Today, November 18th is my sister, Cindy’s 61st Birthday! I can not believe that she is now sixty-one-years old, and I just turned fifty-six! In honor of her birthday, I’ve got a story to tell about us—when we were kids.
When I was about eight years old, Cindy made me mad about something, and I demanded that we divide our bedroom in half—and she let me!
I remember getting my Dad’s black electrical tape, and running tape across the double bed we shared and then onto the floor—all of the way to our closet! I was real proud of my handiwork, and Cindy even let me pick which side of the room I wanted.
I picked the side farthest from the doorway, because it was the side, which I also slept on the bed. When Cindy and I went into the hallway, that’s when I realized —I had made a bad choice.
My side of the bedroom was at least five feet away, and there was no way, that I could jump over Cindy’s side, because I was too short, I mean—height-challenged!
(I was so short at that time, my mom told me years later, after I had peaked at five-foot-two, that one of my aunt’s had once expressed concerns to my mom—‘that I might be a dwarf.’
I proved that aunt stupid—when they had the tryouts to be a munchkin in the ‘Wizard of Oz’ at Fort Worth’s theatre in-the-round—‘Casa Manana!’ I tried out for it, but didn’t get the part, because I was too tall!)
Cindy watched me try over and over again, to leap over her side of the room, to mine, but I failed miserably. When I finally realized that I couldn’t make the jump to my side of the room, and knowing that I would have to depend on my older brother, Ronnie, to carry me in or out of the bedroom— worried me. And, because of my bad choice—I would also never be able to get to my clothes in the drawers, because our dresser was on Cindy’s side, too. So, I cried.
Cindy felt sorry for me, so she offered a compromise—that I couldn’t refuse! She suggested that we only divide the bed, and let the floor be a free zone.
I accepted her offer, and quickly removed all of the tape from the carpet and the bedspread.
That night when we went to bed, my tall sister teased me, by sliding her foot over onto my side of the bed, and then announce it. I would scoot down to the foot of the bed, and kick her in the legs—until she was off of my property! I fought for my rights several times that night, before we finally fell to sleep—from exhaustion. The following day—we agreed to end our feud!
Looking back, Cindy and I have shared some of the best times, and the worse. And, I just want to say, thank you, Cindy, for being the greatest sister anyone could ask for! Happy 61st Birthday!
Love Always,
Sister Nancy
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Super Dogs!
Last Tuesday, June, one of our great volunteers, called me to tell me some news that she had heard about one of our adopted dogs, and it was all good. Then she told me that she had found and rescued two, young dogs, playing in a field—that had been dumped! She told me that they were extremely skinny—but as sweet as they could be, and she wanted to know if we could help her out with them. My answer was yes—even though, we are full!
It was decided, that she would take them over to Hoegemeyer’s, and drop them off for us, so they could be given medical exams, which includes: heart worm testing, spaying and neutering, and receiving all shots, etc.
Thursday afternoon, Susan, at the clinic, called to tell me that the two were ready to come to the rescue ranch! So, yesterday, following the Tree Top event, Ben, John and Tony moved dogs around, so there would be a pen—for the incoming.
At 9:30 this morning, John arrived with our two newly rescued dogs, and I couldn’t wait to meet them. I met John at the van and told him that I had already named them—W. C. Fields and Mae West, even though, I hadn’t seen them yet—so Susan and I could keep our records straight.
“Are they good dogs?” I asked.
“No,” John said, shaking his head. “They’re great dogs! You’re going to love them!”
When John opened the van’s door—I fell in love with them instantly! We quickly unloaded the happy dogs from their crate, and took them to the front yard of my writing cabin. As soon as we unleashed them—they ran, jumped and played like they were kids in Disneyland.! I couldn’t help but laugh, as I watched them joyfully, playing with each other.
Even though, the two are different colors and marked differently, we’re convinced that they are litter mates and are about five to six months old.
I am certain that they will be adopted out quickly, because they are so sweet, fun to be with, and just plain—Super Dogs!
It was decided, that she would take them over to Hoegemeyer’s, and drop them off for us, so they could be given medical exams, which includes: heart worm testing, spaying and neutering, and receiving all shots, etc.
Thursday afternoon, Susan, at the clinic, called to tell me that the two were ready to come to the rescue ranch! So, yesterday, following the Tree Top event, Ben, John and Tony moved dogs around, so there would be a pen—for the incoming.
At 9:30 this morning, John arrived with our two newly rescued dogs, and I couldn’t wait to meet them. I met John at the van and told him that I had already named them—W. C. Fields and Mae West, even though, I hadn’t seen them yet—so Susan and I could keep our records straight.
