Friends, ponies, and sunshine :)

R's text the other day: "want to go hacking on Sat?"  Yes, yes I do.  😂   Like zero hesitation, that is absolutely the best idea I've heard in ages.   lol wow it's been way too long, both for the social aspect and the pony aspect.

Arrange meeting time, weather is perfect - like 28 and sunny.  Amazing.  Even just getting dressed to go -- putting on riding pants made me feel so right.  Like wtf?  Riding pants are the least attractive most uncomfortable things ever...  But they've been a part of my life since I was in single digits so, I guess they're the clothing equivalent of comfort food ;-P   Unrelated - I was awfully glad they still FIT given the amount of recently consumed comfort food *g*   I didn't try the boots - partially cause they haven't moved here yet and partially cause... I don't want to know ;)   Paddock boots and half chaps for the win.

So yeah - was a little discombobulated when I got there as I don't know the barn or where stuff lives or any of the people, but R was well into having both ponies already tacked up (luxury!) so I really didn't have much to do...

Proof!  lol R snapped this completely unbeknownst
to me while we were on our adventure.

But yeah - went for a perfect hack in amazing weather wandering around areas I don't know at all and getting caught up :)  The year that wasn't definitely taught me how much I miss my friends when I don't see them for too long.  lol I don't necessarily notice at the time, but then when I do get to see them it's like yes, that.  That is what was missing.

Anyways - was just a lovely break from reality.   And THEN, I got to go to my parents place to meet Coco!  Mum's new puppy :)   Coco is from the same breeders as Bailey, and came home today.

Introducing Coco :)

Next Saturday will be term papers.  Far less fun somehow ;-P

A stolen moment

It’s a little after midnight and the dogs wanted to go out.  Rather than just send them, I followed and snagged one of our lawn chairs.   So I’m sitting in amazing warmth with the subtle glow of our decorative solar lights keeping it just light enough to navigate the patio with a soft blue tinge.  

Sasha and Tucker are thrilled to be out here and it’s warm enough we seem to be bug free.  Sasha stays near me although doesn’t understand why I won’t throw anything for her (too late to risk excited play barking) while I’m occasionally granted glimpses of Tucker’s shadow when he strays by a light in his yard patrol.  

There is really very few simple pleasures better in my world than a hot summer night with no mandatory wake up time the following morning.  It’s the kind of night where fairies run wild and magic happens.  Instant happy place.

Sweet dreams.

Ruff Mudder

Adventuring Aussie's

So Kerri, Mum, and I -- along w/ our respective dogs, went and did a "Ruff Mudder" on Sat :).  Lol this was as much fun as it sounds.

You've heard of the Tough Mudder?  Extreme obstacle course racing?  Well this was the significantly-less-extreme "take your dog to work" version.   There were people obstacles and puppy obstacles and some obstacles which could be navigated by both.

Ready to go

To be honest, I was a little concerned going in.  There were several very dodgy things involved in the sign up (a "parking" fee that's per person not per car -- when I asked I was told "it's going to charity, everyone has to pay it".  Ummm why not just include it in the fee then?   A "discount" link that didn't give a discount to those who clicked it.  A note that "if you sign two other people up, all three of you get a small gift".  Complete radio silence about this when I asked - even when they answered a different question in the same message.  Just left me w a generally slimy feel.

Orange paw-prints lead the way

Then there was the concern that any event with a large number of dogs raises -- namely, I don't trust a large number of dog people.  And if they can't control their dog, my dog is at risk.

However - it was all good.  Other than being asked for yet more money as we arrived, the number of dogs was manageable, and, remarkably, they all seemed under control.  I was super impressed.   They were doing waves of people/dogs on course every 15 mins, but after about the 3rd obstacle, other than occasionally being passed, we were pretty much on our own.  Which was all kinds of awesome :)

Puppy Pairs!

The course itself was amazing.  Alternating between a field and the woods.   Multiple river crossings (and one river wading!), the "real" swamp you could opt out of -- but we went through it.   There was a cut back point at about 3km mark that you could skip the rest, which included the rest of the swamp.   Things to crawl over, under, and through.  Things to climb -- even a rock wall to traverse.

