If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

In the interest of keeping life interesting, on Sunday Chris and I decided to go Skydiving.  Indoors ;)    Both of us have an interest in skydiving, but I have to admit I'm a little hesitant now.  Three times I signed up to go.  And three times it was cancelled for rain.  With no rain in the forecast.  Twice with no rain in the six-month forecast!  Once in NZ and twice in Australia.  And at that point I began to wonder if maybe the universe was trying to tell me it wasn't meant to be.  Superstitious and illogical?  Yup, absolutely.  But hey, it's kept me alive thus far *g*

So indoors it was.  Website looked good, so we drove down to Niagara for our adventure.  The place, admittedly, was fairly dodgy.  If we hadn't already paid, I suspect there's a strong chance we'd have decided it wasn't worth it and gone on about our day.  But we had, so we waited.  There were the two of us and a group of six others. 

Our pre-flight briefing involved safety, "tuck and roll" when being catapulted out of the wind tunnel, and hand signals.  Hand signals because, well, it's *loud* in there!   We had a chance to watch some people before us and, as with beginner riders, it appears it's beginner flyers who demonstrate exactly how hard this whole concept really is.  While the riding pros make it look like they just sit there and the flying pros make it look like midair acrobatics are no more challenging than they would be in a swimming pool, beginners show the truth.  I watched three different people attempt it during my waiting time.  One could get up but kept getting thrown out of the tunnel into the crash pads.  The second couldn't seem to manage to fly at all -- flipping sideways and crashing down.  Yikes!  The instructor did manage to get both of them up and straight in the air, but it appeared easier said than done.  The third girl was awesome -- she seemed to get it and he let her go and the world was good.  Okay, so it can be done.  Sweet.

We got ourselves suited up. The suits are a special kind of hideous, although Chris somehow got the only red suit there, so he was set ;)   Then the addition of gloves, ear plugs, and helmets.  Note, make sure your ear plugs are in right.  The first one I put in was fine, but the second one wasn't and I lost it part way through a flight.  My ear is still ringing :(  Sadly, I'm not exaggerating. 

The group of 6 wanted to go together, and there's a max of six people with the instructor allowed in at one time.  Which meant Chris and I got to go on our own :)  Yeah!

So you enter a giant circle.  The walls are padded as is the area on the floors directly around the wall.  The majority of the bottom and all of the ceiling were a strong wire mesh -- and you could see the giant fans.  Before the fans were even turned on we practiced our "tuck and roll" -- basically throw yourself at the wall/ground in a way that you don't get hurt.  You know, the way you're supposed to fall off your horse.  Right.  How well does *that* ever work out?   Ah well.  Then the fans were turned on and we were good to go.  These mats weren't entirely soft either.

I went first and with a leap of faith found myself hovering above the pit of doom….  Or, you know, wire mesh floor.  Couldn't stop grinning, it was so cool.  The first couple tries for both of us the instructor held on to us or our suits to make sure nothing tragic happened.  There really is a complete lack of control over both direction and height.

It was so much more fun than I'd anticipated!  And I'm reasonably certain we got more than our allotted stretch of time ;)  Both of us have reasonable body awareness and got the general flying concept pretty much instantly.  Which meant our instructor's hand signals became a lot more intensive than what the video taught.  I was impressed at his ability to teach using improvised sign language.  Much like learning underwater diving, sky diving also negates your ability to speak.  But my underwater instructors weren't nearly as creative.  I don't actually know what he was telling Chris;  I think one was about how to use his arms, but I couldn't see anything else.  But my instructions were all kinds of useful -- the first time it was to keep my hands open.  I'd curled them into fists and it greatly detracts from your navigational abilities.  Hahaha then the next one was about how to use my body to control up and down -- up I had -- any time he let me go, I'd shoot straight up until he grabbed hold of my suit and pulled me back down.  Down was more of a challenge.  I got the theory but wasn't terribly good at it.  Well, except the one time I managed to crash into the wires.  Sheesh. Always one extreme or another.  The last set of instructions I got were about how to steer -- there'd been a little about that in the briefing, but this was a far more practical application.  The objective here being to actually stay over the wind tunnel and not get tossed off to the mats.  If you ever try it yourself though, the biggest thing I figured out (which admittedly the video did mention briefly but it got lost in everything else) was to keep my eyes up.  Looking up (actually tilting my head back) instantly stabilized my body in the right position and enabled me to think about other forms of control.  The first jump I did, I was fascinated by the pit of doom and never looked away till I crashed into a mat ;-P  Got better after that.

Overall, before going, it looked moderately amusing.  When we got there, my hopes plummeted fairly quickly *sigh*  But then it was Way More Fun than ever anticipated.  I really enjoyed it.  The only thing I would say is if you have shoulder or neck problems, you might want to give it a miss…  Other than that though -- go have a blast!  There's also one in Oakville, which is newer and looks like it might be even more entertaining, but I haven't actually been to it yet.

Was I any good at it?  I have absolutely no idea.  Hahaha ignorance is bliss after all.   I couldn't stay in the centre very long without either shooting straight up or way off to the side.  Hahaha but it was tons of fun.  And I was really enjoying figuring out how to move so that I *could* stay in the centre a little bit longer.  Can definitely see how it could be addictive :)  You know, if I had time and money for more expensive hobbies ;-P

And now on to week two.

Friday Flash #61: Dragons and Coffee

Actually the first Friday Flash of the year.  In November!  Ugh.

If you're new to the blog and like the story, more can be seen by clicking the "I'm telling you stories.  Trust me." Link to the right.

Hope it was worth the wait :)   As always, comments very welcome.  Enjoy!

---

I was cold and wet and miserable.  It was the kind of fall day that screams at you that winter is coming and unless you have a fabulous travel budget, there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it.  The downtown core was uninviting as commuters flocked by the thousands to their preferred form of transit – all hunched over and lost in their own worlds.  Shops lined the streets advertising already for Christmas, but easily ignored.  I had to sidestep as a door I must’ve walked by a thousand times without ever noticing opened and a rather strange looking little man stepped out carrying an A-frame.  I swerved to avoid him, muttering under my breath.  But in doing so, I happened to read the sign – it offered free baked goods with any coffee purchase.  And suddenly, in all my misery, coffee, especially coffee that didn’t come from one of the half-dozen chain stores I’d already passed, seemed like a fabulous idea.  And, well, what could possibly go wrong with baked goods?  So I stepped through the red door.

