This morning after breakfast we had a big scare. Tony's older brother Sam called and told me that their brother Rex had not shown up for work this morning and was missing, so I immediately put Tone of the phone to talk to Sam.
After T. talked to Sam, we jumped into Trigger and took off to go look for his brother and his truck on Highway 16, because Sam and Tony were scared that he might have had a wreck between Medina and Bandera. Thirty minutes later I called Sam on the cell phone and he told me that he had just found out that Rex had been in a serious, one car rollover, right before he got to Bandera and that he was now in a hospital in San Antonio in critical condition, so we turned around and came home with heavy hearts.
Because Tony was sick with worry he wasn't hungry, so he didn't eat lunch. Then Sam called from the hospital to give us an update on Rex's condition, which wasn't good at all and he told Tone that no one was allowed to see Rex except for his wife and children and there was nothing that we could do, so tonight I am asking everyone to please put Rex and his family in your prayers.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Chula Bean McLean!
Due to predicted thunderstorms tonight, I wrote this between three-thirty and five forty-two today and have it scheduled to post at eight-thirty tonight.
Today has been great. This morning around ten-twenty I went outside to greet Eileen Gotke, one of our dedicated volunteers and good friends. She had come out and brought along her friend Debbie, to walk our dogs!
As we visited, I told them about Karlen and Drake McLean coming out so they could give us a check to sponsor a pen, as Karlen's Christmas present, from her loving family. "I can't wait for y'all to meet Karlen and Drake. They are the nicest people and in the past years they have adopted two dogs from us. Eight years ago Drake adopted Al Gore, a really cool black Lab, who they nicknamed Al Air, because he flew with Drake, and then in 2006, Karlen adopted Terry Clark, who we had rescued from the Kerrville pound, who she renamed Chula Bean McLean. Unfortunately, Chula a beautiful, sweet- chocolate Lab mixed with Springer Spaniel—a Spanador—passed away recently and it broke Karlen's heart, because she loved Chula Bean so much. So, instead of receiving Christmas presents, Karlen asked her family to make donations to us, so she could sponsor a pen in Chula's name. The sign is being made now and it will say, "In Loving Memory Of Chula Bean McLean." They should be getting here any minute now and I want y'all to go over to Kinky's with us for a fun visit."
"We'd love too, but are you sure?" Eileen asked, as the dogs outside started barking.
"Yes, I'm sure," I half-hollered, as we saw a Jeep driving in with four, smiling people sitting inside it. "It's them! Let me go greet them. I'll be right back. Then we'll go over to Kinky's." Then I race-walked to go greet them.
After howdy and hugs, Drake and Karlen introduced me to Karlen's sweet parents Richard and Karlen, who I instantly liked, because their eyes seemed to sparkle like Karlen's and Drake's. "I'm so glad to see y'all and to meet y'all. Welcome to the rescue ranch. Kinky is leaving in about thirty minutes to take Marcie to the airport, so why don't y'all follow us (Eileen, Deb and me) over to the Lodge for a visit?"
The minute we all walked inside Kinky's Lodge the fun-fest began!
(It is four minutes past four o'clock. I will continue with my story, but Jon Wolfmueller just called me from Wolfmueller's Books and said, "Hi, Nancy. It's Jon. I just wanted to let you know that Sandy has six more copies of Easy Soup Recipes."
"OMG, John! That is great news! Please reserve two copies for me and I will come by Monday to get them."
"Two?" Jon asked. "You want two books? I thought you only wanted one to give to Ben."
"I am getting one for Ben," I said. "But, I want to get the other one as a surprise for my friend *****. As soon as we get off of the phone I am going to send Mari, who I think, is at a dog Agility Trial in Leon Springs with the NoMads, a high priority e-mail about y'all having only four cookbooks left." John was laughing as we said goodbye and disconnected. And, I just finished sending Mari a heads-up e-mail about the cookbooks. Now back to the story about that fun-fest over at the Lodge.)
After greetings and introductions Kinky invited everyone to come into the kitchen for some fresh coffee and some of his delicious, just cooked beignets. Then he took them into his office and gave them a tour and signed books for them. This is a picture of him in his chair signing a book.
