Just another day

In honor of Mothers Day..a reflection of the terrible twos..

Posted on by onlyinastauffworld

Mothers Day is a day for Mothers to reflect on their kids, the good, the bad and the ugly..As a new Mom I had always heard of the term, ‘that kid is going through their terrible twos’.. but I had no idea what I was in for with my first one. Jay was just walking/crawling when the wonderful two found its way into the house. We had my cat, Azreal, whom Wyatt loved and the love was mutual, although she put up with a lot from that kid. One day I heard sweet giggles and running through the house. I poked my nose out of the kitchen with a smile to see what he was doing. He had found the black dirt in my plants. He would grab handfuls and chase after the cat throwing black dirt at her.. My eyes about fell out of my head.. so I cussed him, sent him to his room and started to pick up all the dirt.. I relented after awhile and let him out..I went back to tending to Supper..pretty soon, I hear the Same situation. I stomp after him..he wasn’t throwing back dirt this time, he was throwing bird seed throughout the house. I cussed him again and sent him to his room.. as I walked into his room I saw that the scene of the crime had started in his room. There was bird seed on everything, dresser, bed, window seal, and a fine layer all over the carpet.. I shrunk a little.. but he has pretty proud of himself..later I was downstairs grabbing some stuff. I was walking towards the stairway when I see Azreal flying down the stairs like a jet plane. I looked up the stairs and here is Wyatt, back arched and a line of pee chasing my cat down the stairs. I secretly gave him kudos for figuring out the arch and span of the the stream. He giggled and laughed and ran away.. we ended the night with me wondering if I was mentally wired for kids..I told The Stauff of my day and he just laughed. “He is just a little kid”,  he said..I thought yea little kid my ass, you didn’t have to clean up a sack full of bird seed, black dirt and piss all down the stairs either bucko. I went to bed that night hopeful for a better tomorrow. The day started like any other, laundry and feeding kids. About 10:00 jay was looking for some snacks. I picked her up and put her in her high chair..to back up a little to get the full jest of where this story is going..when Jay was a baby she had the prettiest curls..little blonde ringlets. I would always wrap my fingers through them…as I put her in her high chair I noticed she had some hair on her white furry sweatshirt.. I thought to myself, she must have been curled up with the cat. I smiled at her and ran my fingers through her ringlets. Much to my surprise, a few of them came off in my hand. I stopped and turned and looked at her smiling face.. I ran my hands all over her head..hair fell to the ground..a lot.. I shrieked.. WTF happened.. I was frantic..like I was thinking of a way to put it all back.. in my absolute freaking out here comes my two year old.. I looked at him and cried, “what the hell happened to Jay??”. He smiled at me, “awe Jay, don’t she look pretty, I like her hair like that”. I stared at him, “YOU did this?”. “Yea”, he said, “I think she looks pretty”. “Pretty?”, I continued to cry, “she has no hair left. It is all gone.. all her curls are gone. I can’t believe you did this..to YOUR ROOM!”. He shrunk to his room as I sat and stared at Jay who was happy as peacock eating away..about an hour later I felt bad..I go into his room and we had a heart to ❤️ heart about how he shouldn’t cut Jay’s hair again..away he went to play..I went to finish laundry. I had some clothes to put away in my closet. I went strolling through my room and noticed my cat underneath my night stand. Her tail was flipping a hundred miles an hour..she was 😡 pissed.. I crept down for a closer look at her and all of the hair was cut off her ass. My pretty kitty had no hair from her back legs, half way around her waist and her ass.. I winced and hollered, “Wyatt Anthony!!” He came running in, “what?”. “Did you do THIS?”, I said. He said, “yea”. I looked at him and said, “to your room…NOW!”, with a swift kick to his pants..I went to pet my poor kitty and talked her off the ledge of beating the shit out of Wyatt.. about another hour goes by and I relented and went to get him out of jail. We had another visit about how we just don’t do shit like that..he was released..back to laundry..I have laundry to put away in the kids room. I go walking in to their room and notice that there is their red talking Elmo on the floor..hands spread apart and a hole cut into his belly..I was instantly 😤 pissed…again I holler, “Wyatt Anthony! Get in her NOW!”. He came a little slower this time.. he walked into their room with his head hanging..I just pointed to poor Elmo, “are YOU SHITTING ME?”. He trembled a little and so did I. Another swift kick to his pants and his door slammed shut. I grabbed Jay and went outside to breathe fresh air and calm down.. I collected myself and went back inside to check on Wyatt. I opened his door and he was laying in his bed. I walked over to him and pulled him up onto my lap.. I gave him a hug and said “well, it has turned out to be a really shitty day, huh. I can’t believe what you all did”. He agreed slowly shaking his head. I was patting his knee as I was talking to him, when my fingers ran across something on his 👖 jeans.. I looked down and saw he had cut a hole in his jeans. I took a deep breathe and asked him, “did you cut that hole in your jeans?”. He whimpered a weak, “yea”. I closed my eyes and gave him a hug.. “Wyatt” I asked, “is there anything else I could possibly find yet today that you cut?”. I held my breathe.. he said, “no, that was it”. “Well then” I said, “then I would say we have successfully ended the day. Why don’t you jump down and we will figure out something for Dad for supper!”. And we did.. later on when The Stauff got home, I was telling him of my day. He just looked at me and said, “well, I guess I would have taken away the scissors ✂️ the first time”. I felt this burning desire to give him a swift kick in the pants..But the sun came up and his terrible twos were over..for real… Two long days, that I will never forget..but you are probably asking yourself, “what about Jay’s terrible twos?”. It is 12 years past her terrible twos and I whole heartedly believe she is still going through them.. 🙄..oh and she never had one curl come back.. stick straight hair for the past 14 years.. lol..😜

