Transplanted in Texas

My recap of D's birthday and the events surrounding the 2017 Thanksgiving celebrations comes next week. We're on our way to Hico to see more family, as D and his parents have done annually for the past while. Yesterday, Ma's family all gathered at her place to give thanks for all God has given us - each other, homes, good lives, and our friends. 2016 Hico Thanksgiving It was the first Thanksgiving without Caleb. But we were and are thankful for the time we did have with him, and thankful that he is in Heaven. This year we got two little boys to play with, and next year at least one more little one will join in the fun. Yance's very first first  cousin is due early May 2018. In the holiday season, we get to experience everybody's love. We had an overwhelming amount of it twice this year already, what with losing Pop and then Caleb. But this time we were not gathering to mourn. Yesterday we were together to celebrate what freedoms we have. I don't ...

I laid out the plots for my book and had all of my blog posts prepared so the blog could handle being virtually abandoned for 30 days. And then it hit me. I simply can't do NaNoWriMo this year. I have a house to maintain, a baby to watch and make sure he doesn't hurt himself or anything else, and keep random things out of his mouth. There won't be enough time, between feeding my husband and my son, the horses and holidays, to get fifty thousand words in. And if I don't think I have a chance of winning, I'm not inclined to start something. So NaNoWriMo 2017 is a bust. No, less than a bust. It never began. We'll see about next year. I might have enough time. But November is an awful month for it, because of Thanksgiving. In other news, I am releasing my book, "A.P. Indy", on November 11! It has over 200 pages and will be available on Amazon and CreateSpace, among other places. I can't even write a blog post without the kid climbing u...

This is the essence of Cookie. Ever since he was a kitten (shown here at six weeks of age), he has been a lazy, sleepy kitten. Too lazy to fend off the dog, and sleepy enough to be lying on the chair right now by the table, fast asleep. It's Duke who drags up mice and rats, among other things. The cat wanders around, fends for himself at night and while we're away, and then stays inside during the day while we're home. Because he won't keep the dog away from his food, so he has to have it inside or starve. He's a gentle soul, but still a kitten. He can be crazy one minute and asleep the next, crashed on the floor. And he is quite lazy. He's not very good at cleaning up in the litter box, often scraping the wall instead of the litter. It gets pretty annoying. Cookie enjoys curling up on or beside people, and does pretty well when Yance wants to clobber him. He also likes to knead us and has a terrible time getting the hint when we want him to leave. B...

This month I'm getting down to the crunch of preparing to release my book (yay!) and put down the first words of my next one. Both of those are happening next month. I am also trying to decide what to do for my sweetheart's birthday, which is at the end of next month. Fortunately, I have given myself plenty of time to figure that out, so that's not too rushed. This year I will be working on my first draft of a book full of short stories and poems. All brand-new. Yeah, it's going to be fun. November is turning out to be even more hectic than last year, which had NaNoWriMo, a reenactment, Thanksgiving, and also hubby's birthday - and I still got nearly 90,000 words in on my A.P. Indy book (it's not that long anymore). This year I'm adding a book release to that list, and also will be keeping track of a seven to eight month old baby boy at the same time. Yikes! By the way, we're expecting a tooth at any moment, he crawls, pulls himself up, ...

I interrupt the usual "photo thoughts" post routine that has occurred over the past five weeks to announce that our baby boy is a full six months old as of today. The day he was born That's right: it's already been six months since Yance was born. In that time, he has learned to roll over, scoot, sit up, and crawl. He has experimented with his voice, grabbed random things (especially hammers), and developed a talent for knocking things over in the strangest ways. Four weeks And he loves water and apples. The former he enjoys playing in, the latter he enjoys to suck on. Two months As for a hate list, string beans and carrots are at the top. And bananas. His head is going from black/brown to sandy, but his eyes are still a brilliant blue. Still, we have no idea what his hair or eyes will do. At two, his father had very gold hair and extraordinarily blue eyes. Now he's got sandy locks and hazel/green eyes. Three months My eyes are blue a...

I love writing because I get my thoughts out on paper and see them. I love writing because... well... I love to read. I love writing because I don't like talking, but I do like to communicate. I have been writing for as long as I can remember. Writing about horses, more specifically. And I love to write because it gets my thoughts out for others to see, and in some cases I want books to be available that aren't, because nobody has written them. So I am writing. My first book is to be a non fiction biography of sorts about A.P. Indy. My second planned book (which I hope to publish in Nov 2018) is a fictional romance based off of the song by Riders In the Sky, "A Border Romance". And my third is to be of my favorite living racehorse, Texas Bling. I looked for a book about A.P. Indy and haven't found one. "A Border Romance" is a story-song that would make an excellent book - though I admit I do have doubts about finishing that one or even sta...

