Catching Up....

Good morning! How is everyone doing today...ready for the weekend?? I know I am! I feel like I've been running in circles for the past few weeks. I am in need of a break!! Wyatt is doing great - the swelling has gone down in his legs, he's eating and drinking and moving around really well. He's been staying on the back porch the past few days so that he can at least see his peeps over in General Population while he's still in Solitary :) I'm so glad that we brought him home when we did. As wonderful as the hospital was, it just wasn't for him. I don't think he would have gotten better staying there simply because he's not into being a "patient". We don't want to rush him back into being with the other dogs because there is no need for him to overdo it and hurt himself. Hopefully he can go back to his posse next week. I think he is accompanying us to Whitney this weekend. Keep all those little dogs tied up, chiliheads...LOL!!

Paige and I went to Houston Tuesday evening so that Paige could attend Sister Lucy's vigil. Paige was concerned that she would not get to see her and tell her goodbye (Catholics have closed casket services), so it was important for her to get there and see her while she could. Paige is such a sweet baby and she talked to Sr. Lucy and told her good bye. It was really so precious and I'm glad that she was able to do that. The funeral service was held at the Dominican Sisters Mother house in Houston and it was very beautiful. I didn't expect Paige to want to go to the graveside service, but she did and so off we went. She was able to place a rose on her casket and tell her good bye one last time. She did okay while we were there, but she was pretty sad on the way home and still had lots of questions. There were a lot of kids at the service and I felt so bad for all of them. Sister Lucy was so special to all of us, especially all of the kids that she taught. I know she will be missed; but I also know that she's watching over all of us and her "darlings". Rest in peace Sister Lucy.

Paige, however, is in need of Appropriate Funeral and Graveside Etiquette 101. She's never been to a funeral before and God bless her, she just doesn't know how to be serious sometimes. At one point she (along with other kids...she wasn't the only crazy) was running around the cemetery and weaving in and out of headstones. I was soooo mortified and I couldn't flat out yell at her, so it was hard to get her attention and get her to stop. Plus, she runs faster than I do and I certainly wasn't going to look like complete white trash by chasing my crackhead kid all over a cemetery after a Nun's funeral :) I hope she doesn't have to learn manners from just going to enough of them, but she does need to learn that there are times to be silly and times to be quiet. She wasn't bad, but there were a few tense moments when I thought I was going to have to bust her butt. Alls well that ends well. She is a great travelling companion and she is all about hotels and room service. I feel bad for her future spouse. She's being prepped for the good life and whoever gets her for better or worse better know how to keep her in the life to which she feels she should be accustomed to!

There are a ton of cook offs to choose from this weekend!

HandleyFest in Ft. Worth
West Tawakoni
Tommy Alverson Family Gathering - Joe Pool Lake
Lake Whitney
Chandler Pow Wow
Ponder Riding Unlimited
Marshall

Lots of places for all of us to invade and steal some points, right??? Gary and I will be in Whitney this weekend and will be the referee(s) for this cook off. I don't normally do anything in Whitney, and since my chili SUCKED last weekend, I'm looking at a potential cold streak!!! I'm more excited about hanging out with the Ellis County crew all weekend than anything else! As always, we have lots of food, beverages and fun planned. It's impossible for all of us to get together and not have a good time. I'm really looking forward to this weekend. Maybe I'll place in beans to ease the pain of crappy chili....LOL!!

I made my pork roast with root veggies and I'm going to make it one more time before I share the recipe. It was delicious...but I need to tweak a few things and probably use a smaller roast. This was the first time Gary ever had butternut squash and he loved it. The flavors were really well blended; it just took a little longer than I think is feasible - even if you are making it at home on a day when you have time to put it in the oven and let it braise all day. I didn't make anything else with it, so I need to spend a Sunday making the whole meal so that I can share all of it with you!

Have a great day everyone. I've got real work to do, Halloween party work to do, chili cook off work to do. I don't know how I'm going to get a damn thing done :)

Keepin it real......

Kelly