What's Up Wednesday

It wasn't the most horsey week last week as I ran away from my responsibilities for a few days to enjoy a little Florida sunshine. I did have my lesson on Shiny on Wednesday though! She actually nearly fell down AGAIN! I couldn't believe it. Fortunately, this time she did catch herself. But it did lead me to be a weenie about jumping, and we just worked over one little baby crossrail. Baby steps my friends! She had fun jumping I think. The first one she jumped about 5 feet higher than necessary, but then she smoothed it out and had some lovely relaxed efforts. We have another lesson tonight, but it went from fifty five degrees yesterday to thirty today plus snow... So I might have a sass monster on my hands.

Sass Monster

I was signed up for a lesson on Thursday with Eros, but I got a call from the vet that they were ready for Pammon to come up this past weekend. Which left me with a lot more to do than originally anticipated before I left on Friday morning. That also meant I had to mad scramble to find someone to bring him up there! Fortunately, the barn owner was able to make that work for me. I'm super grateful they were able to rearrange their Saturday to haul him. Figures the vet would want him the weekend I'm not around! So long story not all that short, I canceled my lesson and just flatted the horses so I could have more time to get Pammon packed and finish packing myself.
Also at the last minute I had to find someone to stay with my dogs because my mom was having some kind of temper tantrum. She does this every year at the holidays, so I really shouldn't rely on her. But free dog sitting is just really nice... Anyway, I got lucky and my weekend barn helper was able to stay with the pups. Nothing like everything happening at the last minute, right? I'm generally pretty type A. I make plans well in advance. I have lists so everything gets done in time. And inevitably, my entire plan always blows up in my face at the last minute. Thankfully though, despite all the stress, everything came together and I was able to leave on time Friday morning. I had a 12:40 flight, and actually got to the airport stupid early. I kind of enjoy hanging in the airport though, so it was fine.
I arrived in Florida right on time, and my dad and step mom picked me up. We had an early dinner and relaxed at home afterward.
Similar to how things generally go for me, the same is true of my dad. He had started a rather large backyard renovation at the Florida house and it was supposed to be done well before this weekend. Dad and stepmom were hosting a boat parade party, so obviously, we would need the yard to see the boats! And well... When I got there Friday, it was not done. There were walkways that were still dirt (yikes). And the worst part was the pool... They had started to refill it the day before, but a pipe had broke. So the pool started filling with muddy water. The mud was discoloring the new concrete, so they had to fill it ALL THE WAY to keep the color uniform. Then drain it, scrub it, fix the pipe, and refill it. So that was exciting! Fortunately, it all came together. Even if at the last minute. Seems to be the theme of the weekend.

new back yard as viewed from the Intracoastal

 So anyway, backing up, I headed south to visit with trainer on Saturday morning. It was great to see her and her horses are looking great. I didn't stay too long though as I wanted to get back in time for our shopping spree for Toys for Tots. Who would want to miss that?! It was quite a success.

And since Avery brought a friend, I got to take the annual photo from outside the toy pile this year.

The parade and party were really fun. Perfect weather, tons of food, maybe a little too much wine... All signs of a good party!

This was my favorite boat. The large boat is Rudolph and the little boat they're towing is Santa's sleigh

Originally, my stepmom and I had planned to take a lesson on Sunday morning. But we canceled because her family was visiting for the party and leaving in the afternoon. Didn't feel right to leave for several hours before they left. Instead we went for a boat ride. We beached the boat for a bit to let the teenagers swim. It was a lovely afternoon! (And super relaxing!)

Sunday evening consisted of mani/pedis and then laundry and packing. Short trips fly by so fast! They have changed the flight schedules from years past and the return flight is at 9 am. Stupid early if you ask me. Who wants to return to the tundra so early?! Seemed to be the consensus. I overheard several people on the flight saying they didn't like the new earlier time. But it was nice to be home early, even if I did mostly waste the free time. I met up with the book club ladies for dinner that evening which was also a nice treat. Kind of like extending the vacation a few hours more. We went to a really fun old restaurant in a nearby town. They dress up in old timey clothing for the holidays and have carolers sing at the tables.

