Love...It Don't Cost A Thing

Okay. While ago, I had nothing to say. That has now changed.

My blogging buddy Jill had a birthday last week.

And as I was checking up on blogs, I saw that Jill’s husband Rick surprised her by flying in her mom and her sister Amy. Isn’t that sweet? You can see all the cool pix at Amy’s blog. Did I say Jill’s husband Rick surprised her? I did, didn’t I? I said that he surprised her! Which brings me to the next part.

While I tried to keep it somewhat quiet, your blogging buddy Janie also had a birthday last week. Some bloggers busted me, but for the most part, I kept Silent Sammie.

Janie’s husband MLH didn’t surprise her. Matter of fact, he himself got surprised. You see, MLH forgot his beautiful wife’s birthday in all his 24 hour/7 days a week work in Pennsylvania. When he realized it was Janie’s birthday, he quickly called Younger Son to save the day. YS then went and picked up flowers and a card and had them waiting at the house when I arrived, at 9:30 p.m. Yup, he’s in deep caca now. MLH, I mean. Younger Son? He’s an angel.

Back to MLH. We have a rule that when either of us is out of town, there should be at least two phone calls per day – one in the morning, one at night. This isn’t happening with any regularity, either. More deep caca. Growing every minute caca.

(Have y'all noticed all my blogs lately concern caca?)

MLH is treading in very deep water and should probably be afeared for his very life. I have a friend that has an alleged penchant for stabbing…but she travels incognito, so I can’t give you any linky love to her blog.

Janie is living life without MLH, missing him, but…going on. Shopping extensively to fill the void. Eating out with girlfriends to fill the void. Going hunting frequently with friends to fill the void. Buying highly expensive* vehicles to fill the void. Training dogs to fill the void. Cleaning out the garage to fill the void. Buying hunting** vehicles to fill the void. Hair, nail appointments to fill the void. Facials to fill the void. Haven’t been to the movies yet without MLH but that’s coming, too.

Are you getting the picture? Better yet, if MLH reads this blog, do you think he’ll get the picture?

When my friend John forgot (1) his wife Suzan’s 60th birthday and (2) their 30th anniversary, I threatened to send him an air-brushed shovel with the following painted on it:

1) Forgetting wife’s birthday: $60K (2008 GMC Denali)
2) Forgetting wedding anniversary: $450K (New house in PA)
3) Shovel to dig your way out of this mess: Priceless

MLH thought that was so funny! Until I reminded him of it last night.

Janie: “Honey, have you seen John and Suzan? Did you ask John if you could borrow his shovel?”

MLH: (Silence, then a gasp.) “Oh, Lordy, I’ve done exactly the same thing, haven’t I?”

Once MLH started consulting, I gained much, including MLH’s happiness to be out in the field. He absolutely loves his job, and it’s been really neat to see him grow and learn and put those mega brains to work doing something he loves. He's really found his niche. However, I did lose some benefits, i.e.:

1) I had to start packing for myself.
2) I had to start taking out the trash.
3) I have to load the high powered dogs, guns, cages, and all their paraphernalia myself into my truck.
4) And I’m on my own many days and nights.
5) When he’s on one of those jobs that goes into all hours, communication is por nada, lots of times due to lack of cellular service, or too busy on location.
6) And he usually brings me Starbucks Venti Chai to my office when he’s in town. Plus a package of Madeline cookies. Oh, yeah.
7) AND I forgot to say, MLH took MY truck to PA. And left me in a rental.

I know, I’m spoiled. Rotten. Most days.

But I’m Soooooooooooooooo worth it.

And I know it.

So, Baby. You’d better hurry up, finish that job, and come on home. You may be knocking down some big bucks up there…just consider the costs.

One more thing - did you take my American Express? Oh. You did? No probs. They'll send me another.

Fedex.

Heh.

* I had permission to buy my new SUV.
**I had permission to buy John and Suzan's jeep for hunting.

Almost Monday!

