Squared!

Yesterday was really great. After Tony took off for the Old Timer, in Medina, to drink coffee with his friends, I decided to go ahead and go outside and get started on our morning chores, so I could spend more time visiting with our friends aka volunteers.

By the time Buttermilk and Tony had returned home, all of the pens had been cleaned and there were only Willie Nelson and Gretchen Wilson left to feed. Tony felt guilty about me doing the chores, but I told him not to, because I had enjoyed visiting with all of our dogs.

Jim was the first to arrive, while we were inside The Cabin eating breakfast. Twenty minutes later, Tony went outside to greet Jim, while I stayed inside and cleaned up the kitchen and returned several
phone calls.

When I went outside around 10:30, Jim, Eileen, Lisa and Kris were gone walking dogs, down to the creek, so I walked up to Tony, who was sitting inside Kermit, visiting with Kris' husband, Jim, The Mineral Man.

After we visited for a few minutes, Jim said, "Nancy, if you want me to look at that Square credit card reader, I can do it right now. (Thanks earlier, to Chet O'Keefe's advice about getting a Square, to use at our merchandise table, for accepting credit cards, at our upcoming Concert for Utopia.) I suggested that the three of us go up to The Cabin, so Jim could help me figure it out, because I am not good at that kind of stuff.

Oh my goodness, Jim figured out how to program it to sell our merchandise, in less than twenty minutes. "That was easy," Jim remarked. Then we swiped my credit card to make sure it was working properly and seconds later, I was out twenty bucks, until the rescue ranch reimburses me. To say the least, "I was more than thrilled, that Jim had solved my Square mystery.

Before all of us went back outside, I said, "Jim, do you want to hear the prank Chet and I played on Jeff, with me singing/ruining Jeff's song?" With a nod of his head, I played Jeff's song and seconds later, Jim was laughing so hard, it made Tony and me burst out laughing. Then I played it one more time for him and when we walked outside, we were still laughing about it.

When we met up with our friends, everyone was ready to go eat lunch, at the Medina Highpoint Resort, so we took off, for a fun time. And as always, our lunch was delicious and was filled with lots of laughter.

Around 1:30, Tony and I jumped into Buttermilk and took off for Kerrville, to run several errands. Our first errand was the most important. We went to San Saba Cap to place a Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch t-shirt and cap order, so we (Kris & Jim) can sell them for us, at the Concert for Utopia, featuring Ray Benson & Asleep at the Wheel, Billy Joe Shaver, Chet O'Keefe and Jesse Dayton, on Palm Sunday, at 3:30, at the Cailloux Theater, in Kerrville.

Then we went to Office Max to buy a stylus pen, for our Square credit card reader. Our next stop was at Wild Birds Unlimited, so Tony could purchase some super bird seed for his feeders. Then I mailed some letters, at the Post Office sub station. And our last stop was at our favorite thrift store, on Main Street, to buy a few used things for Tony's Man Cave makeover, that Tone has put me in charge of.

When we came home I returned a few phone calls and then Tony and I worked for several hours on the Man Cave Project. And the reason that I did not write anything last night was because I was just too tired.

Today has been great, too. After lunch, Tony and I gave a few people tours of the rescue ranch. Around 3:30, Dallas and his sweet wife, the really nice couple that adopted Sparky from us, a while back, came out to deliver several more huge boxes of Milk-Bone Treats, for our dogs to enjoy. And Tony and I really enjoyed visiting with them, because all they could talk about was how great Sparky is and how much they love her.

Around 4:00, Tony and I were working, in his Man Cave when Mama barked, ran down the hallway and let herself out our front door. "Someone is driving in," Tony said. "I'll go see who it is..."

Minutes later, Tony walked inside The Cabin and said, "Nance, Callie (Ronnie & Nita's daughter—my sweet niece.) and her friends are here."

Tony and I had a blast seeing Callie and her friends. After we had showed them all of our dogs, we went into Outer Space and did a lot of laughing, as Callie and her friends entertained us with their latest exciting escapades. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

It Is M.I.R. Time, Again!

The last couple of days have been great, but I was too busy, which made me too tired to write in the evenings.

Today has been great, too, even though it is M.I.R. (Mercury In Retrograde) time, once again and it officially starts tomorrow. After I cooked lunch for us and had cleaned up the kitchen, Tony and I jumped inside Trigger and took off for Kerrville, to run a few quick errands. The reason that we were sort of in a hurry was that I needed to get back to the ranch as soon as possible, so Kinky and I could have a business meeting about our exciting, upcoming Utopia Concert, on Palm Sunday, at the Cailloux Theatre.

Our first stop was at the big H-E-B, on Main Street, to get a few groceries. While Tony was outside filling up Trigger's tank, I was inside filling up my grocery cart as fast as I could. I ended up running into a couple of good friends and because I visited a little too long with them, because I talk too much, Tony got worried about me and came into the store to find me.

He found me in the card isle reading funny cards and laughing out loud. "Hi, Tony. You've got to read this card. It's perfect." After he read it he laughed, too, so I put it in our cart. During the ten minutes it took for us to finish shopping and check out, I had told Tony almost everything that I had talked about with our friends. "When I saw Laura, she looked like she had lost some weight, so I told her, "Hi, Laura. You've lost some weight and you look great!" And then she laughed, Tony, and said, "No, I haven't, but I do want you to know that you are now my very best friend...."

After we went to the Post Office Sub Station, that has some of the friendliest Postal Workers, we took off for Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic, so we could pick up Ginger Rogers and take her home with us. We took Ginger there, Monday afternoon, so we could get her spayed, a month after having weaned her five puppies, because next week she will be going to her new, fantastic, forever home, in Abilene and I will have my office back. Then Trigger took us home.

When I went over to the Lodge, Kinky and I took care of rescue ranch business first and to say the least, "We are so excited about Billy Joe Shaver and Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel doing the Concert for Utopia, that also includes Chet O'Keefe and Jesse Dayton performing his awesome salute to George Jones." Then we had a very fun visit talking about his mystery book that he is working on and the two books that I am working on.

Before I left the Lodge to come back home, around 6:00, Kinky and I went outside, jumped inside his truck, Mr. Green Jeans, along with two of The Friedmans: Winston Churchill and Sophie, so we could ride around the ranch, to gather some wood for his fireplace. Thirty minutes later, he had a big stack of firewood and I was back home checking on the pot of beans that I am cooking. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!

The Secret Is Out!

Today has been great. Kinky, Tony and I have had a big, exciting secret and we've been so excited about it, but until "it was set in stone" we couldn't announce the great news, except to just a few of our closest friends.

The Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch's great news is—there is going to be a "Concert For Utopia!" Yes, thanks to Kinky and our dear friends, at the Cailloux Foundation, Billy Joe Shaver and Ray Benson and Asleep At The Wheel, are going to do a Utopia Concert to benefit our rescue ranch! And we can't wait!

The "Concert For Utopia"will be on Palm Sunday, April 13th at 3:30, at the Kathleen C. Caillioux City Center for the Performing Arts Theatre! So, everyone please mark this date on your calendar, now.

When the tickets become available we will be announcing it on Kinky's site, utopiarescue.com, my blog. And with the help from our dear friends, Harley Belew and Big G—it will sell out fast!

We love the Cailloux Foundation, Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel, Harley and Big G, for helping our rescue ranch! And that is about it for tonight, because I am so excited about the Concert For Utopia I can't type.

Y'all have a great evening!