Ka-Ching! Ka-Ching!

Today has been great! This morning Lisa, Meghan and Don came out to help Tony with his chores and to walk our dogs while I walked six more miles and then cleaned up the trailer. Around one o'clock we had some visitors come out for a tour of the ranch and I enjoyed meeting Katrina and her father, Ed. They are good people.

After they left the rescue ranch Tony and I ate lunch and then we went to Kerrville because we had to go to Walmart for some supplies. On our way home I called Carol & James to see if we could come by for a short visit, which of course turned out to be a long visit because we were having so much fun with them.

The four of us talked non-stop about cameras, photography, computers, the rescue ranch, their super horses, James' Sharper Image weather station that has a remote Caller ID and eBay. Turns out I learned a whole lot about eBay from James & Carol and I can't wait to start selling my stuff on eBay. It sounds like fun and it could be possibly prosperous!

After James told us about his cool weather station, I told Tone that I wanted one for Valentines then we gathered around James computer and watched a few videos of Carol training her horse, Maya, in the corral.

Carol and Maya are an amazing team to watch and James remarks that he made while he was video tapping them from his saddle were so sweet and hilarious! He'd say things like, "Carol is so beautiful. I am so lucky. I love... Dang-it Drifter stop it! Scoot over, boy!" Then the camera would drop down for a second on Drifter's neck and mane and then come back up to Carol and Maya working together in the corral. They were magic together! And I'm talking about Carol and Maya, and Carol and James.

When we left, Tony couldn't wait to get home so he could go online to buy a Sharper Image weather station like James has, for my Valentines present, and I couldn't wait to get home so I could start gathering things to sell on eBay.

I started with our closet first. And I now have a pile half as tall as me blocking our bathroom entrance.  When Tone saw my pile-of-possible-money he said, "Nance, can I move your pile? I need to get in there to brush my teeth."

Now that pile of "priceless" Cousin Nancy things is stacked up right behind me in the kitchen, as I sit at the kitchen table typing this. I just turned around to look at it, and I just hollered to Tone in the bedroom, "Good night, T.!  I've just named this mound-of-money in the kitchen, "Cousin Nancy's First Pyramid of Pennies." Tony said nothing and he just turned out the bedroom light.

I think that I am going to go to bed now, but instead of counting sheep tonight like I usually do, I am going to count all of the possible things that I can sell on eBay so I can print more books. Ka-ching! Ka-ching!

Y'all have a great evening!

Pen #59!

To Be Continued...
After Teresa told me about Stubbs serious life and death situation, she put Jack and me on a conference call with her and we discussed what needed to be done. After we made a plan we ended our conversation and then I began one with Tony and Ben and told them about Stubbs. They were all for saving Stubbs! Then Ben suggested that I call Alison Furst first. She is our good friend in Austin...


Before calling Alison about possibly transporting Stubbs for us I called the place where Stubbs was on death row. It took me three minutes to finally get to talk to a human in charge. I told the person who I was and that our rescue ranch had taken several dogs from them years ago to help them out, and that we would be glad to take Stubbs. I figured that it would be a piece of cake to rescue Stubbs, but I was wrong. 


The person put me on hold for less than a minute and then told me that we could not have Stubbs because we were in their "inactive" file and that we would have to get another rescue group to pull him for us. To say the least that was not what I had expected to hear. I thought that they would have been thrilled about us rescuing Stubbs.


I spent Friday night on the phone talking back and forth to Alison, and three other people who wanted to help us rescue Stubbs. After my last phone call at 9:15 I went to bed feeling exhausted, frustrated and worried about Stubbs safety and I guess that explains why I only got about four hours of sleep.


Saturday morning I called Alison. Alison told me that she would be at the place holding Stubbs when it opened its doors so she could try to talk them into letting us rescue him. Then Alison told me that she had also talked to another animal rescue group that she volunteers for and they had told her that they were willing to pull Stubbs for us if we needed their help! I was thrilled.


