Monday, April 26, 2010

Lumberjack Derek

In another life, Derek was a logger! Long ago when we first moved into the Marysville house that my parents owned (we rented) there was this lone apple tree in the front yard. Not a bad tree, a cute little tree. From the beginning Derek had a hate-hate relationship with that tree. Not sure why he hated the tree so much, he just didnt like it! Derek had mentioned to my parents that he had wanted to take the tree out, open the yard for a better lawn, but the answer was no.. Not a maybe, but a NO! :) Well the parents wanted the tree pruned, something you should do every year... Let me give you an example of what the tree looked like to begin with:

Okay, now Derek volunteered to prune the tree and the best tool he thought for the job was a chainsaw! Typically you prune with... Pruners! nip some branches, easy peazy! Well I came home to this!
Oh he pruned it all right, sawed off every branch til it was nothing but a 5 limbed stump! Quite commical actually, but I am fairly certain my parents (mom in particular) did not find this very funny.. at all! Now that the tree was nothing more than a stump, it eventually was completely removed.

The yard was much better to deal with, it did open it up and we replanted a nice big bush in the corner to compensate. So years later when it was appropriate to finally joke about the situation, we now tease Derek about his pruning abilities and he is the first to come to mind if anyone wants/needs a tree taken out! :) He took down a really big tree 2 years ago on our property and then I believe he took out one of his x-boss's trees as well.

Tyler asked him to take out 8 trees at Kathy's house, so this past Saturday we went out and finished that job. These trees at Kathy's all ran parallel to her house and were within striking distance to the house, so the guys had to cable the trees off to ensure they fell the right direction and all 8 trees managed to fall perfectly, avoiding any of Kathy's existing fence posted, 3 other small baby trees, and the house... Derek did a great job and Kathy was very thankful, and I'm sure she was relieved to be able to breath again when that final tree hit the ground and not the house! :)

Here are some pics of Derek taking out the trees. At times it hailed, at times it was clear and then after a while it just continually dumped rain on us, we left her house drenched and in desperate need of a shower.
Here's also a picture of Russell, he was being a baby at this moment and begging me to lift him up on my shoulders! :) Isn't he the cutest dog ever!!!!
On Sunday the weather was very cooperative so we headed to Lords Hill to meet up with a few others for a club ride. There were 5 of us to start on the ride, 2 riders left us half way through so Wendy Derek and I had a great day exploring. Red is getting much better with his feet, he slipped once and his behind went down pretty much to the ground, but he's learning.. He was a little sore this morning on his back, but we did ride for 4.5 hours! This week is supposed to be crappy and rainy all week, so not much opportunities to ride.. I will be moving the boys to their other pastures Tues or Wed this week, I will be bummed to not see them in my pasture every day.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Funny Story

The other day on the radio, they had asked listeners to call in and indicate what they had maybe posted on FB that they regretted and could not take back before it was too late.. Some funny stories called in, but it got me thinking about my funny story that happened long before FB!

It was my first "real" job, working for the Snohomish School District. I had just graduated HS, Derek & I were still new in our relationship by maybe a month or so and all was going great. The department I worked for had I believe 5 other ladies working in it, the room was actually my old 6 grade classroom as the District Building was the original Central Elementary School.

All the ladies were off at a meeting, so I was the only one in the room and either I had finished my projects or I was bored or maybe I was just slacking! But I went to one of the computers and typed up a letter to Derek.. It was a letter stating my 'feelings' after our first 5 or 6 "times"! I was a sentimental 17yr old at the time, I wanted to let him know what each time meant to me, because he was my 1st. So it was a big deal...

Well I finished up my little letter and hit print.. I sat staring at the printer! And I continued to stare at the printer.. and then I just kept staring at it.. wondering where the HELL was my letter! The computer said it printed. I went to reprint and it was only then that I realized there were MULTIPLE printers connected to that computer! This was way back in the day, OMG 19 years ago and I didnt know much about network printers. I knew at that moment my letter went to some other printer in another department of the district building and I had NO way to get it or even figure out where it went.. So I retreated to my desk and hoped with all my might that it went into some cyber world..

I dont recall if it was that day or the next, I'm pretty sure it was the next day, my boss Eleanor called me into her office.. SHIT! I was on the verge of crying, literally. I was so embarrassed, I knew exactly what I was going in there for. She set the letter on the desk and asked if it was mine? See, I had not signed it but there was no mistaking that a teenager typed this letter. I fessed up of course and said I had done it on a break and when I hit print, I didnt realize it was going to another printer besides the one next to the computer. They handed me my letter and asked me to keep from typing out these types of things at work.

