My Finger Wouldn't Quit Bleeding!

Well, I guess that I am just lucky, because today has been a another wonderful day for me. This morning after I walked eight more miles with Leslie, I spent my morning doing paperwork, answering e-mails and returning many phone calls.

After lunch Tony and I went outside and started mowing the rescue ranch, so it will look beautiful for our 1st Annual Dog Adoption and Training Seminar this coming Saturday. Since T.'s back was out, he rode the riding lawn mower and I push-mowed for three hours and then I grabbed the Weedeater and did some trimming around the dog pens.

When we finished working outside we came inside the trailer and sweet Tony plucked fifty-four stickers that were stuck and embedded in my clothes. Thank you, Tone, even though you called me a stickler for yard work. I am thrilled with how much we accomplished outside today and hopefully by tomorrow we can finish it up in three hours or less.

Twenty-two minutes into our nightly Happy Hour, after I drank a glass of  fine, red boxed wine and Tony had finished off his beer the phone rang at six forty-seven and I let Carlton take the call. "Nancy, Tony! Tony, Nancy! Please pick up the phone. This is Mary Chavoustie with Texas Animal Imprints magazine. Connie Strong and I are at your gate and it is closed. We have a present that we want to give to y'all..."

"Hello, Mary. How are you? You and Connie are at the gate?" I asked, puzzled that a cell phone was getting service out here.

"No, actually, we are calling you from Kinky's Lodge. Frank let us use Kinky's phone..." As soon as we hung up, Tony went outside and jumped into Kermit and took off to go open the gate for them.

Two minutes later Connie and Mary pulled up to the trailer, got out of Connie's car, wearing big grins on their faces as they always do, and then the hug-fest began. "We just finished interviewing Copper Love and we love her," Connie said. "What an interesting woman..."

"We couldn't resist coming out to see y'all since we were so close," Mary said.

"We have a present to give to you," Connie said, as she went over to her car and opened the back seat door. "Since we can't be here for your annual Dog's Thanksgiving Dinner we brought you this to help cook their dinner." Connie held up a large, shiny stock pot with a cute kitchen towel, two big wooden spoons and three pot holders attached to it by a ribbon. Tone and I grinned.

"OMG!" I said. "Thank y'all so much! I love it and we sure can use it. I swear, y'all are two of the sweetest women I know. I can't believe that you drove all of the way out here to bring us a present. I'm gonna go get my camera. I'll be right back."

When I came back outside—Tony shot us. Mary is on the left and Connie is on the right. Then Mary shot Tony and me with the pot.

We had a short, but really fun visit with these two super cool women and trust me, there was a lot of laughing. After I showed them my new teeth and told them about my whistling problem they complimented me and then we talked about their hilarious "bloody" trip to Walmart to buy our gift, after interviewing Copper. "Before checking out at Walmart we went to the Eye Care department to borrow a pair of scissors, so we could cut the ribbon and I cut my finger on a sharp edge under the lid handle and my finger started bleeding profusely." We all started laughing. "There was blood all over my clothes and jeans and my finger wouldn't quit bleeding," Connie continued. "So, we then went to the Customer Service department and I told them that I wasn't going to sue them, but they needed to remove the stock pot from their inventory, because of the sharp edge and that they needed to give me a Band Aid." Then she showed us her bandaged finger and we laughed. "Tomorrow I am going to call your friend Rick Reichenbach, "The Friendly Lighthouse Keeper" in Port Aransas and make a date to go interview him."

"Y'all are going to love Rick," I said. "I'll call him tonight. Hopefully, he will invite you to spend the night on the island. It is a totally awesome experience and..."

As the sun sank behind the mountain, knowing that they had a five hour drive ahead of them to get home, they told us that they had to leave, so we had another hug-fest and then we bid them farewell and wished them a safe trip home. "Please tell Joni that we send her our best," I half-hollered, as they drove away.

P.S. 'Erb Cares, I am sorry that I missed your phone call last night. I love you and Karen and please give her and y'all's five dogs a hug from me.

Y'all have a great evening!

I Seem To Whistle Some!

