Amazing Day

Yesterday I was forced to sit in my office all day while we went through mediation with our slum landlord at work. It was a very interesting process that lasted all day. The best part was that it forced me to stay in my office and get everything done that I needed to get done for the past several months that I had not gotten done.

By doing all of that, I felt pretty good about taking half of the day off today. I left at noon and headed to the golf course. I beat Cowboy there and called him to see where he was. He feeds me some line about being at home and waiting for Stevie to pick him up since our tee time was at "1:43". When I asked him about being at home, he said he was almost to the golf course. I decided to feed his line of BS back to him and told him that got caught up at work and was just then leaving. ( I had his clubs in my car). He hung up. I guess he was just ranting and raving to Stevie all the way to the course. When they got there and saw me, Stevie was just laughing. I got Cowboy good.

I started to get my swing back and almost beat Cowboy on the back 9. Stevie told Cowboy what I was doing wrong and Cowboy passed that along to me. I made the change and it made a world of difference. I was standing up during my swing and then hitting the ball off to the right. Much better after I made the adjustment. I enjoyed the game so much more and was far less frustrated. I would almost be up to playing again tomorrow.

The best part, I had the cart to myself and Cowboy and I didn't get into it all day. It was awesome. Well worth taking the day off.

Cowboy also bought me a new treadmill today for $75. It is a much nice model than the one that I have so we are going to switch them out tomorrow and put my old one on Craig's List.

Grumpy Butt

Guess who was a Grumpy Butt when I got home. Goodness, he can be grumpy and grouchy at times. Cowboy does not have any filters. He just says what he thinks and doesn't seem to be able to stop once he gets wound up. We went to dinner and he seems to calm down some but got all wound up again once we got home. He is finally calm now and seems to be relaxed. The ongoing issue seems to be that he will get a plan in his mind and when that doesn't happen he has a hard time of adjusting and going with the flow. If he doesn't have a plan in place, he is very adaptable.

Sadie got a new bedroom today. We found a kennel on Craig's list and brought it home today. We told her it was her new bedroom and she went in it and didn't come out for 10 minutes. I think we are both feeling good about it. We have set it up in our spare bedroom so it's out of the way and when we have company it will be easy to collapse and slide under the bed. We are now on "Operation Off The Furniture". Our hope is to keep her off all the furniture and human beds. My gosh, she only had three beds of her own.

I am taking the afternoon off tomorrow and playing golf with my man and our neighbor, Stevie. Stevie won't let him have a temper tantrum. Stevie doesn't put up with that shit from him. Should be a good afternoon. Let's hope anyway.

Sick Em'

Cowboy has taught Sadie how to chase squirrels on command. All you have to do is say "Sick Em' " and she will take off in search of squirrels. Sometimes, she can't find them but she will run around looking for them. It's so awesome.

Happy birthday to my big SIS. My oldest sister, which by the way is only 23 months older than me, is having a birthday today. She has been an awesome big sister and I love her dearly. Despite all that she has going on in her life, she always makes time to listen to me and make me feel so important to her at that moment. I love you, Kimmer Kay.

Our own personal dishwasher

Just beware, if you come to our house just know that we have a dishwasher. Our dishwasher works hard to make sure that every dish is spotless and slick as a whistle. All we have to do is put the dish away. No water, no electricity and very efficient.

Cowboy made it home. No Bambie in his truck. It's good to have him home.

Single Again for a day

Oh my, I had forgotten what it was like to be single (alone). Cowboy does so much for me that I was almost late for work today. Having him gone just makes me realize how much I rely on him for everything I do. He is truly a blessing in my life.

I did a little shopping tonight and bought all the things I need for our wedding invitations for a whopping $35 dollars. I'm so excited. I can see how weddings can get very expensive fast. I'm finding it tough to fight off what others expectations are versus what I really want. People keep asking me about my dress. I'm not going to have a wedding dress. I will wear a dress for the ceremony but after that, jeans baby.

I really don't want this to be fancy. We are not fancy people. I want simple and fun. Cowboy is a sport and he asks a few questions but doesn't say a whole lot. He says he's not good at this stuff. I put him in charge of the beer. Good task for him. We'll get this done our way I'm sure.

Busy Day

Today was a busy day. My mother is in town for a girls weekend with friends from High School. I had to pick her up at 10a. So Cowboy and I went out for breakfast. He was leaving for a couple of days. He had decided that he needs to go sit in a tree stand and try to bow hunt. To damn cold for me, but if that floats his boat, go for it.

