Layover

Greetings from Kari's bed in Louisiana! Is that a little too much information? Too bad! haha. She has the most comfortable bed in the world. We are watching the finale of Project Runway that we DVRd last night.

So, the trip... where to start? The first several hours weren't bad at all. It started out as any adventure does. Anticipation, excitement, some apprehension. Then it went down hill. The first thing to get sore was my rear end. It started to get a little numb, so I just tried to move. Well, not a lot of options there! Eric tried to sleep until it was his turn to drive. I'm not certain if he was successful, but he did manage to ignore most everything that was going on. There were funny things... such as the fact that we listened to the exact same music that we did 25 years ago when we drove to Texas as a family! Sirius satellite radio to the 60s channel! That was fun.

Eric took over the driving around 11 PM. Mom came to the back to join me. She was there approximately 12 minutes before she started to complain about how uncomfortable it was! No kidding, right? I did manage to sleep some while Eric was driving... or perhaps I was knocked out by his terrible music. Megadeth and Metallica and other screechy things.

Finally at 3:45 AM I took over. In the first 3 minutes of driving, I narrowly missed running over a possum that was in the middle of the road, I "tapped" the brakes and nearly gave everyone whiplash, and I hit a set of rumble strips and woke everyone up. Not a good start for me! But after that, things got better! I drove about 300 miles while everyone slept.

We went to eat at IHOP for breakfast. In the words of one of my favorite comedians, Jim Gaffigan, I never leave IHOP feeling like hopping, I feel more like I need a wheelchair! Just kidding. No, I didnt' eat that much. But Eric did!

We arrived at Kari's house at 2 in the afternoon. So, it was a 20.5 hour drive. All in all, not too bad. Except for the aches and pains we all had. My tailbone, my hips, my butt.... the only one whose backside wasn't sore was Eric's. He says it's from the magnet pad he sat on the entire way.

I got to take a quick break after I got here and went to visit my friend Erin P. and have a few glasses of wine and a great visit. SO MUCH FUN! Thanks Erin!! I know a lot of people find it very funny that I have friends all over the country and I go visit them when I only have about 15 hours in one spot. But, hey, I love it! We had a great time. And, we basically met and fell in love (just kidding... wanted to see if you're paying attention!!) on Facebook! She is a friend of my sister's, but we became good friends via Facebook.

So, leaving here soon to go get the U-Haul and load the U-Haul and then get back on the road. Eric is debating about taking a room tonight. But, I think we can drive straight through, or even just sleep a few hours in a rest area. I think if the U-Haul is like people say, and we cant' go much over 60 MPH, it will take us 24 hours to get home. I need to get back to get the kids. Then again..... it's not like Judy or Alison will ditch them. If we are gone an extra day..... yay for us!

Thanks for watching the blog! There will be some more funny things to talk about once we have a truck, I'm sure!

"On the road again, I just can't wait to get on the road again, going places I may never see again...."

Twas the Night Before the Road Trip....

Twas the Night Before the Road Trip and all through the Johnson House;
One phrase could be heard, and that was, Boy are you a grouch!

Maddie was busy, but not with her work,
Kennedi was cranky and being a jerk.

Lauren was humble, she had a failing grade,
But that didn't move the mom; a punishment for her was made.

Packing to be done, goats to be fed,
House to be cleaned, notes to be read.

All of this to get ready, and a kicker to boot....
I get a cold sore and a pain in her tooth!

It will all be worth it in the end, I know it will be!
Getting my Grandma, and my sister Kari I'll see.

Peyton and Jake, Scott and Will;
Grandma Nass, Auntie Billie and lots of road kill.....

So, keep watching the blog; and enjoy what you read,
Notes from the road, and big stories from me!!

Goats Galore -- Did I use that one yet?

Here is the herd enjoying a little treat outside the front door. Note that Tillie is tied up in the background. I had them out together, but Tillie decided she needed to round them up. Not a good plan. I think they could take her, but I'm still holding out hope for pregnancy and don't want to disturb the girls.

Allow me to tell you a little about my family's luck with animal breeding. It's not so good. The first failure I remember is having my horse, Peaches, when I was 9. We brought her to a farm to have her bred. It all seemed to take. In fact, she even started "showing" and "bagged up" and started dripping milk. Guess what? We called the vet over and she was having a hysterical pregnancy. GREAT.

