say that by weeks end I had plenty of room on my plate for a little dessert and I had no problem dishing it up today. After putting in cidrs, giving shots and painting cows, Brad and I went to the garden store and picked out tomatoes and hostas for a planting festival and afterwards we topped it off by setting up the hammock under the walnut tree at the bunk house. Well, actually the best part was the twenty-minute power nap we took while swinging in the breeze and listening to the birds argue about what we were doing. As weeks and "full plates" go this one was a feast.

Is it friday yet?

I love my life. All of it; the ups, the downs and the challenges of the entire experience. Keeping it all balanced is an art that can be painful. Today, however, I have had to move the fulcrom extremely far in one direction to keeps things in balance. My daughter, Hayley, is a million miles away in Bolivia and for the first time in almost a year I am feeling the distance in my gut. My "mother" instincts are in overdrive and this is one of those situations that I have absolutely no control of. It's only sixteen days until her plane delivers her back into my nest and it seems like an eternity. She has been very sick for almost two months with a respiratory illness and now her entire body is rebelling. She wants her mother, her REAL mother, and I can't do a thing. UGH!

Today is Spencer's 22nd birthday. I can't bake him a cake, I can't take him out to dinner. He has a wonderful girlfriend, lives a LONG way from home and has a life of his own including bills, debt and a weekly paycheck. He's officially "a man".

Darby has been at the animal hospital since 8:00 this morning. Something happened during the night and now he can only walk on three legs. He is obviously miserable and his pleading doggy eyes just begged me to stay there with him and keep him company. I worked all morning building fence in the pasture so that I can get the cows turned out...or so that I was forced to focus my mind on something else in my life.

It's now 3:00 and I have finished almost a mile of fence. I am hot, sun burned and tired. Still no word on Darby. I don't dare call again...I didn't realize how much I rely on him to fill that void of my "missing" children. I think I will dig out some comfort food, mashed potatoes, from the fridge and watch the latest recording of Cougar Town. Maybe that will kill a little time. You know that Chili's restaurant commercial about their baby back ribs? "I want my baby back, baby back, baby back......NOW!!!

So tonight I plan to keep the decision making simple. My brain has been taxed too much for a hot Monday and I think I should mother it a bit. I see Dairy QUeen on the horizon...and perhaps a special treat for Darby. Tomorrow is another day and with Darby back home I should be able to tackle the week. Sixteen days and counting..."I want my baby back, baby back...NOW!!!!"