Mom and I went shopping. She is re-doing three rooms in her house. We found new living room furniture. She also bought a new mattress. She is having trouble sleeping on her. But then again it only about 25 years old, no wonder. Then it was off to find bedding. We hit a sale and she got a comforter, pillow shams, bed skit, sheets, curtains and two throw pillow for $200--score. Especially in light of looking at some duvet covers that were $150 by themselves.

She is really thrilled about the new stuff and is anxious to get it all done. We are going to paint and find carpet around Thanksgiving. Lots to do.

So I asked her if she wants to come to my wedding. I thought she was going to jump out of the car when I told her it was going to here in KC. I also asked my brother to officiate the ceremony. I think he is going to do it.

I admire my brother a lot for his faith in God and his devotion to living a good life in the name of the Lord. He is religious but you would not know that by meeting him. He truly lives by example and I can't think of anyone better to help us.

The only down side to getting married here and not in Vegas is our wedding date is not 3-6-9, bummer.

Let the plan begin.

Picture walking up to this place and getting ready for a wedding here.

This end has enough space for an actual wedding. If that is something we wanted to do.

This center area will hold around 250 people with tables, a dance floor, dj and whatever else.

Cowboy and I went to look at this place for our reception. It is out in the country on 600+ acres. It is amazing to drive up to with a white picket fence around the property and a brick road leading up to the barn. It was beautiful on the inside. I originally thought that we would need to do a lot of decorating but it is amazing all on its own. We are going to have our reception there.

Then my friend, Dr. T and I started planning the big day. It is overwhelming to me but I'm starting to have a plan. I'm sure it will all come together. We decided on what the cake will look like, the colors of the table linens, the decoration, the caterer and a few other things.

On my way home, Dr. T called and made a suggestion that instead of going to Vegas to get married, why don't we just do it there.

We are going to have family pictures taken before the wedding.

So Cowboy and I started talking about it. We may save our money for a honeymoon and tie the knot here. My family will get to be there that way. It will be small and private and then the big loud reception. It may happen that way. I'm sure my mom will be thrilled.

Oh my, more planning.

The Continuing EYE saga

I went back to the eye doctor today. I have been seeing much better and my eyes seem to be healing better. However, lately I have noticed that I can see very clear from my right eye and not clear with my left. The eye doctor spent a lot of time with me today and looked at my chart and said what I knew. I am a weird one. They have not seen what is going on with my eyes in many patients.

My right eye started out at -1.25, after surgery it went to -1.5, and then to -1 and finally today it was at a perfect 0. It is the eye that had the abrasion, which seems to have healed very well.

My left eye started out at -1, after surgery it went to -.75 and then to -.50 and finally today it was at a lousy -2, worse than before surgery.

The doctor said there is no clear explanation and he has heard of this happening but not seen it happen before. He think my brain could have just sent a message to my eyes and they self corrected into mono-vision, where one eyes sees distance and one sees close up. The one good thing is that right now I don't have to have reading glasses. I have to go back in 3 months to see what is happening at that point and time and then we'll plan on what to do.

So again, I am a weird one with weird eyes.

A big day.

Yesterday was a big day. Our agency had a nationally know speaker come in for the day. I started off the day with a breakfast meeting which meant I had to leave home an hour early. Then the workshop was all day long. I forget how difficult it is for me to sit still all day and have to pay attention to one thing. I swear as I get older I have a little more attention deficit action I have going on. After a day long conference, I had give a presentation for 3 hours in the evening. Boy oh boy, was it a long day. Both events went well and I was one tired girl when I got home.

A small thing happened in between both events, I got lost. It was my own fault, I didn't print directions. I just thought I knew where I was going and I didn't. So I called Cowboy and he wasn't home but was close. I got very frustrated with him because he kept asking stupid questions and then couldn't just look in the phone book for the address, he had to get on the computer. Oh my gosh, just get me the information. I was a little short and crabby with him. When I called him later, he was just laughing about the earlier interaction and said, "Now I know what it feels like to be you when I get so frustrated". I told him I was learning from him. What a pair!!

Oh my baby.

Oh my baby, my sweet sweet baby. How can you be so adorable one minute and a terror the next. We went to bed the other night and with the falling temps, I think Sadie was a little cool. She had her head tucked all the way under her leg. It was the funniest thing that we had seen.


