Productive Weekends are the Best Weekends

I haven't recapped a weekend in a little bit for you all, and I KNOW you're just dying to know how I spend all that free time. No? Well pretend you are, I promise to post lots of pictures!

I had a bunch of things on the to do list for this weekend, though not many of them all that exciting. But I knew if I wanted to get everything done, I needed to make myself a schedule. It's amazing how much you can get done when you stick to a time plan.

Saturday morning I had errands to run. Lots of errands. I got them all done by 11:30 though (as per my schedule) leaving me plenty of time to play with ponies. The kids had Thursday (rain) and Friday (more rain, plus WIND) off, so I knew Jamp would definitely need a lunge before riding. And possibly Ducky too, but maybe not with him. He doesn't get as cuckoo as Jamp tends to. I also decided Rio needed a little cleaning up, so I trimmed his beard and his fetlocks. I took care of Rio first and then worked the other two.

Rio loves selfies... so vain.

I caught him snoozing after I rode Jampy too:

After spoiling Rio with grooming and grass eating, I rode the other kids. Jamp was his nervous self, which is getting really frustrating for both of us. Seriously. He LIVES here! What is so scary now that wasn't last month? If I could see inside that tiny brain of his... I did let him have a little snack when we were done though.

The Duck was great Saturday! He wasn't very fresh despite all the vacation days, which was a huge relief. He was so good, I even rode him out in the yard and let him have a little snack. I do that with Jamp in the summer a lot, but never trusted Ducky enough for it. Until this weekend.

I had hoped to get a run in after playing with ponies, but it wasn't meant to be. I had a Toga Party to attend (no really!) and I needed to find an appropriate sized sheet and figure out how to tie it. And what to wear under it! Here's what I settled on for underneath:

I mean, what better time to wear a Cats and Pugs outfit than under a Toga? Am I right? Plus honestly, where/when else could I possibly wear a cats and pugs outfit? Pretty much never.
Here's my completed Toga outfit:

Not bad! I may stop buying dresses and just wear bed sheets from now on. Seems economical.The party was fun, though I did skip out early when a bunch of the mommy types left. I'm getting old. And Sunday had a lot on the schedule too!

Ok truth... I was a little lazy Sunday morning. I slept in till about 8:30. It was wonderful! Once awake and ready to go, I went out to the barn first. My helper was there taking care of the ponies. So while she was doing the chores, I went out to the ring to remove a broken jump and reconfigure things out there some. I needed a larger area closer to the barn (and the lights!) where I could lunge in the evening if I need to. It didn't take very long, and then I headed out to finish my remaining errands (buy dog food and a birthday present for my brother). I was home by noon and worked the horses again. Jampy jumped a few fences and Ducky even trotted over some poles. Rio got to go out for some grass again. Gotta get that in before it's all frozen and covered in the s-word. (SNOW! Don't be gross.) Also, it was fairly warm out, so I let Rio have his back door open. He appreciated it!

I'm still not quite used to the sun setting so early. It's completely dark out by 5. The problem here is that I wanted to both run 3 miles AND take the dogs for a mile walk. There definitely wasn't time for both in the daylight. So I decided my kids were more important, and out we went! It was a gorgeous evening:

The only good part about it getting dark is early, is that I was back in the house so early, I got it all straightened up AND the laundry done by 8! A whole evening of relaxing with the puggers. Not a bad way to finish a weekend!

Did you do anything fun and exciting this weekend? Have you been to a Toga Party? How are you feeling about these very short days?

Weekend? Hello? Weekend?

I could swear that it was Friday like six hours ago. How is it Monday again so soon?! This was one of those weekends that was super busy, but not with too much worth reporting on.
Saturday was rainy. So rainy. When I got up at 7:00 it was raining. When I went to ride Ducky at 9:30, it was raining. Thankfully, they have an indoor over at the trainer's!

I wasn't super excited to ride Jampy in the rain (I do not have an indoor), but I couldn't skip the ride since we had a horse show on Sunday. So I mustered up the will, and we got some work done. Thankfully, though it was raining, it wasn't POURING during my ride. Then he had a tubby since he was already wet anyway.

