Moving day- Again!

Despite our best efforts to leave the moving business, once more we were roped into moving, this time Trisha, to the valley. She was hired for a great job with JP Morgan Chase, but that meant she has to leave Cottonwood and move back to the valley. She found a place right next to Jana, our niece, and her family. It's a nice neighborhood, it should be fun for them.

I drove the truck down, so I could haul David, Nic and Norm home after loading and unloading Trish's house. It all there, it took two truckloads~ But now she can start the daunting task of unpacking, figuring out where to set everyhing, what to do with the give-away- pile. All told, they had a 12 hour day, my part was just driving the truck down that would bring all of us home. I took it easy as much as possible, and Nic wanted to drive home, so that was good. We gotter done! Most of us could barely get out of bed this morning, so we're all a little sore, but good deeds rarely go unpunished, eh?? The weather was lovely, not too hot, so things were nice for a working Saturday.

Cool crisp fall

This week is so much better! I can move, yesterday and today, so life is good. The weather has cooled off so nicely, it's been in the mid 80's, so lovely. Yesterday Gina helped me plant some things- we put in broccoli, cauliflower, collards and romaine lettuce plants, well Gina did the hard stuff. We also put in onion and garlic sets. Hopefully I can find someone to help me plant some spinach and beet seeds next week.

Fall always reminds me of roundup on the ranch. I remember getting up early, like 4:00 am, on the weekends, having a big breakfast and then driving to the section we were working that day. Mountainous, rough, brushy and not for the faint of heart. We had one horse- Rowdy, that started out the day by bucking off whoever rode him. It was always interesting to watch, but I decided early not to be 'the one'. The day was long enough without bouncing around on the rocks first thing in the morning. It didn't matter who rode him, they couldn't stay on. Once he had that out of his system though, he was the best ranch horse we had, outside of Dad's. He could work all day long, and still be prancing. My horses tended to be better mannered, if not as tough.
We each had a draw up the mountain to work- I took one, Debbie another, the parents would move to the tops of the mountains and work their way down. I'd ride to the top of the draw and start pushing cows down the mountain, first one side and then the other. It took hours, and often the cattle would crawl into a stand of scrub oak and not come out. Then we had to wade into the middle of it to push them out. I have more scars on my hands from pushing through oak brush! I never could hang on to a pair of gloves, so they took a beating.

After we had a small herd of from our area, we'd meet up in the creek at the bottom and push cows down to the gates and wait for Mom and Dad. Sometimes we'd be there for a long time, and we'd have to keep the cattle from wandering off, but otherwise we'd talk, nap, eat or wish we had our lunch. Once we all met up, we still had to push them on down to a large holding pasture before we could call it a day and go home. It was crisp, sometimes downright cold in the mornings, but the days usually warmed up. The trees were turning color, even the oak brush could be beautiful. The pines smelled so good, the breeze would waft it around us. Sometimes Debbie and I would build a little fire to keep warm. After a long day, we would fall asleep in the truck on the way home. There is something amazing about the day to day life on a ranch, and even though it was hard work, tough and gritty, there is a lot of nostalgia for those days.

Welcome to hell

Tuesday last I had a functional capacity assessment- with the acronym of hell. Basically I spent several hours with a physical therapist, doing tasks that imitate a work day. Instead of typing on a computer though, I was flipping wooden discs upside down, over and over as fast as I could. First the right hand, then the left. Unscrewing nuts from bolts was particularly fascinating, that had to be done for 5 minutes at a time, also over and over. Then he handed me a hand-grip with a pressure gauge on it, to check my hand strength. Over and over. After the first hour I was so tired I could barely stand, but we just kept going. Walking with 5 pound weights, then 10. My hip joints were on fire, my knee kept popping and spitting at me.

