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...

Hair cut win

I got my hair cut today! Very short. Very, very short. Look for yourself:

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.

Procrastinating Perfectionist

I have been told that this is what I am. I am certainly a procastinator (big time), and I can be a perfectionist. I read an article one time about the different types of procrastinators, and there it was, the procrastination perfectionist (more than just nice alliteration). Apparently these people (of which I might be one) have a fear of not doing the job perfectly, and so they procrastinate doing the job because they only want to do it if they can do it perfectly. I don't think I'm on the extreme end of this, but it certainly fits me in many ways. I just typed it into google and got a lot more information about it, including a transcript of a talk that a professor did at Cal Tech.

I think that has been why I haven't updated my blog as often. I always feel so obligated to update everything I've been up to when I write my blog (for all 5 of my followers, yay, up from 2!). It has to be "perfect" - talking about everything that has been going on. Part of this is that I do want this to be an online record, or "resume" of the things that I'm doing, as I wrote about in my first post in the beginning of the year. Part of the problem is that this blog is replacing my journal (I have several floating around) that I have never been able to keep, but always wanted to. I think I have all those fictional books that are in journal/diary format stuck in my head and I am trying to follow that format. Which really isn't realistic. People don't really write that way. At least, not me! And that would be too much to write.

So, I am going to try and be better about being succint in my blogs, so that maybe I will write more often. I follow one of my friend's Livejournal blog, and she updates her blog with random thoughts. She doesn't write lengthy posts; sometimes her blogs are one lines. Once I start writing, I write a lot, generally, so I don't think that method would work for me. It also wouldn't follow my original plan for blogging. However, it does inspire me to write at least shorter blogs.

Procrastinating

I saw this at Whispering Acres Blog, while I was catching up on my reading, and I thought I would write another quick post:

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To:
1. Maryland Day tomorrow!
2. The end of the semester in less than a month
3. Turning 21 in 2 months
4. Having a job this summer
5. Sunny, warm weather
6. Getting my Bachelor's in a year!
7. Being a part of Sigma Alpha
8. Moving back to Alaska (in 3 years)

8 Things I did Yesterday:
1. Donated blood!
2. Calculus discussion, Bio lab
3. Watched a new episode of Smallville
4. Slept in
5. Had Chinese food for dinner
6. Planned my schedule for Maryland Day
7. No homework!
8. Enjoyed the warm weather

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:
1. Go home to Alaska all summer with my husband (well, if I'm wishing for things... move back to Alaska NOW!)
2. (Stole this one from Claire) Rescue all the animals that need rescuing!
3. Not have to take a summer class this year
4. Get a puppy
5. Get As in all my classes!
6. Go home this summer AND go to the Ag Teacher's Conference in July (here in Maryland)
7. Do well on calculus homework and tests
8. Cure Cancer

8 Shows I Watch:
1. Heroes
2. Smallville
3. Terminator: Sarah Conor Chronicles
4. Dollhouse
5. Friends
6. Sanctuary
7. Fringe
8. Supernatural
(Hmmmm... notice a sci-fi/fantasy trend? other than Friends, of course)

Maryland Day!

Tomorrow is Maryland Day at the University of Maryland! It actually started as Ag Day, as I have been informed by every Ag student, faculty, and staff. The University stole it from us! Ok "stole" might be a bit of an extreme word, but it was the Ag College's idea first. It's this big open house with lots of activities going on. The Animal Husbandry Club is putting on a livestock show, where students show dairy heifers, pigs, and sheep. The Equestrian Club is doing a horse show, from in-hand to flat classes and jumping. The Collegiate 4-H club is selling fresh cookies & milk. Sigma Alpha is doing a kiss-the-pig fundraiser. In the past couple of weeks, everyone has been putting change in one of the faculty's jars, and whoever gets the most change has to kiss a pig at Maryland Day! I'll mostly be helping Equestrian Club and Collegiate 4-H. The AGNR (Agriculture and Natural Resources) college does grilling, where students from clubs help out with grilling for an hour (say the 4-H club has grilling from 2 to 3), and the club gets a percentage of the profits from the sales. I'll be helping the 4-H club with that. I would help Equestrian Club, too, but their grilling time is while I'm showing. Tonight I'm helping 4-H club bake the cookies that we'll be selling tomorrow. They'll be nice and fresh! We'll also have a couple toaster ovens going tomorrow, to have even fresher cookies!