So we had a little pity on our poor baby and found a blanket that she could have all to herself. She seemed to really like it and stayed snuggled up most of the night.


Life was good, until tonight. Sadie has been getting into trouble when we are gone. We came home the other night and she had eaten her breakfast and then ate a loaf of bread off the cabinet. We also come home a couple of times just recently and she has been on the couch--a big no-no. Tonight, the icing on the cake---all the kitchen trash was all over the floor. So as of right now--8:51pm-- she is out on the back deck, penned up and in major time out. I think we are going to have to buy a kennel and start kennelling her when we leave the house. As Cowboy said, she had the run of the house and life was good. I think her little world will be rocked if she can't behave. She gets plenty of exercise and lots of loving so I'm not sure what is going on.

Cowboy is so proud of himself. He figured out how to use the DVR and we are now watching Geronimo. I was thrilled when he told me that was our evenings plans-not. However, this show has Matt Damon and Jason Patric, so life is good.

I'm sure we are bad parents...

I'm sure we are bad parents, just look at the fun we are having at the expense of our poor Sadie dog. It was time to wash the sheets and Cowboy threw them over Sadie. This game happened several times and Sadie always found her way out. My camera batteries went dead just before the big escape so I missed it in the video. Maybe next time.....because I'm sure we will do it again.

Happy Bosses Day

Happy Bosses Day!

Here's to all the bosses out there. I've decided to give a tribute to all the bosses that I have had in my life.

Becky- my neighbor growing up. I babysat for her three boys, cleaned her house, stayed with the boys when they went on vacation. She was fun to work for and seeing those boys now is a hoot. They are grown with their own family.

Wilma- the cafe owner. She cooked and I did everything else, waited tables, served, took money, cleaned, etc. She had a boyfriend and would disappear every afternoon for a couple of hours with him and he would chase her around the cafe and pinch her butt..all at the age of 70. She paid me cash every week and I would never know how much that would be.

Paula- a great first supervisor for someone right out of college. She was a good advisor.

Crazy lady, Ruth- I moved to Kentucky and got a job with the state. She had a little anxiety and other mental health issues, made for an interesting time.

Hilda-stern and straight forward, more of a the type of boss that tells you what to do and not teaches you how to do it

Debi- She had big ideas and could make things happen but wasn't much of a supervisor, more of a friend.

Carla- my friend, then my boss, then my peer and a great person. She and I would fight and then laugh about what ever issue it was.

The witch--she was someone that learned a lot from and taught me a lot about management, but was not stable and would have this favorite child thing with Carla and I--fortunately, I was the good child most of the time. In the end, I couldn't work for her any more and told her supervisor that I needed a new supervisor or I was leaving.

Alan- very supportive, got me away from the witch, and has allowed me to have lots of responsibility and has given me lots of support.

I have been a manager for the past 12 years. It is a tough job and one that I know that I suck at occasionally and one that I know that I do a great job at some of the time, and a job that I wish I did better 100% of the time. So here's to all the bosses that are out there. My hats off to you and the hard work that goes into management.

Frustration

My Cowboy gets frustrated very easy. I'm not sure what that is all about but when it comes to some things, he gets frustrated in the drop of a hat. Today is a good example of this. We had a message about our dryer exchange (finally). I called home and I asked him to get the name and number for me. He said he couldn't understand the message. So I asked him to play the message back to me and put the phone down by the machine so I can listen to the message. He would put the phone down by the message for two seconds and then start talking to me. When I asked him to let me just listen to the message, he couldn't put the phone down there long enough for me to get the whole message. He finally go so frustrated that he quickly said good bye and hung up. I think that sometimes it's linked to his inability to hear real well. I do know that given a little bit of time to think about it, he calms down and is more thoughtful and less reactive.

I really think that Cowboy doesn't have to be perfect. I think the real dance for us is learning each others issues (weakness) and for that matter strengths, and figuring out when to give support strengths, when to back off, and when to challenge. So far, we are dancing well.

I love my friends!

My friend, Dr. T, called me on Sunday to schedule a time to meet. She informed me that she was going to help me as a wedding planner. Whew, what a relief. We are going to me meet on Sunday and we are going to start planning my shindig. It started me thinking about what I really want. Cowboy said he wanted to keep it simple and other than that I can do what I want. I did find a amazing place to hold a party. It's an old horse barn that now serves as a meeting place. They had an opening and I booked it. So it's official, March will be a big month. I've thought about a opening line for our invitation for the party (reception).