I finally got through the Friday. Pushed the hair appointment at 1 p.m. right into the doctors appointment at 3 p.m. I had to leave the hair stylist with wet scrunchy hair. The doctor told me I have a virus in my stomach and must take antibiotics for 2 weeks. And that I might have celiac disease, and must have blood work to confirm. How fun is that? Well, whatever, I’ll walk that out. I can deal with that, piece of cake.

I finally got through with hair at 8:30 p.m. Friday night…and it’s still not done, so more highlights on Tuesday.

Saturday, I dealt with car dealers all…day…long, though by e-mail and phone. Buying a new vehicle makes me crazy. (I know, it’s not a far walk.)

Today, Bob and Cherie came by and helped me straighten out the garage as a surprise for MLH. We worked hard, but it looks so much better! Thanks, Bob and Cherie – y’all rock!

Other than that, I really have nothing to say. Zip. Nada. Nothing. Y’all have a blessed week.

A Friday in the Life of...Janie!

Janie’s day.

Otherwise known as “A Friday in the Life of Janie”. After looking at all this, I just wanna get back in bed. Seriously.

8:00 a.m. – leave house for Windwalker Shooting Sports

8:30 a.m. – arrive at Windwalker for the Baker Hughes Shoot, benefiting Bynum School. Arrive, sign in, schmooze, schmooze, schmooze. Did I bring business cards??

9:30 a.m – 11:30 a.m. – shoot like a fiend with all my great coworkers (really!) so maybe I can win a cool plaque, spend money on all the fundraisers, and see friends and customers

11:30 a.m. – go through the awards program, and hope that I can get done by my next appointment, which is critical*.

12:30 p.m. – drive like a madman back to town for next appointment.

1:00 p.m. – get to Belle Gente for hair appointment, hoping and praying we can get done in time for my next appointment.

2:57 p.m. – drive like a madman back across town for my “colonoscopy results” appointment at
3:00 p.m. Same colonoscopy that they said the results were good, no problem, and then called me back while I was in Denver and set up an appointment two weeks down the road “because Dr. G wants to talk to you.” Talk about S.U.C.K. I wish MLH were here with me.

3:57 p.m. – hope like heck I’m out of the above appointment, because it’s time to drive like a madman back across town to the spa for another critical* appointment.

4:00 p.m. – time for a facial. I’m probably still dressed in a shooting shirt and dirty jeans, tennis shoes, etc, like I was at 7:30 this morning. Well, I wasn’t dirty this morning, but shooting’s a dirty sport, and I won’t have had time to change. So, I’ll be going in with all the floocy mama’s looking like a tomboy who’s been playing in the sandbox.

5:00 p.m. – leave to go get a wedding present for a shower tomorrow. Still having to go shopping in floocy places, looking like a tomboy.

5:30 p.m. – going back to car dealership to finalize whatever the heck I’m buying since MLH took my truck to Pennsylvania. My heart wants to get a small SUV. My lifestyle and constant entertaining of customers demands a big one – like a Yukon or Sequoia. Why can’t MLH be here to help me decide? Waaaaaaaaaah.

Okay, gotta go get dressed, get the dogs in the kennel, put on makeup and a cap – so I can be, at the very least, presentable!

Oh, and did I say that the housecleaners come today? Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhh!

*Appointments are critical because I’m readying for our annual trip to NMOGA** (for the first time, I might still be batching it, MLH may still be stuck in Pennsylvania!) in Santa Fe next week – and girls just wanna look good!

**New Mexico Oil and Gas Association

Dirty Laundry

I took Zack and Zanna in to the vet for their checkups yesterday. The vet put Zack on meds for IBS, and changed his food. Again. We can't do chicken. We can't do rice. So now, we're on venison and potato. Yeehah. Zanna finished her rabies and her rattlesnake series. We should be good to go for some time, I'm thinking.

Today, at 1:30 p.m., Lindsey, my awesome dog walker extraordinaire, called. Seems that Zack already has diarrhea. I started his medicine last night, and he had the second dose this morning.

This is how it all went down…

Linz: Janie, is Zack on meds? Did he start an antibiotic?

Janie: Yes. Why do you ask?

Linz: Well, he was acting like he was all constipated. I felt so sorry for him! He finally started going to the bathroom and…Zanna stuck her head under him, I tried to stop her, but she was so curious, and playing, and…he let it go.

