Tex! or Kathy! or Quacking!

Today has been great. This morning after doing my habit, that freaked -out our dogs again, taking a shower, etc. Tony and I went next door to work for a few hours. And it was fun as always, because we love each and everyone of Escondida's friendly employees, because everyone is so nice and they all have such positive attitudes.

So when you combine a beautiful resort, similar to a Shangdi-La and then add a fabulous staff, who we now consider to good friends—it's a win, win situation for all.

Early this afternoon, Tony and I went to Kerrville, so I could meet sweet Mari and walk with her, at Louise Hayes Park, at 1:30, while Tony kindly did our laundry, at the Country Clean laundromat, while he took photo opportunities, at the park, in-between the washing and the drying cycles.

Tony and I showed up early and we were the first to arrive at Kerrville's favorite park, so I took this picture of the gorgeous Guadalupe River, before Mari and Tex arrived five minutes later at 1:25. So they were five minutes early.

Tex is Mari's adorable, six-month-old Australian Cattle Dog that she has begun training for future agility trials, that she and the NoMads compete their dogs in. 

Mari brought Tex along, to help socialize him some more, etc. and during our super fun walk-a-thon around this lovely park—I fell totally in love with this awesome pup.

Seriously, Tex is the coolest pup I've ever seen. His manners are impeccable and he was great about ignoring new distractions such as: other dogs, bicyclist racing past us and children laughing, playing and running around us.

Tex was so completely focused on Mari—I admit that I got a little jealous, because the only way for me to get anyone of our sweet, four-leggers to focus on me is when I'm eating popcorn, handing out doggie treats or doing my new morning habit. 

But actually my habit really shouldn't count, because it still freaks them out especially when I loudly clap my hands together and then jump out of bed like I was—shot out of a cannon.

After Mari, Tex and I strolled around the park for about an hour, we went and sat down on a big slab of concrete, so we could visit some more, while waiting for Tony to arrive.

When Mari started telling me this very interesting story that had happened to her last year, I had been all-ears and she had my total attention, until I saw these beautiful ducks down by the river. 

And unlike Tex, who was totally focused on Mari and was patiently sitting by her side—I didn't mean to, but I completely tuned Mari out, because I love ducks so much. And these pretty ducks made me think about Kathy. 

Tony and I loved Kathy. She was the coolest duck that I've ever known. Tony and I rescued her and Harry, in 1996, two years before Kinky, Tony and I decided to start our rescue ranch on my Rolling Thunder Ranch, in Utopia, Texas.  

Anyway, I hate to admit it, but Harry was much smarter than Kathy, his girlfriend duck. But Kathy didn't seem to care, because she spent most of her quacking-hours swimming with our dogs in my big stock tank or else sleeping around with Thunder in broad daylight for the whole world to see. FYI: Thunder was our super sweet Black Lab, that Tony and I also rescued in 1996. And here is an old picture of them sleeping it off, at Rolling Thunder Ranch.

Harry-Kathy-Thunder were a love triangle. And Harry & Kathy's love-hate relationship with Thunder is another long story. So I will write about it someday, but not now, because I need to wrap this post up for tonight.

Long story-short—I loved Kathy so much that after she died an untimely death, (she was impacted) I found this picture that I had taken of her.

And to honor this much loved and feared duck, I turned the above picture of Kathy into the one below, because Harry, all of our dogs and our two cats were all scared to death of her. (Because Kathy was a you-know-what.) And here is that picture of "Kathy— The Toughest Duck In Texas 1996 - 1999" that we've had on our refrigerator door since 1999. 

And please don't ask me, "What Would Buddha Do?" because I don't know.

So, as Mari was finishing up telling me her exciting story, I snapped back to the present and pretended to be really interested in what she was saying, even though I had no clue about what she was talking about or had been talking about. Thanks to Kathy.

So before Tony and I adios-ed our dear friend, Mari and I agreed to meet again next week, at the park. And maybe then she will re-tell me that same story again, because at our age, I'm sure that she and I will have forgotten about it anyway.

Y'all have a great evening and keep on laughing!

Happy Birthday Arlene Wheaton!

Happy Birthday Arlene, of The NoMads! Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday Dear Arlene. Happy Birthday to YOU! And many more! We love you and so do The NoMads and we wish you the best birthday ever! You Rule! And, so do The NoMads!

Mari Called!

Today has been a lot of fun thanks to our good friends Jon Wolfmueller and Mari, the famous member of the best dog agility training team in Texas—The NoMads.

This morning I walked eight miles with Sansone and then I went outside and helped Marvin, our newest super volunteer—pick up dog poop, while Tony fed all of the dogs. Before Marvin left he thanked me for loaning him my copy of the book, Farewell, My Subaru by Doug Fine. Like me, he thought it was a fun read and filled with good information about "going-green."

