A Rebuttal to Stress

This post is mostly just fun stuff, parts of the last few days that have nothing to do with the regular stress of life. The weather and schedule have allowed these moments.

Morgan and Russ spent much of Saturday on their horses working at the back at the Chopper K Auction Mart. Our friends were selling much of their herd there. Russ and Morg ushered cows, bulls and calves to the pens after they were done in the auction ring. It was a beautiful day and they had lots of hours side by side.
Grandma Shirley came over Sunday afternoon to help us decorate for Christmas. Knightwing loves her, and seemed to sense her presence in the car, she never came near my door but went straight to Shirley’s side.
After the initial greeting Knightwing stopped all movement to the door when she flopped herself down in front of Shirley and posed herself for a belly rub. Grandma Shirley obliged her.
It has become our tradition to enjoy favorite snacks while we decorate the tree. The last couple of years we have started with a charcuterie board of our treats and a sit down feast time.
Russ and Bingo had the job of encouraging the tree decorators. I wonder what they were saying to each other in this moment.
When these arm-less glasses came out of the decor box Russ got busy making a photoshoot happen. This is the smile that can light up an arena, yep, thats Jordanna.
Jill arrived home late Saturday, she made Christmas decorating a priority in her schedule.
I took this picture for Gina before I hung her ornament from last year on the tree. FDC stands for “Fight Directors of Canada”, she got her intermediate certification last year, her ornament marked that achievement. We are missing her.
Today Russ had ambitions to get as many bales hauled as possible but ran into a flat tire and realized he really needed to get all new tires to make his work as safe as possible. He was very fortunate when the tire shop closest to the field had the tires he needed. He was travelling with Kngihtwing and Bingo at this point. They managed life on the hoist very well.
Today my phone rang about 3:30, it was Morgan, “hey Mom, whatcha doing?” I was working on my laptop and drinking a mocha. My presence was being requested to pull the “heel-a-matic”, a roping dummy on wheels that Morg can use for roping practice. Honestly, I didn’t want to. I had been working on the house all day and I had just settled in at my computer. But……in an effort to be a good Mom I bargained for time to finish my mocha and then headed out. Of course, it was fun and I was glad to be there. Its usually like that with kids. Here is the view in my rear view mirror.
This is a glimpse of the heel-a-matic pal I pulled.
It gave me a feeling of deep contentment, a glimpse of the old normal, to be working on supper and have Morgan at the counter doing homework and Jill working on a project. I had to grab a picture.
While at the counter Jill had a look at the last blog I published. She said it was good but it was missing this picture. This was a screenshot of the Whatsapp call that linked Regina, Carnduff, Alameda and Halifax while our calves were selling on Thursday. This call was a first, but we are lucky to have these folks that care alot about us and how things are going.

Last night I got a message from my friend Lindsay. She had time today to come and be with me to tackle the cleaning work. Of course I said yes. So, the really great reality as this day unwinds is that our home has received lots of TLC and the walls have heard some good conversation.

The days ahead are really busy and hold some pressure as we get the last of the big fall jobs done on the ranch and I lead a funeral. It is very good to have these lighter moments, special people and images to ponder as we tackle what lies ahead.

When I read this to the family here and asked for their feedback, asked what they would want to see changed, it went like this……

Russ wanted it noted that this was Jordanna’s first time helping us get ready for Christmas and this is a big moment for him (Russ), he not so secretly wants Jordanna to be his daughter in law.

Jill thought the following three pictures should be added.

Jill enjoyed participating in Russ and Morg’s cow moving job at the sale on Saturday via a whatsapp video call from Russ, catching her on her break.
Jill glimpsed the Shirley and Knightwing action from the door and grabbed a picture. This is her perspective on those tender moments.
Today Jill did a few hours with Russ as he moved bales home. They had a fun time together.

Morgan offered this quote in my voice that he wanted included, “Morgan didn’t start out as our favorite but he quickly rose to the top, he did this by his postiive can-do attitude and strong work ethic that he demonstrates in his day to day life.”

My reply to that was to turn to Russ and say, “he’s writing his own report card!”

Jill’s rebuttal……Jill remains our favorite, through her postive can-do attitude and her strong work ethic and in addition, her tremendous cool vibes and endless spice and immense talent (followed by her ferral laugh, she is not comfortable tooting her own horn.)

Russ felt it was imperative to include Gina in this conversation. He was lucky to catch her at this late hour in Toronto, she and Jack (her boyfriend) were watching a show. She got straight to the point in rebutting Morgan saying,

“Morgan cannot say he has a positive can-do attitude because he is rude and angry when he has to help people that don’t know how to ride horses.” This very much offends Gina, Morgan’s defense is, “Because wer’e not f-in ‘heartland'”, and, in addition….Gina feels that Jill is the favorite.

So there it is, a simple blog that got a bit crazy.

Jill just said, “if people make it to the end of the blog they deserve a little fun.”

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