Lovely Monday

Maggie and I slept in a little today, but we were up doing school work by 9am. She has been working very hard on a report about the Panama Canal. I finally did tell her that the whole assignment was only worth one point, but she's enjoying the research and writing so much, I hated to take away her fun, so I just left her be. We have made a fire in the fireplace and have a creme brulee candle burning (which is making us hungry). I am working with Maggie on her writing skills...which is a little tricky at time. Lucky for her (even though she doesn't know it) I'm a good writing.

I have been working on my NATRC numbers for the ride this weekend. Maggie and I are both changing to open this year and my new assigned number is number 105. I cut out and ironed on numbers to my light jersey shirt, but decided that I would rather embroider the numbers on my sweatshirt and my tshirt, after I noticed that the required size was the same as the emboridery hoop. I'm doing a test on some royal blue fabric now and I plan to pin that on my royal blue poncho. I have four layers of numbers for the weekend: a long sleeved tshirt, a short sleeved jersey shirt, and a royal blue sweatshirt. Then I have a poncho that just happens to be royal blue.My goal is for everyone to be able to see my numbers.

Well, the embroidery was too small. It's supposed to be a minimum of 6 inches tall and it wasn't going to be.

Maggie is in her room studying for a Bible test. I'm glad b/c she was driving me nuts! She was reading all the material out loud and I couldn't' stand it. I had work to do too and her quoting and over analyzing Genesis and creation of the world was starting to be a bit much :-)

WE had a great holiday weekend. On Friday Maggie went to her friend's house and spent the night and went to the TCU football game. I went riding with friends and had such a nice time. It reminded me how I enjoyed pleasure riding and not always having an agenda. I did get to work on some gates with the help of several helpful people, and we all had our photos taken at the top of the mountain at Six O.

On Thursday, after we had Thanksgiving at church, we played with the horses and took a few photos: This is Fiera cantering on the longe line. She has begun to be worked for a few minutes 2-3 times per week...I'm trying to work on her naughty teenage attitude. I found out recently that the guys next door were charged by her when they came in the field to take their own horse back home after it had come over. I thought it was pretty funny when I heard the story. They are probably 20 years old or so. They said she was nuts!

Joe Bear is still going strong!

Thanksgiving Explanations

I have had some folks ask me about our change in Thanksgiving Plans this year. Last year we went to the Texas Renaissance Faire and it was so much fun. We made plans to go this year with our friend Alexa, but it turned out that none of us could afford to go. Our flu in October set us pack one thousand dollars in lost pay for me...so no faire. It was good to stay home. We felt bad b/c Peter's mom and dad wanted us to come to Eureka Springs and my sister in Law asked us to come to Springfield. So, I let everyone down, but we are so happy to be home and resting on this holiday!

Poor Frankie is having a terrible scratching fit today. I'm going to get him a cone so he can't keep itchy and chewing on himself. Poor guy!

Thanksgiving Day 2009

We had dinner at church today, as we did last year. It was great fun, with great food. Shawn came too and Peter took several different dishes to share. The best dessert I had was a pumpkin cheesecake, made by our associate pastor's wife. It was to die for! I was very proud of myself and ate only one plate and a few bites of dessert. This evening has been devoted to a little bit of snacking and drinking, but nothing excessive. Shawn and Alexa have come over and we were going to play games together...only the football game interrupted and then it turns out the game they picked only has 4 people, so I opted for my comfy chair in the corner as they are all more invested in games than I am. I was looking forward to playing a couple of the games with more people, but it's clear to me that we need a large, round card table.

I'm looking forward to the weekend. Maggie and I hope to ride to the park tomorrow (if we don't just watch TV and be lazy) which we have never done with Liberty and Dixie. It should be fun. I'm kind of chicken about riding through the city, but she has shamed me into giving it a try. I recognize that I'm not in inherent danger, I just get nervous about riding where others are driving. Of course, with all the hunting going on in the Grasslands this weekend, I think taking my chances with a tiny bit of traffic through a residential neighborhood is a safer bet.

