Trudy Puts the "No" in Nose.

It's the beginning of a new season...time for Trudy to get injured yet again. In case you are keeping track, this will be number 4 in the 5 1/2 months that we've had her. I'm not sure who suffers the most when she hurts, but I suspect it is me since she seems fine the next day.

This newest injury (following the attack by two dogs in Madrid resulting in 10 stitches, the cut on her side from the gate, and the scraggly black dog that jumped our fence and took a chunk of her behind with him) was actually caused by her bestfriend and neighbor, Luna. Poor Luna, she was chewing a bone, and Trudy felt like she should share. I wasn't far away when I heard Trudy cry out. It was so awful, she looked like someone who had been punched in the nose. I picked her up and noticed that a good chunk of the side of her nose was missing. My poor, sweet baby, she went next door after I checked her out, went right up to Luna and licked her. I wonder if they make humans that sweet? I had to leave my sweet girl with her sweet daddy for my trip to Tracey's wedding. I hope they're taking care of each other.

Being Able to Look a Cow in the Eye: Warning! Some Material Not Suitable for Carnivors

Being a vegetarian really annoys people. Having eaten only vegetables for 2 months now, you realize how odd people find it that you are not partaking in the beefier side of life. I am not trying to enforce my food lifestyle on anyone; I did not choose to be a vegetarian because of some religious, moral or ethical reason (although, I must admit, when we drive to Amarillo and pass the stock yards, I can look at those sad cows without a guilty conscious knowing that they will not be on my dinner plate). In fact, I never intended to be sans meat for any length of time. It was basically a catalyst to help me eat healthier. But I loved it so much that I've decided (at least for a time) to keep it up. So what's with all the anti-cow preserver attitudes? At a neighborhood party recently, I was the subject of intense scrutinty and suspicion as my food preference was announced to the table at large. I prefer to keep it a little more private, but I was poked and prodded like some kind of science experiment, told that protein was the spice of life, and asked was I about to join the religious, vegan group in Santa Fe that wears turbans on their heads (crazy people as evidenced by their wearing of head bandages as one man pointed out). Oh, to be so young and so misunderstood! Its enough to drive a person straight to the nearest steak restaurant.

Crazy Man

For as long as I've known Chris...and that has been a long time, he has always been subject to injuries. I find this to be quite disconcerting. I should preface this by pointing out that he gets injured because he is a crazy man not because he is klutzy. He has more scars on his body than Frankenstein. In fact, he comes home everyday with a new and amazing (according to him) ailment. Two days ago he jammed his finger so bad he thought he broke it. Does this keep him from playing basketball again the next day? Of course not! And did he call his wife to tell her? No, apparently a possibly broken finger is not worthy of mention. I told him if I broke my finger I would expect a huge amount of sympathy on his part (I've never broken anything).

I hate to admit this, but there is something about his iron will that I admire. Last fall he was dunking a basketball and a guy accidentally crashed into him, and Chris fell to the floor like a load of rocks. To him, its all in day's work. And there is no use in trying to get him to rest, recuperate, or lay low for even a little bit. I threaten to call his mom all the time, but it never does any good. Majaunta, thank you for raising such a tough son...now, who's going to help me take care of him when we're old and his parts are all worn out???

Trudy

If you've ever come to visit us then you've probably met our sweet girl, Trudy. You've probably also experienced Chris's resignation regarding Trudy and my adoration. Now, granted, Trudy isn't the prettiest dog, but she is, quite possibly, the sweetest. We rescued her from the pound the day we closed on our house. When Chris finally said we could go pick out a dog, I told him I wanted one with a Benji face. That wasn't really his cup of tea. But, I approached her at the pound and her rear end was wiggling so ecstatically that I pointed to her and said, "Chris, look at this one!" He glanced at her, shook his head, and said she was the ugliest dog he'd ever seen. "But, go touch her, look how sweet she is." He wouldn't even look at her again. We left the Humane Society without a dog that day. But I just wouldn't shut up about the "dog with the rear end." The next week, Chris took me back to the pound with the intention of looking again; this time I stayed in the car because I cried for two days after we left for all the poor dogs that needed homes. Chris came out to the car to get me and said, "I found one!" Of course it was our Trudy. On the way home we decided on her name. Chris said that she was so ugly she should be named Gertrude. Gertrude is a big name, so it evolved to Trudy Lou. I have lots of stories about our girl, so beware!

A Trip to the Colorado Mountains

Chris and I (with my mom) just returned from Cuchara, Colorado. We had a great time hanging out with our parents and their friends who are, of course, twice our age. This tends to be the case lately with friends: our next door neighbors are an awesome couple in their 40's and we find them such fun! They love Trudy too...so, really, they must be lovely people.

Back to the trip: it was such a relaxing time. We were prayed for, fed, given a fun retro cabin to stay in (I don't think it is purposefully retro, but just hasn't been updated in 50 years), and sent home happy. I even went on my first tall mountain climb at 13,600 feet.

Chris and I hike alot, but I've never hiked a really tall mountain, and now I've got the fever. There isn't anything much better than being outdoors, conquering a mountain with my hubby.