June "Bug" Kramin

Poetry was never my thing,
This much had always been true.
But I have a friend who is now published,
And for her I must go whoo-hoo.

She was on AW
And known by many names.
In the cabaret she hung her hat,
And we played many games

My favorite nickname derived from potato;
Although her name was not.
It came from her handle initials;
Her name became Tater ToT.

If you haven’t guessed by now,
Think handcuffs, then memories sought.
For my Tater ToT writing buddy
Is our very own Train of Thought.

Here’s a linky to her worky,
Pop on over here & say hi if you have the time.
I’m sure she’d love to hear from you
Just don’t tell her about my lousy rhyme.

We got together in DC & Chicago
And she is a total blast.
Can’t wait till we get together again
ToT, I miss you OCD @ss.

(Well…maybe it’s CDO – I’m pretty sure yours is in order. )

Yes, it’s easy to see why I don’t mess in poetry, eh?
I leave it to the ones that know what they are doing! The 1st 2 are hers. Enjoy!
Congrats, Tater!

Here’s me & a bunch of mods from the MD trip. Nope. No Tater. She took the pic though. That count?

I am a horrible one for using nicknames for people. The biggest mistake you could ever make in my presence is telling me, “So & so calls me ‘this’ & I hate it.” Epic. Mistake. That will be the one name I will remember forever. I worked with a Maggie once – she never should have told me about the customer that called her “Magpie”…

Knowing that I do this – you’d think that I would be smarter. You’d think…

Known by many but pronounced by few – my daughter’s middle name is Ku’uleihaukeaokapiliaumoe. It took hubby 8 years to learn it and only then because my parents visited for a month & my dad used it daily. For whatever reason, I mentioned it in my forum and someone asked what it meant. I was far too smart to just explain my oldest brother’s Hawaiian language skills & the fact that she was born in the car in a snow storm. Instead, I posted a link to a post that he made years ago. I didn’t pay attention to the whole thing – just the explanation about her name. Major failz.

I don’t mind the name Rusty. In fact, hubby & his family call me Rusty. I was given the name in my early twenties by a big burly Hawaiian I worked with at a hotel on Maui where I waitressed poolside. I had only been there for a week and we had the company party. It was raining that day & everyone was huddled under a tent. I always loved rain and just stood out in it. When I was finally coaxed under the tent (probably with booze) Aku (who played the Hawaiian Santa each year) called me over. He took my arm and looked at my freckles. “Haole girl, I told you get outta da rain. Now you stay all rusty.” (Yes, my pidgin still comes back like a second language.) Haole is literally “visitor” but locals use it a lot to describe Caucasians and it isn’t always derogatory. (The arms also got me called Appaloosa by a certain deranged Chihuahua -I think I like Haole better )

Aku was the “leader” so to speak of all the hotel maintenance crew. They were a friendly batch and all had a great laugh at my expense but I didn’t mind. (I’m sure there were more drinks involved so it’s all good.) What I didn’t know was that the Personnel manager was off to the side overhearing the banter. When I got to work the next day, I had a new name badge waiting for me with my time card. Yup. Rusty.

Its no secret I was never fond of the name June. I am a 3rd generation June & it was always just a little confusing getting phone calls at home. My mother was called “honey” & “sweetheart” on more than one occasion by my boyfriends. I didn’t think we sounded alike at all. It’s funny how that comes full circle because now people think I’m my daughter on the phone.

The name Rusty just stuck. Friends began to use it & I liked it. I never had a nickname in school. You couldn’t do anything with June except the 3rd grade “June-the-prune”. (I know I’m gonna regret that.)

When hubby & I met on Kauai, he told his family about his best friend Rusty. “We do everything together. We’ve done all the hikes, go for drives…it’s great to have a good friend here finally.” When he called a few months later & said, “Rusty & I are getting married,” the response was. “Geez Loise. Tommy joined the Coast Guard & went gay!” *giggles* I guess he hadn’t mentioned Rusty was a chick.

