Fame

These photos were in the Duluth News Tribune today! They were taken last week when I went with the girls to the performance of their play at Lowell School in Duluth.

Lauren, Marissa and Megan have been in a play called Fidgety Fairy Tales through the County Seat Theater in Cloquet since early August. They were some of the lucky kids that got parts in the Teen Theater production. They are among the youngest kids in the production. Most of the kids are 13-16. Our girls are 11.

Marissa is the daughter of my friend Rena and her husband Neil, who happens to be Eric's first cousin. The girls have grown up together. I consider Marissa my niece, and she calls me Auntie Kandi. Rena and Neil and Lauren's godparents.

Megan is Judy and Neil's daughter. Judy is Eric's sister. This is the first major play for both Marissa and Megan. They did do the community play in Floodwood last year. They did a great job, and sort of on a whim decided to try out with Lauren this year. They are doing a fantastic job. I think everyone is getting a little burnt out. We travel at least twice a week to Cloquet, Carlton and/or Duluth. But, I think it's well worth it. I guess. Ha ha.

If you want to read more, go to www.duluthnewstribune.com and check out the article and more photos!

Deworming the goats

I finally broke down and dewormed the goats. I'm not sure why I've been putting it off so long. I guess for the same reason I was waiting to give Pete his vaccination. It is a little fear of the unknown. But, it was no big deal.

The best part was having Eric help. I had asked a few friends if they would help, but they all declined. I was surprised, thinking that they would agree just for the experience. Huh, guess not. Eric didn't want to help either, but since he lives here, and he's my husband, he didn't really get a choice. He didn't have to do anything, just help me hold them. He's pretty squeamish about it. He held their collars. I wanted him to get behind them and hold them for me, but that wasn't happening.

So, after I gave the stuff to Frank, and it was a bit of a disaster I got smart. I stood over them, opened their mouth, put the syringe into their throat, held their tongue over, stuck the meds in their mouth, held their mouth closed and massaged their throats. Eric was gagging every time I pulled my nasty fingers out of their mouth full of goat spit. He was thoroughly grossed out. It was really really funny.

So, that's over for a season. Eric did mention that no matter how large the herd gets, he will never ever deworm them himself. He will grab their collars and stand with me, but that's where his help ends. Thanks, Johnson.

Great Expectation

Ah, the day after. Ha ha. So, yesterday was my birthday. I am 35 years old. I remember thinking that 28 must be ancient and I couldn't fathom ever turning 30. Yet, here I am, 35. Closer today to 40 than 30. I know a lot of you that read this are laughing thinking that you only WISH you were 35 again. But hey, this is my blog, and I get to write what I want! ha.



So, I started celebrating on Thursday with some friends. It was a surprise, I had planned on staying home. So, I expected nothing, had a great time. Maybe too great! But, I digress. Friday morning I got up and found a box of wonderful gourmet chocolate covered strawberries from my friend Kris. They are so good. Shhh, don't tell the girls, I still have a few stashed in the fridge! I went to Hibbing, had lunch with Kris, then came home to get ready.



Friday night, my friends came to get me. I had no idea what was planned, but I expected a lot! I had fun, dont' get me wrong, but alas, our driver was sick; like the flu or something gross, so I ended up home by 11. Not a bad thing, let me tell you! I had already had plenty to drink!!



Saturday, my actual birthday I got to go golfing with my parents and Eric. My friends at the golf course decorated a cart with balloons and signs for my birthday. My mom ordered a sheet cake and we all had cake and about 10 different people sang to me throughout. So fun! In the mail I got a beautiful bird book from my sister (with a note saying: Happy Birthday you old geezer, I had to go find this in the senior citizen's section). She thinks my bird watching along with my love of polka and goats is very elderly. Anyway... my mail box was also filled with card from friends all over. It was so fun. I had thought I was going to go out again on Saturday night, but that didn't pan out. It worked out ok, but not as I had expected. Again.



A good friend once told me that I am destined to be disappointed a lot because I have expectations of people that they cannot possibly live up to. I expect people to be like me. I expect them to think like me, to have the same thoughtful qualities that I think I posses and to show it, at all times. That is not reasonable. I know this. I do, but sometimes, I can't remember it.



