IT'S OFFICIAL! WOOT!!

I checked my grades this morning and what a Christmas present to myself... 4.0 GPA!!!

Rescuing Claude Moneigh

Way back in Sept 2002, on my very first weekend of call, I got a page that Monday morning - a horse running loose on Pasadena Blvd. When I got there, PD had him corraled, and looking at this smallish black horse, he didn't look too bad. As I got closer, however, I could see more and more bones and ribs - this horse was dangerously SKINNY. He was sweet, tho, and loved attention. We kept him at the shelter a few months, then the perfect home came along - ten acres, a pond, a brand new barn, people home all day. Last week I found out he needed rescuing - AGAIN. He was old, and his food was costing too much, and besides, they couldn't ride him. Thanks to Nancy Kelly and Karen Hoffman, we found out about this and arranged a place for him to go, but we had to get him out, first. His people were nice to him, but they just didn't want him anymore, so I borrowed a truck from ETI (thank you, Victor!) and went to get him yesterday. The kind people from Habitat for Horses are coming to take him to his FOREVER retirement home today. Everyone who meets Moneigh loves him - he is homely, plain, and the nicest horse, so I have no doubt he'll be cherished where he's going. We love you, Mo!

Moneigh - the beginning

This picture of Mo was taken in early 2003 - after several MONTHS of good feeding... can you see why we all fell for him? We found his "owners" - he didn't even have a name, just "the black horse." We hoped he'd never need to worry about a home again...

The dead goat game

Sounds pretty awful, huh? Way back when, when Mongolian horseman got bored, they would form two teams, mark goals (sometimes a mile or two apart) and see who could get the carcass of a goat to their goal - I'm guessing they had no soccer balls.... Anyway, at equestrian practice we play a version of "Buzkashi" minus the actual dead goat. My friend Kathryn has a wonderfully sewn stuffed goat, complete with horns and a billy-goat beard! He has a bag of grass seed velcroed into his tummy that makes him weigh about 25 pounds. We tossed that goat around for two hours or so the first day - the horses were a bit shy of Mr. Chupa Cabre, but then decided that chasing each other around the arena was fun, even if their retarded riders kept laughing so hard... I'll get some pics at the next practice in January, and you can all see what a vampire, horse-eating goat looks like.

Thanksgiving with my mom

Tom carves the turkey...

Helping Mom in the kitchen...

John can't help it - his face stuck that way...

He ate my biscuit!

On Saturday, because Jen and Ryan took some time off, Tom and I decided it would be a good day to take the kids horseback riding - and not just in the front yard, either - we went to the George Bush Park, a huge place where we could really enjoy ourselves! Papa (Victor) was our only casualty of the day, after slipping sideways off of Nipper. Jake claimed Nipper for the rest of the day, sharing with Katie, and Tom, Jaky and Manie (Marion) rode Dixie. Raven was feelin' her oats, so I stayed on her myself, except for leading Katie around to give my butt a rest!!! ANYHOW, when we took a break for KFC lunch, Jake and Nipper had a little "discussion" - basically, Nipper said, "hey, don't leave your biscuit where I can reach it next time!" My little war pony then proceeded to work over Jaky for HER biscuit, too. Dixie and Nipper might be on the Harris County Precinct Three website promoting equestrian activities! Cool! I'll post the website when I get it!

Riding in the park

George Bush Park on a beautiful day!
Jake and his faithful, hungry steed.

Jaky and Dixie

Jaky and Dixie are a lovely pair of ladies!

Watermelon is Good Eats!

Dixie eats every little bit. Jake is a little grossed out - Raven has NO manners when it comes to her favorite treat!

Welcome to the Lost Soul's Tavern

Beware, all ye who enter here! This be the party of the season at Joe and April Bennet's house! Arrrr!! 

My sweet highland Laddie

Tom wore his clan tartan and looked a fine lad!

The Cap'n and his Mate

A well earned smoke break for the Cap'n! 

A best friend....

is someone you can always lean on. 

Jen's identity crisis

By the end of the night, she'd labeled all of us... scary part is when I walked up and said "hey! I need one that says" and she slapped on my "wench" nametag. She has GOT to stop reading my mind! 

The Flasher

And quite possibly the most disturbing of all.... 

The Seer

This be the Gypsy wench whot told arr fortunes.... 

Arrr... the Cap'n

Cap'n Biggun's and Mr. Prostitute abscond with sum rum! 

Cap'n Bigguns' Hot pirate Mama

Believe it - this foxy lady is Joe's mom ! She were an excellent wench! 

ARRRR Mateys!