On my forum – I’m auntybug. I have acquired Bug, Buggy, Buggers, Stalker Bug, AB, & a few more & I don’t mind any of them. I know who is supposed to call me what. When my forum friends got wind of the Rusty thing – it just sounded funny to me. That even topped when they had started calling me June ’cause I asked them not to! (Yes, you two (^)’s – you know who you are. Okay 3, you know you’re guilty too, Puppy.)

I guess it doesn’t matter. All’s fair in love and nicknames. I have at least 2 for most of my friends – some have 3 and amazingly hubby can keep up with me. My poor daughter has gone from Valerie to Larrie to just Lar – her Hawaiian name doesn’t even usually come into play. I do this with my characters in my books too but so far my Beta’s haven’t complained.

Here’s to all my friends. I may call you by your handle, your avatar, or a name you don’t quite like instead of your name but I loves ya.

Love,
(whatever-the-heck-you-call-me)
*smooch*

No, not the Hank Williams Jr. song. I’m talking about the tradition that is spoiling our children.

I always tease my mother about the way she spoiled my son. He has always had “steak taste on a hot dog income” thanks to the early, forming days but even now that he has steak income, he wants the steaks plated in gold too. He was never at a loss for anything that he wanted whether he was four or twenty four. He was the first grandchild & wore the spoiled tattoo with pride. His birthday is in July but he got new roller-blades at the first thaw. “Why wait? He needs them now.” When is Christmas? That would be October for him and a new snowboard. “Don’t want him to waste half a season on an old board now, do you?” Heavens no! Not the same board 2 years in a row! Ack!

I can see my brothers rolling their eyes now. I was the youngest & had three older brothers – yes, the spoiled tattoo first belonged to me. I could do no wrong & pretty much got whatever I wanted too (except for that barbie super market set from the catalog when I was 6 & don’t think I’ve forgotten!) I remember coming home one day to my brothers being lined up and looking in trouble. Something to do with a hose being left on & no one would fess up. *big swallow* “Um… it was me.” I don’t recall being punished although it looked like there were 3 male tokus’ being prepared to be beaten.

The spoiling works for my cousins too. My mom’s dad was particularly fond of the granddaughters apparently. I remember driving to the Jersey shore with my aunt and her 3 kids. “Shy” was still in a car seat & Bryan didn’t take kindly to staying buckled. When he stood in front of the car seat & cried out, “Mom! Shy kicked me in the head!” The response from my grandfather was simply, “What was your head doing there!” Not to play favorites or anything.

Yesterday, hubby came home with a web cam for me. I had a 3-way chat going on in yahoo IM with my “bestest” loons on Friday night. They both had web cams going but I didn’t. It was great seeing them & their kids then their kids darting off to grab the towels that I made for them & hold them up for the camera. *sniff* Apparently they were complaining that they couldn’t see Aunty Bug so I wanted to remedy this for next time.

I was doing some maintenance on my laptop so I didn’t want to install it until I had some things cleaned off. My daughter saw it sitting there & ran for her laptop. Yes, she got a laptop 2 Christmas’ ago with the help of my parents. I’ve said before that she has started writing so there was no argument from me. Of course we had to get a wireless router so we could all be online at the same time (research you know) which my mother also purchased. (No, my spoiled tattoo hasn’t quite rubbed off yet either.) She downloaded it then promptly went upstairs with it. Bye, bye new webcam.

