Could All of This Have Happened in Just 1 Day?

So today was my first day back to work after being off for a total of 2 whole weeks. Sounds kind of nice huh??...well if you are not a follower of my blog, you might want to scroll down a few entries to see exactly why I have been off for that amount of time.....the short version:
1. My daughter gave birth to our 2nd Grandchild.
2. We had a hurricane barrel over our part of Texas.
3. My saddle fell apart leaving my old body in a heap under the horse...which leads me wondering what happened to about 4 of those days...but a little drug called Dellotid (spelling??) erased those days forever I am sure.....but back to today.

Feeling better, I do what was normal for me and park in the very back of the gargangious (I swear it is 3 football fields...sort of) parking lot and walk into the building. All the security people know that I park there just to get the extra exercise, so they never even bother to stop to ask if I need a ride anymore. A quarter of the way in, my left hip started to hurt. That was right about the time the cart zoomed by me to pick up someone else. By the time I reached the building, I was walking like the hunch back of Notre Dame and I would have sworn that a railroad spike was sticking out of the left side of my butt! If that was not bad enough - I was 3 minutes late signing in!

Okay - so I am trying to catch up on about 80+ work e-mails, get caught up on the latest office news and be as apologetic to the one and only other person in my department who had to work alone for these last 2 weeks. Oh yes - I had to tell and retell the humiliating story of how I came off of my horse....the latest version sounded something like this:
The saddle broke, I fell off, and almost broke myself.

Aside from trying to catch up on the work from that job, I also have a deadline to write an article about tbe horse show I was not able to attend due to the hurricane. The show went on - but without me there....kind of makes it hard to write a story about it though...and even harder to sell ads (on my lunch hour) when the stock market takes a deep sea dive as it did today.

So there I sat uncomfortably at my desk when my phone buzzed. I was getting a text from Emily - the daughter who gave birth only a couple of weeks ago. Trestin was sick and she was taking him into the Emergency room. He seemed to be having trouble breathing. I anxiously awaited every bit of news. He indeed was ill and they put she and Trestin into an ambulance to another hospital better equipped to handle infants. By this time she and I were on the phone together. I was so proud of her, she was calm and understood why he was being moved. The cell phone never left my hands after that conversation.

On my way out of the building - not one security guard could be found so off I went again on my trek back to my car. I was really hurting by the time I reached it and vowed to give myself at least 1 week off from being an exercising lot lizard. I had only 1 errand to run before going home and that was to pick up a prescription previously called into the Walmart pharmacy. Should have been ready at 5pm..so why oh why was I surprised that when I arrived at 6:20...it was not. Apparently I was in good (well maybe not exactly good) but a lot of company being given the same story. 20 minutes.... 20 minutes later they would just say 20 more minutes.

Okay - so I have been subject to quite a bit of stress, pain and over the last several days I had been on some pretty intense medications...so when a 70+ year old man with his polyester pants almost pulled up to his nipples walked in with his 30 year old girlfriend whose shorts could not in any position cover the crack of her behindwalked beside me....well I had to physically bite my tongue. I have never laughed so hard and so quietly in all of my life. What made it worse was the 3 or so women who obviously shared my sense of humor. We all almost blew a gasket when Miss 30 reached up and we all got an unrequested look at her thong panties. I turned around to the woman behind me and under my breath I said, I give the pharmacist $5.00 if they speed their prescription along - just so I don't have to look at her a** again. The moment they left, a roar of laughter rose like I have not heard in a long time...and then they called my name. Like a winning lottery number, I claimed my prize (my meds) and went home.

Comic relief is good when stress is hovering...

Emily again called and said they were at the hospital and she was going to stay the night. Daren would stay with their 2 year old daughter at home..returning the next morning. She seemed calm but worried and told me she would call if anything happened.

I got back to the farm just as it was getting dark. I hate doing farm chores in the dark. It is more difficult and certainly more dangerous. First started the sprinklers, then started to feed, water and hay the horses, feed the lambs, bring in the dogs and feed them too. I needed to clean one stall, but I was hurting by now and was hungry too, so I opted to go upstairs. I removed my jacket before doing my chores, leaving me wearing some black pants and a tank top - thankfully not tucked into my pants....

You see - we always seem to have an issue with mice. I mean if you live above a barn, there is no getting around having mice. The barn cats keep them to a minimum, but once in a while one will get past them and find their way into the house....well let me introduce you to the Kama-Kazi Mouse. This tiny beast has NO fear. He has claimed our pantry as his domain and if you happen to open the pantry door while he is eating, he will throw himself at you, as he did to my husband a couple of nights ago. He lept right off the shelf and onto his shirt....

