Starting a Rumor

I've decided to start a rumor that John will be home next Friday. I'm not sure if that's the actual date and neither is he. It will be nice to have an advocate while dealing with the horses. WHO KNEW that they could cause so much trouble. Scout choked again last night. He only got a very small amount of grain to bribe him into a stall while the rain is here. I even have a big rock in the feed pan to keep him from eating too fast. When I went to check the stall doors I noticed him flipping his lip up. In Scout language that means "I hurt." We flushed him with the water hose forever. He would try to cough and only a little squeak would come out. Pretty sad. It finally worked after we walked him up and down the barn aisle. The only way you can tell if he's better is to wait for him to act like, well, himself again. It started by me dragging him down the aisle and ended with him dragging me. No more grain for Scout.

Quote of the Day
"I just want to say for the record I did not kill anyone. Stanley was attacked by his own heart." -Dwight Schrute

Time to SLOW DOWN

Wow! This week kicked my butt, or, I kicked somebody's butt...I can't really remember. Meet the #1 on my list, Scout. He went back into training. He nearly killed me. Then I rallied and won. I rode him again today and he was much better. I even took Aari out on a trail ride. I'm pretty sure something is dead behind John's barn (no it isn't Scout). There were a lot of circling buzzards. We went looking for it but it stayed lost. John will be happy to know that his horse now has a reverse gear. Lilly is awesome. I am so excited to show her. She and Cole get reshod on Friday. Then, I'm taking a vacation.

P.S.- HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY ANGIE!!!!

Quote of the Day
Michael Scott: Ok, so dig this. You're on the street, and one of your gang disses you.
Darryl: Oh my goodness.
Michael Scott: Yeah. Right. So what do you do to get 'em to make it right?
Darryl: Well see, um, in a gang world, we use something called fluffy fingers.
Michael Scott: What is that?
Darryl: That's when someone really gets in your face, you know you just, start ticklin' 'em.
Michael Scott: Really?
Darryl: Yeah. And he starts tickling you. And pretty soon you laughing and hugging. Before you know it, you've forgotten the whole thing. Y'all just go and get an ice cream cone.
Michael Scott: I would have never though that.. gangs would be tickling each other.
Darryl: Oh. It's effective.

Smack Down

I got tired of the horses being in the barn. Scout and Aari had been in for two days and Cole and Lilly had been inside for two weeks. They were all nuts. The ground wasn't dry but the heavy rain had stopped so out they went. They bucked and ran forever. It took me about an hour to clean out four stalls. They were nasty! I think they had thrown a party the night before. We worked on John's house over the weekend. It took all day Saturday and part of Sunday to get things cleaned and arranged. I think all we have left to do are curtains and rugs. The rest of the house looks awesome. I'm having a hard time believing it is the same house. It was so full of paint supplies and trash it was hard to see through it all. But, finally, it's done!! I moved most of John's army stuff to the attic. That crap was heavy! One of the boxes got away from me while I was going up the stairs and I fell backward...down the steps. It hurt. I'll leave the rest of it for him to move. I want to post pictures but I also want him to be surprised when he gets home. I'll think it over.

Quote of the Day: "I am single now. What we have here, is the ultimate smack down between the Nard Dog, and crippling despair, loneliness, and depression. I intend to win." -Andy Bernard

Break Contact

John will be on the dark side of the moon for the next few weeks. He probably won't be able to call or email at all. At least he got the box of backup food before went out. Before he left he sent this picture. I still can't get used to the time change between here and there. I'll call him to ask him something and forget where the heck he is. Oh, update on the wedding dress....it came and I LOVE it! I went ahead and ordered a veil to go with it that matched perfectly. So, now for the shoes and I'm done. Well, with that part anyway.

Lilly's foot still looks really bad. I had to wash it with dish detergent just to get it clean. I don't know what that vet was thinking telling me to leave bandages off of it because it won't heal and it stays nasty with her WALKING on the cut! I wrapped her back up in a bandage with a lot of medication on it. It already looks like the infection is going down. I won't get a chance to clean it until Saturday. Speaking of Saturday (wow, lots of news) the painters are done at John's house. It looks incredible! I'm taking Saturday to clean and get furniture arranged. John should be home in a few weeks and I don't want him to have to clean at all. I have two more lights to buy (bathroom and kitchen) and all the lighting is done. Martha will take pictures so I can post them hopefully Sunday.

Quote of the Day:
Michael Scott: "Today is Spring cleaning day here at Dundler Mifflin, and yes I know it's January, I'm not an idiot, but if you do your Spring cleaning in January guess what you don't have to do in the Spring... anything. They say a cluttered desk means a cluttered mind, well I say an empty desk means an..."
Dwight Schrute: "Empty mind."
Michael Scott: "Well, no... that's not what I was going to say."

Etc.

This is a picture of John drawing in the dirt. He learned it from years on the farm while working with sneaky cows who would try to escape during cow capture day (usually around the first of the year). Now he uses it for the military. I hope he covers it up so any cows who might have learned to read by now won't know his plan. Lilly is still in recovery. I have been faithfully cleaning and putting nasty paste all over her leg since the vet came last week. She is getting more tolerant of me especially since I load her up with treats when we're done. I hate that we are missing some really valuable riding time but I need her to be 100% sound when we start back. Cole is getting tired of having to babysit her in the next stall. I can tell he's ready to get back outside. His legs have begun to lock up so he has to get daily exercise. I really don't want to go down that road again.

John has started a Bible study with the guys in his unit. Please pray that more guys will attend and that it will catch on.

John, I'm shipping you a box-o-stuff tomorrow (Tuesday) with the book in it.

Quote of the Day
Michael: So, bankruptcy is kind of like the witness protection program?
Oscar: NOT AT ALL.
Creed: EXACTLY.

Horses and Stupid Ideas

Lilly tried to ski. She failed and now she's injured. She has lacerated the back of her rear leg and is now on medication and on stall rest. When I went to feed her supper and bring her in for the evening I noticed A LOT of blood on both of her hocks. I don't know how the blood got all the way up there unless she fell down and stayed down for awhile. It really freaked me out. I cleaned her up and scrubbed the wounds down the best I could. She wasn't really interested in me messing with her. She was in quite a bit of pain. The cuts are in a place that would be impossible to stitch. So, we have to settle with keeping it cleaned and medicated. I'll see if she's any better tomorrow. Ahhh, and right before show season. At least she's white so the scar won't be a different color.

My dress comes tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

Quote of the day:
Ryan: "A few years ago, my family was on a safari in Africa and my cousin, Mufasa, was... he was trampled to death by a pack of wildebeasts and we all took it really hard. All of us, kind of in the audience, of what happened."

Michael: "Do you want to talk about it anymore?"

Ryan: "Oh, it would probably take me like an hour and a half to tell that whole story."