After talking to several other people that Jack and Alison had recruited to help us, Alison called me right before noon to tell me that the people at the compound would not let her take Stubbs for us, and then they told her that the organization that she volunteers for, would not be allowed to pull Stubbs for us either. Alison was upset and so was I. 


Twenty minutes later after making six or seven phone calls a woman called me from another rescue group and said that her organization would be glad to pull Stubbs for us and that she would call them now. Ten minutes later after many more phone calls, Alison called me from Stubb's location because she didn't know what to do so I thanked her for trying to help Stubbs and told her to go on home. 


As soon as I hung up the phone I called the woman back who had told me that she would make the call and tell them to release Stubbs to Alison. After the woman told me that she had made the phone call, I told her that Alison had just left the place without Stubbs, the woman was shocked because the place had told her that they would give Stubbs to Alison immediately, but they never said a thing to Alison as she sat in their lobby. After I thanked the nice woman for trying to help us out I hung up the phone and then I took a baby aspirin for my heart.


I called the facility that was holding Stubbs hostage and got a new person. In the softest and nicest voice I asked the person if there was any update on Stubbs or releasing him to us. I am sure the young person had an audience when he/she coldly told me that our rescue ranch could not have Stubbs because he had just been rescued by another rescue group. "It is an ideal situation for Stubbs..." I could tell the person was enjoying their "power trip" when telling me this but I could not believe the attitude or what I was hearing. Before hanging up the phone this person suggested that I fill out their application so that we would be "qualified" to pull a dog from them in the future, while I'm thinking to myself—"How about y'all filling out an application for us to see if we ever want to work with y'all again!" (I had other thoughts going through my head about these people but they are unsuitable for this blog.)


After making four or five more phone calls thanking everyone for trying to help us rescue Stubbs, I cried. I did not understand why these creepy people holding Stubbs had made things so difficult for a dog on death row that had been scheduled to be euthanized that day. Where the heck was their logic coming from?


Later that day I got a phone call from a friend trying to help Stubbs, too. Our friend confirmed that Stubbs had been rescued by this certain rescue organization. And then twenty-five minutes later the same friend called me back to tell me that things had changed. I was told that the organization that was going to take Stubbs had backed out because they had been under the impression that they would be paid $750.00 for taking him. What? You've got to be kidding me!


I could not believe that they were going to take Stubbs because they thought that they would make $750.00! Stubbs' rescue had become the strangest and the most absurd rescue that I have ever been involved in. Then my friend told me that a man named Danny had come into the "shelter" and he wanted to adopt Stubbs, and would come back to pick Stubbs up on Sunday. After I hung up the phone I said several prayers for Stubbs because he needed all of the prayers that he could get.


Later that evening I reluctantly phoned Teresa to tell her about todays weird events. Needless to say she was flabbergasted, disgusted and in disbelief. After she and I vented our anger and disgusts about the "keepers" of Stubbs, Teresa thanked me for everything that I had done and apologized to me for wasting and spending so many hours of my time trying to help save a sweet young Pit Bull who was alone and scared in pen #59. 


Sunday afternoon a man called me to confirm that Stubbs had definitely been adopted to a nice man named Danny. That phone call made my day because I completely trust this person. I regret not getting to personally meet Stubbs or getting to rescue him, but I rest assured that he is finally in good hands and that is what I call "an ideal situation." There is a whole lot more to this stupid and ridicules rescue story but it tires me to even think about it. I am just glad that it has a happy ending.


This evening a little after five o'clock Jill got adopted! A nice woman from Bandera came out and adopted her for her elderly mother who had seen Jill's picture in the Bandera County Courier as our Pet of the Week! Good luck, Jill and thank you Judith Pannebaker at the Courier for helping our rescue ranch find Jill her forever home. Tonight we're keeping our fingers crossed for Jill and hope that she fits right in with her new family.