The second half of the rock wall was significantly more challenging than the first

There were people to guide / assist at intelligent points on the course.  While we often felt we had the whole place to ourselves, there was never any question of being lost or off course -- always people to direct as needed.  And safety was clearly a concern as obstacles were being modified based on conditions (sadly the slack line was out of order by the time we got there due to structural challenges).

Kerri and Bo emerging from the tunnel

Overall was all kinds of fun in perfect weather.   The lack of showers at the end was made up for in part by the availability of ice cream :).    Sash I think was still feeling a little sore -- she wasn't a big fan of the jumping obstacles, which usually she loves.  But otherwise lead the way through the whole thing.  Bailey just wanted to catch up with Sasha lol.  And Bo was a complete superstar.

Bo didn't want to sit for his photo

And the award for best animal trainer goes to...

So last night I realized just how much my dogs rule the house.   Everybody went to bed - same routine as normal...  Dogs go out, come back in, go on their beds, and get their bedtime treat.  Then I shouldn't hear from them till I feel like getting up in the am.

Then I hear "click click click click" over and over again as Tucker w/ his crazy long nails runs back and forth on the hardwood in front of the bedroom door.   Bedtime is his favourite time of day, so not normal for him to be running around.  But I had a pretty good guess as to the Very Serious Problem stressing poor Tucker out...

You see - his favourite blanket was not with his favourite bed.   His favourite blanket was with A bed, but in the library not the living room.  And the living room bed also had A blanket, but not the *right* one.  Tucker the Toddler needs the right blanket in the right bed.

And since I did not want to listen to him click all night (whilst my husband snored away next to me), I solved this problem for him.  Toddler win.   And it did solve the problem - no more clicking.

Fast forward an hour or two and I hear loud music playing.  Figure the people across the street are home (they often have very loud music playing in their truck, but usually only for about 30 seconds). Music turns off and I go back to sleep.   But then it come back.  Frig.  And then I realize it is decidedly both A -- too loud even for them, and B -- the wrong style of music.

Right -- Sasha the teenager was on the couch, had turned on the TV, and was blaring Netflix previews *sigh*.   Lol - to be fair, she was probably just as pleased I was turning it off as she too was trying to sleep.  I sincerely doubt she realized that rolling over on the remote was connected to the unplanned light and noise.

But yes, twice last night I had to get up to address completely non-emergency issues for my dogs.

I am a well trained sucker.

It's a dog's life :)

So our dogs have their own bowls, and are pretty good about sticking to their own spot.  They get the same food, so not critical if not, but Sasha gets more of it.

This morning Tucker wanted more outside time than normal so I let Sash in -- who went straight to her breakfast -- and then I went about getting ready for work. When I returned a min or two later, Sash was still at her bowl as I let Tucker in. All good right?  Except somehow all of Tucker’s food had disappeared ;).  Lol too smart.  Not like she finished hers and then went looking.  No, hers would still be there later.   I guess she recognizes a good opportunity when it arises.  Since I didn’t actually catch her at it I just laughed and gave T some more breakfast ;)

Went to a symposium yesterday that was reasonably interesting. The keynote speaker, David Marquet, was a former commander of a nuclear submarine (captain? Are those words interchangeable in the navy - prob not ;).  Random eh? But essentially he got switched last second to a ship that he didn’t know and discovered fairly quickly that navy command and control style leadership might end with getting them all killed, so he had to figure something else out.  Really good speaker.  Website is fairly meh - if I’d seen it first, I’m not sure whether I’d have gone.  But in person worth listening to.

When snow falls, listen quietly

Just took Sasha for the most amazing nighttime snow walk.  It's night, but not dark, as the Christmas and street lights reflect off the unbroken blanket on the ground and cause each individual falling flake to shimmer briefly on its descent.  Even the unlit path through the woods is bright enough to navigate easily.  The silence is broken occasionally by the sound of a far off car sliding, but otherwise is absolute.  The kind of silent that grants imagination free rein to wander as it will.