The warmth hit me first and then I took it all in.  The room was huge – far bigger than the store frontage would’ve led me to believe.  Set up like an old private library, it was my own personal paradise.  A roaring fire rapidly shed all memory of the weather outside, large leather recliners surrounded the room – each with their own little round table.  Wooden shelves lined the walls – complete with a rolling ladder attached to them.  The books that lined them ranged from the latest pop fiction paperback to editions so old they predated printing and had to be worth thousands of dollars each.

I stood in the entrance wanting nothing more than to relax into one of those chairs with a book and the promised coffee, but it was clearly private.  I looked around, a little awkwardly, wondering where the people were.  Had I misunderstood?

“Come in, come in!  I’m sorry to keep you waiting!”  I jumped at the sound, and turned to find the little man beside me, holding a plate of cookies that smelled as though they’d just come out of the oven.  “Welcome to our little café, please have a seat.”  The man gestured into the library.  There was something not quite right about him, but I couldn’t quite pinpoint what.

“Is this your shop?” I asked.

“My family’s,” he told me.  “It seems like we’ve spent a thousand years preparing it, and now we’re finally ready to open!  You’re our first customer.”

That explained a lot – from the expensive books being out in the open to his speaking in exclamation marks, to the lack of visitors.  I was pretty sure the first book would be stolen within the week and that would be the end of that ambiance, but I hoped the rest might remain.

“You’ll find our menu on every table, but allow me to start you with some cookies.”   He nodded to the room, and backed out through a cleverly concealed door.

I took a seat with a smile, entirely committed now to enjoying the experience of being an excited proprietor’s first customer.  The menu was actually printed on the table – the prices were reasonable given the location and the ambiance, so I made my choice and looked up.

Only to discover I was no longer alone.  I squeaked in surprise.  Yes, I squeaked.  I admit it.  I didn’t squeal or yell or faint or even react with any kind of dignity.  I squeaked.  And I suddenly understood why the room was so large.  For you see…  Yeah you’re never going to believe me.  Maybe it would be best if you stopped reading now.  Seriously.

Sitting in front of me was a dragon.

No I’m not kidding.  Nor am I delusional.  I hadn’t eaten any of the cookies yet so nobody had drugged me.  A stunningly gorgeous dragon lay in front of me.  His tail was wrapped tightly around his body and none of the furniture or books had been disturbed.  His scales didn’t sparkle or glitter, but they did seem to change colour depending how the firelight hit them – varying by times through purple, green, grey and almost pink.  He was looking at me and had cocked his head just like my puppy used to do when I was a child.

“Hello?” I asked tentatively.  Partially I felt ridiculous – seriously, who talks to a dragon?  But that went away when he answered.

“I am Illarion.”  His voice sounded like Mini Mouse.  I am not even kidding you.  I deserve a medal for keeping a straight face and not reacting when he first spoke.  This giant, majestic creature that by all accounts I’ve heard should either be extinct or never have existed, exists, has the ability to speak, and has a voice like Mini Mouse.  It was Just. Plain. Wrong.

“Nice to meet you Illarion.”  If you only had one question to ask a dragon what would it be?  Have it prepared now, because I’ll tell you – on the spot, it’s hard to think of anything good.  Now?  Now I have heaps of ideas, but then…  Alas, I’m ashamed to say the best I could come up with was “where are you from?”

“I was created by dreams and magic and nature and gods.  But if you mean where on this planet, the answer is Russia.”

Okay then.  Have to admit I liked his first answer better.  I wanted that on a bumper sticker.

“Would you tell me about yourself?” I asked, wondering if I was being rude.

“Such knowledge must be earned.”

“How do I earn it?” I asked, my competitive nature instantly engaged.

“We will play rock, paper, scissors. If you win, I will tell you my story and if you wish, take you to my home.”  I suspected he wasn’t talking about Russia.

“And if you win?”

“You will learn no more today.”

Okay so that would be disappointing, but not tragic.  And I’d still have coffee and a fabulous new café.   And so we played.

For those of you who have the capacity to learn from others.  Should the opportunity ever arise, do not, I repeat, Do Not play rock, paper, scissors with a dragon.  It turns out fire beats rock, paper, and scissors.

Suffice to say I lost.  I would argue he cheated, but when playing with a dragon, you have to play by dragon’s rules.  I’d like to say my life changed that day, but the reality is I found myself a faceless member of the masses on the same cold, wet street.  The red door, the sign, and the wonderful bakery smells were strangely absent.  I didn’t get to travel to wherever he was from.  I didn’t even get my free coffee.

But I will admit that these days when things are really dreary, I keep half an eye out for a red door.  Because next time, I might win. 

The latest life change ;)

It's been…  Oh at least a few months since the latest major life change.  Figured it was time for another one ;-P  In review -- last December, I sold GRS and relocated the farm back where it started.  Then in the spring Chris and I got engaged (still makes me grin when I type that :) and the wedding plans started.  They will, at some point, perhaps, rate a post of their own -- if I can figure out how to make it interesting.  Anyways -- shortly thereafter I moved to Paris.  No, not *that* one.  Paris, Ontario.  It's actually a really nice little town, and I liked Chris's house a whole lot more than he does…  But it's soooo far away.  From anything and everything in my world. 

I job hunted out there all spring and summer -- gave it a really valid effort.  But all my contacts, and my contacts contacts, are in Toronto.  No, that's not quite true -- I had one contact out there who actually got me an interview in Waterloo.  And the interview went really well; they basically told me the job was mine if I wanted it.  But unfortunately the pay wasn't really reasonable, the hours would mean I'd have to stop teaching, and it was still a solid hour's drive.  *sigh*   So I turned them down.  And then couldn't find *anything*.   So come summer I started to accept that I wasn't likely to find anything out there and in September moved my search to Toronto.  I continued sending my resume to the void -- which has to be the most frustrating endeavor ever.  And eventually my contacts came through and suddenly found myself with interviews at two different companies for two very different positions.

