The American Tragedy Part 2

I was feeling really terribly that I left you all with such sad news and with sort of a negative post; the one about Shasta.  But, to be honest, that is sort of how life has been around here...But that is sort of how life has been for MANY people, for a VERY long time; so I am still smiling and laughing each and every day.  And knowing that many of these things are a natural part of any ranchers life; and that I would not be a good rancher if I did not take them so DEAR TO HEART.

So it is time to get over my pity party and get back to work.  I don't have many months left here at The Royal Ranch and I need to make every minute count.  I don't know if I have made the point enough times, but I am a full time student at Ohio Christian University now also; so life is a bit hectic, what with eggs in the incubator, kids running to and fro, new turkeys adjusting to our ranch routine and of course online studies to be done.

I am orchestrating the move of an entire ranch/family that will also entail a huge downsizing (which is a good thing in my book) and still taking on new projects.  Yes, you heard that right.  Why?  Because I feel that this particular project is one that will help my family, my new homestead and my community.  I will get further into it in another post, because I have really used my negotiating skills to get this project off the ground!

Today I want to talk a bit further about the banks (and bank bailouts).  Simply because I said I would.  I am not going to spend much of my energy on them because frankly they don't deserve much of my energy anymore; but what I do want to share is some useful tips.  I told you all our story in the first post of The American Tragedy.  I also told you all in that first post that our belief is that this foreclosure mess in America is due to the bank bailouts.

Okay, so I am no financial genius.  From here on out you are going to assume some of your own risk.  But I mean this country has a financial epidemic on it's hands.  We went to our county's Public Trustee's website to figure out about foreclosures in our county and did you know that only banks buy up foreclosures?  Not one has been sold to a private person in the last year.  That's right they take them, buy them back and then sit on them.  Why?  In my opinion, so that they can tell us tax payers that it is a loss and then when the market gets better they will put them all for sale; which by the way will be no good for the recovering market.

I mean, I just went to go pick up the links for this story and started getting a damn headache  from reading it all.  I can't do it Dear Rebels.  So if you want to do some reading on what all is happening to folks, have a go at this article (don't forget the comments, that is half the story!).  Or this one, because it is where I got a good piece of advice.  Well, I hope so anyway.  I filed a complaint with the OCC (Offices of the Comptroller of the Currency); which so far hasn't shown to do anything, but at least I feel like I am doing something and they are not just going to get away with this scott free.

Next, if you are in this or any other legal issue for that matter; make sure and read every line of every piece of paper that you are sent, and even more importantly do it in a timely fashion as their are "due dates" on many items.  Now, this may sound like common sense to some, but it simply is NOT.  When a person finds themselves in a place like I have the past few weeks, and that is simply inundated with work and pretty much grief stricken; common sense does not play a role.

I got a mailing from the attorneys that are foreclosing on our homes, and of course this mailing pissed me off.  So, being the Rebel that I am I had set it aside and not thought much about it.  Well, it just so happens that it was The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act that they are required to send me and it actually had some really helpful information in it so if I hadn't read each and every little bitty, and they do make sure it is little bitty, line of it, I would not know that they have to provide me with quite a bit of information before they can just foreclose on my home.  The catch of course is that you have to ask for this information, in writing, within thirty days.

So they are of course hoping you, as a dummy don't read the tiny writing and won't do the awkward wording of how in the hell am I going to ask them for all of that stuff and make it sound just so?  And within their time-frame no less?  Well, at least I was.  So, lo and behold my class right now is Intro to Computers and we are learning Microsoft Word; can you believe that in that program is a template for exactly what I needed?  I mean this letter even quoted The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and a court case that supports it and everything.  So there is help out there for us dummies folks, don't despair.

Lastly, we got a delivery from a Deputy of an affidavit that has some helpful information on it that we are following up on as well.  This program is something called Deferment; and I don't know much about it except that it goes through the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline and it gets you set up with a HUD counselor if you are approved.  I must admit I am a tad bit leery of this program as it is another government plan (gee, we've had such great luck with those so far...) and they are for people who intend to keep their properties as their PERMANENT RESIDENCE.  Which I am not sure we can commit to.  Wink, wink Big Brother.

You know that anything I say can and will be used against me in a court of law...or something like that.

Home of the FREE becasuse of the BRAVE....

 Photo courtesy of tattoodesign.me

A day to reflect, remember and appreciate all that we have, the freedoms we take for granted and those we hold dear.

Farmageddon; a great movie supporting local agriculture!

As you all know, I am very dedicated to supporting my local farmers as much as possible.  But for me, living in the mountains and not really having local farmers that is a little harder to do.  It is a learning process (one that I am very much still in the process of), Colorado may not be the biggest agricultural state, but by golly it is an agricultural state by some standards; mine included.

I am very proud to be a part of the agricultural business, I say it is in my blood.  It must have skipped a generation (my Mom is not really into the whole animal/growing thing-ha!).  See, my Grandparents were farmers in Iowa; they moved here to leave the farm life behind, I do believe.  But somehow it is just inside some of us, and I can't help myself...when I collect the eggs I am fascinated with the smooth little jewels of various colors.  And oh, my wonderful sheep that bleat for me if I am late to feed them...

And as for my packing llama string...I recently saw some pictures on Pinecam (our local gossip emag-ha!) of our ranch with Charlie Royal doing pack strings with horses...Well aren't we just going full circle?  I wish I still had that much land Charlie...But anyway, the joy that they bring me and our visitors is unparalleled; we get to teach our guests about our area, our way of life, but even better yet, how to be good stewards of the environment!

So to me, being a farmer these days is a lot more than just throwing stuff in the ground or raising organic animals.  It is about defending our rights to do so.  And teaching people about why we are doing it that way.  And why it is so important for us to raise heirloom varieties and heirloom chickens and sheep so that we don't have only one kind of corn or tomato or potato (and that there are still some nutrients in them).  No matter which way you say it; tomato or tomahto, potato or potahto, if there is no variety it would still suck.

Needless to say I was really excited to hear about this documentary:


Farmageddon - Movie Trailer from Kristin Canty on Vimeo.

Made by a Mom.  Check it out, there are screenings in towns all over the USA, or you can buy the DVD.  I have to wait for the movie....bummer!

Rebels, You've only just begun....

