Holidays 2009

My holidays 2009 have been most unusual! I've spent every day more or less from Thanksgiving to Christtmas sick. Got the flu (probably H1N1) the day before Thanksgiving. Stayed home. The landlady brought me some turkey and dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans. That was the last meat of any consequence I ate for several weeks. Food became a chore to eat but necessary to cushion the meds. Still got sore digestive tracks. And cough! A necessary and uncontrolable evil, or was it God sent. The flu resulted in pneumonia. So much for pneumonia shot.

The only good thing to come out of it was to have my eldest daughter come and spend a week with me. Cleaned my apartment. Waited on me hand and foot. It was almost worth getting sick..... almost.

Finally managed to put in a few hours at the office over the last week. I had gotten so sick of day time tv. And I normally love tv.

I managed to get to youngest daughter's on the morning of Christmas eve before the storm moved in. Not sure when I'll make it back home. The big Chrristmas event here is that the 4-H gilts are farrowing. One litter on Christmas eve day and signs anotther will farrow sometime today, Christmas day. Grandson #1 is a very watchful hogman. Spends a lot of time in the farrowing shed. The smell comes in on the clothes and its not the most wonderful smell in the world. Smell of money? We can hope. We'll have to remember this at fair time. Its the boys first experience with farrowing so I'm sure it is worth it regardless of the financial outcome.

Christtmas eve services were canceled. The boys had speaking parts. They're to do them Sunday morning so I will probably stay until then.

I hope others are having equally unique, safe and entertaining celebrations of our Savior's birth!

Busy month

Goodness me! I see I haven't posted since the 12th of Oct. It has been busy, busy!

Mid-October I went to Cheyenne by way of Colorado to a college rodeo. The family and I stayed at The Plainsman Hotel, an old hotel in downtown Cheyenne. The younger granddaughters didn't like that it didn't have an indoor swimming pool but I thought the nostalgic atmosphere was great fun. I roomed with the granddaughters other grandma, who remembered there was a Jimmy Stewart movie about a place in Cheyenne, The Cheyenne Social Club. Seems Stewart was a cowpoke who inherited a brothel...... This couldn't have been the place.......

The granddaughter competed well, made the short go in 2 events and ended up placing 8th I think in the breakaway roping. She went for it and were it not for that calf being about 3 inches slower than you would want, she would have won that event. Rodeo builds great character!

Since then I went to Washington DC for the work convention. Spent my free day walking in the rain to see the WWII memorial. Also went to the new American Indian museum, part of the Smithsonian complex. Wow! It is most definitely worth seeing. They have a food court featuring foods related to native people in varying areas of the country. I ate salmon from the Northwest. One of my office mates ate buffalo sandwich from the Plains area, and the other had rabbit pot pie from the Northeast. Good food served in a beautiful setting.

My daughter BK, gd Annie and Annie's friend Mikki stayed with me 4 nights and saw a good portion of DC. Their favorites included the old post office building, Ford's Theater, and who knows what else. I met them at the airport the first night and we had a limo tour of DC back to the hotel. The only trouble was it was raining (rained most of the time we were there) and the windows steamed over.

Because I had to be in DC, I missed out on going to my sister-in-law's funeral. The other daughter attended for all of us. She took the youngest g-son who is 6. While at the cemetery she showed him his grandfather's grave (my husband). Bob was a farmer and a fisherman, thus his gravestone has a shaft of wheat and a leaping fish on it. Coy looked things over, then said, "So, a fish killed him?"

Its been an especially pretty fall here and I almost had time to enjoy it.

Ladybug and the Boys

The boys have a new little mare. She's been to some rodeos so we're anxious to see what she can teach the boys. And how much fun they can have learning! Hope she enjoys teaching, it will make it a better experience..... for her and for the boys!

The picure was taken the day they brought her home a few weeks back. Sure wasn't taken this weekend. That photo was a summer shot; now it would be a winter one. With coats and even gloves.

Anyway, welcome to the family, Ladybug!

Homecoming Attendant

Went to see youngest grandson Coy serve as crown bearer at the Washington County High School homecoming last Friday night. He did his job quite well! His mama, dad and grandparents all almost busted their buttons they were so proud.