Today has been great. This morning around ten-twenty I went outside to greet Eileen Gotke, one of our dedicated volunteers and good friends. She had come out and brought along her friend Debbie, to walk our dogs!
As we visited, I told them about Karlen and Drake McLean coming out so they could give us a check to sponsor a pen, as Karlen's Christmas present, from her loving family. "I can't wait for y'all to meet Karlen and Drake. They are the nicest people and in the past years they have adopted two dogs from us. Eight years ago Drake adopted Al Gore, a really cool black Lab, who they nicknamed Al Air, because he flew with Drake, and then in 2006, Karlen adopted Terry Clark, who we had rescued from the Kerrville pound, who she renamed Chula Bean McLean. Unfortunately, Chula a beautiful, sweet- chocolate Lab mixed with Springer Spaniel—a Spanador—passed away recently and it broke Karlen's heart, because she loved Chula Bean so much. So, instead of receiving Christmas presents, Karlen asked her family to make donations to us, so she could sponsor a pen in Chula's name. The sign is being made now and it will say, "In Loving Memory Of Chula Bean McLean." They should be getting here any minute now and I want y'all to go over to Kinky's with us for a fun visit."
"We'd love too, but are you sure?" Eileen asked, as the dogs outside started barking.
"Yes, I'm sure," I half-hollered, as we saw a Jeep driving in with four, smiling people sitting inside it. "It's them! Let me go greet them. I'll be right back. Then we'll go over to Kinky's." Then I race-walked to go greet them.
After howdy and hugs, Drake and Karlen introduced me to Karlen's sweet parents Richard and Karlen, who I instantly liked, because their eyes seemed to sparkle like Karlen's and Drake's. "I'm so glad to see y'all and to meet y'all. Welcome to the rescue ranch. Kinky is leaving in about thirty minutes to take Marcie to the airport, so why don't y'all follow us (Eileen, Deb and me) over to the Lodge for a visit?"
The minute we all walked inside Kinky's Lodge the fun-fest began!
(It is four minutes past four o'clock. I will continue with my story, but Jon Wolfmueller just called me from Wolfmueller's Books and said, "Hi, Nancy. It's Jon. I just wanted to let you know that Sandy has six more copies of Easy Soup Recipes."
"OMG, John! That is great news! Please reserve two copies for me and I will come by Monday to get them."
"Two?" Jon asked. "You want two books? I thought you only wanted one to give to Ben."
"I am getting one for Ben," I said. "But, I want to get the other one as a surprise for my friend *****. As soon as we get off of the phone I am going to send Mari, who I think, is at a dog Agility Trial in Leon Springs with the NoMads, a high priority e-mail about y'all having only four cookbooks left." John was laughing as we said goodbye and disconnected. And, I just finished sending Mari a heads-up e-mail about the cookbooks. Now back to the story about that fun-fest over at the Lodge.)
After greetings and introductions Kinky invited everyone to come into the kitchen for some fresh coffee and some of his delicious, just cooked beignets. Then he took them into his office and gave them a tour and signed books for them. This is a picture of him in his chair signing a book.
While Kinky was entertaining his guests in his office, Drake left the Lodge and quickly returned with some pictures of Chula that Karlen and him wanted me to have and I nearly teared up when I saw Chula and how beautiful and happy she looked as I thought about what a great life she had had.
While everyone visited with Kink, around the pool table, Karlen took me aside and told me about how much Chula had meant to her and how much she had loved her and thanked us for rescuing her. Then she told me a beautiful, heartfelt story that happened to her after Chula Bean stepped on her rainbow, but I can't share it, because it was private. Before leaving the Lodge, I took this picture of everyone, except Eileen, because she is camera shy. From left to right: Richard, Karlen, Kinky, Karlen, Debbie and Drake.
When we returned to the rescue ranch, I dropped off Eileen and Debbie at the barn as they requested, so they could start walking some of our dogs, and then I drove on up to the trailer to visit with the McLeans. Before Tone and I gave them a tour, Drake and I went inside the trailer, so he could give me the checks Karlen had received as Christmas presents to help Karlen sponsor a pen in Chula's name, and then Tony and I gave them the tour and I really enjoyed visiting with all of them. As I like to say, "They're my kind of people!"