Janie: Awwwww. No…..where are you?

Linz: I’m inside. They’re outside. And I can…(gagging)…smell them from inside the house.

Janie: (gagging myself) Okaaaaaaaay, then.

Linz: (trying to feel sorry for them, but laughing, and gagging.) And Zanna…it’s horrible…she’s got it all over her head, her ears.

Janie: Oh, no. Yuuuuuuck. How is Zack feeling now?

Linz: Great! He’s jumping and playing.

Janie: (thinking, "Oh, yeah. The dude just got the ultimate revenge for a dog!") I guess he is! Okay. This is what I need you to do. It’s going to be gross. Are you ready? Get two ziplocks. Put one on like a glove. (Readers, bear with me here.) Go to the site, get a sample, take the other ziplock, and use it to pull the first ziplock inside out. Zip it up in the second ziplock.

Linz: No problem.

Janie: And drop it by Dr. Riordan’s office when you leave. Remember where it is?

Linz: Yes ma'am, on Loop 250. I can do that. And I’ll get Zanna and Zack cleaned up. Can I use the water hose?

Janie: Yes. Outside would definitely be best. Then you can wash that mess into the grass and it will absorb it.

For those who are wondering:

(1) I called the vet. They’re testing the sample. Said it will take a couple of days for the meds to kick in, not to worry.

(2) I heard through the grapevine Dr. Riordan’s building a new wing for Town and Country Veterinary in Midland and dedicating it to Zack the Wonder Dog.

(3) Yes, I’m giving Lindsey a raise. She’s freakin’ awesome. I hired her to walk the dogs and help with laundry. Well, I wasn't specific as to the definition of laundry, but who would figure?

I did neglect to get her to sign the "It's Never Boring Around Here" disclaimer.

CaCa Patrol

Well, I am surviving without the MLH being about and around. Not saying it’s easy, by a long shot, but I’m surviving!

I have noticed that somehow, the house is staying cleaner…(translation for Jill Jill Bo Bill: I’m only having to “pre-clean” for about 20 minutes as opposed to 1 hour)which makes for a happy housecleaner that doesn't qui-yut you! And I’m getting to hook up with my girlfriends a little bit, when I’m not watching the Zanna-meister. And she is the master of this house, at this point. I will get it turned about, but, she is wearing me out. Seriously.

Overall, Zanna BoDanna is doing better acclimating to the house. She kennels on command almost 100% of the time. When I get home, we (Janie, Zack, Zanna) go into the tv slash music room slash storage room and shut the door and lounge for a bit. When she wants to go outside to pee, she goes to the door and sits. Now, that’s what I’m talking about.

Pooping, however, is entirely a different matter. I can’t get Zanna’s rhythms down. She is consistently pooping, but at inconsistent times. I feed her, and about halfway through feeding, I’ll take her outside. Because that was her pattern...eat a bit, then poop, then come finish eating. Now, as she’s growing, she’s changing her ways. Just like a woman. Dang it.

And Zack just looks at me, shaking his head, like he’s saying, “C’mon, Mom. Dad say’s you’re the freakin’ horsewhisperer. Can’t you figure this little heifer out? I tried to tell you, I did.” As. I. Pull. My. Hair. Out. Hard.

And you know, you can only correct wrong behavior in the first 30 seconds, or itisoverwithdonegonenowlet’sgoplay in the dog’s mind. First thirty seconds? I can’t even breathe, her poop is so rank. It permeates the house. How the heck can I correct the Zanna Montana within 30 seconds? Arrrrrrrrrgh.

At first, Zanna would come out of her kennel, grab her blankie, whining for a good 10 minutes. This absolutely didn’t mean she needed to go outside, though she would…dragging her blanket, wouldnotletitgo dragging, which resulted in her dragging a now wet blanket back into the house (wet grass, rain, or she pees on it because it is under her, since she drags it around.) (I’m going to have to catch this on video so y’all can see it, it’s hilarious.) She whines whenever she has something in her mouth – she’s still teething, so she always has something in her mouth. Whine, whine, whine. And if the ZZ crew is in the outside kennel, after her first initial burst of freedom, Zanna has to run into the house to her kennel, grab the blankie, and do it again. Whine, whine, whine.

