Red-Neck Santa…

I have, as I’m sure you all have figured out by now, a weird and somewhat twisted sense of humor.  As one would expect, birds of a feather tend to flock together and I have to share a photo that one of my nieces sent to me.  She figured I could do something with it.  After I got up from off the floor laughing I  wrote her back and told her it would be going up on my next post.

If there are any of you folks that are upset by hunting and those that keep mounted heads on their walls, I’ll apologize to you all now.  I’ve been raised around deer hunters all my life even though my dad or others in my immediate family were not outdoors people or hunters, I can understand those who do hunt and I’ve enjoyed many a dinner with venison on the menu.

That being said… here’s the red-neck Santa photo.  Please note that there is even a red nose on the lead reindeer…

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It Takes Attitude…

I was going to write about my favorite Christmas but ran across this photo and it changed my mind… because it made me smile and I wanted to share this story with you all.

This is my baby brother. Mom told Walter (Bro) to take Bennett to the barber shop and get him a haircut so he would look nice for his birthday.

Walter told the barber to give Ben a mohawk.  I don’t know if Ben told Bro he wanted one or if Bro just told the barber to give him a mohawk.   But this is how Bro and Ben walked home.  Mom about stroked out.  But, dang, he was so cute that she forgave Walter.

What’s not to love with a kid with a mohawk and a BIG teddy bear? Check out the boots, too.

Then I got in on the action… our sis, Sue, had a glorious array of neck scarves that were the rage in the early Fifties.  Ben and I decided that he had a mohawk so he ought to be dressed up like an Indian and who better to help him than moi? If you click the pic you can see our sister standing behind the chair.  She was so mad at us for getting in her stuff,  but she still had a bit of a smile trying to peek out.

Now you may ask, “What’s the deal with it taking attitude?”  Bro and I were talking about it when we were looking at these as he was scanning these photos and he’s the one that said, “You know it takes attitude to wear a mohawk.”  And this was the particular photo that brought about that comment:

The boy had the stuff to pull it off.  Check out the suit coat and the jive attitude. Ben, Bro and I still love this photo and as far as we are concerned even now with you being 61 you could still pull off a mohawk.  You still have what it takes.

Love you, Baby Bro, and I’ll see you and all your family  for Christmas.

Want To Get A Project Done?

Start it less than a week before Thanksgiving when a whole mess of family is coming to your home to share the blessings in their life and a lot of food. I took off last Wednesday and headed south for a visit and to get away from the stress of all that has been going on around here.

This is what the fireplace looked like when I got to Ft. Worth Wednesday evening. In less that 2 hours (we had to go stuff our faces first) Diane, my sis-in-law started doing this:

Give her a hammer and chisel and she is the demolition princess.

Hearth is done for…

I had to bust my hump to keep up with her. Of course I did have to stop and take photos along to record the process for posterity (and a break).

Round and round she goes… and the surround is down.

Cleaning up the excess mortar…

Blowing off the smoke after putting the hurt on the mortar.

Miss Molly is overseeing the job to be sure there is no corner cutting. This was the end of evening one except for the sweeping up and washing down.

Day 2: Sheetrock is cut and installed. This job fell to my brother and me.

The tiles are cut first so Ben and I can run right through mortaring them and getting them up, so we could sit in the floor and get the surround tiled without having to get up and down. He’s been down in his back and I’ve just been down.

Here it is… taped and spaced to make sure it stays in place while it sits up overnight. Thus ends Day two.

Ben had to work on Saturday so it fell to Diane and me to do the grouting and clean-up and I was so whipped out I forgot to take photos but I’ll get baby Bro to send me photos so you can see the finished project.

Molly giving it the critical eye and her blessing for a job well done.

Yeah, some work was involved but it was exactly what I needed to do to get myself leveled out. When I can lose myself in a project I don’t dwell on the things that are not right in my life and when I’m worked to ‘rode hard and put up wet’ I sleep great and everything looks better in the morning.

This is the way that I get my perspective back and start getting healed from a horribly inconsiderate fracas. Now I can start planning to start over next month.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and even with what all has gone down in my house I still have so much to be thankful for in my life. I’ve got my furbabies, I have wonderful sibs and I’m not afraid to start over again.