One was a communications position.  High intermediate level with a decent amount of responsibility and reasonable pay to go along with it.  I went through three interviews with them and did some case studies.  It had the plus of a very exciting job and good money right from the start.

The other is a project management position.  This one is very junior -- basically as entry level as project management can be, and pays accordingly (really about half way between the first and second job) but it has huge growth potential and a pretty solid career path.

It was a hard debate, but the pm position won out -- mostly because they really seemed to want me there.  One interview and done.  And because I liked the security of a future path.  Stop laughing ;-P  It would be nice to go more than 6 months with nothing changing.  But not this six months because I'm Getting Married!!!!  Hahaha and then not the next 6 months either cause we'll be moving.  But maybe after that?  Potentially?

So the job's been accepted, Steph and I did a quick "update Laur's business wardrobe" shopping effort, and Sunday I moved back to Oakville.  It really sucks not living with Chris but it's just too far a commute (hence the upcoming move once the house is renovated…).   Of course I slept not at all on Sunday night and Monday went to my first day on the job with no sleep.   May as well start as I intend to continue eh?

Started rather inauspiciously as the train I got on was standing room only *sigh*  But got to work on time and the world was good.  Day one was insane.  Fascinating, but insane.  Lots of meetings, orientation, tours, getting set up.  They handed me a laptop almost as soon as I walked in the door.  And I found out we're moving offices!  Hahaha during the orientation there was a lot of "this is how it is, but only for three weeks".  New office is on the PATH so I'm fairly excited about that.  Really hoping the weather holds till then :)

I was pretty zonked by the end of that day, so instead of going to the barn, just went home.  Ate some dinner, calculated how early I'd have to be in bed to get eight hours of sleep, took some zzzzquil, and suddenly it was day two.

Which was a lot calmer.  Still meeting people and getting organized and a ton of HR courses etc (although have to admit was the first time I've seen the anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism one *g*   Ironically the only one you could actually skip the presentation and just do the test).  After work was a timing test -- how fast can I get to the barn without leaving work early.  I caught the express train.  And definitely didn't make it to the barn in time to teach a 6:00 class *sigh*.   Lunged my pony, who looks more like a round bale these days than a pony, and rode for all of about five minutes before teaching.  Got home way too late to make the 8h work, even if I fell asleep right then.  But I was high from teaching so that wasn't going to happen. 

Day three's over and slowly things are starting to settle.  I'm really enjoying the job so far, and the people have been awesome.  Very welcoming and certainly a super-organized onboarding process.  I've cut back on my teaching hours so hopefully will be able to make it and still get to ride my horse occasionally.  The worst was going to the barn without Sasha.  I miss my puppy!   And she's not talking to me :(   Bailey greeted me w/ more enthusiasm than Sasha did when I got home.  So sad :(   She's always come everywhere with me since she was a puppy and I'm sure doesn't understand why I'm leaving without her now.  Somebody's usually home by lunchtime so it's not like she doesn't get attention or turned out, but still not the same.  And not with me :(  But such is life.  We'll get used to it, I'm sure.

Looking forward to going home on Friday.  Doing absolutely nothing but hang out with my fiancée and my puppy on Saturday.  And, you know, skydiving on Sunday.  Cause wouldn't want life to be boring ;-P

Everything to do with . . .

"I found the diary she kept the year she was pregnant with me.  'July 17th. What a night! We danced on the beach, and we kissed on the beach, and dot, dot,dot.'
- What?
'Dot, dot, dot.' That's what they did in the olden days."

hahaha credit to the script writers of Mamma Mia for that one. Love that line :) And now, if you didn't before, you should get the title...

So yes, after the Pat Burgess clinic got cancelled (booo! But hopefully Pat's doing okay! Had to have a hip replaced -- a whole lot less fun than teaching riding I'm sure. Especially with Lexi there to provide the entertainment ;)  Anyways -- that was sure to provide all sorts of an entertaining post, but since it was cancelled, I had to find something else to write about.  So Chris and I ventured to the Everything to do with Sex Show.  Yup.  It's a thing.  Heard it on the radio.  Admittedly have never been before, but figured it was worth a go.

Took place at the Direct Energy Center, and when we arrived we immediately noticed there were two separate audiences.  Sure enough, two different shows.  The one we were attending, and a zoomer show.  Zoomers being the portion of the population over the age of 45.  And, admittedly, the show seemed to target those greatly over the age of 45...  But what really made me laugh was a sign on the door as we entered -- our entry would also get us into the zoomer show.  hahaha woohoo!  Am a little curious how much business that earned them. And, conversely, if they had the same offer on.

So as with any trade show, there were lots of booths with people selling things, some food, one seminar room that we didn't end up sitting in on, several stages of what was theoretically education or entertainment but really a thinly disguised sales pitch, and one stage that was purely entertainment.

The first thing we noticed was the surprisingly large number of people who seemed to feel this was a clothing optional event ;)  Which in itself would be fine, but I'm curious as to how they got there -- I'm not entirely sure the average weekend afternoon GO Transit passenger would be okay with it.  And, well, it's not entirely warm out!  Some were clearly employed at the show, so fair enough.   They also tended to be the ones who could pull the look off...   Unfortunately many of the others...  *shudder* What has been seen cannot be unseen...   But hey, at least they have a strong sense of self confidence.

For lack of any better idea, we headed over to the entertainment stage first.  The MC I could definitely have done without, and the time killers in-between acts were so ridiculously juvenile it was painful to watch.  But the actual acts were surprisingly good.  They seemed to alternate between targeting the female audience and the male -- and we caught one of each.  The male dancers were first and clearly felt that once the show was over there was no need to get redressed as we continued to see them wearing nothing but their undies wandering around the show for the afternoon.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this is a bad thing ;-P   I was just a little surprised by it.   On the flip side, for the guys was a burlesque act that was quite well done.  When we saw the ladies after they were far more dressed than their male counterparts.  Admittedly in costume, but a start costume rather than an end one.   I'm sure that says something about society, but honestly I was just there for an amusing afternoon so I really don't care what.