This is Sasha's favourite weather and she was super excited to be out in it, although sadly I couldn't let her play as when she plays she barks and it's too late for that.  So we just walked and I worked very hard not to accidentally kick snow in her direction as that is, in fact, her absolute favourite game and the fastest way to have a very loud, very excited, hiking partner.  And in the stillness of the night that energy would carry far, but is unlikely to make us any friends.

The stunning houses along the lake are that much more impressive decorated for Christmas -- sometimes outdoor lights shining through a filter of white, sometimes a tree lit up in the window.  A cat peers out, seemingly questioning our sanity.  He's not wrong, but the sane miss so many wonderful adventures ;)

As we return home, the prints we left on the way out have already vanished.  Sasha tries to convince me this means we haven't gone yet. Not a single person or critter have we seen, but a tree creaks ominously under the weight it now bears.

The child inside me chooses to build a snowman to stand guard outside our home.  Alas, while super willing to "help", Sasha also feels this is a full volume activity, so it must quickly be abandoned.  Perhaps tomorrow if the adult reality of shovelling doesn't steal the fun and romance from the scene.  We shall see.

It looks to be cold for the next few days, which any other week of the year would have me hibernating.  But right now it means we could very well have a white Christmas, and, well, that is where great stories begin.

Happy Thanksgiving

So Thanksgiving at the cottage was amazing, as always :).   A *slightly* different experience from the last twenty years or so in that the "cottage" has grown from the most rustic of lovely little homes in the woods to a completely stunning home that embraces such modern fads as electricity and plumbing ;).   I'm not sure those are going to catch on long term, but they're certainly good toys ;-P

Love the single-log fire my cousins built

Our traditional garbage-can turkey was as amazing as always :).   Still sounds horrible and amusing for shock value, but the end result is amazingly tasty Turkey in a fraction of the time.   Arguably not suitable for a city situation, but perfect out there!

Sasha had an amazing time bounding through the woods chasing chipmunks and swimming in the lake.  Multiple long walks.  Very happy puppy, loves it there as much as I do.   But she's been asleep for the last 24h making up for it ;)

Today I'm home though -- and that meant after 3 days of doing nothing but eat, play with Sasha, and eat some more, it's time to do the next day of Fusion.  Today was P90 Cardio.  It did its job in that I was a sweaty mess by the end of it, but it wasn't nearly as challenging as some of the others.  Had some of the shadow fighting, but not nearly as intense as Core De Force or even P90X3 MMX.   If I'd realized, I would've subbed in MMX but oh well.   Down side, at some point I wrenched my back so hurting now :(.  But not the fun muscle "I worked out" hurting, this is just ow.  Fail.

Ah well -- off to Chris' parents' for Thanksgiving dinner the 2nd and tomorrow as a random vacation day.  All pretty civilized really.

High School Flashbacks

I live across the street from a high school; this is a complete non-issue in our daily lives -- we're at work while school is on, and conveniently there's a track I can use to run on and a pool to swim in both within a sixty second walk.  Awesome.

Today, however, I was working from home.  Still actually a non-issue, but what amused me was the deeply instinctive reaction generated by the school bells ringing.  In equal parts:

- omg I must be late!

- ugh, do I really have to go?

- What class do I have next?

- Frig, I didn't do the assignment

and as the bells chimed about 3:00ish,

- Sweet, time to go home!

Now we're not even going to discuss the multiple decades it's been since I was in highschool, and while some of the school associated thoughts may have been drilled in during uni, uni didn't have bells.  I'm sitting in my home office, working on the kinds of stuff they never taught us in high school, and every time one of those bells rings, I'm back to being 16 again.  I didn't love being 16, so the overwhelming feeling I'm getting after my brain runs rapidfire through the above list of questions is "Woohoo!  I don't have to go!"