So this year, this 35th year of my life, I am going to try not to expect so much. I am going to be delighted when things surprise me. I'm going to be thrilled when I get unexpected things. I'm not going to expect people to be like me. I'm not going to be surprised if I get disappointed. In fact, I am going to try not to get disappointed! What's the point? Only I can make myself feel that way. And, most of the time, people have no idea they are doing it. This isn't directed in any one way, it's just a little bit of a deep, introspective post for a Sunday morning. I didn't go to church today, so I'm making my own sermon.

On a lighter note, I have lost 26 pounds this summer on what I am calling the goat diet. Not goat meat, but chasing goats. Being outside. Being mindful of what I'm putting in my mouth. So, perhaps I can keep that going. This might be the year!

My kids are wanting me to take them across the road to the not-s0-friendly neighbors (refer to previous post about runaway goats) today. I have cake, so maybe I'll take it over there and see if they are friendlier when I bring food. But, I am not going to EXPECT anything......



On al

Cleaning

I love when my house is clean! Is it ever clean? Ummmm, not often. Eric likes when it's clean, and he's a neat freak. Poor guy. He got stuck with me. Actually, I often wonder if my house would be cleaner if I had more room. We have a running debate about how large our house actually is. I'm sure he's right, but I always say it's 22' x 22'. He says it's 24' by 26'. Ok, does it really matter? You get the point. It is SMALL. There are 5 (FIVE) of us living in this house. our basement houses the girls. And the laundry room. And storage. And the freezer. And the tools. We have no garage. The main floor has my office, a bathroom, a kitchen, a living room and a dining room that has a piano and a buffet and my home computer in it. For furniture we have a couch, a chaise lounge and a recliner. It's packed. Upstairs (we have a 1 1/2 story) is just our room (more storage really, with a bed in the middle) and a bathroom with a tub and toilet. That's it. It's cozy, to say the least. There are things in all spaces. We get by, we do. I don't mind the close quarters, most of the time. But there is no where for all of our stuff. The older the girls get, and the more they accumulate, the more stuff there is. EVERYWHERE.

So, today, Eric and I spent 4 hours cleaning together. I cleaned corners and dusted and cleared off all surfaces. He washed floors, walls, and bleached stains out of the carpets. I know, right? The man is amazing. Strange, but amazing. He said, and I will quote "How come I'm the only one that ever bleaches the floor and washes the walls?" I said, because you're the only that cares that much.... it's true!! Seriously. If there was visible dirt, grime, or marks on the wall, I'd totally wash it. (maybe not TOTALLY, but probably... maybe) If I catch the girls spill something, I'll clean the spot off the carpet. But, I will not take a pail of bleach water and crawl along the carpet with scissors and a rag and clean the carpet and cut out spots. He does this. The carpet is 15 years old, it's lived through 3 puppies, and 3 kids. When we redo the house next year, it's gone. But, he has pride. The man is a saint.

He made me promise not to lose the motivation when he went to work. Not to sit at the computer (oops) or take a nap (not yet) or get into some reality show (none on tonight). So, I should end this now and go find another place to declutter.... perhaps my office.

If I could have gotten away with it, I would have taken a picture of my wonderful husband on his hands and knees with the bleach and scissors trying to resurrect this carpet. Maybe next time!!

Photos

I added a bunch of photos along the side.. take a look!

Projects

My sister told me that this would be my year. I would have it made. All of my girls would be in school full time. I would finally have free time for myself. Then I had to go mess it up and buy a herd of goats. What in the world was I thinking???? She was right of course, she usually is!

But this weekend, we finished a project that will allow me a little more freedom from the beloved herd. A fence. A beautiful, well constructed, heavy duty, goat fence. Not that I am disillusioned enough to believe it will hold them in forever. But this evening, I'm pretty happy! I do NOT have to go put them away. Tomorrow, I will not have to let them out. They have a little "goat door" that they can enter and exit at will. Ah, bliss.

The goat dream has been with me for a long time, ever since my dad had goats when I was a little girl. But, Eric was never on board. This spring when we were on our way to go get my Grandma in Chicago, the dream was rekindled. We decided we'd take all back roads to get there. It took 14 hours. I know, it's really about an 8 hour drive. But there are a lot of farms, and things you can't see from the freeway! Along the way we decided that goats would be a good thing. I knew that if I didn't strike while the iron was hot, I'd be lost to the goat dream forever. So, when we got home I hurried up and did some research and some digging and I got Frank and Maggie from the Watsulas in Meadowlands. No fence, nothing really prepared. Dad bought the collars, the bells and the original tie outs for me to get started. If I had waited for a fence, we would never have gotten the goats. So, after all of that, five goats later, and now it's late September, we have a fence!!!

