We have been here 10 months. We are surviving (barely) our first winter here on this amazing mountain. But it's not been the winter they had last year. No last year we walked the property in 2 feet of snow. It was 13 below and I was 9 months large. It was kind of amazing I didn't deliver right here in the woods with my track record of going early. As it was, I had been ordered not to leave town let alone move. (We didn't tell the Doctor about the trip) And still even three weeks later my dear Adventure Man was left alone in the hospital to deliver her, but that is another store. And probably one that's getting old.
We are new here in Little Town. And we are sick. When the girls started school last spring we all got sick. But the summer was full of sunshine and mountain air and it would have cured even the toughest of bugs. But now, for over three months we have been passing the illness amongst ourselves. There is the cough; relentless and evil. I think I cracked a rib! Is that even posable? The pain is killing me! I finally kicked the cold but that cough still lingers. I had this 3 consecutive times. My daughter is suffering with her 2nd time though. The hardest part for me is that when the cough comes I have to brace myself so I don't wet my pants... Gotta love this Old Gray Mare! It was in this wonderful position of coughing with my legs crossed that the pain in my ribs hit. Now if I'm lucky, I don't cough so much that I throw up! Adventure Man seems to be getting over his cold, made harder for him by having to actually go outside IN the cold!
Now this isn't all we are contending with. First it was Bean, I woke early one morning to the sound of her puking all over herself. That was last Friday. Next Monday it was Bear. Tuesday it was Bunny! OMG! And Wednesday Lou Lou calls from school to say she threw up! That cuts an hour and a half of my day just going down to get her. So my thought was this: Is there such a thing as germs that seem to only exist in small towns. Most everyone here is related to everyone else and they have all lived here for generations. We are new comers and seem to be the sickest in the land. Could it be that they have these bugs that their bodies don't feel because they have been here as long as the people? I wonder...
But yesterday was a good day... at first. I woke with energy in spite of being up all night with Bunny and her friend the fever. I said, lets clean! But then, when she went down for her nap I decided to paint her toenails.... why did I paint her toenails?? They look great but as I leaned over to put the lid back on the polish bottle (while holding the sleeping baby), the bottle slipped from my hands and splattered in a lovely design across the new white carpet that the ranch just installed last spring.... Oh! EM! Geee! SO, what did I actually clean???? And not to plug product, but if it hadn't been for Melaleuca and their Sol-U-Mel, I would be SOL! But before I got enough of THAT to cover all of IT, I tried nail-polish remover which only set off the gas alarm! Ahh!
So today should go much better than that, right? Hahahaha! I started off thinking I should clean the oven. I haven't lived in a home with a self cleaning oven in years and the last time I made a cake I used a new pan that is ornate and evidently too small for a whole cake resape. SO I turned the oven to "Clean!" I headed down the hall to sort laundry and put clothes away. That is when the smoke detecter went off! Que. scared babies. When we moved into this beautiful old ranch house it only had 2 smoke detectors and neither of them worked. My Man, who is on the volunteer fire department, and who loves us so much and doesn't want us to die in a house fire, put one in every bedroom, 2 in the hall, one in the living room AND in the kitchen. Now, we've been married for over 16 years and he knows I am kind of forgetful, so in his mind this was a good idea. I however, knowing I am kind of forgetful, felt this was NOT a good idea.... I'm thinking I'm still right.
I always thought that running the self cleaning oven in the winter was the best time, because it would get so warm in the house. Far too warm to be run in the summer! But when you have to open every window in the house and turn on as many standing and box fans as you can muster up, and it's 35 degrees outside.... I am rethinking that! Finally, I resorted to removing the battery! Once the oven was past the smoking stage, I closed the windows and turned the heat back on. It was at this time, that the gas alarm went off again! Really? Now I've got the gas stove cleaning herself, the dishwasher running and the gas heater on. Maybe I should evacuate and go to town. I also needed to start the washer.... also gas.... But the problem, Bear is throwing up again! Yup, it's quite a day, week, month, LIFE!
And I'm glad it's mine!!
Ok, really! So they're not the smallest pair in the lot (yet). And the... um... Assets might still be a bit more curvy than they were a few years back. But I'm not complaining one bit! Plus, I can tuck my jeans into my boots again! And frankly I even think that's cute with work boots. But let me tell you, City Girl was not expecting this little rancher's lesson. 
When you carry hay from the barn to the troff, lots of little bits of sharp, pointy, prickly, itchy, well, you get the idea, hay fall from your arms. Downward. To the ground. Around your boots. And some of that sweet smelling nourishment for the 
Now this was a lesson that took me some time to figure out. In fact, I was in the barn yard when I realized that there was so much hay in my boots from previous feedings that I feared I wouldn't be able to walk! Ok, not really, but, hey. (Laughing at myself.... probably the only one.)