This morning before walking eight miles I called Kinky and wished him a happy birthday. Then we discussed and made a plan to meet at eleven o'clock at The Hat, so Tony could go with him to a business meeting, while I ran some errands.

At two minutes before eleven o'clock we drove into The Hat's parking lot and I was mortified at what I saw! Kinky was sitting inside Mr. Green Jeans with the windows rolled down, puffing on a cigar and surrounded by two squad cars as another one was pulling up. "What in the heck is going on?" I asked Tony. 

As soon as T. parked Buttermilk we got out of the car slowly, because the police were watching us and we walked up to Kinky's truck. "Kinky?" I asked. "Why is your pickup surrounded by the squad cars?" Kinky slowly blew out a puff of smoke.

"Someone called the cops and told them I was smoking in Albertsons. That's what."

I looked down at the grocery sacks on his front seat. "You didn't smoke in there? Did you?"

"Of course not! I know better than that, Nance." Kinky said, as we watched one police car slowly drive away.

"I can't believe this," I said. "Were the Police nice to you?"

"Yes," Kinky said. "They were very nice to me. They came up to the truck and told me that someone had called 911 to report that they had seen me smoking my cigar inside Albertsons. They asked me if I had and I told them no, I hadn't. Then they were almost apologetic about it and told me they were only having to do their job. The Police were definitely nice to me. It wasn't their fault at all that some #@*^* jerk spends his or her time calling 911 about people smoking."

After the other two squad cars took off in opposite directions I said, "This is unbelievable to me. Think about it. What a waste of time and money for the police to have to waste their time checking out so called smoking reports when they could be out there protecting us instead. What a stupid law. It makes me sick..."

"Load up, Tony," Kinky said, as he started up Mr. Green Jeans. "We got mens-work to do. We'll see you soon." As they drove away I climbed inside Buttermilk and headed for 1121 Second Street, the home of Kerrville's ISD— Club Ed.

I walked inside the Club Ed building and as I was telling a friendly woman that I wanted to sign up for the One Day Portrait Class that requires no skill, a man said, "Well hello there, Cousin Nancy." I turned around and greeted the friendly man. "I'm Phil Houseal, the Director for Club Ed and I listen to you on The Harley Show and I feel like I already know you..." After I signed up and got my receipt, Phil asked me if I had the time for him to interview me for his weekly column that he writes for the Kerrville Daily Times.

A minute later I was sitting in Phil's office being interviewed for the column that he writes about Club Ed and it was a lot of fun. He asked me about what classes I had taken and I told him that my first class was how to play the piano real fast and he knew about me signing up for the drum class with Donna Schloss and we talked about how fun it had been and then I told him about Tony, June and me going to that Drumming Circle at The Yoga Space on my birthday. Then we talked about me doing a class about our rescue ranch and I told him that I would to do it. I really enjoyed visiting with Phil while he took notes and twenty minutes later my last words to him or so I thought were, "I love Club Ed!"

As I stood up Phil asked, "Would it be okay if I took some pictures of you for my column and our next catalog? We could go outside and it would only take a minute." 

I laughed and then explained to him why I had laughed. "You see, Phil, I just got dentures last Wednesday and I would love for you to take my picture. In fact, you will be the first person to take a picture of me with my new smile. I am still having a little trouble talking and I seem to whistle some when I say the words..."

Outside I posed next to the Utopia sign on Buttermilk's front door as Phil shot me over and over again while holding different props in my hands. Before leaving I gave Phil a copy of my new book, Meanwhile Back At The Rescue Ranch: The Dog Days of Cousin Nancy. 

Then we went back inside and the friendly receptionist gave me some paperwork to fill out for my teaching position. Then I shook hands with Phil, said goodbye to them and left the building.

Thirty minutes later my cell phone rang. "Where are you?" Tony asked, calling from Kinky's cell phone. 

"I'm checking out the groceries right now."

"Good. Meet us at The Hat for lunch. We're headed that way now. Bye."

When I walked inside the Mexican Restaurant Kinky waved to me from a blue colored booth that he and Tony were sitting at. "How did the meeting go?" I asked, as Tony stood up to let me slide across on his side of the booth.