After Drake and Karlen and her parents left to go eat lunch in Medina, Tone took off for Medina too, but not to eat lunch with them, but to get supplies at the Medina Ace Hardware store, before it closed at three o'clock.
After I put some chicken in the oven to cook for lunch, I went outside to find Eileen and Debbie, but I didn't have to look far, because they were already walking towards the trailer. "Y'all come on up!" I hollered. "I've got something I want to show y'all."
After they came inside I had a short, but fun visit with them and then I said, "Eileen, this is for your eyes only, sorry Deb—it's the second column I wrote for the upcoming "Texas Animal Imprints" magazine. It hasn't come out yet, but I want you to be the first to read it, so you can give me your honest opinion of it." Eileen sat down in the chair and began speed-reading it.
When she was done, Eileen looked up and said, "Nancy, I love it and I can't believe you wrote about..."
"I had to, because I love...and just had to write about it." After Eileen and Deb left to go eat in Medina—Tony returned home and we ate lunch.
It is now five forty-two and it has not started raining or thundering yet. I wrote this early, because I wanted to make sure it would get written and be posted tonight before I might have to unplug everything in the trailer, because of the weather. Because tonight I am dedicating this blog "In Loving Memory of Chula Bean McLean, the greatest and most loved Spanador in Texas, because she was one of the lucky ones who will never be forgotten."
Y'all have a great evening!
Thursday, January 6, 2011
No, Nancy!
Today has been great. This morning I had a fun visit with Harley and Dusty aka LaToya was Harley's Pet of the Week. Then we talked about me being in the Club Ed catalog, which I am thrilled to be in and then Harley teased me about me letting dogs kiss me on the mouth and then he says, "Cousin Nancy, did you know that I am teaching a course at Club Ed this Spring?"
"No, I didn't, Harley. That's great! What are you going to teach?"
"Fifty reasons why you should not let dogs kiss you on the mouth!" I burst out laughing and then Harley joined me in laughter.
Ben arrived about nine o'clock this morning and he surprised us with a gift—a giant brick of Miles of Chocolate! Thank you, Ben! Then we had a more than fun visit inside the trailer, before he and Tony went outside to do the morning chores and I took care of some paperwork and returned phone calls.
Ben ate lunch with us today and he loved my new recipe from the Easy Soup Recipes, that Sandy and Jon gave to me for my birthday, called "The Blue Norther" stew and he and Tone ate second servings, before they went back outside to work.
After they went outside I called Wolfmueller's Books and Jon answered the phone. "Jon, I need to ask a favor of y'all. Ben's here and he just ate "The Blue Norther" stew recipe from that recipe book y'all gave me and he loved it and I want to give him a copy of that cookbook. I was wondering if y'all could pull that recipe book off the shelf for me and hold it for me, so I can give mine to Ben and then pick up a new copy tomorrow when we come to town." There was a moment of silence.
"No, Nancy, we can't," Jon said, "because we have sold out of them again, but I think Sandy is going to order some more..."
Around four T. and Ben came inside the trailer and once again we had another fun visit and that is about all that happened today.
Y'all have a great evening!
"No, I didn't, Harley. That's great! What are you going to teach?"
"Fifty reasons why you should not let dogs kiss you on the mouth!" I burst out laughing and then Harley joined me in laughter.
Ben arrived about nine o'clock this morning and he surprised us with a gift—a giant brick of Miles of Chocolate! Thank you, Ben! Then we had a more than fun visit inside the trailer, before he and Tony went outside to do the morning chores and I took care of some paperwork and returned phone calls.
Ben ate lunch with us today and he loved my new recipe from the Easy Soup Recipes, that Sandy and Jon gave to me for my birthday, called "The Blue Norther" stew and he and Tone ate second servings, before they went back outside to work.
After they went outside I called Wolfmueller's Books and Jon answered the phone. "Jon, I need to ask a favor of y'all. Ben's here and he just ate "The Blue Norther" stew recipe from that recipe book y'all gave me and he loved it and I want to give him a copy of that cookbook. I was wondering if y'all could pull that recipe book off the shelf for me and hold it for me, so I can give mine to Ben and then pick up a new copy tomorrow when we come to town." There was a moment of silence.
"No, Nancy, we can't," Jon said, "because we have sold out of them again, but I think Sandy is going to order some more..."