My first priority is to my spouse, my beloved, my husband. It is my job to keep him happy and encourage (not enable) him through life. I am his help meet. Because of this, now that I have energy back, I am working on losing my postpartum flab and also keep the house clean and try to earn money with this blog. He is easy to please. Respect him, acknowledge him and his efforts to please me and keep me safe, and love him. My entire being is madly in love with him. Even though he doesn't enjoy it, he works long hours to keep the electricity on, keep us fed, and pay off the debt on the house. He comes home tired at the end of the day, and sometimes has to plow right back into work, building different things with leather. The weekends are usually spent working on the yard. And once in a while, he comes home just to turn right around and load us up for a trip to my parents' place. In return, I try to keep the house at least somewhat clean and make sure he has clean clothes...

It's been a rough week. I've been slightly depressed, and all the way stressed from being congested for two weeks.... AND sick off and on for the past ten months for various reasons (concussion, morning sickness, stomach bug, late pregnancy Braxton Hicks & "false" labor, labor/delivery recovery, and now weather-induced congestion turned sinus infection turned postnasal drip). But yesterday made up for it a good deal. First, I actually folded laundry. Then I got a nap in the afternoon (which turned out to be a bad move, or so Yance thought). Ma came by and saw her little great-grandson, and then shortly after that took us to her place so she could still see her favorite baby while doing stuff around the house. And I could rest while not being completely alone. Ended up watching Bones and M*A*S*H and enjoying Ma's reactions to Yance's expressions. He also gave her a loaded diaper, which was unexpected since he'd already given ME one earlier in the d...

Yance has a new uncle. His aunt looked beautiful in her lacy, modest wedding gown. My brother ended up "DJ-ing" the wedding (there was no music at the reception), and my own husband was quite handsome in his blue and gray outfit. This weekend, we go to my parents' place to see my grandparents. It's been more than a year since we've seen each other, and so they have not held their first great-grandchild yet. I've been battling a sinus infection all week, so I haven't gotten a chance to ride or play with any horses... But Yance has! On Sunday, we went outside and he sat on Jack and then Windy. D held him and I took pictures. The little boy was just fine with it. Kelly has adopted nieces and nephews - two girls and two boys out of her late sister, Jadzia. Two tortoiseshells, a blue lynx point boy, and a black male. They are about the same age as her own two blue lynx point sons, and she took to them as soon as she heard their meows. She now has...

It's 2am. My alarm goes off under my pillow by my head. I wake up, yawn, and shut it off. Then I lie there for a couple minutes before getting to my feet. I go through the bedroom door and out into the hall. Directly across the hall is the spare room, and I open the door and enter. On the bed in there is a little baby-bed thing, with my half-awake and hungry little boy inside. I pick him up and bring him back to the master bedroom. Once there, I get comfortable and feed the baby, who guzzles his nighttime meal in 20-25 minutes. I struggle to stay awake while my sweetheart snores quietly. Then Yance is finished, so I bring him back to his bed, close the doors, and fall asleep in my own bed again. The next thing I know, my husband's first alarm goes off. It's 5:30. After a minute or so, he rolls over and turns it off - and then we're asleep again. My alarm goes off again. This time it's 6, time for Yance's next meal. I repeat what I did at 2, this time with my...

We have two planned spring reenactments: Pleasant Hill and Jefferson. Pleasant Hill was the first reenactment we attended as a married couple, and this year it will be the first one we attend with our son. On Saturday, we will head over there, and Yance will have his first exposure to the whole reenacting environment. He will be one month old exactly, too. I am defying my own expectations. I did not expect to be so energetic four weeks after giving birth to this little one, and yet I am nearly back to my normal self. I haven't felt this good in more than nine months. So, D will fall in with some friends to fight at the Pleasant Hill reenactment, then play the ball with some more friends. I will watch from the sidelines, holding my baby boy. He will be decked out in a brand-new 1860s era baby outfit, and I will be wearing my blue camp dress. Who knows what reenactments we will attend this year. We will be at most, if not all of the upcoming band engagements (we missed...

First, a photo from our weekend out of the house. This week, I decided to give you an update on the horses I put on my watchlist that did go through the ring at Keeneland in November 2016. In hip order, here they are. Madame Giry (in foal to Honor Code) - foal due April/May 2017 - 2016 foal born Apr 18. RNA’d so probably still in T.F. VanMeter & Brian Kahn ownership in KY. Will know more once foal is born. My Conquestadory (in foal to Tapit) - foal due any day - 2016 foal (shown below) born Feb 23. Sold to SF Bloodstock & Newgate Farm, no doubt is still in KY awaiting the birth of the foal. Promise Me Silver - no news on who she was booked to, but no doubt resides at an Adena Springs farm, probably Kentucky. ‘16 Sacred Forest - still unnamed, might be a pinhook, might not be. Nothing known at the moment. She’s Not Here - still in the U.S., probably bred to any one of these: Exaggerator, Flintshire, Daredevil, California Chrome. ‘16 Summer Soiree ...