High Desert Visit

We recently visited some property in Central Oregon that my family owns. It is high desert country covered with juniper trees and some gorgeous views. Parts of it are flat and covered with sage brush. But it has a strange, rustic, quality to it that makes ya' think about an old western movie.

The problem is that there is no power, no EMS, and at this time no water, on it. In the early 1960's when my uncle bought the property they drilled a well shaft on one piece of the property and came up with nothing, except cold air constantly blowing for the last 40 plus years. All of the people we have talked to say that this could only be caused by moving water.

We just found out that the EMS problem may be being solved soon too. It is real cow country, and that means horses. We didn't see a single bad looking horse in our travels. And that includes the local horse rescue facility. We are hoping that things keep going well, and that we might be looking at this as a possible home. We aren't holding our breaths. And if it doesn't work out in the near future we are still looking into the south of Oklahoma, or Texas.

Our travels and our dreams, and the recent loss of loved ones, have made us realize that we need to get on with our own lives. And that means building a world of our own making. And for me that means horses. I may not be able to ride like I used to, but I still love 'em, and love to be on them for a quiet walk through the woods or down a trail.

If this property works out I hope we will have visitors to come join us for a time on our rustic homestead.

In Memory Of

At 0010 Patricia E Overacker, my Mom, passed from this world to wherever we all go. We had our moments of joy and sorrow, our times of anger and of love. Our life wasn't perfect but she tried to raise me to be a good man. For the most part I think she has done a good job. Even though I do have my moments.

I will miss her.

It seems almost like some kind of a release that only minutes after my last blog she left us. To wierd, or at least it seems so.

In the end the only thing I can think of to say is. I LOVE YOU MOM, wherever you may be.

OK so I have the best wife in the world!! I gotta say that. She is the rock to which I cling when the world decides to crap all over me. Guano, HAH! We are talking full blown Cowshit. Outside of needing barn boots I believe that I have needed hip waders and a wet suit this week.
I recently posted a blog about the possibility of losing my father. Well I know that will occur eventually but it will be my mother I lose sometime this weekend. On Wednesday she was admitted to MAMC with breathing problems. It was to the point of her needing a tube to breath. The next morning she was awake and just needing a mask, and being able to talk. She was extremely weak but holding her own. At least that is what we thought. My sister, my dad, and niece, were all there with her when I arrived so they decided to go have lunch. I was left alone to talk to mom and just spend some time with her. After about 40 minutes my mom looked at me and said "I need help" and started gasping for breath. Those were the last words I have heard from my mom.

We are now waiting for her to go.

And through it all, and behind the scenes, Donna has been helping with phone calls, drinks, and just general support. I just can't say enough. Besides all that I think she's kinda cute too. So add it all up and my wife is the most beautiful woman I have ever met.

Thanks my love.

American Cowboys

In the days of being politically correct there are people who insist that the life of the American Cowboy is still alive and kicking. They travel from town to town in search of a payday. They may have ranches where they work during the week but on the weekends you can find them at rodeos. What I consider the true American sport. Baseball, football, and basketball have become such a publicity show and if a player gets a sore toe he doesn't play and is still paid a fortune. The rodeo cowboy actually pays to compete to try to win the purse. What would football be if the players had to do that. But when you see these guys all dressed up in what most people would consider a cowboy costume, and I have heard it put exactly that way, you are looking at a piece of American history. Those clothes you see aren't a costume, just everyday working clothes.

But it isn't just the clothes or the sport, it's family. These guys will ignore you if they don't know you, but if they see your kid is in trouble they'll put their lives on the line to protect them. They don't have a lot of money but they'll loan you their last dollar if it means you compete against them or not. You can't touch their hat without them being insulted but they'll lend you their horse to go rope a calf or bulldog a steer. And on any weekend you'll find them and their kids all involved in the same sport. Fathers against sons, mothers against daughters, and in the stands the little boys and girls watching wanting to be just like their dads and moms, and falling asleep in their dad, or moms, arms while they watch another kid doing the same thing on horseback.

At the beginning of every rodeo is the National Anthem, and a prayer, and nobody complains. Probably because that complaint would fall on deaf ears. These people all believe in our country and what it stands for, and to hell with anyone who doesn't like it.

Like I said they aren't the most politically correct people in the world. Just some of the best.