 Photo courtesy of Northside Living

As I was doing a bit of "catch up" reading around the blogoshpere this morning, I happened along a song that really fits my life right now; what with the boys going off to college, a bit of a Spiritual/physical shake-up going on in my personal life, etc.  The timing was great.  Sorry folks, they wouldn't let me embed, but it is definitely worth the click on this link.

And have a wonderful, safe and food filled holiday; try to make it a recycled one.  We are making a recycled garden...more on that next week when I can find a camera.  What are your plans?

A song worth singing

America's Foreclosure Epidemic

Yes, we have become a part of the horrific statistics.  Blessedly, we were able to pull our beloved ranch out of the horrific word...foreclosure...in twenty five days!  And it still cost us a bloody fortune.  But that is not what prompted me to write this post.  It is the two ladies that have told me of their impending foreclosures in the last week that have prompted me to write this post.  To be honest, I was just going to keep my mouth shut out of embarrassment, really.

But then I got to thinking how this whole thing went down.  And I delivered a load of hay back to a friends house in a sort of "poor" neighborhood in our area, and saw all of the empty houses.  And then my neighbor stopped by to pick up an antler set that she had once given me; she needed it back to decorate and try and sell because her house was being foreclosed upon.  The same house that she had cared for her dying mother in, and that she has about 15 animals in...All for $5,000.

Then I get a call on the RV that we have for sale, due to the foreclosure, of course...who ends up to be a gal that I used to work with at the food pantry.  Her house has already been done, they're out.  See ya.  Well, gee, she's hoping the judge will be real nice and see that she's got a family and twenty years of stuff and let them stay through the holidays.  Then they can go live in an RV somewhere nice, that'll be a great learning environment for three high school boys, I'm sure.

So, these are the reasons I write today.  If I sound a little pissed off, well I am.  I've got to tell you, we were funneled right into this system from the get go.  Those modifications that they offer, be careful (and believe me, I was)...they are almost designed to fail it seems.  I have heard that from almost every single person (including our attorney and the Colorado Foreclosure hotline, unofficially, of course) in the same boat.  And never, ever make partial payments, or payments once you have been put into any legal situation.  You will never see that money again, it goes into a suspension fund, luckily we learned this through friends and did not make that mistake.

I want to give you a quick example so you don't think that I wasn't paying attention like often happens.  A year or so ago when I knew we were getting behind, I did the stand up thing and got us on a modification.  We did all they said, went through the trial period, great... and then one day (perfectly legal, according to the hotline) before our first regular payment was due they told us it was $400 more.  Well, already times were tight, we started off on a bad foot, they add a ridiculous late fee, my back, blah, blah...the story goes down hill from there.

But again, this isn't about just us, what's really breaking my heart is watching my little community waste away, and feeling like there's not a damn thing we can do about it.  I actually caught myself saying to Tom last night "If we owned all of the houses, than the government couldn't."  And as crazy as it sounds, it was the first thing that has made sense to me in a long time.  What the hell does the government want with all of these piece of junk houses that only hold the love of one family, but the value to whom (or none for that matter)?

Is it all to make our trillion dollar debt look that much smaller on paper?  So that they can say they have those assets with a dollar amount that they determine the value of?  I mean it was all a big scam, the way we had to pay off the attorneys.  One day it was one amount, the next day...$520 more.  And Tom had to pay it through a glass box; I guess that is because so many people have gone nutso on the folks, they've learned they're lesson and put up choke proof barriers!

Now I know that we can't go giving everybody free rides...I'm not that much of a bleeding heart.  But most of these people are hard working honest people that have just come across hard times, mostly due to this economic hell hole we are in.  Which no one can really point their fingers at who's fault it is, and to be honest I really don't give a damn anymore; it's time to quit pointing fingers and getting our asses to work saving our neighborhoods.

And I don't really love the idea of the government owning all the homes in my hood, I don't know about you.  I like real estate to determine the value of real estate, not the government, especially since I own quite a bit of real estate in this hood.  But I do have a few thoughts rattling around in this head of mine to try and put a stop to this vicious cycle.  We can't just stand by and watch the neighborhood go to the wolves, so to speak.  At least I can't, or won't.

Anesthesia Brain

Aside from Gigi my dog, Hector here has been my constant companion

since my return from the hospital!

There has been a huge mistake!  When they took out the bones and junk in my back, they also removed a large portion of my brain!  I mean I can't hardly think straight for the life of me-ha!  Yesterday, I was trying to help the kids get their lunches together as they all had various fun days including field trips, swimming parties and of course Halloween parties.  I stood in the middle of the kitchen, with this blank stare on my face when they all three gave me their sandwich orders (which I have done millions of times in my life by now, I should be able to do it in my sleep), and just thought "Huh?"

But, it did clear me up on one thing, the reason I am having a hard time getting back to work here on the blog.  It is not because I am in a lot of pain, or need a lot of healing time.  It's actually because I can't think of a darn thing worth saying right now, and dang if that isn't odd for me!  So today as I was typing this I of course figured I'd better do a bit of research on the subject and found a few interesting pieces.  It is interesting to note that people with brain dysfunction may have a harder time recovering from anesthesia than those without.  I'm assuming epilepsy would qualify me for that group.

The point of all of this is not to make excuses or to feel sorry for myself by any means, as a matter of fact, I'm really glad I finally figured it out because now I have something to work with.  And I do believe that this might happen with everyone to a certain extent, so why not do a few brain exercises and have a little fun "waking up" your brain after dealing with anesthesia?

Actually, it's quite interesting that Mom has left me all of her Woman's World magazines and the other night I started the crossword; I think the first one I have ever done in my life!  It was as if my brain knew it needed a bit of challenging; and this is not the first time this has happened.  Before my surgery I had a wild craving for hamburgers...and I mean I could have eaten them at every meal.  I was doing some of my pre-surgical reading and it said to bone up on iron, hmmmm.  I also Have had a mad craving for chocolate milk, not only do I need the calories right now, but I can only imagine how my body is eating up that calcium.  

Yesterday when I was getting gas I started craving a sandwich from the store and almost ended up with Tuna; YUCK!!!!  On the way home that is when I realized I must really need some tuna fish if I had almost purchased one from a gas station!  Okay, body, fish oil coming up.  So, it is the same with the anesthesia brain thing.  I will challenge my daughter to a few games, continue on my reading (book reviews to come, when I can pull them together-ha!) and crosswords, and oh yeah the biggest brain buster of all...THE BALLOT.

