Lotto Dreams

The photo of the pond would be the view from my front porch when I win the lottery. This is 140 acres that joins our far field. I called our neighbor to see if she would care if we put a gate in the fence between our two properties so that we could ride the horses over there and believe it or not she said yes. I had never checked it out before but decided to on probably the coldest day ever.

It is really cool to discover something right next door to our property all these 13 years we've lived here and never seen. I discovered pecan, walnut and hickory nut trees. There are winding streams and lush wide open spaces. It makes my heart sing. I start dreaming of how I'd clean it up and where I'd put my dream house on it. By the end of my lotto dream, I'm feeling guilty. Darn, this being catholic even screws up my dreams with guilt. I feel guilty that during these awful economic times, I am dreaming of spending massive amounts of money on things like building a really long driveway just so my house is out of sight.

So, I try to talk myself down and remind myself that I don't really need to win the lottery. If I'm this much of a mess poor, Oh my goodness what kind of a mess would I be with $$$? Instead, I'll just share a few more pictures of my new trail riding venue. Maybe you all can come ride with me there once the weather warms up a bit. I'll even pack a picnic!!

Going to the Dogs

My toes are frozen. I try to thaw them daily in a steamy hot tub. Some days require a double dip in the tub. Those figid temps travel up my legs, making them sluggishly slushy. My torso is warm but my brain has a hard time appreciating that warmth because it is consumed with the frozen temps of my feet. Every year, this same thing occurs. When the rush of Christmas is over, I start to notice just how short the days are. I become so impatient with it that I go out in search of a farmer's almanac type calendar to note just how many minutes of sunlight I gain each and every day. I am almost embarrassed to admit that I sent my son to a local funeral home in order to pick up that calendar. Today, our day is 9 hrs and 49 minutes long, two minutes more sunlight than yesterday. Todays sunset is at 5:06 pm. By the end of the month, The sun sets at 5:18pm. That's 12 minutes in 10 days. I'm so excited. Maybe I have a little too much time on my hands. In fact, I do. I have always had either time or money but not both at the same time. It has always been that on these frigid days that I have time and no money and on lazy warm sunny days I have no time. So, I'm just trying to hang in there. I've watched countless hours of CNN. I have all sorts of opinions which no one wants to hear. I've been watching my laundry pile up because my feet are too cold to walk to the laundry room. I've been watching the stock market and gotten motion sickness. I keep "wishing & hoping & praying" or however that song goes that the freeze will thaw, the economy will stop shrinking, the winter will be short, my hormones will stabilize and we will start working towards world peace! I think that I've gone to the dogs. Just ask my family.