To Boldly Go

Well Donna and I just finished watching the newest version of Star Trek. I have to say that we totally enjoyed it. The special effects were incredible, the characters were believable (in a Star Trek way). And most importantly if you grew up with the series, the original series that is, you can catch all the little things that made it a true version of Star Trek. For those of you who believe that two hours is to long to deal with Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Scottie, I can tell you that it seemed like we had watched an hour long episode of the original show. There is no chance to get bored in this one. So for all you who grew up on it, and all of you to young but still have a curiosity, go see it. Get a few laughs and watch a good action flick.

Updates on THINGS

Well Donna and I are doing OK.. Not great but OK.. We'll get by one way or another.. As Donna has posted I got to be a guest of MAMC once again.. What a waste of government money.. It took the doctors two days to figure out what a cardiac nurse saw in the first 10 minutes of reading my test results.. My potassium was to low and was causing irregular heart thumps.. Other than that we are just trying to get through Donna's school without strangling teachers, bosses, bosses bosses, and most importantly each other..
I'm still working out, and restarted the water aerobics again.. Trying to get to where I look like a human being instead of a beached whale.. I figure it's gonna take a while because I am not able to workout like you see younger and healthier doing it.. But I am trying.. My bmi (body mass index) has already dropped from 29.6 to 27.7. That means I've gone from being morbidly obese to just plain obese. Not that I can tell any difference as of yet.. To me FAT is FAT.. But I want to get there and have alot of support in the way of my trainer and a couple of body builders who are there at the same time I am.. And a Jerry Rice clone of a SgtMajor who is there almost all the time.. Or was, I think he went somewhere with the corp, or something, y'all know the Army.
Anyway that's the update on what's happening.. OOOPS Leanna is growing like a weed and now chases Moose all over the house.. He just runs, jumps the gate, and goes and hides in bed.. My mom is in the hospital/nursing facility with MRSA and EColi in her lungs, and is being given all kinds of meds to fight it.. Dad has decided to go through a medication regimine instead of surgery to try to fight the cancer.. So with those last little details you are now up to date on it all.
Love to all my family and extended family.. We Miss You..

Life

Well once again I found myself a guest of Madigan Army Medical Center. It was a minor thing involving a med that I haven't taken in about a year, and low potassium levels. Thank God for thorough docs and nurses who know my history. It all boils down to lots of stress, mostly self inflicted, and wrong meds, and overworking myself.
Leanna is still a pure joy our lives and makes me laugh every time she comes over. Growling at PawPaw is one of her things, of course she loves it when I growl back. She chases Moose around the room, and he doesn't know what to do with her. He'll run up to her and give her a kiss and then runs away when she giggles.
About three weeks ago Chance invited Donna and I to go team penning with him. He told me later that he didn't expect me to show up, but guess what I DID. And I had planned on getting back in the saddle about June. I blew that out of the water, even if I did have problems with my balance. It felt really good. A few days later I went back and got on Chance's horse Cowboy again and spent about an hour just riding at a walk and getting the feel back again. Can't stand his trot he is so short backed it's like sitting on a jackhammer.
That's about the extent of the excitement in my life so now you are up to date with everything happening.
Hope this finds you all in good health, spirits, and taking care of each other.
Love to you all who are parts of my family, including those I have adopted.

Enjoy this, I hope
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJy94ZpJyyE

Update

Well GOOD news on the front as far as my fathers health goes. Bone scans and an MRI indicate that so far the cancer has not spread. He is going to lose his bladder but it appears to be contained there.
And GREAT news as far as Leanna is concerned she is now starting to show a real personality. She is so much like her mother I have to laugh and think about how our parents told us that being a grandparent is payback for being a parent to our children. Ain't it the truth. I love watching Jenny and Toby with her. They are surprised at every little thing she does. She is now starting to eat finger food, and she gets upset and for lack of a better word indignant when you try to help her. She is still her PawPaw's little girl though, which warms my heart.
Well that's the update on the world around us for now.
And in the words of a great American Good Day

Families

WOW, what a wonderful outpouring of best wishes. I guess the family that I have grown to feel belong to me, are as close as blood. Those two families have become as important than my own blood relatives, and in some ways even more so. I can relate to them better than some of my own. Our lives have taken similar paths, and even though they are younger than I am I feel more connected. For the best wishes, the prayers, and the show of love, I have only one thing to say and that is "THANKS AND I LOVE YOU ALL TOO"