Luckily, Eric and I work well together. The fence took 16 hours to construct. It's not that big. My husband, to say the least, is a perfectionist. You probably won't be able to find a straighter fence line in all of St. Louis county. Or maybe the state. He has a crazy eye for this stuff. We were so very lucky to have my dad here to help. I just can't say enough about that man. He is such a trooper. He stood here with me and Eric and listened to our crazy ideas and the way that we thought things should go, and he kept his mouth shut. Dad built fences for years, and knew just how they should go, but he let Eric go on and on about how he wanted to do it. My dad is an amazing man. Dad and I sat on the pickup at one point and watched Eric tell the girls to sift through the dirt to put in the holes to pack around the corner posts. He was telling them to sift it in and pack it in gently. We were laughing that if we had built fences that way, we'd both still be on the farm building fences! I'd have never met Eric and we'd have buried all the animals... before the fences were done! haha. Even though Eric is a perfectionist, it pay off. The fence is gorgeous.

And, a big thank you to Uncle Marty (Eric's brother) for coming to help yesterday afternoon. He and I did a lot of the wrapping of wire onto the posts last night. It was a huge help to get that done quickly. Plus, he's so much fun. Eric really appreciated his help too.

On another note, last week was a tough one for me. My poor family. I had NOTHING good or nice to say, that's why you didn't see any posts from me. A really bad bout of PMS precluded me from saying a word. I bet my family and friends wish I had been silent too! haha.

I will be posting photos from the farm. New fence, new pics of the goats, pics of the girls. I let Kennedi take the camera so we'll see what that has on it.

News from the girls: Kennedi starts gymnastics this week. She's really quite good at it. She's in the top class this year. Maddie was in it the last few years, but this year she's not. She's not the most coordinated Johnson. Not as bad as me.... but.... She's holding out for ballet! ha. Lauren is still working on her play for the Fidgety Fairy Tales that will be traveling all over the Northland. Her first performance is at the Lowell School in Duluth on Friday.

I will be 35 next weekend! Gasp! I have great friends that will be taking me out on Friday night. Golf on Saturday, possibly out again Saturday night.... then who knows. I hope to make several days of it. I love that crap. Eric loves it too. Takes the pressure right off of him if my friends will do it and he can just stay home and watch kids. I'm ok with that.

Hope you're all enjoying the wonderful summer weather. I think this has been the best 3 weeks of summer.

Oh, here's a shout out (doesn't that sound stupid? I just had to say it though) to Mike of Pine Acres Fainting Goats for showing a few of his goats at a show a few weeks ago! He had some great success! Yay Mike! http://www.pineacresfainters.com/ on the opinion page. That's Tigo's original home.

Happy Sunday Night to you!!

Long Weekend

While not technically a long weekend, mine sure was!

On Friday after a day of trying to rid myself of a killer migraine, I had to chase down a rogue herd of goats. They ALL took off. That was fun. Not so much. They were about half a mile away, and I finally got them with the 6x6. They saw me and ran after me. I wonder if they were lost? At any rate, they sure seemed glad to see me! Once they were all home and tied up, we headed out to get Lauren sound-checked for the wedding. She did a good job at rehearsal and we got home at a decent time.... 9 or so.

Saturday we all got up and got ready to get to the wedding. The weather was really warm and muggy. But at least it didn't rain. The wedding was in the "red-neck" category. The bride and groom were aware of that fact. They had camouflage hats and shirts for people in the wedding party and the invites suggest cowboy attire and told you to "BYOB". Hmmmm. Lauren did a great job of singing the two songs, Mama He's Crazy by the Judds when everyone walked in, and What a Difference You've Made in My Life by Ronnie Milsap as everyone walked out. We stayed for the food and then left by 2:30. We really should have done something productive once we got home, but we got some Netflix in the mail....

We watched the movie Fireproof with Kirk Cameron in it. It was sort of a Christian marriage type movie. It was good, and it had some good points in it... but it wasn't a movie that we were expecting. So the next one Then She Found Me was supposed to be a comedy. It had Helen Hunt (LOVE HER) and Bette Midler, Colin Firth, Matthew Brodrick... star studded. Again, not so much. So that was sort of a bust. Ended the night watching Practical Magic with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman on the Oxygen Channel. At least we knew that was a winner!

