Rosso and the Pony

I'm chatty today.

Did I ever tell you how we came to have Rosso the big red chicken? He's the horse in the picture to the left. That was him learning how to longe when I first brought him home. Furry Husband was out taking pictures and we thought that one was cool.

Rosso would just FREAK OUT if I put the longe line on him, and it was pretty much his reaction for anything he didn't understand. He is much better now - he longes quite well - and I longe him before I get on him to see if he's in one of his FREAK OUT moods or if he is feeling obedient. He is more and more in the obedient frame of mind these days. But I am ever watchful for a FREAK OUT.

Anyway - the person I bought my nice, Thoroughbred mare, Sera from had Sera's 1/2 brother for sale. $700. He ran 8 races and won $500 which is why he was home and for sale. He'd had surgery on one knee to remove a bone chip but had recovered and raced after the surgery - he wasn't broken down from the track.

We did NOT need another horse but Furry Husband and I like to do stuff that isn't exactly logical or sane. We went and looked at this $700 Thoroughbred gelding from the race track.

He was in a smallish pen, it was muddy out and the horse was just up, up, up - he was galloping around in this little pen and snorting and carrying on like a wild jungle animal. I liked the look of him tho'. I'm not an expert at conformation in horses but I think I can look at the overall picture and know if it is a pleasant picture or if something is wrong.

I used to test my "eye" for conformation when I'd watch dairy goat or dog shows ... I'd watch the class and I'd place the does or dogs I liked.... I wasn't 100% accurate and it's not like I picked the winning animal all the time, but my picks were always in the front half of the results. I don't think I ever picked a last place animal. So not exactly like I KNOW what I'm doing but I can tell when everything fits together nicely if that makes sense?

Anyway - I thought Rosso looked nice and moved well. BUT we really didn't need another horse so we decided to let him go. I took pictures of him and showed my trainer - she thought he looked good too. He is a bit over at the knee in front but it's not bad and in Dressage it's all about teaching the horse to carry their wieght on the hind end anyway.

The end of the summer rolled around and still no one wanted him. The owner was now giving him away for free. Furry Husband and I talked. We had 2 aged horses pushing 30, they weren't going to live forever, and it'd be nice to have a buddy for Sera.... and a back up plan for me to ride if anything ever happened to her.

Well, lets just say you can pretty much talk yourself into or justify anything.

I called the owner and asked if she had a place to winter him because we didn't have have a shelter built for another horse. No - she did not. I told her I'd take him, but could she hold onto him for a month? We'd pay his feed bill and we'd construct something to shelter him at home... it was agreed.

We went to get him just before Thanksgiving. He looks a lot like Sera. He has one white sock on one front leg and Sera has one white sock on one back leg. They both have a blaze - tho' Rosso's is more of a strip. I can tell by looking at them which is which but most everyone gets them mixed up.

We named him Rosso which is "red" in Italian. Pretty original huh? Furry Husband sells wine and he often sells red Italian table wine called rosso. That year he won a trip to Italy so to us it makes sense.

A lot of people don't get Rosso's name. We pronounce it 'row (as in row, row, row your boat) -sew (as in a needle pulling thread) '

We get:

Russo (like the actress Renee Russo)

Rojo (the Spanish version of red)

Row-scoe ( dunno what that is? )

Rosco (as in Roscoe P. Coltrain from the 1970s Dukes of Hazzard t.v. show)

Rose-co (?? Not sure what this one is either ... Rose Co.??)

Anyway, Rosso is a huge chicken.

This past weekend I took him to Rex's. (he is getting in the trailer oh so much faster now - like a normal horse! Yay for me!) Once our ride was over and he was cooled out, I got off of him. I stood around talking to Elizabeth and Rex while Elizabeth's daughter walked her pony into the indoor arena and began walking it around to warm the pony's stiff legs up...

You could see a tiny, shaggy, white horse escaped all confines of Rosso's mind. He is such a "fragile flower".

His eyes were BUGGING out of his head. He snorted and wanted to run away. I held onto him and ignored him. We were all laughing at the expression on his face actually - watching him keep an eye on the very scary pony.

When Elizabeth's daughter actually crawled up on the pony to ride it.... hoo boy. Rosso just could not figure it out, had never seen such a thing and was all googly eyed. I kept him in the arena and the pony came pretty close to him. I really wanted to take him over to sniff the pony... but with a child on the pony... not such a good idea. What if Rosso struck out with a front leg or tried to taste the pony?

Anyway - he stayed until the pony was not such a big deal. It's good for him. Yeah - going to his first horse show aughta be all sorts of fun... snort. NOT.

Happy New Year's Eve!!

Yippeee! New Years! We will go to dinner at a small restaurant in Wellington, CO called Beauregards and it's gonna be F-U-N, FUN! My trainer Rex is coming with her curmudgeon-y husband Glenn. Her mom Carol is coming - Carol used to be my trainer until she retired. Rex's sister Mindy is coming - she is an equine surgeon at Littleton Large Animal Clinic in Littleton, CO and her brother Justin who is a true cowboy and runs a herd of cattle.... their spouses and kids will be coming so it's gonna be a big ol' party.

I am just enough of a dork that I bought New Year party favors... I have plenty o' glow stix that you can make into bracelets and necklaces and I have strobe light blinking Happy New Year pins from flashing blinky lights.com for everyone and then some.... the waitstaff at Beauregards always likes a little bling on such a busy night.

And it just wouldn't be New Years without a big ol' pimple on my face! I have a nice big, red, noticable pimple on my left cheek... right on the apple... you know that area you are supposed to put your blush on? Yup. Right there. Big and red and pulsing for everyone to see. I guess it didn't want to miss out on the festivities tonight.

Every time I get a pimple that big, I think of my old college roomie, Ellie.

Once I had a pimple on my chin that seemed to go on and on and on - it was huge and Ellie said it had become such a part of me, I should name it. She began calling it Janet.

Ellie was older than me and in graduate school for writing. She was really different. I have a lot of Ellie stories.

