Just Horsin' Around

Back date this a little...to 6/8/08 about 11:15 am on a Sunday morning. I'm riding my horse, Hidalgo, across the pasture at our ranch. He's a little high-spirited, but overall doing pretty well. A really large bumblebee started buzzing around us and spooked Hidalgo. He started to bolt and I pulled him back pretty hard, going "whoa"...loud enough for Joel to hear me up at the house. He stopped, but then the bee was on his rump which he REALLY didn't like. He started stomping his back legs and spinning or kind of throwing his around around to the side. I was holding on pretty well until he switched directions! Then it was all over! I flew off his left side and he took off. I guess he figured he needed to get away from that really loud bee and if it meant getting me off...so be it. Well I landed on my left ankle and rolled over. I said a few select curse words and sat up - kinda surprised that nothing hurt...UNTIL I pulled my left leg up to try to stand up. The pain was a little more than I bargained for. I knew something was wrong. I hollered for Joel, but he was already on his way since he saw Hidalgo riderless about that time. Anyway, I pulled my boot and sock off really quickly. Joel showed up on the 4-wheeler and we started the process of getting me up to the house - not an easy task. I was hurt, mad, disappointed and really frustrated that I wasn't a better horsewoman. I cried. Anyway, got up to the cabin and Joel headed out after Hidalgo who stayed in the pasture by the fence. For the next 7 hours, I iced the ankle, took Aleve and denied that it was broken. We headed back to Houston and about the time we got home, the Aleve had worn off and I was hurting. Did I mention the golf ball sized knot on my left ankle. Swollen, turning purple, hurting, ugly! So we went to the Urgent Care center near our house and an x-ray showed a spiral fracture about an inch above my ankle bone (the round ankle bone on the outside of the leg). A trip to the Orthapedic surgeon(someone recommended by my brother-in-law Robert, who's a doctor) showed that no surgery was needed. Only a really cumbersome cast and crutches and pain killers. The first cast was purple. Now the story's not over. I went back at 4 weeks thinking that I would get the cast off and I would get a walking boot - meaning no crutches. Well due to my advanced age (a whopping 44 at this point) and a few other factors that I don't really remember, I got another cast. This one was (correction, IS) a light blue. This stupid break caused a lot of other things-missing a mini-vacation at the beach with Dee and her family, missing most of the summer, missing a REAL shower, cleaning house, getting myself a cup of coffee. So on Thursday, August 7th (Patty Ann's birthday), I go back to the doctor. If the x-ray indicates that I need another cast (instead of walking boot), I will be running (with the aid of my crutches) down the hall and away before they can slap another one of those suckers on my leg!

Large and Small

I find that with our huge family I often miss some one-on-one time with various people. When we have large family gatherings, it feels as if a whole conversation is actually made up of 10 parts with 10 different people! I wouldn't miss the gatherings for anything, but I like the small gatherings too. Last weekend, we had an impromptu fishing day with Allan, Tamara, Jeff, Joel and me. We had a blast! Allan was bound and determined to catch "the big one" that got away the day before (broke his line in fact). Well, he hooked it but was across the dam when the fish starting swimming off with his pole. Tamara to the rescue! She jumped up (or rather stumbled up) out of her big chair and grabbed the pole just before it hit the water. She started reeling in and Allan finished up the job. Joel caught a big bass the same day. Jeff was kind enough to share pictures. I've also had a lot of fun lately sitting at Bo & Tracie's "Country Place" in the evenings by the BONFIRE (not campfire - much bigger than that). We've told lies, secrets, stories - drank a little or a lot, ate a LOT and just had fun! They've been so generous with their place - kind of an open invitation when they're cooking on the smoker (by the way, did I mention this HUGE smoker they have?). Anyway, I hope to have more small gatherings going forward.

Malibu

Quick entry....went to Dallas's graduation last weekend in Malibu. Land of the beautiful people. Had a blast. Weather was great. Dallas was gorgeous. Saw Dean Cain...Had good visits with Cooks and Mackie.

First entry

Blog! Ever think about that word? Who came up with that? Is it an acronym? Because ...bad...bent....boy...British...I got nothing...but how about the LOG part....literary opportunity to gossip! Naw...Litany of gossip...I like it! So let's get to the B....Bullsh** I got it . Bullsh** litany of gossip...There it is!



Anyway...the above "blog" shows how absolutely fried I am these days....Let me start by saying I set this up because Carrie (my sister-in-law) has one and I liked the idea. So for starters...I'm married - 17 years to Joel (yikes)... no kids, two dogs, three brothers, one sister, eighteen nieces and nephews...don't believe it....let me name them in Alpha order: Alexis, Allan, Amanda, Barrett, Brig, Christopher, Dakota, Gary, Glen, Kevin, Levi, Moriah, Morgan, Patty, Prescott, Ray, Shaye, Tristan. Glen's the oldest - Levi's the youngest...Prescott and Alexis are my godchildren.