My first night

Well, after the vet visit, I headed to the gym to work out and do some yoga.  I was sort of laughing to myself - this yin and yang life I live here.....

One minute I am yelling at a 2 year heifer, punching her in the face to get her to back out of the head catch and then an hour later I am in a beautiful downward dog at the gym, breathing deep and quieting my thoughts.  Anyway - it's like that with just about everything.

Here I am ----  love all the animals....but if you kill my dog, we will shoot you. (which, by the way, that is NOT a machine gun!) Or feeling ready to punch my own dog, Betty, in the face because she still refuses to come when when she is called and will follow us allllll the way down the dirt road of Log Canyon to having her sleep in the house last night while Scoot is gone to protect me.  She'll be living the good life this week!

Anyway, I don't know how it is when other wives are left alone and their husbands head out of town on business, but here is what mine looks like:

First thing - the water.  Well, Scott DID get it all figured out and there is this system of turning it on during the warmer parts of the day and then making sure it gets turned off before the temperature gets too low.  I just looked at Scott and said, "Ya know...I think I will just shower at the gym and wait to do laundry when you get back."  So, I just decided to leave the water off.  It's manageable.  I have drinking water, I can flush (just fill the tank) and everything else just has to wait.  I did have to secretly clean my paint brush at the gym yesterday.  Sometimes I feel like WE should have our own reality show because I think our life can be as funny as the guys on Duck Dynasty!!

Second thing - the generator.  Now in case the sun does not shine and the batteries do not charge, we have a back up generator that we run to charge the batteries.  It's in the back of Scott's truck which is parked next to the house.  But that is not the generator I am talking about.  Nope - I am talking about a different generator used to help the tractor get started on these cold mornings.  So, before my husband leaves, I get a quick "how to" to start the generator.  OK - got it.  Easy to watch someone else pull that cord and get the thing running.  Scott has a way about him like that...he makes things LOOK so easy.  So, there might be a little swearing this morning on my part as I attempt to get that thing started.

Third thing - the tractor.  I have driven the tractor three other times.  I get it, it's not rocket science.  I am feeling pretty ok with that.  The one thing I am a bit nervous about it that when you bring over the bale of hay, the cows get all excited and happy to see you so when you open the gate you have to have the bale up over the gate first so they will (hopefully) stay in the fenced in area, then drive the tractor through the gate.  Scott just leaves the gate open behind him which makes me nervous because rounding up one cow can be a real pain.....if you read back to older posts, you will know just what I mean.  There are cattle guards up, so the worst thing is the cows that escape will be hanging out on Water Hollow - not that big of a deal because there is really NO ONE going up that road these wintery days anyway.

Fourth thing - the torch.  Nope, that is not the Olympic torch but rather the torch I have to use to thaw out the gate lock to get into the shop.  Again, Scott makes that look pretty easy.  So, I am sure I will have to use that when I need to get into the shop to get the water truck - a piece of junk, but will get to that in a minute.  Although....sometimes I am like Mrs. McGyver (I don't know if I spelled that right).  But yesterday when I locked up the shop....I found a lonely little kids mitten on the car floor and put that over the lock to keep it all snuggly for the night.  I guess I will see if THAT works!  Then maybe I will not have to use the torch.

Fifth thing - the diesel truck.  A total pain in the butt!  We got hit with a big winter storm last week.  As Scott is pulling up Log Canyon to plow our section of the road, the 4 wheel drive goes out.  Great timing, right?  So, our driveway never got plowed from that snow because the truck ended up at the shop.  It's in 4 wheel drive now and just stuck there I guess.  Anyway, I will have to drive that over to the ranch to water the heifers because that spring is filling the holding tank too slowly over there.  I tell ya what - it sure makes sense to me now that in the olden days of the wild west why people were shooting each other over water rights!  Anyway, we got more snow last night and I am praying for a little blue sky today!  I am not real excited about having to snow shoe outta here!

Sixth thing -   The Glock.  As you probably already know...I still have some fears about the crazy mountain man.  And did you see the news the other day about that serial killer who escaped from jail during the Superbowl....well, I think that might have been in MI, but even Ted Bundy ended up in Utah!!!  So before Scott is leaving, he says to me, "The glock is in the drawer in my office."  And at the time I did not think anything of it.  Now- we never lock our doors.  So after Scott left and I returned home, I realized the house was open and anyone could be hiding in a closet.  So, I did what any tough b*@^& would do and grabbed two knives and did the walk around.  I was certain someone was in the house because there were some weird snow tracks I had not noticed before.  I even was talking to my imaginary killer, saying how I know he's in there (hiding in the boys closet) and I was going to stab him in the ^*%@* eye when I found him!  Anyway, the house turned up empty.  But I did sleep with the knife and the glock on my nightstand.  Well, actually there was not a whole lot of sleeping!  Oh YOU KNOW the first night is the worst.  And it did not help I watched a documentary on Ted Bundy before I went to bed!

P.S. I don't even really know how the glock works, but already sent Scott a text that I am planning on learning!!

What I love about Scott (one of the many things) is he fully believes in me!  Even when I am not too sure I believe in myself.  He just looks at me and says, "You can do this!" and it does not matter what it is.  And ultimately, he is right - I just need that push.

I just found a card from him that took me back a couple years when I had that breast biopsy.  He gave it to me the morning BEFORE I got the results.  He wrote, "Whatever today brings, we will tackle it together."  And I still get choked up thinking about even during a very dark hour, he still holds that beautiful attitude that no matter what- we are in things together.  And even when I am intimidated (by all there is to do on the ranch, or being charged by a mad cow, etc.) he is there with me along the way quietly cheering for me, knowing I can "get 'er done", and just plain believing in me and truly recognizing my fullest potential.  I am grateful to be in this relationship with him because we really do push each other to be a better person.  And really - when I think about it - that is what this week is - him pushing me, him believing in me and knowing I GOT THIS!!

I will keep that in mind when I am aiming to give that crazy heifer her shot today!  

Well - great news.  The weather looked a little questionable when I started this blog, but now the sun is shining, I am on my second cup of coffee and it's going to be an awesome day!
I GOT THIS!