Truthful Tuesday

Let's see... what to confess today? I still haven't rolled those wraps I keep talking about. I have been making myself do something productive in the house every day though. Over the weekend I did many loads of laundry. The mountain is down to a hill, so that's something at least. I've nearly achieved shoe organization, which has been needed for along time. I have some storage supplies coming from Amazon this week so maybe next weekend I can finish that project. Last night I cleaned and organized the under the sink cabinet in the bathroom. Just the one. But it's a start.
So I guess today's confession is that I still have a TON of things to do around the house. You don't realize how much crap and clutter you accumulate until you get around to organizing and clearing it out. Thankfully, I still have a full time job, so I don't have hours and hours of free time to dedicate. But it is nice to have some free time to accomplish these projects. Just trying to make the most of my time stuck at home. Might as well love my space if I'm going to be here so much, right?
I've also found the furniture I want for my craft room. I have a spare bedroom that I never furnished. It's a weird shape, and really wouldn't make a great bedroom as it's long but very narrow. I have my room, plus two others, so I don't certainly don't need that one to house people. Anyway, everything I want is on Amazon, so next month I'll order. (This month I had to get the home office set up. Only so much $ per month ya know?)
What about you all? Have you been using your time at home productively? Learn something new? Do some crafts?

Thursday's Threads and stuff

Life is weird now guys. I'm still super behind on blogs. Even my own apparently. My hands are legit bleeding from so much washing... But I'm still pretty okay with hanging out alone with the pups all day every day. That part is nice. Artie even came upstairs today to work with me for the first half of the day. Then he realized it's boring and went back down stairs to snuggle with P. Can't say I blame him.
I'm still allowed to see my horses for now. I'm not sure when my hay is coming so I can't really bring them home unless I source elsewhere. But they're in good hands, so should full lock down happen, I know they'll be okay. I have debated about riding and decided to proceed with caution. I won't start jumping Shiny until things calm down at the hospitals (so like... next year...) and I'm going to continue just hand walking Pammon for now as well. I was supposed to start tack walking him, but I think better safe right now. A little longer rehab certainly won't hurt him. And as for Eros, I'll just see where we end up. He has two more weeks of hand walking, then his third shockwave. Then I think two more weeks before we reevaluate. Hopefully by then we'll have a better handle on this pandemic.
And that's basically life right now. Work is still nuts, but we're running low on product. That's worrisome. But you can only worry about so many things at once, ya know? I had to curb my news watching to calm the anxiety. Which I never really had before, but it's moved itself right in. Me and everyone else I'm sure. Anyway... I have a riding outfit to share!

I mean, it was also my work outfit, cause why dirty more clothes? I think it goes without saying that I'm not bringing anything additional over to the barn so I wore the one K and my navy boots.

Jacket: Old Navy
Sweatshirt: TK Equestrian

I've been wearing everything just once, including my jacket. Once I get home, I wash my hands, strip off my clothes, throwing them right in the already open washer, wash hands again, and climb into fresh jammies. Which sometimes I wear for the first half of my work day too... Anyway, the point of that rambling is, I've been wearing every jacket I own while I wait for the washer to fill up. I like the Old Navy jackets for the barn. They wash and dry, and are inexpensive so you don't worry about trashing them.

Belt: Mane Jane

My outfit was very monochromatic, and I kept the theme with this gray strap and the gunmetal buckle.

Breeches: Dover

I'm still loving my dover breeches. I hope they have some fun colors for spring... Something to look forward to, right?

Socks: Dreamers and Schemers

I love horse butts. Not in a weird way, I promise! When I was in high school I needlepointed a belt that was all horse butts. Then I stupidly loaned it to one of the little kids who forgot her belt at the horse show. And then I never saw it again. Which is pretty sad, but also, no chance it would fit me now anyway. So I bought these socks to reminisce.

And that's it from here for this week. I'm catching up on all of your posts slowly but surely! Hope everyone is staying healthy and sane through all of this.

Truthful Tuesday

So is it weird that I'm totally okay with not leaving my house? I have food (at least for a while) and a normal amount of toilet paper. My pups are here. Just not the ponies. I called for hay, and it's coming, but I'm not yet sure when. So I can't bring the ponies home right now. And truthfully, I'm not sure I could care for them properly right now with their special needs and my job as crazy as it is. So for now, they're staying at the boarding barn. My state is really vague on whether or not we boarders should be going to the barn and the barn owner is allowing us for right now. Boarders only, no lesson kids, no extra family members. I'm thinking about not riding Shiny, and just going out to hand walk the rehabbers and let her have a free lunge if it's possible in the indoor. Most of the other boarders go out early in the day, and I can't until after work so there are usually only 3 people there when I am. I'm not using the cross ties anymore, and bringing my own clorox wipes for door handles and stall latches.
If they decide to close to boarders, I will definitely miss my horses, but I'm honestly okay with that too. I want this thing to pass quickly. As an asthmatic, I'm pretty terrified of catching it.
Where are you guys at with this thing? Are you still seeing your horses? Are you riding?