Saturday I'm going to Six O to ride with Tracey, Tammy, Kim, Toni...and whoever else is there. I need to call Amy Crane and see if she wants to go. I asked Sprite, but she has hurt her ankle and can't go. Maggie is going to her friend Abby's for the night Friday and then going to the TCU football game on Saturday with Abby.

Sunday will be church and laziness, b/c it's supposed to rain. I also hope to get to Walmart to get my blue shirts and make my bib for the ride next weekend.

I have looked at the weather this coming weekend for Killeen and was not pleased. Saturday is a 60% of rain with a high of only 57 so I will have to make sure we're ready for rainy weather. I told my friend Robin I would pick her up and take her with us, so there may be 3 people crammed into the burb this weekend. However, thanks to Alanna, I have a platform to pack most of my stuff under which will be way, way cool.

I started working with Fiera this week. For two days, I worked her on the circle game for about 10 minutes each day. I broke it up with some yoyo and some arguing about going across water. I have discovered that when she doesn't want to do something, she will kick. She kicked at the whip and the rope on the whip. So I have to work on desensitizing her to the whip. At least she has finally quit running on top of me for the most part. I'm discovering that she's a lot like Liberty was. She is mostly very confident, but she get emotional and tries to jump in my lap for comfort. Most of my early work is invested in getting her to get off me and respect my space. This is actually going quite well. She is licking and chewing and yawning and showing a lot of general understanding.

Today I also did Equine Touch on Dixie and discovered she was having a lot of sensitive areas. She seemed very relieved after I finished with her. She kept itching her nose and yawning and licking and chewing. The chiropractor is ordering her a special pad after we measure her next trip. We are also going to detox her so that we can get her some relief.

I worked at Emerald Hills this am. It was fun. We played with the Rock Band for the Wii. I brought the wrong game though and we didn't have the Beatles. The residents loved beating the drum. I know that the residents really like the programming I provide. Whether I ultimately stay or go, I know that they like me, no matter what I'm being told currently.

Friday activities/Medifast Weigh in

Maggie and I attended New Moon last night at midnight. My honest opinion that it was just OK. It was visually stunning, but the story on screen was rushed and lame. I liked the book a lot, but I hate that an 18 year old girl was so wrapped up in a guy that her whole world was going to crash in without her. I hate that any girl needs any man that much. I like independent and strong women!

Today we were tired so we sat around and did school work and watched TV. It's been nice, but nothing to write about...other than we've had a good time clearing off the DVR.

Medifast this week said 2 pounds off for a total of 21.5. I didn't have a great week last week, but I am determined to have a good week this week.

Diet sabotage...

I have been sabotaging myself the last 3 weeks. I have eaten food off my plan and I haven't been sorry...but now I have to weigh in tomorrow and I'm very sorry. I may be looking at a weight gain tomorrow instead of a loss. I have to find my original motivation again. It's not that I"m not motivated...it's that I have let a few minor and normal indiscretions blow into a string of bad eating. This weekend there were two potlucks and a lot of sweets and I didn't say no. I have to learn to say no if I'm going to be thin.

So, tomorrow, I go in and weigh (or I put it off two days and really watch what I eat and be careful) and I start over as though every day is the first day. Now I have to go through the pain of getting off sweets again. GRRR. Why are we human's so stupid sometimes?

Still feeling melancholy over friendships, but that will pass. I have so much sewing and embroidery to do for Christmas, I shouldn't have too much time to think on it.

Quiet Monday

Maggie and I took it easy today. We had a long weekend and were pretty tired, so we slept in and then did low impact school work. I got chores done around the house and Maggie did schoolwork. My checks that I have been waiting for are finally getting here...though not the big one I really need. But, hey, I figured they will show up eventually. All bills will get paid!