Well tonight I had a standoff with the beast. I opened the pantry door, the tiny brown villain spread his little mouse arms and legs and pretended to be a flying squirrel..and flew right down the front of my tank top. Bad hip and all, I was dancing and jumping around as I felt him go down my shirt....and Thank you God...he fell out of my shirt and right into the dog food bag! I quickly grabbed the $8.00 bag of dog food and ran out onto the porch where 3 cats immediately ran away from me. I opened the bag and shook it....nothing. I shook it again...nothing. I could just dump out the whole bag...but Gezzzzzz - the stock market dropped over 700 points...so one last time I shook the bag and out ran the mouse. He raced down the railing and flung himself into the bushes below...ha ha - not taking even 1 piece of the dog food with him!

...as I sit here and type all of this ...I just know the little demon is making his way back up the wall and back into his pantry though......sigh..

No news from Emily means good news and it is now past midnight. I hope tomorrow is full of good reports and maybe a bit less pain!

***Edited to add - when I was leaving for work this morning, the 30th of September..I glanced down at the kitchen table to see a Jury Summons.....THAT I WAS SUPPOSE TO REPORT FOR YESTERDAY!.... You know - I could not have made this up no matter how I tried!

Opps! I Fell Off of my Horse!

Yes it is true. I have not fallen off of a horse in years..even those that bucked and reared up...but it happened to me this Sunday. Actually though, I must admit it was neither mine or the horses fault. The saddle actually broke. The billet (that is the strap that the girth buckles into) ripped, so there was nothing holding the saddle on! I could have stayed on if we were going in a straight line - but we were cantering in small circles. More weight was on the inside and that is the direction I went down. The scarry part was that I fell directly under the horse and he had to jump over me with his back feet.

I laid on the ground on my right side in a fetal position with the saddle still between my legs. My horse stopped a few steps ahead. Pain rivited through body. The red clay soil was unforgivingly hard since the last rain we saw was over a week ago with Hurricane Ike. Thankfully I was not alone. Both Cherryl, a friend I met at work and a horse trainer were there. They rushed over to help me, but because it was my back that hurt the most, they were cautious about moving me. I lay in the grass for an eternity.

Because I did not have any numbness in my limbs, they brought a chair into the paddock and sat me in it. I immediately started to feel faint. Both commented on how white I was. It was apparent that I was not going to be riding any time soon, so the horse was put up. The trainer carried me to Cherryl's truck and placed me into the front seat. My skin was cold and clammy. They drove me to the hospital. Every bump and turn caused pain, mostly on my left side which I thought quite strange since I fell on my right.

The people at the hospital were very nice, even though they seemed extremely busy. After they took my vitals and assessed what they thought was the problem, they ordered x-rays and gave me medication for the pain. It did as much good as bad. Although it made many of my aches go away, it brought on terrible nausia. Once I was able to lie flat, the doctor did the usual "does this hurt?" test, until he found my GEEEEEE spot...you know the one that makes you both jump off the table and cry at the same time. Mine was the midline area of my pelvis. He thought I did indeed break a small bone on the posterior pelvic bone. Thankfully, he was wrong! Both x-rays and a cat scan confirmed that all bones were in tact. I just had deep tissue bruising.

Don met us at the hospital and on the drive home, we stopped only to pick up my medication. He pulled me on the wagon from the drive to the stairs and had to carry me up the stairs in his arms..(poor guy!) He was so gentle, setting me down so softly on the bed.

So today, I can get in and out of bed by myself and with the help of a cane, I can walk to the bathroom...even though it takes me about 10 minutes to get there!

A Bit of Humor After a Hurricane

Center Point is the electric company that services most of the South Texas area!

Good Day Sunshine!...and a Pay it Forward!

Okay - NO MORE NEGATIVITY OUT OF ME!

My Thank you God List:
1. No one was hurt!
2. Minimal damage to property.
3. No more flood waters.
4. A cool and dry front moved in and for those who still do not have electricity..it is very comfortable, especially at night.
5. Don is home since electricity has not been restored at his job and he has been working very hard and our home is looking really beautiful!
6. We were able to use our truck and some come-a-longs to pull the evergreen trees back upright - so they did not die.
7. Through all the mud and muck, my show horse did not pull a shoe..which can cause damage to the hoof.
8. I have been able to get to work everyday without incident since Monday, which is very good since I am the one who gets paid hourly!
9. Every time the electricity has gone off, it was either right after I got done cooking a meal or at a time where it did not interfere with something really important.
10....and the best of all.... A few more gas stations were open this morning!!