It's a bit confusing as the restaurant is maritime/colonial themed, and they seem to dress up in victorian outfits... but who am I to judge? It's still cute and fun.
So yesterday was back to work and then I flatted the horses afterwards. It was a little weird to not have Pammon there. But I know he's in good hands. And it was kind of nice getting done before 9.
So that was my past week! Not very horsey (sorry) but lots of fun in between all the stress of getting to the fun.
How was your past week? Are you ready for the rapidly approaching holidays?

What's up Wednesday!

Mondays are terrible in their own right, but Wednesdays are just downright nutso. NUT-SO! So once again What's Up Wednesday is late and I didn't get around to running the errands I needed to do either. So tomorrow should be fun too... On the bright side, I DID get to ride both of my horses today so it wasn't a total waste of a day. Enough whining about Wednesdays, let's take a look at the past week which was mostly spent in sunny Florida!

I stuck with last year's plan of taking the whole day off work for travel days. Lesson learned that I will never leave the office on time otherwise. Plus it's nice to be able to get things done before leaving without being completely rushed.
I had to drop the short kids off fairly early because my mom had a 9:30 hair appointment. I always hate leaving them, but I do love a long weekend away. So conflicting.

My flight was shockingly on time and I arrived (along with my brother and his family) at around 6:15 PM. Our dad and step mom picked us all up at the airport since we couldn't all fit in one vehicle. At least not with all the luggage! Speaking of luggage, check out this set up:

I bungee corded my saddle to my suitcase so I could roll it instead of carrying it... At least until I checked the bags. Then it was back to schlepping. Still, I'm pretty impressed with myself for that! Worked great.
We had a delicious Italian take out dinner and all turned in pretty early. Friday morning I overslept. This iphone update has some weird features. The worst one being that if your phone volume is down, your alarm volume will also be down. Thus I never heard it go off. Oops. I usually leave the house at 8 so I can stop for a coffee and be at the barn by 9. I woke up at 8:15. I skipped the coffee and still made it there by 10 after though! Yay for driving a race car and fast Florida speed limits...
Anyway, I was excited to see my baby freeloader Badger! He's back in semi-full flat work, so I was hopeful we would have a nice ride. Unlike this time last year, I've been riding regularly so I wasn't feeling like a sack of potatoes up there. Plus I have my grippy new to me saddle. Recipe for success!

Alas, I once again have no media. But honestly, it wouldn't be that exciting. We just flatted around in big circles. He's feeling a lot better though, so that was nice to see.
After riding Friday, I went right home to await a boring phone call with my investment team. They never called me though which was kind of a bummer because I could have gone and done something fun instead. We went for family mani pedis at four though, so that was lovely. We had another night of take out at home (it's a lot easier with a 2 and a 4 year old to just bring food home than eat out). After dinner was a quiet night of tv and online holiday shopping.
I had a lot planned for Saturday! Thankfully I figured out the alarm on my phone so I was up on time. Got my coffee and arrived at the barn about 20 minutes early. I had an even better ride on the Badge and then headed over to the horse show to hopefully accomplish some errands. First up, I wanted to stop at Beval to see if they would take Hermie 2.0 on consignment. Alas, they weren't there yet. Too early in the season I guess. Next up was hunting down Voltaire. My new to me saddle has a bit of a squeak that I'd like to get fixed. It only does it on Jamp, and only at the canter.... And only to the right. So maybe it's just Jamp? I'm not sure, but he spooks at it, so I'd like to get it resolved. Unfortunately, Voltaire was not there yet either. So the stop at the horse show was kind of a waste.
My next stop was at Woody's boot repair. I have a pretty fab pair of boots that are patent crocodile. You've never seen them because I haven't ridden in them yet. The inside part of the boot is also patent crocodile, and that seems to me like it would be very slippery. So I wanted to get a smooth leather patch put on. Unfortunately, Woody thought they were vinyl and said he wouldn't do it. They're definitely NOT vinyl, so that was pretty annoying. Plus I schlepped those freaking boots all the way to Florida for nothing! Fortunately, my dad said he'd take them to New York next time they go and see if his shoe guy will do it for me. (Seriously, my dad has a shoe guy?)
I was feeling like I'd done nothing but waste a lot of time all morning when I headed over to stop number 3. Stop number three was to a horsey consignment shop. I was told by a vendor at the show that they take consignment saddles, so I was hopeful this stop would be useful! And it was! They were happy to take Hermie 2.0 and try to get her sold for me. Fingers crossed friends! I hadn't brought any show clothes down this trip since I knew I wasn't showing. So I figured I'd poke around the shop and see if there was anything I could just keep at the house. Save me schlepping and wrinkling up more clothes! I struck out initially in the hunt coat department. The newer style ones were all really expensive still and the other ones just weren't fitting me right. I did however get two pair of Pikeur show breeches for $45 each! One is in really great shape, and the other has a little pull on it. Good enough for me though! I've never owned Pikeur breeches before, too rich for my blood! As I was leaving I browsed through the $5 jacket rack outside and found a nice navy blue one from Beval that fit me perfectly. For FIVE DOLLARS! The collar is a little weird, but I don't think anyone would notice. It looks like this one below:

not my actual coat

But mine is dark navy not bright blue. So it's a weird collar, but if I show this season on Badger it would be in the 2'6" so not even rated or I would (if I'm super duper lucky!) get to do some jumper classes on my trainer's sale horse. Either way, it wouldn't matter much what my coat collar looks like. AND IT WAS FIVE DOLLARS!
Yep, I walked out of that shop with two pair of Pikeur breeches and a show coat for under $100. No shame in my consignment game. Now I only have to bring down a couple of show shirts and I'm all set!
Stop number three was the last for me, so I headed back up north to get cleaned up. The boat parade was that evening and it's a Toys for Tots fundraiser. My family is big on giving back so we took a trip to Toys R Us and filled a few carts full of toys. It's like your childhood dream come true, wandering through Toys R Us just filling up carts. The littles each get to pick out a toy too. Fun times!

Toys for Tots!

The Marines pull right up to the dock to collect the toys. It's a lot of fun for us, but they make the poor Marines wear their dress uniform which is really not conducive to collecting bags of toys from a boat. Poor dudes.
Unfortunately, trainer's daughter was feeling under the weather so they couldn't make it up for the parade. That left me with some family and a whole lot of my dad's friends. It was fun nonetheless and I drank a lot of wine so there's that...

It might have been the wine talking, but step mom and I think we should decorate the boat with a Chanukah theme and enter it for next year. We'll all just have to wait and see if that happens!
I crashed pretty hard Saturday night (see above comment about much wine...). Sunday is a non riding day for trainer so I didn't get to see Badger. Instead I slept until 8:30 (it was awesome) and then lounged around in my jammies for the rest of the morning. My step mom's brother and his family left around noon, and my brother plus his family left soon after for a few days at Disney (I'm totally jealous). So the rest of us piled into the Intrepid for a little cruise up the Intracoastal. It was a gorgeous day for a boat ride!

Family Boat selfie

Gotta get Captain Skip in one too!

Juno goes everywhere!

I'm queen of the world! -Juno probably

Quick boat visit too!

It was my last night in Florida so I got to pick what I wanted for dinner. I chose my favorite Thai place of course. Problem was my brother took the station wagon, so all we had left was a bunch of tiny cars. Two of them claim to have back seats, but it's a lie...  So the three of us piled into one of them. We were pretty happy to get out!

The flights this year are a little earlier than years past, so I didn't have much time Monday morning before it was time to go. The bonus though, is that it was still light out when I got home and I was ahead of most of the traffic. Last year we were dumped out right into rush hour.
I was really happy to see all the kids at home:

I didn't get to ride since I had to pick up the short kids. Tuesday was stormy so that was out too. But I got to ride tonight! I lunged Jamp first because he's had six days off and is afraid of the dark. I'm no dummy. He was a nut ball but settled eventually and was pretty good for our ride. We didn't do anything strenuous (see earlier statement about 6 days off...) but we did enough. Rio was perfect of course. A bit sassy since I didn't lunge him first! I love when he brings the sass though, I like to think it means he feels good.
And that's it from here! How was your week? Are you getting ready for the crazy that is the holiday season? Has the crazy started already for you? How are the ponies?! Let's chat in the comments!