Where's the song ~~ "Don't let your daughters grow up to marry a Cowboy" ?

​​​​​​​Life is tough! Requires hard physical work, long, long days of pain, dirt, and broken fingernails.​
​Days of frigid cold & scorching heat; through the dust & mud; daybreak into the darkness of nite~~​
​the heart & body becomes toughened & weathered replicating leather!​
​A forever constant factor for a real Cowboy's Wife is tons of sweat, oceans of tears and a constant 'drought' in the wallet!​
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​​​​​​​​​IF​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ she wants to spend anytime at all with her Cowboy, she must do as he does, you become partners!​
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​​​​​​Kick off your boots, grab a cup of coffee, sit back and envision yourself in my life!​
​... It really isn't that bad! There are many rewards to be had to make it a great lifestyle! ...​ ​​​​​​​


Saturday, July 7, 2012

Will things ever be good??

We've been in Texas 5 weeks!
The trip was uneventful...
I started work...learning to accept the humidity..
(love the heat without humidity!)
.
.
and then
.
.
on the 20th, I get a call..
My older sister had been been admitted to the hospital.
On the 24th another call at 10:30 pm
...she had had a heart attack..
 and was not expected to make it through the night.
I flew up to Washington the next day.
Was able to hold her hand....
Even though she was incoherent, I prayed that she knew I was there.
She passed away the next night.


I feel so lost...such a huge part of my heart, my life..has a hole, a void...
I cannot begin to describe...I can no longer spend long hours into the night chatting, giggling, crying with my sister Jan ..
The tears won't quit...but neither will the love I have for her...
I miss her so very much already.....


I lost my job...they would not hold it for me....not even a "I'm sorry..." was uttered.
.
.
But....I would not change the decision I made to be with her, to hold her hands...
to give her my love as she passed on....

Cowboy Wife

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Willy Nelson sings it well...

...."one the road again!"
(I think he wrote it just for us too!)

It's a done deal.
I hope Texas is ready for us.
(and our son and  future DIL!)

Cowboy started the ball rolling by applying for a Gvmt job.
He's made it thru 2 of their drawn out processes, two weeks ago.
We must wait for another 30 days+ for the next step.
Working with the Military Working Dogs, at Lackland AFB in San Antonio.
They breed and train around 1100+ dogs there for our troops, ICE, etc.
~
In the meantime...
~
Our son calls and tells me he found a job for me!
(It definitely helps to know someone who knows someone these days!)
My steps happened faster, as this position is with a Govmt contractor. 
At Lackland AFB also.
I will be working at DLIELC.
Defense Language Institute English Language Center.
And only about 20 seconds away from our Son!
(it is where our country trains all the worlds military forces to speak English! Who knew!)
Hope he realizes he can never get away from me this way!
My start date is May 29
A ton to do between now and then! Not to mention a 4 day drive!


Cowboy Wife

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Plum Crazy...

...LIFE!

Things have been quite "eventful"!
Quite "chaotic"!
Quite "nerve wracking"!
Lately.
I don't know which side of the coin I'm on right now
so I cannot talk about these past couple of weeks!
Maybe by next mid-week I'll be calmer.....more informative...
So until then.....keep your fingers crossed!
Say a prayer or two!
And be patient....as I must!
Cowboy Wife

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Opinions Matter...

...sometimes...and depends what they are!

I'm home now. Mom's doing just Ok. She put her house on the market as it is way too big for just her. The market is horrible so not sure how lucky she will be. After the snow and ice storm, there was a ton of damage to her fir and cedar trees. LOTS to clean up and remove. She wants to move into an apartment but I'd just as soon she moved to Minnesota with my younger sister. I went to looked at some with her and it's scary! Scary because I've never lived in a multiple housing unit; Scary because she is 84 and has had her own space for all these years; Scary....because it's in the mix of sooooooooooo many people!
I know I couldn't do it. I'm hoping she does not regret it. IF her house sells!
~~~
Our son is home now from his deployment! Yeah! He got home last week.
I told him that if the Gvmt tells him he has to reactivate again
...tell them they have to talk to his Mother!
~~~
Now....life is just one BIG bowl of cherries!
Full of pits!!

The economy being the way it is, makes things pretty tough.
My Mom wants us to move to the other side of the Cascades
....that won't happen! It's too damp and gray most of the time!
Our daughter wants us to move to California
...but the cost of living is soooo high there and the pay is so little!
Our son wants us to move to Texas where it's a land of plenty!
Jobs, decent pay, cheaper cost of living, sunshine,
and of course he is there and his soon to be wife
.....hence, soon to be more grandkids!