What's up Thurssday's Threads...

So life is super weird right now, huh? My job hit peak crazy yesterday. I've never experienced a day like yesterday at my job, and really hope I don't again. What. A. Day! But I don't want to complain because I'm really fortunate to even have a job right now. So many people have been laid off. What a crazy thing to be living through.
We had a meeting Monday to let us know most of us would be transitioning to work from home. I was so happy to finally get that call! Setting up the home office was a little rough at first. I couldn't find the driver to make my printer talk to my work laptop. Which was okay, because most of what I print comes through email and that doesn't have to be done on the work server. But then I realized my new laptop has no usb port for my printer (I never set up the wireless on it). So I had to bust out the old lap top until I could get an adapter for the new one. It was pretty ridiculous working off three computers for a couple days. Also, I can't get onto the work server through the wireless internet, so I had to stop by my brothers to steal an ethernet cord to hardwire in. Today I had to actually go into the office to retrieve my IP phone. So things are set up and rolling along. Mostly. I just ordered a proper desk chair. I was using a folding chair I keep in the trailer, and well... it wasn't cutting it.
Anyway, you're not here to talk about work. You're here to talk about horses! So first things first....
SURPRISE!!!

Pammon is back from the vet's! (Ignore the one wrapped leg... I think he took the other one off...) Let's back up to Friday when Eros had what I hoped would be a final follow up appointment. Our vet let me know that he ultra sounded Pammon earlier in the week, and while there's still some healing to do, he's ready to start tack walking and getting into a routine. Barn owner picked him up for me yesterday since life is so ridiculous on my end right now. For the first few days we're still hand walking. He requires some pretty serious sedation just for that so I want to see what I'm dealing with before I climb aboard.
As for Eros... Despite his leg looking completely perfect on the outside and no change at all on the ultra sound, he's still unsound. Boo. We did some shockwave on it, and he'll have one more treatment in 10 days. Then I guess we'll recheck a couple weeks after that. And obviously all of that depends on what happens with The Covid (that's what I'm calling it now). If they decide we need to shelter in place... well then the vet won't make it out. But being nqr usually isn't life threatening. So worst case there, we just wait longer. No biggie,
Shiny is doing well, though she's starting to protest this whole having to work thing. She's pretty agreeable when I let her plod around like a beginner pony, but she gets very opinionated when I ask her to start coming round and carrying herself. The horror! She's definitely feeling stronger though, so I know it's just mare-itude and doesn't seem to be pain related. She's absolutely a lazy pony, so protesting hard work is pretty much expected from her.

In pup news... Well I'm not completely sure what's going on with them. P finished her meds, and I guess I need to bring a sample in to be tested. But with everything going on, I haven't done that yet. She seems just fine though, so hopefully we're good for a week or two. Artie finished his second antibiotic but is still coughing a lot. So I checked in with the vet and we decided that despite what the tests showed, we should try some heart meds for him. It doesn't make sense that neither antibiotic helped him except that it might be something heart related. So hopefully that will do the trick and he'll be feeling better soon. Fingers crossed!

I spent some of my free time last weekend putting together all of these shelves for my bedroom. They have fabric bins that will go in them, but I didn't get to that part yet. Hopefully by the end of all this isolation my house will be in order!

Those wraps I mentioned Tuesday though? Those are still in the laundry bag...

I also have somewhat of a riding outfit to share today. Since I'm working from home, I wore jammies the first half of the day and then just put on my riding clothes. So here it is:

I wore my same ol' One K helmet and the navy boots.

Top: Tory Sport (by Tory Burch)

I love this throwback pullover! It's fleece which is a little annoying in the dog hair department, but it's really cozy. The colors are fun, and the snaps are rubberized. Super fun!

Belt: Mane Jane

I wore the hunter green belt strap which doesn't quite go, but I can get away with that during a global pandemic. And the rose gold buckle because that was already on it...

Breeches: Hadley by Smartpak

This photo doesn't really show the color very well. These are "spruce" which I think refers to a blue spruce, because they're more of a bluey-gray than a green really. Anyway, the Hadley's are way better than the pipers. I'm not sure yet if I like them more or less than the Dover breeches. Maybe about the same.

