One-sided...

Question. Is there a whole lot of crazy planetary astrological shit going on or something? Because the last few weeks have been, well, strange. And weird. Very weird.

For those of you that are fellow bloggers, you'll understand what I'm talking about. For the rest of you, let me explain how this works. I write at night. Usually between the hours of 10pm and midnight. And then I set the post to publish 12 to 14 hours later. So, I'm writing like today is Friday (even though right this moment it is actually Thursday night). I have done this for a long time and therefore I don't really give it any thought. I also have it set up to post to my Facebook. Again, I really don't give it much thought.

However, people who have more time on their hands at work than I do, do give it some thought apparently. I got called into the HR office last week and was accused of writing my blog during work. There was a formal write-up sheet about it and everything. I listened to the whole spiel and then explained how this bloggin' thang actually works. Needless to say, the sheet was torn up and that was that.

But it was weird. Very weird. Couldn't someone have just picked up the phone and asked me? After all, by the time this thing actually posts I've most likely forgotten what the hell I've written about anyway. This thing is my brain dump, after all.

So, there was that. And then I had a very strange interaction with the landlords last week too. Flash, as you know, is injured. His back is ouchie and so Hutch kindly decided to let me borrow her mare Scout for a few months. Hutch already boards a horse at my place, so the landlords know her well. Hutch and I decided the best thing to do would be to swap out horses and have Scout at my place (so I could ride out from the property) and put Flash in with her horses for some R&R. Easy. I texted the LL's to let them know what I was doing. Then when I picked up Scout I had a face-to-face convo with them again about what I was doing. And then I packed up Flash and took him to Hutch's place.

And then I got this text message as I was on my way home: We need to talk about things before making changes because we need to know. We might take on more boarders & we need to manage what's coming and going.

Hmmm... ok. I'm pretty sure that a text and in-person convo should cover that, but whatever. Basically, nothing changed except the color of the horse. It was weird. Very weird.

And then at the beginning of this week I had a place for rent basically fall into my lap. It's a place to rent on 5 acres that is a little closer to work and has trails right off the property. I will be saving $150 month and can have whatever horses I want out there. So, I'm moving in mid-October as well.

Oh, and Rebel showed up on Thursday (thinking it was actually Friday) and stayed until Tuesday. That was a nice surprise. I was missing him a lot. He'll be back next week to watch the pups while I'm in San Diego.

And then as I was cruising Facebook one day and I saw this needing a home...

CatDancer...

He's 7 and there is just something about that face (I had the same reaction when I saw Flash for the first time, too). So I'm picking up a new horse this weekend. He will be the replacement for Storm, who is not even pasture sound anymore despite me throwing all kinds of money at her *sad face* I'm going to let her enjoy the pasture until it plays out and then I will be putting her down. Considering how rough last winter was on her (when she was actually walk/trot sound) it seems the kindest thing to do.

Wow. So many things happening at once. But I'm pretty excited about the new horse. I'll post pics when I have him home and settled in...

A fungus among us...

*sigh*

Flash has had this weird spot on his back for the past few weeks. It's right along his spine and is flaky and itchy and the hair is starting to come in white there. At first I thought it was no big deal... a little dry skin and it didn't seem to bother him when I touched it. I decided to put some ointment on it and see what happened. I rode him last Thursday and he was fine and the spot seemed to be about the same.

Happy horse ready to move out...

Halfway through the ride and still a pretty happy horse...

Last night when I pulled him from the pasture to ride with Honey I checked his back again. This time when I touched the spot he flinched... and not just a little. A lot. And then he gave me a look like "Don't touch that thing, woman... it hurts". So of course I did what any mother does, I pushed on it more. I mean, this is the horse that has never had a sore back in his life. Never.

After consulting with Honey, we decided it must be the new pad I bought him back in June creating a hot spot. Which sucks because that thing was expensive. The pad I had been using was just a cheap fleece thing. Guess I'll be looking for something different. But for now he's going out to Hutch's place to hang out with Commander and Melody while I bring Scout back to my place and put some rides on her.

So last night, I ended up riding one of Honey's horses... Frank. He's a good boy that was more than happy to go in any direction I pointed him. Honey rode bobble-head and we had a great time.

Can you tell I've lost weight? I'm down 11 pounds :)

Plus I'm on a tall horse... that never happens.

View of the river through Frank's ears...

Honey enjoying a ride, some wine and the sunset...