I am sure I cried many times over that, I was mortified! I could hardly drag myself back to work. I am pretty certain even though my boss was fairly firm, straight faced and to the point, she was giggling inside at me. And not sure if she told the entire office or other deparments but it felt like everyone knew and were laughing quite histerically at me, heck I would! I can laugh about it now, but it has got to be one of my most embarrassing moments in my life!

Cant escape the Gunfire or the ducks!

Yesterday we decided a ride after work was definately in order! The sun was shining and why not take advantage, plus I had wanted to get my new saddle on Red. The saddle seemed to fit just fine, I'll ride in it on Sunday too and after that 3+ hour ride, will have a much better idea on fit. As we are saddling up, in the distance out of nowhere and suddenly, we heard gunfire! You have GOT to be KIDDING! We just looked at eachother and shook our heads.. What the Heck! We both realized it was atleast not coming from the direction we were going to ride, just a weird coincidence that it would be going off just as we were getting saddled up to ride.

After we did our loop, we rode down this gravel road and up ahead was a lone duck in a fenced pasture.. Red stopped in his tracks..OMG what the hell is that! His head was way high, he was alert and standing at attention. I think had the duck spread his wings and flapped, Red would have quite possibly exploded straight up! I urged him forward and as we got closer there were more ducks, but they were retreating to the barn. There was also a lone pygmy goat hangin out by the barn. Red relaxed a little and we continued on. When we turned around and had to walk back past pasture, the ducks were all over by the barn and the little goat was now in the barn with his head sticking out of his barn door.. Then another goat appeared in the barn door. Then a 3rd. The third goat decided he was very brave and he wanted to see what this big horse was all about so he squeezed his fat belly through the door and started trotting towards us.. Oh shit! Red did NOT think that was funny! He bolted, spun, tail sticking straight up/out. I grabbed the horn, I had heard he hated lamas or maybe it was alpacas.. either way I was not about to get dumped on this gravel road. A couple more goats followed suit and were heading his direction. Red acted like he was under attack and was not having any of it, so I calmly kept him to a walk and kept going. I wanted to get off and force him to stand next to the fence, but I was cold and decided we'd save that for another day! Sounds like Red needs to be exposed to my goats.. cant wait to get them all home and together so he can learn to accept other small animals. Funny that it takes Gunfire to spook Edgar and all it takes with Red is a little duck! :)

Monday, April 19, 2010

Birthday Weekend

Happy Birthday to Derek!! He turned 37 this past Friday.. To celebrate and to do something different this year, we opted to go to Silver Ridge Ranch for the weekend, we needed a mental break and I knew he would love the trails over there...

I was hoping my saddle would show up before we left town on Friday, Derek actually drove around Snohomish looking for any UPS drivers to go up to, incase they had my saddle! :) He didnt find any.. I had procrastinated on ordering Dereks birthday present so it was not here on his birthday, so I gave him a temporary iTunes giftcard to tide him over for his real present, although he loved the iTunes, so it was a win-win. We had made chili a couple days prior to take on our trip, it was our first ever attempt and it turned out pretty good I think. Not as creamy of a chili that we are used to eating out of the can, but it was pretty darn tastey.. good enough to be comfortable feeding to others.... Maybe a little regretful taking chili on a weekend where you are confined to a small camper with no air flow to move the fumes during the middle of the night... PWEW!

As we were driving through Carnation, my dad called to let me know my saddle was at the house! Darn, we missed the delivery by less than an hour.. Oh well. The weather Friday was terrific, mid 60's and after helping Tyler set up his tent (he has a cast from wrist tumor surgery), we were finally able to sit and relax. I realized in setting up his tent how glad I was to have upgraded to a camper.

We did then get the boys out for a nice 1.5hr ride along the creek. On the way to the creek, we were following some very fresh bear tracks on the trail under the powerlines.. claw marks and all.. :) Derek really liked the trail, the creek was beautiful and the only issue was a downhill creek crossing that Red did not want to cross at first.. I think he was going to jump it, so we backed up the hill and tucked in behind Edgar and he easily walked over it.. Oh I have to say that I put a rope cinch on Red, I had found it in my old tack trunk and I also borrowed a breast collar from Penny, between those 2 things, my saddle was a lot more secure when mounting. It still moved some, but not nearly as much as it did before. I really feel the cinch made most of the difference and am very happy I can continue to use my new pad. Red also was walking out well and was not slip sliding away on the trails. They are fairly dry trails, but the few downhills we did encounter over the weekend, not one slippage of his back legs...