Please don't forget to vote this weekend if you have a mail-in like we do.  If not, go ahead and make your cheat sheet so you are all ready for your big day on Tuesday and don't hold up the lines!  This is an important one, people, get out there and vote!

Oddly silent...Didn't want to spread the bug!

Well hello again Rebels!  I heard there was a nasty Twitter Bug, no I didn't say Jitter Bug...a Twitter Bug.  Someone got a hold of Twitter yesterday and made quite a mess of it from what I can gather.  As a matter of fact, when I did my research this morning to make sure it was safe to blog and all, I'm not even comfortable linking to any of the articles that I checked because there were so many pop-ups to, well, pop-up.  And that was the problem I guess; third parties that took you places that had all sorts of pop-ups and malware and nasty stuff.

So here I am being all proud of myself for just having gotten everything all connected.  You know, my new Royal Ranch Facebook page, and my new Twitter account, and of course this blog, and Tuesday is the day that I post for Green Spot-On...Wow, I'm pretty hooked up.  Yeah, hooked up to spread a virus like that like wild fire!  Really I laugh as I write this, you all know that right?

So, to make up for my absence, and god forbid any trouble I may have caused by my huge, massive exposure and connection  I will finally be posting my pics from our overnighter up to one of my favorite areas in the state; Lost Park Wilderness.  You know, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I do have quite a few pics here.  Ha!

Lost Park at sunset

Our walk in the "Park"

Dog walk at sunrise, aaahhh!!

You do see the antelope, right?

 

One of my favorite old barns in South Park

The next day we went to Tarryall Reservoir, what a beautiful dam!  

Pretty cool husband too!

 If you look closely, you can see swallow nests up top, and huge piles of bat guano on the ledges, very intriguing for a manure connoisseur!

There is no rock that they will not climb!

A little grody, but look at the size of this Pike head!

The first picture is from Monday night here at the house, we had a beautiful storm pass through, too bad it didn't bring much rain.  Please excuse the power line, but the view was worth it I figured!

PS  Notice there are no links!!!

Judy, on being a mom, a volunteer and a politico

So Tuesday I was on my way to my last School Advisory Council (SAC) meeting for our middle school; I no longer have a middle schooler, so I was just going to finish out my post for last year.  I had a lot on my mind, I had started my new SAC post with the High School the day before, was really looking forward to teaching my new class, but was a little concerned over some things I had heard at the HS meeting.

You see, I am in a very interesting position when it comes to the schools and this town.  I am quite active in politics as a Registered Republican, and in Park County, that means that you are involved in all of the action because it (the county) is entirely Republican, sorry Democrats, but it is how I keep tabs on the pulse, if you know what I mean.  Now, in general, and I do say, in general, the school system is run by Democrats.

As we all know, education and politics go hand in hand.  Especially when it comes to the Sheriffs race.  What?  At least in Park County.  Okay, it doesn't all boil down to the Sheriffs race, but it came darn close at the last Board meeting, sounds like.  Which is a shame, because it was the last meeting of our very distinguished President who has to leave our area. 

Anyway, it turned into a circus, the day before election, ironically, or not, with allegations against the Sheriffs Dept that turned into screaming at our Superintendent to step down.  (The reason the two are connected is because we have a Sheriff Resource Officer (SRO) at our school, please follow the links if you'd like to catch up on the whole sordid story.)

Well, I wasn't at that meeting, and hadn't heard anything about it until the HS SAC meeting on Monday, been under a rock you know.  But, I went home and did some reading and found some very interesting information.  Well, as I said, I know some things that the people at the school don't know because I knew the names of the folks that had raised a stink at the board meeting... they were a lot of the same people that I had recently spent the day with up at the Republican Assembly where I was a delegate. 

My feelings on the matter were...uneasy.  I knew that it had been politically motivated, but was concerned about the schools as a whole.  Well, I was walking into a trap.  By the end of my last middle school SAC meeting I had somehow been voted Chairperson for this coming school year, as a community member, since I no longer have a student at FMS.  This will involve another year of meetings (me running them-yikes!), all of the District meetings and who knows what other duties they did not inform me of-ha!

But, I may be a great person for the job.  Although there was a little chuckle when I said that I recognized the names of the trouble makers (they must think it's the tattooed, hillbilly in me), I think the real surprise to these ladies might be that these are the same folks who are running this county.  Or at least representing them when it comes to voting at the assembly, again sorry Dems, but numbers don't lie.  So I can see both sides of the coin so to speak.

But, the very good news, is that in all of this brew-ha-ha, I have answered one of my own questions!  So, our Sheriff beat the first guy in the Primary.  My question was, does this declare him the final victor or can people change parties?  Well, I don't know about changing parties, but I do know that you can still become a write in candidate after the primary, and I'm adding my name...Just Kidding!!!!  No, but another fella did just that, and lo and behold if he isn't one of the fellas causing trouble for the school district/SRO relationship.

Park County election results and questions

 You know I can't start a post without a picture.  Yes, I know the saying about mushrooms and BS, but that really was just coincidental; politics and BS, good one.

As you all know by now, I am somewhat of a political junkie.  Now, this comes from necessity these days, I believe.  A person can't really go about spreading their opinion if they don't really know what they are talking about, much less if they don't walk the walk, so to speak.  And when I say that, I don't mean that I think a person always needs to be the smartest gal in town to be a part of politics, but I do think that if a person is going to sit around bitching about the place that this country is in right now, well he/she darn well be informed!

Case in point; I have some learning myself I'd like you all to help me with right now.  Yesterday were the primaries here in Colorado.  I won't bore you with all of the results of the bigger elections, because those are all over the news!  What I had a little bit of a hard time finding, until early this morning, was news of our anxiously awaited Sheriff's race.  Incumbent, Fred Wegener claims victory by almost double the votes this morning.

So, my questions may be silly, but I believe the only stupid question is an unasked one, so, what if he had lost?  Since it is a primary, would he have been out of office, or would it have waited until the actual election, even if no one is running against him?  And couldn't his opponent pull a Tom Tancredo and switch parties and still run against him in the main election?  Please, please people, not only do I want to know these answers, but my kids do too, so make me look smart to the kiddos!!!