Then we went to the really fun stuff- pushing a sled with handles across the floor. It simulated pushing a grocery cart, forward, then backward. The all time favorite was the stairs... anyone that knows me understands how darn much fun that brings into my life. We finished about 1:30, I don't know, I was almost unconscious by that time. I cleverly shuffled out the door, luckily I'd brought my trusty cane. David bought me a taco at the Bell, and I fell asleep, and slept the 2 1/2 hours home. Crawled into bed, slept some more. Couldn't eat, too tired.

The good news is that when he called to check on me the next day, he said his report would give physical proof that I'm not ready to work 40 hours a week. Seeing that I was hoping I just wouldn't have to wake up on , Wednesday, I think he's right. I love to stay active and feel useful, but my active is a whole lot different than it used to be. Guess going 90 miles an hour for so long has taken it's toll, and the Lord wants me to slow down and 'smell the roses'.

Whatta Summer!

OK, it's nearly been 2 months since I've blogged here. The best part of the summer of course was Nic and Gina's wedding on August 28, it was beautiful! They are beautiful and so much in love. We spent 2 days in Manti, Utah, a quaint little town in central Utah that is off the beaten track. It has a beautiful, old, granite temple there, and that's where they were married. All of David's siblings were there, most of mine also. Gina's family was also well represented, nearly all of her aunts and uncles made the trip too. People come from Colorado, Utah, Nevada and Arizona to be there with them, with Heather and Jared flying in from New Hampshire. We even had friends drive all the way from Canada! Joining the family's together makes the name game quite interesting- Gina's father and brother are David's, one of her aunts is Elaine, they both have aunt Debbie's, two Tom's, two Tim's, the list goes on. It was wonderful, and most of Gina's immediate family are coming down this weekend for the Open House we're having for them here. My family won't be here, because my nephew Dylan is getting married tomorrow, and they are going up there. I love our family, they are so willing to come and support each other, it's awesome!

Ok, now the hard part. My dear friend Julie Hutchin's father died the same day Nic and Gina were married. His funeral was the day before Mom Farr's memorial, that was a really, really tough weekend. Gene and Barbara Hutchins are like my 2nd parents, when we were in high school I stayed with them all the time. Even when Julie was down at ASU, I would drop in and visit them, I love them so much. Gene was 91 years old I think, and he lived life OUT LOUD! He was an amazing entrepeneur, however you spell that. He was so funny and creative, he loved to travel; he and Barbara have literally been all over the world. Barbara wrote a book about South America in the '70s, and wrote for the Prescott Courier for years. It was hard to say goodbye to him.

The week after the funerals, another friend, Larissa Castilleja, was hit and killed while riding her bicycle in Kingman. One minute here, vibrant and alive, the next she's gone, because of a hit-and-run driver. So, frankly, I've been in mourning for the past couple months, trying to say goodbye to people that were so important in my life, while also celebrating a new marriage and trying not to be too morose. It's taken a while to be able to even write about it.

Anyhow, what I've gotten out of all of this is to CELEBRATE LIFE! I want to live out loud, do the things I've always wanted to do, and not be afraid to be myself. Here's to wonderful tomorrows!

Summertime

I've been very bad about writing here this summer. Numerous reasons, but a slowpoke none the less. The weather has been busy- thunder clouds every day in the p.m., but doesn't rain every day. It's enough to knock me out for hours, but not enough to put moisture on the ground. We had a good rain Thurs-Sat, in the afternoon. My garden loves it! I've been picking cucumbers, squash, peppers and a few tomatoes. The potatoes have done really well- I planted Yukon Golds and we've had potatoes regularly for the past month. The plants have died, so now I'm trying to get the energy to put something else in that row. Too hot out!

Well, the Haines Family reunion is next week, I have the books back, they look really good! I need to get packed and ready to leave on Thursday. I'm really looking forward to seeing all the relatives. I'm already starting to think about compiling a Balmes book, but I have to wait until we get the reunion, wedding and Mom Farr's memorial party over with. We are having a party to celebrate her life over Labor Day weekend.