Another Great Lesson!

Had my second lesson on Smash since I broke my wrist.  A week ago, I was a little anxious only because I was concerned about hurting my wrist, again.  The lesson was still a good one, albeit myn being a little shaky on Smash.  We worked on being relaxed, getting Smash relaxed, and it all worked out.

Yesterday I went solo (tacked up by myself and everything!), and things went well.  I didn't need anyone to help me catch Smash or groom her or tack her up.  She was a very good girl, even on the ground.  Once I got mounted Smash was still a little "up", but after walking around for a few minutes, she relaxed a little.  Steph had me work on giving Smash a loose rein, then  picking up the reins while keeping Smash at a walk (for some reason, horses think if the rider picks up the reins, it's time to trot).  We did that in both directions, then I rode figure 8s.  That is:  one big circle to the right, then as you come around to the beginning of the circle, turn the horse to the left and make another big circle at the bottom of the first one.  Kind of like this: But they should be touching! 

Anyway, you get the gist of it.

Sara, Smash, and I are going to go to a dressage show on December 2.  We are hoping that all goes well, and all three of us are healthy!  We have the rest of this month to practice, so our tests should be top notch!

Been working on my "work dress", but spent most of yesterday after my lesson working on my counted cross stitch and watching all the shows I have on DVR.  Great, no commercials!  A nice, relaxing day.

So, I'm at work today, but since there are no MARC trains running, I had to drive to Greenbelt, get on the Green Line, get off at Fort Totten and transfer to the Red Line.  First of all, 95 South was packed out!  There must be a lot more people going to work than the MARC people think!  The Metro was slow because a) on holiday schedule and b) track work is being done and the trains are being single tracked throughout the day. 

No Shows For You!

As I was having a lesson in preparation for a horse show this Sunday, Smash and I walked over to th dressage ring to practice my tests.  It was a windy day, and Steph and I were talking about the wind and its effect on riding.  Meanwhile, "something" scared Smash and she did her little hop to the side trick, not once, but twice as the second time she stepped on the dressage ring fencing.  Ack!  I remember havuing her on a long rein, and as I started to fall, my thought was, "I better let go of the reins!"  Good thing I did because Smash took off after she dumped me (as she always does). 

Meanwhile, See this:  Sara's Report of the Fall. 

After I hit the ground (I do not remember the actual fall) my wrist was hurting and swelling up before my eyes!  Usually, I get right back on the horse, but my wristhurt so much, there was no way.  Reluctantly, I went to the ER and found out I have two simple fractures in my left arm!  Good thing is, no surgery AND it's my left arm.

So, no horse show this Sunday nor on October 6.  These were going to be my last shows of the season.  Guess not. 

Hand Doctor says in two weeks he will put on a cast, and more than likely, I can ride again.  Yippee!

Going Solo!

Saturday I went out to the barn by myself wondering if I would be able to a) find Smash and b) catch her.  Fortunately, the "herd" was up by the trailers so I didn't have far to go to get her.  After taking the tack up to the stalls and driving the car back to the trailers, I ventured out to get Smash.  Sara's trick of bribery really does work.  As soon as she heard me call her, Smash came, although slowly, to me to get her treat.  The ride was good; I did some work in the arena, then went out into the field.  Going out was great; however, coming back was so much scarier because things were now in a different location.  Gotta love them horses! 

Sunday I was not so lucky; there were no horses to be seen.  So, I did the, taking the tack up to the stalls and getting myself ready.  As I went into the field to look for Smash, I had no idea which way to go, so I just started out along the fence line and hoped there would be some horses soon.  I saw horses!  What luck, now I had to make sure one of them was Smash.  Yep, there she was.  Another bribe and she came with me willingly.  We had an escort all the way back to the gate.  A black/white paint apparently thought he was going to get out, as well, or he has his eyes on Smash. 

Sunday was the first lesson I had with Steph T.  It was a really good lesson; we worked on walking and relaxing.  Amazing how long I could let the reins get and pushing Smash in the direction I wanted her to go. 

Sunday was also our 34th wedding anniversary!  How quickly time goes by.  It's hard to believe.  We went to a, somewhat nice restaurant in Ellicott City.  Dave bought a Groupon for the place, so we could try it out.  Unfortunately, neither of us was impressed with the food or the service.  For as fancy a place it looks, it is not so fancy with the service.  The food, I would say, was "ok" only.  Nothing to write home about.  Good for us, it was within walking distance so we got a short hike home in the hopes we could walk off some of the food.  I doubt we even walked off 1/100th of what we ate.

