On the Third Day...

...He rose.

Happy

Resurrection

Sunday! 

So. Much. Basketball.

So I could lie to all who have been asking me why this little area of the World Wide Web has remained static for a week but, let's be honest, I've been busy having a lot of fun. Well, at least there's been a lot of activity. Most of which has been enjoyable.  :-)

Last Friday we headed to them mens' second round NIT game. And the girl even joined us - it was sort of like a pre-Easter miracle. Basketball, well, it's not her thing. Not even as a spectator. The good news is the men one despite playing 5-on-8 for the entire 40 minutes of game time. I could expound on the officiating but this is a family friendly place...

Saturday morning I woke up to this...

...and wondered how in the world I could bring myself to tell him we were about to leave him for 13 hours of volleyball. Well, the answer is that I didn't and instead just snuck out the back door. Passive aggressiveness can sometimes be a friend of mine. Yes, indeed.

We did spend seven hours of actual playing time in San Antonio. With no subs. Needless to say, the girl was TIRED but she got really delirious on the ride home and made me laugh out loud for three hours. The best possible medicine for anything that ails you. EVER.

Sunday we headed back to the Ferrell Center as the ladies put their dancing shoes on...

...and almost made their opponent cry.

And, while that evening was fun, it was nothing compared to Tuesday evening's second round game because we lucked into Drayton's tickets and sat on the front row. Center court.

Seriously, y'all, it was AWESOME.

And it couldn't have happened for a more perfect game since it was Brittney's last home game. We will miss her greatly. Both on and off the court. :-)

Quincy Miller, the men's team, and George (43) and Laura Bush were also in the house. But we had better seats. Let that sink in for a moment... 

And, because I know so many of my Louisiana peeps peek in here, here's your Kim Mulkey pic.

Yes, she was wearing sequins.

Which is only one of the reasons I love her. Dearly. :-)

Open Heart

So, yeah, I'm back from Louisiana. And I'm happy to report that my grandmother is doing well and that the surgery was successful. It was also really good to be back home, y'all. I really didn't anticipate that part of the equation but seeing things like this brought back a whole lot of memories.

Got got in late Wednesday evening and had to be at the hospital by 4:45am the next day. Needless to say, I was working on two hours of sleep. But this one was spry and ready to get the party started. I also learned that when people ask if the patient is wearing any jewelry and you say "just her belly ring," the whole room will ERUPT when said patient is 77 years old.

The surgery itself was long and most of us made it through on caffeine and pure determination alone. There were probably 15-20 people who came to see us while she was in the OR. And most of them stayed the entire time. It was a huge blessing, y'all, but best of all was when the surgeon told us she was done and resting comfortably in CICU.

Because we knew she'd be in there overnight and, once we were assured she was stable, we headed home for the evening and tried to catch up on some sleep. She was discharged to the floor before lunchtime the next day (hallelujah!) and I spent the rest of the day and night with her while my parents worked on a big project.

Of course, I also had some burning questions that needed to be answered by my very own healthcare professional.

We had a great day and a wildly eventful night that resulted in me getting zero sleep and Maw Maw being asleep for the next 15 hours. But all ended up well and a little sleep loss never hurt anyone. :-)

Because none of us had really had any sleep and I wanted to make sure she was completely stable before coming home, my dad and I delayed our departure until Sunday. And, while my mom sat with my grandmother on Saturday afternoon, he took me to Ralph & Kacoo's where I clearly fell off the low carb wagon. With. A. Vengeance. But I didn't even care.

 Saturday night was MUCH better on many fronts so we headed home (sans my mom) Sunday morning. It was a relatively uneventful trip though I did learn that some things cost extra in life. Even at McDonald's.

And when I got home this had happened. Hellllllo, spring!

 

So I've spent the week thus far trying to rejoin my regular schedule, getting the girl from place to place and having meetings at beautiful places on campus.

I'm a lucky, lucky girl. On many fronts. 