Attempt number 2: My dad bought a beautiful German shepherd named Penny. (Johnson's Pretty Penny, to be precise, and boy did the name fit!) He bought her with the intentions of breeding her and selling puppies. They brought her to the breeder to have her bred, and it all worked out great. As her due date approached we all waited with baited breath to see what would happen. The date came and went and we thought Penny looked a little ill. Brought her to the vet and it seemed that she wasn't able to go into labor on her own. Therefore, she was overdue, and we lost all the puppies! So sad. There were 7 of them. So, the breeder was kind enough to say that he would do it again, and just take 2 puppies from the second batch. Ok, great. So, as Penny got close again, we brought her to the vet to have a c-section (I know, right? see the pennies adding up??). The puppies were gorgeous. Perfect in every way. But, guess how many she had? Do you see this coming? Yes, she had TWO (2) little puppies. They both were given to the breeder. At this point we weren't sure how it would work out and I think that they were thinking we'd try it again, but lo and behold, Penny had problems and had to have an emergency HYSTERECTOMY. Ah yes, a hysterectomy on a breeding dog. And, the pennies just keep going out the door. So, that was a bust as well.

So as hopeful as I am that Pete did his job and that we have pregnant goats, I just don't want to get my hopes up. Today it seemed that there was some "bagging" action with both Maggie and Gympy. But, we've been down that road before (see the line about Peaches and her hysterical pregnancy above) and so I'm not sure if it's true or not! So, I just keep watching them for signs of anything going on.

We are leaving for Texas on Thursday for a few days. And, if I'm lucky enough to have pregnant goats, I'm pretty certain my luck with end and I'll come home to babies... and I'll have missed the entire blessed event. But, if they are here, what a wonderful surprise!

Enough goat talk, I'm going out to do some brushing and visiting. If I'm lucky, maybe Maggie will let me feel her up and I'll see if I can feel anything interesting! haha.

Spring and Road Trips

Spring has Sprung here at the farm! There are indications everywhere. Mostly in the form of poop! Haha. That's right, Tillie hasn't mastered the art of going out to the field to do her business in the winter. That's too bad. But, luckily, Eric had the girls clean it up. Not sure how he did it, as I was at work, but I came home one day and it was done. Thank goodness!

The next form of poop is, you guessed it, GOATS! I finally let them out one day last week to do a little roaming. They really had a good time following me around. Today I've had them out since about 9 AM. They have been jumping around and playing all day. It's so cute to see them climbing on the wood piles and stumps. They have really gotten big over the winter. I didn't notice it so much when I was out there every day, but can really tell when I see them next to things they played on last year. They have spring fever for sure. And, they can't control their poo either. I don't mind it, but Eric hates that it's everywhere. I love them so much I even find their poo endearing. Maybe I am a bit cracked...

My other kids, the human kind, also have spring fever. They've enjoyed being able to ride their bikes, fly kites, and play outside for most of the evenings. I have enjoyed that too!

Next up on the adventure list is going to Texas/Louisiana to get my Grandma's things to help her move up here with my parents. How does this sound for a road trip:

Leaving Floodwood next Thursday afternoon. Riding in the back of my parents car, with them, all the way to Louisiana (20 hours). Spending one night with Kari and her family. Getting up early in the morning to drive to Texas (2 hours) to rent a U-Haul truck and load of all of Grandma's belongings. Get on the road (this is the same day, mind you.... Saturday) and head back north to Floodwood (22 hours). If all goes well (and really, what are the odds of that happening?? this is me we're talking about) we should make it back to Floodwood by Sunday night. 44 hours on the road in a weekend. Wonder if I'm up for it?? I'll keep you "posted". Pun intended, of course.....

Goats Galore

Ok, so it's been a very long time since I've posted anything! Sorry for the delay!

I have a goat update....

I've been asked by a friend of mine to take her last remaining goat. He's a very nice pygora whether (neutered male) named Dexter. Apparently he's lost his friend and he's very lonely at her house. So we're deciding whether (hahahaha pun intended) or not to add him to our herd. After much deliberation (ok, not that much) I think I've decided to take him in.

He will be a great friend for Pete once Pete gets ousted from the girl side. I'm hoping that Pete has done his job and that the girls are all pregnant. I can't be sure and I guess it's pretty hard to tell if they are or not. We'll have to wait until May or June to be positive. I found a "home goat ultrasound kit" in a magazine, but I'm not about to spend $300 on that device. Let alone try to figure out how to use it!

So, more on the acquisition of Dexter as the days go by.....

Keep watching!! I'll keep you "posted"... bah ha ha. I'm just full of it today!!