It’s Valentine’s Day, yeah! You know chocolates, flowers, jewelry and love letters . . . or not! Nope our first order of business was a trip to the Surratt Ranch to buy a new high dollar bull. The last high dollar bull we have is currently in our freezer.

Then the Valentine’s Day fun really began. My gift was the opportunity to take a one hour nap before we went to find and move some of our heavy (ready to calve) heifers close to house where we can monitor them and intervene if necessary.

At 3:30 David and I embarked on our journey. First stop was to locate 6 missing heifers. After they were found, the next step, was for me to drive the truck and trailer to a different location and gather up some more heifers, and my husband would bring his bunch to meet mine. Here is where the problems could arise.

You see this is a new pasture to me, and my husband was giving orders like I knew where I was headed. The problem with most Cowboys ( I might have to go out on a limb here and just say men) is they don’t take the necessary time to explain the commands that they bark. However, the more time you take, to make sure you fully savy the instructions, the more impatient they become, and consequently, the worse the instructions become.

David took the first group we came across, and Magic (my caballo) and I, jumped in the truck and set off praying as we bounced across the rutty ranch road, that we were going to end up where we were suppose to end up. Don’t tell me I am alone in this, wives and daughters have been doing this for years, taking mediocre directions, and crossing our fingers that it all works out like it is suppose to!

Through some divine intervention I arrived and got my bunch before David arrived. (Just barely). Then the real fun began as we pushed these girls 3 miles to a new smaller pasture we call the Medders Trap. These heifers were in no hurry, even with David serenading them periodically with “it’s beginning to look a lot like Spring!”

At dusk we reached our destination, I took off to get the gates and David went to fetch the pickup. It was after dark, cold and scary by the time my husband made it back with the truck and trailer. But, at the end of the night, my valentine told me how much I was needed today. (That’s close to a thank you and better than chocolate!)

We snuck away Sunday morning to take the girls skiing, morning only because, of course, we had to get home and check those heifers! The reality of ranch life is romance happens daily it just doesn’t come in the form of red heart shaped boxes!

Friday morning I ran around the house in my usual chicken with head severed fashion. I finally made it out the door and was headed to the car, when I noticed that I must have accidentally, dropped a shirt on the ground the night before. As, I hastily knabbed the shirt there was an instant excruciating pain in my lower back.

The pain was so great, it caused an bout of nausea. It took what seemed like forever, to make my way to the car. David brought me Advil and sent me on my way. I was fine on the commute until I tried to exit the vehicle at my place of employment. One hour and 10 minutes later I was able to exit the car.

The rest of the day was a blurr. Every day since has brought improvement. The silver lining is I haven’t had to wipe a 4 year old rear end in several days!
The back issue might be sympathy pain or genetics, as my dad has been suffering for a week with back issues as well. He has been in awful pain.

Finding a surgeon in a timely manner to correct the impingement on his spinal cord, has been an incredibly difficult undertaking. Hopefully, he will get some relief with the spinal surgery tomorrow.

Always surprised how quickly life can change. Remember to live each day to its fullest, stop and smell the cacti and be thankful if you have a nice strong healthy back. And above all else, bend your knees!