The food served was a lot:  melted mozzarella cheese on french bread; i had a caesar salad; we both had a small portion of spaghetti and meatballs; i had a steak (eh); Dave had a crab cake; dessert was two cannolis (we had no choice for dessert; that's what we got).  And I had a glass of wine in a very large glass with  very small amount of wine in it for $10! 

The usual prices for the food at this place are very, very high.  So, if we were paying full price for the food, we would have been even more disgusted with the meal.

Our overall grade for this place would be a "C", not even a "C+".  We will not be going back there unless someone else is paying!  hahahaha! 

This weekend I'm babysitting dogs.  Two of them.  For three days. 

Interesting Weather We're Having

For the past three days the high temps have been no more than 82-85; after last week's 95-100 temps, plus humidity, this is very delightful. I went running on Monday at lunch time and on the way back, a young man asked if I had a good run. I said, at my age, it's amazing I made it up the hill. He said, You're what? 35? I laughed at him and almost fell down because of the tears running out of my eyes because I couldn't see where I was going! Apparently, he needs glasses badly. I told him, No, I'm 62, and then I ran like hell. If he was being kind, it was very nice of him; if he was serious, he needs professional help.

I'm going to run outside today, as well, since our weather is sunny and only a high of 82.

The doctor has said that Dave's mother can go home, but she will need 24-hour care. Not sure exactly when she will go home, but Dave is working with the health-care provider to get things started.

My Penny Straker sleeve is coming along nicely; slowly, but nicely. The blue sweater has been blocked; now I have to sew the back to the fronts and sew the button band and the back band onto the sweater. If only I could get my rear end off the couch after dinner and do this, I would be so much further along.

Saturday I will take Dave's father to see his mother at the nursing home for a short visit, then I have to take him home, and then drive to Mt. Airy from Rockville to my riding instructor's farm for a Cross-Country Schooling lesson. One of the other riders is going with me, so that helps defray the costs of the trailering, etc.

Horse show is June 26, so have to get in some jumping to make sure I'm being safe and won't hurt myself. Then, Sunday a.m. is a dressage lesson. I better refresh myself on the test so I don't get eliminated because I forgot what to do.



Well, you can't read this, but there it is.

Day 3 Back at Work

and everything is the same as before. Of course, I didn't expect it to be any different, but a gal can hope, right?

Started back at the gym on Wednesday and took it easy. I walked for 10 minutes at 4.0-4,2, then ran for 10 minutes at 5.5-5.6, then walked again. Did 30 minutes and about 2.5 miles. Yesterday, I walked/ran for 10 minutes, did assorted upper and lower body exercises, then 10 minutes on the rowing machine on 8 resistance. Today, I'm hoping to up the ante and see how things go with running.

Forgot my journal,so everyone has lucked out.

I did take some knitting with me; a plain stockinette sweater and my Aran fisherman's sweater. I did work on both a little but, but once we hit South Africa it was just too darned hot to knit, even in the A/C. But, that's how I was able to work on my journal instead of knitting.

Tomorrow Sara and I are going to go XC schooling. Sara is doing a show on April 9, but I'm just going along for the fun of it. And it is fun.

Dave's mother is getting a little bit better. Oh, she fell and broke her hip while we were gone. She is 92, and the doctor said she had to have the surgery or she would be bed ridden. It's going to be a long row to hoe, but we are hoping she will recover.

Unfortunately for Sara, she ended up being to go-to person while we were gone. She did a fabuouls job and was able to take Dave's father to the hospital and to see some rehab facilities that Dave's mother has to go to for her physical therapy. But, now that we are back the responsibilities have been handed over to Dave.

Christmas and New Year

Sara came over on Christmas Eve, and we opened presents and had a nice "Shrimp Elegante" dinner. Of course, Sara made out like a bandit, and I have become an "electronified" person. I got a new sensor for running to go with my iPod and a Kindle. At first I couldn't make up my mind if I really wanted a Kindle, but now that I have it, it is really quite convenient. I must get a cover for it so I don't scratch the screen.

Fortunately, I left work early on Thursday(12/30) so I went to the grocery store on the way home instead of having to go on Friday morning and then make everything. Friday morning I made the cake and custard for the trifle, made the ever famous green bean casserole, and started to set the table for dinner. Sara and Nick were coming over for dinner.

I had a make-up riding lesson on Friday afternoon; the weather started out not too nice, but it did warm up for the amount of time I was riding. We rode in the field, which has a slight incline/decline, depending on the way we are going. Bella has a bit of a problem now cantering downhill, so she does break once in awhile. After the lesson I went back home and did a few more things for dinner. Unfortunately, my Yorkshire puddings did not rise; I think it's because I didn't let the oil in the pan get hot enough. They did taste good, but not the same as if they had risen properly.