So my dad allowed us to take as much of his wood as we needed that was down by the firepit, the wood we took had been cut into rounds more than a year ago, so we anticipated it would burn fast as some of it was very dry and falling apart.. so we took lots! Well Friday night as we are burning the wood that Jon/Arlene purchased (which was super dry and dissappearing rapidly) well we started to throw on the wood we got from dad, and it was not burning at all! We finally after about 30 minutes pulled the one log out and the fire hadnt even broken through the outer layer.. Derek split it and the inside was wet wet wet.. No wonder it wouldnt burn.. So then he went over and grabbed the piece that was so dry the inside fell out and it was a hollow tube.. they broke it into pieces and OMG, that damn wood refused to burn as well.. So then we put the 1x6 old fencing board on the fire from dad's stuff.. do you think it burned up quickly like normal 1x6 wood should.. Nope! it slowly burned. I sent dad a text at about 10pm and told him this wood was "crap!" lol The next morning he saw the message and responded that it must be the altitude! We all laughed.. We left that shit wood for the next camper to use.. We figured they would be thankful for this big pile of nice wood, made us look good for leaving it behind, little do they know.......

Friday evening about the same time I sent off that text to dad, I get a text.. a random text that you forward around and around about women etc.. It was an Eastern WA # but I had no idea who it was from, so I text back and said "Who is this?" I got a response "This is Christine, I own Charlie Horse".. Charlie was the last horse Carrie sold, about 6 weeks before she died. I actually sold Charlie for Carrie, he went to this very nice girl, he was her first horse if I recall correctly. Mom Carrie & I delivered Charlie to Christine who lived in Omak, it was a fun girls day on the road, around the beginning to mid October. I had wondered a few times if she still had Charlie and how she was but lost her information, so I was glad she randomly sent me a phone text.. I told her about Carrie, she was upset of course and welcomed me to come see her and Charlie anytime I was in the area, so I actually would love to take her up on that and stop by if I ever get that way...

As we saddled up Saturday for our ride that day, the weather looked fairly nice but questionable so we packed the horses and prepared for rain. I drew up a map for Tyler and Kathy so they could find their way to the lake and/or the creek trail.. they took the dogs with them (Russell and Kathy's dog Brownie) and opted to drive around vs hiking, it was great that Russell had company while we rode. As we headed out, we could hear lots of gunfire in the distance.. my gut told me they were shooting out at the lake and most likely shooting out towards the water as there are many trails that follow the lake for a long ways.. As we get to the lake, we realize we are still a little ways off from the shooting, but close enough to be a little uncomfortable. I should have just turned us around and went off another direction, but that slight stubborn streak in me, wanted to follow the lake trails because they are really nice trails! I wasnt about to let some gunfire ruin my weekend, dammit! Jon/Arelene seemed ok with it, we followed the trails hoping we would eventually see the shooters so we could be positive they were shooting away from us.. If we could just get behind them... We did hear atleast one ricoche bullet but no idea again which direction it was heading. I did vaguely recall Derek saying he was not comfortable heading towards the shooters, but I didnt listen :( We finally came up right behind the campsite of the crowd, there were a lot of them there for the weekend and they seemed to have taken a break finally from shooting. The horses all seemed okay, they were "aware" but not worked up. We did ask the campers and confirm the direction of fire, which was out towards the water. We rode past them down the beach quite a ways and got off, tied up and ate lunch. Just as we were eating, it started to rain a little, and then a few minutes before we were ready to head out.. damn, the gunfire started up again. Not sure why this time it was different but Edgar was NOT a happy horse! He became VERY spooked, he wouldnt stand still, he was pushy and almost aggressive with his behavior. He didnt want to listen to Derek, Edgar was on the verge of exploding. I actually took over for a few minutes because I feared that Edgar might do something really dumb, Derek immediately went into defensive mode and I dont blame him because this was a completely new behavior he had never seen from Edgar, me either actually. We could not get him cinched up, definately could not get his bridle on, Derek was unable to put a water bottle back in his pack.. it was a little nutso! So we started to lead the boys away as calmly as we could. Dollar (Jon's horse) seemed to be OK, so Jon got on after a few minutes of walking but I was not going to get on until Derek was safely on. I offered to trade him horses, but he was not in the mood to consider trading, he wanted to work through this with Edgar and get the hell out of the area. We made it back into the woods at which point Arlene opted to get on her horse CK who seemed fairly calm by this point. We told them to just ride ahead because Edgar was really almost out of control nervous and I did not want him causing the other two horses to get upset. I figured we'd hook up with them down the trail after a while.