By the way; David Kintz will be representing Republicans in the election for our Coroner, as will Mark Dowaliby for a commissioners seat, which is quite interesting because at the assembly he was the under dog.  Most of our other offices were uncontested, so Debra Green (County Clerk), Dave Wissel (Assessor), Michelle Miller (Treasurer), and Jack Kirby (Surveyor) will all retain their jobs.

Holy Holiday!

Wow!  This has been a very busy few days, and yes I know I say that all the time, but I've been on a book buzz!!!  It's been wonderful.  Amongst all of the other busy things that I always brag/complain about like the campgrounds and the critters and the kids and the B&B, we have had a wonderful fourth of July and my books are literally flying off the shelves, okay I don't have time to even get them out of the box onto a shelf.

It has been wonderful to hear from friends and family on Facebook and here on the blog.  We have also had people stopping by, just to pick one up.  The regular flow of traffic yesterday was downright funny.  The kids were laughing because usually the cars stopped on the road are because of Tom, but yesterday they were all stopping for books.  And of course, the one time it was a person I didn't know very well, we had a loose llama.  Oh well, at least she was an animal control officer in some county and was helpful in getting our errant llama back into his pasture.

As for our holiday celebrations, I had to laugh at the men.  I think they were really disappointed that the cops didn't come.  They were like a couple of kids.  They'd blow something off and then throw the evidence in the fire and hide the rest of the fireworks, and then wait a bit.  Darn, no sheriff deputies.  Blow off something a little bigger, follow previous steps, damnit, still no cops!  Good thing it was raining the whole time, or I might've gotten a little bit nervous with these two almost fifty year old kids!  

Poor Isabella had her seat for the fireworks from inside the motorhome where we all spent the night last night!  She thought it was safer to watch from the back window, wrapped up in a blanket with a dog or two in tow.  I say "poor Isabella" quite loosely, because she was in there shouting out which fireworks were to be next, and which fireworks were to be saved for today when her brother Nathan gets home.  She also had a stash of soda (!) and snacks in there, so I don't think she was suffering too much.

Also, I wanted to give you a quick update on my drowned hen; she is doing fantastically.  The morning that I took her back up to the barn, as soon as she got within sight of it, she started squawking.  The minute I got inside the fence I had to open the crate so that she wouldn't injure herself banging around in there and she came flying out and has been acting like a perfectly normal chicken since then.  I am assuming she will steer clear of the water trough from now on, but if not, I'm ready for her!

On Saturday, the adult sheep were shorn and that was a big deal for our little ranch as this is the first time for us with sheep.  I did take pictures, but left my camera case, which has the cord to download said pictures, at the farm that we went to to shear, so I think I will do an entirely separate post about this sheep shearing thing when I get it back.  Let me tell you, it was a learning experience, and it really has me thinking about my sheep breeding program...but more to come on that.

I wasn't exaggerating when I said I've been running, but I couldn't let this holiday weekend pass without popping in to say Happy 4th of July, even if I am a day late.  Actually, this is one of my favorite holidays of all.  There is no gift giving expectations, you can almost always find free things to do, and the patriotic spirit is at it's highest in all Americans-how wonderful!

Double Agent Judy

 Happy Spring!

Although my favorite birds are back, happily humming their way around the ranch,

these beautiful flowers have a ways to go!

Photo taken summer "09

This post has been sitting in my drafts folder for weeks, I have thought of it often, but just never finished it.  Well, today is the day because this may be my last day to be a double agent due to such a huge increase in demand, just read on, you'll catch up.  This has become so near and dear to my heart that I haven't even been sure how to put it to words, so I will go with what I already had started:

You know, I went into blogging to advertise my business, help promote my book and to try and help people.  Really, that was my highest intention.  And I think I have written a couple of posts that have affected peoples lives, or at least opened up their minds.  Like when I posted about my epilepsy, that has the power to help a person to stay positive in their own "lemon" situation.  As far as opening minds, well hopefully I do that quite often-ha!  One time my Dad and I were talking about nothing in particular and he said that he had really gotten to know who I was better, through reading my blog.

As you all know I have been cross posting on Tuesdays for a few weeks now.  It seems that this is sort of a metaphor for my life, it is like I am a double agent these last weeks because I lead a double life on Tuesdays.  It's not really that I have kept it a big secret, it's just not something I want to brag about, I volunteer at the food pantry on Tuesday, which came about because I had to start going to the food pantry.

Let me start at the beginning, shall I?  It all starts with this post, really.  At least the trips to the food pantry do, because that is when I "woke up".  We really had no choice, at that time we had gotten so far behind in our bills due to my back injury that it was either pay the bills or nothing.  So, I had talked to many of my friends who had already had the "food bank" experience, and bawled my way there one Thursday afternoon.  Do you know what I cried for?  I cried for our country.

See, a year ago, we would have been considered a lower middle class family.  My husband made $20,000 less last year than he did the year before, due to a loss of all overtime.  I made zippo, because I lost my job taking care of the neighbors horses.  We accrued huge medical bills due to all of the broken bones, head and back injuries and the fact that my husbands boss can't afford good health insurance. (Who can? At least we have it.)  But that was what felt kind of funny to me, yes, I was a little embarrassed, especially if I thought of running into certain people or something, but mostly just sad for our country.

I'll never forget walking in that first time after crying my way there, this gruff hillbilly looking guy says "What, you need some food?"  I, of course in Judy fashion had come in the back door, but when I came around the corner, I swear I could hear the angels singing!  You can't believe the amount of bread and produce that was on the tables, it really was unbelievable; enough for the entire town of Bailey to each have a loaf of bread and then some leftover, I bet.  So, anyway, I got some food and got the heck out of there, I was so nervous!  But, that's just not the way I do business, and I knew there was more that needed to be done.