"It went great," Kinky answered, and then he started laughing, as the waitress served them their hot meals. "Everyone there knew who Cousin Nancy was, too. They said they listen to Harley and read your blog. And Fourth Coates was there, too..." We had a fun lunch and left thirty minutes later to go home.

Late this afternoon Tony drove me to the Medina Post Office so I could mail out some letters and pick up my package from my friends Karin and Jurgen Pohlmann, who live in Germany. As T. drove me home I opened up the tube and pulled out a birthday card, a letter, an old 1955 Poodle book. As we drove home I read Karin's sweet letter to him and showed him the cute birthday card and the Poodle book which had some very funny Poodle pictures in it. 

Then I pulled out a poster wrapped in brown paper. When I unrolled it I smiled and teared up, because the Boston Terrier behind the pink balloon looked a lot like my Yoda. To say the least I loved it and thought it was beautiful. I showed it to Tony and he liked it too, while we set at the portable signal light waiting for it to turn green on Highway 16. The rest of the way home I couldn't quit admiring the poster. Thank you, Karin and Jurgen! Y'all are tooooooo sweet! I had Tony hold it so I could take this picture of it.

This evening I received two photos from my new friend Phil Houseal. Drum roll, y'all............Here is my first picture taken of me with my new smile. Compliments of Phil.

P.S I just called Cindy and Ronnie and told them to look at tonight's blog if they wanted to see my new smile. Ron just called and said he liked them and I am waiting for Cindy to call back.

Yall have a great evening and keep smiling!

Time Goes By!

Well, first off, I feel like a complete idiot about the time change that happened, but never really happened. Last night or should I say in the wee hours of the morning I got up and reset all of our clocks back one hour and then I went back to bed and had some really weird dreams.

At six o'clock this morning (which was really only 5:00) when the alarm went off I was having this funny dream that I didn't want to end, because I was enjoying my dream and felt really tired. In my dream I was with Jim (my late husband) standing inside our monogramming shop, holding Yoda, my beloved Boston Terrier, in my arms and we were laughing with all of these people that I didn't know. Then I was rudely awakened when Hank and Toto used my stomach as their launching pad to get down to the floor.

After I fed the dogs I started a load of laundry in Queen Bee, drank my smoothie and then walked eight miles before Tony got home. Then I fixed him his breakfast, cleaned up the kitchen dishes and threw our cleaned, wet clothes into Airy Queen to dry.

When T. went outside to do his morning chores I took care of a little paperwork and then I went outside and reset the clocks in Trigger and Buttermilk, so Tone wouldn't have to do it later. Then I set down and read a few pages of the book, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, that Eileen had loaned to me. I love the book and it is another one of those books that you can't put down.

Around eleven-thirty (fake time) Tony returned to the trailer and I told him that I was tired of eating soup and suggested we go out to eat for lunch, because I was officially taking the day off. "After lunch can we go to the storage unit in Medina, because I want to see if there is anything I have that I can sell on eBay. I'm hooked and I don't have anything to sell."

"That sounds fine to me, but on our way to Medina can we go by and see the buffalos on 2828, so I can take some pictures of them?" I nodded my head up and down and smiled.

Since I am still on a liquid diet we decided to speed things up, so we went to the Sonic Drive Inn for lunch, which we haven't been to in over four years. Tony ate Tater Tots, drank a Coke while he munched on a # 1 Cheeseburger without onions, with mustard, mayonaise and ketchup, as I spooned what was left of a cold, chocolate milkshake into my mouth.

Twenty minutes later T. was outside standing next to Buttermilk shooting a herd of Buffalo with his Canon, as I finished off my healthy lunch. Eighteen minutes later we were standing inside the storage unit staring at "our stuff" that we had forgotten about and obviously didn't need. After we loaded a few possible eBay items to sell into Buttermilk's back seat we headed home.

When we walked inside the trailer—Carlton was flashing to let us know that someone had called, so I pressed the play button and listened. The first call was from Kinky, "Nancy, Tony. Nancy, Tony. Call me. It is not urgent. I just walk to talk to you." The second or the last message was from our friend Jon Wolfmueller.