Socks: Dreamers and Schemers

These socks feature dog butts which I find hilarious.

And that's it for today! Still about a week behind reading blogs, but some day I'll catch up with all of you! Maybe this weekend!

How are you all making out in these crazy times? Staying healthy?

Truthful Tuesday

Today's confession is that I have a giant laundry bag full of clean, tangled up wraps sitting in my living room. And they've been there since I moved the horses in November. Not only that, they've been there so long I have stopped even noticing them! I have navy wraps at the boarding barn to use, so these are all my green ones. I haven't needed them, so I just totally forgot about them.
My office has finally given us permission to work from home starting this afternoon (we're waiting for adapters to arrive for our phones, should be here in an hour or so). So maybe I'll drag that bag upstairs to the (new) home office and work on it in between phone calls and orders and what not.
Do you guys have anything like that you've been putting off and/or just completely forgot about?

Thursday's Threads

I ate a whole sleeve of Thin Mints today. I do not feel thin. Anywho... It's outfit day! My outfits are somewhat uninspired this week. But hey, at least I put clothes on! Ha! Here's what I rode in last night:

Kinda dreary, huh? I gotta do some brighter laundry one of these days...

Helmet: One K

Yes. I look tired.

Same old. I know... One of these days I'll mix it up. This was not that day.

Sweatshirt: Smart Ass and Sass

It says, "I swear because I care." This is not necessarily a true statement. I just swear a lot.

Belt: Mane Jane

Gray belt to match the sweatshirt with the gold buckle, because SOMETHING had to be a little shiny!

Breeches: Tredstep

I've had these forever, so you've seen them a bunch. They're great breeches. Super comfy. Unassuming.

Boots: De Niro

Navy still going strong! And the zippers came for the black ones. So eventually I'll get those replaced. Assuming this virus calms down one day. I'm not venturing into any cities unnecessarily till then!

So that's what I wore to ride in last night, and here's my work outfit today:

Not too exciting, but still pony themed!

Sweater: French Connection

I actually picked this one up second hand on Pohsmark awhile back. I think it's adorable.

Belt: C4

Figured the braid belt was cute with the pony sweater. Plus the black and white theme seemed to work.

Jeans: Vintage America Blues

I might have worn these pretty recently... maybe even last week? I can't remember. But they're a neat color, kind of a slate gray.

Shoes: Tretorn

I'm not sure why, but I totally love these old man looking shoes. I mean... they have VELCRO. They're awesome. You'll have to trust me.

Arm Party!
Lefty:

Lefty is donning my new favorite bracelet from Loriece along with my apple watch.

Righty:

Righty is wearing my gold and black Hermes saddle nail bracelet, the full cheek bracelet in black, and my fitbit.

And that's it from outfit day! Do you have any favorites from today? I swear, I'm trying to catch up on everyone's blogs. So when you see random comments from me on posts that are like two weeks old... sorry. I'm trying! Hope you're all doing well and avoiding the Covid!

What's Up Wednesday

All I can say is that I'm REALLY looking forward to this weekend when I have absolutely nothing on the calendar! Phew.

It was a good week with Shiny. She's flipped a switch back to working pony and has been pretty good lately. She's not tripping as much (which doesn't mean never, but it's improving) and she's warming up out of her western pleasure trot a bit faster. I imagine this amazing spring weather is helping too! Before the nice weather arrived though, it was VERY windy. Last Friday I had planned to just sit on her bareback and have an easy day. But when I brought her over to the mounting block in the corner of the ring, a big gust of wind blew a bunch of sand or whatever was outside against the building. She spooked and reared and acted all kinds of wild. So I decided instead of riding to just let her have a turnout in the ring. SUCH a good call! She was WILD! Galloping around and even kind of bucked a couple times. But the cutest part was that she jumped all the little cross rails that were set up in the ring.

Boing!

Everyone else has started riding outside this week, but we haven't gotten there yet. Work has been so exhausting, I just haven't had the energy to work through the first time out doors wild. Maybe this weekend if the weather stays nice.

Take me outside please. -Shiny probably

Eros seems to be doing fine. The leg looks good, nice and tight. We've been enjoying our walks. And we've had an audience:

The other night, every time we passed the window Eros wanted to stop and say hi to the cat. And the cat was trying to rub on Eros through the window. Which was pretty funny but turned hilarious when he got so into it he fell off the sill. He was fine, I promise! The look he gave me though when I peered down to see if he was okay! Lol! Me laughing at that is probably why my horses are always lame though... Karma.