You see, one of the few good things about recovering from the back injury is that I found myself with a little time on my hands.  To be honest, I couldn't even really remember what it was I did before the back injury that had kept me so busy.  So, I signed up to volunteer at the food pantry.  Not only did it make me feel better about taking the food, but it introduced me to some really great people.  It also really opened my eyes to what is going on around me.  Believe me, lower middle class is not the only one that has been hit.  We are talking all the way up to upper class, folks.
For us, it was a matter of choice in a way, the only one that made sense anyway.  We had already taken advantage of all of the assistance through our mortgage companies, we make too much to qualify for public assistance (which I'm not sure I'm comfortable with anyway), so to get caught up on our bills, something had to give and that was the grocery money. We may not have any money, but I do have time, so that is what I gave.  And now I know the reason all of this has happened, I am exactly where I am supposed to be.
Remember that odd sadness for our country that I told you about?  Well, that is called empathy, and yeah, it has taken me a long way in my new job.  The first timers are easy to pick out, because they usually either are crying, or have just wiped the tears away as I had done when I walked in the first time.  Then you have the regulars, like the little old man that was so concerned when I was sick one week, that he practically ran back to the kitchen with a grin when I returned to tell me how much he had missed my smile!
The other volunteers have become great friends of mine as well.  I feel as if a couple of them are people that were put in my path for a reason and are on the same wavelength as I am, so to speak.  To hear the stories of how people ended up in the positions we have all ended up in, is simply amazing.  From freaks of nature, like repetitive strikes of lightning last year on one guys ranch to traumatic health issues like Agent Orange that have tainted an entire household, people have arrived on the food bank doorstep for many reasons.  But many, many of us are there wanting to give back all that we take plus much more, and that is a common and strong bond.
I purposely chose to write this post on a day that I write on both GSO and here at home at the Royal Ranch, because I know how many people this might affect.  And do you know how I know that?  Because ever since people have found out that I work/go to the food bank, each week I have sent someone new in there.  That is also why I will no longer be a double agent, demand is so high, we need to move some volunteers to Thursday, so today will probably be my last Tuesday.  That's right, demand for our little food bank is so high we are growing each and every day we are open.  Most days there is a line waiting for us to open.
A couple more things I would like to add.  To me this is "green living" at it's fullest.  Our biggest suppliers are Whole Foods, Target, Kings and Safeway.  So we are taking the day olds from stores that would be throwing them away and passing them along to people who really need them.  Now this to me is the kicker, it is all really healthy food.  Food that I could not afford, even in the best of times, to feed my family.  Lots of organic foods and soy and tofu and a variety of produce that you literally would find at Whole Foods.  I mean really nice stuff, and then anything that we don't use, gets taken back down the mountain to the homeless shelters.  Again, to me this all seems like a very environmentally responsible way of dealing with the stores' castoffs.
Now, a word of caution, or possibly defense, I don't know.  There are different types of food banks out there.  If it is a food pantry that relies entirely on donations from the community, that is a little different in my opinion, and should only be used for those with the utmost need (and by all means use it if you need!).  But if there is a pantry like ours, that receives donations from stores, it is well worth checking out, who knows you may make the difference in another persons day, or even  life.  Now go make a double agent miracle today, I plan to.

Catching Up

If you look closely, you will see that Fat Gary, Marcel, Iowa and Elway all decided to help with the gardening on Sunday.  Not included in the photo were Lily and Rosie who were oh so helpful in removing my rocks, not, and Hector who kept pushing me over because he was rubbing up against my legs as I was pulling weeds.  By the way, thanks Mom for the new pruning shears, they are fantastic and made my job easier this year than ever before.  Doesn't it look fantastic?!?

Lordy!  I can't believe it is already Monday and it has been so long since I have blogged, please accept my apologies!!!  I have been one busy lady.  I last left you all on Thursday, running out the door to work on the cover of my new book, Llucky Llama.  Well, I am proud to say the cover is done and it looks fantastic!  Today Vivian and I will be working on downloading the book to the printer-yeah!!!!  At some point in time I need to write about writing, this has really been a great project, and I think more people should learn about it; really.

After the work on my book, I did something that I have never done before; I went to look for a missing person.  Here in Colorado we have a missing 12 year old girl by the name of Kayleah Wilson.  She vanished from Greeley, CO two weeks ago on her way to a birthday party.  I'm not sure what is bothering me the most about this case; if it's the fact that she is so close to Bella's age, the small town thing, or what, but I can't get this one out of my head.  To be honest with you, this was more of a "psychic search" and I really wasn't sure what to expect.  I do feel that I was able to tell her energy what I wanted to, but I did not accomplish anything specific, so.... I guess the mission in itself was a failure.  For more information on the missing girl, please go to this link.

After the more than two hour drive back to Bailey, I had a meeting with the Destination Bailey group.  I am very excited about this committee.  Aside from one rude, cranky old guy, the group is made up of excited business owners like me who want to bring tourists into our cute little town.  Not just people who pass right on through on their way to someplace else, which is what happens now; Bailey is the definition of a highway town.  Destination Bailey is also very involved with the Park County Historical Society which is near and dear to our hearts for many reasons, not only do we love the history of the area, but the society loves us because we bring our llamas to their big event each year!

Friday was filled with playing with pre-schoolers.  Well, at least that is what we tried to convince them of; it was actually what our school district calls Child Find.  The day when all pre school aged children come and get their vision, hearing and any other thing the district can possibly think of to test, tested.  The cops are there to fingerprint, there is a cute little old lady to face paint, even a couple of home school groups were represented.  Me, of all people was doing vision testing.  No, I have no medical background, but at least I have two boys who have hit their heads more times than I would ever like to count and know how a pupil is supposed to react; one of the tests I was to perform-ha!!!!

Saturday, too, was a whole new experience, County Assembly, WOW!!!  You know, I have avoided talking politics on this blog, and I will continue to do so, for now.  But, I am going to come out of the closet, there is just no way around it... I am a registered Republican.  I often wonder if this will come as a surprise to my friends like Daisy and Tiffany, who are teachers and have strong political opinions.  But, I digress, back to Saturday.  Park County is allowed 125 delegates at the County Assembly, and for the first time in what anyone could remember (and there were some really old people there), we filled every one of them!  This is grass roots politics at it's very best people, that is the only way I can describe it.  

One thing you must keep in mind, is that our county is almost entirely Mountain Hillbilly, I mean, Republican so everyone who is anyone in the county was there.  The Sheriff, the commissioners, the clerk and recorder, etc. all the way down to the coroner race is all Republican pretty much.  That other party may have a name or two on the ballot, if they're lucky, LOL!  No, seriously, it was overwhelming the emotion that was in the room, and to have an impact on voting at such an early stage really made me feel like I was making a difference, and I was.  It was also a great way to meet my candidates in a different setting, many of whom I already know, but have not seen "campaign".

