And what did you do at work today?

So today we had *amazing* March weather -- and I spent it in the best way possible. Playing with my puppy :)

Showed up at the barn intending to do the usual combination of chores -- feed, put Sasha in viewing lounge, turn out, hay/water (although I've been spoiled lately cause my entirely too awesome dad's been doing that for me :), ride, let Sasha free, stalls, reverse the process. That's just how it goes.

But it was really warm - which meant the turnout step got seriously backed off by spending ages removing everybody's blankets. And then it was just too nice out -- so I let Sasha, who's starting to be reasonably reliable about sticking with me outside, "help". You should've seen her trotting along all proud with Jack's leadline in her mouth, Jack following along -- after giving her the stink-eye for about 2 seconds and then deciding she was harmless. hahaha sooo cute. Except after a couple strides she gets concerned about the horse following behind her and drops the rope to go off to the side *g* hahaha but she came out with me for every set of turnout, staying out of the way of the horses without running away. Which made turnout way more fun watching her bounding around.

Then with hay -- well Sasha and hay is very much like Sasha and snow. Which is a huge pita when you're actually trying to move the hay, so we drilled sit/stay and "leave it" a bit while I tried to get the hay out. But again, she stayed right at my side throwing to all the paddocks. So I was pretty thrilled about that.

Had to go to my car for something and I lost her out there. Was a *little* concerned, but she did eventually come back from wherever she was adventuring. So then I had to play stick with her for a while because I didn't want her to come to me from playing only to be grounded in the barn -- that just didn't seem like positive reinforcement at all. And while we were doing this, Dad got there and started doing waters, which Sasha loves cause he always plays with her. So I passed her off and watched them for a bit :)

Which pretty well ate up my riding time *sigh* But it was fun, and I rode Athena on her day off so no biggie to give her today off instead. Time to start stalls. It was colder in the barn than out -- which in August will be fabulous but today not so much. And I got about 1 done when my dad came back and told me it was way too nice outside and I should be sitting on the rock in the sun playing with my puppy. But there were stalls to be done. So I kept at it for a few more minutes while my much smarter father took advantage of the nice weather to play with Sasha. And then I finally clued in that stalls are ALWAYS there; warm sunny days with puppies, not so much. By the time we have reliable warmth, she won't really be a puppy any more!

So I went outside and played with Sasha. Then I sat on a big rock, sheltered from the wind, and enjoyed the sun while watching her run around with her ears flopping every stride. Absolutely no better way to spend an early spring day.

But alas, eventually it was time to re-enter the cold barn to do stalls... Except that by that time it was *also* lunch time. And instead of the boring pb sandwich I'd brought a road trip to subway was suggested. Twist my rubber arm. hahaha so we brought the food back (hardly going to leave Sasha in the truck while we sit inside!) and deemed it picnic weather. So more warm rock and playing puppy -- this time with food :)

By this point Sasha was ready for her afternoon nap (which I also thought was an excellent idea, but alas the chores hadn't magically vanished...) And Dad stuck around and helped with stalls and sweeping so we managed to still get done in a reasonable time. I had places I had to get to before 6:00 (why do things close at 6??? That just doesn't make any sense to me at all...) and had a MUST-leave-before deadline of 4. Well I made it out shortly after 4:30 -- close enough *g* hahaha classic eh? And I *did* in-fact get to both places in time, so all good. Had to cut one a little short, but not tragic.

So did anything brilliant get accomplished today? Not particularly. But everything that needed to get done, got done eventually. And more importantly - I really enjoyed it. Got to hang out with my puppy and my dad and enjoy the stunning weather while watching my horses play in the field. Those kind of moments shouldn't be missed just to get some stalls mucked. That whole priority thing again -- all work is not really the way to go.

And today was a prime example. After all, time you enjoy wasting, is not wasted time...