It must run in the family

and this time, I am not talking about the foul mouths, bad attitudes and various other wackaloon attributes, but this horse thing.

We already knew that Gabi was totally into animals, as her big show with Fonzie yesterday demonstrated. Today we all went riding together, and she got to sit on Twister, Gyro, and a few others. Because she is so tiny, someone always has a hold of her and it makes her so angry that she cannot go by herself. Yes, all 23 pounds and 20 months of her. She pushes people away, tells them no and cries when you take her off. It is ridiculous. Yesterday, she clapped most of the time, but today we were able to get through to her that she needed to hold the horn so the horse could move.
This is her kissing Barry, but then telling him to go away so she could ride. If she was not on a horse, she was constantly saying "up, up, up". When she was on one, she said "go go go". If you asked her what a horse says, she would neigh and crack up. It was so cute. I give them two years and she will be riding her own pony behind us on these rides, instead of waiting at the trailer with Leo, waiting for us to come back.
This is my cousin Kim. She rode Gyro on one shift.
This is my aunt Jana, Kim's mom--she is my mom's little sister. Twister took good care of her. He still looks a little bit like a zebra. He does not care. He is losing weight for no good reason lately, so I am keeping an eye on him.
This is Edward, the brother-in-law. He does not normally look like a thug, I think it is that crazy hat he had on. He is not, not by a long shot.
When we came back from one ride, Gabi insisted on going up up up, then raised her arms up and shrugged her shoulders, like she did not know why she was having to share the horse. Funny kid.
This is Barry and Jack. Jack is Kim's son. This was Jack's first ride with us, except for on Marvin the donkey a long time ago, and that does not count. Jack had a blast and if he said thank you once, he said it ten times--it is nice to know how much he appreciated it. I was amazed at how well he did, he followed instructions well, he did not get bothered by anything, and did a great job with Rock. Even though she is 26 years old, she is plenty opinionated, and is blind in one eye, so we had to think carefully about who we could pony her from to start his ride--so that it was not someone she would feel obligated to beat up on. That left us with Playmate, who Barry is riding, and is 27 years old. She has probably not been ridden in at least a year, and it might well be a couple of years. She was PERFECT, as was Rock, we could not have asked for more out of any of our horses that the behavior we got from these girls today. They did so well that we were able to let Rock loose in the woods, and Jack handled her really well up and down the hills and through creeks--all in all, it was a perfect family ride.

This is the second shift of the ride--me, Mandy and mom.
And Edward was part of that group as well.
This is Barry and Jack on their first entry into the woods--I like how good these old bay mares look, and knowing how much fun Jack had and that Gabi has to look forward to over the years made it more fun for everyone else too.

When that was over, we came back to my house, and had chili that Aunt Jana had hauled all the way down here from Chicago. We had ten people here, I think, and played some crazy Dominoes game that brings out some nastiness in this bunch. Evidently they played this game last nite too as I took my nap, and Barry was not kidding about how insane these people are--not that that is news to me at all. That he willingly hung out with my family is a little strange, which just goes to show you how much better things were this year than they have been in years past. We did not have any real screaming or arguments of any significance, which might be the first time every in the history of family doings in this bunch.

It is amazing how much easier the days are when you know the person calling you a SOB, or a MF'er is not doing it in anger!

Tomorrow is back to business, as Kim and Jack, Leo and Jana head back to Chicago, and Mandy and Edward head to his hometown to do his class reunion, then back to Houston on Sunday.

Family photo session

This afternoon, we did some family photos for Mandy and Edward, and let Gabi ride Fonzie.
I need help choosing which of the serious pics is the best one, so send your votes in. I am not sure exactly what is going to happen with them, but whatever it is, I want to use the best one.
This really might have been the funniest thing I have done in a long time. Gabi loves animals and she really wanted Fonzie to GO! She would giddyup him, then grab the saddle strings and whack at him the best she could, grab the horn and rock back and forth like she was making him go--she was serious about it.
Several attempts to make her be done riding were failures--she would push Edward away when he tried to take her off. She was not done yet.
Here is an example of that--she wanted Mandy to go away so she could ride him for real. Absolutely hysterical.

She had a great time, she would get so tickled, and make funny faces.

This is one of my favorites.
Look how happy she is
This is a good one too--look at that face.
This time the pig wanted to be her friend, instead of being scared of her like he was last time. She was not as interested in him as usual though.