So in honor of my restored "semi-normal" personality...I would like to have a Pay it forward give away! Here are the rules:
1. The first 3 people who want to do this will be the participants.
2. If you enter - you must commit to having a pay it forward and give something to 3 of your blog friends.
3. E-mail me your full name, address to juliesize@yahoo.com

I promise you will really be pleased with your surprise from me...and I am not going to publish what it is simply because I want to make it special to each person who enters! In other words...each person will get something totally different and unique to them!

This is Crazy!

I am so tired of seeing this sign!

I am at work and our office is functioning off of a generator. Roughly 1/3 of the work force is not here for one reason or another..but they all point in the direction of Ike!

Most do not have electricity. WE had it last night - but not this morning.

No electricity means no working gas pumps..

...and no gas makes it really hard to get to work!

I have 2 more days worth in my tank...and a few 5 gallon jugs I will have to share with Don.....after that....????

But Mom - Why don't the Lights & Phone Work?

Our neighbors tractor shed was cut in half by a tree!

...Umm - this is the ONLY gas station in Plantersville!

A line down here...

...a line down there...

..a line down EVERYWHERE

...and more

About 24 hours after the storm hit, our electricity came back on! We frantically refilled water buckets and troughs, started laundry and anything else that required electricity....then it went off...and then on..and then off again. This morning it was on again...so no one here at work can call me "Stinky" - at least not today anyway! The phone is another story. We did not lose our land line service until Sunday, which is confusing to me and last night we lost all cell phone reception from our farm. When I drive away from the farm - about 10 miles or so, I do get reception...??? Also - no internet, even though I have a wireless card. Today is my first day back at work - which is the only reason I am able to post.

Late last night a text message came through that was disturbing to say the least. Emily sent a text for us to contact Joy, our youngest daughter, immediately. We left (in our PJ's) and drove until we had cell phone reception to call her. My sweet 25 year old daughter's apartment ceiling collapsed in on all of her belongings! This broke my heart. You see - this is not some lazy, always trying to get something for nothing kind of a kid. She is a hard worker. She earned a double business degree, secured a wonderful job earning 1/3 more than other companies were offering her classmates, found a great apartment, and was working hard to furnish it piece by piece. My heart just sank as I listened to her cry her eyes out on the phone to me. Thankfully, my smart girl was smart enough to secure renters insurance! I will post pictures from this when she sends them to me.

Minimal Damage - PRAISE GOD!!!

Each of these trees were blown down in completely different directions, giving you an idea of the cyclonic winds that we experienced.

This tree fell atop the horse fence in the back pasture bordering the woods.

This part of the fence just could not stand the 90+ MPH gusts of wind we experienced.

The copula on top of the barn is either twisted and broken - or our house turned around...because the metal sheeting peeled off of it and it now says North is South!

There are plenty of these around..and in time Don and I will get them cleaned up.


Something good... well the lambs are nice and white again! Hopefully it will not get too warm tomorrow though - It sure would be a shame if they shrunk!

0700 AM

Ike is here! We have no electricty. Torrents of rain. The winds are screaming outside and if you place your hand upon the North facing windows, you can actually feel them move. Don went downstairs to check on everything. When we opened the door, a huge tarp or piece of fabric blew right by and scared the be-geebies out of us! So much small debrit is blowing around he had to wear goggles just to be able to keep his eyes open. There is a hum with the wind that sounds like someone that is blasting their base sterio, that continues on and on. The wind gage broke a long time ago because it is no longer registering. It probably spun completely off the pole! The highest wind speed it recordeed was in the high 40's and as I said - that was a LONG time ago. It is blowing much harder now. He said the gazebo (to my thrilling surprise) is stil in tact. The lambs fence is also still standing. Those are the 2 things I most worry about.

All animals in the barn are fine. The lambs are standing in a circle all facing each other. Part of the horse fence in the back pasture is down - but thankfully it is a part that leads to a riding arena. It is starting to get light outside - so we can see a bit better now. The trees are bending back and forth so much I cannot believe that they have not snapped.
..to be continued..

9 PM

The wind gusts have increased dramatically! - now over 40 MPH. The sky has an erie color to it.

Still no rain. These pictures look tranquil compared to the feel of it when we are outside.

As we switched horses around, bringing 3 into the barn from the outside and moving 1 from a front paddock and into the back pasture, the wind was whipping! It was difficult to see because sand was being blown everywhere. It felt as though my face was being sand blasted! The horses were better behaved than we expected, but nervous. Each of the horses in the barn are now bedded down in stalls feathered with clean shavings, fresh hay, water and feed. The 3 that are in the back pasture headed down to the bottom - instinctively I am sure, because the wind is not nearly as bad down there. I tried to get a picture of Blondie's mane blowing in the wind.