Saturday we were supposed to go to a New Year's Day party, but Dave wasn't feeling well with a sore throat, etc. I would have gone by myself, but I didn't know that many people except for the host and hostess, so I opted to stay home, too. I did take Romeo out for a long walk, he and I chased a stick, then we came back. That was about the extent of my doing anything constructive Saturday.

Sunday morning was my regular riding lesson, so Sara and I took off in the rain. Yes, rain. Again, the weather was half-way decent for our lesson, but still damp. After I dropped Sara off at her house, I went to the grocery store (which I should have done the day before, but.....), put the stuff away, made chili for dinner. I had gotten a small piece of salmon out, but by the end of the day, I was too lazy to make it. We'll have it tonight.

Things I accomplished yesterday: went to the grocery store and got some decent food, made chili, sewed in the yarn ends of my sweater (now I can block it), made some leeway on the shawl I'm knitting. Not a huge amount of things, but better than Saturday.

Today: Back at work; will go to the gym or run outside; not sure which, yet. All depends on two things: weather and how much "gym fever" I have! I did bring warm running clothes, so I may take the plunge. At least the sun is out today.

So......

Finally did some Christmas shopping (online, of course!). The good news is everything has arrived; the bad news is I have to wrap it all up. Oh, well. Much of it is already done.

Sara and I had a riding lesson on Sunday; the temp was a high of 32! so it was only 27 when we went riding. The secret to riding in this weather? Layers, layers and more layers - long johns, riding pants, 2 pairs of socks; long john top, Under Armour, and a nice warm sweater, topped off with a windbreaker jacket; Earmuffs and nice and warm winter riding gloves set off the ensemble. Bella and Smash were not happy to see us coming towards them with halters and lead ropes. As a matter of fact, they took off to the farthest corner of the field as fast as they could find. Sheesh! Bella stared me down, but it did no good. I still took her away. The wind took pity upon us and went somewhere else for the day.

After the lesson I worked on my black and red jacket for some time; got bored with it, and finally did some gift wrapping. Amazingly, by that time it was 5:00. How time flies.

Dave came to my office last week and a woman who does jewelry came for a really mini-craft fair. Dave brought pictures, calendars and some note cards to sell. Peggy had her usual inventory of jewelry. I don't know how well Peggy did, but Dave sold about 6 of his pictures and many calendars and boxes of notecards. The next day several people came by and ordered more pictures from Dave.

Knitting continues on the grey, light pink and dark pink sweater. Fortunately, it's an easy pattern and will be done soon. But, then I have to block it before I can sew it together. Made that mistake before and the sweater was not quite the right size. Grrr! Blocking takes away the urgency of putting the sweater together, but I don't want to make that mistake again.

Finished Cathy's mittens and gave them to her on Sunday. She really liked them. At first she didn't see that I had knit "Rizzo" into each mitten. Then, she got really excited! Glad she likes them.

Top side of Mitten with "Rizzo".

Palm side of Mitten.

I'm a Trophy Wife!

Well, race day came, and I wasn't really surer what to expect. I did expect to finish, but I still didn't know what to expect with the hills on the course. We all took off, and at the beginning it was touch and go with all the people. My plan was to start slowly, then get to a nice pace and stay there. I felt that I did more running than walking, but the hills really got to me. The start of the race was a slight incline, then a really steep, but short hill. That gave way to a flat stretch, which actually went downhill for awhile. It was not too bad, but there were a lot of small inclines throughout the course. The bad part was that I had to go back UP the really nice downhill at the beginning of the course. I finished and knew that there was no way I would place in the top 3 or top 10 in my age group.

I hung around and waited for Sara and Jodi to finish their 10K! They came around the bend together, Sara slightly ahead of Jodi. Then, I saw Jodi slowly trying to make a move on Sara, and I started screaming, Don't let her pass you! Run, Sara, Run! Sara saw Jodi out of the corner of her eye, took off and beat Jodi by one second! That's all that counts!

Sara's time was 1:02:44. She was hoping to run it in an hour; she wasn't far off, either. She said that she and Jodi will do another 10K in the hopes of getting to or breaking the one hour time. Jodi is a distance runner and has done a marathon; I think she is going to do another one soon. Sara is more of a short-distance runner, so the longer runs are harder for her.

After Sara and Jodi finished we walked around a bit; I got a hamburger at 9:30 a.m.! They smelled really good, and I just had to have one. It did feel as if it were 12:00 by the time I finished the race, so a burger was not a bad choice. Sara and Jodi left before the results of the race were announced. I stuck around because I wanted to see what the times were for the females in my age group.

