Leap Year Baby

Today is my mom's birthday. She was a Leap Year Baby, born February 29, 1928. She's been in Heaven for 10 years now. I have a wonderful picture of her sitting on the front porch at home that I was going to post today, but then I came across this great family picture, and I knew this was the one. After all, her family was EVERYTHING to her. I'm not sure when this was taken--Sarah scanned all these pictures into the computer, and I don't have the physical photo in front of me so I can read what's written on the back--but that's baby Tara that my mom is holding, and she was born on July 8, 1979. So...We're not really in rows, but the "row" in front of mom, left to right: Melvin Yosten, Janette Yosten, Tommy Bonner, Kathy (Yosten) Bonner, Tom Bonner, and Amy Bonner. Then, left again: Carol Yosten, Henry W. Yosten (Dad), Mildred (Wiesman) Yosten (Mom), holding Tara Yosten, Douglas Yosten, Lynda (Klement) Yosten, and Henry F. Yosten. This was our whole family at the time, and pictures like this are rare. This was before Melvin or Carol or I were married. Before Henry's motorcycle wreck and the closed head injury that changed lives forever. Kathy must be pregnant with Sherie, here, who was born March 30, 1980. Happier times (And none of us are fat here, either--Heh!). Happy Birthday, Mom. You were The Best. I miss you.

A little girl on a big horse! Emily Bayer-age 9, riding Apache. Sunday, February 10, 2008

Sarah Hess-age 26, on Ranger-age 11; Loren Bayer-age 27, on Lucky; Emily Bayer-age 9, on Apache-age estimate 15 years. Sunday, February 10, 2008, at the Henry Yosten Farm. In the background you can see: a red round-bale horse hay-feeder and the tack shed in the Calf Pasture, along with some of Dad's replacement heifers, the south end of the old dairy barn, a round bale of prairie hay, and Sarah's Cadi. Pictures by Stacie Yosten. Note Ranger's tongue!

Sarah & The '78 (When Both Were Young)

I always did love this picture! It was taken on Friday, April 26, 1985, when Sarah was 3 years old. We'd been living here, at 521 North Oak, for about 5 months. She was always a busy little girl, finding enjoyment in all kinds of settings. I'm not really sure how this got started, but she was playing in the back of my 1978 GMC Sierra Classic. It was Germanfest weekend, but what might've been happening on a Friday, I don't recall. She's riding the rail like it's a horse; I think that was a paper sack she's using as a saddle--OH! How I wish I could remember the details! I wonder if I journaled about this...That's a brick in front of her, and one of her little vinyl rain boots on top of it; she loved stacking things! I've forgotten what that was that she's stuck into the last hole there. I just remember being memsmorized watching her make a playground out of the back of my truck. Whoever thought I'd drive that "buckskin tan & brown" pickup some 28 years! Now 30 years old, it's still being driven, by my friend, Jeff.

Four Anniversaries And One Birthday

February 17th must be some kind of Special Something. On this day 50 years ago, in 1958, Vince Forrester married Irma Starkey. Their daughter Mona and I used to work together, ride horses together, we even shared a house together (for one year) way back when. On this day in 1971, 37 years ago, my cousin Ann died from injuries she sustained the day before, when a vehicle that someone was towing broke free and crossed the median and hit Ann's car. On this day 29 years ago, in 1979, my best-friend-from-school Gloria Hess married Jan Donald "J.D" Coker. And on this day 2 years ago, in 2006, my best-buddy-from-work Jeff Smith married HIS best friend, Brenda Carson. I guess a birthday is an anniversary of sorts, and Bob's mom celebrates her 87th today!!

Sarah and I went to the farm this morning for brunch. Doug & Lynda, Carol & Gene, Kat, and Amanda & Christian were all there. Amanda had a "goodie sack" for my dad (Christian's great-grandpa) for Valentine's Day. She said that she and Tommy are planning on getting married around the first of October. I am so happy about that! She has been so good for Tommy and for Christian. I fed Dad's calves their range cubes before we came home.

At noon we ate lunch at The Center Restaurant to help celebrate Bonnie's 87th birthday. There were so many of us that we required two large tables! Those present were: Bob, Sarah & I, Don & Martha, Todd, Brittani & Shane, Toby, Jessica & Jasmine, Paul & Nancy, Trisha, Dennis & Kitty, Mark, Steve, Jennifer & Brett, and of course the guest of honor, Grandma Hess. After lunch we all went to Mom's for cake, visiting and gifting.