“Are they good dogs?” I asked.
“No,” John said, shaking his head. “They’re great dogs! You’re going to love them!”
When John opened the van’s door—I fell in love with them instantly! We quickly unloaded the happy dogs from their crate, and took them to the front yard of my writing cabin. As soon as we unleashed them—they ran, jumped and played like they were kids in Disneyland.! I couldn’t help but laugh, as I watched them joyfully, playing with each other.
Even though, the two are different colors and marked differently, we’re convinced that they are litter mates and are about five to six months old.
I am certain that they will be adopted out quickly, because they are so sweet, fun to be with, and just plain—Super Dogs!
Friday, November 16, 2007
Tree Top Flyers!
Today has been great! First, John showed up and told us that he was fixing lunch for all of us! Then after Ben, John and Tony had fed the dogs and cleaned the pens—June Hartley, one of our great volunteers, came out to visit our dogs, and give out dog treats—and our dogs loved it!
At noon, the guys came to the trailer for lunch. John announced that he was fixing us his famous “Surf and Turf,” meal, and then he went to work in the kitchen. Twenty minutes later, he served us his delicious meal! I begged him for the recipe, and finally he gave it to me, as long as I would promise not to ever give it out. I promised him that I would never give it out to anyone—it was our secret!
Here is John Kemmerly’s and my secret recipe:
Ingredients:
1 pound of Boar’s Head roastbeef—thinly sliced
1 large tub of gourmet Seafood Salad
1 bag of fresh whole wheat pita pocket bread
1 small onion—thinly sliced
1 tomato—diced
Directions: Heat pita-pocket bread at 350 degrees for about ten minutes. While that is happening, mix the onion and tomato into the salad. When the pita is perfectly warmed, remove from oven.
Fill the pocket with the salad mixture first and then top it off with the roast beef! And serve with a side order of Terra Exotic Vegetable Chips! I promise you’ll love it, but please don’t give out our recipe—it’s our little secret! And, don’t forget to turn off the oven!
During our lunch, we were trading funny stories and I said, “Ben, do you remember two years ago, right before Christmas, when your dad, (Rob Welch) came out and surprised us with a visit and gave us those toy helicopters?”
“What?” John asked.
“Yeah,” Ben said. “My dad was helping their church, and they had been given a huge box of about—two hundred of these plastic pull-string helicopters, and he was going to drop them off at the Medina Childrens Home—for stocking stuffers.”
“John,” I said. “Rob gave us about ten of those helicopters, too. And, we all went outside to try them out. Tony showed me how to use it, but I couldn’t keep mine from crashing—everytime that I launched it—but Tony, Ben and Daniel were good at it! In less than two minutes, the guys were launching them at each other, and one of them crashed into the back of my head, but it didn’t hurt me, because it was winding down, and coming in for a landing.”
“I think I still have mine,” Tony said. “I’ll be right back.”
“John,” Ben said. “They were really pretty cool.”
“Yeah, until Daniel shot one into my back at close range,” Tony said. “Here’s mine. I found it in the closet. Let’s go outside and launch it.”
“I think, I’m going to write a blog about this,” I said.
“I thought you were going to write about that mountain lion, Tony saw the other night, going up the mountain—behind the trailer?” John said. “Ben and I climbed all of the way up there yesterday—to check for tracks or signs—and we found some!”
“I can’t,” I said. “If my good friend, that’s coming down in January to celebrate his birthday, with his wife Karen, reads it—he might chicken out. And, I don’t want that to happen.”
“Wait,” John said. “You know how those big, black helicopters are always flying low over the ranch—why don’t we launch it and you take a picture of it, and then you tell everyone that today a low flying helicopter did a fly by?”
We went outside on the porch. “I wish I had some fishing line,” Ben said. “So I can hang it from the roof—to make it look like it’s flying.”
I went inside, grabbed a roll of Tony’s fishing line, and my sewing scissors, and then went outside and made Ben’s wish come true!
Ben pulled the line out and then cut it. Next, he tied it to Tony’s little helicopter, and then stood on the porch rail and carefully hung it from the roof. Then I proceeded to shoot at the toy from different angles.
After the shooting was over, the guys took down the helicopter, and launched it in the front yard for a few minutes, and I came inside to download the pictures, and use Photoshop to erase the fishing line from the pictures.
Around three o’clock, just before John was fixin’ to leave, he reassured me, that it was no trouble for him to pick up, and bring the two newly rescued dogs—with him in the morning.
Around five, Ben headed back to Austin with his two great dogs, Valerie and Penny, which he adopted from us—years ago. And, “T” and I came back to our—still clean trailer to rest.