Y'all have a great evening!

I Hope The Saints Win!

Tony and I are watching Super Bowl tonight and I hope that the Saints win! The Cowboys are my favorite team and New Orleans is second. I promise to post a blog tomorrow night.

More On James Nash!

This is a very interesting article about our friend James Nash and I think that you would enjoy reading it. On July 2, 2001, Paul Craig wrote this article about our good friend James Nash for The Union Democrat in Sonora, California:

"Waking up with a smile on your face every day because you know you are going to be spending that day doing just what you want.

Some might call this the American dream. James Nash would call it his life as a retiree.

Nash, 49, retired seven months ago from the Texas Department of Transportation. He then took a job working for Alpha and Omega mounted patrol in Dallas. Nash decided that the Texas summers were just too hot and humid to be patrolling asphalt parking lots. He decided to do something different with his retirement time.

That something different led Nash to Twain Harte for this weekend's trail trials, sponsored by the Twain Harte Horsemen.

What Nash did was sell his house and two of his horses, pack everything he owns into a trailer, attach it all to his 2000 Ford, one-ton, diesel truck, bring along his remaining two horses—appropriately named Drifter and Chance—and stop where ever the horse activities were.

He has made his way through cities and competitions in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and now California. He had excellent things to say about all the cities and he's been through but Tuolumne County has really made an impression on him.

"This is the hot spot for horse activities," he said, standing near his latest campsite, behind the Twain Harte Horsemen clubhouse. "Y'all do everything we do in Texas, only you do it more."

Beyond the horse activities, however, Nash has been taken by the friendliness of everyone he has come across. Everyone, he said has had a get-up-and-go attitude with him. If there is something he hasn't seen or done, there always seems to be someone around to take him.

"The people you meet are just wonderful," he said. "The more I stay, the more I don't want to go home."

In fact, Nash is thinking about not returning to Dallas at all and taking up residence in the  Tuolumne County area.

Nash is a divorcee with two daughters who are in college in Texas. He has had e-mail contact with youngest daughter Sherri, 20, who is vacationing in Venezuela. He said that she loves the idea of her dad moving to California and can't wait to visit when she comes back.

Oldest daughter Brandi, 21, on the other hand, he coyly said, has fallen in love with someone in Texas and doesn't care.

The Internet has proven to be a valuable resource for Nash on his journeys and not just for keeping in touch with his family. The Web usually provides him with details about the next horse activity to travel to. He found out about the trail trials in Twain Harte through an Internet search he had made a few weeks ago. He plans out his stops event to event by making a trip to the library in whatever town he finds himself in and using the Internet.

"I find something I want to do and then just go to that area," he said.

Of all the different kinds of events he has taken part in, trail trials have become Nash's favorite, even though he took part in his first one only two weeks ago. He might find similar events in Texas, he said, but all the obstacles—like a pool of water—would have been made by hand. In Twain Harte, however, he and his four-legged teammate went across real, flowing bodies of water.

"This is out in the woods," he said. "This is just so cool."

The trail trials involve riding through a preset trail, either for pure enjoyment or for judged competition. The competition involves judges rating each horse and rider for how successfully they maneuver through or around trail obstacles, like a log in a stream, for example.

"I'm more here to have fun," he said. "Fun is the key."

Nash is equally thrilled with the natural environment in Twain Harte, like the deer that came near him as he read his morning paper. That, he said, just isn't going to happen in Texas.

While he has loved his time outdoors, he still has most comforts of home inside his trailer. That includes a queen size bed and a shower with enough hot water for quite a few showers per stop. He jokingly admitted, though, while running his hand over the top of his bald head, that he really doesn't need all that much water.

Also in his trailer is a television with a VCR and satellite dish. The satellite dish lets him catch all of the Western Channel he wants. "I do actually watch the western channel after riding horses all day," he added with a grin.

While he may be a cowboy at heart and has been around horses since his youth, his modesty prevents him from talking himself up about all the events he travels to.