Anyways, just sort of amused me.   As to *why* I'm working from home and not in the office today?  Well that would be because when Chris went to let the dogs out this am, he found a dead raccoon on our deck.  Awesome.  All curled up right next to the glass door.  So since he has *just* started a new job, combined with the fact that I was expecting to be doing the jury-duty thing today and had rescheduled most of my meetings to later in the week, I got to be the one to deal with it.   Called the humane society -- closed on Mondays.  Fail.  Except in a rather large win, they have a redirect in their voice mail to Animal Control.   Very quick conversation with them and they assured me they'd send somebody out.

In the meantime, Tucker eventually woke up and realized there was a GIANT RACCOON sleeping Right. Outside. His. Window.   Growling and clawing at the window endlessly, fairly horrified by this situation.  Which in turn terrified Sasha who was upstairs with me and promptly tried to turn into a lapdog.  Lol suffice to say this did not work terribly well, esp as I was trying to type!

Fortunately for all involved, the woman to deal with the raccoon made it out fairly early.  Tucker's "giant raccoon" estimate wasn't all that far off, she said it was one of the biggest she'd seen.   She bagged it and took it away and I washed the deck off (yeah for torrential rain shortly after) and we're good to go.  Why said random giant raccoon dropped dead on our deck?   Well that is a mystery I sincerely doubt we'll ever know the answer to.   When I did eventually let the dogs out several hours later, they didn't even pretend to hesitate there -- ran straight to their usual areas of the yard.   So I'm not too concerned about lingering scent or any issue there.

This is the second rather rude early morning in three days (Tucker had another run-in with a skunk on Sat); we've ordered one of the ultra-sonic pest-repellents for the garden.  We'll have to see how that goes. 

Spanish, Marriage, Sasha, and Killerboots -- might be one of my more eclectic posts

I've been using Duolingo in an attempt to learn some Spanish (for which "hola", "por favor", "gracias", and "cerveza" was the sum total of my vocabulary before starting).  And for the most part, I quite like it.  I'd like a little more (read any) explanation sometimes (esp for tense changes) but it is really helpful and I'm finding things are coming easier to me.  All good.  But did it ever present me with a HUGE demotivator the other day.   You see, I was on like an 84 day streak.  Pretty happy about that.  And any day that I hadn't done my practice, it'll remind me at 8:00 pm that I should go practice.  And to avoid breaking my streak, I did.   But then the other day, I noticed it said 4-day streak.  Wtf???    So I went to look, and it turns out on Monday I did half the practice.  But then never went back and did the other half.  So I guess since I had technically signed it, it didn't send the reminder :(  And so it no longer counted as a streak.   Motivation gone.  Yesterday was the first day since starting that I didn't sign in at all.

Monday's little half-circle did me in.  So unimpressed.

And yes, I realize the silly little tracker shouldn't be the only motivation to study, but really...  When I'm not just killing time on the train and it's unlikely I'll be anywhere where I need the language as a life skill any time soon, those little things help.  I also think they really should consider fit-bit-like badges.   They start out well with being able to purchase things with coins earned through practice (that's how my owl got his really cool suit ;) but the things you can buy are super-limited and after a week or two of practice you'll have earned everything there is to earn.   Doesn't seem to be much of anything after that.  Very interesting to me the impact that has though; I've read some of the studies on adult learning, but never really believed how strong a motivator (or de-motivator) it could be.  Sheesh.

In other news...

Yup.  As of next weekend, my parents will have reached 40 years together!  14,610 days. 350,640 hours. 21,038,400 minutes.  3 children. Countless moments. Together. Congratulations :)

If it's next weekend, why mention now?  Well their surprise party was last night and it went really well :) It was, in fact, a surprise and they seemed really happy with it.  Planning it was entertaining and started ages ago (have to get in people's calendars early!)   The first concern was the day after I started sending invites, when my inbox was full of emails that read "Bev and Al's 40th" and Mum walked in and was looking at the screen over my shoulder.   I couldn't even scroll cause they took up the whole screen!   hahahha quick distraction and window switch and good to go.  I was definitely worried I'd blown it from the beginning though.   Then there was a later concern when Dad told me he was going to Rouyn-Noranda that weekend.  Ummm but no...   Just waited and watched that one though as it seemed a good chance it'd fall through.   It did.  Phew ;)   And THEN, guess which weekend the surgeon's secretary originally suggested for my eye surgery.  "It's the first date he has available in May..."  "How about late April?"  "Oh sure, we can do the 29th."  Sold.    

