Wednesday, July 22, 2009

When I Get To Heaven....



A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.
He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.
After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.

When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side.
When he was close enough, he called out, 'Excuse me, where are we?'
'This is Heaven, sir,' the man answered. 'Wow! Would you happen to have some water?' the man asked.
Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up.'The man gestured, and the gate began to open.

'Can my friend,' gesturing toward his dog, 'come in, too?' the traveler asked.
'I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets.'

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.

After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.

'Excuse me!' he called to the man. 'Do you have any water?'
'Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in.'
'How about my friend here?' the traveler gestured to the dog.
'There should be a bowl by the pump.'
They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it.
The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog.
When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree.

'What do you call this place?' the traveler asked.
'This is Heaven,' he answered.
'Well, that's confusing,' the traveler said. 'The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.'

'Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's hell.'
'Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?'

'No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.'

Monday, July 20, 2009

Impromptu Saturday Trailride!

Early Saturday morning we trailered to Bandera State Park for an early ride. This was the first time that I have ridden with Lorri since her accident and she is doing so well! You would never know she broke spinous processes in her neck, she is the same beautiful rider as always. We also had a gal named Kathy with us--we met her through Triple H--and she borrowed Shorty for the ride. Linda was on Red so we had a posse of sorts! We did a TON of moving out on this ride and I had a ball! We all did. It was simply a beautiful morning for a ride and even the infernal heat cooperated for once! Sweet!


Lorri, Kathy and Me


Can you spot the horseshoes?





Bath time!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

The War in Iraq Becomes Personal.....



Glenn, Amanda (his wife) and Miles at their wedding





I am still in shock. Two weeks ago, my son's dad whom I was married to at the age of nineteen, and have known since I was fifteen, was sent to Iraq with a mere five days notice. He is in training for five weeks in NJ and then off to (supposedly) Iraq. He is an intelligence SMSgt.; a linguist who speaks Albanian, Spanish and Portuguese. Maybe a couple others, I don't remember anymore--he picks up languages like new socks. Must be nice. After five years of Spanish I am pretty hopeless. Anyway, my thirteen year old son who spent MOST of his time at his dad's in the past year, is now ALL MINE for a year. I told his dad he certainly planned that well--leave me with the teenager--smile. His dad has been in 20 years and is eligible for retirement. At first they told him it was a non-voluntary assignment and that if he refused he would be automatically retired. He said fine, retire me. The Air Force then changed their tune and told him if he refused he would be KICKED out with NO BENEFITS. WTF?
So he is gone, leaving behind three kids and a wife. His five year old has just been diagnosed with autism and he also has a fifteen month old. Apparently, the reason he got the short notice is that the PUTZ who was supposed to go went AWOL and has not been found! I would not be surprised to find Miles' dad in Afghanistan instead of Iraq, many times they don't even know what they are doing until they are on a runway.... His missions are normally not discussable due to the nature of his job, but after being his wife and figuring things out, I have a good idea what he does. It is NOT COMMON to get taxed for a year's assignment, normally they are 3-6 months long. I tell him this is the military's payback for giving him his cushy 6 yr. assignment when we got to live in Key West, Florida and his TDY's (short trips) to Germany, Costa Rica, Chile, California...the list goes on. He has gone on one SHORT assignment that WAS dangerous; in a scary place, but I can't tell you where. Ahhh. Such mystery! Intrigue. No, not really, trust me. Scary is MORE like it. The powers that be probably read my darn blog to make sure I'm not giving out intelligence information. Of course, I am proud of all of our soldiers who go and fight for our country, it is the WARS and the politics of it all that I am not supporting. I was in the Air Force as a nurse and it was NOT for me.... but I am still forced to be a military wife....even as an ex-wife. What is really hard on my son is that because of the short notice, he did not get a change to say goodby to his dad. He was in Chicago visiting his grandma during the debacle and ensuing scramble on his dad's part to out-process and put his affairs in order. My son is worried, afraid his dad won't come back, and missing his dad terribly. They are SO close. I will do the best that I can... Pray for us if you pray.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Wild West FUN Fest

HOWDY FOLKS! Yesterday was another fun-filled day, and another fundraiser for Triple H Equitherapy where I volunteer. We held the annual 'Wild West Fun Fest' at Enchanted Springs Ranch in Boerne, Texas. Enchanted Springs is an 86 acre working ranch with its rugged, natural beauty,extensive collection of exotic animals, and authentic time warp--a Western town right out of the 1800's. Originally designed for Western movies, the Old West town consists of over 40 facades and buildings which have been used in several TV films and commercials. Apparently,it is Oprah's #4 pick for BEST family attraction in the USA! Anywhooo....my son Miles and I set out yesterday to participate in the festivities and FUN! I also sold raffle tickets and my loud mouth served me well, I must confess, I sold $150 worth of tickets in one hour. (OKAAAAY...I'm not really that good. One guy came up and bought $100 worth of tickets, so since my goal was met, I was free to play, YAAAYYY!!!). I'll take you on a tour of our day; I have NO pictures of Miles because he took off to explore and was in an anti-picture mood. SIGH. 13 is not fun so far.... I had fun setting up a warrant for Linda's arrest....for $5 they would come find anyone in your party, cart them of to jail and give 'em a trial. I had Linda arrested for 'talkin trash', (ha!) and boy was she surprised! It was especially funny because she had just been heckling the last girl who was in the "jail"!















Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Wordless Whisperer....


This is Joe Mike. He is the senior instructor and ranch hand at Triple H Equitherapy where I volunteer. I just happened to have my camera in my back pocket and was able to catch this very cool moment....Mike is wonderful with horses and has a ton of great knowledge. Thankfully, he is kind about sharing what he knows!! Obviously, you can tell he rates quite high with the horses....