Put on your jeans
Dust off your boots
We got hitched
And are cuttin' loose.

What do you think?

I'm really getting excited about the whole thing. Mostly I'm excited about marrying this man. He is the best!

My Weekend

Cowboy had friends that came to the city for the weekend. We all took a trip to the Renaissance Festival. Now that was an interesting time. I was surprised at the number of people that dressed up to attend the festival. Cowboy stepped up to tried the bang the bell thing. Thanks to years of chopping wood, no problem.



This is what people do to their poor dogs. It think the dog was supposed to be a dragon. Why????



Here is Cowboy and his buddies. The beer made it more bearable.



This cute couple walked all over the Festival holding hands and playing the role of royalty.



The best of all was the craft show. I found this frog for the pond. I love it! It was a good weekend.

Seven, 7, how many is Seven

Lynilu tagged me with a challenge to share 7 things about myself that you might not know:

1) Just out of college, I met a military man and moved across the country to live with him, thinking that we would get married. He then got stationed in Korea and ended up with a bride before he returned to the states. So much for marrying him.

2) I am totally addicted to reality TV and would love to be on Survivor. I've applied for the show 2 or 3 times. One day I will be on the show.

3) I can sew really well and make a lot of things without a pattern or instructions. I've made dresses, skirts, shorts, etc. but mostly make curtains, pillows, etc. now.

4) I originally took up playing golf to meet men. I realized that it may not be the way to meet men, when I got paired with two Chinese men who didn't speak a word of English.

5) I love negotiating for deals on cars and have gotten great deals on every car that I have bought. I even got a date with the car salesman once.

6) I had never bought anything at a garage sale until 2 years ago and now our house if furnished mostly by garage sale finds that are totally awesome.

7) I am not a dog person and don't really care for most dogs. I am a Sadie person so I guess that counts.

We've had a good weekend and I'll fill you all in on that this week. We are getting back on track with our exercise program at 5:30 in the morning. Need to hit the sack.

Look at those Eyes

My baby will sit and give you these saddest eyes while you are eating. She wants to eat what you are eating so badly that she will just sit and wait. My mom can't stand it when she does that, it makes her feel to guilty to eat in front of Sadie.

Sadie is such a great dog. I think Cowboy has come to love her as much as I do.

Now on to another subject, I'm sure you will tire of hearing about it in the next 5 months. I need to start thinking and planning a wedding reception. My mom told me tonight that she would be okay with us having a reception in my home town and the one where we live. I don't know what to do. I just want it all to happen without doing all the work. I want something very simple and fun. I'm afraid that it can get bigger than I want it to very fast.

I'm very excited about getting married to Cowboy. I love this man very much. He hasn't said much about the wedding or reception yet. I'm sure this is very different for him since he has been married before. I'm just going to keep in mind that this is about us, not him or me. I'm sure we'll put our teamwork into place and get it all taken care of. I just don't know where to start.

I'm the domestic queen

I think I am becoming a domestic queen, maybe even a domestic goddess. I came home, walked the dog, chatted with the neighbors, paid the HOA dues and then came home to bake fresh apple crisp. I then started vacuum packing fish and then peeling apples and vacuum packing them. I'm planning on going into the winter with fresh fish, apples, and fresh corn off the cobb.

This may be the domestic side of me that was always waiting to come out. I love making a home with Cowboy. We talk all the time about what a good team we make. He catches the fish, I freeze them. He buys the corn and I clean it and freeze it. He gathers the apples, I peel them, he cuts them up and pack them. Between the two of us, we do a great job of working together.

The Great Fisherman

The great fisherman brought home his catch. He reports that he caught about 50 fish, all from farm ponds. He is a good fisherman and does a good job of cleaning and fileting them. I came home from work tonight and had fresh fried fish on the table with home grown tomatoes and freshly made apple sauce. Dinner was yummy.

The fisherman was grumpy this morning. We had to call our home warranty company for our furnace and attic fan. He thinks all repairmen are crooks and are out to screw you. Which may be true to some extent...before you start, let me just say the repairman tried to find things to invalidate our warranty and Cowboy did a good job of challenging him on that. We did get a new furnace motor and are going to get a new attic fan motor. But all of this made him grumpy and guess who he takes it out on. So what did I do, hung up the phone on him. What does he do, calls me back and plays nice. He knows he's grumpy and he is doing better at changing that quickly. One of these days, he may get it right.