Around four T. and Ben came inside the trailer and once again we had another fun visit and that is about all that happened today.
Y'all have a great evening!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Pirate Radio—Rocks 'N Rolls!
Last night I didn't post a blog because I spent almost all of my day playing catchup with my paperwork, e-mail and phone calls and was "computered-out," so to speak. I stopped working around seven o'clock and decided to treat myself to a movie that Dylan had highly recommended to me, when we saw him and Sage over at the Lodge on New Year's Day.
I watched "Pirate Radio" on HBO and it was so fantastic and it is now one of my favorite movies! It takes place in England in 1966 and I believe it is a true story. It is about a pirate ship full of disc jockeys, that broadcasts rock 'n roll offshore to the people of England, because the British government would not allow its citizens to listen to The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who, etc. and I highly recommend it. I loved the story and the music was the best, and brought back so many happy memories.
In 1966, I was fifteen years old and I didn't know about the English government banning rock 'n roll over there. I had been listening to the The Beatles, Stones, etc. since the 1963 "British Invasion." Anyway, I think people, especially around my age—will absolutely love it. I am glad that I recorded it and I cannot wait to buy it, so I can add it to my collection of favorite movies. (Tony didn't watch it with me, because he only likes country music.)
Today has been good. I spent my morning doing more paperwork and then Buttermilk took Tony and me to Kerrville to run a few errands. Our last stop was at Wolfmueller's Books to visit with Sandy and Jon, but unfortunately, Sandy was in San Antonio buying books, so we had a fun visit with Jon.
Before heading home I purchased another copy of the well-done documentary on Kinky, that our friend Simone de Vries, from Amsterdam, made many years ago, because I had loaned my copy of "Kinky Friedman: Proud To Be An A**Hole From El Paso" to a friend and never got it back.
I watched "Pirate Radio" on HBO and it was so fantastic and it is now one of my favorite movies! It takes place in England in 1966 and I believe it is a true story. It is about a pirate ship full of disc jockeys, that broadcasts rock 'n roll offshore to the people of England, because the British government would not allow its citizens to listen to The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who, etc. and I highly recommend it. I loved the story and the music was the best, and brought back so many happy memories.
In 1966, I was fifteen years old and I didn't know about the English government banning rock 'n roll over there. I had been listening to the The Beatles, Stones, etc. since the 1963 "British Invasion." Anyway, I think people, especially around my age—will absolutely love it. I am glad that I recorded it and I cannot wait to buy it, so I can add it to my collection of favorite movies. (Tony didn't watch it with me, because he only likes country music.)
Today has been good. I spent my morning doing more paperwork and then Buttermilk took Tony and me to Kerrville to run a few errands. Our last stop was at Wolfmueller's Books to visit with Sandy and Jon, but unfortunately, Sandy was in San Antonio buying books, so we had a fun visit with Jon.
Before heading home I purchased another copy of the well-done documentary on Kinky, that our friend Simone de Vries, from Amsterdam, made many years ago, because I had loaned my copy of "Kinky Friedman: Proud To Be An A**Hole From El Paso" to a friend and never got it back.
When we got home I returned a few phone calls and then I sat down and watched it, with Toto sitting in my lap and we totally enjoyed seeing it again, because Toto is it, along with Hank, Little Girl, Mr. Magoo, Brownie and Chumley—not to mention Sandy Wolfmueller, Dylan Ferrero, Little Jewford, Max Swafford, Ted Mann, Chinga, New York Ratso, Washington Ratso, Cleve Hattersley, Bill Clinton, Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Tom Friendman, Marcie, The Old Timer in Medina, our trailer Nellybelle, and me and many other friends of Kinky's.
After it ended I called Kinky to tell him about buying a new copy and watching it and I am going to loan it to him tomorrow, because it has been a long time since he has seen it, too. If you are a Kinky fan and have not seen it—you can buy a copy at Wolfmueller's Books.
Tonight I designed and made a personal 2011 calendar in iPhoto, using T.'s and my favorite pictures like I did last year, and then I went online to Apple, uploaded it, and placed my order, because we don't have a 2011 calendar in the trailer. It usually takes 3-4 days to get it and I figure if we have gone five days doing without a calendar—we can go a few more days, besides it is only time. I am real proud of it and cannot wait to see it! When it arrives I promise to post it on my blog.