"Hello, Nancy. This is Jon. It is 12:43 not 11:43. The time change happens next Saturday. I hope you've got the right time now. It is 12:44 now. Bye." I was speechless, but only for a second.

"Tony!" I half-hollered down the hallway. "The time change is for next Saturday. You were wrong, but it is no big deal. We've just gained an hour!" Then I happily went about resetting all of our clocks, again, including Buttermilk's and Trigger's.

Nineteen minutes later I started cleaning the items I was going to put up for auction on eBay and then I shot them and started uploading them on eBay. After putting a framed 1981 Larry Dyke limited edition print, an old wooden wall display for miniatures, a Hermon (the spelling is correct) Adam's collectible porcelain plate titled "Spirit of the Night" by the Western Heritage Museum I was done, so I took a break and folded and hung up our laundry and that is when I discovered another item to auction off on eBay!

As I was wrestling with a coat hanger that refused to come off of the rod in the closet I spotted a shiny thing that was nearly covered up by an old quilt, so I reached up and grabbed it. The moment that I saw it—it made me smile and warmed my heart as fond memories filled my head of the good old days of long, long ago.

Thirty minutes later after shedding a few tears about Jim and our past, I wrote this and uploaded it to eBay to be auctioned off, because I don't need it anymore and it is only taking up space which I have so little of. I hope that it will make you laugh and smile as it did me as I wrote it.

"In 1984 my late husband, Jim Parker and I won 1st place in our sailing division, at the annual Austin Yacht Club Turnback Canyon Regatta, a two day event every Memorial Day. He got the honors and this handsome 10-1/2" pewter trophy plate and I only received a keychain for crewing for him and doing all of the hard work: like changing out the sails, winching in the sheets, while hoping not to get knocked in the head by the Boom and sunburned, etc. When I think about it now, it makes me laugh about our fun-filled sailboat racing days way back when. And, not to brag, but Jim and I won 1st place at the Turnback Canyon Regatta—three years in a row and I think we still hold the record for it.

I lost my two-dollar keychain somewhere down the road of life and when I found this trophy that he prized, tucked away in my closet, I decided to put it on eBay, because it is just taking up space. If you buy this prestigious trophy you can put it out for display and impress your friends with telling wild stories about how you won this trophy on a Catalina 22 named the "Bull Sheeter" in the non-spinnaker division. And I promise not to ever tell. Happily, my sailing days are over, but I will always have those fond memories—unless I get Alzeihmers. Happy Bidding and the shipping is free—no pun intended!  : )

P.S. If I can find my leather sailing gloves I will throw them in for free if I can find them and my dogs didn't eat them...

Y'all have a great evening! It is now 8:30. 

Chicken Fried!

Today has been great, but tonight's post is going to be short, because I want to play my guitar for a little while before I have to go to bed early, so I can get up at 1:00 to reset all of our clocks.

This afternoon around two o'clock the dogs outside started barking to let us know that someone was here. "I hope that it is Robert and Traci's friend, David, coming to adopt Nellybelle," I said, as Tony and I walked out the front door to go greet the stranger getting out of his black Jeep Cherokee.

In a matter of minutes David was no longer a stranger to us—we liked him, as Traci and Robert had promised. When we reached Nell-Bell's and Hank's pen it was love at first sight for David and his new-found forever friend. But, Hank was a little bit jealous though, as he watched David and Nellybelle fall in love.

"Betty Boop is a great dog," David said, as he petted his newest best friend. "Last night I was over at Robert and Traci's house and Betty and Jake just slept peaceably near our feet as we visited. "They are so happy about adopting Betty Boop and so is Jake. You should see the pile of toys that they have already bought for her!"

Thirty minutes later after we had visited with David, he anxiously signed Nelly's adoption papers and told us that he could not wait to take her home. Before they drove away I took this picture of Nellybelle and David.