"Seriously Mom. Be nice." - Eros, likely

Eros has his next vet check on Friday, so please everyone, cross all of your crossables that we can start back to work! I miss riding him tons.

In other exciting news though, I got to ride some extras this weekend! Barn owner is still in Florida so the rules aren't quite so tight I guess. Saturday I got to flat Neiko who you might remember from when I got to lesson on him a few weeks ago.

He was wonderful and I had a blast riding him. Such a fun guy. He's 19 so all the buttons are firmly installed. He can try to be spooky if you let him, but if you just tell him to knock it off, he's like "cool, I was just kidding."

On Sunday, I got to ride a new one for me named Chacos. He's also older, and has been around the block a few times. I think he did the hunters most of his life, but his last job was doing the jumpers.

Chacos was a little freshy but he kept it together. Other than some snorting he behaved himself. It was great to get to sit on some full sized horses after spending the last few weeks just on Shiny pants. I'm SO grateful to the nice ladies that shared their horses with me! And also, kinda funny that they're all chestnut, no? I guess it's just blonds and red heads for me these days!

P and Artie both had rechecks at the vet Saturday morning. Neither of them is better yet totally which is pretty disappointing, but they have improved so that's something.

We changed P's antibiotic and a second one for Artie. Doc says for Artie, it's pretty common for pneumonia to take up to four weeks to resolve so I shouldn't get discouraged. He's still coughing though, so not sure if we'll have to switch meds again... We shall see I guess! The extra fun part is that P had to go on Amoxicillin which I'm allergic to. Thank goodness I sell gloves for a living!

Welcome to the Pug pharmacy... We have three types of antibiotics... what's your pleasure?

Also on Saturday was one of my favorite events of the year: The Essex Chili Cookoff! Obviously, I don't participate as a chef (lol... I don't cook) but I am all over the testing. There were 16 chilis to try, which takes some real power to get through. They were all pretty good, but my favorite one had a maple flavor to it, and it wound up crowned the champion.

Voting booth. Each taster gets two votes (glass beads) and you just place your beans in the hole for your favorites.

The Trophy!

Obviously after all that chili, I needed a little something sweet before I went home. So I stopped at Ben & Jerry's for a cone.

I have zero regrets. A few extra pounds maybe, but no regrets.

And Sunday afternoon was a pretty big deal too! My little brother's grandmother turned 100 and we had a little party for her.

And then I had to go home and do Sunday chores which was pretty lame. The work week came way too quickly and I'm already dreaming of 5 pm on Friday...

Did you all have a good week/weekend? Do anything fun? This might have been the last weekend for fun things before we all get told to avoid each other. This virus seems like it's coming fast and furious, and as long as I'm able to see my horses, I'm just fine with laying low for a few weeks. The introvert in me has been training for this my whole life! Jokes aside, I hope everyone stays healthy and safe.

Truthful Tuesday: The one where my brother gets pranked

Alternate Title: Using 23 and Me to mess with your siblings

This isn't really a confession so much as a HILARIOUS story about my brothers. And I had absolutely nothing to do with it, except for enjoying the hilarity... My older brother submitted his DNA to 23 and Me awhile back so he has an account with them. Any time a potential family member joins, he gets a notification.

Sibs and Dad at Older Bro's college graduation circa 1998

So my littler brother, who is a half sibling to my older brother and I (we all share Dad), decided to try out 23 and Me also. But my little brother isn't into the interwebs or the government knowing everything about him. So be submitted using a fake name, Jorge Rodriguez. Can you see where this is going? No? Try harder... You'll get there...

Sibs at my college graduation circa 2002 complete with bunny ears...

Also important to note, my younger brother was conceived via IVF in the 80's. You'll appreciate this in a moment.

Sibs and Dad at little bro's college grad, circa 2010

A few weeks ago, my older brother gets a ping from 23 and Me that he has a new relative who is a potential half sibling. Well, older brother panics. He goes to his wife and says "what should I do??? Do I call Dad? This could kill him!" First he thinks maybe dad had a little something on the side... And then he goes further and thinks maybe they used dad's um... deposit, for someone other than my stepmom way back in the 80's.

Are you guys dying yet?! Cause I am.. Hilarious. Total panic. Of course, my sister-in-law being a more rational human being says, "you should probably call your brother first." So big bro calls little bro and little bros says "What's 23 and Me?"

sibs with Dad at Dad's wedding also 2010

Hahahahahahahaha! Unfortunately, he couldn't hold it together for much longer, and 'fessed up.

So that's today's story about how my Little Bro totally punk'd my Big Bro. And I just got to sit back and laugh my ass off.