Zanna still does that, but just this afternoon, I noticed another whining. And I didn’t pay attention to it, so, yup, caca happened. Maybe that’s the key. She may be telling me now and I’ve missed it. I’ll let y’all know on the next ZZ Crew update.

My boys are 27 and 20 and I.have.regressed.to.poop.patrol. Once again.

I really didn’t expect it to happen until one of us became incontinent in our late 90’s - hopefully, not me. Or, the grandkids arrive, which if you measure this by the rate that our boys are getting wedding bells ringing in their heads (not.at.all), will be the 12th of never. In which case, when and if you get grandkids, you hand them (the grandkids, that is) back to their parent, with elegance, i.e., little fingers extended, right? I mean, it’s their job then, our sons, that is. I’ve paid years of poop duty. And that was before they had the reward training potties with little targets and bells on them that they do now. Ah, well. I honestly don’t know how Jon and Kate Plus 8 are still living.

Zack and I went to practice on birds on Wednesday, and took Zanna. Zack was a hunting monster. He’s so amazing. I tied Zanna to the truck, and sheloveditsoverymuch. (It’s not time for her to be close to shotgun sounds, but it exposes her from far away, so she gets used to the sound.) She really did well. When we returned from the field to the barn, I released her, and she followed Zack back out in to the field like a machine. Zanna tried to keep up with his every step. I threw a live lock-winged bird and she retrieved it every time. She is liking that retrieving thing.

She’s getting more socialized, there were dogs and other people around, and she was a flirt. She gave up on Zack in the field, and started playing with Laci the Lab, and they went into the pond together. That Zannagirl will not give up. If Dog 1 is in the water, she wants to be there – first. And she’s scared of no dog.

The cost of entertainment is a relative truth. Or I’m pretty simple.

You tell me.

Hey, MLH, if you’re reading this, I love you and miss you. Have fun. Make money. Come home soon. Zanna will probably be housebroken…or I’ll be taking valium.

Uh-oh. What’s that smell?

Men - They Can't Do Without Us!

We didn’t finish the field trial after all.

MLH needed to switch out trucks, and pack, and get everything ready to drive to Pennsylvania. He also needed to transfer some well information to another guy in the field. I just couldn’t leave him – we’ll be apart for the longest time of our marriage. So I stayed home to help him get ready. Which took…

All. Day. Long.

Me: Don’t you think you need to get on the road, honey? You have a 25 hour drive ahead of you.

MLH: I just have to get this truck cleaned out, my tools put up, this stuff put into your truck, do some reports, and then I can go.

Me: Don’t you think it would be best if you flew, then rented a 4wd in Pennsylvania?

MLH: I mentioned that to Mark, he didn’t sound like it was the best way to go.

Me: Probably because you’ll need your stuff once you get to location.

MLH: Probably.

I fell asleep, laying behind him on the couch, while he's sitting there working on his computer. I'm waiting on him to finish his reports and turn everything over to the guy who’s watching the current project. I woke up and it was 2 HOURS LATER. I’m picturing my guy driving right into the remnants of Hurricane Ike.

Me: Honey.

MLH: Yeah, babe?

Me: Do you know what time it is?

MLH: Yeah, sweetie, I’m almost finished.

I’m getting tensed up, just thinking about him driving all night. And about him being gone for a month. And about us having a new puppy and me having to do 100% of the training. About getting ready for NMOGA in Santa Fe, and the possibility of MLH not attending this year. Getting the house ready for the housecleaner every week without his help. Hunting without him. And having to take out my own trash…My mind was going haywire. I had to just get a GGGGRRRRIIIIIIPPPPP, I tell you. A grip. Taking all thoughts captive, I started over.

Me: Hoooonnnnney.

MLH: Yeah, babe?

Me: Do you know what time it is?

MLH: Yeah. (I can tell by looking he’s exhausted. I’m not happy he’s decided to drive all that way. I mean, that’s what planes are for.) Almost done here.