And sometimes spending four days in a hospital will make you realize just how blessed you are...in my experience anyway. :-)

Alice Dean

As you're reading this, I'm en route to Louisiana. And while one might think it's a simple Spring Break trip, that's simply not the case. 

And if you've been reading here for more than five seconds, you know that I adore this woman. Dearly. My grandmother is one of my favorite people on the planet. Hands down. We are alike in soooo many ways, which can lead to feisty conversation, but there's just no way to express in words what she's meant to me over the years.

Long after we moved to Texas, I headed back to her house for every holiday and summer vacation. This went on for years. And there are more memories - good ones! - from those days than I can summarize. Just know that time holds a special place in my heart.

Also, she loves my girl. Fiercely. As did my grandfather. One of the things I'm most thankful for in life is that he was able to meet Taylor. She was about 18 months old when he passed away but I can assure you there was no greater light in his life. 

Nor has there ever been a great-grandmother who has been more in love with a child than she is my Taylor.

So that brings me back to the trip. Tomorrow she'll be having open heart surgery. Triple bypass and valve replacement, to be more exact. (And, no, that doesn't mean I'm announcing my home is up for a nice robbery because Tonto and the girl are not traveling.)

Though the miles may be long and distance cause strain on any relationship, there's no one I love more than this woman. Maybe equally but definitely not more. :-)

So, if you're the praying type, I would love for you to join me in the request that all will go well. Smoothly. Perhaps even better than anyone could ask or imagine.

Some things you just can't put into words. And the importance of the next few days - for me - is one of those things. So hug the ones you love. And never take a day for granted.

Saying Goodbye is Hard...Unless You're a Goat

Once the Midway stock show and auction concluded, it became very real to me that my little man would soon be leaving us. All of the other goats were gone before the sun set that day while poor Bruiser hung out. All. By. Himself.

This may not seem like a big deal but the little dude is rather social. More so than any other goat out there so it was a bit of a blow for him. Of course, the longer I dwelled on it the more sentimental I got. Which is how we ended up taking our "final" pic with the guy.

That same sentimentality also led me to put together this precious little collage of our time with him. Hard to believe he was so small, y'all. And I had COMPLETELY forgotten that his tongue was too big for his mouth when we first got him, which meant it hung out the side of his mouth All. The. Time.

While we were under the impression he would be leaving the following morning, I got a text late on Saturday indicating we needed to keep him away from his new home for a few days as they were experiencing a pink eye outbreak.

After picking my jaw up off the ground because who in the world knew goats could get pink eye, I decided to be thankful we had more time with him. Even if it meant another week of early morning feedings.

Bruiser was not nearly as understanding, though. By the time Thursday rolled around, we had to switch him to a different pen because he was so BORED that he knocked his water bucket over repeatedly and FLOODED his very own pen.

At this point, even though we were sad he was leaving the next day, it was obviously time. Or at least I felt that way until I got this text.

Be. Still. My. Heart.

And let's not even talk about the pic I got the next day after he'd been loaded up, which was titled "Goodbye, Momma." 

Unfortunately, the original folks he was supposed to live with were still having pink eye issues so he's at an alternate home. But the people are sooooo awesome. In fact, I even called on Sunday afternoon to make sure he was acclimating well.

Turns out he hasn't missed a beat. He's thriving, mowing grass, and sharing a pen with a bunch of bottle babies who are half his size. He jumped in with all four hooves, snuggled all the babies when it got cold and is just enjoying life in general.

Which is fabulous. I mean, really, it would have broken my heart to have heard otherwise. But the fact of the matter is that we've truly been BROKEN UP about the little guy and his transition.

Was it too much to ask that he have the decency to at least ACT like it was a bit difficult? :-)

More Volleyball!

Because we can't seem to spread our activity equally and one event piggy backs another on almost every weekend, it seems to reason that Taylor had a volleyball tournament last Sunday, right? Thankfully, this one was in Harker Heights so there was no 3am wakeup call this time around.

And, for that, I am eternally grateful.