So, needless to say I needed a day to decompress and spend time with my family and animals.  The chickens have gotten into my compost bin and torn the darn thing apart and cleaned out every speck of food that was ever in it, which has prompted me to get to work on Spring projects; Thank you chickens!  The weather was beautiful yesterday so I raked out the perennial garden and lo and behold there was some green underneath!!!  Of course with us working outside in the beautiful weather we had neighbors popping by so I spread the word of the meeting I have with the Commissioner about the cut down trees for tomorrow.

I went to bed with a smile on my face because my son, Thomas had told me that he and his friends had been talking about my trip to Greeley.  He said he wasn't quite sure what to say, just that I was hoping that I could help, and that one of his friends had called me a hippie, and he said "yeah, Mom, you're like a modern hippie", which I took as a huge compliment.  It got me to thinking about these last few days, and how they all may seem kind of contradictory.  A searching psychic and Author one day, a volunteer the next, Gun Totin' Republican on Saturday and wrapping up my weekend composting and saving the planet with my family, now that's what I would call one hell of a week!  But, it's who I am, and what I believe in, so that's what I'll do.  Oh, and did I forget to mention I'm raising heck about the trees tomorrow?  (I remembered, I'm just making sure you caught that one-ha!)

Small Town Politics, Big Time Turnout

Well, once again I am putting off a post that I have started, I guess that is why they have a "drafts" area, right?  Tom and I went to the Caucus last night, and to be honest with you I am absolutely fried.  Yes, that sounds very melodramatic, but the brain is a goner.  Last night I learned more about politics than I have in the past few years combined; and I'm thinking the picture was the same no matter where your Caucus was.
First and foremost, I am proud to say that the ages of the participants in the room ranged from just newly eighteen to well over eighty, and this is a first for Park County.  Another amazing thing was that we had to literally draw names out of a hat to whittle down the number of people that wanted to become delegates to the county assembly to represent our district; usually we have a hard time filling those positions.  Thankfully I had thrown my name in as an alternate from the get go, which means I will get to go to the assembly no matter what, it will just depend on attendance whether I get to vote or not.  Actually, I am the only one who signed up as an alternate, because with this being my first year to go, I just wanted to be a fly on the wall so to speak.  But, it will be a great way for me to meet all of my candidates!
One of the things I learned was the depth of concern among my neighbors as to the direction that our country is taking.  The passion and the commitment that these "mountain hillbillies" as I lovingly call us, have for our country was truly touching.  Interestingly enough, one of the folks in my district is a man who will be running against our incumbent Sheriff, which is turning into a much more interesting "race" than I thought it would be.  It was quite interesting to see the wheels in action of a political machine at such an early stage in what could be a very pivotal election for our country whether we are voting in a new President or not.
I was hugely reminded of what a difference one person really can make.  Politics do start out in a tiny little community center in a tiny little town that is not even on a map.  People really do show up at seven o'clock on the dot to talk about what is going on in their county, state and national governments because it really matters!

Oops I told you I was tired, I forgot to wish you all a Happy St. Patrick's Day!  I just finished downloading the pictures from last night's dinner onto yesterday's post.  The Corned Beef and Cabbage was great and there was plenty left over for Tom to take to work today.  Although the kids love to eat it here at home, they will not take it to school, too stinky!  Hope you have a great one!

To moderate or not to moderate, that is the question...

Since the conception of this blog, I have tried to make sure I let my readers know how much you all mean to me.  I don't say this just because it is what I am supposed to say to my very dedicated readers.  I mean it for many reasons.  Many of you are family.  Many of you are my dear friends, and have been that way for what seems like a lifetime.  But one of the greatest things about this blog has been that it feels like I have made friends that I would never have known existed that may or may not be around for a lifetime, but in some small way we have touched one another's lives. 
So each and every comment I receive is very important to me and I don't want any of them to fall through the cracks, so to speak.  As you have gotten to know me, you've probably learned that I don't usually do things in the typical fashion.  So, when I started this blog that was my introduction into the blogging world.  I had never commented on another blog, and had only read one or two posts on my friend Tiffany's blog.  So, when the comments moderation page came up my worst fear was that someone was going to come on and just start trashing my lame attempts at a blog and that of course I would want to stop that; so I set up to moderate comments.
It didn't take long until I was a little more comfortable in my "Author Hat" to take the moderate comment settings off of my blog.  What I quickly realized is that I was no longer notified of the comments though, and that I was missing quite a few of them.  Which left me in a real quandary because as I said, I really and truly enjoy your comments.  I have never not posted a comment and have been blessed to have never gotten one of those comments that I so feared.  I also have never received any of the robocomments that they warn you about when you are setting up your blogging account.
So, anyway, the plot thickens.  Yesterday, I was thinking about all of the posts I had in mind since I was behind and which I was going to do today, I had decided on this one about moderating comments.  I booted up my computer to get a head start on it, and of course started with my e-mail.  I had one regarding a post from yesterday.  See, yesterday on this blog I was bragging about how smart we Americans are with our space ships and automobiles, etc.  Well, it appears I'm wrong, I think for the first time ever.  I am going to do a bit of copying and pasting here because my German exchange sister was trying to protect her ignorant American sister (me) by not commenting directly onto this blog. This is the comment that you will find posted for yesterday, note how she did not want to rat me out publicly-ha!
Hi Judy,
I sent you a message on facebook, about the invention of the automobile ;-)
Take care!
Irina
This is her note from Facebook in it's entirety:
Dear Judy, I am so glad you seem to be feeling better, and I was amazed by your blog about cleaning up the house and bills... Have you started any therapy yet? I think there could be many soft ways of curing, you just need to find the right thing, which, of course can be very difficult.



Today's blog talks about the automobile, and for the 2nd time I thought "sorry, Judy, but the auto was invented in Germany!"


Actually it was even invented by a guy who was born in Karlsruhe, where we live, see link.


I think the US can claim to have invented its industrial production, but, sorry again, the automobile is ours ;-)


Love you!