So then it was time to hit up the booths.  You know what would make this show a lot more fun?  Applying the premise of the One of a Kind Show.  Because honestly, the fastest way to make anything boring, even dot dot dot, is to repeat the same thing over and over and over.  Which is essentially what  the vast majority of the booths did.  There were, however, a few that stood out.

There were at least two booths selling Sexy Surprise.  Sealed bags you couldn't look in.  I only spoke to vendor at one of them (and she was by far the best of the sales people I spoke to that day) but their premise was they would guarantee the overall value of the bag would be at least double the cost and that it would include certain categories of things.  But what, exactly, was a surprise.  Now my very logical and rational partner did not seem particularly interested in this concept.  After all, why would you spend money on an unknown when you could go buy exactly what you want in any one of the dozens of other non-one-of-a-kind booths?  And he's completely right.  But I, on the other hand, am a complete sucker for surprise, mystery and adventure.  And that little black bag potentially held all three!

Have you ever read the "What If?" story?  It was a favourite of mine in junior high...Doing this from memory here so forgive me if it's not, in fact, perfect ;)

What if life were perfect?

What if you lived in a perfect world
of perfect people and perfect possessions
With everyone and everything
Doing the perfect thing
At the perfect time?

What if you had everything you wanted
and only what you wanted
Exactly as you wanted
Precisely when you wanted it?

What if after living in this perfect world
for the perfect length of the time
You started to feel that
Perfection is a perfect bore.

What if at precisely that point
You notice for the first time
A button marked as "Surprise"

What if vou walked over,
considered all that may be contained
in the concept of "Surprise"
and decided "Anything is better than perfect boredom"

What if you took a deep breath,
Pushed the button...
And found yourself exactly as you are right now
Feeling what you,re feeling now
Thinking what you are thinking now
With everything in your life precisely
The way it is now
Reading this blog and wondering
What if?

Okay so I might've added the last two lines, but the rest belong to somebody else.  Would you push the button?  Cause I'm definitely that person ;-P  And credit to Chris, when he saw I wanted one, he waited very patiently in line with me and completely refrained from any commentary ;)   I wanted the mystery -- it's the same reason I don't cheat and look at Christmas presents.  It's fun to wonder.  And because of that there's no way I'm telling you what was in that bag.  You're welcome.

But credit to them -- by selling a surprise and an adventure rather than a specific toy they differentiated themselves,  And as a result got the sale.

The second group of booths that distinguished themselves were the ones coming up with grown-up games for childhood toys.  Hula hoops, swingsets, bouncy balls...   What items from your childhood have you corrupted?  Are you brave enough to post in the comments? ;-P  For the sake of my innocent childhood, I'm going to forget I ever saw these.  For the sake of my entertaining adulthood, maybe I'll let them stay in a corner of my mind.  In my world, those two things can, in fact, coexist.  Surprise!

The last group of booths that stood out were those that really didn't fit in.  Arguably if they got together with the guys from the last group they could be corrupted in such a way as to fit in ;-P  But they weren't even trying...  Skydiving, paintball, pinball machines...  So random.  Amusing, but random.

Would I seek it out?  No - been there, done that.  Wasn't terribly exciting which, given it's topic, should've been   But would I go back?  Sure, if I had nothing better to do.  It was a moderately amusing way to kill a few hours.  And one that could potentially lead to significant future entertainment.  So why not?

Ironically the one thing I did find that I love was not actually about sex, but rather romance.  Of the g-rated, pre-dot-dot-dot, Disney princess style romance.  You know, the sweep you off your feet, embarrassingly cliche type of romance that you scorn in public and yet secretly hope for?  Yeah - that.  It's a series of cards -- half for him and half for her -- and the premise is that you take turns drawing one each week and then follow up on it.  And they're scratch cards, so you can't cheat and see what the other person has in store for the future ;)  Not that I'd do that of course (were you here a few paragraphs ago?).  Alright, maybe I'd peak a little -- a year is a LONG time to wait.  But now I can't, so it reinforces mystery.  If C chooses to play of course *g*  Also a mystery.  You'd have to read his blog to find out about that.  But to give you an idea -- the first one I looked at said something about "write down three things you love about him.  Hide them around the house for him to find through the week."   See what I mean about cheesy?  But who here, of either sex, wouldn't love to find those?  So my question for you is -- and not rhetorical this time, you can answer in comments or fb post -- any of these:
What's the most romantic thing you've ever done for somebody?
What's the most romantic thing anybody's ever done for you?
What's the single most romantic thing you wish somebody would do for you?
If there's enough response I'll compile stories (with or without names as you wish) in another post.

Have fun :)

I'm glad summer fell on a Wednesday this year.

Today was the kind of day that summer dreams are made of.   It admittedly started out less than ideally, I will admit, with a trip to the vet...

Ah the vet.  Yes I would have the dog with the random almost-unknown syndrome. Back story -- *twice* this week, and never before, while playing frisbee Sasha's hind legs seized leaving her temporarily paralyzed.   Yeah - you can imagine my reaction the first time.  Except she appeared to be in absolutely no pain, and twenty minutes later was totally fine.   And then it happened again later that week.  Exactly the same.  Seems to be falling-down drunk.  If she manages to stand, her legs cross and she falls over sideways.  Super high respiration and quieter/more sucky than usual, but otherwise no signs.  And twenty minutes later fine.  Cool huh?   Yeah - I thought not.  But Google to the rescue comes up with some variant of Exercise Induced Collapse.  Apparently found in young, very fit, dogs.  Usually labs -- less likely in Aussie's.  But sobeit.  Anyways -- even though Google's description and videos matched exactly what I was seeing, I still wanted her checked by an actual vet.  So this morning started with a trip there.