At 2:00 p.m., Bob, Sarah and I went to the Knights of Columbus Hall where the they were celebrating Vince & Irma's 50th. It was so wonderful to see the whole family together! But we left soon after saying "Hello" to everyone...Sometimes I just feel the need to BOLT. Sometimes I just can't handle crowds, even small ones.

Later, Sarah and I took our dogs, Floyd & Big B, for a walk. We went along the creek that runs through the city park, where we could take our dogs off their leashes and let them run freely. I found a petrified sand dollar in the creekbed and Sarah found a neat, scalloped shell.

Cherokee

Dawn Knabe, now Dawn Nottingham, leads a pony named "Cherokee" for her little sister, Alison (riding in the back) and their friend/neighbor, Sarah Hess, in Sarah's backyard at 408 North Sycamore, in the Spring of 1983. The pony belonged to Vince & Irma Forrester of Forestburg, and we borrowed him a few summers, keeping him first in Ferd Luttmer's backyard, and then later we closed off the alley and kept him there, so he couldn't eat Ferd's fruit trees. After we moved to 521 North Oak, we kept Cherokee at the farm. One day he escaped, and panic ensued (on my part)! I called all the neighbors, all the local sale barns, the newspapers to run ads...the hardest call was to the owners. I can't remember now just exactly how he was found--Did someone call me??--but the pony had traveled about 4 or 5 miles to the west, and was by a barn on the Dangelmayr's property. I was soooo happy to find him! Sadly, the pony got into a feed bin and ate himself to death, but that happened at his own home, and not while he was under my care, so at least I didn't have THAT, too, on my conscience! He was a good pony. So very gentle that 1 & 1/2-year old Sarah rode him around the yard bareback and without a bridle, halter or rope on him of any kind. See pictures below (or visit the Archives: top, left: Feb. 2008) to see my nephew Tommy on this same pony some 4 years earlier.

I'm an "A" for real, now!

Finally! I took a written test on Wednesday, February 6, to change my status at work from a "B" Assembler to an "A" Assembler, which I passed. But that was only half of my test. I was supposed to take my hands-on (practical or build-up) test one or two days later, but that didn't happen. So I've been sweating this out for the last nine days! Well, today I built a footrest for the first time, and I built it correctly (after some trial & error & some hints from my Lead), so now I am an "A" for real!! What a stressful experience!!

I made meatless spaghetti for supper tonight, with lots of chunky vegetables in the sauce, then topped it off with a Chocolate Covered Cherries Bar, a new frozen treat from Blue Bell. Hey, you can't be afraid to try new things, now can you?

My Aunt Girlie had triple by-pass heart surgery today at the Presby Hospital in Denton. Last I heard she was doing OK. Please keep her and the family in your prayers. She is my mom's sister, and she will be 87 in April.

Valentine's Day '08

This morning when I got up I found a surprise on the kitchen table from Sarah. It was a Snickers candy bar wrapped up in a note that read, "There won't be any "snickers" when you walk by this year 'cause you got a Valentine!" How fun! She left her dad a package of Sugar Free Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Miniatures, and this note: "Roses are red, butter cups are yellow, I got you this candy 'cause Reese's logo is also yellow...Happy Valentine's Day! Yea!! I love sweet surprises! So I decided to do some surprising of my own! I sent candy & flowers to Sarah at her workplace (Padic, Inc.) in Gainesville. While I was at it, I sent flowers & candy to my dad at the farm, and to Bob's mom at her home. Then, I found out that Sarah had left surprises for her grandparents, too!! My dad said he found candy from Sarah on the seat in his pickup, and Bonnie told Bob about her find, too, but I don't know where. Such a sweet sneak!!! I gave Bob some Sugar Free Russell Stover's candy and he gave me some Hershey's Kisses. A sweet day, indeed!

Here's a blast from the past: This picture was taken on Sunday, January 28, 1979, on the "mountain" at Vince & Irma Forrester's place in Forestburg when I was 20 years old. The gray gelding on the left was my horse, "Smokey". The boy on the pony named "Cherokee" is my nephew, Tommy Bonner, age 7. That's his big sister Amy, age 9, riding "Old Blue". It was quite a climb to the top for such youngsters, and Tommy was riding without a saddle to boot!! We are now 49, 36 and 38 years old, respectively. WOW.
Amy, age 9, on "Blue" and Tommy, age 7, on "Cherokee" at Vince Forrester's in Forrestburg. Sunday, January 28, 1979.

