I have been a bad mom to the horses lately and not seen much of them. Hopefully the weather warms up and the snow melts, then we can get the horses home and I will be back in the game.
As for life in general it is fine. My dad is still here until Monday. I found a Schnauzer dog for him on craigslist (he has wanted another one for a long time) and we went and picked her up yesterday. It is nice to see the light in his eyes again. She is 7 and a little timid but her owner (this ladies great great g-ma) passed away. So she was taken out of her forever home - her companion dog given away - and put in a household with alot of other dogs and a 4 year old little girl. I think she is starving for the quiet and attention she is missing. I am hoping she attaches to dad quickly.
On another note I was reading on a website about people shooting their horses because they were losing their homes and felt they had no other alternative. I have to say something on this as we are in the middle of a forclosure - but I knew it was coming - you have to know it is coming if you are not making your payments. I planned a way to make sure my horses are okay, yes it helps that I was able to buy 10 ton of hay last winter, but I can gaurantee that they would not go hungry. Even if I had to swallow my pride and ask someone for help they would not go hungry. There are resources out there you just have to look. So the excuse that I just didn't have the money to me is wrong. I made sure my animals were taken care of first, well second after my kids, but they are like kids to me. I took the time to find a place that they would be safe and a place to live where I could have them with me asap. Anyway just had to put in my two cents as I just wonder what people are thinking sometimes. There is no way I could sit there and watch my horse starve to death. When their ribs are sticking out and you can see there back bone there is a problem. I won't even start about the people who plain just don't feed them enough and think it is okay or use the reason that they are just old. Look at Stubby, he was very thin when I got him - took him to the vet had his teeth fixed and found a feed that he could thrive on. I have also had horses that are hard to keep weight on and it makes it more difficult - sometimes they looked thin but no bones sticking out - there are situations where you can't do anything for them - that is when you have to think about putting them down rather then letting them starve to death. Ok now I am really done!

It has been an incredibly long week and a half. Thursday February 26 my dad called me and told me my sister Sondra passed away. He was very distraught and I thought there was no way I would be able to go back and help him. Unfortunately I never got to know my sister very well - she is from my dad's first marriage - there are 3 brothers and were 2 sisters. I do know my brother Bob very well, but the rest I have never really kept in contact with. Friday at work I was racking my brain trying to think of how I could go to the funeral and started checking on flights. Dwane encouraged me to go and his mom was gracious enough to lend me the money for a plane ticket. My dad also helped by telling me that he would drive me home, so all I needed was a flight down to Nebraska. My work was really good about letting me have the entire week off and I have enough vacation and bereavement time to cover it. So Sunday morning at 6 am I flew out of Spokane headed to Omaha, NE. The flight was uneventful and by Sunday at 12:45 I was heading off the plane meeting my dad. He was very happy to see me. I got to stay until Thursday when my dad and I started driving back (it was alot easier to fly). I got to see all of my aunts and uncles that I never see. The only part I really had a hard time with was the viewing (I have never been to one of those), think those should be prohibited. I know I have alot more ideas of how I want my funeral to be. My mom had us throw a kegger (I know wierd but that is what she wanted). Anyway, so I am now back and getting into the groove. My dad will be here for a couple weeks.