Dancin' Machine

All of Rhiannon's "girl cousins" who are old enough participate in dance here in Raymond. Clogging, Ballet, Jazz and Hip Hop are covered by the 7 of them. None of them take ALL, but most take at least two. Except Rhiannon, she wasn't even too sure she'd like the ONE jazz class she asked to be signed up for.

Turns out she LOVES it and was disappointed she wasn't involved in more.

Much to my delight.

Not that I'm a dancer.

At all.

But I'm thrilled that she is finally getting off the couch WILLINGLY to do something physical.

Heritage

My Grandparents have lived on their land for longer than I've been alive, longer than my mom has been apart of the family, longer than Old Chief Mountain has been a peak to conquer.

They are in the process of selling it. It's not SOLD, just on the market.

Which makes the breath in my throat catch every time.

I love that place.

Something is always broken.

The water smells funny.

There is mice in the basement.

The barn is so old it should be condemned.

It's ours as far as your eye can see.

The River runs true.

The forest/brush on it have seen many a childhood "battle" take place.

In any direction you walk you can find history just waiting for you to look for it.

None of the Sons or Grandsons have shown an interest in taking over the "Double Anchor" cattle/farming/trucking business.

Well, One has, but they are at loggerheads and my Granp is a proud man.

So is the Grandson.

They are so much alike when I hear my cousin talk I can close my eyes and drift into a "this is grandpa talking" haze.

In any case.

My Granps birthday was the say before Mother's Day, so a bunch of us rolled on out there to

celebrate him getting wiser *cough cough*

and my grams getting more regal :)

I took the opportunity to walk some of the close pastures and capture a tiny smidgon of the history, love, hard work and dedication that has endured.

Really made me wish I had a nice camera ... BOOOOO!

Da-Zoo

Last Thursday we went up to Calgary with my mom to check out if she wanted to have corrective eye surgery. Turns out she doesn't, but that doesn't mean we didn't have a blast in Calgary anyway!

While she was at her assessment I took the kids to IKEA, where in the past they have LOVED hanging out because Smaland is terrific fun. I thought it'd be a great way to waste away an hour. Turns out punk #1 has grown so much since we left Texas she can

no longer go IN Smaland ...

*tear*. She was torn between misery of not being allowed to go play and excitement of being THAT MUCH taller than when we left Texas.

I some how managed to forget all of our jackets at home ... therefore we all got new ones. Yay! Unneeded expenses! I admit, I HATE spending a lot of money on stuff for me. Mostly because I don't think I look great in anything (ya ya ya, body issues I'll over come some day). However, this time I actually talked myself into a nice jacket. Realizing that while my waist may get bigger and smaller, my "chest" size will always stay the same ... so I fit it to THAT part of my body and wasn't disappointed in the least. It rained off and on all day while we wondered the zoo and while I got chilly from time to time - I was NEVER wet. Brilliant!

After we picked up my mom from her appointment we headed to the zoo.

It was a great "break day" for us all.

Oh. Dear.

Will you just LOOK at the time? No! not the actual time. Especially you mom, do NOT notice what time I was up writing this post, I'm old enough to stay up past ten ... well, these days that really doesn't count since I am nodding off before I even put my kids to bed. Physical labor is HARD WORK!!

by time, I meant how long it's been since I blogged last.

Then again, maybe I don't want you looking at that either.

It's been an embarrassingly long time.

The load I've been hauling since coming to Canada has been ... hard and tiring.

Sometimes rewarding.

Some what fulfilling.

At times overwhelming.

I'll write a series of posts to catch you up on the small things that made up the big experience.

Easier to posts pictures to individual posts than a bunch to one.

So says I ;)

Wert-ing

I work semi-part time doing respite for a friend of mine.

We've been friends since I was 12; she started hanging out with me to get closer to my brother ... I ended up keeping her. hahaha.

She's been trying to "catch up" on her life since her third-of-four kid was born.

Courtney was born with a respiratory disfunction in which her brain essentially forgets to tell her to breathe. Especially when she's sleeping or sick. It's been a long, hard road for this family to travel. Parts of her life have gone to the way-side while she tries to keep up with the day to day of a family of six. Which is where I come in. I clean, organize, haul, move, toss the unneeded, watch the two youngest while Maria get out of the house for a breather ... Essentially anything that needs to be done.

keel-ing over

I have a some-what-most-of-the-time job working at a feedlot North of Raymond.

Let's not get "feedlot" confused with "slaughter house", they are TOTALLY different beasts.

If cattle die at the feedlot, they are inedible. hahahaaa.

No really they are, it's just a really gross happenstance.

And if I don't laugh at about it, it'd make me sick.

My job is "cattle processor".

Which essentially means I ... do it all.

Push,

count, innoculate, implant,

brand, split, run gates,

record,

cauterize

...

I don't check for nuts though,

I have my limits.

Which I get grief to NO end for.

I feel like I'm violating those poor beasts.

Though maybe they should be thanking me!

*another set of amused laughter*