iRide! Among Other Things

Well the household has been sorta quiet since the last time I posted.

The dog has developed up a love of pens. Anybody know how to get ink out of carpets?!

I've spent a TON of time at the barn this week, and I love it. Shannon has been a total trooper, sleeping through chores, and not really being the fusspot that I know she's capable of being. Must be that Ya-Ya influence!

;-)

On Monday, the most amazing thing happened...

Yep! I finally sat on my girl! The four legged one that is. I'd never sit on my baby.

Geeze.

She was pretty much perfect. For being such a big mare, I don't think that I looked that over-mounted. I'm only 5'3 and she's 17h. Once she gets a top line she's going to look a lot bigger, but baby steps. We have to get steering down first.

We were going to do more on Wednesday, but when I was getting her ready to go, I discovered some lovely bumps behind her elbows on her belly, right where the girth goes. We've got a sensitive one! Sheepskin it is for her. I put some Vetrolin on them to see if I could get the swelling out, but nothing happened by the time she came in for dinner so she got chucked a bute. I don't know if it helped, as I haven't talked to anyone this morning. I'm going to go down and check on her if the weather holds off.

Now both my horse and my cat (Lucca at least) have abnormal boobs. I'll get into Lucca's later...she's pretty much just a fatass.

I'm so excited to have acutally been able to get on Willow! The stars aligned just right and she was perfect. I couldn't have asked for her to be better behaved! B is so cool and calm throughout the entire process that it's really no big deal to them, and things go so much smoother. There isn't any rush with her, and I'm just enjoying finally having a horse that I might be able to accomplish some of my dreams/goals with. When Wasabi had to be put down this January, I figured I'd never get there. Hopefully the chance that we've taken on Willow will pay off, and it'll be a happy situation for both of us!

I can't express my thanks enough to C&L and to B for making this possible for me. Willow is a better horse than I could have ever dreamed of being blessed with, and I promise that I'll do right by her, no matter when the situation. I don't know how I'm ever going to say thank you properly, and words don't seem to be enough, no matter how many times I say them.

The FLF crew has been the most constant source of support over the past three (very stressful) years and I'm going to be devastated to leave them!

Stupid Army. ;-)

On the baby front, Shannon has decided that 5-9 is going to be her fussy period. She screams like none other, sometimes taking a cat nap at around 7, other times not. I think it's just part of her growing, and I'm doing my best to make sure that she doesn't have a reason to scream other than the fact that she apparently thinks it's great fun. I also have given up on trying to put her down before 10. She has made it very clear that that's just not in the cards, and why force the issue? We have our bedtime routine, and I rock her until 10-1030. The past few nights have been fairly drama free.

I also found the perfect outlet for Miss Dixiepants. Yesterday we all packed up and drove into Burlington to have a looksee at Starr Farm Dog Park.

She LOVED it! She ran and ran and ran and ran and ran. She played with the other dogs, she rolled in the mud puddles, she rolled in the dirt, she ran some more. It was GREAT. She was a totally different dog last night. Instead of her usual WWE Smackdown sessions with the cat, she slept on the floor by the glider when I rocked the baby to sleep. It was wonderful! We will be making it a point to go multiple times a week.

The people there were VERY nice, with a exception of one girl (you bring a tennis ball, start a game of fetch, and expect the dogs to leave you alone? Ding dong). Even when Shannon started screaming, nobody gave us a hard time. We had to cut our time there short because the baby couldn't hold her noodles. I wish we could go today, but it's not really ideal conditions to drag the munchkin out. It's a bit overcast, very windy, and looks like it'll rain any minute. I can't wait to go when Mike gets home. I think that it'll be a really fun family activity, and MUCH easier with another set of hands. There is another one by the Airport, which is closer to his office that might work better, but Starr Farm has a bunch of agility 'toys' that look like a bunch of fun to play around with with Dixie-stick while the hubby is on baby duty!

When Shannon wasn't screaming, she was enjoying watching all the dogs running around. I think she'll enjoy it when she's in a good mood. The outdoors are so good for her. We try to get out as much as weather permits.

Mom and I also made a fun shopping trip into Williston to get a new swing. I'm much more pleased with this one. The old one is getting re-located to my parents house. It works better if you only use it occasionally, so it'll be perfect for them. I also broke down and got a glider rocker. The amount of fussiness that Shannon has been displaying lately was the final push it took, and I told G.I. Joe that if we didn't get one I was going to go crazy. Like bug eyed, 'NO MORE WIRE HANGERS', crazy. He was smart and didn't aruge. My life has been exponetially better since, and at least when Shannon is having a drama moment, I'm comfortable settling in for the long run.

My Dad was awesome enough to come over the night that we got it, and put it all together for me, along with the swing.

I have the best parents in the world!

While he did that, my Mom and I went all handy and hung up one of my favorite baby shower gifts. A giant, handmade turtle blanket! It's too awesome to use as a playmat that will get peed on, and fit the color scheme of Shannon's room almost to a tee, so Mom and I hung it up while Shannon hung out watching her mobile.

 She LOVES looking at it, and the different colors and patterns keep her enthralled while I change her diaper.

Who says that Mike needs to be home to get stuff done?

Hehe.

I want to get family pictures done, but I refuse to go to Sears. It's the last thing that her room (and our house!) needs, and I'm sure that I'll get them done and hung up just in time for us to move. Everywhere around here is so beyond expensive. I want to include Willow and Dixie in most of them as well, which makes things worse $$ wise.

Well I'm off to compile my dream sheet so Mike and I can pick our top 5. He starts calling around tomorrow to see who needs a new SC and this gives us a little bit of control.

For all you military folks out there... this site is Uh-Mazing! I've spent WAYY to much time on it getting info. They started following me on twitter, and I'm SO thankful that they found me!

Check it out, yo!