She will be missed...

My good friend had to say goodbye to one of her dear equine friends today...

In honor of Tess... a great equine who has now crossed over the rainbow bridge...

Don't Cry For The Horses"
Brenda Riley-Seymore

Don't cry for the horses
That life has set free

A million white horses
Forever to be

Don't cry for the horses
Now in God's hands
As they dance and they prance
To a heavenly band

They were ours as a gift
But never to keep
As they close their eyes
Forever to sleep

Their spirits unbound
On silver wings they fly
A million white horses
Against the blue sky

Look up into heaven
You'll see them above
The horses we lost
The horses we loved

Manes and tails flowing
They gallop through time
They were never yours
They were never mine

Don't cry for the horses
They will be back someday
When our time has come
They will show us the way

On silver wings they will lift us
To the warmth of the sun
When our life is over
And eternity has begun

We will jump the sun
And dance over the moon
A ballet of horses and riders on the winds
Of a heavenly tune

Do you hear that soft nicker
Close to your ear
Don't cry for the horses
Love the ones that are here

Don't cry for the horses
Lift up your sad eyes
Can't you see them
As they fly by

A million white horses
Free from hunger and pain
Their spirits set free
Until we ride again

No tears. No drama. No fun...

Yesterday my parents decided to drive down to the coast to take me to lunch for my birthday. Yeah, I know. They are a few months late. But, better late than never I always say. Especially when it involves lunch at Kyllo's and I'm not buying...

Railroad also took the opportunity to celebrate my "birthday" by bringing me beautiful carnations (my 2nd favorite flower) in a very cool glass vase. He also gave me this very cool bubble gun that lights up and shoots bubbles everywhere. The dogs decided it was the devil and ran and hid from the floating objects emanating from the devil's machine. But I liked it. And, of course, will use it to torment the pups...

So, while the parentals were here I took that opportunity to introduce them to the the new SO. Always interesting and slightly awkward. But all seemed to go well... with no strange looks from either side of the table. Success!! However, later flip-flop was asking me all kinds of questions that I really didn't have the answers to. Hmmmm... time for some serious Q & A. I need to get to the bottom of such things... But, all in good time, I'm sure.

I also showed the parentals the new place... and they liked it. El Dub deemed it worthy of putting the computer in hock for.

Then it was time to head out to the beach again. After all, it was a decent day with very little wind blowing...

There were quite a few people out surfing.

They are crazy, if you ask me...

But I'm told that the water off the Oregon coast is actually warmer at this time of year. I won't be testing that theory any time soon...

Hey, mom... Do I have sand on my face?

Did I get it all off?

Will someone please throw the ball so I can tackle the marshmallow?

All in all, it was a lovely day with no hysterics or drama to speak of. However, in a few weeks the whole fam dam will be in town and it will be time for Railroad to run that gauntlet... hope he's ready. I'll make sure he has his flak jacket and helmet ready to go...

I'm not homeless, after all...

I pulled the trigger and decided on a place. I had to put my big computer in hock (with El Dub) to do it, but well worth it in my opinion.

I signed the paperwork and picked up the key today. And I'm so excited because I can actually have a Christmas tree. Whoo hoo!!

Some of the key features...

A fireplace!! Love this little feature...

Way more space... almost 3X the amount.

 Windows, windows and more windows... Let there be light!!

It also has a washer/dryer hook-up. And I happen to own both a washer and a dryer. Which means, no more dragging my laundry hither and yon to get it done. Yes!!

So, let the move begin. I'm ready to be out of this teeny, tiny hell-hole...

It's just a little breeze...

I took the pups down to the beach today to run around for a bit. I put on my fuzzy boots, my winter coat, my gloves and my hat and headed out into the... well, sun. Needless to say, once I got to the coast I had to shed a few layers. Down there it was warm and sunny with no wind. I gathered up the pups and quickly rushed up to ride my horse.

Or is he a cow? He's huge... that's for sure.

I was hoping it was mostly fluff. It's not...

Anyway, got him saddled and hopped on and off we went... into gale force winds. It typically is warmer and less windy up the hill... not so today. It was cold. And really windy. But I decided to ride to the top of the hill anyway. I'm glad I did...

It was an amazing view at the top...

Hey mom... less view and more ride, please. Kthnx...

I think I see something moving over there... Is it my ball?

 I hear something too...

 What is that huge, dark blob in the grass?

Let's get outta here, mom... it's gonna get us.

Even though we only rode to the top of the hill and back down again (the rest of the trail was a muddy, slippery mess) it sure was nice to be back on a horse again. Just where I belong...

Make room...

When you invite someone into your life, there are always adjustments and accommodations that will have to be made... good and bad.

For instance, I am (because of the critters and Farmer) a morning person. Railroad is not... although he's trying to slowly make the adjustment to more mornings and less late nights. However, until that transformation is complete, I end up staying up way later than I would otherwise. All for a good cause, I assure you...

But even though the schedule thing needs some work, there are the unexpected bonuses you also get... like such:

My trunk latch is fixed. He's definitely becoming a keeper...

Also, I got some good stuff dropped off to me this morning... yummy organic milk. Score! I have a serious milk habit as some of you may be aware.

This whole dating a local, him bringing me stuff during the day, and fixing stuff, rocks. I have no idea why I didn't find him sooner. My bad...

No, I don't want to see it...

I'm always fascinated by the fundamental differences between men and women. Men are very visual and physical creatures... maybe beasts is a better word? Women live much more in the emotional realm of things. And I think the old saying is probably somewhat true: Men use love to get sex. Women use sex to get love.

Which brings me to the experiment a friend of mine conducted the other day. She went to the Portland, OR craigslist and went to the casual encounters section. She looked at 100 m4w (men looking for women) ads and 100 w4m (women looking for men) ads.

62% of the male ads had penis pics. 62%!! Yeah, still trying to wrap my brain around that. And also trying to find the brain bleach for her. She's gonna need it...

0% of the female ads had vajaja pics. None. Zero. Zip. However, in the spirit of being fair, 33% of the ads did have boob pics...

I realize that you men are visual creatures and we can appreciate the instant drool that crops up at the sight of stunning cleavage. However, you guys need to realize that, for the most part, our female brains don't work the same way. We don't want to see it. Seriously. There is a reason why romance novels use terms like "throbbing member" and "flaming loins". We like the general concept and what it can do for us but we seriously don't need to be reminded in stark (and sometimes frightening) detail.

A picture is worth a 1,000 words... and on this subject that is 999 words too many.

So, men, here is my advice to you. Stick to love notes and skip the pics. You'll have much more success... I promise.

It's official...

So, I'm sure a few of you will remember me mentioning Railroad a few times here and there. We met a little while ago (month ago or so?) and have been slowly getting to know one another over the course of that time...

Well, yesterday we decided to make it "official"... we're giving it a go.

Lord help us both...

Railroad sporting my favorite look... scruff.

I didn't document our getting to know you stage much, but he's giving me permission to document what I will of our upcoming journey together. He's being as gracious about it as Farmer... which is very rare and much appreciated.

Oh, and I changed my facebook status to "in a relationship". Well actually, my facebook is set to pirate speak so it says "hooked"... but you get the idea.

Perhaps I'll let him guest blog one of these days. That way you can get both sides of the story...