A Nun, 1973 and me…

Posted on by onlyinastauffworld

In honor of graduations coming up across the land both in high school and college..it takes me back to 1996..the year I graduated from college..when I think of my graduation from college, I don’t remember the ceremony I remember a Nun, 1973 and me… three things that had a major impact on my life..or should I say my 👩‍🎓 graduation. I graduated with a speech degree and English minor with emphasis on public relations.. I could ‘talk the talk’…but I was never able to ‘do the math’. I have always hated math. With a passion. I somehow got through high school math.. a feat I think was impossible, I think the teacher 👨‍🏫 just finally signed off on a D to get me out.. we never saw eye to eye..in college the scene never improved.. I could do your basic math, subtract, add, divide and multiply all day long and wasn’t bad at it.. but higher education math escaped me..I could never understand why a person could give a shit what Y or X was. I told a professor once, “if my Dad told me to go count cows 🐮 in the pasture and I came back and said there is XY in the north part of the pasture and XZ In the southern, he would kick my ass and tell me to go back and bring him a real number”. I will say on my behalf, the professor was amused but it didn’t get me too far in the game of higher educational math. Another one liner I would tell my professors is, “I could write you a 13 page paper on how I can not do this shit”. That never worked either.. I had so many credits to graduate it was insane..but I had a handful of failed math classes hat kept me from it.. so here it is.. my advisor tells me I could graduate but I have to pass Algebra 2. I figured I was going to be in school forever.. I took it in the spring and failed..I signed up for summer school. My professor was an older guy who had probably seen a million kids like me come through. I started to take his class.. first test..failed.. second test failed.. third test failed and which found me in his office in 😭 tears. I told him of my journey of higher educational math and how I honestly could never get it.. he took a long deep breathe, studied me for a bit and said, “I seen this before..1973.. I had a student who was a nun that had the same issue”. My tears stopped.. a Nun I thought, 1973?? Holy shit, it was a sign from heaven above.. I looked at the professor and croaked, “I was born in 1973, what happened to her?”. “Well” he said, “she was like you, she couldn’t pass higher educational math. We finally had her tested and we found that she was mentally unable to do higher educational math”. My mouth fell open, “how did you test her?”. He went on, “well we had to put her through a lot of tests and in the end we found our results”. I smiled, “sign me up”.  He scribbled down a room number and a phone number and told me to go check in at this office tomorrow. He said he would call ahead and set things up for me.. at last I thought maybe I had a chance to finally graduate. I went to bed happy with fingers crossed.. I went to the office the next day and met my new psychologist, a scruffy bearded dude in is mid 40’s with a pair of round wired glasses. We started a two week adventure of talking and looking at ink blots. He gave me a pamphlet to take home and fill out. He tells me, “you will probably have to call your parents and have them help you fill out the questions”. I smile, “not a problem”. I take home my 📚 homework and call mom and dad. Mom answers and I tell her the current state of my math class.. it was met with silence.. I continue on and tell her that I needed her to help me fill out a questionnaire.. I tell her, “I need to know how my birth was. Did they use anything to pull me out?? Was there any lack of oxygen? How big was I? Was I late?” And the questions continued on.. mom was like, “oh my gosh, you are kidding me. I don’t know half of this stuff”. I laugh, “well, let’s at least make it sound good”. When I got done talking to mom and finished my homework, I get to talk to dad. I tell him of my plan. He says, “oh geezus Christ, you have got to be shitting me?”. I tell him, “well unless you want to keep paying for math classes this is my only chance”. He was quiet and finally said, “you mean to tell me every time you flunk these math classes we have to pay for them?”. Needless to say, after that revelation he was completely on board with me and the Nun. The last day comes with my friend, the psych. I turned in my homework and prepare for my exit interview. He tells me, “one last thing, did you ever have a head trauma as a child?”. I thought and pondered and burst out laughing, “yeah I did actually”. He raised his eyebrows over his wire rimmed glasses.. I had peaked his interest. He said, “well, what happened?”. I started to tell him of my accident I had as a little kiddo.. “well I must have been about 4 or 5. I was with my Dad as I always wanted to go with him. He worked in the oil field. He was busy loading steel rods onto a trailer. I was supposed to stay in the pickup out of the way. I got bored, jumped out of the pickup and walked up behind Dad. I hollered, “Dad, can we go home?”. He turned around with the rod in his 🤚 hand..but when he turned around he just happened to accidentally smoke me in the middle of the forehead with this rod”. The psychologist is writing this story down like crazy, he says, “what happened to you? Did you pass out”. I am still laughing as I tell the story as honestly this was always a good funny family story. “Well it knocked me out. Dad scooped me up and took me to the house”. He asked, “did you go to the hospital?”. I looked at him oddly and said, “well no, cause I woke up.. but look at my forehead..I have a dent in my forehead from it”. He asked me again “you really didn’t go to the hospital?”. I said, “well no..you don’t understand, we live a long way from the hospital and I woke up, so I was fine”. I sat in the chair rubbing my dent in my forehead. He finished writing and said “well I will review everything and you should know what we find in a few weeks”. I asked him how the outcome was looking. He said, “well, I have to review everything, but sometimes when people have accidents some of the wires separate and can’t connect, it is hard to say if this is what happened to you, but you should know soon”. So I celebrated that my stint with the psych was over and prayed that God could somehow link me and his Nun together. A few weeks later I was checking the mail and there was a letter in there from the President of th University. I shook a little wondering what awaited me.. I ripped it open and in the letter it said that due to a traumatic child hood accident where a head injury occurred, I had been deemed unable to complete higher educational math. He passed me for any math classes I would have to have to graduate. I ran literally to my professors office with tears running.. we did it we did it I screamed.. we sat and talked about it and we parted ways. I went home and called mom and dad.. I was reading Dad my letter. When I got done he said, “what accident were you in?”. I told him, “well I told him the story of when you hit me in the head with that rod”. He said “oh great, I will probably have some family services at the door tomorrow for child abuse. Nice”. I laughed and said “hey, it got ME out of taking anymore math classes and it got YOU out of paying for anymore classes”. He agreed that it was probably worth it..I told Dad I was going to frame my degree and this letter. so there it is, my heavenly ties.. me, a Nun and 1973..lol..my guardian angel had to work over time to get that one thrown together. 