I led Edgar for a while and every time he thought about calming down, more gunfire would go off. Now by this time we are as far away as we had been before lunch when Edgar was just fine.. so I really dont know what burr climbed up his ass. I handed Red over to Derek so I could try to get Edgar bridled. Well every time I attempted to bridle, Edgar flung his head up knocking my arms out of the way, then he'd dance around. At one point he actually flung his head which caused me to have to take a step back and being in the woods and not on any designated trail, I stumbled, fell to my back and Edgar was walking right at me!! I almost panicked because he was NOT paying attention to me on the ground whatsoever.. I started to slightly yell at him and shook the leadrope saying HELLO ASSHOLE, I'M DOWN HERE AND NOT IN ANY MOOD TO GET RUN OVER!! I finally was able to get my balance and get up, he got a few spanks. I was not spanking him in frustration, although I was slightly frustrated, but he was acting a little dangerous with NO regard to me and that is NOT ok! I was still completely shocked at how bad he was behaving, this is the Steady Eddy type guy, the one you should always be able to count on.. Who was this beast that took over??

I kept breathing calmly and finally he relaxed for just long enough to get the darn bridle on him.. Derek led him down the trail a little longer and as we were walking, I see Tyler and Kathy driving down the beach, so I walked Red back out of the woods to let them know what was going on, just to catch up for a second.. by this time, nothing else seemed to be working to calm Edgar. We told them we couldnt chat long, just needed to get on our horses and get moving. Derek got on Edgar finally and started walking around and I was leading Red over to a big log, had him step over it, but then he kept going, so I turned him around and stepped him over the log the other direction, he then backed up off the log so I got him to come up sideways next to the log and just as I did that, Derek comes over and says "Quit talking to Tyler, we gotta f*ing go!!" Well I wasnt just standing around shootin the shit, I was attempting to mount my horse who was much calmer than Edgar, but slightly worked up in all the commosion. I got on and told Tyler, sorry but we are outta here! We headed back into the woods to find the trail away from the gunfire, Derek at this point was very aggitated and pissed off. He and I were not in any position to be chit chatty.. I was not upset with him, I was proud of him for wanting to work through with Edgar and not being afraid of him. I could see he was not angry at Edgar or me, but he was angry and frustrated at the situation we were now in. We found our way to the gravel road and took the first trail in, attempting to ride away from gunfire. I knew the trails fairly well, so I knew how to keep us going in a direction to get away. There was this trail that would take us up an old logging road to a nice lookout.. we would be climbing and since Edgar was in no mood to walk, he was jigging quite badly, maybe if he had to work, he'd tire out and relax. So on the way up the hill, he was still slightly trotting and Derek wanted to be in the lead. I rode quietly behind, just watching my poor husband ride this bouncy damn horse. I offered many times to trade him, I would gladly attempt to work that jiggyness out of Edgar but he was adament that he do it himself..

As we rode up, we came across a major washout and could go no further, bummer! It used to be a great trail. So I rode past Derek so I could get behind him and turn around, he says "What are you doing, I want you in front of me!!" Well I suppose I was supposed to read his mind to know on the way down, he'd want me in front.. I let that little spat go and quietly got in front of him, every bone in my wanted to snap back at him at this point because he and I were not communicating really, he was in no mood to chat. As we approached the bottom I decided maybe he would take some tips on what I would do if I was riding Edgar to get him to start walking again.

I was happy and very much relieved that Derek wanted to listen and take my advice so he did. We stopped at the bottom of the hill and he would tightly circle Edgar in a very calm manner and then ask Edgar to stand still. If Edgar moved, then he would circle and circle and circle again.. then ask for a stand still. We did this for quite a while and it helped. Edgar was not jigging as badly but he was not 100% calm either. We were headed towards the woods, back to the creek trail. As we rode, Derek started to talk a little about the lake experience and prior to lunch and how he was upset with me for not listening to him. I was just so set on showing him these great trails, I didnt want to let a little gunfire ruin our day! :( And again the horses rode before lunch with tons of gunfire going off and they were all fine. I have no idea why Edgars attitude changed for the next round.