She came down this morning running through her list of things. Since her brother always has the latest & greatest, she gets the “hand me downs”. Her TV is bigger than ours, she has his old X-Box since he now has the 360. She also got his PS2 when she needed a DVD player for her TV and of course all the games. “What do you want for your birthday, Val?” he asks. “An ipod.” Could he get a 4G simple one like mine? pffffttttt itouch!! Hello!! He works for Verizon so even though I didn’t think she needed a cell phone at age 8 – she had one & the “hand me down” was of course a top of the line. (Now I can’t complain here because I got the “hand me down” Treo that was $600. in its prime.)  Of course they’ve been upgraded since & will continue to do so. This little girl also surprised the heck out of me when my aunt asked her what she wanted for Christmas a few years back. “A playstation DS.” I knew nothing of this until it showed up! I’m putting ‘67 Mustang on the list next time my aunt asks & see what happens.

This is all triggered from my daughters comment this morning. I about fell over when she said, “I’m kinda spoiled, huh?”

“Do ya think?”

It’s come full circle and then some. Admittedly I was spoiled too – it just seems these days keeping up requires so much more. I remember when one car lighter did the trick to pulg something in – now we have a 3-way splitter & a power converter as well. *sigh*

I have 2 books I set in the 80’s. It’s funny how hard it was to go back & remember what the heck we did without cellphones & internet.

A magnet I used to have but got lost in the shuffle somewhere read: “Avenge yourself! Live long enough to be a problem to your children!” I hope they remember these things and at least pick me out a nice nursing home.

…is always good for a laugh.

A few weeks ago, I was picking on my friend in Superior, WI via modern technology. I am friends with her & her daughter on facebook & saw her daughter’s post one Sunday morning.

“I don’t want to get out of bed. Text me.”

We visit them often even though the drive takes us five hours. We can never get enough of them (and Shamrocks Pizza rocks!). The kids have their own laptops, itouchs, cell phones etc but they don’t have wireless internet in their home. They are far out in the country like we are but things haven’t caught up to their area yet. To use internet on their laptops, they still have a dial up of sorts but if they use their phone, it’s high speed. It is common when we’re there to hear, “All right. Where’s my phone?” The kids take them now & then to youtube or facebook. (With permission of course, they just aren’t always returned to where they were picked up. I’d blame it being a kid thing but I know adults *cough*husbands*cough* that do that as well.)

When I saw the post, I knew she had swiped a phone & hopped online real quick to make an update. I wondered for a while why her updates were always “text me” but then I figured it out when I was trying to get my laptop going at their house. Using a phone is faster. She posts on facebook & says to text because she then returns the phone and plays on her own instead. Quite ingenious I might say.

So, I see that message on a Sunday. “I don’t want to get out of bed. Text me.”
Her mom pops on with, “Get up and get ready for church.”
LMAO. OK, she’s on daddy’s phone.
So I pop on.
“Y’all are pathetic. You won’t even go down a flight of stairs.”
I’m on my laptop at home at the kitchen table with my coffee.
My daughter makes a post from her itouch. (Yes, I have wanted one forever but she gets one as a b-day gift from her brother.)
“Mom, I’m upstairs. Can you bring me some tea?”

Yup. Hopped in the game like a real trooper. Don’t know where she gets it from.

File this under TMI or *spoiler alert* for those of you that don’t already know. Hubby & I have separate bedrooms. The choice was easy after his 2nd back surgery. Kill him, leave him, or make him get his own bedroom. Hit men are spendy in MN so here we are.

Some are jealous of my situation and some more conservatives are not. “How selfish! You’ll get enough sleep when you’re dead”, is one response. Thank God it’s a minority because if you know me, you want me to have sleep. If you really know me, you’ll know that doesn’t happen often & you’ll actually cheer for hubby. Do the dynamics of the situation. One does not need to pretend to sleep together for 8 hrs to “sleep together”. Nuff said. He can snore & twitch to his hearts content & I can lay there awake & blame no one but myself for it. He says a gnat can fart at 500′ & wake me up so okay, sometimes I can blame a different “bug” .

I heard the coffee grinder this morning. I was waiting for hubby to come in and wake me up. He always comes in early no matter what day it is. I remember being especially tired going to bed and saying, “Please don’t wake me up at he butt crack of dawn; I want to sleep in.”