First challenge -- getting in the door.  Sasha's afraid of other dogs and there were four in the waiting room.  One of which was huge, about 5' away, and lunging/barking at the door.  Owner had it on a short leash, but still.  I understood Sasha's hesitation.   Fortunately the nurse (tech I suppose really, but same concept) realized the problem and said I could wait to weigh Sasha till the scary dog beside the scale was gone.   So we moved over to an unoccupied area of the waiting room to hang out for a bit until our room was available.  

Couldn't believe some of the owners I saw.   One, with a very big fluffy type dog that was completely out of control.  Had a choke collar on and was in full use pretty well the whole time.  Talking about the specific grooming she wanted done while the dog was climbing on the counter (ummm my chest height - to put in perspective), lunging at the cat, etc etc.   Tech/nurse took dog and had it under control, sitting quietly, in about half a second.  Another owner one let her dog leap on a second dog (second dog was being exceptionally well behaved, lying at its owner's feet), saying "oh don't worry, he won't bite."  Ummmm in what world is that acceptable?  I was completely appalled.  Of the half-dozen or so dogs that came in in the 15 mins I was in the entrance, only one seemed under any form of control.  It made me appreciate Sasha a whole lot more ;)   She's certainly not the best dog on a leash by any means, but in every other instance...

So anyways -- we got into the room and were there about an hour as our vet did some research and talked to people.  Seems Google was likely right; vet's trying to confirm if their lab can run any tests that will be useful to confirm or not.  On the down side, absolutely terrified me when I saw the symptoms.  On the plus side, easily enough managed and really not tragic.  The vet asked me to try and get it on video if it happens again.

Leaving the clinic was a very different scene than entering it.  There was only one little puppy, who was super excited.  And his owner *was* making a concerted effort to make sure he will one day be well trained.  But what really impressed me is she *also* had three young boys, all under the age of 5, with her who were as rambunctious as the puppy, and she managed to keep them *all* under control.  Especially when contrasted with the people I met coming in, this woman was a super-star.

Alright so, have to try to replicate the issue.   Go home and play a solid 45 minutes of frisbee.  End result -- a thirsty and very happy Sasha.  hahahha I strongly suspect adrenaline plays some role in EIC -- both times it happened before she was super excited.  Wasn't that today so it was just normal exercise.  Of which she gets lots.  Vet confirmed heart super healthy and athletic, and all joints/limbs working as they should.   

Abandon that idea and go to the barn to visit my sorely neglected horse.  Haven't ridden her in...  well we won't acknowledge how long its been.  Sandring footing was super sloppy and of course I had *zero* focus from Lexi.  So gave up on actual work and decided since summer had shown up, we'd go hacking.  Except, of course, Lex hasn't been ridden in a while.  And doesn't always hack well ;)   And I had Sasha with me.  So we hacked at a power trot/very collected canter...  With the occasional spin/stop/go.  And Sasha, for the first time ever, stayed perfectly with us.   I was so proud of both puppy and pony for behaving themselves to the best of their abilities on that hack.  And what a great way to spend the day.  If I'd had a *little* more control of said pony, I could've had the ultimate "through the ears" shot with Sasha leading the way up ahead.  But I wasn't risking losing the brand new phone to take a photo on my not-so-quiet soon-to-be event horse ;)

After finishing playing with puppy and pony, head to my parents' place so Sasha could play with Bailey while I went sailing.  What an absolutely perfect night!  Warm, sunny, decent wind and quiet water.  I think it was the fastest race I've been in yet.  And of course we won ;)  We won by enough that we had time to go for a cruise after.  hahaha perfect end to a lovely summer day.  

How to plan a wedding in 10 steps

Jael sent me this and it was a laugh or cry moment.  Amused me enough to share though.  Enjoy:


Entirely too accurate!  Have been mailing and receiving all kinds of fancy litter lately ;)  And I'm pretty sure there was a whole post about the registry...

On the plus side, we have yet to hear a negative comment from anybody who's been to the resort we've chosen -- and a surprising number of people seem to have been there.  So that's all good :)   And winter's supposed to be particularly hellish this year, so escaping in February will be a great life choice.

And, well, simply because we haven't had a Sasha picture in a while:

Wishing the rain would stop so she could go to the barn...

You're welcome :)

Diamonds are forever. Email comes close.

So I am bad, *really* bad, about not deleting messages from my personal inbox.  Which is sort of amusing since my work one is always so very anally organized.  But between the ability to flag (my flagged messages are a reasonable number) and a reasonable ability to search, I can find what I need and so tend not to delete.  As a result, I have (I mean - "had") more than 10,000 messages -- about 2000 of which were unread.  And randomly decided this week I'd get them under control.

Well at the moment I'm down to 1600 messages, of which 194 are unread -- and will be even lower by the end of the post ;)   But what's been interesting is that in some ways, it offers a strange review of life.  Strange in that it is thoroughly warped, but it's been both fun and frustrating to go through.  My email history went back to about the time I went to Denny's.  So close to the same as the start of the blog.  But things like messages from the guys at Overdrive.  I always used my work email there, so anything in this inbox was fun stuff like photos from entertaining team nights or even just randomness on our way to meetings.  Then there were the zillion and one (that's only a *slight* exaggeration -- a disproportionate number of the 10k belong in this category) emails horse shopping when I started GRS. All the horses I didn't buy, and even more exciting to remember, the ones I did.  Circus school and various clinic arrangements. The frustrations of all the paperwork for starting the business and the excitement of new clients.   Then later, all the emails about moving and two years of life at Lochland.   Client emails looking for "assessments" who I now consider close friends.  Really cool.

Of course the challenges are also recorded.  Clients who didn't work out for one reason or another, things that did work out but went through rough patches, things that I wanted to happen that didn't (I loved that little event mare!) and things that I didn't want to happen that did...  And of course more recently, the job hunting -- the excitement finding a job I'd love and be perfect for, and the disappointment of the auto-rejection.