5 months

In 5 months, I'll be a married woman. That seems weird to say and even weirder to think about. There are times that I think that is way to soon and I start to have a small panic attack. I think I know now what those feel like. I'm excited and freaked out all at the same time.

Cowboy came home yesterday afternoon with a whole mess of fish. We will have a freezer full for the winter. He said he had a good time and was able to see some of his family while he was gone.

We met is adopted mom tonight for dinner and gambling. She wanted to play in a blackjack tournament. She took 6th place and Cowboy and I, well, we lost all our money. Lesson for us, stay out of the casino. We have a wedding in front of Elvis to pay for...

The Competition Weekend

It has been said that when you get more than one of my family members together, we will turn anything into a competition. That was true of the is weekend. My brother and his family arrived on Saturday. We had lunch and then just stayed around the house for a while. I have a play ground just at the end of the block that's hidden from our view but if you know where it is , it great for kids. Little did I know, my brother would be one of those kids.

The bro and has kids were pretending that playground equipment were a Survivor challenge that they had to cross. Two started on each side and this was the result. I thought there was going to be mayhem. No injuries but lots of fun.

We went to a football game and our team lost bad! Then home to play the Wii. I think I need a Wii. I boxed, bowled, played tennis and baseball all from the comfort of my home and even worked up a little sweat.

The bro and I got up early this morning and played a round of golf. It was a beautiful morning and we had a great time. I miss my Cowboy and wish he was here. However, he is catching lots of fish and loving every minute of it.

Date Nite

154 days until getting hitched...

We had a date night. It was actually a step up from Long John Silvers. We went out for dinner and then to a movie. It was a really good evening. Cowboy worked hard all day and planted a new tree in our back yard. We live in a very wooded neighborhood and everyone has lots of trees in thier yards, except us. We have babied our one and only tree in the back yard. Now we have two projects to keep alive and grow. We are even talking about adding another tree or two.

He is leaving tomorrow to go do his hunting and gathering thing. (He's really going fishing back in his home town.) I think he is really looking forward to his time away. Secretly, I'm looking forward to him being gone. My family is coming into town and I'm looking forward to spending all my time with them.

Cowboy gets alittle riled up about the house getting "dirty". Remember, he is a little picky. So he gets a little tense when we have a house full. It will just be easier to have him gone. Maybe it's a sign of our way to make it through family visits.

Count Down to Marry this Man

There are 155 days until the big wedding. Wow, that's quick. I'm excited. There are a million reasons why I want to marry this man. Let me just tell you what he did for me today.

Our dryer is still not fixed. They called at 7:30 to say they would be here between 10 and 12. Despite his busy schedule and all he had planned, he dropped everything and came home to let the repairman in.

He was at a golf shop yesterday and they had an apple tree in their driveway and brought home 4 apples. Today, he went back there and brought home three sacks full so we could make homemade apple sauce and apple crisp.

My family is coming for the weekend. He worked until dark to make sure the yard was mowed, the leaves blown away and the walnuts picked up so the yard looks award winning.

Yesterday, he washed and waxed my big vehicle and cleaned the inside so it's spotless.

Tonight, he fixed my dinner and swept the kitchen floor.

I am a truly spoiled woman. I try to spoil him as well. We are a good team.

UFO's

Do you believe in UFO's? Do you really think that there is other forms of life out there?

Cowboy was outside yesterday when a total hippie guy was walking past our house. Cowboy knew he wasn't from the neighborhood. But in true Cowboy fashion, he started talking to the guy. The guy was in his 60 and said he liked walking in the neighborhood because he grew up in our house.

The hippie went on to describe the house to a T. That lent some credibility to the guys story of living here in the house. Then Mr. Hippie went on to tell Cowboy that when he was about 17, he was coming home with his little brother in the car. They turned the corner onto the street and saw an UFO hovering above the house and then swoosh off. They drove around the neighborhood to try to catch up with the thing. When they came back to the street, the UFO was hovering over the house again. Once again swoosh and it was gone.

Cowboy said Mr. Hippie was very straight faced and serious as hell. Mr. Hippie went on to tell of a time that his mother was sleeping in the house and a bright light suddenly appeared to shine directly into the house and the bedroom she was sleeping in. The light broke the window and Mr. Hippie's mother saw a UFO out side of the window.

Seriously, I'm not making this up and Cowboy said the guy wasn't making it up either. Maybe I'm in for an adventure living here.

One freak out moment: If we get married in March, that is 5 months away. OMG