I'm also showing in the Equestrian Club's shin-dig, an advanced walk-trot-canter equitation class. Wish me luck! I am excited. The only equitation classes I've done were 4-H classes, and it's been years and years since I have done an equitation class. I thought it would be fun to try it out. At my lesson on Wednesday, it was raining but we all wanted to ride since we couldn't ride last week (rain!). Since I'm riding in the show tomorrow, and I won't know what horse I'm riding until tomorrow morning, I rode all 4 of the horses in our lesson to get practice. I hope I get Junior! It was the first time I rode him, and he was a dream! Apparently he was pre-Grand Prix dressage when his owner got found out for tax fraud (or something), and the owner donated him to the club! So he is top-notch, and so smooth!

Update on the Sigma Alpha process: I am now officially a Sigma Alpha sister! We had to take a hard test, but we got a lot of help from our Bigs (a SA sister who helps you in the Membership Candidate process, my friend Linda was my Big). I passed, and apparently they think I'm SA material, because me and the two other women who were rushing were inducted into SA on Monday!

Well I thought I'd write a quick post, since I never did get caught up on my blog. Things have been crazy! And when I did get on blogger, I would read other people's blogs before I updated mine! This time, writing first, then reading.

No promises, but I plan on giving a low-down on everything that happened at Ag Day (I keep writing Ag Day instead of Maryland Day, and I wasn't even here when it was Ag Day!). Pictures, too, if I remember my camera! It should be a fun day.

Oh man that was rough

Rough couple of weeks; I've been very busy and have had a lot of stuff going on! I'll hopefully catch up this weekend, but it will take up a few posts.

So last time I wrote I was at the end of spring break and hadn't gotten much homework done. At the last Equestrian Club meeting (March 3rd), I was voted as the new Parliamentarian and on Tuesday March 24th we had a get-together with the old directors and the new directors. It was a lot of fun! We had lasagna and rolls and salad and lots of good deserts. The old directors are staying on until the end of the term, with a transition time for the new directors. Normally the new directors aren't elected until April or May, I think. We just hung out, weren't planning on having a meeting or anything, but ended up discussing a few things. One of the horses, Chico, had swelling in his back legs. No lameness, just swelling, probably from kicking his stall. We also have Maryland Day coming up, on April 28th. It used to be Ag Day, where the Agriculture and Natural Resources (AGNR) college had a fun day. Now the entire university does it. I only know about the things the AGNR college and clubs are doing. The Equestrian Club is having a horse show, with halter, equitation, hunter hack and jumping classes. I'll probably be doing an equitation class, and maybe a hunter hack class. They're also doing a fundraiser by taking picutres of kids on one of our horses, then printing the pictures and making frames in horse shoes. The Animal Husbandry Club is doing an animal show where students show pigs, sheep, steers, etc. That's just a long explanation about what we were talking about at the get-together.

The next day, Wednesday, I had another great riding lesson! We did some more jumping, harder jumping. Sara, our instructor, had us doing 3 jumps in a row by the end of the lesson! It was a lot of fun, and I could really feel my improvement. I was surprised that she had me doing 3 jumps in a row, since this was only my second time jumping! There were two cross rails, and a normal jump at about 18 inches. I got a nice ego boost. Sara's friend was there, and said she couldn't believe it was only my second time jumping. I'm not saying I looked perfect or anything, I was leaning too far forward and didn't keep my lower leg still enough. And I'm sure plenty of other things. But it sure felt good! I felt balanced and in control.

Next post: 4-H judging and a possible job!

Woman's best friend

I was thinking about my childhood dog last night as I was trying (unsuccessfully) to fall asleep, and I wanted to share his story with y'all.

My mom got a puppy from one of her students, whose bitch had an unexpected pregnancy. She was a registered Australian Shepherd, but the father was unknown. There had been an intact Blue Healer roaming around about the right time, but as the puppies grew up they looked more like lab crosses. I was 6, my sister 5, and the puppy was supposed to be for both of us. As those things, go, though, the puppy (Wyatt) and I really bonded. My sister is more of a cat person, turns out.