Definitely one of the most fun things to review were all the comments and responses on the blog -- both the normal section and the flash fiction.  Everything leading up to my first story being published in an anthology, and then publishing my first book.  None of that would ever have happened if it hadn't been for the exceptionally warm welcome I received to #fridayflash.  Reliving all of that has been very cool.  Esp as while I get hard copies made of my regular blog (although haven't done last year yet -- need new software.  Any suggestions?) and they include comments, I haven't done it with my flash...   Although now I'm inclined to cause it was really cool to reread.  Also makes me want to write more. We shall see.

Ah well, I was amused anyways :)   And my inbox is under 1000 now ;)   Back to work.

On shoes and horses, but not horse shoes

It would seem an alternate personality shortly invaded my body today.  Running errands that involved walking from one store to another as they share a parking lot.   In doing so I walked past a shoe store.  I hate shopping for shoes.  Usually opt for the Walmart version that I pick up while doing groceries or some variation.  Super fashionable let me tell you.  But as I was walking past I happened to think "Hey, I'm getting married on a beach in February.  It's *really* hard to find summer shoes in Canada in February.  Maybe I should look for my wedding shoes now."  Go me.  And yes, I learned that the hard way when trying to find flip flops to go to Cuba ;)

Anyways, since my brain was giving me good ideas, I had a few minutes, and Sasha was safely home I felt I should, perhaps, consider listening it.  Took a deep breath...   And entered the shoe store...

Was promptly pounced on by TWO sales ladies.  Fortunately one of them realized that was a little excessive, laughed, introduced both of them, and then disappeared.  The other one also just stayed off to the side having said hello.  I took one look around and realized that without Steph there, this was just not going to work.

But there were the two eager sales people -- who were smart enough to back off right away.  Maybe one of them could be useful.  So I explained the basics, getting married on a beach and need flats.  She told me about the perfect pair she had -- last year.  Sheesh ;)  Showed me a couple pairs which I promptly rejected, but she paid attention to why.  Finally she said she had one last pair that might work.

Saw them and thought, yup, serious potential.  Looked at the price tag and decided I'd wait and check them out later ;)    But then I tried them on.  And totally fell for a pair of shoes.  Not only that -- a *glittery* pair of shoes!   Who IS this person???   Seriously -- even a blog post (well half a blog post) about the experience.  Fairly disturbed let me tell you.  But not disturbed enough to let them go.  hahaha let's be honest -- I found something I *really* like that's completely suitable.  Why on Earth would I leave it behind just to force myself to keep shopping?  I'm a lot of things, but rarely an idiot.

So I purchased them.  Stupidly expensive, even on sale, and with the...  get this...  Bridal discount!   Bahahaha best thing ever!   I firmly believe it should apply to everything I buy between now and the wedding ;)   I'll take 10% off that ice cream thanks.

All sorts of sparkly ;)

However, this new Lauren was scaring me a little, so I retreated to safe haven and went to ride my pony.  She's been sorely neglected the last few days.  And will be again on the weekend *sigh*   Just not working out.   But the next couple weeks should be back to the regularly scheduled program.   Anyways -- we had a bit of a discussion about the fact that she really *does* have to pay attention to me and not the squirrels or the butterflies or the ponies or the camp kids or the . . .   well you get the point ;)   And also that both moving forward and into a contact are, in fact, in her contract.  But we got there and all was good.  And since I didn't have long to ride and was just playing around, I deemed serious dressage could wait till next week and hopped around the camp kids' course.  It was set at about a foot and a half ;)

One of my students from my next class was watching so I asked her to come in and set fences.  Put them up a bit -- I'm not sure she's ever set fences before, but she gave it a solid effort :)   Jumped around.  There was a one-stride that was riding remarkably well once they were a bit bigger, so I asked her to raise the second one.   By this point K had joined the ring crew and she is good at it, so was able to help with that.   Jumped it, put it up.  Jumped it again, put it up.  Rinse and repeat until the back rail is at the top hole of the, admittedly small, standards.  That'd be four feet.  Lex cleared it by a ton with her front legs, overjumped the width by about 3' (there could easily have been a third rail), and managed to knock the front rail of the oxer (about 3'3") with her hind feet.  Cleared the high rail, but not the one in front.  *sigh*    hahaha we did it a few times -- of which she only cleared *both* rails once.   All the other times she knocked the front rail with a hind leg.

Ah well -- plus side, pony can jump and seems to *really* be enjoying it.  Down side, we're in for several months of dressage and cavelletti to get those hind legs a little stronger and faster!   Next year, when we get around to competing for real though, she could be a ton of fun!

Went out for a short hack -- which other than cantering home to avoid the super-nasty stinging bugs, was lovely and done just in time to teach.   Great end to a fairly amazing week :)

Next week -- cross country!

A girl moment

It's been an exciting couple days.

As of this afternoon, the dress is bought!  Wow.  It's all kinds of real now :)  I didn't expect to go all girly on this one but have to admit was feeling pretty sappy after.  I asked our sales lady (small shop owned/run by her and her mother.  The mom helped me last time we were in; they were both there the first time.  Are you counting? Yes this is the *third* time I was in this store -- oh the insanity!)   Anyways - I asked her about the drama she sees and she informed me that "Say yes to the dress" is not, in fact, exaggerated.   Mentioned laughing, crying, screaming matches, arguments...   I've never actually seen said show, but now I'm half tempted to watch just to see what all goes on.  Now that I'm past that stage after all ;)   Yes there are pictures -- you can see them sometime mid-February.

So after entirely too much shopping and lots of assistance, the choice had been narrowed to two.  And I was having a horrible time deciding.  Photos of the two were sent to my bridesmaids and both moms and opinions requested.  Some also sought outside opinions ;)   And to a person they all came back with the same choice!  Perfect right?   Except I found myself disappointed by that, which, in itself, told me which one I wanted.   And then I remembered it's not a democracy and picked the one I liked better.  hahaha Mum helped me justify the choice by reminding me that the dress everybody else liked better would require one pretty serious alteration that the store's people wouldn't be able to do because it was a "design change" and goes against their contract.  Without that change, the dress wasn't nearly as appealing.  Sooooo - good to go!