This photo captured everyone except Jamie and Barb.
Jamie, because he was the photographer.
And Barb, because Jamie was the photographer ;)

On the day of everybody was there on time.  Chris and Melissa provided giant balloons -- they couldn't get any "40th" balloons, so got creative :)   It was kinda awesome.  I wish I'd thought to get a photo, you can kinda get the idea from the shot Jamie took :).  Linda and Jamie got my parents there on the premise of other friends had cancelled plans and they already had the reservation.   I had a quick chat with the hostess to arrange that "Holmes, party of 4" be brought to our room ;)   And all was good.  She thankfully ignored Dad's suggestion that "this booth by the window" would be just fine ;)  And before he could argue too much, Mum had realized what was going on.  The look on her face still makes me smile :)  So other than a lack of mint, it went really well.   Mum and Dad seemed super happy.  Thanks to all who came :)

Completely unrelated -- I am finally teaching Sasha to walk on a leash.  As a barn puppy all I cared about was getting her obedient and responsive off-leash.  Sadly, that's not terribly useful where we are now.  But man is she ever a super-smart puppy.  It's fun to see her brain work.  Using the very simple, if slow, method of any time she pulls we stop.  In order to go anywhere she has to make the leash loose.  And we're getting longer and longer distances before she hits the end of the leash now (honestly, it was like 2 steps when we started this game on Fri.  By sat we were up to about half a block.  Which doesn't sound like much, but it's pretty extreme improvement; especially as she hasn't been to the park to burn off steam since Friday).

Back to work tomorrow.  I'm still not managing to be fully functional for an entire day yet, so slightly concerned about this idea.   Doctor's note says off till end of May, so thinking I may go the safe route and start with half days.  Wish me luck!

And just because it made me laugh -- this was the after photo from a dog groomer I'm thinking about taking Sasha to.   The name is just so perfect.  Enjoy!

My dog does this amazing thing where she makes my world better simply by being in it.

So. Much. Randomness.  I figure at least four posts in one. Consider yourself forewarned...

Sasha has taught me all sorts of things since I've had her -- some more important than others ;)   She's taught me to be wary of squirrels, and diligent about keeping the yard free of them.  She's taught me that frisbees are a little part of Heaven and that one should never walk when you can bound with enthusiasm.

She's shown that one should always go adventuring with a friend, that trying new foods is bad, and that even those with the most energy need a nap once in a while.

But today she taught me some new lessons.  Let's see:
- the kindness of strangers really is a thing
- sometimes you have to let go
- sheer determination is not always sufficient

It was one of those "did that really just happen?" moments...  She was with me at the barn, so I went with her to play at the pond when I was done teaching.  She loves playing at the pond.  She found a stick that I threw for her -- a favourite game.  This pond is the best of the ones she gets to play in because she can run in rather than jump.  So all good.   Except, there's a hose in the pond, and a little part of it was sticking out.  So she jumps in after the stick, but loses site of it and fixes on the hose instead.  Uh oh.  She grabs the hose, all proud of herself, and it doesn't move at first, but with some effort she starts pushing it toward the shore.

Okay, prob not the best for the hose, but it's pretty solid and seems all good.  Except about 3' out from the edge, the hose stopped moving.  So she swam harder against it, and it still didn't move.  And I could see her getting progressively more exhausted.  "Leave it" is not a command we've ever schooled in the water -- she's great at it with anything when she's on her feet, but apparently not swimming :(   Ugh.

I was just about to go out and get her (water would've been about to my knees), when Fraser stopped me -- he had big boots on and taking in the situation promptly stepped in and pulled the hose, and therefore Sasha, to the shore...   Poor Sash was very wet, tired, and stressed.  She very quickly decided Fraser was a great new friend though doing her"you're the best person ever" bum shake.