Finally, about 5:30 p.m., we get everything loaded in the truck, play with Zack and Zanna, and hug and kiss goodbye. I start a light supper, and about 5:45 p.m., my phone rings.

Me: Hey…

MLH: Hey, sweetie. How did you load GPS onto your blackberry?

Me: You can go on your blackberry and download it, or at least you can with AT&T. If you were here, we could call in on my phone and download it on yours simultaneously.

MLH: Oh, I’ve not left yet. I’m still in the front of the house, trying to get this done.

Me: Whaaaaaat???? Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh. Get out of town already!

So, we get the GPS downloaded, and off he goes. I run to the grocery store, which has conveniently decided to jack around all it’s merchandise, so I can’t just run in and grab what I need. Don’t you hate it when the manager decides to rearrange the store? Freaks me out. Anyway, back to this story, my phone rings. Guess who? Yup.

Me: Hey there.

MLH: Hey, sweetie, I drove by the auto parts store and there’s a Duramax 2500 truck with poles for sale. Will you drive by and get the number and check on it? Might work into our plan.

Me: (Are you kidding me? Didn’t you just drive by there, and wasn’t the number on the window?) Well, sure I will. NOW DRIVE!

He laughs and hangs up.

An hour later, no kidding, my phone rings.

Me: Good afternoon. May I help you? (laughing)

MLH: Hey, sweetie, can you check on flights and rental cars into State College, Pa.? I’m not that far down I-20.

Me: S.E.R.I.O.U.S.L.Y? No? Yes? Yeah, I can check. This is really what I want him to do. I think it will be quicker, and safer, for this trip.

So, I do. And while I’m doing so, MLH decides to keep on driving. That he really needs his truck and tools, that it’s the best thing to do, drive this time.

It’s going to be a long two days if this crap keeps up.

I already miss him.

A Truck? An SUV? A Golf Cart? What to Do?

It's a field trial morning. Here's a picture of little Tucker on point. He had three points, three birds in the bag in less than 5 minutes. Beautiful, isn't he?


And here's the Zanna Montana, practicing up for her next field trial. Which should probably be, ummmm, maybe next year? But, hey - she does like her some bird!

It’s been an exciting day. We left the house at 6 a.m., ZZ crew in tow, for the field trial in Coahoma. Zack and I were the second run of the day. Zack did well, his owner, not so well. It would help if I would get all the rules down. Zack pointed a bird, and before I could get to it, it flushed. I didn’t try to shoot it, which cost us major points. (I wasn’t sure if I should. Now, I know better.) But, more field trialing tomorrow, so we shall see! Zack and I will be running doubles with Linda and her dog, Molly. It will be fun.

We’re trying to find another vehicle, so we stopped at two dealerships so I could test-drive their trucks. Our idea is to keep MLH’s old 4wd Powerstroke as a backup to his work truck. His work truck will now become my 2004 4wd Yukon XL, leaving me to find a new or nearly new replacement vehicle. We’ve been looking for a while, and just haven’t made the final decision.

All of that, to tell you this.

MLH came in last night, saying that he’s finally going to Pennsylvania to frac a well. This has been his dream assignment for the last 6 months or so, and it’s finally coming to pass. He is so excited! When we arrived back at the house this afternoon, plans were that he would leave on Monday to be there by Wednesday. The project manager called about an hour ago, when we were trying to nap. He told MLH he’d like him to be there on Tuesday, and it’s a 25 hour drive. So, MLH will be leaving tomorrow morning…in my beloved Yukon XL. It’s just more dependable, and we both feel better about him taking that vehicle.


The jeep we purchased is still sitting in Grapevine, Texas.


The Powerstroke is full of oilfield tools, and needs detailing before this girl can entertain customers out of it.


That is one dirty truck!!! Thank God, it's been raining out here. So, now, we’re going to the airport to pick up a rental car to utilize until I can get the jeep here, get the Powerstroke detailed, and/or find another pickup or whatever. And the ZZ crew and I will be batching it for quite a while. (sniff.) We'll miss that man we love, and at the same time, we're excited for this new opportunity.


