Rollercoaster Month /// November Recap

Well, congratulations to all of y'all who survived the craziness of NaNo, I applaud you!

And to those of you who didn't do NaNo, I applaud you for surviving the month where the weather goes haywire instead of choosing a pattern and sticking to it like it should.

Points of Information:

Fall has actually settled Texas. I am very happy about that.
Thanksgiving happened.
College stuff is still going well.

Work Things:

*horse is a dream for the farrier* *even has her blanket on and isn't scared of the rustling sounds* *until the last foot* *farrier touches her hip* *horse explodes forward* *almost knocks me flat* "Really?"

totally accurate depiction of what it's like to hang on

Horse has a ridiculously long tail. Tail has been wrapped up into a ball for the past three-ish weeks. Horse has a tendency to stomp his back legs and whip his tail around in the crossties. I unwrap his tail so I can rebraid it. Braid comes free, and I go throw away the wrapping. *horse whips his tail around* *horse smacks himself in the stomach* *horse jumps because he thinks I whipped him* *horse gives me a look* "Hey, that one was on you, I had nothing to do with it!" *chuckles*

Stallion at the end stall. Farrier does his work by that stall. Mare. Stallion flips out. Stallion is jumping around and rearing and looking over the top of the stall wall that has to be eight or nine feet high. And that's the story of why that particular horse no longer lives in that stall.

*cleaning out the tack room last month* "Hey look!" *holds up thing* "A mummified mouse!" Everyone else: "What are you doing holding that! Go throw it away and wash your hands!" *a few minutes later* Me: "Hey look, another one!" *holds it up by the tail* *minor freakoutation again* "Guys, relax, this thing has been sitting in dust long enough that all the germs are probably mostly gone anyways."

I don't know, I probably got stepped on a couple times.

So remember how last month I came back to work and another lady had been hired? Yeah. Well. About that. My boss couldn't afford to keep both of us so I was the cut because in the horse world experience outweighs how long you've been working at the place.

I'm trying not to be bitter or hold hard feelings about it, but it's definitely been difficult. I had to go back a week after she let me go to pick up my last paycheck. Let me just twist that dagger a little bit. I honestly was holding up pretty well, but then one of the other trainers asked me how I was doing with all of it, and that's when I cracked and ended up crying.

I'll definitely miss all the critters there.

So I've been job hunting. I've sent out a ton of emails, stalked job pages on Facebook, asked people if they had work or knew of people with work. I've had several answers of "no, but good luck!" I had one nibble, but I wouldn't have been able to even meet with her until after Christmas. I had a bite, but I didn't set the hook before he asked how much I was looking to be paid, so he had to say no because he couldn't afford to pay me what I was looking for. I had an internship offered, and I'm thinking about that- even just to get experience.

So I'm back to making cinnamon rolls for the holidays. The kitchen smells fabulous though, so that's been nice.

Barnyard Things:

Two more of my birds flew the coop, the last rooster I hatched and Grey. That one hit hard because I was looking forward to seeing what his babies would have looked like, since he was a mix of two very dominant (colorwise) breeds. I'm watching everyone like a hawk now. I can't just keep losing them like this, it's not fair to them.

Other Things:

I had coffee with a guy. No, nothing has come of it. No, I was not expecting anything to come of it. Yes, he was very polite and respectful. No, neither of us actually got coffee. I had hot chocolate, and he had iced tea. Yes, the whole ordeal was extremely awkward.

So we spent Thanksgiving with Dad's side this year. Somehow Gabe ended up wearing Mia's skinny jeans that day instead of his jeans. We didn't figure it out until the middle of the afternoon. We couldn't take him seriously after that.

A baby skunk is hanging around. His name is Flower.