I've been feeling down the last week or so. A friendship that has been close to me for several years seems to be fading away. I'm feeling a little blue for missing having a good girlfriend to hang out with. It could be just a phase of the friendship, but I suspect that lack of proximity and shared interests have done us in. It's not that we won't be friends, but we no longer talk daily or share personal things. I call and she doesn't answer, or doesn't call me back. When I try to make plans, she's always busy or can't afford to go. It just makes me sad.

Restless

I'm in a weird mood today. I'm a little bored and restless. The weather was gorgeous and I didn't get to ride. Tomorrow no riding either, but Thursday-Sunday look like good prospects. We have a trail challenge this weekend and that will be fun and Maggie and I will be camping out. I have been sewing alot and that has been productive. Maggie has been gone with Alexa since Sunday. I find that I really miss having her around. Usually she would be at her dad's today, but I would have normally spent the last 3 days with her. The house is too quiet without her.

The past weekend

I spent the weekend indoors. Which is crazy b/c the weather was beautiful. I had projects to work on and I enjoyed that. I watched more TV than I normally watch in a month, but I enjoyed myself. I caught up all the Castle's that had been on my DVR. Cute show. I had thought Maggie and I would ride yesterday, but Alexa invited her to go to Wichita Falls for a couple days, so I agreed and off they went. I also thought my hay was going to come yesterday, but that didn't happen either. I'm alone today, with a long list of things that need to be finished, but not really sure where to start.

I am planning to get my workout routine back under control this week. I have been very negligent about exercise lately and now it's time to pick it up back up again.

Nervous about a meeting

Why is it when you hear the words from your supervisor: I want to meet with you, it's enought to send you over the nervous edge? As far as I know I haven't done anything wrong, but now I worry. And I will keep worrying until I get the meeting overwith. It could be something as simple as making December and January scheduling plans. I just wonder why that can't tell you about that part when they schedule the meeting?

I rode with Betsy and Maggie yesterday. We had such a great time. We did 15 miles in 3 hours. The weather was nice, company good, and the horses paced well together. It was awesome.

Feeling Crafty

This time of year I always feeling like sewing and cross stitching. Partly it's for Christmas but partly, I just get in the mood to catch up on my TV. I am currently watching Castle and cross stitching. I have a few sewing projects up my sleeve but I wasn't in the mood to work on it. Mostly I get stuck in one project and have trouble changing gears. Of course, I only have 3 free weeks of Peter being busy so I will have to get organized and use my time wisely. I have a few ideas about Maggie's gifts too and since she's not here, I should be sewing for her too. However this year I am lucky enough to have a separate sewing room. That will come in handy!

This week I lost 1.5 pounds. Trying to get on the wagon for next week by eating right this weekend!

Sweet, Muddy Pony

Maggie and I were gone to a ride at Teresa's this weekend. We had a great time. I got to judge and she competed on Dixie.(I was one of six judges, so whatever score I gave her didn't take up 1/15 of her overall score) I didn't take Liberty as I felt like he could use a break after all his hard competition this year (Ok, well, Novice isn't that hard, but he's been traveling a lot) When we caught Dixie to leave on Friday, he seemed a little confused why he wasn't going. I guess he, Joe and Fiera had a good enough weekend together. When we got back today Joe was standing by his bucket, by the fence waiting to be fed. He's a muddy mess! I doubt we'll get him cleaned up till spring.

Maggie enjoyed riding and I enjoyed judging. She placed 3rd out of 4 in her class and Dixie was really well behaved. We stayed over after the ride to hang out with our favorite horse buddies, most of whom we don't get to spend enough time with. We had supper and took a night ride up in the hills by Teresa's house. I rode Freeley and he was pretty good, but I had forgotten how big and forward he is. He was really chugging along and not always watching where he went. A couple times he made me kind of nervous charging down this hills, but I loved his big walk. I had forgotten how big and quick he is. We got to sleep in Teresa's cabins on beds and we had a shower to use. It was very luxurious camping.

Alanna is going to be putting on an STC at this location next summer. Since I'm trying to keep my traveling down to shorter distances from home next year, I know this is one ride we'll be attending. It will be June 12.