Life is never boring.

Eyes To See

The other day, I found myself in a rather uncomfortable situation. MLH and I were in a meeting with some believers who have started a service organization. Some months ago, I had been invited to “help” with this group. I went, albeit tentatively. You see, when I show up, people think two things:

(1) Oh, yeah! Janie’s here! She can help us raise money! And…
(2) Oh, yeah! Janie’s here! She’s a great organizer and promoter, she’s got a great reputation! She can help us bring people into our organization (which often translates to money.)

This meeting was no different than others in that respect. Matter of fact, they even spoke aloud, in almost the same words, the (2) sentence above.

The gifts of God are without repentance, and I know that. I know that the Lord has blessed me greatly. And I’m learning that to make my yes, a yes. I’m also focusing on the more difficult thing, to know when to say no, and when to say yes. It’s been a hard lesson for me, but that’s how it is. Just because I choose to take on a certain cause, whatever “it” is, doesn’t necessarily mean that God will bless my work in that cause, or that the cause will thrive. And I confess I’ve gone before the Lord many times, and taken something on that the timing wasn’t right, or something else was wrong. Instead, I should have waited on Him. So, I’ve learned a lot. And, I’m still learning.

Anyway, back to the meeting. The leadership of the group was talking about how to reach others for Christ, grow the chapter, and raise money, in order to further reach people. And almost as one, they looked at me, and one guy reaffirmed my gifting detailed above. Talk about pressure.

I took a breath, and asked for permission to speak, and was granted such.

To begin, I reiterated their recent words, illustrating, in my perception, how they saw me. I then encouraged them to open their spiritual eyes – and endeavor to see people after the Spirit, and not by the flesh. In seeing after the Spirit, I believe we will all be more open to the opportunities to love on people. I share my belief with this group – that this meeting, the very idea of it, is a great thing. I believe a meeting of believers should be a place of refreshing, and encouragement – a place of respite, as it were, especially in this specific organization. And that if we love on people, they will come. They will want to be a part of this organization.

In ending my turn to talk, I spoke of that one thing – loving people. If I were going to categorize the way that MLH and I walk, I would probably say that we do it rather organically. We don’t follow a prescribed method, pass out tracts, etc. Actually, it’s probably rare, though not by design, that we speak the name of the Lord before others, yet we believe. It's our desire His will become manifest in our lives. We hang out at shoots, events, industry happenings, conferences, hunts and work. We meet people where they are. We strive to see and sense the Lord’s will in any situation that might present itself, seen or unseen. Mostly, we just love on people, wherever we are. That’s who we are, and what we do. And it’s our hope that those people smell the very fragrance of Christ and are drawn unto Him. That’s our hope.

Okay, rant over, and I think (heh) I just preached to myself. Maybe I needed a reminder.

Thanks for letting me breathe.

Fall From Grace...or Fall With Grace?

I’m wide awake. It’s 4:32 a.m. – mountain time. I think I took my vitamins tonight and it jacked me up.

Dang it.

Or, it could be that I’m sore.

Sore from my fall from grace.

Seriously.

I busted my butt today, walking across the street at Broadway and some other freakin’ street. ("Oh, no!" you say. "You diiiiiidn't!") (Oh, yes, I did.) And I hit the pavement - the one with the trolley rails built in. I stepped into a hole, and lost my balance. Landed on the knee that was shattered in 1990, put back together with a huge screw. Feels great, today, believe me.

Embarrassing, that fall. My guys acted like it didn’t even happen, for which I will be forever grateful. (Well, right after they made sure I was okay.)

But, stuff happens.

Most always, to me.

It’s never boring around here!

Rocky Mountain High

Yesterday afternoon, I flew non-stop to Denver via Southwest Airlines. I mean, well, sort of non-stop. Midland to Dallas. Get off the plane, see friends in the airport, exchange hugs, news, smiles. Get back on plane from Dallas to Oklahoma City, then on to Denver. Better than the pricy alternatives, I’ll tell you. I had friends and acquaintances all the way, so we swapped stories and opportunities. I digress. Somewhere, during some stop, I received this e-mail from my young Denver whippersnapper salesman.

