2010 In Review

Now that we are getting started with the new year (2011) I thought I’d fill you all in on some of the key highlights of the last year.  Now, don’t start yawning yet…it shouldn’t be all that bad.

2010 started with a bang!

• On December 30^th of 2009, Jon and I left for Florida where we visited Dad & Tiny (Jon’s dad and step-mom) for a few days and then boarded Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas for our 25^th wedding anniversary cruise.  We visited the Bahamas, St. Thomas, & St. Maartin & returned home on January 11^th 2010.
• February was rather quiet other than all the snow we got.  Actually we had snow on the ground from December through March!
• In March we sold two of our alpacas, Callaway will be shared by two alpaca breeders that live on two different farms in California and Tanner went to a farm in Maine.  Both boys are enjoying their new homes and new jobs of herdsires!  We also attended an Alpaca show here in Kansas City.
• April 14^th was shearing day for all 22 alpacas.  The next day, Jon traded in my 2003 Ford F-150 pickup truck for a 2010 model of the same truck.  We started putting in our vegetable garden and sold two more alpacas!  Maximo & Othello have moved to a farm in Oklahoma.
• In May, I helped find a good home for 17 alpacas at a farm here in MO that came all the way from a farm in Michigan!  We took in a big concert with Hank Williams Jr., Jamey Johnson, & Eric Church.  We hired a trainer to come out and work with Mickey, our little 2-year-old paint horse.  We painted most of the inside the house and took a trip up to Omaha for the weekend-a little getaway.
• In June we raised money for cancer research and walked in the Relay for Life.  The couple that were boarding their alpaca herd here decided to keep their farm in MN so we delivered their seven alpacas to their farm in MN. Summer is fun for taking in an evening at the dirt track races with our friends Jeff & LaVona & we did that a couple of times.  Later this month, we had our first cria (baby alpaca) born.  Cooper was a solid black and beautiful boy!  We also moved Justin & his girlfriend Harvest into their own apartment.
• In July, our second cria of the year was born.  We call him Cowboy.  We had several families come this summer to see the alpacas and visit the farm.  I took a beginners spinning class @ The Yarn Barn and am now practicing spinning my own yarn to sell.  We went in with our friends Bill & Rhonda and ordered Maine lobster for our 2^nd Maine “lobster feast.”  We did this last year and enjoyed it so much we decided to make it a once or twice a year occasion!  We went to another concert and saw Justin Moore and sold yet another alpaca.  This time it was Sterling.  He is enjoying his new home in central Missouri.
• August we celebrated Jon’s 49^th birthday and got a chance to see the PBR (Professional Bull Riding).  That was quite a production!  Jon took several days to meet up with an old friend and went on a fishing trip in Colorado.  A couple of weeks later, I went to California to visit my brother and his wife (J.C. & Joanne)  We celebrated her birthday by going to Las Vegas for the weekend.  It was SO good to see my brother again and spend some time with them.  In case you’re wondering, no, Jon and I have NOT started taking separate vacations!
• September, like other summer months was busy with fun stuff like the Kansas City Irish Festival.  We also sold two of the three horses, Lil & the two-year-old, Mickey.
• In October, we took a trip to Annapolis, Maryland and spent 3 days at a huge boat show where we also met up with my niece Jaycie and her family.  It was great to see them & all the big boats!  October also brought more alpaca sales…this time it was Summer, Taylor & Taylor’s cria, little Cooper.  The three of them went to the same farm in Bonner Springs, Kansas.
• November was a month to remember with a great trip to Florida for Thanksgiving.  We surprised Dad & Tiny.  It was great!  We also were able to get re-acquainted with other family members that were there, which was a real treat.
• December brought Christmas parties, another Maine Lobster Feast with the Butlers, and we had a special Christmas celebration with Justin & Harvest with dinner & carriage ride on the plaza with all the lights and decorations.  It was wonderful.  New Year’s Eve, Jon and I went to the Hyatt Regency’s big New Year’s Eve party.  We had never done anything like that before so that was a big treat!

And an added note:

This is Justin and his girlfriend Harvest.  Harvest is a very sweet girl that we have grown to adore.  She has brought a lot of light and laughter to Justin’s life and for that, we are very grateful.  They have been together for almost two years now and share their home in Kansas City with their dog Kane.  Justin is working as an independent contractor for AT&T as a sales rep for cellular, cable, internet, U-Verse etc. & Harvest works as a Licensed Massage Therapist & speaking from personal experience…does an excellent job!

Tomorrow will be a crazy day at work so I’m not 100% sure I’ll have the energy to apply my mush brain to my blog but if I do, I’ll be back tomorrow.  If not…well…

Until next time…

Baby Steps

It’s been almost two weeks since my last update.  Since then, the family that came to look at the alpacas have been back for some hands on experience and all of them are still excited and wanting to move forward with their plans.  We’ve discussed pricing for a package deal if they should decided to buy Taylor, her cria (Cooper) and Sierra and I feel very positive about what their decision might be.  The mom’s grandfather is in another state and was in the process of dying the day they were here so there will be some delay now before they can make any decisions about their farm but I do see the sale coming soon if everything goes as planned.

I spoke with the father of the girl who wants Lil the other day and I’m still certain they will take Lil but I’m just as sure that they will also buy Mickey as well.  I expect to hear back from him sometime today with a definitive answer.

Our farm is beginning to look as if no one lives here.  When we had all the alpacas, they did a nice job of keeping the grass mowed.  The few we have here now are not able to keep up.  I’m not sure what we’re going to do to keep the place looking nice once we put the house on the market.  My little Cub Cadet riding mower can’t handle the load & the belt keeps breaking when I try to plow through the thick grass in the pastures.  Jon has used the tractor to mow but the brush hog just doesn’t cut low enough and it always looks like it needs to be cut, even when it’s just been cut.  The fence lines and corners where the brush hog can’t reach are really out of control.  I think that’s what makes it look so bad.  We need a gang of guys all armed with weed whackers to get after all the fence lines!  I guess this is a good problem to have if we’re trying to liquidate, right?

Tomorrow we will be moving Justin and his girlfriend (Harvest) into their own apartment.  They’ve lived with her parents, in her bedroom, with nothing but a futon mattress (on the floor) for a bed.  They have been looking forward to this for a long time and I’m so excited for them!  The apartment is adorable, small but much bigger than her bedroom for sure and has a nice kitchen which is good since Justin likes to cook so much.  Justin is working now (finally) and seems to be really motivated to do well.  He’s doing sales as an independent contractor for AT&T (cell, internet, cable packages) and really enjoys it.  Jon and I finally caved in and bought him a car to replace the Jeep.  The Jeep had no air conditioning, no radio, the dashboard was all busted up from when the crooks broke in and stole his stereo years ago, it was dropping parts, and in constant need of something.  That Jeep taught that boy a LOT about car maintenance and repair though.  We felt bad knowing he needed to drive long distances and be presentable to his clients when he got there with no air conditioning in this heat.  Upper 90′s with heat indexes in the triple digits.  He’s a happy camper now and I think it really encouraged him even more to make this job work out.

So…not a lot has happened in the last two weeks but a lot has happened if you look at the big picture.  Getting Justin on his feet and settled is a HUGE milestone, one that would have prevented us from moving when the time came.  I feel much better knowing he is at least headed in the right direction and has someone special to share all of this with him.

Until next time…