Well, I am fixin' to go to bed now, because I have to get up real early tomorrow morning, so I can do my chores before doing "The Harley Show" at 7:45.
Y'all have a great evening!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Public!
Today has turned out great, even though this morning it went about as far south as it could go and I am counting all of my blessings tonight.
Early this morning, after breakfast, Tony and I went over to the Lodge to drink a cup of coffee with Kinky and Marcie. When we arrived at the Lodge Marcie was still asleep in the Annex, so we ended up drinking coffee and had a fun, but short visit with Frank and Kinky instead.
After we left the Lodge, as Buttermilk took us over the river and through the woods, Tony complained about his chest hurting, so when we got home he took two more baby Aspirin, then he went outside to do his morning chores.
Ten minutes later Tony walked inside the trailer and said, "Nance, my chest is really hurting. Would you mind coming outside with me while I do my chores, so you'll be there if something happens?" His words scared me, so I closed my laptop and turned and looked at T. and I could tell that he didn't feel good, so I asked Tony to call Wolfmueller's books to see if they could recommend a clinic for us to go to. After Tony told Sandy about his chest hurting, she told Tone she wanted to talk to me, so Tony handed me the phone.
"Nancy, go to the Emergency Room right now!" Sandy said. "I'm serious. Take Tony to the Emergency Room now..." After I promised her we would, I called Aaron to see if he was working today, because I was going to ask him to come out and feed our dogs for us. Aaron answered his cell phone on the third ring and he told me that he was working and then he asked me why, so I told him about Tone's chest pains and us fixin' to go the hospital in Kerrville. Then I called Kinky.
"Kink, I just wanted to let you know that I'm taking Tony to the Emergency Room right now. I'll call you when we get there. Bye." Thirty-three minutes later, I dropped Tony off at the front door of the Emergency Room and then I went and found a parking space for Buttermilk.
When I walked into the ER a sweet nurse was helping put T. into a wheelchair and then they quickly took off with me right behind them. Within twenty minutes Tony had been hooked up to a EKG heart monitoring machine, had given some of his blood away for free, which nearly caused me to pass out, and had chest ex-rays taken. Then we were told to sit and wait and be patient, because it could take several hours before the tests results came back, so I went outside and called Kinky to give him an update and then I called Sandy and Jon and updated them, too. They all told me to "hang-in-there," so I took their advice and hanged.
As we waited patiently in the private room, I told Tony that everything was going to be alright and then my cell phone rang—it was Aaron. "Nancy, they let me take off and I'm leaving Medina right now and heading for the rescue ranch, so I can feed the dogs for y'all. How is Tony?" After I thanked Aaron for helping us out and relieved that he was going to feed our dogs I teared up. Then the phone rang again—it was Kinky. After I updated him on T.'s condition Kinky asked me to meet him and Marcie at one o'clock for lunch at a nearby restaurant. When I told Tony about the invite, he told me to go have lunch with them, so I did.
When I walked inside the restaurant Kinky, Marcie and Max Swafford, our good friend who wrote the greatest book about Kinky, The Kinky File, waved at me from a table, for me to come join them. After I sat down at the table the waitress appeared and asked us if we were ready to order. "I'll have the Speedy Gonzales with tea, please" I said. Then Marce ordered their daily Special.
"I want exactly what Cousin Nancy just ordered," Kinky said, followed by a laugh. "With flour and corn tortillas, please."
Then Max says, "Me, too. I want the same thing that Nancy and Kinky are having, too. It sounds good." Then the friendly waitress smiled at us and then she took off to go turn in our orders and then we started talking about Tony. Max, who had just eight days ago had a heart attack and survived it, had been air lifted to San Antonio where they put a stint in and cleaned out two of his arteries, tried to cheer me up as did Marcie and Kinky. Before leaving the restaurant Max asked me if it would be okay for him to go see T. and I told him yes, and then I thanked Kinky for lunch and then said, "Y'all, I know that Tony is going to be okay. I really do." After hugs, Buttermilk and I took off.
As I was walking in the parking lot headed towards the Emergency Room I hear, "Nance, wait up!" I turned around and there was Max. When he caught up with me he says, "This feels so weird to me, because eight days ago I was walking, right where we're walking—into the ER..."
