Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!

Last night right after I posted my blog the phones went dead and so did everything else that was unplugged into the walls because of all of the thundering and lightning outside. After twiddling my thumbs for ten minutes I asked Tone if he would mind if I played my drums, but he didn't answer so I went down the hall and asked him again, but he said nothing until he saw me standing there. After he removed the earplugs out of his ears I asked him again and he said it was fine because he was listening to his iPod with his earplugs. So I banged away on the electronic drum pad kit for over an hour in the big room and then I went to bed.

Today has been great and filled with many nice surprises. My first surprise this morning was that I woke up early at six o'clock without using my alarm clock and Tone was more surprised than me. I guess that I have finally adjusted to the new time change and I'm not going to look back.

My second surprise came five minutes after I had walked six miles with Leslie when Kinky called and said, "Nance, you and Tony need to come over to the Lodge because there is a four-legged dog over here that just arrived and she really wants to see y'all." When I asked Kinky who it was he wouldn't tell me or give me a clue.

When Tone and I pulled up to the Lodge we knew immediately who it was when Angel ran up to greet us! We rescued Angel, eleven years ago when she was just an eight or nine week old pup. As you know, Kinky, Tony and I started the rescue ranch twelve years ago on my mini-ranch in Utopia. A few months after we had started our rescue ranch a friend of mine from Utopia came over to see us and she was real upset because she had just rescued a puppy from being intentionally drowned in the Sabinal River.

She told us that she had been in the park in Utopia and saw some young boys throwing something out into the river and laughing so she went to check it out. As she walked towards the kids to see what they were doing she saw a puppy fighting for its life and swimming back to them. Then she watched them pick up the puppy and throw it back into the river again. She told us that she screamed at the boys and then she jumped into the river and rescue the poor pup. To say the least—Tony and I were shocked. Then our friend went to her truck and returned with the pup and asked us if we could take it. "Yes," I said. "And her name is Angel."

A month later she was adopted to one of Kinky's friends. After a fun visit with Kinky and Angel this morning, Tony and I returned to the rescue ranch.

This afternoon after lunch Tony and I decided to go to Walmart to get some supplies. While I waited on him to finish plowing I decided to return another phone call and I am glad that I did because that was my third surprise! When I got off of the phone T. asked me who I had been talking to. "That was Susie. She told me that they want Clark Kent back because their grandson, Marcus is missing him so badly. I told Susie that we were heading to Kerrville and we are going to meet them in the Walmart parking lot so they can pick up Clark and surprise Marcus. I am so happy for Clark Kent! He's going home!"

When T. put Clark Kent in the back seat of Buttermilk he seemed to know exactly what was going on before I even told him. I love that little low-rider so much and I told him how lucky he was. "You are lucky because you were rescued by Karen, then you came here and got adopted quickly and now you are going home to Marcus! And..." Twenty-four miles later Clark Kent was in Ron and Susie's pickup wagging his tail excitedly.

When we went into Walmart Tony and I turned on our cell phones and went different directions. As I was looking at tablecloths my phone rang—it was Tone. "Nance, you need to come to electronics right now because someone wants to see you." I asked T. who it was as I pushed my cart towards the electronics, but he wouldn't tell me.

"Oh my god, Maribeth! It is so good to see you!" I said as I hugged my dear friend from Utopia. Tony and I had a really fun visit with her and we caught up with each others news. Twenty minutes later we said our goodbyes to Maribeth and we finished up our shopping and came home.

My last surprise for today was beating Kinky in a game of pool tonight. Yes, I won because he sunk the eight ball in the wrong pocket and I only had one ball left on the table. Tony told me that he was proud of me as we drove home. "As of right now, Nance, you are the Champion Pool Player of Echo Hill."

P.S. I want to do a shout out to Christian in Hanoi! Please tell Marcie I said hi!

Y'all have a great evening!