At noon, the guys came to the trailer for lunch. John announced that he was fixing us his famous “Surf and Turf,” meal, and then he went to work in the kitchen. Twenty minutes later, he served us his delicious meal! I begged him for the recipe, and finally he gave it to me, as long as I would promise not to ever give it out. I promised him that I would never give it out to anyone—it was our secret!
Here is John Kemmerly’s and my secret recipe:
Ingredients:
1 pound of Boar’s Head roastbeef—thinly sliced
1 large tub of gourmet Seafood Salad
1 bag of fresh whole wheat pita pocket bread
1 small onion—thinly sliced
1 tomato—diced
Directions: Heat pita-pocket bread at 350 degrees for about ten minutes. While that is happening, mix the onion and tomato into the salad. When the pita is perfectly warmed, remove from oven.
Fill the pocket with the salad mixture first and then top it off with the roast beef! And serve with a side order of Terra Exotic Vegetable Chips! I promise you’ll love it, but please don’t give out our recipe—it’s our little secret! And, don’t forget to turn off the oven!
During our lunch, we were trading funny stories and I said, “Ben, do you remember two years ago, right before Christmas, when your dad, (Rob Welch) came out and surprised us with a visit and gave us those toy helicopters?”
“What?” John asked.
“Yeah,” Ben said. “My dad was helping their church, and they had been given a huge box of about—two hundred of these plastic pull-string helicopters, and he was going to drop them off at the Medina Childrens Home—for stocking stuffers.”
“John,” I said. “Rob gave us about ten of those helicopters, too. And, we all went outside to try them out. Tony showed me how to use it, but I couldn’t keep mine from crashing—everytime that I launched it—but Tony, Ben and Daniel were good at it! In less than two minutes, the guys were launching them at each other, and one of them crashed into the back of my head, but it didn’t hurt me, because it was winding down, and coming in for a landing.”
“I think I still have mine,” Tony said. “I’ll be right back.”
“John,” Ben said. “They were really pretty cool.”
“Yeah, until Daniel shot one into my back at close range,” Tony said. “Here’s mine. I found it in the closet. Let’s go outside and launch it.”
“I think, I’m going to write a blog about this,” I said.
“I thought you were going to write about that mountain lion, Tony saw the other night, going up the mountain—behind the trailer?” John said. “Ben and I climbed all of the way up there yesterday—to check for tracks or signs—and we found some!”
“I can’t,” I said. “If my good friend, that’s coming down in January to celebrate his birthday, with his wife Karen, reads it—he might chicken out. And, I don’t want that to happen.”
“Wait,” John said. “You know how those big, black helicopters are always flying low over the ranch—why don’t we launch it and you take a picture of it, and then you tell everyone that today a low flying helicopter did a fly by?”
We went outside on the porch. “I wish I had some fishing line,” Ben said. “So I can hang it from the roof—to make it look like it’s flying.”
I went inside, grabbed a roll of Tony’s fishing line, and my sewing scissors, and then went outside and made Ben’s wish come true!
Ben pulled the line out and then cut it. Next, he tied it to Tony’s little helicopter, and then stood on the porch rail and carefully hung it from the roof. Then I proceeded to shoot at the toy from different angles.
After the shooting was over, the guys took down the helicopter, and launched it in the front yard for a few minutes, and I came inside to download the pictures, and use Photoshop to erase the fishing line from the pictures.
Around three o’clock, just before John was fixin’ to leave, he reassured me, that it was no trouble for him to pick up, and bring the two newly rescued dogs—with him in the morning.
Around five, Ben headed back to Austin with his two great dogs, Valerie and Penny, which he adopted from us—years ago. And, “T” and I came back to our—still clean trailer to rest.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Wired!
I wasn’t able to post a blog on Tuesday, because I had to spend my time yesterday more wisely—like cleaning the trailer, because this morning ABC’s affiliate, KSAT, out of San Antonio, came out to do a story about Kinky, Kinky Cigars, and to also see the rescue ranch. So, once again, I had to clean, until the trailer, which by the way is named “The Nellybelle,”—looked like Tony and I didn’t live here. Mission was accomplished early this morning—except for the flour—still stuck on the kitchen floor!
The crew interviewed Kinky for about an hour, over at the Lodge, and then Kinky and their cameraman arrived over here about 11:30 a.m. Tony, John and I were in the kitchen trading funny stories when the two arrived, and Tony went outside to see if all was okay.
A few minutes later, Tony returned to the trailer and announced, “Kinky just told me that the cameraman is going to shoot him and the dogs first, and then he wants you to come outside to be interviewed and shot.”
