Take a left and you get a horse.

I have decided that my life loves to throw me new challenges. I seem to never stay on the straight and narrow. I get thrown right and left curves and get into things I never saw coming. Luckily, I usually get wonderful surprises. A couple of months ago I received a call out of the blue about this Austrian girl that needed a place to live for a year, now Anna is an important part of our lives. This week I received a call that there was this horse that was going to the meat market and shouldn't. I checked him out and, of course, fell in love. I have been bringing home animals since I have been able to walk. My mom said, "If there is an animal that needs a home, Cindy will give it one." It is true. My dogs are researched and bought by reputable breeders, every other animal I have ever had has been a rescue. I may have bought a bird or a hamster from a pet store but I consider that a rescue too.

Next week I am bringing home Jimmy Choo Rio Diego Ramirez I. We will call him Jimmy. I asked my students and friends what to name him and had some wonderful suggestions. He is about 7 years old and I have no idea what he had been called (slaughter horses don't come with names). Jimmy Choo was for my infamous shoes, Rio I just liked, and Diego was from Cheri's boyfriend. There were others like Santana, Hershey, and Cosmo, but Jimmy Choo won so I just took the top three and gave him a classy name because he deserves it. I rode him and he was so gentle and drove like a Mustang GT. Once he gets comfy he will probably wake up and act out a bit, but I can handle it...kinda like a foster kid. He will need to learn to trust that I will treat him like the king he was meant to be. He is a bit skinny but I have been fattening up people and animals all my life - no problem - you can also see the slaughter number on his halter in the picture. He will get a new, handsome halter when he comes home.

I have some pictures of last weekend when we went to Lisa's lake house on Sunday and had a pizza party on Monday. Anna had never went tubing, water skiing, or jet skiing so she had a lot of new experiences. Alex and Cheri had never been on a jet ski either and they both drove it and had a ball. Anna got done tubing and said, "I saw black dots, white dots, then nothing, and I was like WHOA!" I asked her if she was ready to jet ski and she said she would like to stay on land for a bit. I thought she was going to pass out on me. Too much fun. She finally went on the jet ski with Cheri and Alex after she recovered. Then we had her try to ski. She attempted several times and almost got up twice, then she was too tired. I think we wore the poor girl out. She had bruises everywhere and couldn't grip anything with her hands the next day. She still claims she enjoyed herself. After all that fun, we played Liar's Dice. Lisa was explaining how to play and asked if we understood. Anna picked up a die and said, "This is a dice, right?" I guess we should have remembered she is learning EVERYTHING in English. We played, ate, and visited. Lisa's sister, brother-in-law, and their girls were up there too (as well as Scott, Lisa, and Cody) and we had a wonderful day. Thanks Scott and Lisa for the fun day!

Monday we made pizzas and had a pizza party for Labor Day. We welcomed Anna into the family and celebrated Paul and Charlie's birthdays. Charlie was working on his birthday in July and Paul was driving us home from Myrtle Beach on his birthday. All of my kids were here, Mom and Dad Ramirez, Mom and Mike, Mel and Jane, Jen and James, and Brad and Melissa. It was a fun family day...my favorite - food, family, and fun.

The picture above of Anna is one of our not so lucky adventures. We had to evict a tenant from one of our rentals (we have 3). He stole the stove, fridge, washer, dryer, lawnmower, and tried to take the toilet! He left us junk, greasy rugs, dead deer, and fleas. We ripped out all the flooring and are starting from scratch. Anna and I are painting the ugly dark, fake wood cabinets (painting them cream). I have to clean windows and bathrooms. Paul is doing carpet, floors, yard work, and finding replacements for the stolen items. We hired someone to do the icky stuff (it was worth every penny).

My life is very interesting. I even shake my head some days.

Enjoy the pics - Love Ya, Cindy