My little 289..

Posted on by onlyinastauffworld

We have started the monster project of working on my 1966 mustang..love that car.. dad bought it when I was in 8th grade..I wanted a new real horse really bad but I had already fallen in love with the 60’s Ford Mustang…Dad told me it was either a horse with four legs or four wheels…I dove for the wheels.. we ended up bringing home a 1966 Mustang Coupe, emberglo red with white vinyl top..when we came home the brakes were sketchy, but, it drove like a dream..or at least in my world..money got tight and the Mustang sat..and sat.. and sat..30 year snuck by in a blink of an eye..so here we are looking at her wondering where to start.. Chad came into the house on Sunday and says, “hey, didn’t you say it had sketchy brakes?” I said, “yea, it was scary driving it home, why?” He laughs, “I think I figured out why…you had no brakes in the rear wheels, all you had for brakes is the front”. Yikes..and just like that a 30 year mystery..solved…how about that shit daddio ?? Our sketchy trip home..solved..bahahah..

Home…Alas…

Posted on by onlyinastauffworld

So after a long week in town..all tracks meet cancelled we finally get to head home Friday night.. lots of rain made the road more interesting, sloppy and 4 wheel drive Jeep commercial for the last couple miles..but home just the same..The Stauff ran downstairs to start a roaring 🔥 fire downstairs while the kids and I unloaded the jeep. There is a high pitched noise coming from the office.. the electricity must have gone out and kicked the surge protector out.. I shut it off and I get busy with supper..keep in mind the surge protector has internet life plugged into it.. no surge protector turned on..no internet..jay wanders through the kitchen and casually says, “so…there is no internet?”. I tell her, “why, yes you are correct, the surge protector must have died”. She gets a far away look in her eyes and mumbles, “oh ok”. .. I smile and say, “well weekend with no internet, we are set”. I laughed a little too long about it. She didn’t see my humor. I get supper on the table.. Friday night 🌮 tacos.. a staple..we eat and the kids do dishes.. The Stauff looks at me and says, “kinda chilly in here isn’t it?”. I agreed.. he went to turn the furnace up as we have it set to be lower during the week. He turns it up..nothing.. he wanders to the furnace..pretty soon we hear The Stauff holler from the furnace room, “hey, I need my phone and a screw driver, could someone grab that?”. My brain spins, “what the hell is he doing with his phone?”. I decided to stay mum and watch..he grabs his phone and uses the flashlight..aha I thought, smart in his old age.. jay wandered past me looking to be in a coma state..she says, “we really wont have internet this weekend?” I glanced at her and gave her the ‘look’, “I guess it depends on how my mood develops”. Wyatt interjects, “well you know if it is just the surge protector, we do have a new ☝️ one. You could just change it out”. I looked at ‘Einstein’ and said “yes you are correct, but you would have to move the whole desk and shelving to unplug it..not sure I want to tackle that tonight”. They both hunched their shoulders and staggered to the couch..pretty soon the furnace dr comes out with an internal organ of the furnace…”no heat tonight..when the electricity went out it must have fried this piece. Will have to go to town & try to find this to fix it”. He smiled at me and said, “warm downstairs”.. I have been dreaming of my bed all week.. I say, “come on Stauff, we will just throw a couple more blankets on..it will be like ⛺️ camping”… we both laughed and glanced at both kids not looking happy.. jay is so fidgety 😬 she looks like an addict needing their cocaine fix and Wyatt is just sitting there staring at his 🎣 fishing pole. I laugh, “oh me, really?? We are both moping cause there is no internet?”. Wyatt just sits there, but Jay starts. “Do you know what is going on tonight?”. I say, “ummmm, no I guess I don’t? What is going on?” She stares at me, “it is the NFL draft!! How am I supposed to know where all the Oklahoma Sooners are going to? Mixon??? Perine???” I laughed and was like “well, we have TV? I am sure it is on ESPN, I would go watch it on TV?” I get a tiny eye roll..”Mom.. I doubt it is on local TV”. I sat there and closed my eyes..now my sweet 13 year old tomboy knows her shit with the Sooners.. she can spit stats, who the players are, what position they play, what year of school they are in, what they are majoring in AND who is going to the draft… but she thinks ESPN is a local channel..I looked over at The Stauff and he is just smiling at me.. I get up and go reboot the surge protector and didn’t say a word. I grabbed my iPad and all the notifications started coming in.. they both perked up.. Wyatt said, “how is yours working?”.. I thought about coming up with some wild story, but honestly I was cold and just admitted that I fixed the surge protector and internet had been restored.. they both whipped out their phones like six shooters..I went and turned ESPN on in our room curled up with blankets and watched the highlights of the 2nd round draft picks.. jay joined..I think half ass amazed on this new ‘local’ channel..we finally went to bed and about 4:30 this AM The Stauff gets called in to work.. he heads out the door 🚪 to bog out the muddy path and smiles, “I will get you your furnace part on my way 🏡 home. So..no heat upstairs and the internet is spinning..oh to be home..