Janie,

Bring your runnin’ shoes! Our first meeting tomorrow is set to kick off at 9 AM with the Sr. Operations Engineer with 123 Energy. Followed closely at 9:30 with a young Drilling Engineer with Some Oil. Then at 10:30 we are meeting with a new client, Snowy Mountain Energy at 10:30. Lunch at 11:15 with an Engineer that we are trying to hire for another state from Boondocks Energy . Maybe we can squeeze one more appointment in after lunch before I head out for my son’s B-day party…

Be safe and see you in the morning.

Isn’t he sweet? Here we go again!

Random September Week

Where the heck did this week go? Let’s see…

Monday – we came home from Lubbock, heading towards the oilpatch, where MLH had some work to finish. Halfway there (Hobbs, N.M.), we got a call that an important piece of equipment had gone down. Being a holiday, MLH decided to cut his losses and shut the job down for the day. Or, as the pulling unit guys say, “Shot de job down por day.” I’m pretty sure his crew loved him for making them work on a holiday, driving all the way out there, then sending them all home. Life in the patch, gotta love it. Anyway, we drove home, and started laundry and other weekend duties that make the next week better.

Tuesday, I attended a funeral of one of my favorite coworkers, John R. He had worked at Halliburton for 46 years, and by all counts, was trying for 50 years. You can read other blogger’s stories of John here and here in the posting Friends. We love you, John, and we'll miss you. You were a man of much wisdom.

Wednesday, I had tons of meetings.

Thursday found me flying the friendly Southwest skies to DFW. Ran around Dallas all day Thursday. I called Mike and Pam, and had supper with them in Mansfield Thursday night, and spent the night at their house.

I headed to work in Fort Worth on Friday.

Sometime inbetween Thursday and Friday, we bought a jeep from John and Suzan and I had planned on driving it home. MLH called right before I was to pick it up, and said, “Why don’t I pick it up later? You fly home.”

I’m SO glad I did. Arrived at the Midland airport around 3pm on Friday, and my phone started ringing the minute I turned it on. One of our friends had come by the house to let the dogs out of the kennel for a bit. Seems like Zack was “lethargic”. Have you ever seen a lethargic German Shorthair? When Zack was let out of his kennel, he lay down on the concrete. LAY DOWN. Zack doesn’t have a LAY DOWN bone in his body…unless he’s getting under our comforter, when it’s bedtime. I rushed home, grabbed the ZZ crew up, and off to Town and Country Vet we went. Poor Dr. Riordan can’t get our boy Zack well - Zack just finished his antibiotics Thursday morning. After x-ray and investigation, Riordan (aka Sherlock) determined that Zack ate “something”. What he ate is anyone’s guess, as he was never out of his kennel except for his daily walk. So here we go again, special canned food, and if we can keep Zack well this time one day past antibiotics, he’ll go on a daily medicine much like Prilosec. Maybe we can get him past all this stuff. I’m ready. Don’t like it when our boy feels bad.

Today, we went to breakfast, then MLH went to the oilpatch. I went to Home Depot and dropped a wad on appliances (stainless steel, no less!), sinks, toilets, faucets, shower heads, etc. It’s time to renovate another one of our duplexes. Carpet will be laid next week. Tile work has already been done, and it’s beautiful. Cabinets have been totally refaced, and painted. Beautiful, again. How come my renters live in sweeter quarters than MLH and I? What The Heck is WRONG with that picture? We gotta get this straight. This Princess is about to come U.N.D.O.N.E. Well, not really. We’ll get everything done on our of list of “honey-do’s” someday.

Shortly after I finished shopping, my phone rang. It was Little Brother, and he wanted to come hang out. What timing! We were going hunting tomorrow, and were going to call to see if he wanted to go with us. So now, Little Brother and his real little brother are in another room playing Wii. They are growing so much! I’m in the TV room updating y’all, listening the sweet music of gentle snoring a la Zack and Zanna. Little Brother’s Mom and big sister went off to do some girly-girl things alone. Elder Son’s going to meet us at the hunting grounds in the morning, so we’ll all have a good time.