The announcer finally gets to my age group (ahem, you don't ask a woman her age!) and the third place name was announced; then, the second place winner is being announced, and Lo and behold, I hear a familiar name and it was MY NAME! SECOND PLACE IN MY AGE GROUP! AND I GET A TROPHY!!!! CAN YOU BELIVE IT??? NEITHER CAN I. I was very excited because I thought there was no way in hell I would place that high. I can only think that the other women in my age group had arthritis problems in their knees!!!

I have no idea what the time was for the first-place person because I was still in shock from my name being announced. This year's results are not up yet, so I'll have to go back later and find out the time.

At 12:30 I went to have sushi with a friend of mine; it was nice because I haven't seen her for awhile. Since her daughter went to college this September (first year), she is in the process of selling two of the three horses she owns. Cassidy has been riding for a very long time, but college expenses were much more than Aileen had anticipated. I think they have everything under control now. The good news is they still have Bella (the horse I ride in lessons and shows), who is being half-leased by a woman for her small daughter. Again, fortunately, I'm still able to ride Bella and show her. The young girl is really young and just starting out to ride, so Bella does need more advanced riders (one of them is me! ha ha!) to keep her on her toes.

Sara and I went out for a lesson yesterday, but the weather did not cooperate with us, and it decided to pour when we got there. We ended up grooming the horses and chatting with Cathy. It quit raining at one point, but neither Sara nor I had the initiative to get up and tack up the horses.

Dave and I went to Matthew's Pizza in Baltimore last night for pizza. It's been around since 1943 and is a hole in the wall. Good pizza, parking is diffiult to find, but all in all a nice dinner.

XC SCHOOLING A SUCCESS!

Went xc schooling on Monday morning, which turned out to be Monday afternoon. My coach changed her schedule, but neglected to tell me about it! Instead of leaving at 11:30 from her place, we left at 1:00. Not really happy about it, but what could I do? Sallie showed up about 12:15, we got the rest of our tack together, got the horses on the trailer, and off we went.

After a warm-up we went over a few logs, then took Moonie through the water, Bella leading and Moonie fortunately following without any fuss. Then, we did some other small things, and Cathy set up a mini-course for us. We both did well! Gold stars for us! yay

Since I had a half a bagel in the morning and since I thought we were leaving at 11:30, I didn't eat anything when I left the house. By the time we got to Loch Moy and did some jumps, I was really running out of gas! I thought I was going to pass out! I was able to make it through and on the way back we stopped at McDonald's for a fish filet sandwich. Boy, was that good. Mylegs were shaking when I got back in the truck and the food and sugar definitely helped me.

Tuesday I had a dental appointment for x-rays and had a mold taken of the top of my mouth for an implant. I had a call from the doctor this a.m., to discuss my options. I'll call later; don't feel like messing with it right now.

We also bought a new 2011 Toyota Camry, which is really nice. Basic design as the older one we had and gave to Sara, with a few new upgrades. The best part? ZERO PERCENT FINANCING FOR FIVE YEARS!

Sunday I went out and bought new running shoes, new running shorts, and new exercise pants and top. Good thing I did all my expensive shopping before the car payments start!

I ran on Saturday morning, rode Saturday afternoon, no activity except for shopping on Sunday, rode on Monday, and no activity on Tuesday except for car buying. I'm bushed. Today I'm not sure what I am doing. Think it might be too hot to go outside and run. Guess it will be the TM, my friend.

I have deemed the Christmas shawl finished! It's quite long enough and I used maybe half of the yarn I bought. Maybe it's because I used to yarns together and made it a little longer faster. Who knows? Anyway, it's done except for the blocking. Ugh! That's another challenge in itself.

Long Weekend Coming Up

It's Friday, I'm sitting here wondering why I am here and when 3:30 will get here. I'm going to leave at 3:30, catch the 4:13. MARC, in its infinite wisdom, had a special 2:00 p.m. train. How they ever came up with that time I'll never know! But, I'm leaving in 45 minutes and should, I say should, be at Dorsey station by 5:00. We can only hope.

Took a rest day from exercising and went to lunch with a friend. She's on WW and has lost 42 pounds! Way to go, Ellen! I had no excuse but to stay on track today and make a good choice for lunch. I had a western omelet with a side salad. The omelet comes with french fries (and they are really good!), but I asked for a salad instead of the fries. Best decision I've made today. I know I would be beating myself up if I had gone for the fries. I don't have many points left for dinner, but I do have the ever faithful flex points I can use.

Romeo has been hacking away, so Dave took him to the vet. Seems he has Kennel Cough, kind of a brochitis type of illness. He got a shot, and we have to give him some pills. Romeo did a lot of hacking last night and kept waking us up. At least now we know the problem and Romeo is on his way to recovery.