I called Colorado on the way up and Annie answered the phone. When I told her what was going on, she reminded me she once did that. I made her a blue satin dress for it. I didn't get to go see her do her thing back then but got to see a photo or two. Unfortunately, I don't have one at my fingertips.

K-State Band

KSU Band Day is Saturday. My big strong nephew is one of the tuba players. There are 22 of those big things. The horns I mean. Most of the players are big, too, but some are sweet little gals who are also strong. You've got to be to haul one of those dudes around and do all the dance moves they do with them.

The tubas not only anchor the band with their big bass sound, they anchor it physically with those big horn bells above everybody else, turning and bowing and just generally making a big splash. Love em. When nephew-the elder was in K-State band, he was in the drum line and I thought the drum line was the anchoring force. I still do as far as the beat that guides everyone but for physical beauty, love them tubas.

The band has brand new uniforms this year so that is special. Number over 300 I think. They are a sight to behold and a sound to move you.

To kick off the season, the band did its annual breaking out party so-to-speak in Aggieville. After their marching in and playing in the street, they were treated to sandwiches or ice cream or something in Varney's. So the section lined their horns up on the sidewalk and took turns standing guard. My sister had the idea to take a photo of them with her cell phone and I became the copycat and took one, too. Quite a sight!

Go Cats!

Wayne Dunafon, Ks Cowboy Hall of Fame

The Kansas Cowboy Hall of Fame Induction was last Saturday. Its held at Dodge City at the Front Street Museum. There were five inducted - 3 who are living and 2 posthumously. The categories are Rodeo Cowboy, Working Cowboy, Rancher/Stockman, Entertainer/Artisit and Historian.

I was particularly pleased to be able to support the induction of the late Wayne Dunafon in the Rodeo category as he was from my area of the state. Wayne, born in 1919, died in 2001 after a full life that included riding in the Turtle Cowboy Association, the Rodeo Cowboy Association and the Pro Rodeo Cowboy Association over many decades. While most pro rodeo cowboys specialize in one or two events, Wayne did them all. He won a lot of saddles, buckles and the like.

Wayne's other claim to fame was what he did to promote the cowboy image to everyone, not just to the Western life lovers. An ad agency picked him out at a rodeo back East and made him a model. He represented Lee jeans but is more well known for being one of the Marlboro Man fellas. He also worked in the movies some. But back home he was a down to earth rancher.

Wayne was inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2005 and is now in the Kansas one as well. I wonder how many other states have such a thing?

My trip to my other hometown

Seems I've been so-o-o-o busy, that I haven't had time to write. How can that be? I don't have a live-in family to take care of. Or a farm or any animals. Just me. My job. My couple of projects. Trips to the dentist, doctor.

Lots of weekend travel. I went "home" to Oberlin for an anniversary celebration and to see some friends. All was good. I only embarrassed myself a couple of times at the celebration by not knowing people I should have. And I didn't feel too bad since they didn't all recognize me at first glance either.

Staying with my good friends Mar and Jerry is always a treat. We have so many things to catch up on. Seems we talk non-stop from the time I walk in until I walk out. Mar keeps a beautiful home. Its like staying at a bed and breakfast. Always makes me feel guilty since its a talent I am lacking. I should also give Jerry credit because his woodworking talents are fantastic! He has redone both the kitchen and the bath to something akin to what you would see on HG channel.

We drove around and saw the sights.... who lives where and who's moved. The feedlot is much larger than the last time I looked at it. Not a lot of cattle in it right now but lots of space to put them when...... I am still in love with the wide open space. But they could use some of the trees we have in Manhattan area.

Looking over a small town makes me chuckle. When I moved back to Manhattan, everyone in classes and what-not referred to Manhattan as a small town. Give me a break! They don't know what small town is. Small town is where you know the names of everybody you see, who they're related to, where they work, and all the interesting (and boring) stuff about them. And they know all that about you. I'm not kidding.

When I first went to Oberlin, some people moved into town but didn't stay long. The woman didn't like that people spoke to her and called her by name and knew who she was. I took it as a compliment, she felt she was being intruded upon.

But some things are the same no matter the size of your small town. Manhattan has its development projects that have people supporting and people opposing. Well, Oberlin has the same thing. The similarities of town politics struck me as uncanny. I guess the same could be said for national politics right now. Its just the volume of the yelling that gets bigger!