It was early December and Christmas was right around the corner. I could hardly wait! I had finally convinced my parents to come and spend the holidays with us, away from home for the first time.
I spent days getting ready. I wanted everything to be perfect. I mixed up 4 different kinds of cookie dough and put them in the freezer ready to be baked. I had the right size turkey and a new stuffing recipe to try. We bought a new bed and bedding for the guest room and had it all made up. The house was scrubbed from top to bottom. John had even brought home an industrial buffer from work and we waxed and buffed the floors. Christmas lights were strung across the front of the house and we had the perfect Christmas tree set up in the corner of the living room where Rob couldn't reach it.
Things were really falling into place. That should have been my first clue, but it wasn't.
Two days before my folks were to arrive Rob got sick. His head started pounding, his ears ached, his belly didn't feel good and he had diarrhea. I took him to the doctors and they said it was some kind of virus. I was told to let him rest, get plenty of fluids and bring him back in if he got worse. So I watched him. The day my folks got here Rob's temperature was over 102. Mom helped me that night by sponging him off and rocking him.
Our holidays were getting off to a bad start but I had no idea how bad it was going to get.
It was the middle of November and we were really looking forward to Rob's first birthday. The hard part was that we were so far away from our families. We did have lots of friends that helped us celebrate and that made it special.
Turning 1 is a big milestone. I do think the birthday party at that age is more for the parents then the child. Rob had lots of things to open and it didn't take him too long to figure things out. As a typical kid he liked playing with the wrapping paper and bows more then the actual toys.
Now it was time for cake. I made cupcakes instead of a large sheet cake. All the kids got their own cupcake and they loved it. We put a big number 1 candle on Rob's cupcake and Dad helped him blow it out. Then before we could move, Rob grabbed the candle and started crying. The flame was out but the wick was still hot. Rob had nothing more then a red spot on the palm of his hand but to us if felt like he had burned his whole hand. Tears were mopped up and Rob dug into the cupcake. He was happy!
John and I still feel guilty about the burn but of course Rob doesn't even remember it:-)
We tried to put the nightmare ranch behind us. So we moved onto Halloween 1996. This would be Rob's first Halloween and we could hardly wait. Of course we were more excited then Rob was:-) I made his costume myself and he was a red M&M. I thought it turned out really cute.
John's unit was hosting a Halloween party. I somehow got roped into planning it. The kids got all dressed up in costumes and were ready for some serious tricker treating. All the offices had decorated their doorways and the kids went door to door. I think the kids liked the decorations as much as they liked the candy.
When everyone was done trick or treating we went down to the briefing room. I had set up 4 games for the kids to play and the winner would receive a special prize. We also did pot luck for snacks and drink. While the kids were playing the games I had people set up to double check the candy and everything came out clean.
The party was a huge hit! Almost everyone stayed until 11pm even though the invitations said 6-9. I was really tired by the end but I was so glad everything had went so smoothly.
We were done with Halloween, next we were onto Rob's First Birthday!
The time of truth is upon us. We step out into the sunlight and blink to adjust our eyesight. Everything looks a little..."rough" in the sun.
Joe takes us to pick out a cabin and we had 4 to chose from. They were very simple adobe buildings. They had windows but no glass, a doorway without a door, slabs of concrete sticking out of the sides of the walls for beds and a dirt floor. Joe takes us to the pool area next which is really just a hole dug out from a back hoe and sided with cement. Joe proudly tells us that he had filled the pool with fresh water, just for us, yesterday. There are more sideways glances between John and I. Next Joe takes us to the "cantina" where everyone goes to relax, knock back a few and play darts.
By now I'm shaking my head NO every time Joe turns his back. There is no way I am staying there any longer, we are out of there. Joe says he guesses we want to start out horse back riding so he goes inside to call the babysitter for Rob. John and I have a very quick discussion and we both agree to leave. I go in and frantically pack everything up while John goes to talk with Joe. I get everything loaded into the Suburban, in goes Lady and I buckle Rob into his car seat.