Ellie used to come into the bathroom when I was taking a bath and tell me I had SUCH nice limbs. She wasn't coming on to me or anything - and I think in college and living with people, you are used to little or no privacy. I dunno... maybe it was just me? It didn't really bother me... I mean we were all women and had the same parts. I'm not so willing for anyone to see me nekkid now... now I sag. Now I have a roll. I named it Sheila... see? Ellie is with me always!

I guess it was kinda wierd. shrug. I took it as a compliment. I have nice limbs! Or did... maybe they aren't so nice anymore now that I am an old bag?

I had this cat named Little Kitty at the time. Ellie always told me that Little Kitty looked like Elizabeth Taylor and she'd like to make love to Little Kitty. Hmmm. Yeah. THAT one was wierd. Personally I never did see Little Kitty's resemblance to Liz Taylor. I mean, Little Kitty's wardrobe was sorely lacking....I don't think Ellie ever did sleep with Little Kitty in the biblical sense cuz Little Kitty wasn't that type of cat. She woulda scratched the holy hell outta any human trying that sorta funny bid'ness with her.

Ellie was o.k. I guess --- just odd. She was tidy, never hurt me, never stole anything or ate my food and she paid her rent so who was I to complain? My boundaries and what I was willing to put up with were really different when I was young vs. now when I am old and crotchety.

A guy I dated at the time told me I was a "dirtbag magnet" cuz wierd people tended to come up to me out of the blue and start talking to me... maybe that is how I ended up with Ellie as a roomie. She wasn't what I would call a dirtbag, just different.

This next Ellie story is sorta gross so if you are squeemish about bodily functions you might want to stop reading....

One day Ellie called me crying. She was always calling me and crying about something. I'd listen to the story and try to offer her some comforting words. I always hung up and shook my head once the call was over.

This particular morning she called me and was crying ...

"Shanster! I'm at so-and-so's house and I put 3 tampons in myself... 'whimper'.... I can't get them out!!"

"Ellie! What am I supposed to do about it?! Go to a doctor!"

"But it huuuuurrrrrts! 'sob' "

"Well, yeah, I'm sure it does! (horrified pause) I can't help you... you HAVE to go to a doctor! Ellie! Why did you put THREE in?!?

"All so-and-so had in her bathroom were the light flow kind and I'm really heavy flow! (more sobbing) I didn't want to have to change them every 30 minutes and now I can't get them all out! "

I never asked her how she got them out but I don't think she went to the doctor. I dunno, maybe, to this day, there is still a stray light flow tampon in Ellie's hoo-ha? I wonder if she named it and ever wrote about it?

Have a very safe and wonderful New Years - all the best to you in the 365 days to follow!

Enigmas are usually expensive

I talked to Dr. Wheeler today. He tested Sera for HYPP just in case and like we thought, it came back negative. He hasn't gotten the selenium results yet but will this week. He keeps saying Sera is an enigma. sigh. I sorta wish enigmas would stay with people that have a bunch of money to get to the bottom of the mystery. Sera is mine and I love her and we'll get to the bottom of this eventually. In the meantime I can pick on the baby Rosso.



I called Sera's regular vet who was out on vacation when this tying up incident happened to fill her in. She is thinking on it as well. Two brains are better than one...



I plunked down the $$ for my new used saddle last night! It needs to be re-flocked and the seller lowered the price by the cost of the re-flocking for me. (re-flocking means re-doing all the stuffing under the saddle ) AND the store was giving a 10% off all consignment saddles before the end of the year so every little bit helps!



Hopefully the Stubben saddle I put up for consignment will sell soon. It is being test ridden by someone who likes it, it fits their horse and I hear their trainer is a notorious Stubben lover. Sounds promising! Keep your fingers crossed.

Laurie and Tom came to get Norman this morning - he was ECSTATIC to see them - put himself in a right state I tell you! Now Punkin, our orange tabby cat, can come down from Furry Husband's dresser. She's been up there since Norman arrived. I think I heard the collective sigh of relief from our 6 felines all the way at work!

Alls well that ends well...

Back to work!

Well not really cuz here I am posting!

I found a new blog - love it! It's over to the left under "Keepin' me Happy" - check out Works by Tracy Helgeson. I haven't read everything but so far, the posts she's written really ring true to things from my life. She is brave and writes about her experiences. Me? I'm a big chicken! I stay hidden behind inconsequential things and humor more than anything...

I find it interesting that the blogs I like the best are by artists. I am a big fan of My So Called Life in France and I really like Richard Thompson's blog - he is an illustrator and comic strip writer.

Don't you think that is sorta wierd?

My other fave is Mugwump Chronicles - she is a very talented writer and she trains horses. Oh wait - and she DOES do cowboy art - I forgot - so yeah - she is an artist as well!

Tho I also think writers are artists. Especially when what they write creates pictures in your mind, gives you an escape or they are able to move you in some way with their craft.

Horse training and riding is really sort of an art form too. It is a relationship and a partnership with a 1,500 - 2,000lb animal - a sort of dance if you will - some do it beautifully and others not so much. A lot of riding is feel - you could mechanically go out and do X, Y and Z but it doesn't mean you will have a beautiful looking ride. You aren't sitting on a machine punching buttons. You are working with an animal that thinks and reacts and is LETTING you sit on his back. You'd be crazy if you thought you could out muscle them but many times you have to out think them or finesse them.

Just like with art or writing - you have to use instinct and feel to create a beautiful ride, to stay on and to keep your dance partner willing and happy to work with you.

I suppose I'm just a big ol' wannabe artist! Love art and the stories behind why they came to be... what the artist was feeling or telling or capturing - what they wanted to say.

I almost went to art school in IA I think instead of CSU to the agriculture side... I don't know if anyone even knows that other than my highschool art teacher and I can't even remember her name. I can see her face in my head right now but I can't remember her name for the life of me.

Isn't it interesting? All the choices we have in life and the roads they take us down? What would my life be like right now if I had gone to art school? How different would everything be? Sorta mind boggling to think about...

I'm glad I have the life I chose. I love my little, funny goats and all the cats and dogs and my horses... I love riding and working on my Dressage even tho' no one ever really sees it - it gives me so much - feeds my soul if you will ... and I absolutely LOVE my Furry Husband. Wouldn't change any of it.

What are your favorite blogs and why?

Tying up...