As a rule I usually don’t take my phone into my bedroom. On weekends, I get random bonfire pictures etc when the “St Cloud boys” are doing something that we couldn’t get to & they like to treat me like we were there. I love this of course, but not if I happen to be sound asleep at 2 am. I have also shared on occasion, 3 am texts with another insomniac lunatic friend so I keep it handy now. If I’m up, the vibrating of the phone on the floor in silent mode is enough for me to respond.

After hearing the grinder I waited for him to come in. I wait 15 minutes & finally grab my phone & send him text. “You coming in to wake me up or what?” I was surprised that he listened to me.
I hear him laughing from the kitchen then he opens my door.
“I thought you were sleeping in?”
“I tried. I’m up. You didn’t bring me coffee?”
“You didn’t text me your order.”

Pathetic at it’s finest.

We did watch one of my favorite movies last night. Yes, I know. For some reason I can’t make a blog post without a movie reference anymore (or combing 2 thoughts into one post. My bad). Kenneth Branagh is a playwright & has insomnia. Imagine that…a writer that doesn’t sleep. I think it’s a conspiracy…
One of his lines are, “I get insomnia about four times a year. It lasts for three months each time.” Love it!

This was my bed last night.

It’s thin and barely bigger than a throw. The sweater was my blanket. Yup. I was too smart to turn around yesterday morning when I had zero visibility most of the way to work. There wasn’t a lot of snow but the wind made things impossible. I have already stayed home twice due to the bad weather and just didn’t want to do it again. Things got better around 2 p.m. both times but it was hardly worth driving in at that point since my workday is over at 4:30. Oddly, I had a few jobs pending and I really wanted to get into town. I showed mother nature this time, huh!

My horse riding buddy called me around 3:00 & said, “I sure hope you’re planning on staying put. They closed the Highway .”
“$#@&”

I called hubby & he was going to attempt to come get me via the river bottom road but I said no. The visibility might have been a little better but I don’t even trust that road on a good day. People drive it like animals. The year I had to take it when there was road construction, I feared for my life everyday. Too many blind turns and apparently in nowhereville that means “Gun it & drive on the other side of the road” not “Please proceed with caution Mr 80’s-solidly-built-old-Ford-whatever-it-is-Hugh-Jass-car. Yes you. You that almost creamed me THREE TIMES!!!”

So… my fault for not turning around, yes. But at the time, it seemed like the thing to do. Maybe next time I’ll think twice and not feel guilty if I don’t make it in, but I did have a full day of things to do even after I locked the door. I tried to busy myself with odd jobs and clean up the work mac-n-trash of old files because it’s giving me the “out of memory” error again. *sigh* (Yes, I said mac-n-trash just to tick off my brother )

I didn’t have a book with me and although I meant to edit one of mine, I started a new one instead. *insert dancing snoopy here* I’m very excited to see where this one goes. No, it’s not about a girl stuck in bad weather…. although I may have to fit that in. I tried to force myself asleep around midnight but I wasn’t doing too well. Thank goodness for my lunatic insomniac friend texting me at 3 a.m. & keeping me company.

The experience was a pain in the butt – but it does make for a great tale. I’m glad to have a toothbrush, toothpaste & deodorant here & after my Vegas travel fiasco, I always have backup eyeliner & mascara in my purse. Coulda been worse. I could have actually started working out again & really needed a shower this morning. :/

Procrastination – 1 point.
Jillian Michaels video – 0

We all do it. We watch a movie and see someone & say “What the hell was he in?” Drives me bloody crazy. As a rule, I am horrible with people and names. When I worked at a lumberyard, I couldn’t remember the same contractor’s “runners” from one day to the next. Where it said “name” on the invoice, I left blank because I was embarrassed to ask. I should have already known it many times over. But when I worked for a vet, I remembered every critter’s name, go figure. When I’d see their “parents” at the mall or in a grocery store I’d have to back track. White chinchilla Persian… Flufffy… Anderson!! Then I could say hello with their name. Pets… people… go figure. The animals would have been just as happy with “sweetheart”. On second thought, probably so would the contractors