After I filed away Nelly's adoption papers, I went over to the Lodge to visit with Kinky and tell him the great news about Betty Boop's and Nellybelle's super adoptions. To say the least—he was thrilled. Then we went outside. "Nance, I still can't believe how beautiful your new teeth are," Kinky said, while he carried in one heavy plant after another inside, so the soon-to-be freeze wouldn't kill them.

"I know, Kinky. Wednesday afternoon, when we went to Kerrville for supplies, we stopped by Wolfmueller's Books and Sandy and Jon thought my teeth looked great, too and they told me that you had told them that I should have done it years ago." We were laughing about it when Frank walked up and greeted us. Then we went inside, so Kinky and Frank could watch the UT / Georgia football game.

As I pushed balls around the pool table, trying to sink them into the pockets, we visited, as they watched the game with the sound muted. An hour later Buttermilk took me home.

Tonight T. and I had an enjoyable dinner with Lisa & Mark-In-Mississippi—in Kerrville. Tone and I love Lisa and Mark and they love each other. The four of us did a lot of laughing as usual, as we ate dinner. During one part of our conversation Mark told T. and me that he was born in DeQueen, Arkansas and had lived there for the first eight years of his life, but he didn't know our friends Nelda and Jimmie Dunn. He couldn't believe that we had friends from his small hometown.

"Mark, I had never heard of DeQueen, Arkansas until I met Nelda and Jimmie," I said. "It is a small world isn't it?" Then Mark told us that his father had been a doctor up there and I cannot wait to find out from Jimmie and Nelda if they remember his father.

Well, that is about it for today. I'm going to go get my guitar out of my office and try to figure out how to play one of my favorite Zac Brown Band's songs—"Chicken Fried."

Y'all have a great evening!

A Running Buddy!

Today has been a great day! This morning after I walked eight miles I cleaned up and then went outside to greet our great friends / volunteers: June Hartley, Ellen Jackson and Eileen Gotke. When I saw the three of them returning with our super dogs: Marlin, Princess and Honey & Baxter I walked down to greet them.

After we said our howdys to each other they complimented me on my new teeth and I smiled without being embarrassed. As we walked the dogs back to their pens Eileen told me about the eight foot banner that she had designed and ordered for our 1st Annual Dog Adoption and Training Seminar on November 6th from 10a.m. to noon and I could not wait to see it. "OMG!" I said, as Ellen and Eileen unrolled the  banner. "I love it! It is absolutely beautiful! Thank you so much, Eileen. I love the paw prints, too."

As the two of them rolled up the banner we discussed the upcoming event that Eileen volunteered to do for us with the much needed help of Ellen and June and Sharon Griswold, the incredible Kerrville dog whisperer, who owns Rover Mishaving. After hearing everything that they have done so far for the event and what they are planning to do before the event I was speechless. All that I can say is these women are super women and the greatest volunteers in the state of Texas. Thank you, Eileen, Ellen, June and Sharon—Y'all Rock Big Time!

After a fun visit and thanking them for all that they do for our ranch and our dogs I said, "I have some more good news—Betty Boop is getting adopted today." And they were as happy about it as I was, but not as happy as Betty was.

At three o'clock, after Robert had played with B.B. in her pen and had her fetch her white boat bumper, he and his sweet wife Traci signed Betty's adoption form and Betty couldn't wait to get out of here and it was sort of embarrassing, because when Robert told her to load up—she jumped so fast into the back seat of their big, fancy pickup with her big, boat bumper in her mouth and her tail wagging high and non-stop, which made all of us laugh. "By tomorrow morning or sooner Betty Boop is going to think our rescue ranch stinks compared to her new life with y'all. I hope Jake likes her."

"Jake is going to love her," Traci told me. "He is the sweetest yellow Labrador that we have ever had. He is going to be so happy to have a running buddy. It is going to be so much fun when we take them with us on our trips to Ruidoso and the Coast. Honey, is Betty going to sleep on your side of the bed with you and Jake with me?"

"We'll let her and Jake decide that tonight," Robert said, as they climbed into their truck.

Before driving Betty to her new home Traci said, "Robin told me that he will be coming out tomorrow to adopt Nellybelle and he can't wait to meet her and take her home. He fell in love with her the minute that he saw her picture and read her story." That made T. and me smile and once again I wasn't embarrassed to smile. We have our fingers crossed that Nell-Bell finds her forever home tomorrow.