Just Call Him A Bull Rider…

You heard me speak of my good fortune at finding a strong young man to help us move and do heavy lifting for me. This is Jonathan getting his game face on…

Both his daddy and his granddaddy were bull riders.  Jon started riding when he was 5 years old and after 9 years the boy is practically a veteran.  They only let him ride steers, which really ‘chaps his ass’, pun intended, but he will be 15 in April and then can start riding the big bulls.

   One of the neat things about going to small local forums is that I can walk around and watch what the cowboys do to prepare for their ride.  Here Jon is working on the baling wire on his spurs that go under the heel of his boots to help keep them from slipping when he gets hooked into the hide of the bull.

Some riders like to tie their boots on with strips of latigo. They DO NOT want their feet to slip out of their boots causing them to lose their leg grip.

And another example… or two.  Each cowboy has their own routine that they go through, kind of like every other sport, they have their own superstitions.

I thought these chaps were good looking… not much else is on this photo…

This shot looks a little better…

And check out these blue chaps.

Jonathan strapping his chaps up, getting ready for his ride.

Waiting his turn.  There were 21 entries in the bull riding division so they ran out 10 of the bull riders, then ran Jon’s group, the steer riders, then the mutton busters which was won by a GIRL!!!  Wooo Hoooo!!!  Then came time for Jon’s group.

He asked me if I could video his ride for him and I told him I’d try.  I’d only done it once so here is my try at video with my point and shoot camera…

Except for the fact that I can’t figure out how to get it to download. I’m unloading my boxes as fast as I can to try and figure it out.  I know where the video is, it is the verbiage that is killing me.  I give them (those gremlins that reside in my computer) the answers to the questions as best as I can figure out but then I get something like the path is incorrect or the name isn’t right for the transition to be made and my ever favorite,         ” You’re an idiot that can’t figure out shit about computers!”

When I do figure it out I’ll have a bunch of videos to share. Right now I think I’ll go back to bed and cry myself to sleep.

Tag – You’re It…

Thank you, Sylvia, for helping me out with a blog subject. I’ve been blank because of trying to get my head together for a move, but I needed and wanted to put up a new post and get Bro’s mug off the screen…

The rules:
1. Respond and re-work: Answer these questions on your blog. Replace one question you dislike with one of your own invention, and add another question of your own.
2. Tag some friends to play along!

1. What's your favorite article of clothing? My tank top tees.

2. Who was the last person you hugged? My Cousin when we visited her on Thursday.

3. What's your favorite dinner? Steak and a baked potato

4. What's the last thing you bought? A new pink mouse for the computer

5. How's your head feeling right now?  A little dizzy/light headed

6. What's your favorite weather? Clear and cool

7. What is your least favorite season?  winter

8. What's in your purse? I don’t carry a purse as a rule.  Pockets work for me and I don’t forget to take them home.

9. Say something to the person who tagged you. DocSly, I hope to meet you some day.  Maybe at a ballpark for a baseball game.

10. What is your favorite dessert? Peach cobbler and BlueBell Vanilla ice cream

11. What did you want to become as a child? A Cowboy     
12. What do you want to be now? a traveler

13. What is your favorite song? The Lord's Prayer  

14. What is your favorite country/state? U.S.A. and Oklahoma 

15. If you could go anywhere in the world in the next hour, where would you go? Hawaii
16. What are my most challenging goals right now? preparing to move.  Big GROAN…

17. What is your five-year plan? learning to quilt 
18. What is your favorite sport to watch? baseball in life, golf or college football on t.v. 
19. What show would you be a cast member of?  The Closer 

20. What is your most prized possession? my family
21. Name a favorite childhood memory.  Horseback riding in Tennessee at family reunions. 
22. What is your favorite movie?  LadyHawke

23. What is your favorite quote? If wishes were horses even beggars would ride.
24. What is your favorite book? The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

25. What sport would you compare your life to at this time?  Ping pong.

I tag  Robynn, Dar and Pastor Sharon