3-D

We go Saturday with hordes of family for the 3D ultrasound. I'm so excited! I should get a DVD with it so I can put him on the blog. If all goes well this will be the last ultrasound until we see him in person. I hope he's awake. If not I might bring some sugar to help him wake up. Then I'll let him sleep the rest of the day. The nursery is in progress...not like he's even going in there for awhile. He'll be staying with me. He's a pretty active baby. He kicks like a wild man and this morning he found a fun new nerve in my back to jump on. I've heard that being active in the womb usually means a calm baby in person. Let's hope so. If not I'll have to recruit Cedar to help babysit.

Quote of the Day: "Last night, I dreamed that the number two was the most valued number in the world. The vice-president had all the power, athletes fought for silver medals, women were considered the best gender, and stadiums of fans shouted, "we're number two!" As with all my dreams, I'm guessing it was about my fear of immigrants." -Dwight Schrute

What I Can't Do

I rode a horse the other day. It wasn't a great idea. I didn't fall off and John stood and played safety patrol so I didn't do anything stupid but it wasn't a comfortable experience. It did show me how much I've missed riding. Now that I'm about halfway through this pregnancy I'm really starting to get stretched out and a little uncomfortable. I know it only gets "better." I'm trying to enjoy it but goodness gracious am I tired. My OB laughed at me my last trip when he found me almost asleep waiting for him in the exam room. I got the "you think you're tired now" speech. Anyway, so far so good.

I'm sad about missing State Fair this year but there are other competitions I can enter besides the horse show. John is also going to be entering some competitions. I'm excited for him. He has a pretty good chance of doing well. We are considering entering Laurel in one of the classes at the horse show on a friend's horse. She has become quite the little rider. She talks about it all the time and has bonded with Lilly. Noah even rode last weekend. We had to tone him down a bit. Screaming "heeeya" at the horse while snapping the reins may be how the cowboys on TV do it but Lilly just froze and didn't know how to react to the little monster on her back. If his allergies hold off we can probably do lessons with him too. TWO YOUTH RIDERS! Hopefully I can start posting more often. We have been so busy with barn activities (injured horses, barn drama) that posting has been last on my list. It would be fun to put up a ultrasound photo or 2. I'll see if I can figure that one out.

Quote of the Day: "This morning Danny Cordrea stole a sale from me so what do I do? I go out and I steal Danny Cordrea. Funny thing about it, we don't even need 'em. We already have Packer on the road! Crrrrap. I forgot about Packer!" -Michael Scott

Who dat?

Have you ever had one of those days where you just expected the "same ole" and then WHAM you get hit in the head. Not a literal hit...but it sort of feels like that anyway. As you can see by my baby ticker in the corner I'm about 16 weeks into my pregnancy. We had a regular OB appointment set up last week and they we where to go back this coming Monday to find out if we were having a boy or girl. Well, we did the fun glucose test, took blood, saw the doctor and then were told we needed to wait for the ultrasound because they were running a little behind. WHAT! They had my chart messed up and they had scheduled the ultrasound for that day. What an incredible surprise. We waited about an hour for the room but it was so worth it. I was so excited (not to mention hyper from the sugar test) that I talked John to death waiting but finally they called us back. Now, I haven't seen the baby since 7 1/2 weeks and then it just looked like a jelly bean with a tail. Still a very moving experience but nothing like what we were about to see. We could immediately make out the baby. The lady did measurements, movement, made sure all the parts were there (not like it would have made a difference to us) and then went to check on gender. I've had a strange feeling that I'd be having a girl since before I got pregnant and I just knew that this would confirm it....just knew. John didn't really have a preference but I knew deep down he would love to have a tractor buddy. Well.......







A tractor buddy it is!!!!!! I'm so excited:)

Quote of the Day: "Raising kids is part joy and part guerrilla warfare." -Ed Asner

HOT!

Boy is it hot!!! I feel so badly for the horses that stand out in this all day. Back when we broke 100 we brought all the pasture board horses in for the weekend just so they could have some relief from it all. It really seemed to help them. Even the shelters don't do much to cool them off when it's this bad. I helped John get hay up last Saturday. It was the rush of the century. We could see the storm clouds building and had about 50-75 bales in the field....and....the tractor decided to not work. After frantically whamming on it it kicked into gear and off we went. Only 15 bales left to go when the storm of the century hit. I think I took 4 showers that day cooling off and then going back out to help. This weekend the hay will have to wait. We have a wedding to attend...in 105 degree heat.

