Tomorrow morning, A Writer and A Rider and I leave in my car for Las Vegas! We will be gone until Sunday evening. Her awesome dad is treating us to an all expense paid vacation! I am so excited :-) We will be staying at the Excalibur and going to see Cirque du Soleil, “Kà”, which combines acrobatic performances, martial arts and pyrotechnics. N and I will be going to the spa, too. And we will do as much “tourist” stuff as we can handle. “See” you when I get back with some pics of us having fun! I am not much of a gambler… just some machines, even though I do know how to play 21 and poker (I used to be a Texas Holdem Dealer for a short time). I do not have a “poker face” - I am like an open book and all but an idiot knows that I have a good hand or a bad hand! But wish us luck - at cards or finding the fun in Vegas.
I have been fairly busy the past few days. I had some old bikes restored and have been bike riding. I wish that I could say that it has been a blast! I remember as a kid riding from sun up to sun down. I am hoping that it improves my balance and strength for the horseback riding that I plan on doing soon. Also, I have reached a plateau in my weight loss and am hoping to burn a bunch of calories!
I got the skirting done around the duck house… I used some left over horse/deer fencing. I cut panels of it and put it on the ground around the duck house to try and keep the wild critters from digging under and up into the duck area. I put a bunch of rocks over the fencing material to blend it into the ground, to keep it from being torn up and away from the duck house and to keep from tripping on it…. but I bet that I still find a way to trip on it!
I got all of the Christmas decorations put away into the shed. I did get it all boxed up last New Year’s Day, but there has been so much snow, ice and, as that all melted, mud on the ground that it was hard to walk to the shed until that past couple of weeks.
There has been a smell in the boy’s bedroom the past week to 10 days. The boys and I have had our noses down in the carpet like bloodhounds and could not find the source…. I knew what the smell was - cat. I crawled on my stomach under the house…. all nice and dry. The other day I finally had the time to actually move the furniture away from the walls in the bedroom… aha! It was coming from the chair cubby under the desk! I got some great stuff for cat urine, soaked it down, steam cleaned it and it the smell is finally gone!
I have been concerned for a couple of my blogger buddies. They have had a very hard week. I have been sending them happy thoughts and hope that life starts to turn to good for them.
So, other than the damned wind is still blowing at 20mph through here, and that I miss the hell out of my husband, life is good and I am staying busy.
I found a site mentioned in the AZ Daily Sun for Waterfallswest. The photographer’s name is Leon Turnbull. He takes pics of waterfalls mostly on the west of the states and Canada. You should go check out his gallery. He has taken pics of Grand Falls just east of Flagstaff that are very beautiful. He has taken some of other places that I love in California. A fellow blogger, Talina, went to the Grand Falls about a week ago and she said that it is a great hike to the falls and that the hike is well worth it. Leon would like us all to Help Save the North Fork of the American River . I grew up along the American River and it is worth saving! So, please, check out his beautiful site! He has info on all of the waterfalls - such as driving directions, level of difficulty to get to the waterfall, if you can take your dog with you and lots of stuff about the waterfall. I am going to take my boys to the Grand Falls as soon as I can before the water flow decreases. And go to his blog to see Rainbow Bridge near Folsom Lake which is near Sacramento, CA - Rainbow Bridge is one of my old high school hangout places.
This was going to be about St. Patrick’s Day. Yesterday there was an 80-100 car pile up on the freeway a few miles before the exit to my house. Some of my friends were involved. Thankfully, there are only 2 reported fatalities. During a complete whiteout, a semi jacknifed and then there was a domino effect. Click this to read the Daily Sun’s account of the accident. Miracles do happen and Life IS Good!
I hope that everyone heals fast and can get on with life. And that we all learn a lesson from this tragedy.
Now that I have processed some of the physical and emotional trauma, I have a bit of a story to tell. My husband and I had, as Nicole would say, “A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” last Thursday. An AZ DOT snow plow T-Boned our beautiful Ford 250. That truck saved our lives because it is so big - never will I complain about having to climb all the way up to get in the cab (I am 5ft9inces). Husband had a dislocated shoulder and the driver’s door window in his face that required 10 stitches. I have a sprained ankle, swollen nose, torn neck muscles, and scalp abrasion.
Husband and I rode to the hospital in matching guerneys. He was taken in one direction, me to a different part of the emergency room. We were both strapped to back boards with our heads taped down. He got some “happy” stuff - I didn’t even get a tylenol. His valuables were collected by Security and inventoried. Mine were left on a table unattended. The nurses cut most of our clothes off. Husband got his pants and both shoes returned - plus a new shirt. My pants and one boot were returned. I didn’t get the other boot back OR a shirt to wear until I told them all to “Kiss my ass”.
Hopefully, the truck is repairable. I am optimistic while we wait for the estimate. It became a very important part of our lives that day. I don’t even care what color it will be painted. It DID have an awesome paint job!
The gist of my story really is - PLEASE, Look at your loved ones and be sooooo thankful for them. Even if they irritate the shit out of you at times. This whole experience made me sit and think….. I LOVE LIFE!!!! I so totally treasure the few friends that I have. Each and every one of them stepped up to help with my kids and animals….. even a ride home! One friend was there at the ER with her child and called someone to get my kids from school. She was like looking up at an angel… and calmed me from total hysteria just by being there. Another friend let me scream and rant on my cell after I told off the nurses, put my coat and one shoe on and left the hospital. She calmed me enough to be able to have the strength to go back in the ER to deal with my injuries. Other friends stepped up to get my boys to their respective basketball games because I could not attend. THANK YOU and BLESS ALL OF YOU! You are all such treasures in my life and I love you all! And, I want to thank each and every higher power that allowed husband and I to have many more years together….. I could not do without my very bestest friend.
Talina
Nicole
yarmi74
kaylee
