HAPPY NEW YEAR 2025!!!

 WOWZA!!!  Can you believe it?  Another year around the sun has landed us right smack dab in 2025!  I have no doubt I will not EVER remember to write THAT date!!  I swear I was 55 years old last week, running the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco.  And the week before that, I was gathering cattle in the mountains, getting ready for branding.  Where did the time go?

It could not get any better however, since here I am at the Last Chance Ranch, ready for the party to begin.

Who are we kidding.  At our age, we are lucky to make it to 8:00 before falling asleep on the couch.  For a minute there, I even forgot it was New Year's Eve and was heading to the rig for the night.  OH WAIT!!  It's New Year's Eve!  I think I stayed another 20 minutes before the pup babysitting began.  

I'm actually very lucky in that respect.  Dan asked if I had earplugs for Cooper.  Weirdly, he is probably the only dog I've ever had that didn't mind the fireworks one little bit.  And fireworks there were!!

But first ... hard to believe ... I was again up at 4:30 am.  Even if I have a bad night and can't sleep, the old sounds of "we're burning daylight" ring through my head.  There is just no chance of sleeping in.  Besides, the time had come.  Ten days and the rig required a dump.  More like DEMANDED.  Not bad I suppose, considering how small it is.

Dan said "let's check your battery".  Did I mention he gave me this handy dandy voltmeter from our favorite store Harbor Freight?  We tested it, and after 10 days (having only started the engine once for about ten minutes) it was down to 11.9.  I'm pretty sure part of that is locking and unlocking the doors every morning and night, whereupon all the dash lights come on.  Apparently we are made for moving, not staying in one place.  

Back to dumping ... though I have done this before, I really wasn't looking forward to it.  I unhooked the electric, stowed the kids and we were off to the fairgrounds.  You can dump there for $5.00, though inflation has raised it to $10.00 now.  A $20 bill will get you $10 in quarters for change.  Well, I told him ... it's good for laundry I guess.  

This would be much easier if it wasn't only 7" from the ground.  The black thing on the right is where the hose is stored.  The good news is at this location, you only need a hose that's 3' long since you could almost dump WITHOUT one.  Black handle on the left, gray on the right.  Easy peasy.  I was done in a flash since it took all of 15 seconds.  

I waved goodbye to the sweet Security Guard and headed on off to the grocery store, completely forgetting it was New Year's Eve.  I should learn to relax a bit when it comes to leaving the pup in the rig.  I open the windows and turn on the overhead fan, then race through the store, forgetting half of what I wanted to get.  

Then it was on to diesel.  Thankfully Safeway carries diesel #2.  Do I worry about the price?  Heck NO ... I'm just happy to fill the tank no matter what it cost, though this was a pretty good price by California standards!

Back home, I rearranged the kids a bit.  I was able to turn the chair around and deposit Jonathan in Cooper's bed, giving me more counter space.  Now, instead of running into his cage on the right while getting out the door, I run into it on the left.  

He informed me however that he thinks the pink quilt clashes with the red dog bed.  

Patty, Dan and I watched the last of the Yellowstone 1923 series, hoping they were planning on continuing the story.  Sure enough, for anyone interested, the saga will continue in February.  

I think we made it to 8:30 before I headed out to the boom boom boom of fireworks.  One of their neighbors is apparently a fan.  As you can tell, Mr. Cooper could care less.  

The bangs went off until after midnight.  Just when I thought they would quit, they started up again.  All that tossing and turning didn't do my back any favors.  At 12:02 they started up again and went until 1:00.  You would think after that I would sleep in at LEAST until 5:00 .... but NOOOOO.  

And so begins another year on this planet ... another year of friends, fun and probable frustrations, for which I am thankful.  It's so much better than the alternative!!!  

Thank you all for riding along this last year, and thank you to all who write blogs too.  I love reading them every morning.  Keep up the good work!!   Here's to another year of adventures, mistakes and laughs!!!!