2011 Ch 3 ~ Week 3

So after how fabulously craptastic the first two Wednesdays of the year were I have to admit I was feeling a tad bit paranoid about the third Wednesday. I try not to be superstitious and paranoid, but you know bad things *always* come in Threes, right?

I was a bit jumpy that day. If I could have bubble wrapped all the animals and stayed in bed all day I probably would have. But I could not, so I went to work and tried not to look over my shoulder too much. We did all survive the day totally unscathed. Yay! I convinced myself that one of the other minor (and too insignificant to even remember now) "bad" things that had happened over the weekend must have been The Third. And life went on. The third week was fairly uneventful. Whew!

After that things really got going, though thankfully they were on the more positive side. Like I said, this has been one heck of a year. We fell in love with new horses, posted old ones for sale, the boyfriend and I duked it out at the last winter series show for the buckle and we got a very exciting property project going.

2011 Ch 2 ~ The Second Week

So the second week of January 2011. One I certainly could have done without. Exactly one week after I was rear ended I came home from work to find the boyfriend more upset then I'd ever seen him. He could hardly even get the words out. Cletus had been hit by a car, killed instantly.

It was surreal. I couldn't believe the words I had just heard. My Dude Man. I did not want to believe it. The boyfriend had already buried him, picked the prettiest spot on the property under a little fir tree and marked his grave with a nice rock.

It was an extremely rough time dealing with his loss. It's amazing what a gaping hole one dog can leave in your life.

Everything reminded us of him. The house was soooo quiet without the two dogs wrestling and playing and barking at the neighbors.

Of course it didn't help they Cheyanne was feeling the loss too. They had been such good buddies. They played hard and constantly. Wrestling in the yard, chasing the horses, picking through the frozen poo, the most interesting thing around when everything was covered with snow.

Chey didn't eat for a couple weeks, until I started hand feeding her and basically forcing her to eat. She just laid around, looking forlorn. That was just as hard to deal with.

The Dude was my buddy. He was the sweetest, friendliest, most affectionate and goofiest dog I've ever had. We had gotten in the routine of snuggling in the evenings when we were all stuck inside because of the winter weather. I would sit on the floor in front of the heater (my favorite spot when it's cold) and he would come snuggle with me. I would scratch his belly and play with him. Then when I would curl up on the couch and read, he'd put his head on the couch right by my leg (he knew he wasn't allowed on the couch) and stare at me with those big brown eyes and I'd scratch his ears and pet him while I read. His eyes would half close and he looked so content, just to be close and have a little love. He always chose sitting at my feet with his head in my lap over laying down to sleep or chewing on his bone.

I still miss him like crazy and would give just about anything to have him back. I do believe everything happens for a reason, but I'm still having a hard time figuring out why this had to happen. I am so glad to have had him in my life for the short time we did though. He was just a damn cool dog.

2011 Ch 1 ~ The First Week

I was determined to make 2011 a big year heading into it. My motto for the year was just "Get Sh** Done!". No specific new years resolutions, just "Get Sh** Done". Do something. ANYTHING that will get me closer to accomplishing my goals. Even little tiny baby steps are progress and get me that much closer to being finished. Anything helps. I was getting tired of having deja vu every time I looked at my project list and saw the same things again and again. I wanted to "Get Sh** Done" and checked off that blasted list so I could move on to bigger and better things.

First up - the truck situation. Fuel prices were already high and just going to get higher. Every time I looked at how much we were spending on diesel every month I died a little inside. I had just paid my truck off and was reveling in not having that payment every month, but still, it was getting older. It was still a diesel 4x4 truck and nothing about those suckers is cheap. Not fuel, not oil changes, not brakes or tires or fixes. And we had 3 diesel trucks, all getting up there in miles. It just was not practical. At times I'd just shake my head at the stupidity of it, but other times I could totally justify it. We're country people and really USE those trucks. And it's Blue. I love Blue.

This has been a pretty constant debate for me for years now. Getting a gooseneck trailer and not having a hitch installed in my truck was the beginning of the end for Ol' Blue. Since I couldn't haul the horse trailer with her I was having a much more difficult time justifying keeping her. The prospect of getting her paid off and having one less payment every month spared her for a little while, but in the end, I just couldn't do it any more.

My main hold up had been that I didn't know what I wanted to drive instead. Nothing was appealing. Anything I wanted wasn't practical enough to justify selling the paid off truck. Anything practical just wasn't floating my boat. I test drove car after car after car after car after car (and so on) (and on and on, seriously, it was epic) and nothing spoke to me. My commute isn't exactly short and I do love driving so I "needed" something that I would enjoy being in. I just couldn't find something that struck that balance in practicality and fun.

At some point in December in occurred to me that we had 3 vehicles. I didn't HAVE to replace her. I could just drive the haulin' truck until something spoke to me. Not ideal, since the haulin' truck isn't my fave to commute in, and it sure was nice not having to hook and unhook the trailer every time we wanted to ride, but certainly doable. And so the decision was made. Blue was to be sold. Right after one warranty issue was fixed.

Of course with the holidays and busy schedules it was a couple weeks before we could get her in at the shop, but we got her in and January 5th I went and picked her up, planning to head home and clean her up for her photo shoot. But alas, it was not meant to be. On my way home I was rear ended by an old guy in a Buick. It was dusk and raining and they came out of no where. I had been sitting stopped at this light for a while with no one behind me when I saw an odd flash of headlight in my side mirror. You know the flash...when you know something's not right and crap this might hurt? Ya, one of those.

Luckily he was able to swerve and only hit the corner of my truck. And of course his Buick was way worse off then my truck. He couldn't even get his door open. But still, I was not happy. I had plans for this truck and this was not helping things! Plus, you know, accidents and dealing with all the insurance crap afterwards is not great either.

I had a few weeks of chiro apts and got the truck fixed and then, finally, was ready to post her. I slapped the ad up on craigslist and went to bed. The next morning I had an email time stamped less then an hour after the ad was posted. This guy wanted her. Bad. I had the boyfriend call him to "talk truck" and, after working through some issues, the guy bought her and I put her on a barge to Alaska. I cried when I dropped her off. Then realized that I left my gate clicker and favorite cd in there. Doh!

I got a picture from him a week later. She was safe and sound in Alaska, happy trudging through the snow with icicles hanging off of her. She always did like the snow. :-)

So the first week of January I was rear ended. Ugh. Never a great way to start off the year! But I still got the truck sold. After 6 1/2 years and 100,000 miles, Ol' Blue was gone. One giant milestone for me and one happening I could have done without.

But, everything happens for a reason. Selling Ol' Blue was one of the "for the greater good" things. I didn't want to, but in the grand scheme of things, it made more sense to. And without asking or anything, I got a small settlement out of the accident for my troubles. Nice!

The second week did not turn out so well...

2011 Thus Far

Wow. I can't believe it's already September! We'll just skip over the whole "I'm a sucky blogger" thing again, cuz really...seems like every post from me for the past year or two have started out that way.

I've had so much to write about for so long, but I've just been busy and the story that I felt needed to come first was not one I was ready to write so the blog just sat. With the exception of a couple random posts.

But now it's September and I am really inspired to write and document this year and all that has happened. Boy do I have a lot to get caught up on. 2011 has been quite a year! There have been many exciting things happening, some really big bummers, some sad endings and fun beginnings. It has overwhelmingly been a year of change and progress. Most of it good. Or at least for the greater good. Certainly a couple things I could have done without.

So, if there are still people out there that haven't given up on me yet, I hope to be back this weekend with tales of our 2011 adventures.