This morning was 36 and partly cloudy with no wind... PERFECT for riding. I changed clothes and the wind kicked up. 25mph with gusts up to 40mph... sigh.

I went out anyway because compared to the weather we'd been having, it is balmy and warm outside! I started with Rosso, the youngster. He was being a wild jungle animal - I tied him to the trailer and he was bucking and flinging his body back and forth. Sigh. I took him and tied him with two lead ropes in the small pen. (so if he pulled back hard and one rope broke, he'd still stay tied - or that is the idea anyway) Let him jump around all he wants til he settles down.

Went and got my mare Sera. Had a short ride - not really so much fun cuz of the wind - but at least my backside was IN a saddle and I was ON a horse. Rode for 30 min. - walk, trot, canter. Nothing hard. It sucked riding in the high wind and I don't like eating dust so the ride was pretty short and nothing difficult. I cooled her out, untacked her, groomed her and was taking her back to her pen when I saw she was tying up. Great.

Tying up is when the muscles sorta lock up. Think of your whole body getting a big ol' muscle cramp. It's like that and it's painful. It's not really known why it happens...

This is the second time she's done it. The first time was maybe 2 mos ago. Her bloodwork showed she was dehydrated... I chalked it up to a freak incident and we slowly started her back to work and she's been fine.

She isn't overwieght, she is not a Quarter Horse, HYPP isn't a factor. She is worked regularly and she is fit. There isn't anything in her diet that would cause it. If it were genetic, it should have shown up before now - she is almost 9. The vet is flummoxed. He took a blood sample and we'll test to see if she's deficient in a vitamin or mineral. He's going to look into polysaccharide storage disease and see about taking a deep muscle biopsy.

Anyway - with all of that going on. No clinic for me tomorrow. Sera is going to have a weeks rest and I'm giving her a dose of banamine tonight before bed and a dose tomorrow morning. I'll call the vet to let him know how she's doing.

Rosso never did get worked. I untied him - and by the time I got to him he was standing nicely so he had his own little training session today without me.

Hate it when your day goes like that... when something unexpected and unpleasant appears to gum up your afternoon. I was gonna ride and then take Kylee out to a movie. Instead we waited around for the vet, treated Sera, talked with the vet and will need to keep an eye on Sera tonight. I called Kylee and we'll see a movie tomorrow. I'm not going to the clinic so I'll have some extra time.

At least it's not life threatening and I do have Rosso to ride when Sera is under the weather.... oh - yeah, not taking him to the clinic tho'. He is too young and green for me to pay $$ for a ride with Debbie. It would sorta be a waste of her time, and a waste of my money. Won't take him to stuff like that til he knows a little more. I don't need to pay more money than my regular lessons for those baby steps in his training. I'll take him for my weekly lesson with Rex on Sunday tho'.

Norman

Remember how Tom and Laurie came over, Tom climbed up in our trees, cut all the dead branches and hauled them away as a thank-you for watching their dog over Christmas?

Here is Norman, their dog. He's a good boy but we aren't HIS people and he's looking a little pathetic. He likes to lay by the door and wait for them to come get him. We thought it would cheer him up to have a bottle o' wine... makes him look more festive anyway.

Norman gets one 2C scoop of food in the morning and at night. Well Furry Husband would feed him while I was doing something else... he glanced at the directions, not reading them very closely and ended up giving Norman TWO scoops of food! 4 cups and- twice the amount. When Norman would walk away cuz he was full, Furry Husband would call him back and cajole him into eating the rest...

Furry Husband called me at work to tell me his mistake cuz he saw the directions on the counter and I guess read them more closely. "You won't tell Laurie on me will you?"

Poor Norman - here we are force feeding him like a foie gras goose! Tom and Laurie get back late Monday night and will come get him Tuesday.... shhhhh! Don't tell Laurie that we stuffed her "little pumpkin" with all that food!

Christmas Eve

The beginning of our night....


My new favorite beer.... when they aren't making this seasonal beer, Tommyknocker Maple kicks ass...


Still early....

The Cozzola pies....

Pansy needs the little fork because she has an unusually tiny mouth....


Can you see how freaking SMALL her mouth is??? No wonder she needs the little fork!


MMM - a plateful o' pastries....

Stick a fork in me - I'm done!

We played Horseopoly. I haven't played Monopoly since I was a kid. It's really hard to keep track of properties and count money when you've been drinking. Also - not quite played the same way. If you landed on a property with "houses" (straw bales) or "hotels" (barns) there was much swearing ... not like you coulda done that as a kid when you landed on your parent's Park Ave. "Hey - F-YOU Dad!"

We all laughed really hard, talked like Billy Bob Thornton in Slingblade or in the movie When Harry Met Sally... that time when Harry was telling Sally he'd like some paprikash on his pecan piieeeeee. Please. To repeat after me. Pecan pieeeeeeee.

Gloom...

Christmas. meh. I'm just really not into it this year. We put some lights out and that helps - the Christmas lights are so cheerful. Bright spots in the dark and cold of winter.

Furry Husband brought home a new blue spruce Christmas tree for me. Not a decoratin' tree, but a real tree - it's small and we'll plant it in the spring. Hopefully we won't kill it like we did our last real Christmas tree.

We delivered Christmas cheese last night. I've been on a big cheese making kick - chevre and fromage blanc for Christmas instead of cookies for our neighbors. Some was flavored with basil and pine nuts, some with garlic and dill and I gave the Dailey's some honey and cinnamon flavored chevre cuz I think Bill has a sweet tooth. I have a couple more containers to flavor and hand out... and I'll make some more for us to eat over Christmas. I can't believe I was ever afraid of making that cheese. It is SO easy and SO tasty!

We are going to the Denver Botanic Gardens light display on the 27th and that is going to be KEWL. The people that put that together are amazing. It is so beautiful and creative. I love it. This year they have this lighted holiday trail in the woods... I'm really looking forward to seeing that and smooching Furry Husband under the misletoe.

Tonight we are going to our favorite neighbor's house to celebrate Christmas Eve. We get take and bake pizzas from Cozzola's - a local mouth watering pizzeria - we drink lots and lots o' wine ala Furry Husband and we play games. It is really cozy and comfortable.