A Throwback to a Yeti Day..

Posted on by onlyinastauffworld

It is that famous time of year when we do State Testing across the beautiful state of Wyoming. Being Admin and stationed at the office I am one of a few who gets a straw to drive across the state. I love to drive..throw in my XM radio, which is cranked up way past what my kids allow. Usually my trips are..umm..rather interesting….nothing huge this time, so I am adding in a trip I took a couple years ago across the Bighorn Mountain range.. Before I tell that story, I will say, I saw something tonight that kinda blew a little life back into my soul.. maybe more of a hope for human kind.. My phone charger (#5474980393093 that I have owned..joking..but you feel my pain with the cheap SOB’s) broke yesterday, so I have no way to charge my phone..I went to Walmart tonight to buy yet another one of them. I am in line to check out and the cutest little boy is there with his Dad checking out. There is another couple in front of me.. This little guy is having the best conversation with “Kathy” the checkout lady.. He tells her goodbye and “Kathy” tells him goodbye and that she will see him next time.. I thought to myself, “Aww, so cute”.  The couple in front of me says after the little kiddo left, “Is that your grandson?”. Kathy says, “no, he isn’t.. I met him a awhile ago at Walmart. He must really like me as he always tracks me down when him and his Dad come to the store and he visits with me”.  The couple ask “Do you have grandkids?”. Kathy says, “Oh yes, I have 6 grandkids”. The couple says, “Well that little guy must know that you must be a great Grandma to be around”. Kathy just laughed and said, “I am not sure about that, but he sure is my buddy”.  So the couple leave and I am checking out.. the little guy and his Dad come back. I hear the Dad tell him to wait cause Kathy is working. Kathy and I both glance up. This little guy is holding a card with the name Kathy scribbled on the front. She told him, “hold on, I am with a customer and then I will come over ok”. Now this kid is about 4 and he just sits there with excitement oozing from his grin. She gets done checking me out and walks over to the kiddo.. He gives her this card and tells her it is thanks for being such a great friend.. she kneeled down and asked him for a hug.. the little guy ran to her  engulfed into her arms..I had to pull myself together a little.. It has been awhile since I saw such kindness.. I walked to the Jeep and sat there thinking about that little guy and watched them walk out of the store.. He had a smile a mile long and threw a smile to the sky all the way to their car.. That kid is meant for great things.. NOW..on to the Yeti..

The yeti story..so a few miles out of tensleep there is construction..flaggers..I pulled up yesterday just as my line was leaving.damn my luck I thought..the flagger wasn’t sure what side of the jeep to walk up to.he hee hawed in front of the jeep like he was starting the cotton eyed Joe..I rolled Down the passenger window..he strolled up the window with a straggly pony tail braid flipping in the …wind..he says..nice jeep..I like it..how much does this run a month? Let me guess. Over $600.00. I laughed at him, oh no, about $400.00.. He says, “oh Hell, that ain’t bad, what did you trade in?” I said, “a Silverado”, he says “oh that is why your payments are so low, Chevy tough and they keep there value”, I laughed “well it wasn’t Chevy tough anymore hence why it went down the road.” I glanced up the road needing to see the pilot car..No luck..I told myself to lead the conversation before we go through his drug history..since he was into the jeep I told him that it was the arctic edition..he pondered that and more questions came pouring out, which i happily filled in tio kill time. I ended my talk with, they call this edition the yeti edition..he stopped everything and asked me to repeat what I just said..I said it is called the yeti edition, hence the footprints on the fender and hood, the seats etc..he flashed me his two teeth and pointed to the mountains, they are up there ya know. I looked at him and said huh? He continued..”yetis live up there on those mountains”, I grinned from ear to ear, “well the Hell you say? How dui you know that?” He is a serious,”because we talk to each other” I choked down a chuckle and cleared my throat, “well no shit?? That is amazing..And how do you do this?” He says, “well ya know flagging out here it gets boring, so I just start screaming and hollering, you would be amazed what answers me from up there..” And what do you reply to that?? “Well shit, that is crazy”. Then he says, “you would be safe tho.” I said, ” well why do you say that?”. He patted my seat and said, “because you drive their jeep, you are probably like their girlfriend.haha, they would say hey look it is our girlfriend bringing us our jeep”. And just like that the pilot car shows up.he taps the side of the jeep, “well there ya go you are on your way..No stopping and playing with yetis now..I will hollar at then later..” I giggled..”No worries, I am on a mission”..I laughed all the way over the mountain.