I have my share of lust for movie stars & of course had no qualms about changing my avatar in my writing forum a while back to various ones. Chris Evans, Dax Shephard, Channing Tatum (ok – not him but if I was still doing it – I’d have him ) as well as a certain Dolce & Gabanna model *wipes drool*. We all can appreciate the movies hunks (or hunk-esses) and quote their names and movies. But what about “That guy?”

I remember when TNT used to have “That guy Thursday”. It was a face you knew, could probably name a couple other movies he was in, but what the heck is his name? Maybe all those song lyrics are taking up the face/name recognition brain cells….

What drove me crazy the past couple months was knowing I knew a character’s face in a series we were watching on DVD but I couldn’t place what I saw him in before. I usually go to Hollywood.com or wiki & look it up. I refused to with this one though. (I’m Irish/stubborn that way.) I was elated to no end when on Thursday night we watched The Replacements & I discovered (drum-roll please) that Roy from the Office was the deaf football player in it. Drove me nuts! We are even on season 4 & he hasn’t been in it for a while but it still drove me crazy. It’s the little things, right?

Sorry if this is a double post for my friends on facebook. Yes, I’m a dweller. I have something to nag/cheer about & I run with it. These thought lead to my daydreaming. Someday I’ll be walking around New York & someone will whisper to their friend.
“OMG! That’s the lady that wrote Dustin Time! What the hell is her name? It’s Krum-mean or something, right?”
“I thought it was Cray-min.”
“Carmen?”
“Kramer?”

Maybe I should re-think that pen name thing . LOL!

Dream big, people. Dream big.

For the record – I do hate football but for some reason I love The Replacements & Remember the Titans. Just more of Bug’s movie recommendations. No charge. And – For The Win – the little girl from Remember the Titans is the chick that can’t die on Heroes. That one took a couple days too!

*linky warning*
This is a non-vomit bag equipped blog. Please click links at your own risk.

Dum.. duh duh duh… duh duh duh….

JOURNEY – DON’T STOP BELIEVING!!

Okay, maybe you couldn’t tell by the 1st three notes – but I could. If I have to single down a sole talent I have, it’s my 80’s music lyrics retention. Yes, I like to think of it as a talent, hubby likes to think I had no life in the 80’s. Mayhaps he’s right, mayhaps he’ll need to remove my new black heels from his behind.

I had a great time with family last weekend. We went over for a football game (which I hate by the way) but we played a board game afterwards while the satellite radio was on the 80’s channel. I can say that I kicked their butts at song trivia! Okay, maybe I was the only one playing… but I rocked. *pats self on back*

It’s funny that I can’t remember what I had for lunch yesterday but I can recall the lyrics to a song I haven’t heard in 10 years. It’s especially funny when you listen to one & it suddenly hits you. “OMG!!! That’s what those lyrics meant!!” Then you call all your friends to see if they knew what you didn’t. People think the music is so much worse today but really, I just think we were just a little more naive’ back then… maybe. Bow Wow Wow – I Want Candy… How did I not get it? Prince – Little Red Corvette… um – not about a car & 100 others. I await the call from my daughter when she’s 30 & at a shrink. “I can’t believe you let me listen to New Age Girl (Mary Moon). Do you know what they are saying?” *snickers* At least it beats Simple Plan Addicted (which she sang at age 6.) MOTHER OF THE YEAR!!!!

I have a very vast range of songs on my ipod. Over 800 & you could quiz me on the lyrics to any of them. It ranges from AC/DC to Kermit the Frog. I like to think I’m pretty open minded when it comes to music. I can tolerate a lot. Hubby likes country which is okay. I like most of it except for an older station which I like to refer to as “Slit your throat already” music.