That's Rio photobombing us in the window

Saturday, in addition to being rainy, was also Yom Kippur. The Jewish day of atonement. So I should have gone to synagogue instead of riding horses. But I didn't. I did however fast the entire day. No water, no coffee, nothing! So at 5 o'clock I fed the horses and drove as fast as I could (in the POURING rain) to my mom's house for our break fast. It was glorious. Challah and honey, bagels and lox, chicken and potatoes. And the dessert?! Cheesecake, pumpkin pie, cookies, and babkah (sp?). Mmmmmm. After the gorge fest, the rest of the evening was spent with the puggers (naturally).

These two are ridiculous

Sunday morning arrived far too early. Do you know how dark it is at 5 am now?! Middle of the night dark, that's how dark. Yuck. Since it was so dark out, the bright flashing police lights caught my eye when I went out to feed the horses. For reference, I live at the bottom of a hill AND the end of the road. Occasionally, people drive too fast down the hill and don't realize the street is ending. On this particular morning, that appeared to be what happened. I hope everyone was ok! It was all cleared up by the time we pulled out for the horse show. The one bright side to the late sunrise? We got to see it as we drove over the bridge:

Fear not, my copilot took the photo! I wouldn't endanger my Jamposaur! It was pretty chilly when we arrived at the show. Jampy was feeling pretty good from the cold! Overall, he was a good boy, but a little strong. Not unusual when the temps fall quickly. This time of year I need to remember to allow a little extra time for schooling to get him warmed up better. Lesson learned! We still had a good day, despite the freshness:

After the show, I played with Rio for a bit. He was happy to eat some grass and get some sunshine after Saturday's miserable weather.

The rest of the weekend consisted of laundry, laundry, and more laundry! Phew.
How was your weekend? Do anything fun? Get any runs in? (I didn't...)

Another busy weekend...

Duck say's Happy Monday!

 Phew! I love summer and everything that comes with it (except maybe mosquitoes...), especially these crazy fun-filled weekends!
Friday I had wanted to take my new sneaks:

out for a run. But I did not get up early enough to go before work. Well, I kind of did, but decided to stay in bed instead. (Lazy runner.) So after work, I rode Jampy, walked Rio, and turned out Ducky with enough time to fit in a very short jaunt in the new sneakers.

Yep, short. But a short run is better than no run. Let me tell you, new shoes make such a HUGE difference! Nothing hurt, and I felt so bouncy and light. Ahhhhh. I really should have done this sooner. I got up close and personal with these guys on my short jaunt:

Honestly I wasn't sure what to do... They crossed the road in front of me, and I didn't know if I should slow down or stop or what. I didn't want any crazy bird attacks! But we worked it all out, apparently they're friendly enough!

Saturday brought an early start, with lots of errands to run in the morning. Once those were done, I had to get Jampy and the trailer ready to head north to Saratoga on Sunday. This meant riding, bathing, tack cleaning and packing. Rio got a tubby too! (Ducky did not.)

I had gotten a text from my best friend earlier in the day, saying she and her family would be nearby in the afternoon, and did I want to meet up? Of course I did! I haven't seen them since before the holidays, and that's far too long! So they stopped by the house and we walked out to the lake to play in the water with her little girl. Sadly, I forgot my phone (I know?! Can you imagine?!) so I don't have any adorable photos to share. But you'll have to trust me that we had a great time. Their visit was short, as I had to get back to packing the trailer, and they had to meet up with their family for some dinner, but just like running, short is better than not at all.

Once the trailer was packed and the horses were fed, it was time to watch The Belmont! I was so very much hoping for a Triple Crown winner this year. Alas, it was not to be. What we found out later was that poor Chrome had been stepped on as they broke from the gate, and had a nasty wound on his heel. Poor guy. But he sure ran a great race despite the pain he must have felt. That horse is full of heart. FULL. OF. HEART. Love him.

I realized that Father's Day is next weekend, so after the race I went over to the nearby Polo Outlet to get Dad all hooked up with some new shirts. And that was the end of my busy Saturday!

Sunday morning, I got Jampy wrapped and loaded by 8:30:

Handsome boy all ready for the ride in the car!

It's not a long drive to Saratoga, about 3 hours, but I had not filled the fuel tank after our show last weekend, so we stopped on the road. At the gas station I saw this gigantic crow picking through garbage... These birds kind of freak me out:

He was totally watching me. Creeper.