Now just have to wait till December or January (?!?!?!) for it to come in!  Was a little appalled at that, but such is life.  I'm hoping they're underpromising on that one and it will actually come in earlier, but we shall see.   Was somewhat bemused by the fact that when they measured me for size, I'm apparently three different sizes depending on where they're measuring -- no wonder I can never find clothes that fit!!!   I told her at the beginning though that I'd be between two sizes (always - everything I buy is one or the other) and her eyes widened when she checked the measurements as it balances exactly half-way between the two *sigh*   Classic eh?  Her seamstress is going to have some work to do when it *does* get here!

And with the official deadline for our wedding trip having past, we now have a fairly good idea of who all's coming so I'm super excited about that!   Really can't wait now!   I never plan travel this far in advance -- just doesn't seem right to have to wait so very long.  Anybody who does still want to join us can!  Just let me know :)

So yeah -- pretty wired and excited.  And all this after my birthday yesterday which was all kinds of amazing.  Chris took the day off work to spend with me.  Pancakes for breakfast and a trip to the beach -- felt all kinds of spoiled :)

The only downside to the two days was not enough Sasha time, so she and I had a rousing game of frisbee/ball when I got home this aft and all is good again :)   Lexi, however, is greatly enjoying her mini-vaca and I'm sure will be all kinds of unimpressed when she goes back to work tomorrow.

Lexi's sixth birthday

Short version:  Lexi went to her first show and nobody died.

Long version, read on:

So last week...  Was it only last week?   Calendar says yes, but I'd've sworn it was ages ago!   Anyways, last week Lexi went to Caledon to school XC and was an absolute superstar.  Jumping mostly PT with the occasional entry or training fence thrown in for good luck.

Superstar!

She was all kinds of confident and really a superstar.  So this week I took her to Grandview -- where suddenly she was very much a baby horse.  hmmmmmm the difference?   At Caledon all-the-horses went to jump one and took turns jumping it.   Proceed to jump two with all the horses.  Etc etc.  So while she wasn't actually taking a lead, she had friends at every jump.  At Grandview, she had to go out on her own and was *very* sticky.  Not super nappy -- I could mostly steer and she was willing enough, just looking and hesitant to jump.   Ditches, banks and water we've got down ;)   But actual jumps are in short supply at home so they're still exciting.

So fast forward to Friday when I realize one of my students will have to scratch her entry on Saturday and none of my other students were in a position to take it.  hmmmm.  It's at Glenarden which has a short, flat course so shouldn't pose a fitness issue.   Maybe...

Now all kinds of stars had to align for me to claim the spot.  The times had to work so that I could ride and coach at the same time.  Amazingly, they did.  The organizer and secretary had to agree to the switch -- they did.  Cool.  I had to find a groom, and it had to be a competent one.   Lexi's somewhat known for her airs above the ground when she gets excited and I had two other students there to teach so whoever was helping would have to be able to handle her alone and safely get her tacked up while I was on the other side of the property.   This leaves me about three people to choose from -- and fortunately Kennedy was available and willing to come help!  Woohoo!   She's dealt w/ Lexi in the height of a meltdown before and when I offered to take over she just laughed and said she was fine, so I knew she'd be able to handle any games Lex might choose to play.   I asked my coach if he had any objections and he said go have fun.  So then as a last test, I decided to check the weather.  25deg and sunny with zero chance of rain.  Doesn't get much better than that.  I guess that means Lexi's going to a show.  Woohoo!

I was more excited than this warranted on Friday *g*   But got myself organized, pony bathed and braided, lessons taught, etc.  By this point Lexi had gone XC on Wed, been thrown in a lesson on Thurs, and done nothing on Fri -- none of which would've happened if I'd been intending to show on Sat, but sobeit.  Actually even printed my dressage test -- all kinds of prepared!

So after no sleep on Fri night, get to the barn on time and bring in and feed the ponies.  Everybody happy.  Braids still in.  The world is good.  Bobble braids -- more of an adventure than braiding was!  Definitely took longer *sigh*   Run a comb through that insane tail.  Get all the poo stains off (why, exactly, did I buy a grey horse?   I don't even *like* grey horses.   Sheesh!).  Pack up the car, which is far more of a challenge than packing the truck, and ready for the trailer.

Which didn't arrive.  I've been trailering with the same person for years and he's *never* late.  Ummmmm hmmmm - how long to wait before calling?   I didn't wait long, maybe fifteen minutes.   Turns out there was a miscommunication somewhere and he was expecting tomorrow.   Frig.  But he rearranged today's trailering to fit us in.   It did, however, make our times *very* tight.  I had Em ship Charlie tacked up and ready to go and sure enough it was about her ride time when they unloaded.   She trotted over to dressage and by the time I got there was still in warmup.   Apparently there'd been some confusion over the numbers, but the whipper in was *awesome* and sorted it all out, so Emily got her turn.  Woohoo!

Rowan showed up just as Emily was finishing and both girls had solid tests.   Rowan's test got interrupted when the judge thought she'd gone off course -- but she hadn't.  That was all sorts of confusing, but she actually rode even better after restarting!   Awesome.  The girls and I walked stadium which looked pretty nice and inviting for everything other than fences two and three which were in the shadows and going away from home.  Then I booked it back to the trailer where Kennedy had Lexi all tacked up.

Show time.   Our walk over to the dressage ring was remarkably uneventful.  When we got to warmup she was looking around and a little high, but pretty calm all things considered.   We did tack check -- carefully.  Still all good.  Walked for a bit, some circles, she's starting to relax and stretch into a contact.  Impressive baby horse!

And then we trotted.  huh.  About that.  And then we practiced standing on two legs (Chris said we get extra points for that ;).   At least she wasn't going high, just making her point *g*  And then we lept around somewhat.  And everybody kindly just gave us space.  No evil glares or muttering and after what seemed like forever but was really a very short time I got her going forward on a circle.   And shortly was able to bring her back to a trot on said circle.   And then migrate the circle a little.   Going around the outside wasn't going to happen and there were exciting moments when Lexi felt another horse was getting too close to her personal bubble (it's a *big* bubble).  Soon we could go both directions in trot and canter short bursts.  Canter wasn't terribly successful and walk didn't actually exist.  But who needs those gaits?

