On Slowing It Down...

As I wrote last, I am in the process of starting to look for new work. I say 'in the process' because I am really trying hard to make my resume the best it can be. I've gone to an employment agency to help make it look a bit nicer, and I'm currently working with the manager at my work to vamp up the things that I've done in that job.

The only thing on my mind here is to get more. I want to pay off the JEEP, soup it up, raise it up, and buy giant tires. I want to buy a truck, a really, really sexy truck. I want to start looking at places to live long-term, work with a financial advisor to see how long that might take.

I want to do more school, I want to take more courses, I want to have better qualifications. I want, I want, I want.

I feel like I'm running and running and running and I'm starting to wonder... What the hell for?

Of course I'm so glad that I have goals beyond putting on pants in the morning. I think that it is important to be driven to do more.

But I need to relax! I need to slow down and enjoy the journey a little more. I need to chill, look at the sunset, and admire the things going on around me.

While I have so many goals and so much to do, I also don't want to miss the life I'm currently living.

And I drove home tonight with some country music playing on the radio and Montgomery Gentry was serenading me from all six speakers in my JEEP, saying "So now I'm slowin' it down and I'm lookin' around and I'm lovin' this town and I'm doin' alright"

Yep. Slowin' it down. Lovin' this town.

Doin' alright.

I like it.

June 16th?!

No, really. JUNE 16th?!?

That was the last time I wrote?

And my goal was to be in a horse show by July the 18th?

I have got to get up off my butt. Seriously.

Since I've last written, I've had a wicked-awesome birthday party and a two day hangover that was the result of said party. I participated in berry season, my horse and I got into a huge fight over the gate of my ring, and four wheeled my Jeep through a dirt bike path.

My tree named Hope has yet to be photographed, but I did manage to successfully grow grass around her. Dixie has lost her mind again and has started acting like she is about eight months old, and Zydeco no longer has shoes on all four feet (My pocket book is pretty happy about that decision, let me tell you.)

I have started the process of actively seeking new employment yet again. It seems that in my life the grass is always greener, and I would really like to work in that place where the grass is shiny, tall and free of weeds.

I have started trying my hand at being social by going out and talking to other human beings rather than staying in and petting my horse when the time is right. I may not be the best at appropriate social interaction but I think it is time I tried. I do fear the day that I wake up alone at age forty five with no one to send random text messages to.

And my next goal?

Write on my blog more than once a month.

Oh, Happiness...

Remember this post?

I was so sad that Dixie looked old and sad.

Well, a few days after that, Dixie gave up all will to live and laid in her kennel for hours on end, nursing a paw that had some sort of abscess on it. In a panic, I took her to the vet because she had not gotten up to pee in about eight hours. With her bladder condition, this is not good news.

A hundred and thirty two dollars later, Dixie was diagnosed with an infection in her paw that had gone systemic and required antibiotics.

A week after that?

Dixie is back to her old self again! She is happy, full of life, and thrilled to terrify my horse by hunting small game in the ditch beside my riding ring.

She is still grey around her muzzle, but other than that she is bright eyed, eating like an overweight beagle should eat, and greeting me with more joy than she has been in the past few weeks.

Oh, happiness. My beagle is healthy once more.

Baby, Let's Go For a Drive...

I didn't feel like going straight home after work this morning, even though after a nineteen hour shift I'm typically ready to bond with my couch for a while. I drove down to Tim's and got myself a coffee and took the long way home.

I drove down the highway and toured around the the town my old church is in. There was a jolly farmer who had a huge junkyard just up from the church, and I wondered if he was still there. His junk yard has expanded and he was actually on the road in his tractor this morning, grinning and waving at me like he's done since I was about twelve. Just a happy farmer with a lot of neat stuff around.

I drove by the church where I received my first communion and where years ago I stood with the person who is now my ex husband. I still feel like that whole situation punched me in the face, but really, it didn't even make me sad. It just is what it is.

I drove through a more run down area of the country. I think it is what most people would call a rural ghetto. And since I was a child, the place has cleaned up quite nicely. The houses look less scary, better kept.