BUT......
I'm married to a Cowboy!
He eats, breathes, thinks, speaks, and IS "old school".
Can he make a change?
Sure we lived in AZ for 5 years, but he managed a feedlot and shoed horses!
I decided to try and teach him something about the computer, like how to turn it on first!
Can he get caught up with the times?
I have my doubts!
How's that saying? "You can't teach an old dog new tricks"
....I believe that may apply to Cowboy!
I made him promise Christmas 2010, that he'd quit starting colts within the year.
He's been hurt too many times and he's pushing the envelope
on that "ONE" that does him in.
So, true to his promise, yet harsh on the pocketbook, he no longer takes in colts.
He has been helping a rancher take care of 800 head of yearlings, but that will soon end.
There is no grocery store, no bank, no jobs where we are.
35 miles is our closest small town.
What to do?
What to do?
I hate change!

Cowboy Wife

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

The Older We Get...

...Life happens/changes too fast!

I'm still here...just in a "zone"...forgive me, for I know this will pass.
I've been busy creating that "special project" for our son's return from the mid-east in March, and with the time quickly approaching for the one year 'anniversary', if that is what one calls it, of my worst day ever....my Dad's passing...on my "watch".....my emotions are a bit like being on a roller coaster!
With these thoughts and feelings sitting on the verge of ????, I got word last week of the passing of one of my favorite ladies...a blogger, an artist, a writer.....and an incredible woman! She was only 50 and up until the few weeks before passing, one would never have known she was ill. Her heart, her zest for life and her inspiration was bigger than anyone's I know! She sent me several pieces of her artwork from the UK a few years ago, and I will cherish them for ever. When I got the email from "her"....I was so excited to open it.....only it wasn't from her! But her daughter.
Losing my Dad....and now a very dear friend, I feel such an emptiness in my life....
Yet...I feel so blessed and happy that they filled my heart, my life and my mind with priceless treasures I can carry with me each and every day!

It is a hard time right now...and my Mom is having a tougher time...so I will be here sporadically, for awhile. I will head over to Mom's shortly, to hopefully help her through these weeks....and what would have been their 64th Anniversary.....the same day as Dad passed.

(Don't give up on me....I need you all in my life too!)
Cowboy Wife

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

What a Day!!

A day for the record books..indeed!
.......
My Cowboy came home this afternoon and couldn't decide
if he had made a wrong turn somehow and was lost?
...or if he had acquired himself a new wife,
 and just couldn't remember when!!
.
It all began at about 7 am..... .
.
I was quietly minding my own business,
as I certainly have no one else's business I could get into ....
.
...just staring out into the bleak winter scape...


when I had this urge! 
.. 
No! not to pee...
.
The urge to do something productive today!
I've not had any urges to speak of, for quite some time.
.
It came like a bolt of lightning striking me!
.
I need to get busy on "The Project"
 that our soon to be daughter-in-law requested...
several months back!
.
Seeing as how it has taken Chad far too long to find "The Right" gal,
I don't want to jeopardize that relationship by not fulfilling my promise to her.
.
(Nor do I want her to think badly of me....so soon!)
.
I have about 50 days to complete and get mailed off,
for her to get it framed...
....before he returns from his deployment in the mid-east!
.
.
So........
.
I gulped down my 2nd cup of coffee, which I NEVER do;
I threw on my duds and walked into my drawing room.
 .
Danged!
.
@!*>~* 
(actually...I said Shit!)
.
What a mess!
.
I can't work in here when everything is in such disarray!
Heck, I can't even see my table,
 let alone sit in my chair! 
.
I gathered my wits....
I tidied it up, organized my different elements,
and stashed some unnecessary items.....
.

...almost clean enough to see
 .
.
Next thing I knew~
I was cleaning one of the spare bedrooms
 just to stash~ my stash!
.
Once having completed that mess,
I found that I desperately needed to burn some papers.
(why?  I asked myself should I trudge out to the burn barrel,
when I can burn in the fireplace?)
.
But first....
I decided it was essential that I clean one of the fireplaces.
(Only one needed to be cleaned,  as I only burn candles in the other!)
.
.
I don't know when I cleaned this last...
certainly not this past year and half...
.
Goodness! Gracious! Great Balls of Fire!
.
T'was full of ashes, creosoted glass doors....
...and let me affirm...
Yes... still hot with embers!
.
.
Ok....no problemo....we have a steel wheelbarrow!
.
Grrrr....(and a few more @!*>~* words were blurted out)
.I had forged outdoors, mind you into a season I detest,
only to discover, it had a flat tire!
.
Ok...It's Ok...I hushed myself...
.
Not to worry...
just use one of the boxes I took from the spare room.
.
Which I did.