When we walked into Tony's room he was glad to see us and two minutes later—the doctor walks in and she says, "Everything looks great Mr. Simons. Your heart is in great condition and everything looks really good. We are waiting on one more test result to rule out a possible blood clot and if there is one we will check you into the hospital for a few days to dissolve it. If there isn't a blood clot we can send you home in about an hour." I don't know who was happier to have received her news, because we were all smiling.
After Max left, I visited with Tony for a few minutes and then he suggested that I go to H-E-B, to save time, to get our groceries, so I took off to H-E-B, because I knew that T. was going to be okay.
While I speed-shopped in H-E-B I ran into our dear friends David & Desiree Farrar, owners of Kerrville's favorite B&B—"Trails End Guest House." After howdys and hugs they teased me about us running into each other again at H-E-B and then they asked me where Tony was. "Well, he's in the Emergency Room at Peterson's right now and..." After I finished telling them the whole story their frowns quickly turned into smiles and they told me to call them if we needed anything. Then a few isles later, I ran into our dear friend and neighbor, Sally Merwin and I had the exact same conversation with her. Then I paid for our groceries and Buttermilk took me back to the Emergency Room where Tony was patiently sitting in the waiting room—waiting for me—to go home, but we didn't go home right then, because we needed to swing by Hoegemeyers Animal Clinic to pick up our little Maudie.
We arrived back at the rescue ranch just a few minutes before five o'clock and the three of us were so glad to be back home! Then I looked at Carlton, who was flashing on the breakfast bar, and saw that I had nineteen new phone calls to return. I listened to them as Tony and I put away our groceries and then I returned ten of the most urgent phone calls. Then T. and I went outside, right before dark, and cleaned the dog pens while handing out treats to our super rescued dogs.
To say the least—it has been one heck of a day for us, but like always— it turned our great and I am so thankful for that. And tonight, after reading Mari's comment about not being able to view my nine minute 2010 Blog Memories, which I accidentally forgot to make Public—is now Public! I hope that y'all enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed making it. Happy New Year, once again! I know it's going to be a great year! I love you, Tony!
Y'all have a great evening!
Early this morning, after breakfast, Tony and I went over to the Lodge to drink a cup of coffee with Kinky and Marcie. When we arrived at the Lodge Marcie was still asleep in the Annex, so we ended up drinking coffee and had a fun, but short visit with Frank and Kinky instead.
After we left the Lodge, as Buttermilk took us over the river and through the woods, Tony complained about his chest hurting, so when we got home he took two more baby Aspirin, then he went outside to do his morning chores.
Ten minutes later Tony walked inside the trailer and said, "Nance, my chest is really hurting. Would you mind coming outside with me while I do my chores, so you'll be there if something happens?" His words scared me, so I closed my laptop and turned and looked at T. and I could tell that he didn't feel good, so I asked Tony to call Wolfmueller's books to see if they could recommend a clinic for us to go to. After Tony told Sandy about his chest hurting, she told Tone she wanted to talk to me, so Tony handed me the phone.
"Nancy, go to the Emergency Room right now!" Sandy said. "I'm serious. Take Tony to the Emergency Room now..." After I promised her we would, I called Aaron to see if he was working today, because I was going to ask him to come out and feed our dogs for us. Aaron answered his cell phone on the third ring and he told me that he was working and then he asked me why, so I told him about Tone's chest pains and us fixin' to go the hospital in Kerrville. Then I called Kinky.
"Kink, I just wanted to let you know that I'm taking Tony to the Emergency Room right now. I'll call you when we get there. Bye." Thirty-three minutes later, I dropped Tony off at the front door of the Emergency Room and then I went and found a parking space for Buttermilk.
When I walked into the ER a sweet nurse was helping put T. into a wheelchair and then they quickly took off with me right behind them. Within twenty minutes Tony had been hooked up to a EKG heart monitoring machine, had given some of his blood away for free, which nearly caused me to pass out, and had chest ex-rays taken. Then we were told to sit and wait and be patient, because it could take several hours before the tests results came back, so I went outside and called Kinky to give him an update and then I called Sandy and Jon and updated them, too. They all told me to "hang-in-there," so I took their advice and hanged.
