Updating

I've been busy since I last blogged.  We had been talking with M's sister about going to Kansas City for the Nascar race off and on for awhile.  She is a credit union manager and had a repossessed pickup in Joplin, MO so thought it would be good to mix business with pleasure.  First she could go, then she couldn't so we thought about flying down, then she decided she could go so we made the reservations for tickets and rooms for M and I and his sister and her husband.  Two days later I have a really restless night with back pain and get up in the morning and literally can't walk for the pain and spasms down my leg.  I don't think I have ever been in that much pain.  I broke into a sweat and thought I was going to pass out and told M he had to take me to the ER because I couldn't handle it.  I finally laid on the floor, and it got better.  Then M says, "are you ready to go help me load hay".  Sure....and I did it.

The problem with my leg progressed to numbness in my foot.  I had less pain when I was up and around and yet it was hard to walk because my foot was numb.  I knew M would have no problem leaving me at home to go to the race so I had to buck up and deal with it.  Then, Pam's husband was unable to go.  What to do with the extra ticket?  R saved the day and decided he'd go.  He (and we) were worried about him missing three days of school, but it turned out to not be a big deal.  To make a long story short, I survived the drive to Kansas and back, and we had a great time.  We've picked out our motel for next year so we can walk to the track.  We loved the area, the track facility is great and the weather was perfect.

M has been busy with his fall cattle hauling run.  His brother was kind enough to take care of the loads he had scheduled while we were gone and not in the best of conditions--strong winds one day and rain snow and mud another day.  I finally succeeded in getting them to sell the old cattle trailer, but another one is on the way home as we speak.  Damn Ebay!  I think M's privileges need to be taken away.  Thank goodness he doesn't know the PayPal password!

My leg problem has not improved so I saw my back doctor this week.  I have another (this is my 3rd) facet cyst causing all the problems so I'll be having a lumbar fusion on Tuesday.  That means at least three days in the hospital, a brace for eight weeks and no strenuous activity for three months or more.  I wonder if M is rethinking his bright idea to feed 100 heifer calves this winter now that he won't have help.  I guess I will still be able to open and close gates and keep an eye on things if I need to.  I'm always telling him that he needs better help than me because I can't do everything he wants me to.  Maybe now he's listening.  They've been swamped in the pharmacy, too, and I feel like I'm letting them down also by being incapacitated indefinitely.

While we were gone we had hunters from Minnesota here and they were successful in bagging a couple of mule deer.  They thoroughly enjoyed their stay here.  We're not sure if it was them or some other hunters that left a gate open, and we had cows where they weren't supposed to be this morning.  That meant some rounding up and chasing had to be done.  Once we got them started they knew where they were supposed to be, thank goodness.  I was in the Jeep which was warmer than being on a 4-wheeler like M was, but my clutch leg is my bad one so it makes it a bit of a challenge.

We'll have a busy weekend shipping our calves.  R will be making a quick trip home to help along with our nephew and two friends.  One is from Massachusetts and will be getting his first taste of working cows.  J commented that we wouldn't need him since it sounded like we would have lots of help.  I'm thinking most of that "help" should probably just stay out of the way!

I almost forgot the most exciting thing that has happened....we are going to be grandparents.  J and K are expecting in May.  There is no one in the world more like my dad than J so I think it would be perfect if the baby came on the 14th which is my dad's birthday.  K is a Halloween fanatic so this Halloween "present" was how they told us the news.  Not sure how she managed to get pregnant during harvest when J was never home!  We are pretty excited.  M's words to his brother were "help is on the way!"

I've been thinking a lot about my dad the past few days since we lost him on Halloween eight years ago.  We've had the same gray weather that we had then and it brings it all back.  I still miss him so much.