Thank God I'm a Country Girl

yes, i live on a farm. 7 acres, a barn, a horse, a longhorn, 1 chicken, a dog (still not house-trained), a gaggle of cats and kittens, a dried up pond and my neighbor's small herd of long horn cattle graze our pasture.

all the longhorns have names and my girls and i know just about every one of them by the correct name. one moma cow, who has an especially bad nature and the sharpest horns on the block is name B*tch. my neighbor, God bless her, is thoughtful enuf to tell my kids her name is 'witch.'

it took some adjusting when we moved to the country from the city. and while i grew up in a small town - i was a small town 'city girl.' after marriage, hubby and i resided in one of the largest burbs of dallas. found out we were prego with #2. needed a bigger home. wanted a little space. and we found it - waaaaaayyyyyyy out yonder ways. i drive 25 minutes one way to the nearest Wal-Mart. no joke. no street lights on our DIRT road.

eventually, i adjusted to the peace and quiet, clean air, no traffic sounds and actually being able to see the stars at night. met the neighbors, made some friends, fell into a country living routine. learned to expect the unexpected. like the time i was convinced a cat was stuck in the vent for my oven. went outside to find my neighbor's peacocks on my roof. once found a swarm of bees in a tree in my front yard. i have a neighbor down the road that is straight out of steel magnolias. (not the sally field character, the shirley mcclain one) saw a tarantula crossing the paved road near my home. called the county agent immediately when i got home to ask if there was any chance i was hallucinating. he patiently assured me that no, i was not seeing things. that tarantulas are indeed indigenous to my area. he further tried to calm me by saying, " i can assure you 'mam, they are much more scared of you than you are of them." I quickly and quietly told him there was no such way he could assure me of such a thing. he may be intimately acquainted with all the texas tarantulas but he and i had never met and i was MORTIFIED of the hairy little critters.

anywho, one christmas morning - when the girls were still pretty little, they were working their way into the kitchen after opening presents. shrill little girl - horror film in training screams - flew from their mouths...

LOOK WHAT SANTA BROUGHT US!!!!

there, grazing in our back yard was the biggest most beautiful mare you have ever laid eyes on.

i looked at hubby, who looked at me to find me looking back at him...

what the .... ? ! ? !

this was the first of many times Sassy came to visit us. she actually belonged to our neighbor across the street. she likes to sneak off and visit the neighbors (us) when her mommy's not looking.

so when the neighbor came to retrieve sassy, i explained to her that my girls STILL think her horse is a gift from Santa. would it be too much to ask for her to bring Sassy back one day so the girls can have a quick ride?

and thus began our on-going relationship with and fondness for our new found neighbors and their sassy.

well folks, meet sassy's new baby and our newest neighbor. She was born monday night and i took these tuesday morning. mommy and baby are doing fine.

the only beef i have with my neighbor is this - she told my then 6 and 4 year old daughters about this impending foal way back before Christmas - like september. nary a day has gone by when one of my two girls has not asked me when sassy's baby would be here. it was like the "are we there yet?" for six months straight. nonstop. thanks neighbor... =)

to sassy's beautiful baby - I am sooooooo glad you are here. you really have no idea. get ready, i imagine we're going to be regulars at your place...