Irina, also known as smart alec


Karl Benz - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
So, this must be the second time in this blog I have been bragging incorrectly about that!  See, that is why it is so important to me to listen to you all.  Really I don't keep comments from you, I just don't want to miss out on anything.  I have learned a lot from all of you and I can't tell you all how much your positive comments have meant to me!!!  And oh by the way, Damn Germans (grin)!!!!

Space Program Blues

From our brave men and women who have served our country to a legal immigrant who has fought and won his right to live in this great country there are all shades of American Pride.  But, I am not sure that there are any Americans that are not moved by the site of one of our space shuttles preparing for take off.  With the smoke billowing and the engines roaring and the ground visibly shaking and the shuttle covered in American flags, now that is patriotism at it's very best!
On July 20, 1969 an American flag was placed on the moon.  I was not even born yet, but I have seen the images so many times I feel like I was there.  I will never forget the excitement of the old TV cart being rolled into the room in elementary school so we could watch one of the take offs live.  Or in middle school when one of our beloved shuttles crashed upon lift off (will any of us ever forget that one?) and we all had a moment of silence for the loss of the teacher and her fellow astronauts and then rushed home to watch the news coverage.
This is American history.  It is a part of who we are, and who we represent as Americans.  It is part of our pride and our heritage, and it shows the world what we can do; we started it and have built it from the ground up.  It is one of the few parts of the government that many Americans are proud of these days and it has now been cut, bummer.  It really reminds me of another story that I have heard recently, very similar to the automobile industry.  As Americans, we invented the auto, built an entire industry, even built entire cities around that industry and then needed a bajillion dollar bailout for that very same industry, I say it again, bummer!
This is not only concerning to me because it directly affects Tom's machine shop, which is almost entirely aerospace, because I also feel as if the chipping away is in all the wrong places.  Instead of taking away tiny little pieces of things that are huge sources of pride for Americans, let's take a look at some big ticket items that we are not quite so proud of.  I bet if we put our heads together we could come up with a list real quick!

Thanking Our Soldiers

Good Morning!  My friend sent me this video this morning through Facebook.  I had other things planned to write about today, but this trumped it.  As you probably know by now, Tom and I are hard core patriotic, and support our country no matter what.  Although we are very unsettled (to say the least) about many of the things that are going on in this country right now, it is important to remember those who gave us the right to complain; and to me to have this blog where I can practice my freedom of speech.

Recently when I was in Iowa, my cousin had a cool plaque that said "The Home of the free, because of the brave", I think this may be my new favorite saying.  You see, here in the mountains we have a very strange mix of folks; many of them have moved here to get away from "civilization".  Many, many of them are our veterans who no longer can live in "mainstream society". So, this hits close to home for multiple reasons.

Many members of my family have been in the military (mostly Army, but a proud Marine as well-thanks Joe!) and some of them have seen war and some have not, but they were all in at times when they consciously chose to put their lives on the line for this country.  To be honest, with as opinionated and patriotic as I am, I don't think I could "suffer through" like our soldiers do; and for that matter I don't know many people who could, or would.  It really takes a special kind of person.
My concern is how many special people this country can use up and then set aside before we get ourselves in real trouble.  I say this from second hand experience.  We have a neighbor who was a medic in Desert Storm and has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder terribly.  It takes him months to even get into see a Dr. to see if he is even eligible for certain benefits.  It has taken many months from that original appointment to start receiving the benefits he needs to survive and to not lose his home.
Another friend of ours was an explosives expert in Vietnam and had to really fight for his benefits as well.  He had an entire ranch built around helping fellow veterans and lost the place to foreclosure.  So, not only did it put him on the run (he took off on his horse when they came to close the place down!), but put many other veterans out of their home and jobs as well.
Whether it is during their active duty or after, when things are really settling in that we need to support our troops.  At the very least they deserve a hand shake and a thank you.

Not Use My Dryer? You've Got to Be Kidding!

Oh my gosh, dear dedicated readers... I got up this morning to work on today's post, and realized that I never finished and published yesterday's post, how embarassing-ha!  So, here it is...


Good Morning! Don't you just love it when your family does half of your job for you? Well, that is the case with today's post. You know, it was really ironic that Irina (my German exchange sister) sent me a note on facebook regarding clothes lines in America, because I had been thinking of trying to use my dryer a lot less, but thinking about it doesn't really count.  I, of course, will include her huge compliments in the note that I have copied here.


Dear Judy,

I love reading your blog, I am amazed at how much and how professionally and yet with your very personal style you write. I had to laugh hard about the fridge cleaning.
Yesterday I was thinking about the little conversation we had about dryers. There was a long article in our newspaper about the fight FOR clotheslines in the US! I had no idea that there were areas where they were outlawed! Colorado apparantly just passed a law against the outlawing. I found this link to the information in English which I'm sure you'll be interested in, if you didn't already now! Matthias and I made a vow to each other to NOT buy a dryer when we become parents, as friends of ours just recently suggested we probably would.
Much love!
Irina

The conversation that she is referring to is one that we had over a post on how green I am.  Well, Irina really put me in my place (LOL), I had blogged about double spinning your clothes because it takes them much less time to dry that way, and she reminded me that they don't even have a dryer, and think that spinning twice is even too much energy to use.  Since that time it has really gotten me thinking.  Why do I only hang bedding out in the fresh air to dry?  Should The Royal Ranch have a clothesline?  Well, of course it should!  And, most importantly how do we as Americans rank when it comes to using our eco-friendly resources?  This is what Irina had to say when I asked her if they were more "green" than most Germans, and how they are compared to us lazy Americans (again, LOL):

Yes, I think we are more eco-aware than the average German. We are e. g. pretty good in not taking the car when train, tram or bicycle does the transportation job, too. But we do have a car (rather Matthias has one), Matthias is car pooling to work, while I take the bicycle or the tram. But we are no heroes and do use the car occasionally.
But I also think that the average German is more eco-aware than the average American. It probably partly has to do with our history and the times during and after WWII where resources were scarce and "saving" was a survival attitude. I remember my Grandma sending me to the bakery (and that was in the 70ies) with the paper bag from the day before, or the day before that. Why getting a new one when the old one was still good? Or wrapping paper. My mother always kept and reused (didn't iron, like some do!), and I do the same thing. The unwrapping takes longer and gets more exciting when you carefully open to not harm the paper, too.
Please feel free to blog about this, but please don't think I'm missioning.
Much Love!
Irina

I had to laugh about her thinking she was "missioning", here I am almost eveyday bragging and blogging about how green I am, and they put me to shame!  To a certain extent, I think it is time to be do some missioning when it comes to being earth friendly!  Whether we are coming from an economic standpoint (you know, too broke to afford it?), or for health reasons (sensitive allergies, skin conditions, asthma, etc.)  it is so important that we take care of our Mother Earth.

