On Sandbags & Dog Smiles

Yesterday's weather was UH-MAZE-ING!! Weather like we've been having gives me huge amounts of cabin fever. When I get hit with the fever I look for ANY excuse to get outside and get moving...even work!

Each winter I buy sandbags to weigh down Honey's back end.

This year we ended up with 4 sandbags over each wheel. That's a lot of weight. 480 pounds, to be exact.

It's great to have that extra weight in the back end when you're battling a Kansas winter (read: snow/ice/generally nasty slushy stuff,) but once you get past the winter months that extra weight (and crappy gas mileage!) gets old. Then, come springtime, you get the delightful task of unloading nearly 500 pounds of sandbags. Inevitably, the week you ditch the junk in the trunk, Kansas decides it's time for one last ice storm and you're sliding all over the place.

I digress...

Yesterday evening I had decided I would tempt fate and ditch the junk in the trunk. Hank decided he would give his Aunt Lannie a hand (or paw) and sat in the truck to supervise while I backed up to each pot hole in the driveway and flopped a sandbag into them.

We finally got all 8 bags dumped into the holes. Then it was time to walk (or frolic, if you're Hank) around from bag to bag, stabbing them with a steak knife (you're welcome, Mom) and dumping the sand out. Hank discovered his new purpose in life is to "help" (and I use that term loosely) me spread the sand out by digging like a maniac in each pile of sand...essentially flinging all sand away from where we put it and entirely defeating the purpose.

Once we managed to fling sand all over creation and dispose of the evidence, it was time for the best part. Driving around the section multiple times until all the rocks, sticks, dirt, and treasures fly out of the bed of my truck. Seriously folks, it's WAY easier than taking the time to sweep it out by hand.

Hank asked Lucy if she wanted to go. (Dumb question. Of course she did!) We loaded up, and after a small skirmish over who got shotgun, we were off.

Congratulations to Hanky on winning the Toofer War to claim the front seat.

The dogs and I spent the next half-hour cruising the beautiful Harvey County countryside. I am here to tell you that you haven't truly seen joy until you've looked at your dog's face while riding around with the windows down. The tongue is flopping. The drool is flying (generally towards me. Gross.) The ear hair is fluttering. That unmistakable doggy smile is firmly in place.

Naturally, because I am my Father's daughter, I got a little verklempt over the whole thing and took several moments to thank God for dirt roads, green grass, perfect weather, pickup trucks, an adoreably hairy "nephew," and a slightly hateful "daughter."

It really is the simple things that make life great...sometimes God just has to remind me of it!

Cue the Trombones!

I went to the dentist yesterday!!!

*Insert loud, raucous chorus of "76 Trombones" here! Actually...it's so awesome I'll insert it myself.*



I think there's something wrong with me. I enjoyed myself. Perhaps it appeals to the side of me that gets a all a twitter when I clean out my medicine cabinet. Perhaps it's the side that simply likes to see results. Regardless, there is something incredibly gratifying about walking into the office with 6 months of buglies on your teeth and walking out with sparkly, white, buglie-free chompers.

The only down side? I'm getting less work done than normal. Yes, because I'm blogging about it...but also because any reflective surface I pass is fair game for flashing my grill and marveling at those pearly whites!

Blog Beavering

I have just spent the past 2 hours beavering my blog header...and I still don't love it. I can now relate to Amanda when she says "my brain is pixelated!" I have 3 ideas for really great blog posts, but I can't bring my brain to shift from MDIS (Microsoft Digital Imaging Suite) to writing mode. I'll just have to write them down where I write the rest of the things I have bouncing around in my head and call it a day.

Jason: Template shopping will have to wait until tomorrow.
Becky: The post to end all posts is first on my list for tomorrow morning.

And with that...I'm off to depixelate on a treadmill!

Coming to a FB Wall Near You...

....it's.......

AWKWARD TURKEY!!!

At the Intersection of Pointless & Meandering

The weather today is UH-MAZE-ING! The handy dandy NMC Weather Man says it's 75°, just a light breeze. Shutthefrontdoor, that's good stuff!

Hey! That'd be the first official Lindsayism for GM (Goodbye, Martha!)

"Shutthefrontdoor" (yes, you have to run it all together like that. It's more effective.) is one I picked up from Monkey (another ism...that one is my pet name for Sarah.) that she uses as a mock expletive when something is shocking or good. Use your imagination for what it's in lieu of. :) Another stand-by from Monkey is "What the fridge!?" Again, a mock expletive. Again, the first two words (and the first letter of the last word!) are the same.

Hmmm. Where was this post going?

Oh, yes! The delightful weather!

I feel the need. The need for speed...on horseback. I've been craving a long afternoon with Kitty since Christmas, and this weather gives me hope that it's not far off. There isn't much better than feeling almost out of control as you let your horse take off across the pasture at a dead run! *sigh* You city girls don't know what you're missing! :)

Now that' I'm on the topic of my baby....

Everyone, I would like you meet Kitty. She's a 12 y/o Quarter Horse Mare. She's about 15.4 hands tall, black with a black mane and tail. She's got the white star and a tiny white snip just above her lip. She's got some attitude, but what good woman doesn't?

This was taken before I owned Kitty. We bought her from a couple that lives in Tonganoxie. This was the picture they posted on her Ad that I responded to. How could I say no to that face?!

She's such a happy girl! Most of the time...

Kitty and me, enjoying a warm day last March.

She's a looker!! (The horse isn't bad either! HA!)