Feel Good!

As I begin to write this, Phoebe Snow is singing "Poetry Man," on Bozo, my iPod's Bose docking system. Salty Dog, my Himalayan salt lamp, is glowing and a fake fire is pretending to burn in Old Smokey, our electric, faux wood burning stove and here is a picture that I just took of them. It's cozy and I like that.

Years ago, Tony and I bought Old Smokey, because we love wood burning fireplaces and also because  fire is a four-letter word to people who live in old trailers—they don't mix well. 

Johnny Rivers is now singing "Maybelline" and my foot won't quit tapping, next to Thunder's head, who is sound asleep. Now that the mood is set and perfect for me, I am ready to tell you about my incredibly, wonderful day.

This morning I got up real early and did my chores, because I had to walk eight miles with Leslie, because I have fallen way behind on my walking schedule, because of taking so much time off for my dental work, holidays etc. 

So far, as of today I have officially walked 1,634 miles since January 1, 2010, which is great, but not good, because I am 36 miles behind and have to make it up this month so I can reach my goal of 1,825 miles walked this year with Leslie.  

I figure if I walk eight miles for the next ten days straight—I will be able to accomplish my New Year's resolution easily. 

After walking the walk I sat down at the kitchen table with a hot cup of Yerba Mate tea and checked my e-mails. And the one that I got from our friend Kim Galusha literally made my day! Kim wrote that she and Joe King Carrasco, the "King of Tex-Mex Rock & Roll," who did a benefit for our rescue ranch in 2008, at the Ruta Maya in Austin, have put together a fantastic CD of that night's concert, and they want to give 50% of the sells of the CD to Utopia! Talk about two nice people—we love them! And, when I told Kinky about Kim's news, he was as thrilled as we were. Thank you, Kim and Joe King Carrasco!

Well, I didn't think my day could get any better, but it did—real quick—when the snail mail arrived! "There here, Nance. Joni Daniel has sent you some extra copies of Texas Animal Imprints." T. said, as he handed me her stuffed envelope, which I ripped open, because I could not wait to see my very first magazine column that I had written—in PRINT!

"Look, Tony!" I half-hollered, with excitement. "Here it is! OMG! I love the way it looks and look at the beautiful, photo collage that Mary Chavoustie did and they gave you credit for your photos, too!" Tone looked. "I love it. Thanks to Joni, I'm now a "magazine columnist" and you're a "professional photographer" with your photos in a magazine, calendar and books!..."

After I had settled down, I read the magazine from front to cover and I totally enjoyed reading all of the stories—especially the one that my friend Connie Strong wrote about our rescue ranch, titled "Life On This Side Of The Rainbow Bridge." Thank you so much, Connie—Kinky, Tony and I loved it! You are an incredibly talented writer and I teared up when I read your column about us.

When I was done reading, I picked up the phone and called Joni to thank her for sending me the copies, so I could  send them to friends. "Joni, the magazine looks beautiful and I love what Mary did and..." Before ending our conversation I told her that I was going to blog about it tonight and then I thanked her again and said,  "The cover of the magazine is absolutely beautiful and I'm going to plug your magazine, too. It is the least that I can do to thank you." 

This is the picture that I took of the cover, but unfortunately Flash Gordon, my flash on my Sony camera, decided it wanted to become a part of the beautiful cover (near the bottom) and I also accidentally chopped off the top part and sides of Texas Animal Imprints—sorry Joni. Please tell Mary Chavoustie that I didn't give it the justice that it was due, but it is still beautiful.

Anyone who would like to buy a subscription to this "feel good" bi-monthly magazine that celebrates animals and nature, please send a check or money order for $12.50 payable to :

Texas Animal Imprints

2305 S. Day Street #234

Brenham, TX 77833 

I hope that all of y'all will buy a subscription to Texas Animal Imprints to show your support for my new column, and this magnificent magazine. And, I promise that you that you will be glad that you did, because everyone at Texas Animal Imprints Truly Rocks! And, so do Joe King Carrasco and Kim Galusha! I love y'all so much!

Y'all have a great evening!

Ham-At-Heart!

I have four good reasons why today has been a great day—thanks to my good friends e-mails from Cindy Pickard, Joni Daniel, Patty Kearns and Phil Houseal. I am so lucky to have so many great friends.

