I had a great break from school - I went home to Alaska for 5 weeks and am now back in Maryland! I got some great time in riding. Being the middle of winter in Alaska, and almost always below freezing, we just ride bareback and with a hackamore to keep us warmer and from having to shove a cold bit into a horses mouth (or warming it up on our hands). My horse was fat and hadn't been ridden that much (maybe once every other week), but she was an angel nonetheless. Perhaps not a perfect angel every time, but very nearly so.
My mom has a 2 and a half year old Paint mare, a 7 year old Quarter Horse mare and my 15 year old Quarab. So, when mom and I wanted to go riding we had to pony the Paint mare so she wouldn't be left behind and freak out. Mom and I took turns ponying her when both of us went riding. It started out okay, but her horse started getting really irritated with the "baby" (as we still call her). Now, to give Cheval some credit, the "baby" (Llegua), is a trouble maker, and sometimes even a Trouble Maker. However, my horse, despite her 3/4 Arabian nature, was more patient with Llegua and I got to lead her most of the time. Llegua is pretty good at being led, but being a "left-brained extrovert" (a new phrase I learned from one of my mom's horsenalities DVDs), when she gets tired, or for whatever reason doesn't want to keep going, she just stops right there. Me, being [almost] equally stubborn, will NOT let go of the leadrope because then she would be getting away with stopping with out being asked.
Did I mention we were riding bareback? And my horse is an Arabian who doesn't like to stop just because the annoying "baby" beside her is stopping?
No, I didn't fall off, but it came close a couple times. And Llegua proved more stubborn than me because I let go of that leadrope before I fell! I only lost the leadrope a couple of times, and Llegua got much better about only stopping when everyone else stopped, but I had a VERY precarious seat a couple of times...
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Jumping!
Got to jump in my lesson yesterday, yay! This was the first time jumping since last spring (where I only had 3 lessons in jumping). The horses were on a program all summer designed to get them in really good shape so they wouldn't all go lame when the hard work of the fall term (and new riders) started. Didn't work, most of them went lame anyway, but it was a good thought.
Anyway, I jumped Dually, a bit 16-something hand thoroughbred. Wow the power! I did 4 jumps in a row, 3 of them about 1' 9". A lot for a beginner like me! My instructor, who was a different one than what I had in the spring or summer, gave me some good tips, like arching my back more. It was so much fun!
Can't wait until next week, maybe I'll get to jump some more!
Tomorrow I will be starting nanowrimo... National Novel Writing Month. I won't be writing a "novel" so much as a collection of memoirs. My sister and mom are doing it, too. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with all my other school work while I'm doing it!
Happy Halloween everybody!
Anyway, I jumped Dually, a bit 16-something hand thoroughbred. Wow the power! I did 4 jumps in a row, 3 of them about 1' 9". A lot for a beginner like me! My instructor, who was a different one than what I had in the spring or summer, gave me some good tips, like arching my back more. It was so much fun!
Can't wait until next week, maybe I'll get to jump some more!
Tomorrow I will be starting nanowrimo... National Novel Writing Month. I won't be writing a "novel" so much as a collection of memoirs. My sister and mom are doing it, too. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with all my other school work while I'm doing it!
Happy Halloween everybody!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Indianapolis
Sigma Alpha National Convention this last weekend in Indianpolis! Lots of fun! Very tiring. I got to see one of my friends from Oregon, which was really awesome! She was one of my roommate's when I lived there. Her and one of our other roommate's are Sigma Alpha sisters. The ironic thing is that I didn't rush until AFTER I moved to Maryland!
Horse carriage in Circle Center.
Me in front of the Soldiers & Sailors monument in Circle Center.
Me and my friend from Oregon.
Horse carriage in Circle Center.
Me in front of the Soldiers & Sailors monument in Circle Center.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Quick update
Just wanted to write a quick update, now that I feel like I have some time to breathe - I went on vacation for two weeks to Alaska, and I had a blast! I have been promoted to manager at the pool, but now only working 40 hours a week. I have 2 more private lessons to teach (or rather, 2 more days), and then no more lessons! So maybe I won't be so tired.
Alaska was amazing, I went from July 7th to July 21st, and barely slept. I went on a 5 day pack trip, a 3 day trip to my husband's grandparents cabin, and a 3 day trip to Fairbanks where my mom and I competed in a NATRC trail ride. Now I'm back and working at the pool. Maybe later tonight, or on Saturday (my next day off) I can give a more detailed update. Right now I'm going to catch up on Vet on the Edge...