"I'm a novice," he said. "I'm not a celebrity, I'm just a retired old man."

Indeed, he's a retired old man—at 49—who smiles a lot and seems to enjoy each day more than the last."

Happy Birthday James Nash!

Today is James birthday and we want to wish Carol's new pard a Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear James. Happy Birthday to You! Tony and I hope that we can hook up with you and Carol to celebrate the best birthday that you have ever had because Carol is now in your life!

This is a great picture of our new friend James with his horse, Chance, that Tony took when I went horseback riding with them.

And The Thunder Rolls!

Tonight's blog is going to be short because I am worn out. This morning at ten o'clock Tony and I went to the Apple Store in San Antonio for our 11:15 appointments to get our computers tweaked. I love Apple's stores because everyone there is helpful, happy and always smiling.

Tone and I arrived at the store two minutes before our assigned appointments and two hours later we left the La Cantera Apple Store wearing big smiles on our faces—we were satisfied customers but hungry so we went to a Mexican food place for a late lunch. The food was okay but not good enough to recommend so I will leave it at that.

Our drive home seemed to take a lot longer than usual because Tone developed a gas problem halfway home and by the time we made it to Bandera we agreed to just leave the windows rolled down for the last twenty-two miles.

When we got back to the rescue ranch at three-thirty, Ben was at the barn so we stopped and visited with him for twenty minutes, then we decided to go up to the trailer to continue our visit after T. and him unloaded some donated dog food.

When I came inside the trailer Carlton was flashing! I had three new phone calls so I got a glass of water and pushed the play button. The first call was from a friend. The second call was from a woman robot at Tracfone trying to talk me into buying more minutes but I ignored her message because I hate talking on the phone. The last message I listened to was urgent and about a young, sweet Pit Bull named Stubbs, who was scheduled for euthanasia tomorrow in Austin. I immediately picked up the phone and punched in Teresa's phone number and got her on the second ring.

Teresa is a long distance friend of ours who has greatly helped our rescue ranch over the years and she lives in Los Angeles and she and her friend Jack, a renowned Pit Bull rescuer, needed our help to try and save Stubbs life before tomorrow.

After Teresa told me about Stubbs serious life and death situation, she put Jack and me on a conference call with her and we discussed what needed to be done. After we made a plan we ended our conversation and then I began one with Tony and Ben and told them about Stubbs. They were all for saving Stubbs! Then Ben suggested that I call Alison Furst first. She is our good friend in Austin...

To Be Continued...(Sorry, Mari. It has been a very long day for me and I am pooped and now it is my turn to be the gaseous one. I'm embarrased about it and Tony thinks it is funny. He just called me "thunder britches" and told me to quit blaming it on Thunder.)

Y'all have a great evening!

Who Is Kathy? Rump-A-Pump-Pum!

Today has been fun and a little exciting. This morning at seven-forty-five when I called in to do "The Harley Show" Harley had me laughing from the get-go! After we talked about Marlin, Harley's Pet of the Week, we talked about my upcoming book and then he teased me about my blog. "Cousin Nancy, the other day I went over to Wolfmueller's Books to visit with Sandy and Jon. Sandy told me that she is scared to talk to you because you blog about everything they say." Then Harley started laughing and so did I.

"That's not totally true, Harley. If I blogged about everything that we talked about in Wolfmueller's my blog would be a heck of a lot more interesting..." Ten minutes after the show Tony came home and we drank our healthy breakfast smoothies.

When the kitchen was cleaned up I walked another eight miles then I checked my e-mail. After deleting four or five spams I clicked on Mari's note and she made me laugh out loud because last week I had sent her an e-mail asking her if she and the NoMads were going to take the drum class with me and my friends and this was her short, but sweet response: 

"You keep bringing up that drum class, and I keep ignoring that. All the NoMads responded with “A DRUM class????” when polled. We decided to side with Tony. I’ll do the class vicariously thru your blog when I’m not too tired from walking 8 miles with Leslie daily via your blog. Mari"

When I told Tony about Mari and the Nomads siding with him he laughed then he went outside to work. While Tony and our great volunteers: Lisa, Matt, Meghan and Don helped Tony with his chores outside I answered the rest of my e-mails and then I returned several phone calls. 