So now that I'm down a riding horse or two, I have some things to think about. Storm has come up lame again. Years before I got her she had an injury to her stifle and it fused. This past year it was doing pretty well and then in the last few months she's taken a major turn for the worse. I had the vet come out and do another injection, but she is still dead lame and the vet doesn't give her much of a chance of ever being sound again. I'll offer her back to the previous owner, but if she doesn't want her I'm considering putting her down. It does sound harsh, but if she's not going to improve then it seems the kindest thing.

And then there's Goodwin. He's doing just fine and seems to be growing up rather than out (which is too bad... I like my horses low to the ground in case ass and saddle ever part ways). He has a good personality and seems pretty trainable. I need to start putting some serious work on him and will probably bring him back to my place in November and get working on that. However, in the meantime I stumbled across another Arab that has really caught my eye. His price is right and he's already started. I guess we'll see where that goes.

In the meantime, Scout and I will be blazing the trails together. Should be fun...

It's official. I suck...

Oh man. I seriously need to get a grip, people.

I have 3 blogs started... one about Pacific Crest (which I'm still up in the air about posting because it's not all rainbows and butterflies), one about trying to deal with a long distance relationship (in which I totally spill my guts and then remember that people probably don't actually want to hear about that shit) and then one about me lamenting over the fact that I'm not racing this weekend and that I'm sad. Boo hoo...

They are all bad, folks. Really, really bad.

Have I lost it? Have I lost my blogging mojo?

*sigh*

The fact is this: I have a great life, a great boyfriend, some awesome friends and the best family a person could ask for. Things on the job front aren't the best, but I just let that one go (unless it's been a particularly bad day). I feel like the things I'm writing about are things that people really don't really want to read about. They want drama. And other than the long-distance dating thing (which kinda sucks, by the way), I really don't have any. The Pacific Crest blog could definitely stir up some drama (again, not all rainbows and butterflies) but I'm just not sure I want to go there.

*sigh*

So, what's a blogger to do?

I guess I just need to get back in the swing of things again. It's not like I don't have time... Rebel's not due back in town for a few weeks (might have to rethink that, though... I miss him). I guess I just need to find my voice again. With all the hubbub of the summer, I've kind of lost it.

So stick with me, folks. I promise it will get better...

Tee it up...

God bless Labor Day... and the 3-day weekend it provides those of us with paid holidays off.

Rebel decided to make the trip North and come up for the extended weekend. We hadn't really talked about what we wanted to do, so the weekend was open for all options. Earlier in the week, Honey and DT had suggested playing some golf out at Pronghorn as a 4some. I wasn't sure how Rebel would feel about that... after all, it had been about 15 years since he had played. But when he rolled into town on Friday night I threw the idea out there and he wasn't too opposed to the idea. He wasn't exactly thrilled about it either. So we made plans to golf on Sunday afternoon and then hit the pool.

On Saturday, Rebel and I hit a few National Parks around Central Oregon and did a fair amount of hiking. First we went to Lava Butte. We didn't get a chance to drive to the top (darn) but we did hike around the couple of miles of trail around the bottom.

Lots of lava and pretty mountains...

It's much more impressive in person...

Not so successfully getting a picture of us both...

Rebel and the lava...

BTW, are we both looking any thinner? We're both on a diet and doing well. Rebel is down 13 pounds and I'm down 7. Woo!!

After we went to Lava Butte, we then headed over to the Lava River Cave a little ways down the road. Rebel was prepared with flashlights, although you could rent a lantern for $5 if you needed. It was about a mile and a half to the end (where it's caved in) and it was very cool to see all the formations of rock. It was also about 50 degrees, so take a coat when you go.

Looking down into the cave...

Looking up at the entrance from the cave...

After that adventure, we headed over to the Lava Cast Forest and took a hike around there. I didn't get a good picture, but basically the "forest" is holes in lava in the shape of the trees that then burned out. It's pretty cool... and a nice hike.

Looking out over the "forest"...

A Juniper tree root ball that had no where to grow because of the lava...

We were both tired when we got home from all of the hiking.

On Sunday, we met up with Honey and DT and headed out to play some golf. Honey and Rebel hadn't played much, but they both did really well. We were the last group off on the Fazio course (beautiful course) and were moving kind of slow because we were all taking multiple shots off the tees. So we only really played 9 holes and then we headed over to the pool to swim. Honey also brought her twin daughters to come hang at the pool and they had a great time as well.

By the time we got home Sunday night, I was done. I almost passed out while eating dinner I was that tired.