 

Finally.. a pop named after my kids…

Posted on by onlyinastauffworld

Jay and I ran to Casper yesterday after track.. on our way home Jay says, “do we need ⛽️ gas or something?”. I said “yessum, I thought about stopping at hat six to get gas and something to eat”. She says, “oh good, I am starving!”. I agreed. We got all of running done and headed for gas.. we go in and grab some food and something to drink.. she can’t decide what she wants to drink.. she finally settles on Stubborn.. I laughed, “very fitting”.. we blaze a trail 🏡 home.. Jay drinks about half of her Stubborn.. we are about 10 miles from the town house.. She picks up her bottle, which keep in mind does not have a screw lid on..it is a metal pull cap..my eyeball glanced down at her picking up her bottle.. she always puts the metal cap back on them.. she picks the bottle up, puts her thumb over the cap and continued to turn it upside down.. I scream “what are you doing?”. Pop pours out around the half ass lid all over the seat..she jumps and screams back “what?”. I look at her, “what? What? Wtf are you doing?? You just dumped pop all over the seat?”. She just looks at the mess and busts up 😂 laughing, “I don’t know why I did that”. I look at her bewildered “agreed..you moron..clean it up..when we get home you will need to get a wet rag and clean it up”. She dabs it with a napkin and then finger tests it to see if it is really sticky.. “trust me, no need to test it..you will clean it”, I say.. we looked at each other and busted up laughing.. so we got home and sure enough she spot cleaned with water.. I am sure there are a few sticky areas left… gotta love Stubborn..

Magic Mike..genre please?? 😂

Posted on by onlyinastauffworld

Sundays at the ranch are my day, my day to suck in the zen, clear my mind for the week, and just breathe. The Stauff gets this..he does a lot to make sure I get this..so today he says “why don’t you go get a long shower. I will get dishes ✅ done and everything ready to go”. I give him the old thumbs up 👍 and head to the shower. A long hot shower..thoroughly enjoying the rare moment with no kids and no dog..although the dog was sitting by the shower 🚪 door.. I get done and taking a few deep breathes when I hear Wyatt say “you will have to ask mom when she gets out of the shower”. Now.. when The Stauff is around, there is really no reason to ask me, they just ask The Stauff..my interest was indeed peaked.. I walked into the living room and said, “I heard my name?”.  Wyatt says, “well, Jay was asking what the movie magic mike was about. She thought it was a horror movie”. I stopped and looked at the surroundings..jay was sitting on the couch thirty shades of red, The Stauff doing his dishes, and Wyatt with a raised eyebrow waiting for my answer. I say “um..well I guess it depends on who you ask if it was a horror movie”. I winked at Wyatt. He said “well, Dad didn’t know, so I told Jay to Google it..boy did she turn red when she read what is was about”. The Stauff still doing dishes..I said, “well it is about a bunch of male strippers”. The Stauff quit doing dishes and just stood there.. “what is it about?” He said still facing the sink.. I laughed..”a bunch of male strippers”.. Wyatt said, “yea I knew you had probably watched it, so I told Jay to ask you about it”. I looked at him mouth hanging open..”come again?? I have never watched it”. “Oh” he said “it is a kinda older movie so I just assumed you did”. The Stauff goes back to washing his dishes..I am sure a grin from ear to 👂 ear. I looked at Jay and said, “well, now that you know what magic mike is all about, do you need help brushing your hair?”. She nodded and walked into the bathroom with me.. I am brushing her hair and she says, “I still think there is a horror movie that has a Mike in the title, it just seems like it was magic Mike”. Still pondering it she was..lol..

A dogs life. How the Sydney became a Stauffer..