As we waited patiently in the private room, I told Tony that everything was going to be alright and then my cell phone rang—it was Aaron. "Nancy, they let me take off and I'm leaving Medina right now and heading for the rescue ranch, so I can feed the dogs for y'all. How is Tony?" After I thanked Aaron for helping us out and relieved that he was going to feed our dogs I teared up. Then the phone rang again—it was Kinky. After I updated him on T.'s condition Kinky asked me to meet him and Marcie at one o'clock for lunch at a nearby restaurant. When I told Tony about the invite, he told me to go have lunch with them, so I did.
When I walked inside the restaurant Kinky, Marcie and Max Swafford, our good friend who wrote the greatest book about Kinky, The Kinky File, waved at me from a table, for me to come join them. After I sat down at the table the waitress appeared and asked us if we were ready to order. "I'll have the Speedy Gonzales with tea, please" I said. Then Marce ordered their daily Special.
"I want exactly what Cousin Nancy just ordered," Kinky said, followed by a laugh. "With flour and corn tortillas, please."
Then Max says, "Me, too. I want the same thing that Nancy and Kinky are having, too. It sounds good." Then the friendly waitress smiled at us and then she took off to go turn in our orders and then we started talking about Tony. Max, who had just eight days ago had a heart attack and survived it, had been air lifted to San Antonio where they put a stint in and cleaned out two of his arteries, tried to cheer me up as did Marcie and Kinky. Before leaving the restaurant Max asked me if it would be okay for him to go see T. and I told him yes, and then I thanked Kinky for lunch and then said, "Y'all, I know that Tony is going to be okay. I really do." After hugs, Buttermilk and I took off.
As I was walking in the parking lot headed towards the Emergency Room I hear, "Nance, wait up!" I turned around and there was Max. When he caught up with me he says, "This feels so weird to me, because eight days ago I was walking, right where we're walking—into the ER..."
When we walked into Tony's room he was glad to see us and two minutes later—the doctor walks in and she says, "Everything looks great Mr. Simons. Your heart is in great condition and everything looks really good. We are waiting on one more test result to rule out a possible blood clot and if there is one we will check you into the hospital for a few days to dissolve it. If there isn't a blood clot we can send you home in about an hour." I don't know who was happier to have received her news, because we were all smiling.
After Max left, I visited with Tony for a few minutes and then he suggested that I go to H-E-B, to save time, to get our groceries, so I took off to H-E-B, because I knew that T. was going to be okay.
While I speed-shopped in H-E-B I ran into our dear friends David & Desiree Farrar, owners of Kerrville's favorite B&B—"Trails End Guest House." After howdys and hugs they teased me about us running into each other again at H-E-B and then they asked me where Tony was. "Well, he's in the Emergency Room at Peterson's right now and..." After I finished telling them the whole story their frowns quickly turned into smiles and they told me to call them if we needed anything. Then a few isles later, I ran into our dear friend and neighbor, Sally Merwin and I had the exact same conversation with her. Then I paid for our groceries and Buttermilk took me back to the Emergency Room where Tony was patiently sitting in the waiting room—waiting for me—to go home, but we didn't go home right then, because we needed to swing by Hoegemeyers Animal Clinic to pick up our little Maudie.
We arrived back at the rescue ranch just a few minutes before five o'clock and the three of us were so glad to be back home! Then I looked at Carlton, who was flashing on the breakfast bar, and saw that I had nineteen new phone calls to return. I listened to them as Tony and I put away our groceries and then I returned ten of the most urgent phone calls. Then T. and I went outside, right before dark, and cleaned the dog pens while handing out treats to our super rescued dogs.
To say the least—it has been one heck of a day for us, but like always— it turned our great and I am so thankful for that. And tonight, after reading Mari's comment about not being able to view my nine minute 2010 Blog Memories, which I accidentally forgot to make Public—is now Public! I hope that y'all enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed making it. Happy New Year, once again! I know it's going to be a great year! I love you, Tony!
Y'all have a great evening!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
I Love Y'all!
If the New Year 2011 is as great as our New Year's Eve day was—I say, "Bring it on! I can't wait!"
Early Friday morning, right before sunup, Tony took Rick with him to the Old Timer to drink coffee with his friends, while Leisa slept with Squirt in my writing cabin, and I slept with Mama and Toto.