Movies highly influence my list. I have a Frank Sinatra (sorry – no linky) & a Joey Gian song from one of my favorite movies – Return to Me,“Baby it’s Cold Outside” from Elf as well as Billy Holiday from Forever Young with Mel Gibson *swoon*. My daughter stopped watching Pokemon years ago, yet I still have the 1st movie theme song on there because, well, how does Battery put it? Oh yes, I’m a dork!

When I was in Chicago with friends, I played Flo Rida – Low and Monkey said he would have never expected me to like music like that. Oh yeah, baby that & worse! Anyone remember Tom Tom Club – Genius of Love? Only me and my best friend could sing the funky middle part. I also occasionally shamelessly blare the first rap song ever. Sugar Hill Gang – Rappers Delight. I have wonderful memories of float building with my classmates over that one.

For me, with every song I hear, it triggers a memory. When we watch a show that has a time line & you have to guess the year, I know NOTHING ’till they say a song that came out.

Got music? It does a heart good. Oh wait? Did you hear that? Gotcha. Didn’t I.

ETA: That is not my signed photo of Steve Perry but I do have I have Billy Squire

It’s a fine line between time waster & hobby. Many of you know (by my availability on facebook and/or my writing forum) that I have a lot of free time during the day. I am a self proclaimed graphic artist but the job I have demands very little of those skills. Most of what I do is repeat orders, so very little designing is necessary. If I have to create a new Fire Permit form for the Sheriff’s Department, it’s been a big day. Step & repeat, add a box, done. Meh. No creativity. Zip. Nada… but it’s my job & it pays the bills & I do have the world’s greatest boss – so here I sit.

On my forum is where I get to use Photoshop & really get down & dirty messing around with my friends. Okay, I pick on a certain avatar more than others, but it’s fun & keeps my skills sharp. *cough* can justify anything *cough*

This bring my focus now to my hubby & how he spends his days. (Yes, it’s another “pick on my husband” blog post.) Being my wife isn’t an easy job in itself – on top of that – throw in the 40+ hours most weeks for his Elks Veterans stuff. There are those rare days when he’s “mostly” caught up with reports, isn’t currently looking for something else to do with the schools (he’s got most of the surrounding county 3rd graders supplied in dictionaries), and it’s too cold to go out to the wood shop to build benches for the Youth Camp.

I talk a lot about my friends on my forum and facebook. Some of these friends that I talk to all day on line have expanded into my night time as well. I text and talk to someone every night because I just can’t get enough. He’s patient when I need a 5 minute pause of a movie. I hang up with “Love You” & he knows it’s friendships & time well spent.

The past few weeks he has started to venture into the “realm” of facebook. I’m sure he’s wanting to see what he is missing. My daughter was thrilled to have him more active there. She’s a Farmville nut and was all to happy to help him tend his virtual property.

I’m pretty sure I’ve said before what a flag-waving-country-loving-patriotic-type person my husband is. No one stands straighter at a parade when they walk past with the flag. His every focus for the past few years has been “What can I do next for Veterans?”. He has taken it upon himself many times to have tattered flags replaced at schools, hospitals, etc with Elk funds and sometimes with money from his own pocket.

That being said, it didn’t surprise me one bit this morning when he started to tell my daughter what he did with all his ‘farm bucks’ yesterday. While everyone else eagerly purchases cows, sheep, & goats, here’s what hubby said:

“I bought a flag for my farm.”

Coffee hurts coming out of your nose. Didja know that?

We’re trying to expand his horizons but “it is what it is” & that’s okay too.

… that make me laugh ’till I snort.

This picture is one of them.

Yes, that’s right. It says Angle & that took even I, the typo queen, just a second to register it.

Is it a hat for that special triangle in your life? That square person you know & love?