So...I am going to make myself a clothesline and use it, one more step I can take.   Laundry for me is very simple, as we are a jeans, t-shirt and hoody family, no "work" clothes, so I have just learned to throw everything in the dryer and not think twice about it.  As a matter of fact, I love my dryer because it and my washing machine do my work while I can do other things.  But, maybe that is part of the problem, I should probably do my own work!

I would love a little feedback from my great readers though.  Do you all use clotheslines?  How do you keep your clothes from feeling stiff when you do use one?  Does your town/state have a law regarding clotheslines?  Do you always dry your clothes outside, or do you have an indoor rack?
The pictures are of a clothes rack that my Mom fell in love with when she was visiting Irina a couple of years ago.  I really want to thank my German family for their help on this, Matthias even sent me these pics from the hospital where he was on call!  Speaking of that, when they become parents, does that make me an "American Exchange Aunt"?

Happy Election Day

Good Morning! I just got finished filling out my ballot, which spurred me to write this post, instead of running my pumpkin recycling ideas, but I can do that tomorrow... Today is election day. Although there are only two issues on our small town ballot, they are important ones; new elections for the school board, and a measure for our emergency response system. But, it doesn't really matter if there are only two, or twenty ballot measures, election day is a way to get your voice heard, and support our great country.

Did you know that there are women still alive that remember a time when they couldn't vote? That's because women didn't get the right to vote until August 1920. What? That's less than ninety years ago! In the past (before mail in only elections), we would take the kids with us to the little community center where we vote, and it usually turned out to be a community get together. But, the important part was to instill in our kids the patriotism that is attached with the responsibility that goes along with every single vote.

In the most recent election (oh boy, don't get me started with that-ha!) we knew a gal who was so devoted to her party, but didn't like her candidate, that she chose not to vote at all. I've got to tell you, this made me mad. I believe it is not only our civic duty, but a well fought for privilege to vote. So, go dig through that pile on the counter, find your ballot, and get it where it needs to be by 7:00. Oh, and wear that flag sticker they give you with great pride!

Have a miracle of a day!

Blog Action Day '09

Good Morning! Well it seems my week of recycling posts was just the beginning, I didn't even know it until last night, but today is blog action day. I was sent an e-mail from a group that I am associated with called the 350 challenge (you see the green badge on the left of this blog). It started as a group of people just trying to get 350 bloggers together to promote climate change, but it has grown to much larger than that, and as you can imagine, I was happy to join. I was also quite excited to get the e-mail about blog action day, which is leading up to International Day of Climate Change on October 24, 2009. This is a portion of the note I received from the people at 350.org:

The number is 350, and it's now the most important number on the planet. 350 is the number that leading scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, measured in parts per million. Since we're at 390 ppm now, it's a tough number, and getting back to it will require remarkable efforts.The good news is that people all around the world are mobilizing around 350 in a unique and beautiful movement to solve the climate crisis.

On Oct. 24th, the International Day of Climate Action, people from over 150 nations will come together in creative climate actions to take a stand for 350 and a safe climate future. There will be 1000s of creative on-the-ground actions everywhere from the slopes of Mt. Everest to the underwater reefs of the Maldive Islands to the streets of our biggest cities. All designed to drive the 350 message into the human imagination -- and help our leaders realize we need a real solution that pays attention to the science.

Yes, I am very happy to share all of this information, and I was really happy when I went to the site to help us bloggers get started on today's posts and it was not all gloom and doom. As a matter of fact they compared our climate problems to being overweight, and most of us can understand that. We go to the doctor, find out we have high cholesterol, need to lose a few pounds, okay quite a few pounds, and get more exercise, eat right, all of the things we know we should be doing and do them! That is the whole point is that we have a choice to take action here people, we can, and we are. That is a very important word; action, and that is the part that I will participate in.

It gets a little sticky for me when we start talking about the next big happening:

This December, world leaders are meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark to draft a new global climate treaty -- one that has the potential to turn the tide on global warming and get our planet back on a brighter path. The problem is, most world leaders and their negotiators aren't getting it. They're not planning to do enough to to avert the climate crisis.

While I agree that not enough is being done about our climate crisis, some of the things that are being discussed in these political arenas hit very close to home and heart for this little ranch sitting in the Rocky Mountains a long way from Copenhagen.

Although I tease and make light of Tom's "day" job, it is something that we are both extraordinarily proud of. Tom runs a precision machine shop, that make the parts that are currently in space and many medical, aerospace and other technological machines that make this country "tick". He is VERY good at what he does and he, and his entire shop take pride not only in a job well done, but doing it by the book. They have gone to great pains (and I do mean pains!) to become ISO 9001 certified, a very complex certification process that they go through to work with these very high tech (and high dollar) companies. This certification is very strictly enforced here in the US; Tom's shop has frequent audits and stringent policies that they must abide by. The problem is that not all countries that are certified are even audited let alone held accountable for the very same standards. Dad, if you want to jump in here about your trip to China, we'd love to hear it! (Dad did jump in, and his comment is below, better yet, his blog has very interesting pictures and details of a very different culture!)

So, this starts bringing up a few of my concerns, we start talking about fair pricing and things like that, it makes Tom and I very nervous. We do understand that other countries may not be as industrialized as we are, and that we have made our share of the mistakes, but those countries have also had the benefits of learning from those same mistakes along with the huge strides we, as Americans, have made in the mean time. This cap and trade thing could be a little dangerous also. From what this one little ol' blogger can gather, it appears as if companies that have nothing at all to do with energy can gather up "credits", that they would not even need, and hoard them to sell back to the companies that do need them. Again, it boils down to extremes, while I am all for saving the planet, I think if there is any one group that is going to get rich quick off of it, something is not right.

So, for Blog Action Day, that is my advice, always take action, do something about it. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and whatever else feels right to you to help make this planet a better place to live and thrive.

Have a miracle of a day!