Poor bedraggled puppy

She slept all the way home and then bounded into the house to play with Bailey, so all good.  But still.  Sheesh.

On the flip side, this reminds me of this article I came across the other day.  It's a thinly disguised advertisement, but it has an interesting point.  "When does being tough become a liability rather than an asset?"  It suggests it's when we'd be more successful if we got help.  This is one of these things that I only began to understand when I was running the farm -- I actually *can't* stack 20,000 bales of hay by myself in one weekend, so I had to ask for help.  That was the easiest to accept, because it was actually needed.  Same with our house renos -- some of it is simply too heavy for me to move; I actually need help to get it done.  Frustrating at times, but sobeit.  But learning to ask for (or even just accept) help that's offered when not entirely necessary is one I still find myself struggling to master.  Spend your life learning to be independent only to have to unlearn it.  Classic eh?

And as for our house -- we have walls!!!!   Never would I have thought that'd be the highlight of my week, but here we are.  And even more exciting -- next weekend we might even have plumbing :) hahhaha Spent the weekend sweeping and vacuuming.  Not just floors, oh no, that'd be average.  Sweeping and vacuuming walls, ceiling, AND floors.  Craziness.  All this for the ever-exciting priming.  hahaha ah well - at least it's visible progress.  There's something to be said for this.

I actually considered writing a mini-post in the dust,
but in the interest of productivity, and amused by using the vacuum to write,
I left it at this.  And maybe a happy face.

So the non-renovation part of the week involves taking the train daily.  Wow.  That's a special experience.  I think it could actually be a blog all in itself -- might amuse me for the duration ;)  I *love* the quiet zone (for those unfamiliar with the wonders of GO Transit, the quiet zone is the top floor of the train that, during rush hour, is quiet.  Electronics silenced, little to no conversation, just quiet.)  This is a fabulous idea. Although always have to laugh at the guys (and it does always seem to be men) who break the silence with their snoring.  hahaha the one sitting across from me the other day was snoring in a "white noise" style -- he sounded like static.  Seriously unfortunate.

But since lots of people like the quiet zone, I don't always get a seat up there...  Listening to conversations of strangers makes me fear for the future of the human race.  Most of the time what I hear is so stupid or ignorant it's actually painful to listen to (when you don't have anything accurate or intelligent to say, make up for it by speaking louder!).  I really need to invest in a good set of headphones *sigh*   But - I was quiet pleasantly surprised to spend the ride the other day listening to the very intelligent conversation of two teenage girls -- based on conversation I'd say they were likely senior year of high school.  They ranged from critical evaluation of homework that had been returned (rather than complaint of the grade, a discussion about why the grade was given and what would've improved it), what they were doing at their current jobs, and even some discussion about seniors and how to improve quality of life in retirement homes.  So random, and they switch topics as quickly as Jen and I tend to ;)   It was really cool to listen to.   

Then there's waiting on the platform...  For those who like to people watch, that's the place to be.  There's always the one person who either thinks they're super cool to be talking on their phone, or who is brand new to a cell phone and feels the need to yell into it.  There are the lemmings, standing perfectly still, staring straight ahead and seeing nothing.  There are usually at least a couple people be-bopping to whatever music is playing in their headsets.  There's generally one person who wants to stand in the middle of the platform, but keeps darting up to peer down the tracks and see if the train's coming yet, and then darts back again.  Of course copious amounts reading or on their phones; I admit I'm often in that category.  And then there are the ones that you just don't really know what they're doing.  They're what keeps life entertaining :)

Today it was two ladies -- my guess would be in their 50s.  They were heavier, blond of the sort that comes in a bottle, and very happy.  Standing directly across the tracks from one another.  I did a bit of a double take because they looked very similar, but then didn't think anything of it.  An east-bound train came through and kept driving.  When it passed, both women were laughing.  Always good to be easily amused.  Next train came and I realized they were making faces at each other through the passing windows.  Let's be honest -- I'd probably do the same thing with my friends ;)   Although most people I know go to the same platform when they're travelling together.  So this one actually stopped, and the other platform doors opened first.  I saw the lady on my platform give her friend a thumbs up.  hahaha apparently they were concerned enough about getting seats that they parked one on each side so whichever door opened first that person could save a seat for the other.  Not an entirely bad system, although the timing isn't so far off that you couldn't get a seat from either side...   Amused me anyways -- and seemed to amuse them too, so all good.