As Derek was somewhat snappy at me, I started to cry as I rode behind him, I had ruined our weekend, ruined his birthday, what a disaster.. I was just very upset with myself about the whole thing. Oh and by the way, we never did run into Jon/Arlene.. they had rode ahead on their own which I am glad for because Edgar was such a turd that I wouldnt have wanted him to be around any other horses. So anyways, like nothing could get any worse or the shit hittin the fan anymore.. just as we are a minute or so away from entering the woods.. BANG BANG!! Right infront of us.. somewhere in those woods, someone just fired off 2 or 3 rounds.. SONOFABITCH! Zero gunfire had been happening in the woods and now all the sudden as we are headed that directions, towards safety that we think, more gunfire which was even CLOSER than what we experienced at the lake.. Now I was pissed.. Derek who was in the lead immediately turned his horse around and had this look of "ARE YOU F*ING KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW!!" I knew better than to even speak a word.. I just cried as I rode along. Every now and then Derek would stop Edgar and do the circle exercise because he still was not walking...

After another 20 minutes of silence, Derek finally stopped Edgar, waited for me, grabbled my hand, apologized for snapping at me and we started talking again. I was not mad at him for snapping at me, I blamed myself and I knew he was in a situation he had never been in, Edgar was not acting normal and he was trying to cope with that and learning how to deal with it all. I apologized for everything that had gone wrong that day. When we got back to camp, Jon/Arlene's horses were already put away and they were sitting with Kathy and Kathy's yearling she had brought along on the trip. Edgar FINALLY was standing still at camp.. We decided we wanted to keep the horses out a little longer to end the ride on a more positive note because Edgar jigged all the way until we got to camp. So we told everyone we would be back in a bit, but the horses were not done for the day. We follwed a trail that follows the road and I-90. Edgar was walking!! He seemed pretty relaxed actually. We came across Tyler and Kathy on the road, chatted for a few seconds, told them we'd be back at camp in about 30 minutes. Derek and I joked and laughed about random things and now that Edgar was relaxed, Red was not so relaxed! LOL.. He was a bit jumpy with the I-90 noise and distractions.. As we rode back into camp the 2nd time, he actually spooked and humped up just a few feet from our trailer when a tractor started up.. silly horse! What a long day that was...

We both were happy and relieved to be back on the ground, safe and sound. The horses were back to normal. I spoke with Miki who owns Silver Ridge, she told me the shooters are not supposed to be out there, that it is not legal. Especially the one in the woods.. But then Tyler and Kathy said they ran into a ranger that day and he said it was completely legal as long as they are being safe and responsible, but that they do monitor the situation to ensure safety. Well I dont know about you, but the more I think about it, the more I feel it is completely unsafe! I have ridden my horse on the other side of the lake, in the direction of the gunfire. I know they were firing at targets.. but the ONLY thing behind those targets, was air! and below the air was water and behind the air and targets was a huge lake and a shoreline across the way with other trails.. And then there is the ricoche, where do those bullets go? Derek says a bullet can travel 1-3 miles! The shooter in the woods, the area he was at, there is not a safe place to shoot in there... I have ridden that area a lot... There is a creek and trails, thats it! I am going to put together a letter and write to the ranger district in that area and also encourage Miki of Silver Ridge to do the same. I am all for going out and shooting at targets in a safe area, but that area by the lake is used by hikers, bikers, ATVS, horses.. NOT a safe area to shoot and although I do plan to go back to Silver Ridge, if this type of gunfire activity continues, I might reconsider and Miki as an owner of the camping facility, I'd think she would be very concerned if people were opting out of her campground because there is too much gunfire in the area.. so maybe she should work on getting the shooters out of the lake area as well. And it has NOTHING to do with the way our horses reacted. I am OK with what happened with Edgar.. It sucks that it happened and he was so reactive to the situation, but that is on me. I obviously need to desensitize him more to gunfire so my issue is not about my horses.

As we sat around the campfire Saturday night, Derek and I were able to laugh about our behavior and make light of the situation.. which was great that we did that because neither of us wanted to dwell on it.. it was what it was!

In our campfire conversations, Arlene was talking about a horse she owned or looked at, can't quite remember.. Anyways, she says the horse seemed to have hock issues. Tyler is standing, stoking the fire and he stops.. looks at Arlene with a very puzzled look on his face and says "Hockey Shoes?" LOLOL We all busted out laughing.. He just looked at us like we were crazy and we explained it was Hock Issues.. not hockey shoes.. lololol It is still very funny!