Posted on by onlyinastauffworld

So this crazy ‘human’ dog came into our life about 4 years ago..2 days before Martin Luther King Day..so many people ask where did you get this dog?? So here is the story of how fate threw us together..we had a black lab named Sadie. She was the best dog ever, took a rattlesnake bite for the kids keeping them safe, never barked unless there was seriously something wrong, would ‘never’ think of jumping on our bed or sleeping on the couch..her dog pillow was just perfect. She raised the kids and was the dog that should have been cloned.. She started to get a cough that wouldn’t go away..the day before Thanksgiving we took her to the vet in an emergency visit..scans were done and lung cancer was found. The vet said she didn’t have a lot of time left, feed her well and love her the best for the few weeks she had left. So we did and it was just a few weeks before Christmas that she passed away..we were all heart broken.. I couldn’t handle not having a dog around..so I started trolling the internet looking for a 🐶 puppy. I found a coonhound/lab mix that we fell in love with on Craigslist in Cheyenne.. after going back and forth it ended up being a scam..we were bummed and I cussed the losers that posted it.. so not learning my lesson..I go back to Craigslist..I made my circle a little wider..I was looking for a hound..preferably a blue tick..I was clicking through the pictures and wahlah..here is a picture of the cutest puppy ever..a light gray and baby blue eyes.. I read the description, 8 baby Weimaraner puppies for sale. Need to go to good home..I fell in love..I had never been around a Weim..but their puppies were sure cute! I hollered at the kids “come look at these puppies” the kids fell in love too..there were pictures of all 8 puppies, with all different color collars. The owners named them by the color of their color and numbered each one as they were born. I show The Stauff and he just looked at me..”don’t you think it is too soon?” I shot him a look and said “I need a puppy”.  The Stauff asked how much they were, I told him that the price wasn’t listed, just a phone number. He said that I should call and find out how much.. I grabbed the phone and called.. this guy answers the phone and I tell him that I was calling about the puppies he had. He told me all about them. Then I asked how much he was asking and he said “$800.00”.  I about tipped over.. I thanked him and said that we probably couldn’t do that and hung up.. I told the kids well we wouldn’t be getting the puppy as it was too expensive.. we all moved on..about 2 hours after I had talked to the guy he calls me back. “Hey!” He says, “this is the guy that has the Weim puppies for sale, we had talked earlier?” I was like, what in the hell.. “uh huh” I say.. he goes on, “I just wanted to double check with you and see if you were sure you didn’t want one? I have a guy coming to get the last two”. I said “um, yea, I really appreciate the phone call but we really can’t afford that.besides we are just looking for a good dog for our kids”. Then I proceeded to tell him about our Sadie and what had happened to her etc. He says “well my wife and I are not looking to make money in these puppies. We put a high price on them so people who need dogs to train fight dogs wouldn’t bother..we have had a lot of people call and ask about the parents muscle structure and such and those people are up to no good. How about $600.00?”. I told him thanks but no thanks..couldn’t believe people could do such things to animals and hung up.. we eat supper and are watching tv and the phone rings. It is the same guy.. he says, “please don’t think I am weird..but the guy showed up to get the puppies, pink and purple, and I had a weird feel about the guy and I didn’t sell them.. my wife and I talked it over and we really feel one of these puppies needs to be yours. We feel that the puppy will be well taken care of and will be happy, so how about $200.00 and I will meet you half way with it?” Now this guy said he lived in Omaha..I visited with him and was like “well…um…OK!. We will take it”…We make arrangements to meet on Monday MLK day for the exchange. I run upstairs and tell the rest of the family, “WE ARE GETTING A PUPPY!!” The kids got all excited and The Stauff’s mouth fell open..I tell them all about our plan and what a ‘hell of a deal” we got..The Stauff still has his mouth hanging open.. the next day comes and the guy calls again.. “hey, I can’t meet on Monday, but I can meet today? Will that work? I can leave in about 30 mins and just start driving, we can keep in touch on the road?” I, full of excitement say, “well sure thing, let me grab my stuff and I will head out as well. I figure it would be about 6 hours”. I hung up the phone and announced to the family that plans had changed and I would be heading out directly.. I grabbed a blanket, my phone and checkbook. Smiled at everyone had headed out the door. The Stauff’s mouth still hanging open..about 2 hours into my drive, The Stauff calls..”hi there, where are you at?”. I said “um, about 40 miles from Bridgeport I think?”. He says, “I have a question for you, do you know what this guy looks like? Do you know anything about him other than you found a puppy on Craigslist and he really wants us to have this dog?” Things kinda sunk in.. I say, “um..no..I don’t.” He says, “really? You have no idea? Do you think this is safe?”. I just laughed, “yes Stauff, it is fine”.. I lost service and started to get a odd feeling in my stomach..holy shit I thought, what if this is a scam?? What if he is going to kidnap me? Kill me?? When I got service I started to google his name..I got too much stuff on his name.court appearances..owners of companies..hmm..I wonder which one it is.. about this time I get a phone call from the guy. He says I am about 2 hours from north plate”. I told him I was about to Sydney..he said “well we will be in north platte about the same time, see you then”. I think to myself..hmm he doesn’t sound like a killer? But then I thought, hmm I don’t think I ever talked to a killer before..awesome..The Stauff calls..”where you at now?”. I say “about to Sydney I think. The guy called and said we should be about two hours away”. The Stauff just sat on the phone, “you think this is crazy yet?”. I really wanted to turn around and go home at this point..but my stubbornness won. “No” I said, “it will be 👌 ok, I mean it is kinda crazy that I am meeting some random stranger for a puppy, but it will be ok”. I continued on the two hours and rolled into North Platte about 7:00 pm..I called the guy to let him know we had arrived.. he says “perfect, find a spot with no people around”. I said “ok, sure.there is a park right across from a gas station on the interstate, I will be there”. He says “perfect, I will be there in about ten mins”.  I hashed a plan in my head that I would take a picture of his pickup and license plates with my phone and throw my phone in the back of the 🚙 Jeep..at least the crime scene investigators would have something to go on..I see this old pickup fly into the parking lot..the passenger door flies open and out jumps a giant dog and two little puppies. Relief flooded me, at least the puppies were real..I snap the picture and throw the phone to the back.  I get out and visit with guy..the father of the puppies was with him..this dog was HUGE?. I had never been around a dog that big.. I said, “oh wow, they get that big?” He said “no, they wouldn’t as they were females”. Whew I thought. “He says “well get on the ground and play with them, see which one you like the best”. Wtf? I thought, really? So I abliged..”here puppy” then I got the story.. purple was one of the first born, so she will be more on an alpha..pink was born later so she will be somewhat easier..I was like “oh uh huh..hmm ok” I had not a frickin clue what he was talking about. So I got serious, hmm well we call Jay pink, so I take that as a sign.. I told him “I think Pink is the one” so we signed papers and I gave him the $200.00 and he gave me a puppy and papers. He said, “I would like to stay and visit but my wife is kinda pissed at me, so I need to get back”. And just as quick as he came, he left, with purple and their Dad in tow..I looked down at pink and fell in love.. away we went back our 6 hours..I stopped at Sydney and got her a dog bed to sleep 😴 in the rest of the way home. I decided Sydney was a good name for her..I got home very very late.. I was too tired to do anything.. I brought her in in her pillow and I fell into my bed. She started to whimper so I picked her up and threw her in bed with me..and she never left..little did I know..she would take over the house and all our hearts.. I cuss her daily, but don’t know what we would do without her.