Somehow went from *needs four full meals + 5000 snacks* to *you know what, I'm not that hungry* *eats a snack at 2pm and calls it lunch*

Our church had a joint service the Sunday before Thanksgiving with the church we rent the building from. That was fun. They had a person opening the door and greeting. We walked in, and immediately Mom remembered that we had forgotten to bring in the salad for the potluck afterwards, so she sent me out again. Person chuckles under his breath when he has to open the door for me a second time. Grandpa arrives. I had baked goods to hand off to him, and since we had time I went out again. The hand off goes smoothly. And I walk back into church. "I'll just keep opening the door." *chuckles* (keep in mind, this all happened one right after the other, so this was probably about in the space of five minutes)

Breaking and Entering:

(because I'm sure y'all want to know how that happened)

So a family from church had to go out of state because their Grandmother had a stroke and they needed to be up there with her. This family has two dogs, and it's not like they are little so they can just go with the family wherever. This family also lives 30 minutes away from us.

Since they were going to be gone for almost two weeks, they needed someone to housesit for them. Somehow I was their choice (personally, I would have asked someone in their neighborhood, or someone from the church who lived closer. But then maybe they did, and I was their last resort. I'll never know).

So they leave on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. That Wednesday was also Christian's birthday, so we all had a jolly time celebrating his day. And to top it off, we watched a movie that night. I still had to stop by and feed the dogs (who live inside, so regardless of feeding, I would have to let them out). So the movie ends at 9:30-40ish, and Mom and Dad decide that Christian should go with me. So we get there, well after 10, and start looking for the key they were going to leave out for me so I could get in the house.

We can't find it.

So I call them. Keep in mind, they are already like, 5 hours on the road at this point. They tell us where the key is supposed to be, and we are looking all over for it in that area. No key.

They had left a key out for their kids to use after they come home from school, but the kids said that they had never needed it. So it was on the hook with the rest of their keys in the kitchen. And they had forgotten to put it out for me.

So the dad is on the phone with us trying to help us figure out how to force a window and get in that way. He said to push in and up.

*coughcough* We pushed in all right. And the window kept going in. So at this point the dogs are already borderline freaking out because someone is outside their house. Breaking the window didn't help them calm down in the least.

So of course we told the dad what happened, and luckily he was okay with everything and was in the middle of replacing the windows in the house anyway so he had a spare window to put in. He also went ahead and called the police station to let them know that no one was trying to burgle the house so if anyone reported us they wouldn't send someone out and arrest us. (at one point there was a truck parked on a corner watching us)

It's around 11 now, and we still have to take care of the dogs, find the key inside, put in the new window and clean up the broken glass, as well as drive home so we can wake up and spend Thanksgiving morning with the rest of the family instead of spending the night there, driving home in the morning, and then driving back out to spend the day with Dad's side.

So that happened. Dad called right before midnight asking what was happening, because we all expected to be home and asleep by then. He and Mom both agreed that the whole situation was decidedly not our fault, and that there wasn't much we could do about it at that point but to finish getting things settled as fast as possible and to drive home safely.

I was surprised at the number of cars still out after midnight in the middle of the week. But we made it home safely just after 1 in the morning. And then I was too keyed up to fall asleep before 2:30. And I had to get up at 7:30 because I had someone picking cinnamon rolls up somewhere between 8 and 9, so I had to be ready for them to come at 8. So I didn't really wake up and feel like myself on Thanksgiving until around 3 in the afternoon, because what better way to treat five hours of sleep than with two cups of coffee and a big heavy meal.

So I don't know if I'll ever try house sitting when the drive is more than 15-20 minutes. I feel like I kind of got the short end of the stick in terms of time spent with family around Thanksgiving this year. I barely even saw Mom's side of the family outside of dinner on Friday night, even though they started arriving and spending time with us on Wednesday. So much of my time was spent driving, and I was tired a lot.

Blog Things:

HERE

fall.

Music Things:

I discovered that, despite not seeing the movies or reading the books, the music of Harry Potter is pretty fantastic.

Anastasia, because it just feels wintery.

The Greatest Showman is one that we want to see, so I was pretty excited when they released a couple songs early.

Christmas music, because once Thanksgiving has passed it's time for Christmas music.

How was your November?

Tell me something funny that happened to you.

What is your favorite Christmas song?

when the unexpected slams you in the face like a volleyball.