I drank my coffee and listened to the radio and the rain poured down. And me and my Jeep just kept going, wherever we felt like going with the rain pelting the rag top. I don't really know what I was thinking or if there was anything of value to bother taking up my thoughts. It was just a long ride in my trusty Jeep. Perhaps not the most economical way to spend a morning, or the most environmentally friendly...

I think there's just something about driving around in a vehicle you love that is good for the soul. I've got a term paper due, a project on the go at work that I can't begin to complrehend, berry season coming up, a horse who is out of shape, and a pair of dress riding boots that won't go around my legs.

Nothing like a little therapeutic driving to clear a person's head.

Happy Sixth Hundredth Post, Blog...

Zydeco and I had our first lesson of the season today. And oh, what a time we had.



We are currently working without the aid of a fenced in riding area and he has learned a neat little trick called "When she asks me to work, I simply run up onto the driveway."

For the first time in two years of working with Zydeco, I actually thumped him in the ribs while he was trying to escape my efforts. I can honestly say that I have never punished my horse before today. Those around me were thrilled that I have finally taken control of a situation and said what's what. I felt a little bit bad but did not enjoy the sensation of being stampeded into the trees across from the ring, so I don't feel too guilty.

Zydeco and I celebrated our first lesson of the season with quite the feat as well: Our first square halt.



Does the above horse have two legs, or four?

Oh, the dressage-y glory. Hopefully more framed work and square halts will follow through the season.

And it Begins...

My dreams of becoming a competitive rider reign once more.

My coach and I spent the day together shopping. Not really horse-related, but we got to spend a large amount of time discussing mine and Zydo's future.

First thing: Get the damn horse into a show ring before he attempts to take his own life once more. For the love of God, let there not be more injuries to my horse. *Pause for contemplative prayer*

Next order of business: It will take two months to get the two of us into shape. That's right: My coach went there. She mentioned ME.

"The horse is out of shape. But you need some work as well."

Ouch.

I need to walk, jump rope, work on some abdominals, do some squats, and quit drinking beer.

Alternatively, I can continue drinking beer, but the squats, sit-ups, and rope jumping need to be quadrupled.

This is a tough decision, folks.

My ideal goal is to be ready for the first show in the show catalogue by July 18th. My dream show occurso n July 5th of this year. My coach feels that the two of us together, with out winter rolls of excess fat and our inability to climb stairs -- or hills-- without losing our breath, will relegate us to showing in August.

Zydeco and I must become fit.

It is now or never, and really, with the mindset I currently have, it is now.

It has arrived....

After many arduous hours working away at the ring, it is complete.



We had to rent a tractor, which was a process in and of itself and I'm sure will become a post in and of itself. I am basking in joy right now and will not weigh down this post with my anger at the difficulties involved in renting a tractor in this county.



Both tractors worked in harmony to finish the ring in a record of about five hours. In all, it didn't take as long as we thought it would, but it was a long day for those out actually doing the work.

By six p.m. tonight, I was on the back of my magnificent Thoroughbred, having the ride of a lifetime. I was a little bit scared as this was the first time Zydo had someone on him since he hurt himself, but he never blinked or took a sore step.



This is what I continue to love about Zydeco, his willingness to go on and go forward regardless of what is keeping him back. I was only able to trot him for a very short period of time and I physically had to fight him to get him back into a walk. He just wants to work and work, and is very rarely crazy about it.

He was a peach the whole time I rode, never stepping a foot out of line. I could have wept in joy for how glad I was to be upon his fine back once more. Really. A tear nearly escaped me.



And now the real fun begins. Now I can ride every day at MY HOUSE. I don't have to drive an hour to get to my horse like I did last summer, or fight to get through fields of hay or worry about oncoming traffic while riding on the road. The amount of freedom I feel in all this is overwhelming: I honestly feel like I can do anything I want without a single limit.

The first task will be to get my fat, lazy horse in shape enough to be ridden for any length of time. After that, the world is my oyster.

Oh, the Sand-y Glory...

LOOK!



My horse is alive and moving!

And now, LOOK at this...



In celebration of my horse still being alive, we've decided to take the plunge and actually make a place for me to ride him.

Here is me on top of some of the sand we ordered.



I could be riding MY horse on MY farm in MY ring in a matter of days....

There isn't a receptacle big enough on this Earth to contain my excitement.