This evening when Tone and I came inside, we listened to Traci's message, "I just wanted to let you know that Jake and Betty are in love with each other and they won't quit playing with each other. She is an awesome dog! Thank y'all so much for what you do and for letting us adopt Betty Boop. We love her so much. She and Jake are a perfect match! I will call y'all soon with another update. Robert and I are fixin' to take them for another walk in the park. Bye."

Y'all have a great evening!

Soup For The Teeth!

Today has been a great day even though I was a nervous wreck this morning and now somewhat exhausted, but relieved by today's events, so I plan to go to bed early tonight, so I can do the Harley Show at 7:45 in the morning. I have been keeping a secret from you and now I plan to reveal it.

It all started twenty days ago when Tony drove me up to Johnson City for my appointment to see my friend Dr. Mary "Sam" Hagemeier—the best dentist in Texas. As everyone knows I have needed some serious dental work for a long time and I have been embarrassed to smile, so when I got to her office Sam and I made a plan—then she pulled two upper jaw teeth on each side and then sent me home to recover nicely.

I spent the next two weeks drinking smoothies and sipping soups and that is why my friends Sandy and Jon Wolfmueller gave me a super soup cookbook for my birthday, because they were two of the insiders who knew about my secret dental work. Thank you, Sandy and Jon! I love the cookbook and the recipes are so easy and delicious.

Last night I didn't post a blog, because I was nervous about seeing Sam today and I didn't sleep well either. When Tony woke me up this morning at five-thirty, because I had asked him to—I was tired and feeling anxious about seeing Sam today, so I walked eight miles with Leslie to help relieve my stress.

While I was finishing up the last mile I decided to call my friend Maribeth Couch in Utopia, to see if she would come over and babysit the rescue ranch while Tone and I were gone and she said, "Yes. I would love to." But that didn't happen.

At nine-thirty, ten minutes before Maribeth arrived, I called Kinky to tell him that Maribeth was going to babysit the ranch for us and he said, "That's great, Nance. Hang in there and don't be afraid..." While I'm thinking, "Yeah, right, Kinky. Easier said than done, my friend. You want to walk in my moccasins today?"

After Kinky's kind words of encouragement Maribeth and Tony walked inside the trailer wearing big smiles on their faces. While T. showed her his latest, beautiful photos I went into Outer Space and watered my thirsty plants that I had forgotten to water yesterday. Then there was a change in plans.

At ten o'clock Maribeth and I climbed into Buttermilk and then T. bid us farewell, because he had a lot of work to do and it would give me a chance to catch up with Maribeth's latest news. She and I talked non-stop all the way to Johnson City and that helped to calm me down.

Sam and her sister Sandy were standing outside in her parking lot waiting for us when we arrived, because we were going to go eat lunch with them before Sam got down to business in my mouth. After Sam introduced us to Sandy, I introduced them to Maribeth and then we followed the sisters to El Charro, a Mexican food restaurant on Highway 281.

We laughed a lot and the conversation flowed as we ate our delicious lunch. Sam and Sandy told us some fascinating and hair-raising stories about their travel adventures to Israel and Rome to name a few and Maribeth told us a hilarious story about her daughter's goat and missing dog, while I cleaned my plate, since I knew that I was about to go on another soup diet in a few hours.

A few hours later after a fun lunch—I turned into Gumby in Sam's dental office after she had pulled all of the rest of my upper teeth, but leaving two. Yes! I finally did it and I love it! Before Sam put the partial into my mouth I half-hollered for Maribeth to come into the room so she could see the final results. "OMG, Nancy!" Maribeth exclaimed, as I smiled into the hand held mirror. "Your teeth look beautiful! I can't believe it!" And neither could I. I was smiling ear to ear as I admired my new smile that Sam had created for me. I finally, after all of these years, had a pretty smile and I thanked Sam over and over again for giving me a new smile. Thank you, Sam!