Quote of the Day: "Dwight has been Acting Manager for three months now? ... Nope. A week. Just feels like three months. Let's see, we all have to punch into a time clock, which is very old, very strong, and has the slot about the size of a finger. We were all given new business cards, big enough to set us apart from the competition. Which is how I learned that our titles are now Junior Employee. Our lunch breaks are staggered to prevent wasting time. Mine's at 10:30 and I find that the first hour of the day goes by a lot quicker than the second seven hours." -Jim Halpert

I Dont' Ever Post Anymore

Life has gotten a little wild lately. I completely forgot that I even had a blog! Work is nuts and the horses have had to fend for themselves. They don't seem to worried about eating grass all day and hanging out under their shelter when it gets hot. We did go to a local show this past weekend. John took Scout and I took Lilly. I didn't ride but I did show model classes and John won the trail class. My cousins showed all day and won high point you and overall high point champion. I'm glad we had a good day. That will be the last show we go to for awhile. This heat is crazy and it's just hard to go outside for anything. John is working like a dog on the farm. It's his busy season too. Most evenings we just collapse on the couch and stare at the TV....very productive. Well, I'll try to post more often. Life is about to get interesting!

Quote of the Day: "In my family, you don't really go out and get things. If you want something, you write it on a list, and then the housekeeper goes out and gets it on Wednesdays and Fridays. So I don't know. I guess you could say that this job is on my list. And we'll see what Rosa comes back with." -Andy (The Office)

Weekend

John and I went away for a holiday weekend last Friday to celebrate our one year anniversary. My aunt has a house near the mountains and we went and stay several days and did absolutely nothing. I loved it. We did, however, manage to go to my grandma's farm and fish for half a day. John kept catching turtles. It was fun.

We took Lilly and Cole to a horse show recently. Cole acted so badly that we had to cancel most of his classes and John had to ride him for over an hour just so he would stand quietly at the horse trailer. Lilly did great. Hopefully I'll have photos soon (I know I always say that but I really mean it this time).

Nothing more for now.

Quote of the Day: "Today will either be the best or the worst day of my life. Holly gave AJ an ultimatum. He either proposes by New Year's or they break up. Now, if she's engaged, I'm gonna go crazy, and I'm gonna start attacking people. If she's not engaged, in all honesty, I may just burn this whole place to the ground out of happiness. Either way, I am going to need some talking down. And nobody talks me down like myself in a video talking me down." -Michael Scott

Warm Days = Naps (and riding horses)

I am so glad the weather is finally warming up. That means horse shows and working on my garden. We were preparing to go to the first show of the season on Saturday when we were told the show was canceled. We were pretty disappointed. So, we changed plans and had a trail ride/picnic instead. IT WAS GREAT. We rode all over the farm with my 2 cousins and one of our boarders before we stopped for lunch...got attacked by ticks...and then finished the ride. I'm glad the show was canceled. It was awesome. Now we have to get ready for the next show in exactly one month. I think we'll be ready.

It has definitely been the winter of sickness. All we've done is bounce around colds. I was feeling pretty cruddy so I went to the doctor to get blood work done. My vitamin D level was too low. She said a lot of women are coming in with low vit. D levels. But, it's an easy fix. I'm taking 2,000 iu's a day to get caught up. It may take several months but I hope it does the trick.

Oh, I have become a Scentsy freak! Have any of you come across this? They are little (or big) plug in warmers with some of the best smells ever. No kidding. I've bought 2 warmers already and about 12 different little smelly blocks to melt in them. I don't even sell this stuff but I would be a perfect spokesperson. Poor John. I'm so thankful he puts up with me.

Quote of the Day: "First up, the lost and found has gone missing. It itself, is lost. So please try not to lose anything until we find it." -Michael Scott

Lots going on...nothing to talk about.

I really enjoy having sit on the couch evenings. We've been pretty busy with the barn lately and it seems like things are picking up. Horse show season is right around the corner and I've ridden my horses a total of 3 times since the fair. I'm actually impressed at how much my horses retained since last season. I got a lot of riding in last year and I'm sure they needed some time off. It's just the getting in shape part that's going to be difficult. John and I laugh at the extreme hay bellies they've all developed. Even always skinny Aari looks a little pudgy. I started this year with visions of increasing my riding lessons but quickly found that it was too much right now. Maybe later. Wallace and Rubble went to the mobile vet yesterday to get spay/neutered. I got a phone call about an hour in that Rubble was only 2lbs and she was too young. Wallace was actually huge so they were able to go ahead with his de-tomcatting. At least they can't get married now. My biggest fear was that we would have a sunroom full of beautiful half feral kittens. Rubble goes NOWHERE until she gains 2 more pounds and I trot her off to the vet. Oh, Valentines Day is almost here!!! I'm so excited. I've already bought John his present/ online/ discount price. He knows what it is so I can't really surprise him so I need one more really good idea. And, that's what I'll be working on for the next few weeks;)

Oh, and I don't do resolutions. Just thought I'd say that. Kind of takes the pressure off 2011. Except, I do want to finish writing a book I started several years ago. Nope, not my resolution though.

