January 22, 2003

Well!  The day after I sent my last message out, we had another calf born.  JW has named her Dutch, since she looks like Dutch Chocolate.  We officially have three girls, with another calf due any day now, and one more that probably won’t come until April.  They are so funny playing with each other.  When they run, they put their heads down and their tails straight up in the air.  Kind of like oversized pasture kittens.

We went to an ag clinic in Victoria last weekend.  There was a demonstration on horsemanship, as well as a presentation of working cow dogs.  They were fascinating to watch.  I have seen sheep trials before, but they didn’t compare to the difficult task of moving half-wild yearling calves around the arena.  For those of you who have ever seen or tried to load cattle into a trailer without a chute – you will appreciate the skill that it took for three dogs to load them all by themselves.

JW’s dad, Jim, has been busy for the past several months remodeling his house.  He hasn’t had time for a lot of paperwork, and asked me to put together his ledger for his 2002 taxes.  Quite a job sorting through stacks of receipts and cancelled checks - and categorizing all of the expenses for an entire year inside a four-day deadline!  Well, when his accountant came to pick it up, he asked who had created the spreadsheet.  Jim let him know that I had done it, and Mr. Briscoe asked me to give him a call at the office.  He said that Jim is very meticulous about his ledger, and thought that I might be able to help him out as well.  So, I am now working afternoons at the accounting office, maybe I’ll learn some new tricks this tax season.  Mr. Briscoe asked if I mind driving in to town every day.  I told him that in Denver it took me an hour to drive 12 miles to work, and that the thirty-minute drive through the countryside here was no problem!  I am really excited that I still have my mornings to “keep house” and ride Chief.