Sunday morning we all packed up early, it was a beautiful morning. The sky was clear and it clearly was going to be a 70 degree day. I had wanted to get on Red and just ride around the airfield bareback once, but unforseen circumstances came into town the day before and I was unprepared, so we just loaded up early and headed out by about noon.

We did eat lunch before heading home, for whatever reason, Derek decided an MRE (Military packaged meal) seemed more appealing than a tuna sandwhich. So he ate that while we all had normal meals. We keep a few of them in our camper so we can take them out riding with us, they are a good thing to have incase you ever get lost out in the woods and need it for an emergency source of food. Russell was a really good camp dog, sometimes we put him in the truck and as long as the door was open, he'd just sit there.

We got home and reluctantly got everything unloaded, camper back off the truck and to the chairs we sat to do a little catch-up on a few shows. Derek then spent a few hours uploading his iTunes music while I snuck off to bed.. I was exhausted. Overall it was a terrific weekend, just wish we could have stayed another day. Instead of a birthday cake, Derek had wanted a rice crispy cake and from now on, that is his cake of choice! :)

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Saddle Saga..

Well I found a saddle for Red.. did I mention that before? Found it on TackTrader which is a website for individuals selling anything from horse property, to horse trailers, to saddles, to halters etc.. A pretty popular site that is a spinoff from their horse advertising original site Dreamhorse.

Since I rode Red in Dereks Wide Tree saddle, that seemed to fit very well, I went in search of my own Wide Tree Tucker Saddle and found one in Colorado! I didnt really want to buy one out of state, but I went for it. With shipping it was $925, about the best price I could find anywhere online or locally for that saddle, so I jumped on it. The saddle looks great in pics, my concern is that I wont get what was pictured, or it will have a broken tree or a million other what-ifs!

So I sent off my money via Paypal and the next day as promised, she sent me a UPS tracking #, unfortunately there was a slight mix up and she shipped the saddle to my home instead of my work. See at work, the saddle guaranteed would be there by 10:30 which is our daily drop off time. Now that it is coming home, I have NO idea what time it will be there and considering we are heading out of town the day it is supposed to be at my house and I had wanted to take it out of town with me.. well it sucks!

Then I had the idea, maybe we can intercept the delivery and have it set up for Will Call in Everett on Friday instead of delivery to the house, so the seller of the saddle tried to do that and apparently if we did that, I wouldnt be able to pick up til Monday! What the Heck! I dont get it, so she canceled that option and now the UPS status says "exception" instead of "on time" and now I have no idea if it really will be out for delivery tomorrow. My gut told me not to worry about it and not try the intercept and I didnt listen, I just hope I dont pay for that when the saddle doesnt show up tomorrow. I should know in the morning, the status should say out for delivery if it's coming. Here's a pic of the Saddle in my saga...

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

I need to unwind..

Some weeks I just feel so bogged down with "stuff".. unexplained stuff that to the outside world probably seems so trivial and dumb, but there is too much floating in my brain lately and for the past 4 or 5 nights I literally wake up during the night with a headache and a brain that feels like it just cant relax. Not sure what exactly the anxiety or worry or stress is about these days..

I have really been wanting to get Derek to Silver Ridge Ranch in Easton, there is great riding, great camping. So I suggested we go for his birthday weekend, a little early in the season for camping, but it is a nice place to go that will not overwork the horses and will get us in the mood for our camping season. Well the trip is coming up and just a week ago, the mountains were getting hammered with SNOW! There is snow at the campground now and although yesterday's forcast was calling for very sunny skies for the weekend, the forcast now calls for rainy days.. bummer. So I think a lot of my stress was in making a damn decision, do we go: do we cancel. Well we are going.. rain or shine. Jon & Arlene are coming along and so are Tyler & Cathy (who will go hiking instead of riding since they are non-horse friends).

Then we decided to make this a chili weekend so we are making our first batch of chili tomorrow, I've never made it before.. I surely hope it turns out!! ;) My brain currently is full.. I can feel it pushing itself against my skull, trying to escape. I procrastinated on ordering Derek's present so it will not be here by Friday and that sucks. I just sent a lady $925 on paypal for a saddle with the very high hopes and expectations that she ships out today a saddle that is not broken and is exactly what is advertised so I'm freakin out just a little over that..