Quote of the Day: "I made a resolution to floss, and I did it. 12:01, January first, BAM! Blood everywhere." -Michael Scott

He's Well!

The old horse is now frolicking around with the other horses. Well, he actually just stands there and they frolic around him. I am so glad he's better and he healed rather quickly. My cousin got a horse for Christmas. I drove up to see him on Saturday. Absolutely beautiful and very sweet. I have pictures! Also, Christmas etc. are over. I killed Christmas at my house last night. It took forever to get everything wrapped up in paper and stored away. Then I ate a salad. I did get some cool stuff. One gift John gave me was pillows. Sounds not that exciting but if you've ever had to live with a really crappy pillow then you know how wonderful it is to find the perfect one. His mom gave me a magic pot from pampered chef. I've already used it twice. It really is magic. With the weather trying very hard to warm up I really want to get back to riding. My horses are fat and scraggly. They need a job.

ps- I found this photo my mom took the day of the bridal portraits! I think it's pretty.

Quote of the Day: "Having Luke here is a pretty big deal for me. Because his mother, who also happens to be my half sister, kind of cut me off from that side of the family fifteen years ago--fourteen. The last time I saw Luke, was the opening day of Ace Ventura 2. And that was '95. So yes, fifteen years on the dot. Anyway, I lost him in a forest." -Michael Scott

Barn Drama

So, the oldest horse at the barn got hurt. At night. On a Sunday. He was running with the other excited pasture horses when he tripped on his blanket and it flew over his head. Down he went and his front leg was trashed. It took a really long time just to get him from the pasture to the barn. It was pitiful. I was certain that he had broken his shoulder. The vet checked and checked him but couldn't find a fracture. The horse is so big and fuzzy you couldn't even tell if he was swelling or just puffy. They loaded him up with so many pain killers I'm surprised the horse could stand up at all. We decided to give him a night and see what happened. THANK GOODNESS by the next morning he was walking on the busted leg and much more comfortable. I was terrified for this horse. He's 34 years old. Hopefully it's just stall rest and lots of good food for him at this point. He is accepting get well cards;)

On a happier note...Christmas is almost here and I have a new kitten to share it with. Baby Rubble is bonding with Wallace (the grown Tom cat). They share the cat bed at night. It's so cute. I really need to get a picture up because she is a gorgeous calico. She bit me the first time I tried to pick her up (no sign of rabies yet). Now I can hold her without a problem. YEAH!

Quote of the Day: "Toby has been leaving radon test kits everywhere like he owns the place. The first time I threw mine away I thought it was an ant trap. But I figured I'd rather live with ants than with this creepy little disc. The second time, I thought it was one of those, you know, the things you turn over and it moo's like a cow thing but upon closer examination it was another ant trap so I threw it away. And the third time, I did it out of spite." -Michael Scott

Winter

I've already decorated for Christmas. That's right. I'm DONE. Well, I was done until my mom found another box in the barn with my name on it. Now I have one more box to go through and see what I can junk my house up with now. John made me find a stocking for Wallace (my cat that has no distinguishable color). I'm not sure what to get him for Christmas. He already has a sparkle collar. He is due for a neutering (I'm talking about the cat). I'll spring that on him later. I'm going to try some crafts for gifts this year. My mom is the target. I feel sorry for her. Whatever I give her, no matter how terrible it, is she will feel obligated to display it in her house until the hot glue gives out or the cat attacks it. Poor her. I'm posting this song for her. When she looks at the terrible crafty gift she can play this song and feel a little bit better. Our family had to cancel Thanksgiving this year due the the plague that swept through. John got out with about a day and a half of it. The rest of us went to urgent care. It's been great fun. Oh, John is teaching Scout to not freak out when he shoots around him. We tried it on Thanksgiving morning with Lilly and Scout but Lilly didn't handle it well. Scout did great and John even was able to ride him while I shot caps around him. He did, however, wear 12 helmets. Horses are fun....dangerous and stupid...but fun.