After Marvin left I came inside the trailer to check my e-mail. Mari had sent me an "e" about wanting to meet up with us in Kerrville today, so she could loan me her copy of the movie "lovely, still" starring Martin Landau and Ellen Burstyn—two of my favorite actors. So, we decided to meet at Wolfmueller's Books at two o'clock for the exchange.

We left the rescue ranch at one o'clock with two copies of the November / December issue of Texas Animal Imprints magazine, so I could give one to the Wolfmuellers and one to Mari. As we crossed the Echo Hill cattle guard— Pumpkin and Pilgrim began howling loudly in the back seat, because they did not want to get spayed and neutered and their shots.

The friendly staff at Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic instantly fell in love with P&P, but "the terriers" were not exactly happy to see us leave the clinic at ten minutes till two.

When T. and I walked into Wolfmueller's crowded bookstore, Jon greeted us and then said, "Mari called. She will be here in just a few minutes." Then I gave him a copy of Texas Animal Imprints and we talked about it. "Nancy, this is one good looking magazine," he said, as he thumbed through it. "Why don't y'all sit down, so we can visit."

In no time flat, we were laughing in our chairs, as we shared our latest news. Then Jon left us and took off. Seconds later he returned with a book, "Nancy, Sandy just got this cookbook in yesterday and we think that you are going to love it..."

The second that I saw the book I said, "I want to buy it." After paying Jon for it, I sat down and started checking out the cool recipes and then Mari walked in. "Hi, Mari! It is so good to see you." After greetings, she handed me one of her favorite feel-good movies—"lovely, still."

"I promise that you are going to love this movie. It was a sleeper," Mari said, and then we discussed the movie. Minutes later our conversation turned to our favorite recipes in the Easy Soup Recipes. "My favorite recipe so far is "The Blue Norther Winner," Mari said. 

"It's our favorite, too," I said. "And it is so easy to make."

"I know," Mari said. "Today, my brother-in-law Danny and four of his work crew were over at the ranch, so I fixed them the "The Blue Norther Winner" on page 131 and they went crazy over it and they each ate three servings of it! There was nothing left! It was amazing to me. In fact, Danny was so impressed with the delicious meal, that I had to promise him that I would get his wife a copy of the cookbook. Jon, I need to buy two more copies of it. I love that cookbook."

"You can't," John said, with a laugh, which caused a chain reaction of laughter. "We're out, again, thanks to Cousin Nancy's blog, but Sandy has some more ordered and they should be here by tomorrow." Then I noticed Mari staring at the book in my hand.

"Mari, I just bought this cookbook and you are going to love this one, too!" I said, as I showed it to her. Then we started thumbing through the pages to look at the pictures and the recipes.

"Jon, I want to buy this one, too," Mari said. John started laughing.

"You can't." Jon said, again. "Nancy just bought the only copy that we have, but we can order you one." And then our laughter filled the crowded bookstore, as my back began to ache from laughing too much.

"I knew it!" Mari declared, as we chuckled non-stop. "Nancy, I am going to go broke keeping up with your daily blog recommendations!" She joked. "Seriously, I just mailed out a check for a subscription to Texas Animal Imprints magazine, because of you." Jon, Tony and I couldn't quit laughing as Mari, who I think is "The Funniest Woman In Texas," jokingly told us about how much she has spent buying the things I like.

"Maybe you can write them all off?" I teased, as Jon went to the counter to check out another happy customer who found another rare book. "Maybe like a living expense or something like..."

"Nance, we need to leave and get back to the ranch," Tone said, as he stood up. Even though he was right, I hated to leave our good friends, Jon and Mari, but he was right—we needed to get back to the ranch, so we took off.

On our way home I couldn't quit reading my new, fabulous cookbook, which Mari doesn't have, yet. Sorry, Mari. I promise that you will love it when you get it!  : ) 

When we got home I decided to walk another four miles with Leslie Sansone, but Tone didn't think it was a good idea, so I had to explain it to him. "T., if I walk twelve miles today and twelve miles tomorrow and the next day—I will be caught up. It is no big deal," I said, as Leslie's four mile tape began. As I started walking in place, Tony went outside to check on our dogs.

Today, I have walked twelve miles. The miles that I have officially walked this year so far is 1,646 miles and I only have to walk 179 more miles before the New Year and I know I can do it.

Before I go watch Mari's favorite movie "lovely, still" I have one last thing to share. Today on Yahoo they have posted the 100 Top Most Popular Baby Names for this year and unfortunately, Kinky's, Tony's and Cousin Nancy did not make the list. How sad. I wonder why?

P.S. Tomorrow morning James Dean, our precious little Chihuahua is getting adopted!

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!