Alaska was amazing, I went from July 7th to July 21st, and barely slept. I went on a 5 day pack trip, a 3 day trip to my husband's grandparents cabin, and a 3 day trip to Fairbanks where my mom and I competed in a NATRC trail ride. Now I'm back and working at the pool. Maybe later tonight, or on Saturday (my next day off) I can give a more detailed update. Right now I'm going to catch up on Vet on the Edge...
Friday, June 5, 2009
Goddess is Great, Beer is Good, and People are Crazy
Ok, that's not exactly how the song goes, but people ARE crazy! How do some people work 10 hours a day, 5 days a week?! And not sleep through the whole weekend? I am working 40 to 45 hours a week at my lifeguarding job. 11am to 8pm on the weekdays, 10am to 8pm on the weekends and holidays! I have Wednesdays and Saturdays off, which I chose since I have riding lessons on Wednesdays and my cleaning chore on Saturdays. And I am exhausted at the end of the day. You wouldn't think sitting in a guard chair is that difficult, but I am sitting in the hot sun. (Covered in 50 spf sunscreen! my fair Irish skin burns quickly) I am happy to be getting so many hours for work, I can certainly use the money to pay for tuition! It's just tiring, and I don't know how other people do it, especially if they're sitting in an office.
Well, back to horses... In addition to the cleaning I do on Saturday mornings, I also exercise one of the horses (Junior, a big bay Thoroughbred). The Heard Health directors of the Equestrian Club are putting all the horses on a type of "rehab" schedule, since many of them are lame. This week... 20 minutes walk! ooooh, exciting! I'm supposed to ride around 8:30 am on Saturdays, and clean whenever, as long as it's before 11. Well last Saturday I had to work because someone else needed the day off (I took Friday instead). And big shame on me I forgot that I had chores to do in the morning! In addition, I was covering someone else's riding, who would normally ride the horse later in the day. Oh man. So, 8:30 rolls around, and I'm getting ready to go to work, making myself some breakfast, and the girl who I'm supposed to ride with (the club has a strict rule that someone must be present when you ride, in this case, they scheduled 2 people to exercise the horse at the same time) calls. Uh-oh. I think my face went white. 15 minutes later I'm there. I felt so terrible for being so late (normally you should be on your horse at 8:30)! You can bet I won't forget again! She had to go to a wedding, too, and I apologized profusely. She was fine with it, and didn't seem angry, but I still feel so bad! *shakes head* Well, we rode (we both had 2 horses that morning), then I cleaned... and ended up 45 minutes late to work! yikes! I didn't get in trouble at work, since it's usually so slow the first hour. I feel pretty bad about forgetting; I know how important it is for the work to be done, and I don't want to leave it to someone else to do! It did get done, so I can't beat myself up too much since there was no harm done to the horses.
Wednesday the riding lesson went well - bareback again, since it was still 20 min walk for the horses. We worked on collecting the horses, some leg yielding, and 2-point bareback! Good thing the lesson time was limited... I gotta get me in shape, too!
Speaking of getting in shape...I have actually been going to the gym regularly! I go with my friend Mallory before work. We have a routine all set up - Monday is upper body, Tuesday is lower body and cardio, Wednesday is cardio, and then we repeat, with Sunday as our day off. I know that I would not have been able to stick to this routine if I wasn't going with Mallory! I could barely get myself out of bed this morning, and especially yesterday morning when we had to go at 7 (so she could go before class). I think we can keep this up, as long as I get enough sleep. I would like to lose a little weight, but especially gain back some strength and endurance that I've lost in the past year. No wonder I'm so tired!