Tomorow I will probably go running in the a.m. since Romeo is not feeling well. He usually comes with me for a long walk, but I don't want to stress him and make him worse.

Cathy is having a September Group Lesson tomorrow; I'm going to ride my friend's horse, Moonie, the Rectangle. He is a very large horse; hope I don't get bounced off! Afterwards, we will have a little social hour and then go home.

Nothing planned for Sunday, but Monday is a XC schooling lesson for me. My short course show is September 12, so I need to get in some jumping beforehand.

Vogue Knitting LIVE! is in January in New York. It's the first time Vogue has put on anything like this. It's in the same vein as the Stitches East.Betty and I have already booked th hotel room and signed up for our classes. We will take the cheap bus to NewYork, then take the subway to the hotel. Sounds easy; let's hope it is.

Still slugging away on the Christmas shawl; every one else is patiently waitintg her turn to be picked up and finished. Patience, I'll be there soon.

Another Show, More Stress

Well, I have decided to do a "Short Course" show at Loch Moy in September. This is like an eventing show, but with only one jumping course, which starts with stadium jumps in the field, leads to regular xc jumps and returning back over some more stadium jumps. There is a dressage test to do first, then just the one jumping course. Who knows if I'll ever remember which way to go! I'm already hyperventilating! ha!

We are going to our friend's son's house for his annual summer BBQ. Not a big event, but it's still nice he invites us. He usually has a great variety of people there, so it's not just all young people - like in their 30s.

Sunday is a riding lesson at Cathy's; the next Sunday is xc schooling, The show is the 12th of September. I should give Cathy my paycheck - enough of it goes to her every month.

I'm still plugging away at the shawl I'm making as a Christmas gift. It is easy, but I don't think I'm even halfway through it. The mittens I started have to be ripped out! boo! They are way too big for me, and so I know they will be too big for Cathy's hands. Oh, well, that's the life of a knitter. Can't tell you how many projects I have had to start over, not just once, or twice, but sometimes three times. Once I get to four times, that project is FROGGED!

I also bought a pattern for a nice wool coat that goes down to the knees and has a really nice big-cabled collar. The pattern is a lot of st st and could be boring, but it will all be worth it once I get to the collar. At least I hope so!

Either it's been too hot and now today it's raining like crazy, so no running outside. Ugh! I'm getting really tired of the TM. It's wearing me down! The ellipitcal is worse! Not as many calories burned, and it takes so long to burn anything nowadays, anyway.

That's it for now.

What I Accompllished

The things I accomplished this weekend: 1) blocked back and front of the blue cabled sweater; 2) blocked one sleeve of the blue cabled sweater; 3) cut out all the pieces of my Halloween costume (not an easy task) for the horse show in October (I know it's early, but the way I procrastinate, it will be October by the time this is all finished); 4) started to cut out pieces to a new dress, but alas did not have enough fabric (not an uncommon event); 5) went to Appalachian Spring and exchanged the earrings I received for my birthday (recceived a duplicate pair of earrings from Heinz and Vera); 6) continued knitting on the Christmas shawl. I also messed around with looking at another mitten pattern as I found some yarn in my stash. I found a great ball of white yarn (sock yarn) and leftover varigated yarn (greys, blacks, whites). The colors aren't as vibrant as my other mittens I made with varigated yarn, but more mellow.

The next thing on my list is to start sewing the Halloween costume, but before I can do that I have to purchase a few items: elastic, ribbon, and stitch witchery to make an applique for the vest. I bought the fabric so long ago that I could not remember what fabric was going to be what. I did know what fabric was going to be the dress, but the vest, jacket, and lining were still a mystery to me. So, what did I do? I improvised and made it all up. Everything worked out perfectly even if not the originally intended purpose. Many of the items are to be interfaced, but I'm not dealing with that. The collar I will interface so it stands up properly, but everything else will just have to be without interfacing. Not necessary since I've already put a lot of work into this project.

My riding lesson was good, but it was hot outside and I was riding at 9:30 a.m.! Worked on upward and downward transitions from walk to trot; trot to walk; trot to canter; canter to trot. My arms seem to keep getting in the way, and it is a real task for me to keep my arms and hands down and quiet and not up in the air. Whoever said that I'm "just sitting" on the horse, is woefully mistaken! There's a reason my legs and core and sore after every lesson.

Now is the time to start work on dressage as the dressage show season is coming up. I'm thinking of going to a show on August 1 for a change in venue. Maybe Sara will go so she can do her dressage test before the event on August 13.

Back to work and four days to go. I must work on my running endurance this week as I am running in the Howard County Women's Distance Festival 5K on Sunday. This is the first race I ran, so I go back every year to celebrate every year I've been running. This is year number 3!