I had ridden horses since I was 1 (with lots of help, of course), and when I was 10 I really started riding a lot, being able to be more independent. Wyatt always came along on my trail rides and pack trips. Wyatt, my horse, and I spent a lot of time together. Wyatt slept in my room at night, of course, while the other dogs slept in my mom's room. My parents were divorced, but they stayed friends and split the property to be neighbors, so that it would be easier on my sister and I. Wyatt's home was at my Mom's house (supposed to be, anyway). My sister and I spent equal time at each house, and it didn't take Wyatt long to figure out when I was at my Dad's. He would often come looking for me whenever he got a chance to run off and I wasn't at Mom's. Mom said sometimes he would rub on the coats hanging in the hallway, and knock them down to lay on mine.

When my mom was building the barn for the horses, her and Rae did most of the work on it. I think I was 12 at the time, so I wasn't much help (though I tried). Wyatt, and my Mom's two dogs, were hanging out on the ground while Mom and Rae were working on the frame for the roof. The way my mom tells it, the dogs were all calm while Mom and Rae were up high in the skeleton of the barn, swaying around. I went down to check out their work, climbed up the ladder to the top. And Wyatt went nuts, apparently very worried about me. As my Mom tells it, he couldn't care less if she and Rae were in danger, but as soon as things looked iffy for me, he suddenly cared very much!

I returned his love as much as I could. Even as a child, I appreciated his devotion. Sure, I made mistakes, lost my temper, but he always forgave me and we always had that strong bond. I took him with me whenever I could, and he had a good life. When I went off to college, he was 12, and had slowed down a lot, but was still very healthy. He couldn't come with me, and I missed him very fiercely. No animals allowed in dorm rooms, you know. And I couldn't give him the freedom he was used to at home, anyway. He would have gone crazy, even after having slowed down so much. When I came home for Christmas that year, and the summer after, he sure hadn't forgotten me. Our bond wasn't as strong, but we still loved each other so much.

I was married that summer, between my freshman and sophomore years, but my husband went back to Iraq, and I lived with my mom. I tried taking him on trail rides a couple times, because he wanted to go with me so bad. But halfway through the trail ride, he always slowed down and couldn't keep up, so I gave up. He always barked like mad, though, and I felt bad leaving him behind. Our last trail ride together I remember vividly. I went out for a trail ride alone, and decided to take Wyatt with me. We had to cross a busy road to get to the trail, but Wyatt was very good at sit and wait precisely for this reason. My mom and I were very careful with that, since we couldn't exactly keep our dogs on leashes. I always brought both horse and dog treats on trail rides! Halfway through the ride (I was doing fast trotting), I couldn't see Wyatt anymore. I called and called, but he didn't come. I thought he maybe had missed one of the turns I took, and went home early (unfortunately, that sometimes happened, although rarely). I was very worried because he had to cross that busy road on the way back. I rushed back across the road, no Wyatt. I ended up beating him home, and he was fine. I had stopped to talk to a neighbor on the way home (after checking the road), and there came Wyatt 5 minutes later, while I was still there, walking very slowly. That's when I knew that I couldn't take him on rides anymore. I couldn't put him in danger like that anymore, no matter how much he wanted to come on the trail rides. Used to be that he could always keep up, and was with me when we crossed any road, so that I could control when we crossed, and do it safely.

When Wyatt was very young, still a puppy, really, he used to run off a lot. He fathered at least one litter of puppies by the time he was 6 months old! We quickly neutered him, but for a while he still ran off. He soon stayed at home for the most part, but started running off again when he was older. My mom has 40 acres, and takes the dogs with her outside when she's outside. She can't keep an eye on every dog every time, and doesn't want to keep one locked up all the time. So sometimes he ran off, and there wasn't much we could do about it. He always came home safe and sound.

Diasaster struck our family in quick succession. We lost two dogs in a row, including Wyatt, a month and a half apart. First, my mom lost her dog, a bitch named Sasha who was very special to her. I was home for that one. I went back to school at the end of September, and a little over a month later, October 29th, I got the call from my mom as I was getting ready to go to polo practice. Wyatt was dead, hit by a car. Looked like a quick death. Just like Sasha, about the same place on the same busy road. I had said my goodbye, because he was old, albeit healthy, and I never knew when he might go. I had been especially sensitive because we had just lost Sasha. So I had said my goodbye, but I wasn't ready, it was too sudden. My childhood friend, who had been with me for everything, was gone. It's more than a year and a half later, and I still have a hard time not crying just thinking about him.

I'll probably post more stories about him in the future... most notably one involving a porcupine... but that's enough for now. Here's a picture of him about a year before he died:


Not bad for a 12-year-old, huh?