Something happened at work yesterday that really bothered me. To keep track of our hours, the company I work for gives us employee ID numbers, and we clock in and out by calling a 1-888 number and entering our ID (they use caller ID to check where we're calling from). Well, yesterday, my manager said he was running late and asked me to clock him in before he got there, he said he'd be about 10 minutes late. Well, I did that (definitely against the rules), but he ended up being almost an hour and a half late. It felt like I did something so wrong, because he got paid for all that time when he wasn't even there. It was rainy all day, and nobody came to swim at the pool. The guards slowly started leaving in the afternoon, and I left about 6:45. Well, my manager said that I shouldn't clock out, he would clock me out at 8. I told him, no, I'll clock myself out, it was wrong for him to do it for me. He didn't understand why I thought it was wrong, after all, I hadn't had a problem with it that morning, and "who would know?" ( We were the only two left there.) I couldn't let him do it, even though I hadn't really done work all day (since nobody was there at the pool), it would have been being paid for not working. He thought it was so strange. He is from another country (Serbia), but that shouldn't change anything. Why didn't he understand why I thought it was wrong? And am I being hypocritical in seeing a difference between 10 minutes and an hour? They are both against the rules, although that is not why I think it's wrong. Of course, I wouldn't ask him to clock me in when I'm not there (although he did it that Saturday I was late for riding, and I didn't like it). I do feel better for having stuck to my morals and clocked myself out on time, but it bothers me that he didn't understand why I thought it was wrong. I am definitely not going to let him clock me in and out early/late in the future; I can't let it go further than it has. Any thoughts?
[Author's note: the astute reader may notice that I am posting this on Friday, which is not my day off, at a time when I should be at work. The pool was closed because of the rain, and I didn't have work today. Gave me a chance to finally post another blog entry!]
Well, back to horses... In addition to the cleaning I do on Saturday mornings, I also exercise one of the horses (Junior, a big bay Thoroughbred). The Heard Health directors of the Equestrian Club are putting all the horses on a type of "rehab" schedule, since many of them are lame. This week... 20 minutes walk! ooooh, exciting! I'm supposed to ride around 8:30 am on Saturdays, and clean whenever, as long as it's before 11. Well last Saturday I had to work because someone else needed the day off (I took Friday instead). And big shame on me I forgot that I had chores to do in the morning! In addition, I was covering someone else's riding, who would normally ride the horse later in the day. Oh man. So, 8:30 rolls around, and I'm getting ready to go to work, making myself some breakfast, and the girl who I'm supposed to ride with (the club has a strict rule that someone must be present when you ride, in this case, they scheduled 2 people to exercise the horse at the same time) calls. Uh-oh. I think my face went white. 15 minutes later I'm there. I felt so terrible for being so late (normally you should be on your horse at 8:30)! You can bet I won't forget again! She had to go to a wedding, too, and I apologized profusely. She was fine with it, and didn't seem angry, but I still feel so bad! *shakes head* Well, we rode (we both had 2 horses that morning), then I cleaned... and ended up 45 minutes late to work! yikes! I didn't get in trouble at work, since it's usually so slow the first hour. I feel pretty bad about forgetting; I know how important it is for the work to be done, and I don't want to leave it to someone else to do! It did get done, so I can't beat myself up too much since there was no harm done to the horses.
Wednesday the riding lesson went well - bareback again, since it was still 20 min walk for the horses. We worked on collecting the horses, some leg yielding, and 2-point bareback! Good thing the lesson time was limited... I gotta get me in shape, too!
Speaking of getting in shape...I have actually been going to the gym regularly! I go with my friend Mallory before work. We have a routine all set up - Monday is upper body, Tuesday is lower body and cardio, Wednesday is cardio, and then we repeat, with Sunday as our day off. I know that I would not have been able to stick to this routine if I wasn't going with Mallory! I could barely get myself out of bed this morning, and especially yesterday morning when we had to go at 7 (so she could go before class). I think we can keep this up, as long as I get enough sleep. I would like to lose a little weight, but especially gain back some strength and endurance that I've lost in the past year. No wonder I'm so tired!
Something happened at work yesterday that really bothered me. To keep track of our hours, the company I work for gives us employee ID numbers, and we clock in and out by calling a 1-888 number and entering our ID (they use caller ID to check where we're calling from). Well, yesterday, my manager said he was running late and asked me to clock him in before he got there, he said he'd be about 10 minutes late. Well, I did that (definitely against the rules), but he ended up being almost an hour and a half late. It felt like I did something so wrong, because he got paid for all that time when he wasn't even there. It was rainy all day, and nobody came to swim at the pool. The guards slowly started leaving in the afternoon, and I left about 6:45. Well, my manager said that I shouldn't clock out, he would clock me out at 8. I told him, no, I'll clock myself out, it was wrong for him to do it for me. He didn't understand why I thought it was wrong, after all, I hadn't had a problem with it that morning, and "who would know?" ( We were the only two left there.) I couldn't let him do it, even though I hadn't really done work all day (since nobody was there at the pool), it would have been being paid for not working. He thought it was so strange. He is from another country (Serbia), but that shouldn't change anything. Why didn't he understand why I thought it was wrong? And am I being hypocritical in seeing a difference between 10 minutes and an hour? They are both against the rules, although that is not why I think it's wrong. Of course, I wouldn't ask him to clock me in when I'm not there (although he did it that Saturday I was late for riding, and I didn't like it). I do feel better for having stuck to my morals and clocked myself out on time, but it bothers me that he didn't understand why I thought it was wrong. I am definitely not going to let him clock me in and out early/late in the future; I can't let it go further than it has. Any thoughts?