I got out of bed around seven o'clock, put the dogs outside, made some coffee, fed the dogs and then I started cooking my semi-famous, "Cousin Nancy's Huevos Rancheros," while visiting with Leisa.
There really isn't anything special about how I cook my huevos rancheros, except I add one secret ingredient, which I cannot divulge at this time, because I am thinking seriously about doing a cookbook with y'all, in the very near future—to benefit our rescue ranch.
When our "Medina-coffee-drinkin' men" returned home, I served breakfast and they all loved it and cleaned their plates while begging me for my recipe, but my lips were sealed and I never revealed my secret ingredient.
Following breakfast, Tony and Rick went outside, so Tone could feed the dogs and Rick could clean their pens. Leisa and her precious dog Squirt returned to my cabin, so she could get some work done on the Internet and that's when I decided to walk off a couple of the seven miles left to go with Leslie Sansone, to complete my 2010 New Year's resolution of walking 1,825 miles with her.
Three miles later I stopped walking even though I still had four miles to walk, when the dogs outside started barking to let me know that something was going on.
Twenty minutes later after I had cleaned up, I was outside having a hen party with our friends and super volunteers: Sharon Griswold, the incredible dog trainer of "Rover Misbehaving," June Hartley and her friend, Lisa, Ellen Jackson, and Eileen Gotke, while Jim McMahon was out walking a couple of our lucky dogs, while Paul Emerson visited with Tony, Leisa and Rick, after they had unloaded his pickup full-of-free-dog-food for our dogs. Needless to say there was non-stop laughter. Here is a picture that I took of "the girls" and Paul before they left to go home and spend New Year's Eve with their families.
Left to right: Sharon, Ellen, June, Lisa and Eileen
I love these people as much or more, as our dogs do—they're the best—the cream of the crop and I want to say, "Thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart, for making our rescue ranch great! We couldn't have done it without y'all."
After they went home, we ate lunch and then Ben Welch arrived, while I was cleaning up the kitchen, and we had a fun visit with him! Then after he left to go back over to the Lodge to visit with Kinky, Marcie and Frank, Patty Kearns, our dear Floridian friend, showed up with a gift for me—the new Elton John / Leon Russell CD—"The Union!" And it is fantastic!
After a brief visit here we jumped into Buttermilk and took off for the Lodge to go visit with Kinky, Marcie, Frank and Ben. Here are a few pictures over there. I took this one.
Left to right: Rick, T. and Ben
Ben took this one. Left to right: Leisa, Patty, Marcie and me.
An hour later, after Patty had gone back to Kerrville, to be with her Dad and Peggy, Rick started fixin' us dinner that he and Leisa had bought, and that is when I decided to try to walk-off the remaining four miles and things got pretty funny and hairy.
As I walked off the miles with Leslie, wearing my jeans and Justin Gypsy pink boots, with the volume turned down, so we could visit—Rick had us laughing non-stop! In the final minutes left, before I was done walking, he decided to walk with me, but Squirt disagreed.
Every time that Rick tried to walk behind me—she'd growl and then attack his feet—without biting—as we roared with laughter! This is a picture that T. took of Rick and me when I completed the seventh mile. As you can tell—I was thrilled with myself that I had actually walked 1,825 miles with Sansone in 2010!
On that New Year's Eve—Leisa and Rick went to bed at eight o'clock—Tony at eight-thirty and I hit the sack before nine-thirty.
New Year's Day was great, because Mercury was no longer in retrograde! While the four of us ate breakfast together, we laughed non-stop as we watched "Vernon, Florida," a great documentary. An hour or so later, Leisa and Rick took off for San Antonio to visit relatives before heading back down to Port Aransas and I spent the rest of the day and today making this nine minute video, using the pictures from my 2010 blog and I hope that you enjoy it and will check it out. And Mari, please don't get your feelings hurt that there are no pictures of the RockBox, even though we loved it—I had no pictures. And I want to thank everyone for supporting our rescue ranch over the past year and the only reason that you may not be in the video is because I had no pictures. Happy New Year to all! I love y'all and I did it—I actually walked 1,825 miles with Les!
Y'all have a great evening and the best New Year ever! And thank you, for making mine so great!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
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