Today is Jake’s birthday. Here is a photog of what we did…
Opening Presents
Going to Lake Wheeler
Taking Merlin Swimming (more on this Monday)
Going out to dinner
Jake exercising his photo-whoredom
Being very, very happy.
Happy birthday to my handsome, wonderful boyfriend. I hope your day was wonderful.
I wrote about the wretched situation with the barn here and then again here. It’s been weighing on me steadily, and I guess it will just have to continue to do so.
I spoke with Joy today and she apologized again for everything. She said that they had planned to put me on Sergeant, but that he’s come up with a serious lameness that will take awhile to mend. She said that they have no horses that weigh 1100lbs, so until I get to 220 riding is a no go. She said that she had been hoping they could make an exception based upon my riding experience, but the directors at the farm had decided they couldn’t. She said that Sergeant should be sound by second block, which begins at the end of October. So even if I’m not quite to 220 by then, I should be able to ride.
Of course this means that the decision is final. No riding until October. I have to really try to get to 220 by then, in case this horse is not sound by then. It means that I have to go right back to square one, and go through that horribly painful experience of torn muscles all over again. I have to worry about not losing and having to wait even longer. I have to try to lose enough so that I can take one or two private lessons before group lessons start to stand a chance of not killing or embarrassing myself in front of the group.
It’s just bad news.
I know that people will suggest that exercising will keep the muscles ready, but there is literally no exercise that mimics what horseback riding does to your muscles. There is no preparation for this. It’s just starting at square one.
So yeah. Finally and definitely crappy.
Monday night I went with my friend Sarah to see SARK in Durham. It was quite the adventure, as I suppose it should have been. I wrote the directions down wrong and we ended up in downtown Raleigh instead of downtown Durham. Thankfully Sarah’s boyfriend was able to help us out, and we were only a couple minutes late to the event.
I have been an avid fan of SARK since I was in high school. Her writings have inspired and delighted me, frequently reminding me to live juicy and let my inner creator out. Hearing her speak, and seeing her in person was so incredibly wonderful. She is just as I imagined she would be. I was also able to meet many SARK fans who are just as wonderful as I imagined they would be. I have the email address of one who is going to start a writing get together, which I’m very excited about.
I bought a copy of the new book, Juicy Pens, Thirsty Paper and then stood in line to get it and Succulent Wild Women signed. When I got to SARK, I was hit with her incredible presence. She talked openly, asked questions, and after she had signed she said, “What is that man’s name?” I looked around and noticed she was pointing at the man who worked at the bookstore. I said I didn’t know and she quickly and quietly said, “Sh*t I don’t either! Isn’t that horrible?” We laughed a little and I said, “I’ll go find out what it is.” So I went and asked him his name, told him it was lovely to meet him, and went back to SARK and told her. Then I asked if she would mind if we took a picture together.
I read the book last night, and it was absolutely wonderful. She encourages you to write… anything. She encourages you to send your inner criticts off to new jobs so they will leave you alone, something I think I’ll do. I’ll have to read the book three or four more times before I have a full grasp and absorb it all.
If you ever have the chance to hear her speak, please go. And if you’re a writer, get this book. It is a gift.
Merlin has loved going to the park since he was a little puppy. It’s been awhile since we visited, but yesterday we decided to take him to Lake Benson Park. He’s come a long way since the last time he was at a park at about 6 months old; yesterday he ventured into the lake and handled other dogs and people extremely well.
You can see all the pictures here.
Even though I wrote about it on Shrinking Me, I thought I’d mention it here too… I mean, the last two posts have been pretty down in the dumps. It’s time for a little bit of positive here at Fadedwords.
WW today went much better than expected. I lost 4.2lbs!! This brings my total to 12.2lbs lost… which is half of my 10% goal. I really needed a loss like this today; it’s helped put me in a better mood regarding everything.
So yeah. 4+ more down… next goal is 5 more.