Today I NEEDED to get something done. So we cleaned and did laundry all day. Eric did the kitchen, cooked lunch, mowed the lawn. Wonderful. I cleaned the living room, bathroom, dining room, basement, and put away all the kids' clothes. The girls cleaned the goat hut. We've found that the best bedding for them is the lawn clippings! We love using the lawn sweeper that dad gave us and cleaning up the lawn clippings and using them for goat bedding. The goats love it, and it is free and easy. All the girls like cleaning the goat hut for some insane reason, so more power to them!

Oh, and the goats took off again today. Across the road to some camping hunters.... the girls went to get them. I've found those people not so friendly. Ok, before you judge me.... I did not know where the goats went when I told the girls to go look. I also did not tell the girls to go over and talk to the not-so-friendly people and ask for our goats back. They did that all on their own. however, it was a good strategic move, because said not-so-friendly hunters were nice to the girls. They asked the names of the goats and said that the goats could go there and eat anytime. Well, if we could just get that fence up..... if Fence Posts were free, and rain was chocolate.... wait, where was I going with that?????

Friday Morning Rambling

The end of the first week of school has arrived. Our old routines are definitely here. The girls are no longer up before me. They are no longer helping each other get ready and no longer excited to get one another on the bus in a nice, clean, orderly fashion. They aren't happy to get their first homework. They aren't thrilled that I bought them new school clothes. Their excitment may be wearing off, but mine isn't! I still wave to them with the same glee that I did on Tuesday! Good bye girls! I love you! Have a great day! See you again in 8.75 hours!!!!!

On the goat front, Tigo is settling right in. I think she has super-human, er, super-goat strength, though! One night while putting her away in the hut I tried to pair her with Frank, who is my favorite. Frank is the one that thinks she's a dog. She will actually come and lie on my lap, yes, my lap, when I sit outside. Well, that was a huge failure. They got into a big fight, kicking and butting heads and throwing one another against the sides of the pen. I moved the iron bar and Tigo burst out through the door I was holding. She literally plowed me right over. Well, ok then. She slept alone that night! Yesterday, after being home on the Johnson Farm for 3 days, she pulled her stake right out of the ground (a feat that our dog has yet to accomplish) and took off again. But, luckily for me, not through the woods this time! This time it was just to join the herd. They accept her as one of them, if not ignore her a bit. But, she seems happy with that. She definitely can stick up for herself. She is not picked on. At all. So last night we just let her roam free. When it came time to go to bed she went right into her side of the hut and was just fine. So, all of our goats are once again, Free Range Goats. Makes it easier for me. Eric is not too thrilled, so I keep telling him that he needs to get that fence up!!

Lauren is singing at a wedding tomorrow. She is a little nervous about how it will go since it is outside, but other than that, she is ready. She has the rehearsal tonight, and then the wedding tomorrow. The wedding has a cowboy theme. She will be singing "Mama He's Crazy" as the bride walks down the aisle, and when the bride and groom walk out, she is singing "What a Difference You've Made in My Life". I always love watching her sing. This is the second wedding she's been asked to sing at. She's also been asked to sing at a funeral, and she's only 11! Keep it up, and I can retire and enjoy my goats early. Haha.

One last topic to discuss this morning. 9/11. I won't go into too much detail, except to say where I was and how I felt. I heard about it on my way to work at Forrest Hutchinson's law office that morning. I was 4 months pregnant with Kennedi. My sister-in-law Kaley was going in to have her second son, Tristan, via C-Section. I walked into work and grabbed a TV and set it up in the conference room. We sat stunned as we watched the story unfold. I rubbed my stomach and prayed. I remember thinking what sort of world were we bringing babies into. What would happen next? Where would the next bomb go? Eric called to see if I was watching. I remember thinking that I wish I could be closer to him to hold him and feel safe. Lauren was at daycare, and I called just to tell her I loved her. It was such a scary day. Not a day to be productive or away from you family. I was blessed to work where I did, so that I was able to process the drama and traumatic nature of the day. Also, the pregnancy hormones didn't help! God Bless all of those people that risked and lost their lives to save others on that day. God Bless the children who lost their parents. God Bless the parents that lost their children. I hope that no one ever forgets the tragedy, and how in the months to come it brought our country closer together.