It is also Sara's birthday, but she will be on her way home from her rock climbing vacation. In this heat, I wonder if she will survive especially since they are camping and no A/C.

Weekend Update!

Thursday was my birthday, so instead of taking off on Thursday and coming back on Friday, I took off Friday for a 3-day weekend. I did have a dental appointment for a check-up, which took about 5 seconds, then I was gone. Dave and I went to the Pho place and had pho for lunch. We had one spring roll each and a giant pho. I didn't eat it all, had it packaged up, then went and got some TCBY for dessert. A very low-key birthday celebration.

Drat! I just deleted!! d9*(&$()_)#$*.

So, Saturday Sara took me out to lunch and a movie. We saw, "Killers", which was cutesy and funny. Apparently, Sara and I were the only ones who actually had a sense of humor about it all. Kind of dark humor.

Sunday was our riding lesson - a flat lesson - no jumping. We worked very hard at getting ourselves balanced, doing serpentines with no stirrups, 20-meter circles, 15-meter circles, which are hard to calculate. I can't tell if I'm at 15 meters, 12 meters, or what. I go by what my coach says, then take it from there!

We went out to dinner with Dave's parents for their birthday celebrations to their favorite Greek restaurant. Well, we got ther 15 minutes early, and you would have thought the world was coming to an end. If there are people there, they complain it's too loud; we were the only ones in the room they likedbut apparently, it was too quiet. All of us except Sara got the lamb shank(s), but we only had one shank each and lots of orzo. I ate the lamb and part of the orzo, but with the salad and -oh! I forgot! some bread and oil - it was too much. I had a spinach salad beforehand and should have stopped there, but no, I had to go for the dessert! What a mistake! I was so stuffed! . Sara ordered the spanakopita (spinach layered with phylo dough and cheese) and a side salad. She had the yogurt with honey and nuts for dessert, and decided she shouldn't have ordered a dessert, either. Fortunately, today we have a better handle in the food department.

Today is run on the TM day to get rid of all that very rich food I had last night. Finished my dress and wore it to work. I keep amazing people with the fact that I'm actually wearing dresses/skirts to work these days. Just needed a change of pace; have another pattern and bought some more fabric yesterday. I'm on a roll!

Eventing Show Coming Up

Let's see......Went XC Schooling last Sunday, again. Good news is I didn't fall off! Score one for me! Almost, but that only counts in horseshoes, the game, not the ones on the horse. Anyway, psyching myself up to be in the competition mode - NO MERCY! Show is on Sunday. The weather is going to be atrocious - high 90s!

I'm happy to report that I finally finished the sleeves on my 3-year sweater. Now it's time to block the body of the sweater, sew the sleeve saddle, sew the sleeve, then the back and front together, then knit the collar. Piece of cake, eh? The bad news is I don't have very much yarn left (who knew I would run out 3 years later?), but my plan is to use some other worsted weight blue yarn I have for sewing up the seams and save the "good" yarn for the collar. It might just work.

I'm also happy to report that the yarns I ordered to make a shawl as a gift came in. I'm using a painted teal merino and a teal mohair held together. Very pretty. After reading the Yarn Harlot's blog today, I have now decided that putting beads in my shawl would make it pop that much more. Why, oh why, do I listen to other people's blogs?

When Going Over Jumps, It Helps To Stay ON the Horse!

The weekend started out as an uneventful weekend. Saturday a.m. Romeo and I went for an hour walk. As humid as it was, it was a good thing we went early. Actually, we should have gone even earlier as Romeo tends to dart out at other dogs on the path. Going earlier would have been easier for me, anyway.

I started work on a new dress, and I found that it went much faster than I anticipated. I got to the point of the zipper, decided it was time to stop for awhile, and picked up my long-lost sweater. By the way, I'm doing quite well with the sleeves. About 32 rows done. That means really 64 rows since I'm doing double the rows. Yay me.

Sunday Sara and I had a riding lesson, and we went to Waredaca for a cross country schooling lesson. Bella is so in love with Satchmo, that I have discovered that I have to ride her much more agressively when he's around because all she does is follow him around. We went over a few jumps, some with multiple approaches, but over nonetheless.

The next jump I approached (uphill) and Bella refused. I wasn't ready, so it was my fault. The next approach was more aggressive, but as I got closer, I got too far ahead of her, she stopped and I didn't. I fell splat onto my chest on the edge of the jump. My watchband cut my wrist up, and the band was twisted into a non-recognizable item. Fortunately, for me, I was wearing my jump vest or I might have broken a rib since I landed on my left side.