In warmup

So our turn came and she was better than I'd expected about leaving all her new best friends to go around the dressage ring alone.  Very sticky -- both my stick and the old-school pony-club kick were involved.  But she did it.  With no drama.  The test itself?   Well it was rather interpretive.  Our left canter circle, for instance, was neither round nor in canter *g*   Well some of it was in canter -- on the right lead.  You know, the one she doesn't like.   Sheesh.  Some of it was in a sticky trot.  Some of it was half trotting and half cantering.  We might've even had a stride or two in left canter right before the official trot transition.   hahaha the rest of the test was better, but certainly showing what a lovely shade of emerald she was.  BUT -- she stayed in the ring, with none of the warmup drama, and even had moments that were good and showed her promise.  So it's a start.  It was, however, a start that left us tied for last place *sigh*

We survived phase one :)

Next up Emily got to jump stadium, which she did beautifully.  Then the three of us headed out to walk XC -- Em on PE while Rowan and I were doing E.  Fortunately the courses run close to one another so I could talk to both girls as we went along.   Emily's course was very simple and inviting -- well within her abilities and she was able to pick out which would be Charlie's scary fences successfully.   Sweet.  I was kinda wishing that was the course Lexi would be doing.  But no.  Her course started with two maxed out and not particularly inviting fences going directly away from home.  Awesome.  Three was friendly enough -- it had one side decidedly higher than the other, so we planned to jump the low side.   It was also pointing directly home, so sb no problem.   Four was a down bank -- unusual for entry, but as previously mentioned, all my horses are comfortable with banks since they get a lot of practice.  Five and Six were coups that sb very easy except they were far away from home -- over by show jumping -- and for some reason they always look at those ones.  Ah well.   Seven was a random log.  Eight a raised log pointing toward home.  Then a nice long gallop to nine which was a replica of eight, but then a bending line to the right over a ditch.   Fun.  Then away from home again to a bench followed by two houses on a bending line.  All good.  From there heading roughly back to the start was a nice friendly roll-top and a flowerbox type coup -- with no flowers.

Logically aware Lexi would have absolutely no issue jumping, my concern was more about the nappiness and/or if she was sticky as she'd been at Grandview, I didn't want the course deteriorating.  But no way to tell till we got out there.

First though, we had to show jump.   Rowan was up before me by about 20 mins, so Lexi had a long time to learn to hang out in warmup.  She was *much* better there than she had been in dressage, but becoming very attached to Lissy.   Rowan put in an excellent clear round -- and then kindly stuck around with Lissy so Lexi would have a friend.  Does she need to grow up and do it on her own?  Absolutely.  Today?  Maybe not.

And you know what?   She was good.  Really good.  Got the whole canter and jump thing down.  Couldn't really turn or rate the stride at all, but whenever she was pointed at something she picked up the canter and went for it.  Sweet.  A little overly ambitious for the size of the fences *g*   But she did a great job.   Pulled one rail and then wasn't going near any of the others.  hahaha lots of air time!   Good though and eager.  A decent sign for future.   We do need to work on our ability to canter turns though.  hahaha minor detail.

Not touching that!

Em was off on XC next and rode *really* well.  Charlie looked at the ones she though he would and she handled it like a pro.  Sweet.  Then we actually got a break.  And I admit I left my horse with Kennedy -- who was being super helpful -- and had a drink and sat for a couple mins.  So spoiled :)

Rowan was about half an hour before me in XC so again we took both horses over together.  Lex was basically sleeping hanging out w/ Lissy.  Until Rowan left for her round.  Lexi tried to turn herself inside out to get on XC with them.  Omg.  So as a result I didn't get to see much (read any) of Rowan's round as I very definitely had to focus on Lexi.  But I was listening and the announcer said she was clear.  Sweet!   Since when they came back Lissy wasn't at all stressed, I asked them to hang out for a bit to make my life slightly easier.  And it did.  Slightly.  But now Lexi had had enough of this warmup ring game.  And then they wanted to bump my time for other people, but I begged back in and the whipper in (same awesome one from dressage) saw my horse dancing and deemed I could go in my original spot.  Phew.   Head over to XC and you could actually see Lexi's brain falling out her ears....   hahaha oh dear.   Start box was on the other side of a treeline and Lexi was having none of it.  We were back to the standing on the hind legs.  For a second I wasn't sure I'd even get her in the box, but we managed it and with perfect timing since halting would not be an option.  The tight turn, however, did get us a walk and so we *walked* out of the box.  hahaha after all that drama, we had the slowest xc start ever!  Picked up a trot which broke into a canter.  Lexi was doing a great interpretation of a llama and completely oblivious to the jump that was rapidly approaching in front of her.  Tricky.  But I just kept pointing her at it with leg on and she cleared it easily.

Wheeeeeee

Second fence was terrifying, but she wasn't the least bit hesitant about jumping it.  No, instead she cleared it by a few extra feet ;)   Three we jumped the high side.  Of course.  It took everything I had to slow her down before the bank -- but then we were pointing away from home and did the funkiest trot ever toward fences five and six.  They were a *long* way away at a llama-trot ;)    And the rest of the course continued that way -- awesome gallop toward home.  Out of control, but super nice to ride ;)   And very sticky trot away from home.  The jumps themselves might as well have not even been there.  Was a ride and a half, but in the end she was clear with just a handful of time faults.   Not too bad for baby horse's first show.

When I went to check the scores she was in sixth, but somebody behind her challenged their xc scores so Lexi ended up seventh.  Which is fine -- it's a better colour anyways.   Not as good as red, mind you, but certainly better than pink ;)   Rowan was also seventh and Emily showed us both up with third!  And both girls have now qualified for champs.  Woohoo!

Not half bad :)

So yeah, a bit of a rough start and an entertaining ride all day, but overall a great first show!   And pony learned how to gallop!  Woohoo!