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school! Yahoo! The girls were all so excited. Not as excited as me, but pretty excited! In fact, I got up at 6 so I could wake up and get the kids up. They were already up on the couch waiting for me! The bus comes at 7, so they don't really need to get up until 6:20, but they were excited!

Lauren is going into 6th grade... last year of elementary, and in her words, this year she is going to "rule the playground". Yeah, it did take all I could do not to bust out laughing.

Kennedi is going into 2nd grade and she is worried about her purse... She's such a little fashion plate that she wants to make sure it's just right for the outfit. She has chosen a lot of cute clothes. She has a good sense of style, so that's helpful. She is pretty particular.

Madelyn is finally in 1st grade. All day every day school for her! Whooppee! She is worried that she'll get a "dress wedgie" and that her undies will fall down.... oh my Maddie. She is pictured up there showing off how to find out if you'll get said wedgie.

Today I should really get a lot done; but I might just rest. Relax, catch up TiVo... yes!!

Antigo -- the Homecoming

I think our beginning herd is complete! At least for 2009. I will not be bringing any more goats into the fold.

Our lovely little Antigo, the fainting goat has arrived here at the Johnson Farm! Welcome Antigo!

She had a rough start. Well, she probably didn't mind. I did. We went to Pine Acres to pick her up this morning. Thanks so much to Mike Schmitz for showing us around his goat farm, and for the care package of stuff for Tigo. I'm sure once she's settled in, she'll appreciate it. Anyway, we went there to pick her up and brought her to mom's. That is where the fun begins.

Lauren put her collar on her, and I lifted her out of the kennel and set her on the ground, I went to snap on the tie out.... and (can you see where this is going???) it didn't clip. And, Tigo made a run for it. Did I mention that Tigo (pronounced Teego) is a fainting goat? In theory when they are nervous, startled, or excited, they are supposed to stiffen and either fall over, pass out, or something. Apparently Tigo means RUN FAST AND FAR, because she sure didn't slow down.

Picture this: Small goat, running fast. Three girls, running fast. Said girls screaming and crying because said small beloved goat is running away. Youngest of girls yelling and practicing all of her scare tactics hoping to slow down said small goat. Bringing up the rear of this goat parade is totally amazed mother. Said totally amazed mother is wearing a pair of crocs whilst running after all of these "kids". Up the road, through the neighbors yard. Stop, apologize to neighbors, make small talk while trying to calm kids and keep an eye on fainting goat that doesn't seem to faint. Said goat takes off again through the ditch. Parade continues through the ditch, back up to the road. Youngest child again begins to wail because she's afraid small goat will get run over. Mother contemplating the merits of this as a slowing tactic as she's running to keep up with goat at breakneck speed. Middle child is running and limping because she is not wearing shoes....

... meanwhile Grandpa is back at the house looking all over for said small goat. Cannot find anyone and tells Dad that Kandi and girls must have taken the goat for a nice walk. Eric's response: "Uh-oh. That's not good". Yep, he's right. That's not good. Eric starts looking for tracks. Grandma gets in the car and starts looking and listening for signs of goat parade....

... back on the goat trail: Said small goat has led the goat parade onto an abandoned scary property nearly a mile from my parents. We are sneaking around trying to SCARE the goat once again. Note, SHE IS STILL NOT FAINTING OR SCARED, but she is quick! Now, she's again running into the woods. The oldest child is remaining surprisingly calm. We are trying to communicate through the woods where I am still wearing this worthless pair of CROCS and getting cut and scraped by the brambles. But, we can't lose this #)&%@)(*$#% goat. She was not free. At this point we send middle and youngest child for help. We decide it's impossible to surround a goat with only 2 capable members. The goat is just too darn quick.

FINALLY, the goat comes up against a stream. Goats are famous for hating water, although looking into Tigo's eyes, she was debating about ending it all and just going for it. To be honest, I was almost going to encourage her! Just kidding. I would have jumped in after her. Luckily, that wasn't necessary. She hung out on the bank, partially tangled in some vines, while I climbed over to her. I picked her up, she is not light. Good thing she has no horns! As I haul her out of the woods, my mom came up, laughing her a** off. She at least brought the car so I could have a ride back.