Arrr, me bruther and me at the best Halloween party - here there be rum! 

October 22, 2005

Got up this morning and went to go see Jacob Ober (Tom's nephew) play tackle football. His dad, Ryan, is the head coach of the team (the Falcons) and Jake's sister Katie is a cheerleader. It's Jake's first year to play tackle football, and Katie's first year as an official cheerleader, and since their Manie and Pawpaw are in NYC, Tom and I filled in. What an exciting game! Those little guys fought hard and played better than the Packers! Even though the other team's QB threw a great pass (and almost made a second one!), the defense held, and the offense was fantastic! They were so excited! It was so fun to watch, Tom and I are both hoarse from shouting! GOOD GOING FALCONS!! And Katie was cheering like crazy, those girls have a ball yelling at the boys! GREAT JOB, CHEERLEADERS! Went over to scrapbook tonight with Jen and Nora Ober. I started on my cruise scrapbook and got to Grand Cayman. Took about 6 hours to do 7 pages, but I'm just learning. It was quite fun, and now I need to finish. All is well in school, just doing the stuff!

Test results

Well, except for my English essay, all my test results are in and I'm doing well! (Better than I thought, really!) Macroeconomics got a 95, and history was a 93! So far, I'm an all - A student! I read all the readings, do the homework, review before a test, and that's the trick, I guess. In my history class, 15 people didn't make above 60! What is that? Maybe the difference is the fact that *I* paid for these classes and I plan to get my money's worth! :) I'm aiming for the honor society, they have some nice scholarships I could use next semester. We'll see! Amy

Sushi

The lady who brought her to the shelter said she thought her name was "Sophia". When I realized how very silly this little grumpy-faced cat was, her name began the morph into its present form. She LOVES bags of any sort, and she almost went for a ride with Tom several times, as his brown leather duffle is her VERY fav! Here she's helping me avoid homework!

Can't catch me!

Dutch races a new friend to the water at the dog park. 

At the dog park

"This is as far as I'm going, Mom!" Wyatt finally enters the water to cool off. He likes to wait for Dutch at the edge of the pond and then pounce him! 

At the dog park

Beautiful Dutch enjoys the pond at the Millie Bush Bark Park. 

Doing good!

Have had several tests so far, and made good grades! Int. Alg - 97! Woot! made an honest 88 on my Govt test, but he gave the class an extra 5 points, making mine an "A"! I was the only person on my row of six people who passed, and only one other person passed after the extra points... this scares me, as the information is SO basic. Took a Macro ec test Monday, results in tomorrow! Amy

Rita - Day 6 Fnally Home!!!

On the way home on Tuesday, I made sure Nipper had a thick protective bandage on his tail to prevent aggravating his rub, however, when we stopped halfway to check everyone, Dixie's tail was bloody! Apparently, she was doing something this trip she wasn't doing on the way up - even with all the stop and go traffic on that long trip she hadn't rubbed. So she got a super-fast dressing and bandage, which was no little feat inside a trailer still loaded. With Tom's help, I managed to prevent her from rubbing it down to the bone. Nipper may never grow hair where he rubbed, but Dixie's hair will, altho it will take years to do it. Next time, tail wraps all around!! We made it home in about five hours, the usual time. Unloaded some very cranky horses, then ran for home to check on the cats. Everyone was fine but hungry! What an adventure!

Rita - day five

Wyatt relaxes in the RV after being retrieved from the kennel and getting a bath. We'll be leaving in the morning. 

Rita - day 5

Preparing to leave the RV park in Terrell, TX - Tom's telling someone "we're OK!" 

Rita - day 4

After Rita made her little jog to the east, we found ourselves directly in her line of fire. The winds really picked up at the place we were staying and they were predicted to reach speeds of 75 mph, so we left - in a hurry! Drove about two hours west on I-20 to Terrell, TX, just east of Dallas. This picture, taken the next day, is the very nice RV park where we stayed. We grilled steaks, and Tom made his KILLER margaritas, which we drank in quantity. It was still briskly windy, but the humongous RV made a perfect windblock for us! 

Rita - Day 3

Friday, September 23, 2005 - Rita has calmed a bit and turned northwards. The dogs go to the kennel for the weekend, Wyatt is so stressed from the trip he has refused to eat since we left the house Wednesday. I managed to get him to eat a cat-food sized can of food, but he refuses more than that. Dutch, of course, offers to eat Wyatt's leftovers!

Poor Nipper's groundsweeping tail will take up to SIX YEARS to recover.

Bill in his hurricane shelter! Roomy!