Quote of the Day: "If you break that girl's heart, I will kill you... It's just a figure of speech. But seriously, if you break that girl's heart, I will literally kill you and your entire family." -Michael Scott

Something Funny

A few days ago I was having a bad day. Aaaand, when you're having a bad day you can always find something funny on youtube. Off I trotted to the internet and found this...

I laughed so much it hurt. Not so much at the model, but just listen to the anchorman. Our horse barn is beginning to fill up...slowly. It's a good thing because it takes me a while to remember the new names off horse/owner. I usually make up my own name for them anyways. I'll stop typing now because the video is worth watching 1,000 times.

Horse Show Wrap-Up

No horse show photos yet. I have to get up with a lady who has some great ones. We had a decent State Fair. Youth day went by REALLY quickly. I never thought I would utter those words but WOW! The kids made a great show. But, we were showing against world champion horses and riders. Whew! We barely made it out alive but Melissa was able to capture a ribbon. My qualifying classes were mediocre at best. Cole got fifth places Friday night. For some reason the second night is always better so I had some hope for Saturday championships. John and I went over to the fair after youth day on Saturday to waste some time before my classes. He won 2nd place in the hay competition! We took a camera to get photos and video of the horse show and came home only with photos of his hay and ribbon. He is so proud. We ate some junk and walked until we collapsed on a bench. Then, dragged ourselves back to the horse complex for championship night. Cole didn't place at all in his class. Lilly got a spectacular 3rd out of 3 in her qualifying class. I was ready to head home. I decided to finish showing Lilly in her last class anyway. I'm glad I did because there where more horses in the class and she was able to pull off reserve champion (for the second year in a row) and beat a horse we have never been able to beat before. As much as I love my horses I am still exhausted and don't want to see them for another week. They are happily back out to pasture and John is eagerly awaiting his ribbon and premium check in the mail. I might set him up a chair by the mailbox. So, I will leave you with a short training video of Scout. It's a useless video really but I have at least put one image of a horse in this post

Ouch!!

I was walking through Kohls parking lot yesterday with John so that he could buy some cool guy shoes and I slipped. Remember that toe Daniel broke when he threw me in the ocean several years ago. I re-broke that toe. I didn't realize it until we went into Kohls and were checking out the guy shoes. We bought some for John and then he drove me to urgent care. John was cute and carried my big ugly green pocket book around as I was x-rayed and inspected by the doctor. They showed him how to tape it up and then gave me the coolest shoe...ever to wear for a week. John laughed at me all the way out of urgent care. This is really going to help me out a lot getting ready for the horse show. John won't even let me help feed the horses at this point. I'm going to try to sneak onto a horse today. First, I have to create a diversion.....
Oh, I have a new kitty. Have I already posted that? His name is Wallace. He hasn't yet been introduced to Ellie but the day is drawing near. I'm sure Cedar won't have a problem with him as long as he doesn't run. She has that hound dog chase after things that run down pat.

Quote of the Day:
Michael Scott: Pam you want to rub butter on my foot?
Pam Beesly: No.
Michael Scott: Pam, please. I have Country Crock.
-Michael Scott (The Injury)

Sigh

I'm tired. It's been a busy last few months. We've been showing the crap out of our horses and so have our students and boarders. I'm very proud of everyone. It's a lot of fun to take four horses to a show and have everyone come home with at least 1 blue ribbon and 2 horses win end of show high points. I broke out of my shell and took Lilly in a trail class (basically an obstacle course for horses). It was a lot of fun. We got 4th the first time through. We tried it a second time and by then Lilly had it all figured out. She won that class. It's good to get out with friends and family...and horses and just have a play day. We have a new cat that I can't find named Fred and a new kitten named Wallace. Both are very cute. I am so ready for cooler weather!! Maybe we'll have a fall barn party.

...excuse me as a solve a office paperwork mystery....

Quote of the Day: "Cumberland Mills? And how did you get my resume? Oh no no, I''m flattered, don't get me wrong. I''m just not sure it's my official resume, or if its just something a satisfied customer posted online. What does it say under martial arts training? Oh... okay, I''m going to have to supplement that. What''s your fax number?" -Dwight Schrute

Busy

So, it's been busy. I really want a steak...with blue cheese. Maybe I can talk John into that tonight. We've been gearing up for another horse show. This time we're taking Lilly. She doesn't really want to go but she does have to pay for her room and board. She does occasionally have to get out of the green pasture and work for her cushy life. I know I haven't posted in awhile. We've had a lot going on. I'm teaching some riding lessons and we've been active with church. The barn has gotten some new boarders and there are new ones coming in. Very exciting times. I hope everyone is doing well. We have a new kitty named Mustafa. He's completely crazy and probably the happiest cat I've ever met. Hopefully I'll have a picture up soon of him.