Christmas - not so much this year. Funny cuz last year's Christmas was fine. Ignorance is bliss and all that. If you read Secret Life of Bees, there is this realization Lily has at the end that once the truth is realized, you can't go back.

I really hesitate to use this blog for doom and gloom cuz it's not usually who I am. I'm really not out looking for sympathy and I absolutely know that I have not cornered the market on wierd family dynamics. There are plenty of those sorta books out there "Wolf at the Table", "Running with Scissors", "Mommie Dearest", "Prince of Tides" ... who wants another sob story about dysfunction? We all have stuff. I just happen to be struggling with mine more than usual this year.

I went to the P.O. over the weekend to pick up what I thought was going to be a picture ticket cuz I went thru a 'lellow light, there was this flash and I thought - crap - photo ticket! I would rather have a photo ticket.

I got another letter from the IRS cuz they are after my Dad and I'm his power of atty so I get that kind of thing. How one person could fuck themselves so thoroughly and so completely I have no idea. So y'know it doesn't really help my gloomy feelings this year.

Maybe I should think of it as a Christmas greeting from the guv'ment? A little "Hullo! We are thinking of you!" I am so over it and so frustrated by it all that I threw the letter away at the post office. I probably shouldn't have, but the IRS is gonna do what it wants.

I got this Christmas picture from my sister with her new baby, Olivia yesterday. I wouldn't say this to HER, but it's in profile and she's looking down at Olivia... her hair is up sorta in a clip.... she has her glasses on.... um.... it looks like Sarah Palin is smiling benevolently down at Olivia. Ewww.

Anyway. Tomorrow is Christmas I will go to Denver and try to master or at least hide my "bah-humbug" attitude.

I keep wishing on the first star I see at night and I keep praying to whatever is out there... help me to just let it go. Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. Let it go.

Doesn't help that it's been too damn cold to ride lately. The horses are really good at keeping all the above doom and gloom crap at bay. Tho' they ARE looking pretty smarmy these days. After all, thier hairless monkey servants appear each day to feed them, clean up after them and turn them out into the pasture...

I have a Debbie Riehl-Rodriguez clinic to look forward to on the 27th. Hopefully it won't be cancelled... better wipe that smug look off your face Sera, cuz this hairless monkey is gonna be loading YOU into the horse trailer!

Happy Christmas Eve - hope you enjoy the Christmas you want tomorrow!

Mike the headless chicken...

Have any of you heard about Mike? No one believes me when I say there REALLY and TRULY was a headless chicken that went on tours and was this wierd attraction in the 1940's. Google him --- Mike the headless chicken.

We had chickens for a little while. We had this one chicken that we brought home as a chick. It's legs grew sorta funny... I got on a chicken chat room and actually tried to make little chicken leg braces out of pipe cleaners.

Didn't work. (you saw that coming didn't you)

Anyway, this chicken would eat and drink but as it got bigger, it's problem became more pronounced and we called it "Scoliosis Chicken". It was all sorta twisted and it kinda flopped around on the ground, dragging itself to food and water. But it got around o.k. and it ate and drank and seemed happy enough. I mean it pecked at it's food and it preened it's feathers and stuff...

Well, it kept getting worse and one day I thought. I should really kill this chicken and put it out of it's misery, only I hadn't ever killed a chicken. I talked to some people who had and they told me to simply disconnect it's skull from it's neck - but be careful cuz the head could come off in your hand if you pull too hard. WHAT THE???!!!!

I went home and tried to do this but I was scared that the head was going to come off and that would just really and truly freak me out for all time ya know? I put Scoliosis Chicken on the ground and I pulled her head. I heard a big 'POP' and I let go. Scoliosis Chicken flopped around a minute and then it looked around like 'oh - hey - thanks for that chiropractic adjustment' and started pecking in the dirt. I tried it a couple more times and just gave up. Scoliosis Chicken lived.

I talked to Furry Husband about it and we thought - well, maybe if we put her out in the pasture tonight, a fox will come by and end it for us. We put Scoliosis Chicken waaayyy down in the pasture in a clump of tall grass and walked away. I mean she was so twisted and could barely move - no way could she go anywhere. Right? I know, huh, how pathetic. We couldn't even kill a chicken. We are both city kids and had just moved to the country and were too squeemish to pull a head off of a chicken.

The next morning we went down there and didn't find her. Shew. O.K. A fox got her. Scoliosis Chicken is no more.

WRONG!

She made her way up the entire pasture, through our very deep irrigation ditch full of running water and we found her outside the chicken coop looking hungry. Scoliosis Chicken lived a while longer. I left her alone for a long time because I figured anything that wanted to live that much, should.

Fall came and Scoliosis Chicken couldn't get IN the coop with the others to keep warm. I'm like - ok, enough already. Scoliosis Chicken has got to go to the light.

I called our neighbor Pete and asked if he had a machete or something and had he ever killed a chicken before? (Furry Husband was at work that day) Sure 'nuff, he did and he had. He came over and I placed Scoliosis Chicken on a board, held her still and Pete readied his machete. WHACK!

Oh crap. Machete dull. Scoliosis Chicken still alive!

WHACK!

WHACK! - run toward the light Scoliosis Chicken, run toward the light! Finally. Poor Scoliosis Chicken. Gawd. I was totally traumatized that it took that long and Pete's machete blade was dull. It was supposed to be quick! It was - it all happened in a minute... just not the way I thought it would.

That night Furry Husband and I took a drive. We didn't want to encourage any foxes, coyotes, racoons, skunks - whatever to scavange around our house or any of our neighbor's houses. We were like Tony Soprano for the chickens. If one died, we'd take the body for a car ride and dump it in this ditch far away from any houses. Circle of life and all that.

So yeah. We decapitated Scoliosis Chicken and dumped her body ala Soprano style. Bada bing.

Getting to know you

Post inspired by Madame K in France today! I highlight the ones that apply to me and post .... now YOU go!

1. Started your own blog (check - this one)

2. Slept under the stars. (been camping as a kid and in college - also recently tried to sleep in our hammock this past summer and the mosquitoes drove me inside - it is BUGGY out at night!)