It was a beautiful day in Saratoga, and I hated to drop my horse and leave. But I had to since the other kids were waiting for me at home to feed them. Here are some pretty Saratoga photos though!

Once back home, I fed Rio and Ducky, and then hung out with the pugs and did laundry the rest of the evening. We took some awkward family photos too:

I don't know about you, but for some reason driving really exhausts me. So I was happy to get to bed early last night!

Did you all have a good weekend? Do anything fun and exciting? Does driving make you tired, or is that just me?

Weekend Recap and Our First Show of the Season: Part 2 Sunday

Sunday was an early morning. Up at 5 AM to get everyone fed and Jampy ready for the show. I needed to leave by 6:45 to have time to lunge and school before classes started. I'm sad to say I have no photos from the show itself, though there was a photographer there so hopefully I will have some later in the week.

Things went pretty well. Jamp was a little excited to be at a horse show and was a bit stronger than I like him to be. But he was more than willing to jump all the fences (and I even remembered the right order every time!). We showed in the Adult Equitation division which consists of one flat class (flat means we show at the walk, trot, and canter only, no jumping) and two fence classes. Equitation is judged on the rider's style and competency. We were second on the flat and seventh and first over fences. That resulted in being Champion of the division! Woohoo! Good boy Jampy!

Next I had two medal classes (also judged on the rider): one for CT and one for New England. In these classes, you earn points throughout the year based on your placings which will qualify you to attend finals in the fall. For CT, the class is judged 50% over fences and 50% on the flat. 12 points will qualify you for finals. For New England, you are judged over fences only. The judge may decide to also have you come back and show over a shorter course called a test. They did not do that on Sunday though, so we just jumped the one round. 10 points qualifies you for finals in this one.

My CT medal class went very well. I left a little close to a couple of jumps, but otherwise it was pretty smooth. The flat phase went very well also and we won the class! That means I only need two more points to qualify for finals. My New England class was pretty similar. I left the ground a bit too close to a few of the jumps but otherwise things went well. We finished in second place. This means I need four more points to qualify. Pretty good start to the season!

The best part about this horse show? I was home by 1 pm! Once home, I unpacked the trailer and let the puggies out. I decided I was starving and HAD to have a Beach Donut. So I walked down to the lake and got one:

Sadly, just after this photo was taken half of it broke off and fell on the street. I figure that saved me some calories though! Plus since I walked to get it and walked home... it's almost like this donut didn't even happen! And whatever, it was worth every calorie anyway.

Following my impromptu donut run walk, I was back in the barn to take care of Ducky and spoil Rio. While he was snacking I admired the foliage coming to life in the yard:

Mmm strawberries...

I was completely done with barn work by 3 and decided to try and get some late day sun. The pugs and I hung out for about an hour by the still not open pool... They love to hide under the lounge chair when the sun gets too hot.

The rest of the day was laundry and general grown up taking care of the house stuff.

Did you have a great weekend?! Do anything fun? Do share! And don't forget to visit me on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/amateuratlarge

Weekend Recap and Our First Show of the Season: Part 1 Saturday

It was a gorgeous weekend here! Saturday started off a little rainy, but that was ok because I had errands to run anyway. By 1 pm the sky was blue and the sun shining! I had lots to do Saturday, so I got an early start. I was done with errands by 10 am, so I made sure to have some play time with the pugs:

After that, it was time to get to work in the barn. Sunday Jamp and I were going to a local horse show to shake off the dust from not competing since November. That meant lots to do to get ready on Saturday! First we went for a ride, which wound up being a bit rainy. But it was warm and not a heavy rain, so no biggie. We followed that up with some mane shortening, a bath, and a little snack while he dried off.

I attempted a ride on Ducky after that which was mostly unsuccessful. I did get him to walk at least. ((Sigh)) WHY must he be so stubborn??

I decided to get all the other odds and ends done before taking Rio out for his walk and grass. I figured he'd probably get more time that way. So I hooked up the trailer and cleaned all my tack:

And then of course spoiled the Riomeister:

He still has a low hanging right ear, but how cute is it?!

I met an old friend for dinner Saturday evening. We wanted to go to River Tavern but the wait was forever. Instead we went to Otto which is a pizza restaurant owned by the same people as River Tavern. Just as delicious and much less expensive. Win!

I was in bed early to be well rested for Sunday's show. To be continued in Part 2!