Around eleven o'clock Tone and Ben came inside to drink some coffee with me and that's when it got a little exciting. First off Tony asked me for the Apple Store's phone number then he left the room and went back into his office. A couple of minutes later he returned to the big room. "I've got an appointment at the Apple Store at eleven o'clock tomorrow morning." Then he asked Ben if he would mind running the rescue ranch tomorrow morning while we were gone to San Antonio. Ben told him that he had no problem with it but I did.

"Tone, did you make an appointment for me, too?" I asked. T. shook his head no and told me that he had forgotten to. Ben and Tony laughed as I phoned the Apple Store and made an appointment for my computer. Then the phone rang and I let Carlton take the call because we were still laughing about it.

"Hello Cousin Nancy. This is Kathy. I just checked on your drum class and it has been cancelled because not enough people have signed up for it. I called a few music stores and found out that you can take private drum lessons at these two places..."

"Who is Kathy?" Ben asked as he examined my lavender drum pad and pink drumsticks while trying not to laugh.

"I have no idea!" I said with an upside down smile on my face. "This is terrible news. I can't believe that my drum class has been cancelled." Then I found my Club Ed class catalog and asked Ben to give me their telephone number so I could make sure the drum class was cancelled.

"830- 896-2..." Ben said, as I punched in the numbers. The phone rang and rang but no one answered it I thought that it was odd so I hung up. 

"There was no answer," I said, and then Ben started laughing and told me that he had made up the phone number. While he and T. chuckled I found the phone number and punched it in and then hung up the phone. "I got their fax machine." While I looked for the business number Ben and Tony teased me some more. When I finally found the correct phone number and punched it in a nice woman answered the phone and asked me how she could help me. "This is Cousin Nancy. A woman just called me and told me that y'all have cancelled the drum course for beginners because not enough people have signed up for the class. I have three friends who have already signed up and they are going to take the class with me. Lisa, Sara and Donna "The Drummer" Schloss, and I just found out this morning that Mari and the NoMads aren't taking the class because they are siding with Tony. Has it really been cancelled?"

"I don't think so but let me check." A few seconds later the nice woman said, "No the drum class has not been cancelled. Only you and Donna "The Drummer" Schloss have signed up for the class so far. That's too bad about Mari and the NoMads not taking the class. Who is Tony and who told you it had been cancelled?"

"Tony is my husband and a woman named Kathy told me about the cancellation, and I have no idea who she is..." While I told the woman about Kathy's phone call Tony and Ben were laughing out loud and I am sure that the woman could hear them in the background. After I thanked the woman for her help I said good-bye to her then I called Hoegemeyer's Animal Clinic because I needed to let them know that a man was coming by the clinic to possibly adopt Sheryl Crow and Bonnie Raitt.

"Hoegemeyer's Animal Clinic. Can I help you?" I was surprised to hear a man's voice because I am so used to talking to Susan, Stacie or Kathy.

"Craig, is that you?" I asked. "This is Cousin Nancy." Dr. Craig Janssen started laughing and he asked me how I was doing. 

After I told him about the possible adoptions and how I was doing Craig said, "Cousin Nancy, this is weird but the other day I was in a store and a friend came up to me and she told me that she had heard about me playing a joke on you and ramming your grocery cart at H.E.B. and several other people have come into the clinic and also told me about it. How did they know about it?" I started laughing.

"Craig, you're famous. I wrote about it in my blog and..." Craig and I had a good laugh about it and then we said our good-byes to each other. Then Kinky called me.

Y'all have a great evening!