Gotta go…check out all your blogs…I’m wayyyyy behind! Have a great weekend!

We Bid Adieu to John and Suzan, plus ZZ Crew Pix

Sunday, we loaded Zack and Zanna in the crate, and headed to Woolforth. Our friends John and Suzan are heading northeast to join the crazies in the Pennsylvania Marcellous Shale, and this would be our last time to see them for a while. (John came out of retirement for the second time to take a VP position for an oil company there.) We met John and Suzan in 2001, when they transferred into Midland from Guatemala, and have been friends ever since. Our plans were to pick them up, go to lunch, and head out to view their property at Lake Alan Henry, then head home.

Right. The best laid plans...yadda, yadda, yadda.

We took our time, going back into Lubbock to eat at Rockfish (yup, my diet blown all to hell, but who can pass up Rockfish??), then back out to their house at Woolforth to load up Zack and Zanna again. Since we knew it would be some time before we were together again, we decided to all ride together. We headed out to the lake property, dogs in the big crate in the back of the Yukon. We almost asphyxiated en route, a la “eau de Zack”. The boy had some major gastro going on. It became quite the joke, that is, after we wiped our eyes enough to be able to see to roll the windows down. Several times. The boy is pungent – it gives a whole new meaning to being gassed. By the way everybody carried on about it, I can tell it will soon develop, with probable exaggeration, into one of those stories that are told for years to all of our kids, their grandkids, etc. What a thing to be remembered for, LOL - Zack The Wonderdog's farts.

Anyway, back to the lake property at Alan Henry. It is beautiful place, 10 acres, with a beautiful view of the cove. It’s rained quite a bit there, thus the overgrowth. The build site is on top of the hill, looking down into the cove. The properties surrounding John and Suzan’s acreage are beautiful, with gorgeous houses and rock fences, boat barns, and paths down to the lake. We walked the perimeter of all 10 acres. It was fun watching Zanna trying to keep up with Zack, jumping over cactus and mesquite bushes, and dodging the big grasses. Zack flushed a couple coveys of quail, and was one happy camper. He’s more than ready to start hunting season again.

At one point, the dogs had been running for a while, and were hot. The property also has a natural pond, and it wasn’t long before Zack found it…and in he dove. Oh, yes, he did. Zanna, hot on his trail, arrived about two minutes later (well, she is still pretty small, but you sure can’t fault the little thing for lack of determination!), took one look at the situation, and went leaping off the rock into the water. They were swimming, and Zanna was still after Zack, biting his ears and messing with him. They loved it. We finally got them out of the pond, and trekked on down to the cove at the waterfront. The grasses were quite tall due to the recent rains. Zanna was having to do a “hop run”. She couldn’t see around the grasses, so she would try to hop over them while running. We were almost to the cove when Zanna jumped into a huge cactus plant. She didn’t even falter. MLH picked her up, and called me to rescue her. She was full of cactus spines, but still wanted to “hunt”. The girl just wasn’t stopping. I got her back up to the road, and Suzan and I had to do a little “operating” to get all those spines out of the Zanna girl. It didn’t phase her a bit, she just wanted to keep on going. Here are pictures of Zanna running. She’s beautiful.

And here Zanna is, at the beginning of a scent of quail, not yet quite on point, but getting there. A second later, the covey flushed. She was definitely trying to do her job!

By the time we got to Post, it was 8:30 pm. We were hungry, so stopped at Holly’s drive-in for burgers.

As we headed back to John and Suzan’s, another smell permeated the truck. It was horrible. After some investigation, Sherlock (me) deduced it was pond smell. N.a.s.t.y. After such findings, el teamo scientifico decided to spend the night at John and Suzan's house, where we were able to utilize their awesome designer walk in shower, complete with 5 shower heads and a wand, to bathe the dogs. Soon, everybody smelled better, and we all had a good night’s rest.

This morning, we enjoyed a Cracker Barrel breakfast, and parted ways.

We’ll miss John and Suzan living in West Texas, but I guess that’s what planes are for, right?

(Wonder if I can get Zack a ticket? He does love him some Aunty Suzan.)

**Sniff**