We finally got Tigo back to my parents and she spent the entire afternoon hiding in the brush. Poor baby.

Once we got home, she decided that she would wait to see what the herd thought of her. At first they ignored her, and then she wanted to meet them. Frank greeted her nicely and they seemed to bond. Pete seemed attracted to her until Maggie "told" him to leave. Gympy ignored her. Maggie, true to her Queen B status was mean. But, Antigo is getting a little more familiar with us. She is not as friendly as the others were, but she's a baby, and had a rough day!

The sleeping arrangements are as follows:.... Pete and Antigo are in the small side. Hopefully they are bonding. Maybe not too much... haha. I hope Pete is still a big young for serious bonding. I was going to put Gympy with Tigo, but she got an attitude and gave her a shove, so I put her on the "mean girls" side. So, we have Frank, Maggie and Gympy over on Mean Girl Lane. Hope they all make it tonight and no one is worse for the wear. Except me. haha.

Tomorrow is a new day, and I think everthing will settle down. The girls start school, and we can get a new routine. Maybe Tigo would like to meet Tillie. If that doesn't make her faint.... nothing will!

Shopping -- and friends -- with a little goat mixed in

I am done, and I am spent. I finally finished shopping, for everyone. I took Haylie and her friend Sydney to Albertville yesterday. We got to the outlet mall before it opened at 10, and we didn't get back to Floodwood until almost 9 PM. What a long day! But, it was fun. The girls were really good and really respectful. They tried to go shop on their own, but they ultimately needed my help for jeans. I told them at Old Navy that I was now "driving the bus" and they were going to stand in that dressing room until they got jeans that fit. They each ended up with 3 or 4 pairs of jeans at the end of the day, so I guess that worked!

My girls are also done. I took Lauren on Thursday, and she got finished too. She was pretty easy to go with. We took Marissa too, and she was easy to shop with. I'm lucky that all the girls have good friends.

Speaking of good friends....

I got to spend some time with my good friends when I took Haylie and Syd to Alberville. We spent the night in Elk River and I met up with Gail, Beth, Karen and Heather. We sat at Buffalo Wild Wings for about 4 hours. We had drinks, and food, and lots and lots of laughs. Our waiter, Colin, spilled salsa on me and Karen. Unfortunately, he didn't comp us anything. That was too bad, especially since he spilled an entire vat (ok, a little dish) of salsa on our pants.

My friends thought it would be fun to stand on their chairs and clap and sing Happy Birthday to me. Hysterical. I got a free ice cream treat and my name announced on the loud speaker. Mortifying, but a little exciting too. That stuff doesnt' usually happen. So funny.

Today I'm going to hang out at my mom's and then tomorrow we get our new goat. I think it'll be the last goat we purchase for a while. My mom is getting it for me for my birthday. She is a fainting goat. her name is Antigo. Maddie is already practicing her "Scare Tactics". watch the blog for more updates on her.

Happy Labor Day and enjoy these last few days of summer. I will personally enjoy the first day of school more than any day this weekend, I can PROMISE that!!

Golfing

Today I had a golf tournament with my mother and our friend, Peggy. What a great day! It was warm, and sunny, and beautiful. we have done this tournament for a few years now, and sometimes it is miserable. It's usually the first Tuesday of September. Last year it was so windy the ball fell off the tee a few times in the wind! The year before I wore my jacket on my legs like pants, and golf gloves like mittens.

I am not a good golfer. I manage to hold my own, most of the time. But, I am fun! And Funny (scrappin' friends!). So, I go along for comedic relief. My mom and I do a few tournaments a year together. The ones where she really wants to win; she does not invite me! My mother is an excellent golfer. Lots of people know her, and know that she is good. She's a ringer. I am not. I have no natural ability, at all. None. Zip. Zero.

In fact, a few years ago my dad was worried about why I wasn't getting any better! He even took my mom aside and asked her, "why isn't Kandi getting any better at this game??". I simply don't care. At all. I'm just happy to get out. But, because it was worrying my dad, and I do no like to like a fool, I started to try.

Today was fun. We won our flight! We actually won money! And, in a crazy act of luck, I took $20 and brought it to the casino, and won $100! I now have enough money to buy all of my fence posts for the goat fence. What a great day! Thanks mom! Thanks Peggy! Thanks to Haylie for babysitting, for for Eric for always supporting whatever craziness I get myself into.