Sara jumped Satchmo over a fence (or attempted to) and he put on the brakes and actually slid on all four feet to the jump. After several slips Sara finally got him over the fence. Off we trotted to the next jumps, and I went over a few more. They were good jumps; we got over them; might not have been pretty, but we did get over.

Then Sara did a jump over a small log into a shallow pond. It was a great leap, she really felt the air on that jump. After she jumped she said she heard her thumb go "pop". Fortunately, it went back into place, but started to swell up quickly. Between the two of us we really made the day exciting. I won with the injuries because I was bleeding! Ha!

Needless to say, I spent the day with a cold compress and Aleve. I didn't injure my arms so I could knit in between bouts of short naps. I did go upstairs to work on my dress, but after sewing in the zipper, my side hurt, so back downstairs I went to the couch and lots of pillows.

Back to work; another week to look forward to. Yeah, right.

Looking Forward to the Weekend

Once I get through this work week, I have some fun things to do on Saturday and Sunday. Oh, but first, on Friday, I'm going to lunch with my friend to Cafe Asia. Since I'm doing sushi on Saturday with Sara, I'll get something else to eat. This place has a nice variety of Asian-style foods, so it's not just limited to sushi.

Saturday a.m. get hair cut and colored; after Sara is done with her yoga class, we will go to Niko's for a sushi lunch. Dave and I might to to Turf Valley for the hot-air balloon festival going on. Apparently, that is part of the Preakness celebration for the race at Pimlico.

Sunday is a riding lesson; we will move jumps, etc. into the small field and do some xc training at Cathy's. Sara wants to get some jumps going with Satchmo so they can both get used to higher jumps and being in the field. I might be riding Galaxy; not sure about that, yet.

Yesterday I forgot my lunch - no wonder my bag was so light! I ended up having a parfait for a snack and then some egg salad (no bread) for lunch. Not great choices, but filling, nonetheless.

Today's schedule is more of the same - filing, filing, and more filing. If I don't file on any given day, there must be something wrong with the time continuum.

My yellow/coal gloves - really half gloves - are coming along nicely. I'm using alpaca, and it is a) the softest yarn I've used; and b) really, really easy to work with. I have about 10-15 rows to go before I do a few rows of ribbing, then bind off. No fingers on this! Not sure how to do the fingers, anyway. Something else to worry about at a later date. I've decided I don't like the wooden DPNs that I'm using, but even if I ordered a different kind of needle, I know the gauge would be off even if the size is the same. So, I will have to suffer through with the needles until the half gloves are done.

Once I've finished the gloves, I'm on to another project. I bought some really pretty grey and mauve yarn to make a pullover.

Finally Friday - 5 Days to Rolex

So, yesterday I went to the gym in the a.m. and did abou 20-25 minutes of lower body strength training; at lunch I went back down and because I wasn't too sure of my leg, I did 40 minutes on the elliptical at a low resistance. Amazing how fast one can go with little to no resistance. Today I am officially giving myself a day off. Don't want to get burned out, so a rest day is good. Tomorrow I'll probably take Romeo out for a long morning walk. It will be good for both of us and I'll get it over sooner rather than later.

Time to start making my packing list for Rolex. But, I have to go to the store and get some shorts. The ones I have kind of fit, but if I eat anything, I will be so uncomfortable in them. I prefer looser fit if I'm walking around all day at Rolex.

Tomorrow is riding lesson at 4:30 and cleaning up Bella a bit and packing up the trailer as much as I can - chairs remember chairs.

Ride times are posted: Sara: Dressage 11:58; Stadium Jumping 1:35; Cross Country Jumping 2:35. Me: Dressage 12:19; Stadium Jumping 2:00; Cross Country Jumping 3:00. There is a gap in between, but Sara goes, I go, Sara goes, I go, Sara goes, I go. Then, we are done and have to wait around for scores. Maybe ribbons????

Went out to lunch with Betty to Bravo!Bravo! Had my usual veg omelet. It is really good and somewhat good for me. Went to Dress Barn afterwards and was able to get 3 pairs of shorts and 2 blouses for my Rolex trip. This was a nice alternative to exercise today. I felt really good about my day off. Now, I don't have to worry about going to the mall tomorrow for shorts. I can spend more time working on my packing list and packing. I can, at least, pack my new shorts and shirts tomorrow. Thinking I will take one checked bag and one carry-on, which will probably be a backpack that I can carry around with me at Rolex.

Brookside Gardens, etc.

Saturday Dave and I went to Brookside Gardens to take photos of - you guessed it - flowers! I saw a large bee making the rounds of flowers called "violas" - bright yellow with black lines in the center. Anyway, I was obsessed with the bee and tried to follow him around; it wasn't easy, but I did manage to get a few shots of him. See......

