The Stanalands

I got soooooo lazy in 2007 and 2008. I really have to be on track this year. Brian and I have set a financial goal for ourselves and I want to meet it. Not only that, but I have educational goals that I would like to meet before I have grey hair. It is almost 2am, and I should have been sound asleep for at LEAST three hours by now. I have two appointments to keep before 9 am tomorrow. I am really not a morning person. BLAH! I just finished a statistics quiz that I put off taking all week long. Tomorrow night I have a T-O-N of statistics homework to get done and I am dreading that too. If I can get up and get going in the morning, then tomorrow will be a good day. Then, if I can do the same thing on Thursday and Friday, I will call this a good week. If I can just get motivated to do this for the rest of the year…I will meet my goals. Pray for me. I really need it.

(Oh, and I put up a white-board in my office last night with my daily tasks on it. ~ I get to mark one out of sixteen items off before I get in the bed. YAY FOR ME!!)

I finally got my cat. Kitten actually. I have been waiting until we were moved in, and since we are now moved in I went into overdrive looking for a pet. My friend Julia saw a sign that said “free kittens” and called me immediately. (I have been letting everyone know that I wanted to find a kitten) Brian and I went to the location of the sign and picked up one of the kittens. I tried for two, but I was DENIED. (I will find another one mysteriously on our door step in a few months, I am sure!)

Taylor had not been feeling well in church that morning, so right afterward she proceeded to fill our minivan with vomit. I got to clean that up before being able to drive all the way home with the kitten. We got home and she went to bed. Our new kitty is officially a member of the family, since it decided to comfort Taylor while she rested. Its HI-Lariously adorable.

Once we got home we had to turn back around and head to the store for the material to make drapes for our new living room. We came home and I was working the sewing machine so furiously it was smoking.

I am very proud of my accomplishment. I think they look great, and the afternoon sun is not going to be baking our p’leather couch.

We have just recently moved down the road, and our new house came with cattle. (We are renting this house and it happens to be on 30 acres that the landlords also keep cattle on) There are some curious calves that have been getting out for the past couple of days, and getting into things in general.

A few days ago as we were leaving for church, we discovered on of the calves had gotten inside a barbed wire barrier that was around a tree in the pasture. We figured it would find its way out eventually, and if it didn’t it could certainly wait until after church to be dealt with. He was out by the time we got home.

We took this picture on the phone. I am starting to wonder about the intelligence of cows.

So day before yesterday, I show up to the house and there is a calf running wildly around the house. (Again, out of the pasture) Because I am so brave, I called the landlord in a panic that there was a cow out and on the loose. I think she was amused that I was so freaked out. I hung up the phone, gathered my wits and my nerve and “shoo’d” the calf back into the pasture gate. For those of you that don’t know, I am extremely afraid of any animal that is larger than a cat. One day I might tell you the full story of me swimming with the dolphins and narrowly escaping with my life. (har har)

This morning, I got up and looked outside to see one of the calves with a large black plastic bag in its mouth. I thought to myself, “surely this can’t be good” and I once again called the landlord. I didn’t detect amusement, but more irritation with the fact that I seem to call every few minutes to announce the new antics of the cows. Brian went out to the pasture and rescued the less than brilliant beast from its quandary.  As soon as Brian went up to it, it ran for its mommy and dropped the bag. (For the record, we do not use black garbage bags)

All of that brings me to this afternoon. After our older kids arrived home, there was yet another calf out of the pasture. I sent them to close the driveway gate, and then collectively my family and I herded this animal back to the spot in the fence that it escaped from. These animals are quite skittish, it seems. They will come near you if you have feed for them, but beyond that they prefer to be left alone. The bull stares at me menacingly whenever I go near the fence. I think its my red hair. Ole’.