I will start with Cindy's exciting news first. Last September 23rd & 24th Cindy and her son Andy's must see "Manitou API—Where The Sun Rises" documentary premiered at the Taos Center for the Arts and it was a huge happening to say the very least.

Well, today, Cindy sent me an e-mail asking me to check out the comments made after their premiere showings in Taos, so I did and it blew me away, even though I knew they would be great, because I love their latest documentary and you can check the comments out at: the8thfire.org. I am so proud and happy for her and Andy!

Joni Daniel, my good friend and publisher of the great Texas Animal Imprints magazine sent me some great news, too. The November / December issue is now out on the stands for sale and she is sending me some free copies of the awesome magazine, so I can send out some copies to my friends—with my very first magazine column in it! I can't wait to see my words in print in her magazine. I am so excited! Thank you so much, Joni! Tony and I are thrilled that you are coming to see us between Christmas and New Year's Day!

My dear friend Patty Kearns sent me an e-mail telling me that she will be in Kerrville over the Thanksgiving holidays to visit her dad and Peggy and family and I am so looking forward to seeing my funny, Floridian friend. Patty is one of my favorite people on the planet, because she is so interesting and has a fantastic sense of humor. She makes me laugh so much that my back always aches after every time she and Peggy visits. I know that she could be a standup comic if she wanted to do it—she's that good.

Now, to top off my happy day, my good friend Phil Housel over at K.I.S.D.'s Club Ed sent me an e-mail that literally blew me out of my saddle and made Tony and me laugh out loud! Phil wrote to tell me that the column he wrote about me for Club Ed will appear in tomorrow's Kerrville Texas Community Journal and Boerne Texas Hill Country Weekly newspapers and he sent me a link to it, so I could read it and when I read it that's when I fell off of the horse so to speak. Phil is so sweet and his upbeat and kind words about me nearly made me tear up. What a nice guy.

After T. had read Phil's article, we clicked the link to watch the short, but funny video that Phil took at my watercolor class last week, taught by my new-found incredibly, talented artist friend Joan Sullivan. I love Joan and after talking to her for over an hour on the phone last week, after her fun watercolor class, we discovered that our lives have somewhat paralleled each other and we have so much in common that it is weird-in-a-nice-kind-of-way. And, now I can say, "Joan is my newest soul sister to add to my list!"

I know that I hammed it up in Phil's fun video, because I am a ham-at-heart, but I was having such a good time with the ladies and also because I was no longer embarrassed to smile—new teeth will do that for you—trust me.  : )  My favorite part  in the video was when Phil asked Joan, the cute, perky redhead, what she thought about my portrait. And all that I can say is, "Joan is one fabuous artist, but she's a really bad fibber."  : )   And, if you watch the video you will have to agree with me. I think her nickname should be "A3P"—Always Paints Pretty Picture. Here is Phil's video on Club Ed's Facebook. Be prepared to laugh.

As I end tonight's blog I am thinking about throwing a party and inviting all of my friends, because I would love for everyone to meet each other. But, because my friends live all over the globe, maybe I can figure out how we could do it by using the internet. I'll ask some friends how we can do it and get back to y'all. I think it would be really cool and Tone and I could do it live from Outer Space or the Space Ship and maybe I could get Kinky to join us! Talk about a blast!

P.S. Cindy, as I write this, I am wearing The 8th Fire hoodie sweatshirt, the "Turtle" which represents truth in the Seven Teachings and designed by the talented Taos Pueblo artist Jonathan Warm Day, but of course, you know that! Next time you see him please tell him that I loved reading his book, Taos Pueblo: Painted Stories and that his designs for the Seven Teachings are so beautiful that I wear one of them almost everyday.

P.S.S. Joni, I have already started writing my column for your next publication of Texas Animal Imprints January/February magazine and I cannot wait to see my very first column appear in the November / December issue! See you after Christmas and please drive careful!

P.S.S.S. Patty, I mailed the signed books out today and I cannot wait to see you and Peggy next week, over the Thanksgiving holidays. I can't wait to talk to you and laugh until it hurts.

P.S.S.S.S. Phil, thank you so much for your kind words about me and literally making my day. Like Harley and I often say, "You're one of the good guys." And I know that Club Ed wouldn't be the success it is without you. So, please don't ever quit—you're Club Ed and me and Kerrville and the surrounding Hill Country folks love you! And, please tell"A3P" that I am going to sign up for her watercolor class in February. I wouldn't miss it for the world!

Y'all have a great evening!