This is our wash stall. It now holds our motorcycles and crates where 3 of our dogs will stay until the storm has passed.

All 3 vehicles are safely in the barn too. Interesting timing though - Don's car battery died today!

These are the huge double doors on both sides of the barn.

The doors latch at the top and lock into the concrete as well.

The exterior stall doors and windows have been closed and locked.

We can now hear the wind when we are inside. The electricity has flickered, but it is still on. Many to the South of us are not so lucky though....so far so good.

Thank you so much for your prayers and good thoughts!

6:45 PM

I want you to know that we are not in a mandatory evacuation area, but because of the route of the storm, we have to prepare as though we are. We have heard that 40% of the residents of Galveston have not evacuated...which I can only define as pure stupidity! Calls are coming in already where people are trapped on their roofs...and in some areas, the wind and water prevent anyone from being able to rescue them.

At our farm, the wind is consistent now, instead of just gusts and still increasing in speed. The sky goes from being dark to light gray and the clouds are circling with the wind coming at us from the North - North East. Conroe, Humble and other neighboring towns have issued curfews. We spent most of the day inspecting our farm for possible dangerous items that could become "missiles". I plan to remove some of my favorite things from my window seat shelves...just in case!

We are getting ready to bring the horses into the barn. They will be hyper which will make this difficult.
...to be continued..

3:30PM Update

The wind has picked up a bit - now at about 32MPH. We have 8 horses but have decided to only bring in 5 and leave 3 in the back pasture. We have 7 stalls, but one is occupied with things we own and another will house other animals. The animals KNOW something is going to happen. We are waiting until the last minute until we bring them in the barn. One horse has jumped a fence - and keep in mind ..we do not have Hunter Jumper Horses! The fence was over 4 feet tall! One of my dogs has consistently dug his way out of the pen and keeps coming into the barn. I think he just wants to be with us, but I do not want to pen them up too soon.

Our barn is constructed in such a way that there is a 13 foot isle in between the stalls, where after the horses are in, we will be able to pull in our vehicles - even the dually truck. I am more worried about the wind as it is impossible for our farm to flood. The back pasture has a huge elevation drop.

We heard not long ago that a family in the town just South of us was taking down a dead tree this morning. A wind gust caught the tree, sending it down in an unexpected direction, falling on their 10 year old son. Sadly the child was killed instantly.

Hurricane Ike is Coming Right At Us!

I returned to Houston yesterday morning only to find out the hurricane is headed our way. I made the decision to stay at the farm. I was suppose to drive to Dallas to cover the first horse show of the season for the magazine. I thought that I might just go for the Thursday and Friday classes, but was too worried that if Houston activated the counter flow lanes on the highways, I would have a difficult, if not almost impossible time getting back. I know I made the right choice. We have a complete weather station at our farm and are already having wind speeds of 25 MPH. I cannot imagine how high they are going to get when the eye passes over us in about 18 hours. I will update you as often as I can - and as long as I have power. Please keep us in your prayers.

Meet Trestin Leavens Snyder

Emily was going to be induced Monday night. Joy, her sister and I flew in on Saturday night, but trestin decided to ring the labor bell early Sunday morning..at 3:30AM to be exact!

Here they are going to the hospital. Oppps - Emily had a contraction in the parking lot.

When we got there and they determined she really was in labor, she was hooked up to all kinds of equipment and monitors.

Awwweee...how cute is this?

I was kind of excited! I helped Emily labor through Madison's birth and must have done an okay job since I was asked to help with this one too!

Only 5 hours after getting to the hospital, Trestin was born.

He weighed 7lbs. 15oz.

The nurses put his foot prints into the baby book.

Mommy and Daddy were so happy...and a bit tired!

I was immediately smitten too.

Daren is a "hands on" Dad and enjoyed helping with the first feeding.

Here is Aunt Joy introducing Madison to Trestin.

The nurse gave him his first bath.

A little quiet time..at last!

This is the baby book...

..and here are some flowers I chose for Emily.

This blanket was hand made by one of my best friends - specifically matching the nursery colors. Thanks Vicki! All the nurses commented on it.

OPPS! Madison was misbehaving and was sent to the corner.

Here they are leaving the hospital 2 days later.

..and coming home.

The ground was so hard we decided to put the sign into the bush instead!

A used baby blanket was given to Lily the night Trestin was born and she slept with it. When we got home Lily walked over, kissed him on the forhead and then greeted everyone else.Wow - I am at a loss for words. I have been blessed so much by being wanted and being able to help with the birth of both of my Grandchildren. I am so fortunate!!!