Stick Horse Cowgirls

What a beautiful day, last Sunday!   We took the opportunity to work on our front  steps where the support beam had worked loose.  I use the term “we” loosely…you can see from this picture who was actually doing most of the work! Son and I purchased our first jack!!!  A hydraulic jack!  A red hydraulic jack!  (This sounds so very impressive to me….it takes so little…).  We jacked that sucker up and went to work! We had lots of help from the dogs, who simply adore it when we are outside working.  They stick right with us, offering to help, keeping a watchful eye.   There is still so much to do (always), and my place is never going to look like Martha Stewart’s home and certainly not like some of my blogging friends’ places.  I envy all you folks out there who can share pictures of gorgeous flowers and projects  It is all Son and I can do to keep the grass down and the place in repair!  It seems we both work all the time during the week.  I have my “projects” list but it nev

He [Jesus] answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'’" Luke 10:27 (NIV) So, Jesus, do w e have a “heart” AND a “soul” AND a “mind?”    Could it be that we could love the Lord with our minds but not our hearts?  Yes, I think this happens all the time.  Maybe most of the time. Could it be that we could love Him deeply in  our souls but not realize it in our minds?  Are these separate components but which combine to make us a whole? The verse above has been on my mind recently because, of all things, Alzheimer’s Disease.  We lost my father-in-law to Alzheimer’s not quite three years ago.  How vividly I recall the devotion of MIL to his needs; watching his fear and confusion as he began to forget; the surrealism of having him turn to me, his daughter-in-law for nearly forty years, asking, “ So, do you and your husband have any c

You may recall the sorry recent saga of my Belgian Malinois, Chili.  You can see the back story at this post . He had been going missing for days at a time.  This was causing his mama (me) grave emotional distress and was ravaging Chili’s health—he was a walking skeleton by the third episode of disappearance. So, what’s a mama to do?  I took him right off to the veterinarian who in turn took his testicles right off.  ( Aha ! Take that , you wayward male!!) But the veterinarian warned me that it would take  up to three months (!) for the hormones to leave his body to the extent that he would quit roaming. This was not good news.  I am a woman who likes things my way NOW.  I was disappointed that my swift action against his sex drive would not give me an immediate cure for the roaming.  I have no good way to confine him while I am at work. But, I am beginning to learn to relax and just let the things I cannot really do much about go their own way.  So, I just stayed around close

Spring is here, which means all of us will be out in the midst of nature, whether gardening or just strolling through the woods.  Watch this video and see if you can’t keep your eyes peeled while you’re out and about and help her out! You might want to equip yourself with one of those little butterfly nets, like she has.  I think Pink would be best…for reasons best understood after this video.   Remember, some things have to be believed to be seen   Happy Spring!  C

Those of you who have been reading Stickhorse Cowgirls for very long knew this was coming…you had to have known that Rielle Hunter’s GQ Magazine interview would activate Cowgirl C.  In a big way. At the risk of my PG rating, it gives me great pleasure to post Rielle’s pictures here.  I want to post these pictures because I am afraid some of you will miss them otherwise.  And I believe the camera does not lie….Rielle needs to be exposed for the trash that she is, and the whole world needs to know. Look at this portion of the Cleveland Celebrity Examiner’s March 15, 2010 interview with Rielle Hunter describing Rielle’s first meeting with John Edwards: The two met in the bar of New York's Regency Hotel in 2006… she handed one of Edwards' people her business card and he met her at the bar moments later. According to Rielle there was a mutual attraction. … And I just uttered to him, 'You're so hot.' And he said, 'Why, thank you!' And he almost jumpe

Well, the week has been action-packed, again.  I spent all day in trial yesterday.  Will have to wait until next week for a verdict but ended with a well-satisfied feeling.  I had to d eal with some car maintenance, which is difficult to manage timewise and Dollarwise.  Someone backed into my cute little RAV4 and smashed the wheel cover.  They did not even leave a note!  That sucker was $492 to replace!  Not enough to report to insurance, but  enough to dent my budget! Also, my two-year-old car had worn out its tires.  I replaced them today….my first ever purchase of tires (or as the service guy said, “ Tars .”).  Note the addition of tire purchase under the “ Power Accomplishments ” list on the sidebar! The car drives so much better than it did, and my brakes are che cked and good and the little car just seems to be quite in good shape!  But, I gotta tell ya, that’s a budget-buster, too! All this in the midst of Toyota recalls.  My mother has been antsy about this.  My car wa

Daffodils are showing around here!  I am just about to convince myself that winter is over.  ‘Bout time.  For this Southern girl whose blood gets thinner each year, this winter seemed coooooooold !  I think of my friend at life through reflections when she wrote about the ocean shore near her home freezing!  Brrrrr!  Could I survive that kind of winter?  Oh, probably. We only lost power once this winter, which is a good thing, and then for only about eight hours.  Husband left me with a small gasoline generator but I cannot get it started.  I think something is wrong with it, and even when it is in good condition, it must be cranked, and I’m not a good cranker!  I loathe dealing with the weed eater with its crank cord.  I don’t mind the actually weedeating but the stopping to add line and then the re-cranking gets on my last nerve.  Besides, even when that generator works, it won’t power the well pump, just the house lights, heat and refrigerator which, still, is something. Son

I love on-line banking.  It helps give me a secure feeling that I know e xactly how much I have to work with without worrying too much about my math in the check register.  Most days I look at my on-line statements for my checking accounts and it is a good thing I do. Recently I noticed some weird charges on my account.  For example: $148 worth of Pizza Hut pizza at one order (I kid you not).  There were charges to wireless service companies, and just odd charges in a town I had not even been to recently.  This happened on a Saturday when the bank was closed.  There was about $600 out of my account, and the notation indicated it was debit card use. I rushed to my purse, thinking my card had been left somewhere and was being used.  No, it was there.  How, then???? I called the 24 hour banking number without success.  It eventually (after all the button pushing) directed me to call the bank at weekday business hours.  Big help.  I e mailed them right away so I would have a record

Whew!   Let me say it again: Whew!   This week has been a humdinger.  As a family law attorn ey, I feel a bit macabre in saying that my business “has been good” lately, because that means that people are in pain.  However, it has been sooooo busy that it is phenomenal.  I have found myself  going from one conference room to the next, meeting with clients.   What this means, of course, is that all the paperwork needed from those will have to be done this weekend! Yes, people are still getting divorced at alarming numbers (yours truly…), but that’s not what this rant is about.  Before I go full-swing let me say a few “givens,” because I am going to sound somewhat harsh in this post: All babies, regardless of circumstance of birth, are blessings, end of story.  We are happy, happy, happy they are here. Life throws us curves.  Things (pregnancies, included) happen when they are not expected.  They just do, and I get that. If you or someone you love are in the position of