Unfortunately, we were playing short so the girls were out of position. Which made for a rough go of it. They were super competitive in each of their games but the results weren't exactly stellar. But there are three more tourneys in their future so it alllllll good...

I really do like all of the girls and parents on this team. They are super fun. So we always have a good time together.

And #12 is beginning to come into her own. And one day we'll get that previously injured arm back up to par with the other one.

In the meantime, I'm just happy she's found a game she loves. And is able to play it with girls she likes.

Even though her emotions are worn on her face and it's very obvious when she's unhappy with the outcome. I present Exhibit A.

At the end of the day, we'll have a lot of fabulous memories. Ones I hope she'll cherish.

And after only one "off" weekend thus far, I think they'll rebound nicely in San Antonio later this month. :-)

Midway Livestock Show

Stock show season came to an end last Saturday with the Midway FFA Livestock Show. It's been a long - and somewhat strange - three weeks since the county show. Almost everyone in the barn decided to give their goats a break, let them eat what they wanted, and lounge around. We were most definitely in that camp. Which probably explains why Bruiser gained eight pounds in three weeks. 

But I honestly do not care. ;-)

My girl was not exactly all about showing that day, as is evidenced by this candid shot, but she did love being around her friends. In fact, several came up just to see her show. It was precious.

We also got further confirmation that the next goat really needs to be treated as such. And not, you know, like a prized member of the family. Which is EXACTLY what Bruiser is to us. And also explains why he wants to jump on Taylor and hug her each time she sets him up.

This whole livestock thing is definitely something I would not have chosen. But my girl did. Surprisingly. And it's been an amazing blessing. We will absolutely be back next year. In fact, Tonto has already been in contact with a breeder.

And, though it was a bittersweet day, we were happy to see Mr. Bruiser come in third at the show. And we were sad to see all of the other goats leave while he stayed behind. 

Our plan was to pick him up bright and early the next morning to take him to his new home but those plans were foiled when his new herd had a pink eye outbreak. He'll head out on Friday instead and, in the meantime, is not hating the fact that he's getting a whole lot of attention out at the farm. :-)

I must say that one of the absolute funniest things I've ever seen happened last Saturday during the old-timers' pig showmanship competition. Y'all, it was hysterical.

And, pictured in the back of the pic below, you'll find Taylor's principal. He. Was. A. Hoot.

He was also very serious. But he didn't win as there was one older gentleman who pulled out all the stops. It was IMPRESSIVE.

And, again, side splitting.

So now we're just enjoying our finals days with our boy. And making big plans for next year. Funny what a difference a year can make.

Overnight Delivery

A couple Sundays ago, Tonto headed up to the farm to feed Bruiser before we headed to church. While he was gone, I got a text from him. With a picture. Both somewhat rare occurrences. And when I opened it up, it actually took me a minute to figure out what in the world he was sending. But, y'all, it was an hours old, still wet calf.

Oh. My. Word.

I literally almost died from the cuteness. And you know I got my behind to the farm as quickly as possible - camera in hand - that afternoon. I mean it was the right thing to do given the situation. And though you can't really tell from these pictures, Mom was a bit ON EDGE.

In her defense, though, it certainly appeared she'd had a ROUGH night.

Her reward was PRECIOUS, though, and there's truly nothing I would have enjoyed more than snuggling this little guy. Except that Mom would have killed me. You know, little things.

Though I had my reservations about this whole farm/FFA/livestock show life but there are moments - like this one - when I realized it was absolutely worth it. And that my baby girl is learning lessons at the farm that will last her a lifetime.

If you follow me on FB or Instagram, you already know I'm obsessed with this little guy. And Mom has chilled out a bit. I mean, I'm still not cuddling the little guy but at least I can get better pics of him now. :-)

He's growing up before our very eyes. And truly couldn't be cuter if he tried.

But when I saw him frolicking the other night, it was just too much to take. Don't believe me? Check this out...

...and have a happy Friday. :-)