When we arrived back at the rescue ranch I saw Lisa's car parked by the barn. Before going up to the trailer, Maribeth and I went into the Space Ship, so I could show her my latest improvements and she loved it! "Let's see them, Nance," Tony said, as we exited my new and improved Space Ship. I looked at him and grinned. "They look beautiful, Nance. I am so proud of you." Then he gave me a big bear hug.

As we walked up to the trailer I couldn't quit smiling, as he and Maribeth talked and agreed that my new teeth looked like natural teeth and not like dentures. When we walked inside Nellybelle Lisa and Mark from Mississippi hugged me and complimented me on my new teeth and then we started visiting. "Nance, you need to give Kinky a call," Tony said. "He has been calling all day and can't wait to talk to you and sixteen people have called wanting us to take their dogs. And..."

After a fun visit with Lisa & Mark, Maribeth and Tony inside the trailer, I thanked them for their beautiful flower arrangement that they had brought to me and the glazed donuts, which were soft and I knew that I could eat. Then they told us that they needed to get back to Kerrville and left and I was sorry they had to leave. Then I called Kinky.

"Hi, Kinky!" I said. "I did it and I love my new teeth!" I bragged. Kinky laughed.

"That's great, Nance! I am so proud of you for..."

"You want to see them?" I asked. Five minutes later Maribeth parked her red truck and Tone parked Buttermilk in front of the Lodge and Kinky walked outside the kitchen door as we climbed out of our vehicles. "What do you think?" I said, as I walked up to Kink, wearing a big, pretty grin on my face. Kinky smiled, as he looked at my new teeth.

"Nance, your teeth look beautiful!" He said. "It's..."

"A miracle, Kinky." I said, interrupting him. "Can you believe it? I love my new teeth." Then Maribeth and Kinky hugged each other and the four of us had a fun visit outside the Lodge, as we talked about our teeth, while we petted The Friedmans—Brownie, Chumley and Miss Sophie.

"Please tell Sam that it is a miracle and that she did an incredible job with your teeth," Kinky said. "I can't believe how pretty your smile is, Nance. They look like real teeth and..." Then Frank walked up. "Frank, come take a look at Nancy's new teeth. You're not going to believe this." Frank walked up and hugged me and complimented me on my teeth and then I introduced him to Maribeth and we had a really fun visit.

Tonight I want to thank Sam Hagemeier for her generosity and giving me a smile that I am so proud of and would have never believed could be mine. And to my dear friend Maribeth for being my dear friend. I love you both!

Y'all have a great evening!  : )

The Waiting Game!

It is nine-twenty in the morning and I am playing the waiting game for FedEx to deliver a replacement DVD-R player from Direct TV. Last Friday afternoon ours decided to quit working in the big room, so I have been without television since then.

Actually, it is no big deal, because I basically listen to my music all of the time and I hardly watch any television anyway, because it is either boring, stupid, violent or depressing. But it would be nice to keep up with the weather and watch reruns of The Wonder Years, The Golden Girls and Everybody Loves Raymond.

Speaking of waiting (Laugh Out Loud! This is a plug for my latest watercolor fasterpiece.) in case you didn't know, there is only one day and ten hours left before my 6th fasterpiece "The Waiting Game" auction ends on eBay. (Was that subtle enough? I'm grinning.) Actually if it doesn't sell I want to frame it and hang it inside the Space Ship.

It is now nine thirty-three and Tone just walked into the trailer with our new DVD-R! We're talking TV!

It is now ten o'clock and the setup has been completed by T. and The Weather Channel is on, but it is muted, because I am listening to my favorite music. The phone just rang and it was Tim Sampson, the super nice reporter from the Kerrville Daily Times. He is sending out a photographer within the next couple of hours to shoot Tony, the dogs and me and he told me that he thinks his article about our exciting upcoming November 6th event—1st Annual Dog Adoption and Training Seminar—will be in tomorrow's newspaper! Thank you, Tim and the Kerrville Daily Times! I can't wait!

Today has started out great and I guess that you could say that I am still playing "The Waiting Game." Thank goodness that I am a patient person and have so much to do that the time will fly by fast.