3. Played in a band (I played clarinette in 6th and 7th and 8th grade I think - I pretty much sucked. Sounded like a goose getting a rectal exam.)

4. Visited Hawaii.

5. Watched a meteor shower. (Furry Husband will get me up all the time to watch meteor showers. OOO! One time he got home from his bar tending job in Denver at like 3A.M. He woke me up to see the red light in the sky. I thought he was insane at the time and rolled back over. He kept after me and I went out grumbling, thinking I was gonna see the stupid radio towers on the horizon... I was dumbstruck. The whole entire night sky was BLOOD RED. It was so incredibly cool and amazing. We watched it for maybe 15 - 20 minutes until it faded away. I've never seen anything like it before or since. The next day the paper said there was some borealis phemonenon in the CO/WY sky.

6. Given more than you can afford to charity.

7. Been to Disneyland - I've been to whichever one is in FL -

8. Climbed a mountain ( Furry Husband and I climbed the Soufrière volcano on St. Vincent during our honeymoon. It was a personal vendetta for Furry Husband cuz some loser on the boat told him, 'you will never make it in those shoes'. He did make it in those shoes. Also, we live in CO so any time we go hiking, we are pretty much climbing up something )

9. Held a praying mantis. (No but I held a trantula at the Butterfly Pavillion - does that count? Wouldn't come near the hissing cockroach they had tho!)

10. Sang a solo.

11. Bungee jumped.

12. Visited Paris.

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.

15. Adopted a child.

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty. (went to see it, but I don't think you could go inside it when I was there??)

18. Grown your own vegetables. (yeah, I did. And then the veggies had BUGS on them and I would obsessively wash the vegetables for hours at a time. I realize the grocery store veggies probably have bugs too but I don't SEE them crawling around on my food. )

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France. (took our picture outside the Louvre - too late to actually go inside)

20. Slept on an overnight train. (took a f'ng nightmare of a ride overnight on a Greyhound bus 2 yrs ago when I visited my Pa in Omaha and a blizzard hit CO. My flight was cancelled and I was going to be stuck in NE for like a week... trains were full, no rental cars to be had, no flights til after Christmas... I'm lucky I made it back to CO alive. The bus driver was from Russia and began the trip saying in a thick Russian accent "there will be no number 2 on the bus". Caused hysterical 13 yr old potty humour laughter from the morons around me. The girl in front of me wore a skin tight see thru tank top - no coat - cuz it's December in NE for fucks sake. She passed pictures of herself in her bra and panties back and forth to the boys in the next seat while they all talked about how hot she was and tried to get her to have sex with them. The guy behind me kept talking about his nether regions and how big it was and how often he masturbates. He used many names for it. "Magilla gorilla" was pretty inventive. He pulled out his switchblade at one point and was showing it to the guy next to him. I thought if I got to CO with both my kidneys I'd be thankful. The guy next to him would hide any time there was a police officer in view of the bus at any of the many stops we made ... he would actually dive down and hide on the floor. I've never been so happy to see uniformed police officers in really bad moods barking orders at people once we got to the Denver bus terminal. I almost fell down and hugged the police man's knees I was so glad )

21. Had a pillow fight. ( I went to all girls catholic school. Whatya think we DID there anyway? rolling of eyes)

22. Hitch hiked.

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill.

24. Built a snow fort. (I grew up in NE so yeah)

25. Held a lamb. (no - but many goat kids!)

26. Gone skinny dipping. (Been to a NUDE hot springs in CO somewhere. A girlfriend talked me into going with her and her MOM and her MOM'S BOYFRIEND - why did I not see how wrong that was at the time? Anyway - my weekend adventure included sitting on the stairs of the cabin in my shorts and sweatshirt early one morning, eating my cereal when this old guy goes JOGGING past wearing socks and running shoes but nothing else. That is when I completely understood the phrase about the drapes matching the carpet. He was totally grey... um.... yeah. Totally. The other adventure included skinny dipping with my friend in the natural hot springs pool...cuz that is what you do at a naked hot springs. There was a really large older woman reading a book in a reclining pool chair. She had a shirt on but nothing else. It looked like there was a large grey possum in her lap.)

27. Run a Marathon (this will NEVER happen - NOT EVER - someone asked me once and I almost fell down laughing)

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.

31. Hit a home run. (When I was on the Hillside All-Stars softball team in grade school... I kicked ass)

32. Been on a cruise. (Windjammer cruise thru the Grenadine Islands.)

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors. (What? You mean Omaha, NE?)

35. Seen an Amish community. (When I went to PA to see my really dumb boyfriend's family/hometown. We drove thru an Amish community. His mom had a gazillion cats in the house that peed on anything not covered with plastic. Seriously. At one point his sister left her Nintendo game box uncovered - the big hard plastic thing the size of a VCR you hook up to your t.v.? The 300 cats took turns pissing all over it. Totally gross. POOLS of cat urine. I have cats, but mine don't pee all over your stuff and if they did, they wouldn't live in our house. His mom also had a squirrel in a cage in her room. It was really, really, really wierd. We broke shortly up after that. We were in an argument and I said, 'Jim, stop acting so stupid!' He replied, 'Shanster, I'm not acting stupid. I AM this stupid!' He was completely serious. Yeah. Ahem. Sorry. I can't continue to date you any longer than I already have. )

36. Taught yourself a new language. (Learned how to say 30 things in French when we went there)

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied.

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing (Climbing anything higher than 2 rungs on a ladder scares the crap outta me. I did go rock climbing with people - I watched them climb with all their carabiners and ropes and harnesses. They TRIED to get me to climb)

40. Seen Michelangelo's David

41. Sung karoke. ("Me and Bobby McGee" at the Drager's neighborhood party. It was bad. Much funnier and a much better imitation when I'm in my car with the music blaring in my own private sound studio on wheels. Ask Furry Husband, I'm hilarious!)

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant.

44. Visited Africa.

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance (flight for life actually - I was in this car accident where this drunk driver t-boned my car on the driver's side. I was the only one in the car which means I was driving. I don't remember any of it - well I sorta remember fighting the Dr.s telling them if they'd just leave my leg alone, it'd be o.k. I thought I was dreaming. I woke up in a hospital bed naked, an oxygen tube in my nose, a neck brace on and a cast all the way up to my right thigh. "uh, hello?... can someone tell me what just happened?"