[Author's note: the astute reader may notice that I am posting this on Friday, which is not my day off, at a time when I should be at work. The pool was closed because of the rain, and I didn't have work today. Gave me a chance to finally post another blog entry!]
Friday, May 22, 2009
Bloodhound!
I am a big Tamora Pierce fan, and I have been looking forward to the release of Bloodhound, the second book in the Beka Cooper series. It was actually released last month, but I got a 40% off coupon at Border's and my husband bought me the book. :) It is young adult fantasy, but it is still mature enough for me to enjoy (or rather I am still immature enough to enjoy it...?). Well, Harry Potter was never restricted to only young adults!
I'm working as a lifeguard this summer, and I had my recertification class yesterday. I got burnt! I kept putting sunscreen on (I don't feel the need to have a tan, and I don't want skin cancer), but we were in and out of the water, and I didn't want to put the sunscreen on every time I got out. I thought it was a little more waterproof than it was... We were in swimsuits, too, since we were practicing water rescues. It's mostly my upper back and shoulders that got the worst of it. Fortunately we have a big bottle of a burn relief with aloe in it.
This weekend I'll be working 9am to 8pm Saturday, then 10 am to 8pm Sunday and Monday. Bring in the hours! I'm looking forward to making some money, although it is a 3-day weekend for my husband so I'll miss spending time with him. Ah, well, he'll just get to play more of his online games. ;)
We got the schedule for summer riding and cleaning for the Equestrain Club... I have Wednesday night lesson, and a Saturday morning cleaning. The club is also working hard to get the horses in shape, starting slow and working the way up, so we have "exercise riders" instead of "trainers" this summer. I will be riding on of the horses, Junior, Saturday mornings starting next week (they get a week off). Riding twice a week! I can't wait! Maybe I'll have more interesting things to write about for my blog.
Well, I'm off to get engrossed in Bloodhound. Maybe I'll get it all read tonight before I have to do all this work this weekend...
I'm working as a lifeguard this summer, and I had my recertification class yesterday. I got burnt! I kept putting sunscreen on (I don't feel the need to have a tan, and I don't want skin cancer), but we were in and out of the water, and I didn't want to put the sunscreen on every time I got out. I thought it was a little more waterproof than it was... We were in swimsuits, too, since we were practicing water rescues. It's mostly my upper back and shoulders that got the worst of it. Fortunately we have a big bottle of a burn relief with aloe in it.
This weekend I'll be working 9am to 8pm Saturday, then 10 am to 8pm Sunday and Monday. Bring in the hours! I'm looking forward to making some money, although it is a 3-day weekend for my husband so I'll miss spending time with him. Ah, well, he'll just get to play more of his online games. ;)
We got the schedule for summer riding and cleaning for the Equestrain Club... I have Wednesday night lesson, and a Saturday morning cleaning. The club is also working hard to get the horses in shape, starting slow and working the way up, so we have "exercise riders" instead of "trainers" this summer. I will be riding on of the horses, Junior, Saturday mornings starting next week (they get a week off). Riding twice a week! I can't wait! Maybe I'll have more interesting things to write about for my blog.
Well, I'm off to get engrossed in Bloodhound. Maybe I'll get it all read tonight before I have to do all this work this weekend...
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Hair cut win
I got my hair cut today! Very short. Very, very short. Look for yourself:
Before
After:
Before
After:
Like I said. Short! I love it, I think it turned out pretty well. The photos don't do it justice. I'm donating all that hair to Locks of Love. I hope some girl will really enjoy it.
I finished with finals on Monday; I got a C in Calculus (yay! I was in danger of a D), an A in Biology (yay!), a B- in Physiology lecture (yay!), and I'm not sure about Physiology lab yet (probably a B+ or A-). So time to celebrate! Cut my hair! It was so HOT having all that hair, this is so freeing.
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