LIFE, it's an uphill battle

Well you all may be seeing as many pictures of this man as I can muster in the near future. He has been fighting with cancer for a lot of years, and the battle just took another turn. For those of you who have never met him, he is my Dad. His battle has been with bladder and kidney cancer. A recent biopsy has shown that the cancer has returned to the bladder, and at best he will have to have it removed. It has put us on kinda a high alert status for the worst, but we hope for the best. At times he has been my hero, and at other times I have felt like he has been my worst enemy. I guess we all go through those times with our dads. And in the end we realize that they are just men who loved us and made mistakes and right decisions just like we have, or are, with our kids. I hope that I don't get to down during this battle, as I am trying to be the "Rock" that he, and my Mom, and the rest of the family need right now. It's a role that takes a toll on me mentally and physically but I guess that's just a part of being who I am. It just a good thing that I have places like this where only people who know me can hear me let down and let it all out. For those of you who are reading this and letting it go, I can only say THANKS.

It's been a while

Well Tanya, Meredith, and Donna got me started on this stuff so here goes some more. Last weekend I went to a horse show with Chance and his girlfriend Elisa. This was their first show with each other, and with the horses that they brought. I was super proud of what they had accomplished. If you would have asked me 5 years ago where he would be now I would have said he'd be in jail or at least headed that way. He's changed his whole life around and I love watching him with horses and teaching kids to ride. His language may be a little rough for a lot of parents sometimes but it's just his way. He never berates the kids he's working with and shows a lot more patience than I did with him when he was growing up.
He has confessed that one of my best friends has been instrumental in starting this change, Thanks Rob. Personnaly I don't care who, or what, started the change I am just glad it happened.
On to bigger, MUCH bigger, and other things. For the first time in 2 years I am back to wearing Wranglers. YEAAAAAH!!! I haven't lost much weight just rearranging the inches.
Donna is back in school and working like a fiend to get her program finished. I am so proud of her. She is always trying to learn and make her/our lives better. Of course that doesn't leave us much time for going out or doing other things together. But I noticed in her blog that she says she is working 25 days a week at the VA, HUUUUUH? I don't think that is possible, it just seems like it is. It must be the exhaustion and the pain pills she is taking for an absessed tooth.
Well I've rambled enough and if you want to hear about the baby check out Donna's blog, she has pics and everything all about our little bundle from heaven.
I'm not real good with the picture thing so you can expect more writing than pictures.

The World in a Nutshell

The world in a nutshell, and good lord I'm the nut..EEEEKS!!! I have had a small taste of being a homeowner of an older home here in the last couple of weeks. Our front yard looks like a grenade blew up in it. We have had to dig up the septic tank for inspection, only to find that the thing hadn't been pumped since the 1980's and that the system probably hadn't been working at full capacity since the mid 80's. What a mess. The only advantage is that Donna and I are going to get to stay in a motel for two nights at no expense. A bad reason for a romantic get away, but timing couldn't be any better with Valentines Day and all coming up.
So I may be the nut but at least there are NO squirrels in sight.
Hope all is well with all of our friends and our family, wherever they may be.
And that includes the extended family we miss and love so dearly.

Happy New Year

I wish you all a wonderful New Year. 2008 was a year of firsts for us, and a year full of amazement and wonder. I got to see my grandchild just moments after she was born, and was the first person to hold her hand. I always thought that I would be the strong, solid as a rock, grandpa, who fixed things and helped her learn the important things like riding a horse. Well in those few seconds that she squeezed my finger just moments after her birth I found that she has PawPaw wrapped around her finger from day one. She captured my heart with that little squeeze. And now every time I see her, as she grows, I find that I am swept up in her tears and her smiles. What a mush I am sometimes.
But I'll take it. The second amazing thing about 2008 was to have my youngest daughter, Lisa, contact me to begin bridging the gap that has existed between us for the past 15 years, or more. Imagine the wonder in the heart of a father to see their long lost child, only to realize that the parent was the long lost one. It is going to be slow going but just being back in touch has brought me an amazing amount of joy.
These have been the joys of 2008, and I can only imagine the joys that are in store for us all in 2009. Since there has been so much good come to me in the last year I can only imagine that the next year can only get better. I wish all of you the best of years and all the love I can convey on a silly computer.
HAPPY NEW YEAR

By the way the "all by my lonesome" comment ain't exactly true.. If it wasn't for Donna showing me how I'd be completely lost and still out in cyberland somewhere.. And I figured I'd better give credit where credit is due.

Blog City Here I Come

Wow, ever since Donna has been on these sites I have wanted to add my two cents worth but haven't been able to figure it all out.. Now ain't this cool I did this all on my little ol' lonesome.. Anyway, to those who know me out there I can now pester the hell out of you all on my own..