Her hat is eating her head here--this is her new coat that is pretty stiff and she is not used to it yet, so she does not move so good in it. Her arms stick straight out.

Four big things

One: I spent the afternoon sitting in on a murder trial. This probably sounds strange that this would interest me, since I spend virtually every day immersed in murder, etc. The difference is that I do not EVER go to trial, nor do I want to...I do appeals before the Appellate and Supreme Courts, which is very academic, cerebral work (funny, huh, if you know me). This was a local case with a victim I have known my whole life and once did something amazingly sweet for me so that I thought he was a hero back in the day. The defendant is a young girl charged by accountability for his murder---she had a prostitute/john relationship with him. It was amazingly boring, while still being mentally stimulating, to listen to the State's star witness testify. It is also fascinating to see in person the things I see all day long in a black and white transcript--it serves as a powerful reminder of how powerful nonverbal communication can be.

Another significant thing about it was that I am quite friendly with both the prosecutor and defense counsel, with whom I have worked on a death penalty case in the past. I am socially friendly with the ASA prosecuting the case, and he is running for State's Attorney now, to replace an excellent SA who has spoiled us in the Appellate Defender's office by being ethical, reasonable and judicious---something we rarely see. It was very satisfying to see that the ASA running for his spot is a very worthy candidate--I saw some excellent legal manuevering from him today. I like that as it bodes well for solid justice in this area if we can get him in office.

Two: I had an email from my Brother in law Edward, who is currently in Guatemala with Mandy visiting their daughter Gabi. Other than being food poisoned, he is having a banana day in that he got word he will shortly be receiving an offer from the job he most wants. He is finishing his MBA at U of I, so this is so exciting that he has multiple job offers including the one he really wants.

Three, LeaAnn the new barn help cleaned the whole barn! It was raining while she was there, so she did not get fences fixed, but she more than made up with it by pitching so much crap that was in the barn, the dumpster is overflowed and so are some extra trash cans! I got to know her a little bit more. She was an hour early as she was so eager to get at it, and had made a list of things to get into...I like that initiative. She did a great job! I am quietly getting excited about this arrangement.

Finally, we took the boys to Hutch's for a big practice. They must have me spoiled, as I honestly did not expect any issues from them at all. I forgot how young they are. Radar was a little intimidated by the action--as well he should have been. We had 46 riders and over 60 horses in the house, and it was pretty rowdy. The cows of course did not phase him---some of the more rambunctious behavior did. His response was to worry his bit and bounce his head a lot.

I decided that he needed some desensitization to that, so he and Hawk were tied to the railing just across the scratch line, and next to other horses pretty close up---I think it is fair to say they are over their concerns now.

Eventually, they got bored with the action, and entertained themselves by playing together. Boys will be boys, I guess, and it really was kind of cute, because they remained good citizens. They did not bother their neighbors, which I like, because it drives me crazy when a horse wallers around where he is tied and takes up too much space in a crowded situation. Even worse is when their owner does not notice. Makes me crazy it does!



An interesting evening-- an end to an era where I learned no good deed goes unpunished and that it is really hard to get over bad feelings. But I was also reminded that a few people should not be allowed to ruin the fun of everyone else, and I am going to try not to let that happen.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our anniversary

Today is the big day---13 years since our wedding. Hopefully, today will not be as hot! Barry even remembered! I imagine to celebrate, we might mow the yard and weedeat. Lest you think that is a strange way to celebrate, you should know that Barry weedeats twice a year whether it needs it or not. I think that actually might be generous, to tell the truth. It used to be funny when he said that but since it is now true, it is not so funny. It is a constant bone of contention. He blames it on the weedeater, but since we have a regular one, an electric one and a rechargeable one, you can imagine what I think of that assinine excuse. Plus, the regular man weedeater that he uses just got out of the shop so ought to be in perfect shape---no more excuses! So that is what I am asking for-- a weedeated front yard. And maybe the front of the barn.

The best possible Anniversary gift, even better than weedeating, would be a thunderstorm! It has been dry as a bone for two weeks, and with temps like we have had, that is pretty miserable. The radar shows we might get a shower---cross your fingers, as we certainly need it.

In an odd twist, today is also Mandy and Edward's anniversary--9 years for them. Yesterday was Edward's first Father's Day--even if he did not yet have his baby home with him, I think it was a big deal for them. I hear that Mom and Dad are going to Guatemala with them in August to see Gabriella again--I knew they could not stay away once they had met her.