Word..word.. word..

Posted on by onlyinastauffworld

Here is a short one liner… Jay is telling Wyatt and I her day.. She says “OH! Did you 👂 hear so and so’s Family is in intentional care?”. Wyatt and I look at her.. I say, “I didn’t hear that, but that is too bad.. but In the real world it is called intensive care, not intentional care”. She looks at me and says, “but I feel bad for them”. I look at her and say, “agreed, that is scary..when it is intensive care..not intentional”. She takes a long drink of water, “well, really, same thing”. Wyatt looks at her and says “jay no one intends to go to the hospital.. like they aren’t intentionaly doing it.. sooooo”.. I fell over laughing… my English major was grinning.. wahoo Wyatt got the meaning of words..now Jay on the other hand, in jaydar world..it’s all good..🙊😂

It is a tight, not quite stacked world..

Posted on by onlyinastauffworld

So my hump day this past week was one of those days where going back to work at 7:00 P.M. seems like the perfect thing to do..the thing that might keep my sanity..so to fully ‘get’ the story. Last Sunday we are at the ranch talking over the coming week.. the week had track meets scattered throughout and at the end.. prom..the first for Wyatt.  We were going over his attire.. The Stauff says “you should get him some dark jeans 👖 to wear with his suit coat” my first thought was “oh yea, that would look great” then reason tapped my brain and said “dude..where in the hell are you going to get dark jeans by Friday”.. hmmm I thought..I grabbed my trusty iPad and away I went shopping for the perfect pair of dark jeans to be delivered in Lusk by that Friday..and then with a ray of ☀️ sunshine through the window I found THEE pair of jeans.. I have Wyatt come over and approve the jeans..I gulped as I hit the pay with over night shipping of $20.00 on top of $80.00 initial cost. I quietly closed my iPad cause if The Stauff knew how much I just spent he would throw a nut..boom fast forward to Wednesday..I get home from a l o n g  day at work. Wyatt’s jeans had been delivered and I was happy, content.. I roll through the front door and throw Wyatt his jeans and asked him to try them on.. I glance at Jay and she has her nose buried in her laptop concentrating on something. I shrug it off and wait for Wyatt to model his new jeans. He walks out and says “hmm..they fit a little different”. I looked at him “what the hell do you mean they fit different, they are the same brand, style and size as your other ones”.  He hunched his shoulders down..I knew where this was going.. He says, “well I think they are miss marked, well…look how they stack on my boots? They don’t stack right”. I looked at him, “you have to be frickin joking me…seriously.. they don’t stack right? Wtf?  Come again? You are 15..how do you even know they don’t stack right?”.  He hunched his shoulders lower “ho hum..it is fine..I will wear them..they are fine” for the love of God. I tell him “fine, fine, take them off, I will send them back”. I take a deep breathe and Jay catches my glance..”umm hey 👋” she says “if I ordered something from Amazon tonight would I have it by Friday?”. I turned and looked at her “oh me, so what in thee hell do you need from Amazon by Friday?”. She says, “wellllll. A girl on our track relay team wants us all to wear black tights and a black shirt to the track meet on Saturday..I closed my eyes and took a deep breathe.. “well jay here is the deal.. no..Amazon is probably not going to come through for you, as Family Dollar here in town probably won’t either or the grocery store..as we don’t live in a damn town that sells such shit..ARE you serious with me?”. She just stares at me and drops her shoulders..I thought I was going to have an outer body experience.. she says “well I need it, by Saturday”. I looked at her in a disbelief.. my brow line deepened.. “let’s review what I just said one more time..I really don’t believe I am going to be able to pull these all black tights and all black long sleeve shirt out of my ass tonight..SO..let me ponder 🤔 on how in thee hell I am..ok?”. I grabbed my tea and told the dog I would be back later.. both kids mouths hanging open.. so I went back to work.. I mainly needed to zen a little before I blew.. I get calmed down after awhile and The Stauff calls.. “and what are you doing?”. I paused, do I tell him of my hell I went through in trying to please our kids or do I keep it light? I decided to let him taste a little of my hell.. I tell him about the ‘ugh it isn’t stacking right’..I was waiting for him to blow, he says “oh really? They don’t stack nice huh?”. My brain stopped..did he just feel Wyatt’s pain?? He says, “well, I would say just send them back and let him wear his favorite jeans..I scratched my head and thought do I tell him how much I spent on these special jeans..reasoning said let it go.. so I did.. then I tell him about the tight dilemma..his reaction, “OMG your are frickin kidding me..$>}*}£,?+|+€\|>,+]*|,+*\|,!\~,\+£.. I sat there and said “welcome to my world”.. so after he calms down he tells me..”ok, well here is a plan, I can run to Casper tomorrow and pick it up for her after work”. I shuddered at the thought.. The Stauff doesn’t shop and he doesn’t like to spend cashola..but I had no choice.. I croaked an 👌  “ok”. I went home zenned up cooled off with a plan..the next day after The Stauff gets off work he calls me, “ok, I am heading up, where should I go to get this shit?”. I closed my eyes as I had a premonition that things were going to get ugly..I told him I would start at Dick’s the sport store”. He said, “ok then, I will go there”. We chit chat for a few mins and he says, “ok, I am here, now where would these things be”. I popped up the store layout in my head and started to direct him. He says, “oh here is some, what size does she need?”  