The goat situation was stressing me way too much as I was getting upset that they were cooped up so much, I finally came up with a solution to that problem and we are pimpin them out to local Craigslist followers that need brush clearing, so that is one problem solved for now anyways. I think clutter is getting to me, I'm trying to get more organized, we finally spent this past weekend working on the garage, got it 100% better even though it is not 100% but it works for now.. We can actually walk in there, park the bikes, we are not tripping over shit everywhere.. We still have a weekend or two of organizing between the garage and the shed but it's been started. Speaking of bikes, we did ride 3 days last week.. actually come to think of it.. that is exactly when my headaches started!

I'm not just saying that to get out of excersize, but my first headache came exactly a week ago on our 2nd bike ride, my head just started pounding. 2 days after that on our 3rd bike ride, I actually had to stop my bike and put pressure on the back of my neck to alleviate pain I was having which helped cease my head pain.. Ever since that 2nd bike ride especially, I am getting daily headaches, maybe that is my problem. Maybe it is not stress or worry afterall, its just a pounding head which feels a lot like stress when in reality has nothing to do with stress.. hmmm Last night I took 3 asprin (grrr, I could not find any ibuprofen which is my much prefered drug of choice!) lol but I had to take them to eliminate my headache and hopefully keep my head clear through the night, it 1/2 worked... I am one that typically never gets headaches, maybe only a few each year so to have one daily, I can see why I feel so bogged down now. I find it interesting that it took me writing about random thoughts to figure out my issue..

But I am still worried and stressed about other little shit.. the horses for instance. I went to a damn grass seminar which was actually great, but it has me all freaked out about putting the horses back on grass this spring and whether it will cause them to colic etc.. The grass at my parents is lookin soooo good! I need to get them moved over there and stop feeding hay, but I cant just send them over and turn them loose, they could get very sick.. so I worry daily about how to section them off, where to put up temporary fencing, how to get them out for an hour a day easily when I dont live there, how to keep them from having vet visits.. Funny growing up, we never worried about anything and the horses were fine every year.. now as an adult I try so hard to do things "right", why can't I just be a kid again with no worries.. lol

The lender is (excuse my language) "dicking" us around on our remodifiation process.. I sent them the paperwork a month ago and well, they just dont have it logged in yet.. they are WAY backlogged with paperwork and have no clue when they will get to me. I will bug them WEEKLY about this until it is resolved. The crap the banks are pulling was even on the news last night, the news was reporting that it might not be a bad idea to just stop paying your mortgage! NEVER thought I would hear a financial planner say that could be the best thing to do. We are not that desperate yet, but I suppose it works for some to get their attention..

We did get in a ride this past weekend as well as garage cleaning and picking up some sticks out of the pasture. Just Derek and I at Lords Hill for a couple hours, it was a great weekend with lots of sun. I am still struggling with saddle slippage with Red, maybe the thick pad was a bad idea, too thick makes for a less secure saddle even though the thicker pad does provide better shock absorption. I think when I get my new (used) saddle, I'm going to try a really thin pad and see how that goes. Technically if the saddle is truely a good fit, a thin pad should be just fine. We'll see, I'm so confused sometimes..

I am excited to get away for the weekend.. I really need some downtime and I suppose if it rains the entire weekend, well we'll just be riding in the rain then. :) I wish a few more had wanted to come, they probably dont want to go camping this early in spring, but I'm a camper, I dont care if its going to be low 30's at night, I'll have the dog to keep me warm, the fresh air to clear my head and a fire to stay warm by.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

We reclaimed our bed!

When we lost Scout 3 months ago, we immediately allowed Russell to sleep in the bed with us every night.. before, it was a weekend only deal but we felt super sad for Russell and did not want to make him sleep in his dog bed all by himself so we just allowed him in ours for 3 months straight! Now, he is a pretty good bed dog, but he still takes up room. Last night we decided enough was enough and he's a dog... so we opened the dogbed door and he walked right in, took his treat, looked at us with an "Are you sure you want me to sleep here" look and went to sleep! Not one whine or whimper out of him, he took it like a man, I mean dog! :)

I'm sure he's known for a while that his "luck" would run dry sooner or later and it was nice that he did not complain about being demoted to dog status again. He definately is a lonely guy though and I wish December would come faster! We have made plans with the breeder of the Boykin's, so we'll be putting a deposit down on our pup this summer for a Christmas puppy.