I’ve posted before that I have been trying to do the Jillian Michaels shred but haven’t really moved a muscle since my Chicago vacation. I am in shape – but it is too bad “round” is still my shape so I opted to save the 50 cents and not play the claw game & get this hat. Besides, I have an embroidery machine. I could screw this up on my own and only cost myself $5 & 40 minutes of my time. That is my fear for everything I do – I am my own worst proof reader. This one however takes the cake.

Bad Spellers of teh world UNTIE!!

Maybe I’m wrong. Is there a new clothing line I’m not aware of & this was done on purpose? Do share if I’m mistaken. I was confused once before… wait… no I wasn’t.

Saturday was absolutely beautiful. Seeing as how I have been in Minnesota for almost thirteen years, that word has a new meaning. It was 38 degrees! w00t!

I apologize for getting ‘farm descriptive’ and talking horse poop, but I have been waiting for the warmer weather so I could clean out the barn. I guess we all enjoy a nice day differently. While we were in California, it had gotten very cold & the horses spent a lot of time in there. They usually don’t, no matter what the weather is doing, so it was very odd that it had gotten so bad. This would be an easier task if I didn’t have so much help. No, my daughter didn’t help & hubby was off doing Elks stuff. My help was Ringo. I have said before that I’m pretty sure he thinks he’s a dog. He didn’t quite get the fact that I needed to walk around him & empty the shovel. If I’m out there – it’s playtime! His shenanigans know no limit – this includes relieving me of my stocking cap. That’s not so bad except when it come with a a bunch of hair! I also knew every time he’d pulled my jacket off the fence. I still have a stuffed monkey in my pocket from Chicago. It screams when it is hit just right. I heard it hit the ground a few times ’till I finally just moved it out of reach.

I miss the cart I used to have that made this job easier. I had to walk about 100 shovel fulls of straw & “presents” out to a pile I started just outside the back barn door. A couple of cats & Ringo made sure I was stopped with each pass. Even Charlie was just enough in the way to get some loving, which he rarely does. Everyone must have been just a little more active with the nicer weather. Can’t really complain about that.

At one point – somewhere between trip 50 & 60.. I had enough of saying “Excuse me, baby boy” & hollered “Ringo Joseph!” He finally got the hint & went and stood outside out of the way. Yes, all my animals have middle names & I use it like you would on your children & yes, it works pretty much the same way. My husband’s family thinks I’m crazy. That’s just ridiculous. There are so many other reasons to call me crazy.

Here’s the beasts just outside the door when they finally got the hint. Yes, That’s Ringo’s “I got the middle name?” face.

Why Joseph you ask? I have been a fan of Michael Landon since he was Little Joe in Bonanza. (Yes, this dates me, I know.) Growing up on Maui when I did, I had friends with horses in their backyard. Rules weren’t so strict then. Several years back things were zoned differently & horses were only later forced to be moved up country to stables. Some of my fondest memories are riding horses bareback on the beach down Halama Street, Summer camp at Thompson’s Ranch, and vaulting in Rodeos. I always wanted a Paint horse and I was going to name him Little Joe.

When I finally got a hobby farm of my own and found my dream Paint, he already had the name Ringo. The first time he was naughty (which was immediately), Ringo Joseph just came out naturally & it stuck. I think we were made for each other. He has just enough spitfire in him that we get along perfectly. My neighbor calls him ass biter and doesn’t like when I ride behind her (or in front of her for that matter). When my friend “Zebra” came to ride, she borrowed a friends sweet horse “Big Red”. He didn’t care for Ringo either. He kept looking behind him through the whole ride, making sure Ringo kept his proper distance.

We are both trouble and we’re okay with that.

My dad’s name happens to be Joseph. He was tickled. He said to my husband, “Ha. I have a horse named after me & you don’t.”
Hubby promptly said, “Yeah, but Joseph is the back half’s name.”

I’m gonna miss him.

Do I stand alone? Any of you call your pets something out of the ordinary that gets their attention where just their name & a firm tone does not?