I worked quickly...
.
"Hurry! Hurry!" I kept telling my stupid self.
.
(Even though I had lined it with foil, it was quite hot...
as I dragged it out the back door...
Hoping it would not catch on fire before I got there
and then hoping it would rain....
or
Cowboy would get home to move it before it caught the house on fire!)
.
All is gooooooood.
.
I did not need to call 911.
.
Except...that in my rush to not set me or the house on fire...
I made a HUGE mess in front of the fireplace,
I'm covered in soot....
and so is everything in the room!
.
"Better change my duds....."
.
I say to self...
.
" and you may as well do the laundry while you are at it!"
"You just put on your last pair of clean jeans!"
.
(7! yes SEVEN loads...and I have a heavy duty oversize machine..
...and there is only 2 of us! What does that tell ya??)
.
.
Ok...Get back to what you were doing...
You can multi-task like a champion,
so get at it!
Daylight is a burnin'
.
.
After having swept and mopped up the soot, the ash residue...
I stood there, stretching the muscles that have been languishing far too long,
I could not help but notice that the picture hanging on the brick wall,
 sure could use a good cleaning!
.
Now the glass shines!
.
.

And that one!
.
.
That one too!
Look! No more dust!

And another!
 And another...
.
Upon realizing that I was making a bigger mess around the house as I went,
I had to have a chat with myself,
.
"Why don't you just plum clean the whole danged house?"
.
And in the midst of dusting, vacuuming, scrubbing,
cobweb hunting, and laundering~
.
of course there was the dust bunny round up too!....
(Oh...did I mention how surprised my hubby was when he sat down to watch TV tonight?
 He hollers "Hey Honey....my eyes got better today!!"
......I had another revelation!
.
Why not bake a cake?

I haven't made a cake in a bazillion years!
.

Is that obvious by the date?
. (it just so happens to be the only box I had in the cupboard
and I was NOT into making one from scratch today...
I had too many other things to do!)
.
So, Chocolate it shall be!
.
..(which doesn't hurt my feelings, as I believe nothing is more worthy for dessert than anything chocolate!)

I do not care for frosting, so I sprinkled with powdered sugar

.
.
I say to myself ...
as the cake enters the oven...
.
"Yo Barb! since you are already making a mess in the kitchen,
why don't you make a royal mess?"
"A royal dinner!"
"Lasagna!"
"And make two pans while you are at it....
so you can fool the hubby some other day...
he will think you worked this hard again!"
.
I haven't made Lasagna in~~ who knows how long!
.
Note the date!

BUT...
.
.
.
Ta Dah!
.
One's in the freezer for fooling the hubby at a later date...
and this one is for tonight!
.
Don't always be too fooled by dates on products either!
 I'm not one to throw things out,
and both Lasagna and Chocolate cake were perfecto!
.
.
.
We actually sat at the dining room table tonight,
with a real dinner before us!
It was nice!
If a stranger whould have appeared,
they might have thought this was a special occasion...
.
and for me..
.
it
.
was!
.
Today.... I was ME!
(These past two+ years, dinner consists mainly of sitting at the bar,
eating a quick, unplanned, concoction thrown together...
ones I could not replicate if my life depended on it!)
.
.
....and then....
.
I happened to glance up and what did I see?
" @!*>~*  "
 I had forgotten the ceiling fan!
.
Oh well.....I wasn't going to let a dusty ol' ceiling fan ruin my day!
.
There is always next time.
And hopefully, next time comes along sooner than it did this time!

.
.
.
Now....
.




 

After a very, very productive day,
not at all what I had set out to accomplish 11 hours prior....
.
It's time to plunk this W.O.W.'s butt down....
.
.
.

See? I even have sox on tonight!
.
.
.
 
It is time to relax
 (maybe that should say recuperate..)
.
.


and say "Hoorah!" "I did it!"
.


.
But....instead....
 
I'm going to say
 
SYRAH!!
.
.
and another....

SYRAH!


 Cowboy Wife

Sunday, January 22, 2012

BRRRrrrr.........

-ave.....that is!

Brave to take that first step everyone talks about...
Brave to open the doors again to the world around me...
Brave to be ME again.....

So here I am....


Being  BRrrrrrAVE!



Taking that 1st~~albeit left...

 (as I am entitled since I'm a lefty...oh, reminds me of something I read...will post another day)



...step







...or is that just plain STU....pidity!
(actually thought about 'painting' my toenails before this shot...green...
but I'm not THAT stupid!)



Cowboy Wife

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Reality Check...

Thanks TW for the note the other day...

It 'woke' me up.
It made me realize "Life goes on".

Now I just need to figure out where to start!


Cowboy Wife