We took Schwinn and Blue out for a ride around Lake Tye the other day.. In the Rain!! It was alright actually. My behind was a lot less sore than the first time we rode them, so that was great. We might try to get out again tonight, if it's not SNOWING when I get home! Yep, it is supposed to snow tonight... although right now it is just super windy and blue skies. This weather is almost depressing. I like WA weather, but I'm motivated to get out to ride Red and Blue (haha) and the ground is just mucky and saturated; the blue skies are far and few between these days. I'd really appreciate some better weather as we have plans coming up that I dont want to have to cancel..

We posted on Craigslist to try to find a temporary new home for the goats.. I actually got 3 responses so far of people that want some land cleared and the free use of the boys. It would be nice to find them a better place than the small corral at my parents, they are pretty irritated that they have no freedom, it is their own fault though, they did such a great job of clearing stickers, they created a path right to the fence free road!

And finally an interesting tidbit about Red.. I am wondering how long he was kept a stallion because that horse has 2 poop piles in his pasture and he ONLY poops in one of those two spots! It is a little bizarre, I'm not complaining I wish ALL horses knew this trick.. I've known horses to poop in one spot in a stall, but not out in a pasture. I miss riding, I have not even been able to use my brand new pad yet.. sad.. but riding is on the agenda for the weekend as well as cleaning up the garage... hmm we'll see how that goes!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Sore and tired...

That is how I feel this monday morning. We actually opted to take Schwinn and Old Blue out yesterday instead of Edgar & Red. Schwinn and Old Blue have been cooped up for a few years in the shack, but we got 'em tuned up and ready to ride and ventured down to the centennial trail on Sunday afternoon. It was not quite the relaxing ride we are used to, we had to put quite a bit of leg work into the ride especially since it was a very windy day; we had a lot of head-wind to fight. But we got a good 45 minute ride in and it felt great to be back out there. My legs were a bit jiggly afterwards and my ass is still quite sore today :( We hope to take Schwinn and Blue out a few times a week, rain or shine and eventually we think it would be fun to ride them to our meetings in Lk Stevens...

Yesterday was Easter and although we did not intend on going anywhere for dinner, of course my mom cooked a huge ham and called at 3:30 asking if we'd come help eat all this food she made! Good thing we dont plan ahead too much, so we were able to postpone our chicken salad dinner to go eat her ham and scalloped potatoes, which must be an Easter tradition meal because I heard of a couple others that ate the same thing.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Do Not Touch the Remote..

I was reminded today of a funny story, thought I should share. :) Maybe over time I will continue to post some of the funny or bizzarre or questionable stories of my youth! Won't that be fun.. lol

I was talking with my dad this morning while he waited for mom to get some bloodwork done at the clinic and the subject came up of porn on the cable tv! Odd subject for a daughter/father discussion. We had been chatting about movies that were out, that can be ordered through your cable company and I think he mentioned that there were a lot of porn flicks you could get, although they are not $4.99! I then told him this story, although I'm sure I've told it to him and mom before...

A LONG time ago, Derek and I were living in our apartment in Snohomish. Mom and dad had to go out of town for a softball tournament with Carrie and it happened to be Eric's birthday weekend. So we decided we would take him and a few of his friends out to Alfy's pizza and then back to our place to watch movies. I think the boys were spending the night too, there were maybe 4 kids. I am trying to recall Eric's age... hmmmm He had to be turning maybe 13 or 14.

So anyways, back at our apartment we left the boys alone in the living room to watch whatever they wanted and after a while we realized that they were flipping back/forth over the porn channel because back in the day when you did that, you would get a quick second of picture before it scrambled itself, so they flipped over that channel a hundred times or more! Derek and I looked at eachother and came up with a great on-the-fly birthday present... We quietly phoned the cable company (cuz that's how you did it way back when) and ordered that channel. A minute or more later as we spied on the boys, they flipped over the porn channel and realized they were getting more than a seconds peak worth of picture! They all gasped and one or more said to the remote holder "WHAT DID YOU DO?" as they realized they had not done anything different they all started saying in slow motion almost "DO NOT TOUCH THAT REMOTE!" They just kept saying it over and over, like the remote was the magic wand that suddenly granted them their wish.

It was Frickin Hilarious!! They were so dumbfounded by what was happening, they had no clue how or why they were getting this channel all the sudden, they figured it was a glitch with the remote, but they soon realized something was up as we were laughing our asses off and of course they now knew we were behind it all... So we left the channel on and went to bed knowing the boys would be up for a very long time!