And completely unrelated (how's that for a segue?) since this is the most random blog post ever, I have to include my recent entirely random experience.  Tonight the doorbell rang.  I figured it was a sales person of some form but the last sales person was like 10 yrs old and selling girl guide cookies, so I answered it.  A representative of Ontario Farmers who would like to give me a free steak.   Ummmm I'm sorry, what?  hahaha absolutely the most random thing ever.  Sadly I am not, in fact, the house owner so couldn't help relieve him of his dead cow, but I was definitely amused by the whole experience.

And the other day I went for a walk at lunch (imagine that -- I actually had a lunch break!) and discovered that Tim Hortons downtown does the Canadian tourist thing to a whole new level:

But far more importantly, I discovered this random city-beach.  Carved out of the cement is this nice rectangle of beach with umbrellas and Muskoka chairs.  It was so lovely.  Kinda made my day.

Love this!

Bailey's telling me to go let Sasha in, so I'm off. I suspect that's for the best *g*  Night!

Welcome to Bailey :)

I am writing a Cuba post -- really I am!   But it's not working out the way I'd like -- mostly because, well, it's -20 outside and somehow the beach seems very far away at the moment.

I only *wish* I was exaggerating...

Right.  Remember March Break the year-before-last?  It was 20 deg and sunny.   That's +20 people.  We were riding outside in t-shirts.  I'd like that back now.  Trying to plan show season and clinics is challenging when you don't even want to go outside.

Planning the next trip, however?  That part's easy ;)  Ambitious, but easy *g*

It helps offset the job hunting, which is frustrating at best.  Finding lots that would be suitable -- even in the area I'd like to be, but feel like I'm merely sending resumes into a black hole *sigh*  Ah well, I'm sure something will appear.  It always does :)   And in the meantime, I'm at least getting some editing done.

And the gym.  Ah, the gym.  The biggest change from working at the barn?  Arm strength.  Which makes perfect logical sense, but somehow didn't think of it.  Legs and abs are good from riding, but really, what do you use arms for if you're not mucking stalls and hauling water buckets?  Typing just doesn't require much skill.

Starting swimming lessons next week.  A sentence I never thought I'd say after the age of about 12 *g*   But while I can stay afloat well enough and generally get from point A to point B, I do not swim well at all.   Pathetically poorly really.  Definitely time to fix that :)   You know, in preparation for the next beach vacation ;)

And for the cuteness factor of the day, Mum's new puppy, Bailey:

Super happy Bailey and Sasha get along brilliantly.  Bailey and Sherlock?  Not quite so well >;-P   Bailey bounces when she runs -- I get that that's a puppy thing, but it doesn't make it any less cute.  She's also both brave and smart enough that she should pose an entertaining challenge ;)  Super cool dog.

What does your dog say about you?

So I found this article about dog traits and how they reflect on the owner (see here: http://www.cesarsway.com/dogbehavior/basics/What-Does-Your-Dog-Breed-Say-About-You) -- and while for Sasha and I it's definitely not %100 accurate, a significant portion of it is.

But *then* I found a follow up about what your dog's *breed* says about you:


"Australian shepherds are active and thoroughly enjoy being outside. Owners of this breed enjoy playing Frisbee at the beach, going to the park, and camping outdoors. This breed has a passion for living life to the fullest and people who live with Australian shepherds are said to have a lot of friends. Aussie owners can be competitive, especially when it comes to a sports match."

