Finally!

I have been delaying this post for weeks now. But I'll make it worth your while.

You know how we got a cute little bull calf on December 3, well surprise there's two more! The entire week before Christmas we were decorating like mad and baking cookies well into the night. On the 23rd I stayed up pretty late putting up any last minute decorations for the festivities, and since my little sister had a friend over I slept out in the living room and let them have the room. Put on Julie & Julia, and got comfy. I finally fell asleep around 3. I slept like a log. I finally got woken up around 9 to go feed, but I lounged quite a bit getting some coffee on my way out.

Patricia, my sister and dedicated business partner, came running to the door shouting "There's a new calf!" I bundle up as quickly as possible. We were outside until noon trying to take his measurements, ensure that he has nursed off his mother, take his weights, and make sure there are no apparent health problems. His name is Frank Sinatra. Bear in mind it's Christmas eve, and we invited over the entire family plus my boyfriend for dinner.

We were supposed to have this amazing dinner and do some last minute cleaning; I had forgotten to mop the entryway, vacumn, etc. All those chores got started late and naturally dinner was late; about 9pm. Everything is ready for us to serve up dinner, pop in a movie, etc. Then I'm told that there was a big splash heard outside. That means another calf; F^@%!

After we get the cow in the barn so she doesn't deliver in the rain, we leave her to take care of business. We figured check on her in an hour, for a first timer it could take up to 2 hours after their water breaks for a calf to arrive. My boyfriend went out to check on her right before dinner was being served. And of course there were hooves sticking out of her rear end. Oy. The cow was pretty protective.

Christmas eve continued once we got inside, after 10. Brandon brought his alto and baritone saxiphones, so he played some songs. Everyone hung out, and all the little ones stayed at dad's house so we could do the whole presents under the tree thing. Btw, did I mention we had absolutely not a thing wrapped on Christmas eve. We were up until 4am, got everything wrapped, cleaned all the dishes, and it was great. I really enjoy spending Christmas eve at home with the family.

Christmas day we slept in a quite a bit to make up for our late night. We got up around 10 or 11, fed the animals and then everyone arrived to open gifts. We were finishing up around 1:30 or 2. And I got that much longed for red peacoat. I'm in love with the jacket and want to wear it everywhere. I was supposed to be at Brandon's house for a formal sitdown dinner with his family, but being a girl I didn't get there until 2:30. Oh well.

After gifts and dinner with his grandparents we went to his parents house to hang out for a bit and play some games. It was a bit odd not being home for Christmas since it's usually when everyone in my family gets together. I just didn't get to see everyone as much as I had hoped due to the series of previously mentioned events.

The day after Christmas my little sister gets sick so we take her to the ER. Turns out it was an internal abcess so they put her on antibiotics and held her for a few hours. Everything turned out ok, she's perfectly fine just a bit scary since it came on so fast.

On the 29th we made our way down to Ukiah to drop off my little sister at her mom's. Weather was total shit on I5; fresh snow in the passes had traffic at a standstill for hours the day before. To stay on the safe side we took I5 to Cottage Grove, then 38 to Reedsport, then 101 the rest of the way down. The best view ever. On the drive I started writing down some of the super amazing places that I would love to take some time and see. I'll talk about them some other time.

On New Year's I smoked cigars with Brandon and one of his coolest cousins. I even tried a Monte Cristo Habana Cuban. Very cool. Although it did make me through up :/But that's ok. The drive back home from California was...eventful.

I got up at 6:30, took a shower and had all my stuff packed and ready to go, but 'someone' did not. Then we had breakfast at the amazing The Original Pancake House, it was phenomenal. I got the strawberry waffle. I have never had a a waffle that tasted so good. We got on the road about 9 and then our trip back home really began, after we had to turn around because Brandon thought he forgot his headset but really he didn't. In a long round-a-bout way, that he suggests was my fault, we ended up driving right through San Francisco just before lunch hour. Although it was nice to see the city and I got to take some pictures of a few things as we were driving through. The drive home took forever.

I felt I would die if we didn't pull over so I could pee, and of course we were on the windy twisty roads of The Redwood Highway. We ended up stopping at a state park with campgrounds to use the restroom. But no, we weren't that lucky. We were blessed with the almighty B.I.F.F.Y., but it wasn't that bad. Overall it was an incredibly beautiful drive home and we finally made it safe.

Since then I have been scooping up cow shit in the barn, and demolishing an old run down barn and trying to repurpose the lumber. Oh, and how could I forget to mention the never ending battle with mud.

BTW-It's also the first day of classes!