On Monday we were thinking about going to the river and hanging out and doing some swimming and hiking. Instead, Rebel suggested we go to the driving range and practice a bit and then head out and finish playing Fazio. So that's what we did. Rebel used the demo set of clubs (a really nice set of Titlist clubs) and he really started getting his swing down. Then we headed out and played 10 through 18 and had a blast. It was just the 2 of us and we were in between two 4somes so we weren't rushed at all. We had a good time and we both played pretty decent. Then we headed to the pool again. We ate, we drank and just generally had a good time. By the time we left, we were the only ones at the pool still.

What a fun weekend. But this morning Rebel had to head back to the ranch. I definitely wish we lived in the same town, but I know he's got things to do. At least I always have fun memories to tide me over when we're apart...

Creepers...

So, I live on a 7 acre property. There are 2 houses... the main house (where the landlords reside) and the bunkhouse (where I reside). There is a natural alcove of lava rock that the bunkhouse is tucked into so you can't really see the main house from the bunkhouse. And out my back door there is about a foot of flat ground before it becomes the lava rock wall thingy.

Right now the landlords are out of town. So it's just me, 3 horses, 2 goats, 1 pony and 4 dogs. Because it was kind of warm last night I had the back door open and was watching a movie in my bedroom. Did I mention that the back door is also in my bedroom?

Anyway, I took a shower and was applying lotion to my legs when all of a sudden all 4 dogs (because Bosco and DD were having a sleep over) went apeshit. And the next thing I hear is crashing sounds coming from the top of the rock alcove and what sounded like to guys yelling back and forth to each other. Needless to say, I wasted no time getting my gun loaded and a round chambered... with the safety off.

After I calmed down a bit I also put a phone call into the non-emergency police number to let them know the situation. They told me they would send a patrol by. I have no idea if they actually did or not... but figured it was good protocol to let them know in case I ended up having to pull the trigger. You know, getting the self-defense argument set up in advance and all that.

Then I decided to text Rebel and let him know what was going on... you know, just in case I disappeared or ended up in pieces in a plastic bag somewhere. This was our convo...

Me: Just an FYI... There was someone in the bushes behind the house and I'm the only one on property tonight. Gun is loaded and by my side...

Rebel: Why is there someone in the brush?

Me: Not sure. When the dogs started barking I heard them run off talking to each other. Only 2 I think but they were on the hill right behind the back door (to my bedroom, let me remind you!!). Door was open, now closed. Scared the crap out of me though...

Rebel: That's why you call the cops

(so not helpful)

Me: I called the non-emergency number and let them know. Thought I should let you know too

(you know, in case I end up dead or something)

Rebel: What did they say?

Me: That they would send a patrol by to look. Haven't seen them yet...

Rebel: Good luck, try and get some sleep.

Good luck? Really?

Not quite the response I was expecting. Two ways you can take that, I guess...

1. He doesn't really care that there are strange men right outside my bedroom door.

2. He thinks I can take care of myself.

Farmer has always told me that if there are two ways to take a thing that I should take the positive one and not the negative one. OK fine. I can actually take care of myself... so I will take it that way. 

However, in the future I'm hoping there's just a teensy-weensy more concern on the part of my significant other. That's not asking too much. Is it?

Getting organized...

I really have a lot of things I want to say about a lot of different subjects. I have no less than 4 posts partially started and have now abandoned because something else has come along and it's been a busy month(s).

So sue me. I'm a bad blogger... or just lazy. Take your pick.

The subjects I'm (kinda) working on:

1. Friendships - and the loss/gain thereof.
2. How to tame the crazy during "that" time.
3. Pacific Crest endurance ride.
4. The move down South (waaaaay South).

Anything in particular out of those subjects that piques your interest?

Other things we did in Tahoe and Reno...

After the wedding went down, it was time to have some fun with the family... and have some fun not with the family.

I tried my hand at water skiing. The good news? I got up. The bad news? What goes up must come down (hard... and with the bruises to prove it).

Um damn. That water is cold...

Still trying to get the skis on...

And still trying...

Almost ready...

Hit it!!

I'm up...

And not doing too badly...

And I'm down. Ouch...

Where's my beer? I'm gonna need it...

Me and the sis-in-law before we tried to be cool...

(she wake-boarded, so she actually was cool)

 After some fun in the sun and on the lake it was time to head to Reno. We ended up staying at the Silver Legacy and it was very cool...

The moon rising as we were driving North...

The view from the parking garage (top floor)...

We did some fun stuff while in Reno... we shopped, rode a ferris wheel, played some putt-putt golf, ate some really good food, played some fun games (Paradise Fishing anyone?), and just generally enjoyed our time there. And then it was time to head home...

However, we ended up camping for a few days as well. Not a bad way to decompress from the crazy vaca...