I was impressed, kinda like holy shit, this isn’t so bad after all, what was I worried about?.. I say “well in women’s probably a small or extra small”. He didn’t say anything.. “um hello..are you there?” He blares into the phone “$70.00 frickin dollars??? You have GOT to be shitting me”. Then I thought, yea yea.. this is what I was worried about.. I say, “well welcome to my world Stauff, shit is expensive”. He stammers and spits, “well this is bullshit, I am not spending that. Isn’t Target in this mall?”. I said “yeppers, that it is, just down the hall”. He says, “well I am going there, I am not spending that..{,!?€|?%*\'(grumble grumble blah blah)”. We talk on his walk to Target, I think he was proud of himself for beating the almighty dollar. He finds the sport sections in Target 🎯. I asked him if he was in the right area and he shot back with, “well I am surrounded by sport bras so I am thinking I am”. And finds nothing in the area of tights.. I tell him “well maybe try the girls section and get a size 16”. With triumph in his voice now he says, “oh yea, I found some that will work..yea, these are it”. I raised an eyebrow and my mind said “alert..alert..something is off”. He says, “do you want me to send you a picture of them?”. I said “yes please”, a Little too eagerly..he hangs up and “beep beep” the picture comes through in a text. My mouth falls open..I am trying to text, call, send a smoke signal..anything to stop the completion of the transaction..I get him on the phone, he still has the sound of accomplishment in his voice..I kinda felt bad to burst his bubble..”hey..abort the purchase of them.. those are Yoga pants with wide bottoms, she will skin both of us if you get those.. she is wearing them for track not to practice downward dog”. While all of this is going down, I am talking to my friend LaVonne who tells me that kohls is having a great sale on sport clothes.. so I have this intel in my back pocket.. he took the news well that the pants were not running tights. I quickly add in my new intel about kohls. He says, “well where in thee hell is that store?”. I tell him, “ok, it isn’t In the mall, it is heading east of the mall on the main highway”. He calms down and heads to the next store. I tell him, “ok..do this..You walk into the store, there will be people working to your left, you tell them your story and what you are needing, they will help you”. He agrees..baboom I thought.. I got this covered. I get a phone call within 5 minutes. A little breathy, he says, “well ya, just so you know..Kohls doesn’t sell shit like that, I asked them and they said they were really 😐 sorry but they didn’t sell that kind of stuff, my best bet would be to try Dicks..SO I guess I am heading back to Dicks”. I was quiet..silently cursing every girl that worked at Kohls. I know they had them..I come back to The Stauff still yapping and spitting on the phone. I hear, “ya know I am about ready to go to Murdochs and buy her black long handled underwear, I have driven Over 100 miles (crazy exaggerating there..😂) on my car just driving in this town trying to find this shit..and now I am heading back to the place I started out to buy tights that are $70.00. How about you call our banker and he can put a few hundred dollars into our checking account so we can afford these damn things”. I just sat there, “uh huh..yep..uh huh.. I agree”. I prepped him for the trip back to Dicks, “ok, when you walk in, there will be people working on your immediate right, tell them your story, at this point they will feel your pain and they might help you find some other ones that are cheaper. Stauff you got this”. He takes a Deep breathe, “ok, I will do that, I will call you when I leave”. I don’t hear anything for about 30 mins, my hands are 😓 sweating. The phone finally rings..I answer, “yes…did you find them?” He says “well, I walked into the store told the girl my story, she points to a part of the store and says “yea over in that area”. So, I wanted to tell the stupid bitch that I was just in that area about 30 mins ago and didn’t feel the $70.00 vibe..but I didn’t..I went and found the first pair of tights and found a long sleeve tight 👚 shirt as well.. I paid the $119.00 bill and went to my 🚗 car, imagine my surprise when I looked down at my tire and saw a flat”. I held my head and breathe. ..he continued, “so I got the tire changed and the shit for Jay.. I will tell you one thing, she better live in this shit”. I just repeated, “uh huh, I know..yep..dang.. yep..oh man”. He told me he would call me later. I tell Jay, “your daddio has ‘the goods’. I am going to give you some advice tho, you should make sure your dad sees you wear this stuff till you move out of the house..like a lot..”. She smiled a weak smile “ok”.. fast forward to Saturday..track day and prom day..his jeans that he likes that ‘stacks’ nicely is ironed and ready to go..a return label slapped onto the other ‘not nicely stacked’ jeans to go back to their home. Running tights and running shirt drenched in black folded and ready to be thrown into a gym bag. I have successfully conquered the week.. I look at Jay and say, “hey Jay, what events are you doing again?”. She says, “high jump,  100 sprints and 200 hurdles”. My mind stopped..”umm you forgot your relay didn’t you”. Then Her mind ✋ stopped right after she says “no, I am not..um I mean I won’t know till I get there”.. I looked at The Stauff with a raised eyebrow.. He started laughing, “omg she played you SO bad”. So sure enough..no relay, but I will tell you one thing she looked good out there in 40 degree weather wearing $119.00 worth of tights..and we wonder why my hair is turning gray at a high rate of speed..🤔🙄😘

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