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris ( the line was too long, there are scary guards with machine guns at the bottom. Keeping the line orderly I guess )

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (Snorkeling - on our honeymoon. The ocean is really loud when you go under the water! )

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business (trying! )

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia (in H.S. took a trip to Moscow, Lenningrad and Kiev - I mooned someone in Lenningrad out my hotel window. They ran to a phone kiosk and I freaked out thinking the KGB was gonna haul my arse away. Kept all the lights off and curtains pulled the rest of the night. Lenin looks like a wax figurine in Lenin's Tomb - I don't know if he's real or not cuz you can't trust what the communists tell you! Oh - here is the wierdest thing. In Moscow, to get a drink? They have (or had) these crazy vending machines. You put your $$ in, there is a GLASS - a real GLASS - the machine fills the glass up with the liquid of your choice. The person drinks said liquid and puts the glass back. Next person chooses whatever liquid they want, drinks up and puts the glass back. The lines are long and no one ever takes the glass! Boggled my 17 yr old mind. )

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout cookies

62. Gone whale watching. (Madame K is right. I went whale watching in Boston. There are 5-6 boats. When a whale is spotted, all boats go screaming over to the whale, circle it, and the air is thick with boat fumes and gasoline. The boats are jam crammed with people asshole to belly button. I mostly felt sorry for the whales putting up with all of it)

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter ( see # 46 I don't remember it. Been in a small 2 seater plane twice - from CO to Lake Tahoe and in AK to a cabin you could only get to via a little 2 seater plane)

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial (It seemed a lot smaller in person than it looks in the movies.)

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades (I was taken for a tour in some swamp in Mississippi - does that count? I learned that alligators love marshmallows. You can lure them to your boat with marshmallows! Sounds like an ad for the next "When Animals Attack" doesn't it?)

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London.

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle. (I dated this tiny, wee man named Ben. He had a motorcycle. Napoleon complex. 'Nuff said. )

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper (as a kid - standing in line for Santa's Workshop - The Omaha World Herald)

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House ( didn't go inside, but walked all around it, on the lawns and stuff. )

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (we took Turkey Lurkey to a "processor" guy who killed her and dressed her out for us and then we cooked her. I could only eat one bite. I kept picturing her out in the yard chasing grasshoppers. I'm not so good at eating animals I know.)

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life (Furry Husband tells me I saved his when I married him. Awwwww - are you barfing yet? )

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous (I met Jimmy Connors - the tennis pro when I was 15. )

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person (horrible, horrible guv'ment conference held in San Antonio - I saw it. I was not impressed. I really didn't like that part of TX at all - it coulda been the horrid guv'ment conference but I don't think so.)

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a lawsuit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

100. Read an entire book in one day

Going Deep

Here is a little trick we learned from this guy Furry Husband used to work with many years ago. It's called "going deep". TC would go deep all the time. We'd be at a Rockies baseball game or at a crowded bar in Denver and all of a sudden he'd be gone.
'Where's TC?'
'Eh, he musta gone deep'

You know when you are at a party and you've had all the fun you're gonna have? You want to leave so you can go pass out in your own bed or get sick in your own toilet? Or maybe it's a work party? You'd rather poke your eyes out with a fork than spend one minute more with the people they pay you to see 40 hrs a week.

No doubt, the minute you tell people good-bye, they all begin their pleading with you to stay... noooooo - don't go! Stay! Stay and party with us! It's no fun without you! Stay!

Next time - just go deep.

Simply wait for everyone to be otherwise engaged and quietly slip out the door.

Everyone continues having a great time and several hours later they look around... 'heeyyyy - wheresh Shanshter and that furry man she shleeps wif?'

'I dunno? They were jussssst here a *hic* minute ago?'

*shrug*

'There any beers left? Passh one over here - *hic*'

Everyone stays happy, by the time they realize you've left, they are too drunk to care and you don't have to fend off any pleas to stay.

It's called going deep. Use it. Embrace it.

You're welcome.

NUTS!

Not the testicular kind from my previous post... these are EASY to make, scrummy, nummy, edible, addictive nuts!

1 lb of unsalted nuts - walnuts, pecans, almonds - whatever blows your skirt up.

1tbl water
1 egg white
1 tsp cinnamon (or to taste)
1 tsp salt
1 C sugar
1 capful of vanilla (you could use something else here depending on your taste - think cointreau - I like vanilla)

Mix the sugar, salt and cinnamon together and set aside.

Whisk the egg white til frothy but not stiff, add water and flavoring.

Mix the nuts in the egg/water/flavoring mix until they are shiny.

Pour the cinnamon/sugar mix over and gently fold until nuts are completely covered.

Place on a buttered baking sheet in a single layer.

Bake at 250 for 15 min.

Pull them out and turn them over, continue baking for another 45 min.

Cool and enjoy.

These things are ADDICTIVE. I made some for my Mom-in-Law and for my Dad... I have to package them right away or they disappear down my gullet...

Crazy Horse People...

It's winter.

It's really, really cold.

It never stops the crazy horse people.

Pix from a clinic with Debbie Reihl-Rodriguez a few weekends ago. Course it wasn't as cold then as it is now.... ( -1 from the handy, dandy weather station as I type ) Now is insane cold and not healthy for humans nor horses to be out runnin' around.

Ya get your horse ready to go in the wind and cold.... (PJ and Ann getting ready for their ride)

You ride around in an indoor arena - still cold but at least sans wind. (Elizabeth and Mocha schoolin' hard)REALLY crazy people sit, watch you and freeze. (Peg, Rex, Carol and Robin looking every bit as cold as they probably are.) At least when you ride, you are exercising and staying sorta warm...(My red-headed mare, Sera after her ride. ) And you stand around waiting for your sweaty horse to cool out and dry off so you can go home.

Fun times. Fun times.

Your Christmas Card from Shanster, Furry Husband et all

3 or 4 yrs ago I had this grand idea to take a holiday picture for our Christmas cards. Furry Husband and I stood in our hay shed with the dogs and when we developed the picture, we noticed that Punkin, our tough, orange tabby cat was sitting in the hay above our heads watching all the madness down below.

