Holiday Vacation

I made it through Thanksgiving. Mom, Dad, and I had a quiet dinner. As usual, they left not long after eating. Luke came home a little later after spending the day with my ex's family. Rebecca came home the next day. All we did that evening was watch DVD movies. Rebecca did bring a surprise. She brought a Calico Tabby cat back from her MawMaw's lake house. Her cat's name is Sammy and she is a sweetie. Sammy stayed back in Rebecca's old room all weekend. She ventured out into the living room a time or two, but only when Milo (Luke's cat) was back in my room. They hissed at each other when close together. Sammy had mixed responses with my two ferrets. The first chaperoned encounter was okay. But the second encounter she started hissing and growling. Rebecca and Sammy left after dark on Sunday. A few minutes later Rebecca called to tell me she found an injured cat on the side of the road. The cat seemed to be fine to Rebecca, but was just lying there. I told her to bring the cat home. When I tried to stand the cat up, she just walked in a circle dragging a rear leg. I called to make sure the emergency vet clinic was open. I went back out to the deck and saw that the cat had it's tongue hanging out and was bleeding out it's nose. I talked gently and told Rebecca we could spent a lot of money on this stray, but I though it had internal bleeding. I offered to put the cat out of it's misery and bury it. Now it had been raining non stop that Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving, but the rain had stopped when Rebecca left for Austin. It was cold, but the rain was gone. I took care of the poor cat and got the Mahindra out while thinking how many times in my life I had dug a hole to bury a pet. This was the first time I didn't use a shovel. I normally have fun playing in the dirt with my backhoe, but this time I was sad while digging the hole as Rebecca watched from the deck. I had to keep shoeing Booger away, as he was sniffing all around the burial spot while I finished grading the grave. Normally I bury family pets under one of my two large cedar trees, but in the dark with the Big Red Beast and holding a flashlight in my mouth, I didn't want to get the Big Red Beast near my beloved cedar trees. I do need to buy some more lights and mount them on the ROPS or canopy for backhoe use. The one light on the 6520's fender brace just wasn't designed for a backhoe. So my two week vacation started with a new cat for Rebecca and a stray cat that ran out of lives.

Monday, I took Mom to have her leg get an ultrasound. At the last moment, Mom didn't want the ultrasound even if I held her hand. So we came home with me kind of miffed at Mom. It was a small room and she is claustrophobic. I tried to talk her into doing through with the procedure, but she insisted her legs were fine and wanted to go home. Tuesday, I went into Houston see my friend the dermatologist. The rest of the week involved putting up Christmas lights down both sides of the driveway, shopping for gifts, and trying to get 6 strings of icicle lights to work. A big time consumer was getting invited to www.nettractortalk.com. I have been on www.tractorbynet.com for a while. Anyway, the new forum took up more time then I had planned. Luke and I didn't go for a tree until Saturday evening. We were going to get one on Thursday, but I couldn't fine the Boy Scout tree lot as they had moved it. Friday evening was out as Luke had class. Luke and I got the tree up and I put lights on Saturday night. I just had just finished putting ornaments on when the ferrets found the water pan under the tree skirt. Then Milo found the cheap lower hanging ornaments. That is always fun watch the cat bat the balls.

Sunday morning found me up early and sitting on the deck steps with Booger. After 30 minutes of solitude, Booger and I went for a walk. I found myself across the gully thinking it would be nice to have a clear view from the house up this side of the gully. So I thought just a few minutes on the Mahindra and I could see up the hill side. So for the first time, I ran the 6520 on a Sunday morning. 4 hours later I parked the Big Red Beast back in the barn! I had been clearing brush for 4 hours and had a ball, never stopping for a break. This gave me a second breath to take on the stress holidays seem to bring. Don't get me wrong, it is my favorite time of the year. Now with two weeks vacation, I can decorate and shop at my leisure. Last Monday is a blur now. I continued decorating and made it to town for some more lights and decorations. Tuesday was a big day for me, as I was invited to MahindraUSA headquarters in Tomball, Texas. I live about an hour away from them. Brenda Bradshaw, whom I first met on TractorByNet, invited me down for lunch. Brenda is MahindraUSA's online Customer Relations Representative. It turned into a two and one half hour visit. I learned a few new things about MahindraUSA and the new 82 hp cab model, but most importantly, I forged some new friendships. I had a blast talking shop with their Production Support & Service Representative. He is Brenda's go-to person for technical problems. I would mention his name, but he is shy. I also met the President and the Head of Sales and Marketing. They are wonderful people and I hope to have more talks with them. Wednesday found me visiting with Mom and Dad and getting around to the Christmas decorating project I was thinking about since last year. I built a large cross and added new LED lights on it and mounted it on the roof of my barn. It was made real easy installing the cross with the loader bucket on my 6520 serving double duty as a work platform. I have uploaded pictures of it and a few other photos. Check them out when you get the time. Thursday I helped Mom with some house cleaning and I wrapped more Christmas gifts. This morning I had a surprise message from the Administrator of Net Tractor Talk. He wants to post a link on his forum to my blog. Wow! Talk about making someones day!

As I type this I am thinking I need to wrap it up, as tomorrow will be a long day. Luke and I are traveling to Austin to see Rebecca graduate from the University of Texas. Hook'em Horns! It seems just yesterday she graduated from high school. Where did those four years go? I didn't even get to see a UT football game with her. Oh well, there will always be grad school. How long with that take? I have no clue. Stop back later to read more.

hugs, Brandi