I was saddened by Tony’s news. The Nellybelle had been cleaned up—for nothing. And knowing full well, that by tomorrow morning—it would be obvious that we did live here—mildly depressed me.
Twenty minutes later, we were outside with Kinky introducing John,Tony, and me, to Robert Panlagua, KSAT’s friendly cameraman. After shaking hands, Robert put a wire and microphone on me, and then Kinky and I strolled past the dogs, in their pens, as the cameraman shot us.
When we reached Jedi’s pen with her two, yellow Lab mixes—we went inside to visit the dogs and to be interviewed. Kinky is fantastic in front of a camera, and to say the least—I’m not.
As Kinky played with the dogs—I was interviewed. The cameraman asked me many questions and I did pretty good until I was asked, “Do you get many calls from people wanting to bring you their dogs?”
“Yes, I do,” I said, as Kinky and John stood behind him, watching me with smiling faces. “I get about twenty calls a day from all over the country with people begging or trying to bribe me—to take their dogs or cats. Unfortunately, pets have become disposable items to many people. And, they all have excuses why they want to dump their pets.”
“Tell me,” Robert asked. “Which excuse is the most common?”
“The number one, most common excuse, I hear, is from a young woman who is crying, and begging me to take her dog, because her new boyfriend doesn’t like her dog, even though she loves her dog, and has had it for over eight years—is making her get rid of it!”
“What do you tell them?” Robert asked.
Looking straight into the camera lens, I said, “Euthanize the boyfriend.”
Kinky, John and the cameraman all started to laugh! “That’s a good one, Nance,” Kinky said, with John nodding in the background.
Feeling like I needed to explain myself, I continued, “I ask the young woman, where are you going to be two years from now—with a control freak like that? In two years, will he be giving you permission to go outside or telling you when you can talk on the phone? If he truly loves you, he would never ask you to do something like that. Please, take my advice and keep your dog—because your dog loves you, and knows what love is—and your boyfriend doesn’t have a clue.”
With that said, the interview lasted a few more minutes, and then I removed the wire and microphone, and handed it back to Robert, and then returned to The Nellybelle.
The crew interviewed Kinky for about an hour, over at the Lodge, and then Kinky and their cameraman arrived over here about 11:30 a.m. Tony, John and I were in the kitchen trading funny stories when the two arrived, and Tony went outside to see if all was okay.
A few minutes later, Tony returned to the trailer and announced, “Kinky just told me that the cameraman is going to shoot him and the dogs first, and then he wants you to come outside to be interviewed and shot.”
I was saddened by Tony’s news. The Nellybelle had been cleaned up—for nothing. And knowing full well, that by tomorrow morning—it would be obvious that we did live here—mildly depressed me.
Twenty minutes later, we were outside with Kinky introducing John,Tony, and me, to Robert Panlagua, KSAT’s friendly cameraman. After shaking hands, Robert put a wire and microphone on me, and then Kinky and I strolled past the dogs, in their pens, as the cameraman shot us.
When we reached Jedi’s pen with her two, yellow Lab mixes—we went inside to visit the dogs and to be interviewed. Kinky is fantastic in front of a camera, and to say the least—I’m not.
As Kinky played with the dogs—I was interviewed. The cameraman asked me many questions and I did pretty good until I was asked, “Do you get many calls from people wanting to bring you their dogs?”
“Yes, I do,” I said, as Kinky and John stood behind him, watching me with smiling faces. “I get about twenty calls a day from all over the country with people begging or trying to bribe me—to take their dogs or cats. Unfortunately, pets have become disposable items to many people. And, they all have excuses why they want to dump their pets.”
“Tell me,” Robert asked. “Which excuse is the most common?”
“The number one, most common excuse, I hear, is from a young woman who is crying, and begging me to take her dog, because her new boyfriend doesn’t like her dog, even though she loves her dog, and has had it for over eight years—is making her get rid of it!”
“What do you tell them?” Robert asked.
Looking straight into the camera lens, I said, “Euthanize the boyfriend.”
Kinky, John and the cameraman all started to laugh! “That’s a good one, Nance,” Kinky said, with John nodding in the background.
Feeling like I needed to explain myself, I continued, “I ask the young woman, where are you going to be two years from now—with a control freak like that? In two years, will he be giving you permission to go outside or telling you when you can talk on the phone? If he truly loves you, he would never ask you to do something like that. Please, take my advice and keep your dog—because your dog loves you, and knows what love is—and your boyfriend doesn’t have a clue.”
With that said, the interview lasted a few more minutes, and then I removed the wire and microphone, and handed it back to Robert, and then returned to The Nellybelle.
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