And from that point on, the more animals I could fit into the picture, the happier I got!

This is not true for Furry Husband. It's pretty much the opposite for him actually. He doesn't understand why it has to be such an ordeal/production/display.

It's a lot of work to get the dogs in holiday hats, sitting, staying.... we always get Bequia to hold a stocking in her mouth. She likes to spit it out and I have to put it back in her mouth. About that time Sammy decides "the heck with this!" gets up, shakes his elf hat off and wanders away. I go get him back when Booker lays down.... it goes on like this for quite a while. And then you add in a screaming chicken or a goat trying to eat the holiday garland, some squirmy cats with claws yowling, or a horse that could step on and squish any one of us.

You can totally imagine the controlled chaos can't you?

It's usually freeze butt cold outside. And by the time we are ready for our beloved neighbors to begin clicking away - Furry Husband's holiday threshold has been reached. I like to take him right up to the edge of yule tide cheer and 'doink' push him just a wee bit over.

Sometimes being married means pushing each others buttons. It's fun. It teaches us patience.... right?

Well, this year our Christmas decorations were packed away and I didn't feel like digging them out of the junk pile our storage building has become. It was something like -15 outside. ( you are seeing that correctly NEGATIVE 15 ) Our very tolerant and very loveable neighbors were asking me if I watched the weather and actually TRIED to pick the coldest day of the year for our holiday picture.

I decided to have the picture inside this year. Why not be comfortable?

I found a garland. I sat Furry Husband down. Bequia next to him. Sammy sat down nicely... Booker was sitting... I handed Furry Husband Split Pea the cat. She began squirming. He let her go. I found another cat for him to hold onto --- honestly --- why he can't KEEP a hold of a squirmy cat....

And then I decided it'd be really funny if we brought a goat inside.

Oh ho! This, now this is really asking a lot of Furry Husband. No goats in the house is sort of the last ditch "rule" he hangs onto. It's his way of exerting some type of order into the madness of our house.

I hated to shatter his bubble... but this is THE Christmas picture I'm talkin' about here!

Along with our two favorite neighbors/photographers, I talked him into letting a goat come in.... for 5 minutes.

The SECOND I brought the goat in, she began pooping.

Funny. You don't realize exactly how much poop a goat poops when it's outside in it's pen... but ... huh .... somehow when it's on your living room carpet ... let's just say it's a lot.

I am in the middle of reassuring Furry Husband that they are hard little pellets - easy to sweep up - easy to clean - it's noooo big deal when the dogs all jump up and begin scarfing goat turds like nobody's bid'ness.

If you notice in the picture, Furry Husband's face is somewhat more red than it normally is. I like to think that the one little goat turd next to his foot absolutely MAKES the holiday Christmas card.

It's what I do.

I take this poor, wonderful man up to the very tippy, tippy top of Christmas Cheer, Yuletide Joy, Peace, Love and Happiness..... and I push him right on over the edge.

From left to right: Booker, Mojo, Shanster, Rosie, Bequia, Furry Husband, Itty Bitty Opal Kitty, Sammy

Merry Christmas!! Happy Holidays!! And here's to a spectacular NEW YEAR everyone!!

Meow-ry Christmas!

Last night I put a bit o' catnip out for the kitties.

At 2:47 a.m. Mojo came stumbling into our bedroom, jumped up on the bed - all 25 lbs of him and began his 'meowr' love song. He was purring, walking back and forth licking our noses and acting like the kitty version of those old Budweiser commercials where the drunk guy goes around hugging all his buddies saying, "I love you man!"

He finally laid down under the covers, stopped being such an annoying, drunken feline pest when all of a sudden....

huh-GACK

huh-GACK

huh-GACK

(that noise dogs and cats make right before they puke?)

Furry Husband launched Mojo off the bed.

I think Mojo barfed mid-air.

Dude. No more late night catnip. Mojo is cut off. Kitty can't hold his nip for crap.

Holiday Horror

Furry Husband brought the mail in last night. We are starting to get Christmas cards. There was a card from Tom and Laurie that was really pretty - snowflakes and horses - our kinda card.

And a card from Chimney Rock Villa.

Chimney Rock is the nursing home my Pa is in. I prefer Chimney Rock winery. I eyed it suspiciously.

I told Furry Husband to shred the nursing home card.

It stayed on the kitchen table... and I opened it. Mistake #1

It was a normal computer generated card - "Merry Christmas" and then you opened the card. Mistake #2

Jay-zooo

Picture my reaction - like a 1950's horror movie with the close up of the woman about to be carted off by the giant ant... hand flies to mouth right before the blood curdling scream.

There, larger than life, is a close up photograph of my dad in a Santa hat.

Disturbing on SO many levels.

1. He is in a nursing home

2. He is not some fricking dog or baby that you dress up and take cutsie pictures of

4. He is in a nursing home

5. Holidays are difficult enough

6. Uh hello? I was raised Catholic. Let's just heap that much more guilt on my shoulders. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea culpa.

7. Let me say again - he is in a nursing home. Which means every thing this man had has been stripped away. His house, his belongings, his mind, his money and now he lives in a small tiled room in a building full of strangers. He has a bracelet super-glued around his wrist called a "wander-guard" so he can't escape.

8. #7 is because of me.

9. What is so happy and merry about any of that??

Merry Christmas! Ho ho nursing ho-me!

Now where IS that bottle of Chimney Rock wine when you really need it?!

Nuts...

I have a testicle collection. Yes. They are real testicles - animal testicles.

Let me preface a bit before you go runnin' to call 911.

I was an Animal Science major in college.

My course work included talking about how much semen boars, bulls, stallions produce and how often they could be "collected". I watched the collection of bulls and stallions in reproduction labs.

Horses definately have more fun - they get a life size dummy of a mare, an artificial vagina heated up specifically to mare body temperature, sized to house a stallion's penis, lube and someone actually holds it for them while they bow-chika-bow-bow. If they don't get it IN the AV someone will actually grab it and put it in for them. (AV = artificial vagina and lemme tell you - the first time I was in a corporate setting and someone called for the AV guy?? with everyone in suits and in a meeting I about crapped my pants.)