Joe and John keep walking and talking their way over. John is trying to pay Joe for night and the food but Joe won't hear of it. He is so so sorry we are leaving. He says, don't you even want to stay and take a quick ride. We both say we are so sorry but, no we need to start heading home. Joe apologizes again if he had mis-represented anything. We assured him that he hadn't, it was just going to be too hard with Rob so little.
John and I got on the road heading west towards home in silence. We were both so shell shocked we didn't know where to begin. Finally we looked at each other and started laughing until we were crying.
They had definitely told us it was a working ranch but their definition and ours did not match up at all. We chalked this one up to "Live and Learn".
Anyone that has been in the desert at night before can testify to how dark it is. So all that we had seen so far was the mobile home. We couldn't begin to know what the cabins looked like. Since it was so late and so dark outside Joe told us we would be sleeping in the mobile home that night. Then in the morning with the sun up we would get settled into our cabin. We felt bad, like we were putting him out too much but he wouldn't have it any other way. So John brought in our overnight bag and Rob's pack and play. Joe very kindly gave us the master bedroom with attached "bathroom". So we said our good nights and went back to get settled.
Lady picked one side of the bed and promptly fell asleep. We put Rob into his pack and play on the opposite side of the bed and with little fuss he fell asleep too. John and I weren't so lucky. The bed was lumpy and had a big dip in the middle. We laid there talking for quite a while about what we were going to do in the morning. Things weren't going as we had planned but Joe had been so kind we didn't want to hurt his feelings either. We eventually fell asleep with no plan of action.
Then "IT" happened. It was around 2am, John and I had finally drifted off to sleep when we heard this horrible noise. It sounded like a wounded animal crying right outside our door. The noise got louder as more animals joined in and it started sounding like howling. That was all Lady needed and like a shot she was up in bed between us cowering and whimpering. Soon our bed became a vibrating bed and of course Rob started waking up then too. I pulled Rob into bed with the rest of us, got him calmed down and we all drifted back to sleep around 4am.
At 7am there is knock on the door telling us to rise and shine, breakfast would be ready in 30 minutes. John and I looked at each other like "is he crazy"?! But he wasn't and Lady had to go outside badly! So John took Lady and a big stick out while I got Rob dressed. We all met up in the kitchen and breakfast was just as yummy as dinner was the night before. John and I were finishing up eating and trying to figure out what to do. Joe turns around and asks if we are ready for a tour of the ranch before we decided what activity to do first, so we said yes.
And still more to come...
Bark! Bark! Bark! That's all we could hear. I don't even know what I would have said to John even if he had been able to hear me. We continued our slow drive up the "road" trying not to hit any of 12 dogs that were out there. We finally see a spotlight up ahead and come to a stop next to a mobile home. There was an older gentleman standing out on the porch waving us in. John opened the window and asked what to do about all the dogs. The guy says just a minute, goes inside and comes out with a shot gun, cranks it once the dogs take off. There you go he says so we grab a few things, Rob and Lady and hurry in.
He introduces himself as Joe...just call me Joe...and tells us to take a seat in the kitchen. We gratefully sit down, so glad to be out of the moving truck. There's a long minute of silence because nobody knew where to start. Joe starts off by saying I didn't realize your little one was so little. I said I was sorry I hadn't thought to mention that when they said babysitting available. Clearly my mistake! Another silence. John and I kept looking at each other trying to figure out what to say. Joe breaks the silence by asking if we were hungry. Of course we were, we had just spent 9 hours driving through the desert. He says, let me fix you some dinner.
While he was puttering around the kitchen John and I are whispering, what the hell are we going to do?! Soon the smells coming from the stove were killing us. He fixed us the BEST dinner of hamburgers and home fries we have ever had. And I mean ever! Joe was so proud of himself and told us he had just killed the cow this morning. That totally left us speechless. As Joe sits down to join us, I start giving Rob his last bottle of the night. Joe scratches his head while he watches me. He finally looks at John and says, I guess we should talk about sleeping arrangements for tonight. John and I look at each other and think "now what"?!
Still more to come...