Quote of the Day: "Recently I have been thinking about maybe leaving this job, but I felt like I needed a sign. And then Ann broke up with me the week I was going to propose, the government got shut down and yesterday one of those pigeons took an poop on me. And I was indoors, so..." -Mark (Parks and Rec)

Horses Galore

We have new boarders at the barn!! We picked them up last Saturday from a nearby stable and brought them home. The horses seem to have settled it very well. We've not had much time to ride because we've been teaching lessons like crazy. It makes for long days but at least I'm tired enough to sleep well at night. I have a new kitten!! Cora from church brought a little black cat into the office last week that had been thrown out of a van. He is super cute and friendly. Almost a little too friendly. It's kind of psychotic actually. I'm thinking some medicine to calm him down would be appropriate. My other cat Rocket isn't real excited to have him on her porch but she's adjusting. Photos of crazy cat soon.

Quote of the Day: "I lied to Kevin. Holly and I can never be just friends. I wrote down, a list of bullet points, why Holly and I should be together and I'm going to find the perfect moment today and I'm gonna tell her. [quickly looks at crinkled note] Number one, "Holly, you and I are soup snakes." The-- and the reason is-- because, in terms of the soup we like to eat-- That doesn't make any sense. [checks note again] We're soulmates! Holly and I are soulmates." -Michael Scott

WARM!

It's really stinkin' hot! I sit inside for most of the day so I shouldn't complain but come on! I joke with John and tell him it's all this "global warming." I don't think he's amused. He has to feed horses in the morning and then mow or stack or bathe or talk to hay most of the day. I help him feed in the evening and gripe about the heat the whole time. I've just diagnosed (because that's always a good idea) Lilly with Anhidrosis. "What's that," you ask? Oh, just a horse that can't sweat properly. Or doesn't sweat. Or sweats sometimes. Or overheats after walking around the ring. So, she's been doing nothing lately. I'm concerned about her. I have shows coming up but I just don't want to risk hurting her. VBS is going great. It's super hot and I have NOT been self diagnosed with Anhidrosis. I come home dripping. We are having fun though. The children remember the songs from last year and are really paying attention to the lesson. It's so neat to watch. Friday night is the Grand Finale. I'll be getting there early to test out the moon bounce.

Quote of the Day: "I got you one of those veggie muffins you're always eating. Tastes like a rug." -Andy (Parks and Rec)

No Rain

I love this video of Noah. Not sure what he's eating but it makes me laugh. Did ya'll get those awesome thunderstorms last night? Me neither. I get so excited about a summer thunderstorm and they never seem to happen. We are leaving Cedar out of her pen all day now. She usually comes out and barks all excited and then runs back to her dog house to sleep. Not very ambitious if you ask me. It's been too hot to ride horses lately and I'm starting to have withdrawals. There is no way I'll be ready for the next show as fat and out of shape as the horses are now. I might have to sneak down late at night and ride when it's cool. Martha helped me update my blog. I love the new background. Oh, and I ordered the wedding photo book from Christi yesterday!! Can't wait until it gets here!! VBS starts next week. That means a moon bounce happens on Friday at the finale. It'll probably thunderstorm that day.

Quote of the Day: "When you land, try and land like an eight year old. These bouncy castles are not designed for adults." -Dwight Schrute

Who Needs A Ride?

Since it's been too hot to ride we've been doing other things. This picture was taken at Mike's birthday party at Kathy's house. I'd never experienced a Water Taxi until then. I'm glad Martha didn't take the picture when I fell out the bottom. Because it's been so stinkin' hot we've been turning Cedar out of her pen for most of the day now. She does really well. Ellie and Cedar keep cool by digging up our foundation so they can both have a comfortable place to lie down. Silly dogs! We finally were able to ride horses last night. There are lots of little baby calves that want me to pet them and name them and take them home. But, alas, John said no. Well, off to do paperwork...


Quote of the Day: "I was thinking about our little leak problem. I was up all night thinking about what we should do to this individual. You know what I think we should do? We make 'em come to work. And we work 'em. And, and we pay 'em. But, we make 'em feel like they did something really wrong. The one question I have is do we give them a Christmas bonus? I say, yes, it's Christmas, but right after, they're right back in the thick of it." -Michael Scott