CRAZYTOWN - Population: 1 Less Than Last Week

Last week was CRAZY around the Goode household. Now, it is not unusual for us to have a busy week. In fact, we are kind of used to it at this point. But last week was NOT supposed to be one of those weeks.

Jim was out of town for his annual West Texas Turkey Hunt. It is one of two week long trips that he takes each year. He looks forward to it and counts down the days every time...and that is odd for him because he usually dreads leaving town.

With him out of the house for a solid week, I had envisioned a time of peaceful evenings spent reading and journaling and blogging. Easy meals for me, Bri and Will, maybe a few nights of take-out and time to catch up on the television shows I have on the DVR that I never get an opportunity to watch because the boys outnumber the girls most evenings.

The weekend started off as planned. Saturday I spent the WHOLE day at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Stacy, Albert and I arrived a few minutes after 9 for a Buyers Breakfast. We then moved over to the arena for the Poultry Auction where we had so much fun!
See those smiling faces? That is all of us (except Robin, who was working) with two of the girls whose broilers we bought. Jenn and Paul had Liam with them...so taking pictures with him was fun! Every picture is better with a sweet baby face in it!

After we had spent all our money at the auction, Albert, Stacy and I headed over to Reliant Stadium to watch the Rodeo Finals. We were able to watch the top 16 in every event, and then the top 4 competed again for the Championship. Our boy from Waller, Clint Cannon, made it to the top 4 but unfortunately did not repeat the title. :-( Oh well, maybe next year!

During the Championship round Robin was able to join us and we all watched Brooks & Dunn as they performed their Last Rodeo Tour. It was probably the best show of theirs that I have ever attended. After the show we headed out to the carnival grounds, but it was so freakishly cold that we grabbed a Texas Twisted Tater and ran for our cars. I noticed the time as we climbed into the truck...it had been 12 hours since we arrived for breakfast. But it was a good day, nonetheless.

Sunday was spent sitting in Jim's recliner, watching the DVR, doing laundry and taking it easy.

And then the bottom fell out!

Monday was CRAZY at work. Jim was gone and the answers to every one's questions seemed to be locked up in his head. Everyone seemed to think that I knew what he knew, so I was bombarded with questions all day. He is my better half, but that doesn't mean he tells me much about work! We were unable to reach him most of the week...but thankfully after about Wednesday we had either found the answers or come up with our own and things quieted down a bit.

Tuesday was still a bit harried, we were busy, but it wasn't overwhelming. At least not until about 15 minutes before the end of the work day when I received an email from Amazon requesting more information on my shipment. Now, I order from Amazon all the time and though I had never seen an email like this one, the logo and everything in it seemed legit. That is UNTIL I clicked on the attachment. Chaos ensued! My Norton, which appeared to have scanned and okay'd the attachment suddenly started flashing red warnings everywhere. I lost protection almost immediately. I panicked and just shut off my computer...having to do so manually.

Wednesday morning I found out that yes I had downloaded a virus. And no, it was not going to be easy to get rid of. Three calls to the Geek Squad, a trip to Best Buy, $300 and three days later...I finally got my computer back with a new protection software installed. BEWARE THE AMAZON SHIPMENT INFORMATION EMAIL! You have been warned!

Thursday at work didn't go too badly. After all, I couldn't write checks, enter invoices, create invoices, work on payroll or much of anything else without my computer which houses the accounting software's administrator. So, I settled in to taking care of some personnel issues and such. While I was in a meeting with our Superintendent, Chris, I received a call on my cell from Bri. I didn't take the call, but called her back about a half hour later. Bad news - the dog was hit by the mailman.

She assured me that he was alright, but that she had brought him in the house just in case. I asked her to check on him to make sure that there were no abrasions. When she went into the bathroom where she was keeping him, she saw that he was bleeding from the nose. Wouldn't you know that every vet in Waller was closed on Thursday afternoon?

We called around and found the nearest open vet. I told her that I would meet her there. Hoss' hip had been completely dislocated. They were going to put him under in order to put it back in place because a 67 pound dog doesn't just stay still for all that. Plus they had been unable to complete his x-rays searching for internal damage because of his discomfort.

Two hours later they call and tell me that they want to keep him overnight so that they can check on him the next morning. (We had to leave to pick up Will from football) Thirty minutes later they call to tell me that he is having complications from the anesthesia and needs to go to an emergency clinic for overnight observation. Three hours after walking into the emergency clinic, I finally see the vet on duty and get to head home. It is nearly midnight, I have nearly an hour ride home and I have to pick him up at 7 AM the next morning!

Friday was even crazier than the rest of the week. Pick up the dog in Tomball and transport him to the vet's office in Cypress. Pick up Bri in Waller to put her car in the shop (which is near our house) and take her to work in Tomball. We got there too early so we stopped and bought a 146 gallon stock tank for the cows, picked up breakfast and then dropped her at work -when she realized her store keys were on the key ring in Waller. Thankfully we only had to wait about 15 minutes for someone else with keys to show up. Pick up my computer from Best Buy, meet a friend for lunch (the best part of the crazy day), work, pick up the dog, pick up Will from off-season football, pick up food, go home, visit with the boys, drive back to Tomball and pick up Bri from work at 8!

Thankfully, Jim came home on Saturday afternoon...and I proceeded to spend the rest of the weekend trying to catch up on 'Lost'! Well, I was really trying to catch up on my sanity!

This week has had stresses of it's own...but everything is better when you can share it with someone you love!

"Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart." Ecclesiastes 4:9-12