Oh dear...  hahaha competitive?  Who me?  And my puppy just *might* have mastered the "go find the frisbee" command...

Ah well - at least it's outside confirmation of what I already know: I got the perfect puppy for me :)

PUPPY!!!!!

I got to meet my puppy!!!!   She is sooooooo cute :)   And I'm *very* excited!  hahahaha can you tell from the excessive exclamation points???

Puppy, whose name is tentatively Zoe, is absolutely adorable.  Climbed up into my lap and made herself comfortable :)  Sooooo cute :)

Of course when I got home Sherlock (the cat I've had since uni) was *very* suspicious about the new scents *g*  It's not as though I don't come home smelling like other animals all the time, but this one definitely had him concerned.   Might be an interesting few days when Puppy comes home...

As far as the barn goes - starting to get very stressed about the hay :(  Getting it all there and stacked - every time something gets organized something changes.  Booo.   On the plus side though, most of the other stuff is slowly getting there :)

Name that puppy!

So *finally* got some actual packing done today!  hahaha mostly because Emily came out to help :)   But whatever the impetus at least it got done :)   Or started anyway.

Charlie was a superstar yet again -- now both his potential part boarders are looking forward to summer and cross country!  hahaha can't get here soon enough!

And tomorrow I get to go meet my NEW PUPPY!!!!  hahaha yup you read that right :)   I'm not bringing her home from the breeders till after the move (I'm only *mostly* insane :) but I'm still super-excited.  Name suggestions???

She's an Aussi Shepard -- currently 8 weeks old.   Have two names I'm currently debating between, but open to other suggestions :)

Jasper has traveled to the Rainbow Bridge :(

On a very sad note, my friend Jane's long time four-legged companion Jasper (of the canine variety) has left us after many years to go play at the Rainbow Bridge. I know there's nothing that can be said to make things easier, but know that he's pain-free now. *hugs*

For those unfamiliar w/ the reference: http://www.graduateridingschool.com/fun/rainbow.htm

In happier moments, I made the horse-person's semi-annual pilgrimage to the Greenhawk Sale today. hahaha yes it IS worth taking a day off for :) Anybody who questions that is clearly NOT a *true* horse-person >;-P

I definitely brought a list. And the only thing I added from the "mental list" (you know, those things you can't justify putting on THE list but that are in the 'check the price justincase' place in your mind) was treats for Sienna -- who definitely earned them (see GRS blog :) so it's all good! Now part of the trick to sticking to the list is to make the list all encompassing -- when it includes everything you could want or need you're set :) The other way, which I applied this time, is to simply go broke. If you only have X amount of $ you kinda have to stick to it -- makes deviating from the list less likely. hahaha oh wait, I mean... it was straight willpower! Yes, that's it. Willpower. No, better yet - Laurpower! hahaha omg I need help. Sheesh. N's response to my FB status made me laugh :) Yes you'll have to go look :)

So part of the fun of the GH sale is running into people you never get to see :) And those you do, but can never see to much of! hahaha was great to see everybody today n get caught up on what all's been going on! I'm sorry to those who I saw in the distance but didn't get to chat with! Will catch up at the shows. And I was *very* excited when K agreed to play hookey to come play :) N bumed when work got in the way of D doing the same! The nerve of some clients expecting her to actually work while the GH sale is on. Sheesh. hahaha

Also picked up some new students today (albeit not at GH -- oh if only it were so easy. hahaha "new int students, aisle 1; new adv students, aisle 3", so pretty happy about that! If you're reading this, welcome :)

Sienna wore dressage tack for the first time ever today -- n I was pretty thrilled to discover it fit her just about perfectly. Which of course led to me realizing how poorly it had fit Zel! Poor girl. Yup, you guessed it, the saddle that was thoroughly scorned and all-but-banned (only barely tolerated cause I had no other option) is now entirely acceptable and not doing stupid things to my position. Always good when tack actually fits eh? Sometimes the pieces fall into place. And sometimes they get shoved there *g* Laurpower again :) hahaha ok I'll stop now.

Have a good one!