Work = Blah

"Mom, you're not posting about work again, are you!??"

Yesterday I worked 11 hours (5:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), and today I worked 10 (5:00-3:30). My Lead, Toni, is back, after being out sick all last week. But our Supervisor, Adrian, was absent today...The crud is making it's rounds, that's for sure! I missed a day last week (Tue., Feb. 5), and Sarah was sick the week before that. Bob thought he was gonna be hit hard, too, but he seems to have dodged that bullet.

Yesterday I stayed late to finish staging the SEB737 Tool Try. Today we finished FUA and started RYR. My helper is Dianne from Rosston. (Not to be confused with my friend Diane from Cindy's area).

Marci finished her Practical Test today, and I imagine I will be taking mine tomorrow. She built up a Spreader. Scary!

After work I went to FISCHER'S and bought groceries.

So...Yeah. When your life is as boring as mine is, when you post, you post about work.

Miley

Today was a good day in many ways. In fact, it's been an interesting week. I took, and passed, a test on Wednesday at work to change my status from an Assembler "B", which is a Labor Grade 4, to an Assembler "A", which is a Labor Grade 6. It means I will now "top out" at $15.97 rather than $14.77, a difference of $1.20 per hour more. The money is nice, but mostly I did it to protect my job, if ever there should be another layoff.

After work that day, Doug, Dad and I gathered and sorted cattle, and hauled 6 weaner calves to the sale barn. In the process, we discovered a 4-month old calf with a sore foot, so we roped it and had a look, but found nothing. Then Dad and I went to the sale barns with the stockers while Doug stayed behind to feed hay for Dad. While Dad waited for his turn to unload, I walked to Dr. Tisdale's office to get some medicine for the calf with the sore foot. You gotta love our small town: The note on the door from the Doc said he was at the far south chute, testing cows, and that if I could find what I needed, to help myself, and then just leave him a note on his desk. Heh! I did go in and try to find the stuff Doug wanted, but the only Tetracycline I could find was a large bottle of tablets, and we wanted an injectable. Dad said he'd get the medicine the next day when he went to pick up his check from the sale of the calves.

Yesterday after work, I got a phone call out-of-the-blue, from an old girlfriend from Saint Jo that I hadn't talked to in years, Melinda G. It was so wonderful talking to her again, and I know we will see each other soon, because she recently moved back to Saint Jo. We are the same age, and I met her when I worked at Russell Newman my Senior year in High School...Thirty years ago!! We've talked on and off over the years since then, but it's been a while!

Today I got another call from a good friend that I haven't seen since our last day of work before the Christmas Break, Friday, December 21. Jeff transferred to another Department in another building the first of the year. He called this afternoon but we were at the movies and I texted him to ask if there was an emergency, and he texted me back that he was "Just calling to see what's going on". Awesome!! The older I get, the more I appreciate the friends who make the effort to keep in touch; may I start doing the same! His wife, Brenda, gave me a beautiful gold necklace with a "praying-hands" pendant for Christmas from the family, which I cherish dearly and wear constantly.

The movie we were watching was Hanna Montana, and it was in 3-D, my first time to see a 3-D picture. It was fun!! Imagine that!! It was Me, Sarah, Loren and Emily. We went to the 12:30 showing at the Rave in Corinth. It was funny to watch the people in front of us, trying to grab the confetti flying all around us, that wasn't really there. 3-D glasses on--confetti. 3-D glasses off--no confetti. After the movie we went to the Sears at Vista Ridge Mall in Lewisville, to replace a broken Craftsman tool for Bob. They exchanged the tool for free, with no receipt and no questions or anything. I bought a ruler for work, and some vac bags. Then we went to B.J.'s Brewery, also my first time there. I tried one of their brews of the month, a light beer named "Blonde", which was good. Sarah and I ate pizza, also a specialty of theirs. Loren's shrimp tacos looked interesting, and Emily liked her little burgers. We tried to go to the zoo when we got back to Gainesville, but they were already closed.

All-in-all it was a nice day. At home Sarah showed me some clips of the whole Hanna Montana/Miley Cyrus thing on the Internet...I never even knew! I never saw her show on T.V. or anything. I know she's for little girls, but she's so darn cute and likable...and that 3-D thing was just too cool!