The proverbial To Bee or Not to Bee; it is not a question.

More flower pictures of the day:

Blood Banana

Sunday Sara and I went cross country schooling in preparation for our show next week. Bella is in season and just loves Satchmo. Satchmo has no interest in Bella, but she keeps trying. We got the the cross country course, and it was all I could do to make Bella move. All she wanted to do was follow her man around the course. Good thing he won't be around she we're in the ring and in the field doing our courses. She was sooOOooo bad!

Dave and I found our Scotland pics and finished putting together our book from our trip in 2007. Fortunately, the company was having a sale, and we bought the book for only $28. What a steal. We have about 80 pictures in the album; can't wait to see it!

Back to work today, and now that I've gotten the important things done, it's time to do some work-related things. Chinese visa applications to the Chinese embassy, put some guests who are coming on Friday into the Workspeed, so the security people know they are coming, and the never-ending filing.....the bane of my existance.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

The weekend is here; I've been looking forward to it all week, and now it's pouring, and I can't go riding. I don't think I'll be running the 5K, either on Sunday.

Sara came over last night, and we had Dave's famous pizza. We were sure to cut the pizza into normal servings than our usual giant pieces, and then we would have another piece. We did have a second piece, but we cut the small portion in half, which was a great compromise. Oh, had a salad to go with it. We watched the last BL show. It is inspiring to see people who weight 300-400 pounds exercise 4 hours a day, but like the show portrayed, people who are in a daily routine of getting up and going to work, don't that the luxury of a 4-hour workout. It was quite interesting in the show when Sam forgot his lunch and SO CONVENIENTLY, there was a Subway store around the corner. How staged was that? How else would Subway get its advertising on the show? And, what's with the last hour of the show being a sob fest? {Rolling eyes}

After Sara left this past week's episode of Project Runway was on! Another Score! I forgot to record it Thursday night because I was watching Ugly Betty. I love having DVR. No tape, no DVDs to worry about. Just push a button, and there ya go!

Being inside is going to be a challenge for me. Since I was planning on riding and getting exercise that way, another plan foiled. Even Romeo doesn't want to go outside in this weather.

Staying OP this time has been easier. It's nice to have another person to compare notes with and to keep me on track. I was tempted to have a cookie from our Services Department (who, by the way, has a tin of cookies and a container of candy at all times filled), but I remembered I had already given her my menu for the day. I couldn't let either one of us down! LOL

Time for tea; Romeo needs breakfast and later we will have to brave the rain so he can do his "biznezz". He hates the rain, and we practically have to kick him out the front door.

P.S. I wll never buy Veggie Straws again. they are soOOooo good that I cannnot put them down. My co-worker went to COSTCO and bought a bag for me. She brought them to work. I vowed not to open the bag, but I did; then I could not stop eating them. I would eat a few, say that's all, then open the bag up again, say, that's all. Finally I had to STAPLE the bag shut so I would not eat any more Veggie Straws. They are delicious, but WW point-wise? Not so hot. They are 170 calories, 5(?) grams of fat and only 1 gram of fiber for 38 pieces. 3 points for 38 pieces. I did eat them in increments of the serving size suggested, but when I got home, I went straight for the bag as a pre-meal snack. Why? Because they are good. THESE ARE DEFINITELY A RED LIGHT FOOD FOR ME. I'm not putting myself through that again because I can't afford 3 points for junk food, which is what they are, when I have only 18-20 points a day. :(

Rain, Rain Go Away

Got up looking forward to my riding lesson, put on all my riding clothes and the many layers I would need, took the dog outside, and lo and behold! it's raining! It was such a nice day yesterday, and wham! rain on my riding lesson? That put a damper on the day, but I will have a make-up lesson tomorrow. I don't have to go to work, and I'm bringing in the horses and feeding them, so might as well get a lesson in, too, since I'll be there. Whew!

Didn't do a lot yesterday, but tinkering around on my mitten, the Santa counted-cross stitch. I made spaghetti sauce and chocolate chip cookies. Then, lounged around some more, had a few glasses of wine, had dinner, and that was the end of the day. We put in "The Red Violin" to watch, but I could not keep my eyes open, until it was over! The movie was sub-titled, so I couldn't even listen to it.

Today is a trip to COSTCO once DH wakes up, and that could be who knows when.

Many projects to work on. My choices: sew wool jacket, counted cross stitch, mitten, start new dragon scarf, pick up cable sweater that I've been working on for at least 2 years. Don't know why, but I can't get more than a few rows knitted before giving up. All I have to do is finish the sleeves, which I'm knitting at the same time, and do the collar and sew it all up. It's not that much, but one day it will be finished. I can't frog it, it's too far along to frog.