Bulls are put in stocks - a restraint system - and someone shoves and electro-ejaculator in their ass. The electro-ejaculator is like a really really HUGE stainless steel bullet and the electricity is slowly cranked up until the bull ejaculates. Sounds like fun but after watching? Yeah. Bull not having fun.

I've had my hand up the ass of a cow to feel it's uterus through the rectum wall. When I couldn't feel anything other than the sensation that my arm was in a pile of hot mashed potatoes from the tip of my fingers to my shoulder... and this is after I pulled all the shit out of said cow .... I watched HORRIFIED as the instructor slid his arm right in next to mine.

I still never felt the uterus even tho' the instructor claims he had my hand right on it. If I knew they were gonna double fist you girl, I would have kept my mouth shut! (Remember I was a city kid straight out of suburbia)

I developed feed rations and we talked about fistulated cows. A fistulated cow has a "window" into it's digestive system. There is literally a hole in the side of a cow that researchers can open and look in - or extract whatever feedstuffs they want to see. Always makes me think of those new fangled front load washers and dryers.

I've seen complete digestive systems from tongue to asshole laid out on a floor for inspection, identification and discussion.

I had a Live Animal / Carcass Evaluation class. We saw the pig, sheep, cow etc. the first week alive and the next week on a meat hook dressed out. (Remember Rocky breaking the ribs of the cow carcass? Like that.)

I went to a class called "Principals of Meat Science" where I learned what was in the oreo cookie filling and what turkey hotdogs were made of.

I've been in labs where there are dead dogs, cats, horses... etc. cut a gazillion different ways so you could identify muscle, skeletal and nervous systems.

And a lot of my friends are either fellow animal science people, veterinarians or have the same sick sense of humor that I do.

Now, on to my testicle collection!

It all started when I bought this Holsteiner foal in-utero. I worked 2 jobs to save the money to buy him and I had waited YEARS to have a warmblood horse. When it came time to geld him (neuter him) I didn't want any piece or part of this horse to go in the trash. I asked the vet if we could save Callaloo's testicles? She thought I was crazy but rolled her eyes and went along with it.

Our small animal vet got wind of my request and thought it was so funny that when a mutual friend had her rabbit neutered, the vet gave me Peter rabbit's testicles as a joke.

When we had our "show" dog, Booker, neutered because I was tired of the whole "Best in Show" dog show madness. (It is really like that in the dog show world. ) I figured - why not keep those too?

Mojo, our giant black cat, was neutered and heck - let's keep the collection going!

All the testicles have a side benefit of Furry Husband thinking I could pull a Lorraine Bobbit on him any time... I'm tellin' ya gals. Walk softly and carry many testicles.

Booker - our Gordon Setter next to his testicles.

Mojo in repose with his testicles in the foreground. I think kitten testes are very cute. They'd make good earrings don't you think?

All the testicles. Left to right: Callaloo the horse, Mojo the cat, Peter the rabbit and Booker the dog.

Winter!

Our buck is stayin' in bed this morning! We added lots o' fresh straw to goatie houses last night cuz it was gonna be cold. It was -6 here this morning. Brrrr.

Frost covered old man....

Rosie is stayin' in too...

Spot got in the dogloo... wonder if she can get out? She looks happy enough!

Frosty whiskers...

Useless birdbath!

Our most well behaved dog. 300 lbs o' concrete named Red.

Carol of the bells

It is cold and SNOWING today! Finally.

Winter has arrived - for a little while. I don't mind snow. This weekend is supposed to be in the 50's so it will be short lived. We really, really, really need the moisture. And snow makes the Christmas lights that much more purty.

The snow outside today made me remember this: http://www.goatbiology.com/carol.html

Yo. Yo. Yo - dawg, check it - check it out!

Christopher Walken

Kay. I use a flattening iron on my naturally curly hair. LOVE IT! Love having "straight" hair. I've been using the flattening iron since April I think.

I always wanted straight hair vs. the frizzy, unruly mass o' curl on my head. Think rats nest. Think lambs wool. Think Albert Einstein. Think big ol' nappy ass mess.

In high school my nick names included "lamb-y" or "spore head". They were affectionate and I made fun of myself just as much as anyone else so it's not like I hid at home rocking back and forth in a corner crying about being a "spore head".

I think ya'll know what kind of hair products were available for curly hair when I was growing up in the 70's and 80's ... nada, zip, zilch. If you had naturally curly hair, you were pretty much totally screwed in the hair department. There was "Dep" hair gel and "Aqua Net" hair spray. No such thing as flattening irons. I would go to bed with a winter stocking hat - Rocky style - on my head trying to make it be flat.

And growing up with a single Dad? Good lord. He knew as much about little girls and their hair as I know about putting together the friggin Hubble Space Telescope. There were no tidy braids to contain it or to make it look nice and neat. No one to let me know my hair was o.k. or to sorta help me fix it so I didn't leave the house looking like a friggin' cave girl.

Dad used to send me to grade school without even brushing my hair cuz it would get so gnarled up. I probably screamed bloody murder when he tried. He gave up and cut it all off - probably after a horrified teacher asked him about my hygeine. I had a little boy's haircut. I grew up with people telling my dad what nice looking boys he had.

Ummmm, yeah. He had 2 daughters. There are no boys in our immediate family.

And now we are in the 21st Century and there is hair product. There are flattening irons. I have a wonderful stylist to help me with my hair!


I got it cut today. I hadn't cut for 3 months and I was having a grand ol' time with my straightening iron. Enjoying my "straight" hair. Straightening, straightening and straightening some more!

Now it's winter. I'm wearing winter hats on those cold, windy, Colorado days. I took my hat off last weekend - granted, I'd been wearing the hat all day - and damned if my hair didn't look like Christopher Walken hair.

I called Furry Husband over. "Hey honey? I think my hair is like Christopher Walken..."

He looked at me, recognitions spreading over his face, "You DO have Christopher Walken hair!"

Figured that was the slap upside my head to get a clue and call SallyAnn for a cut. Furry Husband keeps asking me where Christopher Walken is.

Here ya go sweetie - now you can pull him up and see him aaaaaannnyy time you want....