You can cry. That's allowed.

In fact, you may even end up crying yourself to sleep. That's ok.

You can be upset or even angry. But it is important to keep things in perspective. Don't take it out on someone who had nothing to do with it.

Let yourself be comforted. It sometimes feels good to hold on to anger and sadness, but that is a self-destructive and dangerous habit.

You will probably feel down for several days, in fact, you may be melancholy for a week or so. But if something makes you smile, dwell on that instead. It will do you good.

Focus your energy on something else. It's amazing how when you throw yourself into working on a project or some such thing, it helps you to forget. Keep yourself busy.

If you have one, cuddle your pet. Petting a dog or cradling a cat can help solve a multitude of problems.

Don't shut your family out. They can and will help you. That's what families are for.

Ask for prayer. It's hard to know what to do. Asking for prayer is always going to be your best bet.

Recognize that sometimes things just go sour and there's nothing you can do about it.

fall.

blazing down the road with all the windows down and music blaring.

gun shots in the valley.

the smell of burn piles burning.

fog in the morning.

the sun not rising until 7:30 in the morning.

leaves changing color.

horses turning into wooly mammoths.

cats napping in the sun all curled up and floofed out instead of sprawled in the shade.

frosty windows.

tea.

flannel work shirts.

homemade hot chocolate.

school.

cold mornings and warmer afternoons.

cozying up with the laptop and writing blogposts on the days off.

the weather going haywire.

grass turning brown overnight.

the first frost.

seeing more deer in the valley.

rainy days.

The Difference Between an ISTP and an ISTJ /// A HORSE NAMED CHLOE /// coming home from Maui /// Obligatory October Recap

Points of Information:

New Blog. *points to the obvious*
We are home from Maui.
Fall has come to Texas, at least colorwise. We've had a couple of cold days. (I say that, and yet it is supposed to hit somewhere in the 90s this week)
My boss hired another person to work with us. She is nice, and does like to talk.
I managed to keep up with my class while we were away.

Maui Things:

There were some really huge waves (at least for our beach at this time of year) about two weeks in, so that was really nice to have variety. Most everyone at the cabana was watching the few of us crazies who decided to actually get in the water, instead of reading or visiting. We wished we had scorecards to hold up for how well people were handling the waves. Not to worry, NOBODY was swimming around the rock that day.

I saw a really, really big sea turtle swim by, probably almost as long as I was tall. *screeches to two total strangers as I swim by* "there's a turtle RIGHT there!" *jabs finger at the water three feet away from them*

Whoever was staying above us had their sun-shade rolled down almost the entire time they were there. The sun-shade has a metal weight at the bottom of it to keep it from flapping up. The railings upstairs on the balcony are metal. *almost constant cow-bell noise* During the night too!

Lydia: "How come that didn't wake you up? Lucky!" Me: "Well, I mean I did wake up at some point during the night, but I don't know what woke me." Lydia: "Oh, that was probably when I hit you."

We had our traditional Last Night in Maui dinner at our favorite burger place when our favorite singer was there. He spent most of his break chatting with us and took a picture with us like last year.

We met another family from Canada. And by that, I mean we saw them at the cabana for a few days, but didn't really hang out with them until our last day, which also happened to be their last day, and then we crossed paths three or four times in the airport.

Lydia had her birthday.

Every morning we would be up between 5:30 and 6 and then head down to one of the beaches for family devotions. One time someone noticed we did it every morning, took a picture of us from their balcony, and then rushed down to give it to Dad.

Mia proved that she is an excellent Scrabble player, as she beat almost everyone she played against. Without help.

We finally got a beach family photo!

We had a six hour layover on the way home. Most of us were able to take naps. I tried. And gave up. It was about a 36 hour day for most of us by the time we got home and settled down.

The first two nights home were easy, but then on both Monday and Tuesday, I got only four hours of sleep each night. I pretty much nuked my system with coffee so that I would be coherent at work, and I would be exhausted by the time I made it home, but then 10 o'clock would roll around and BOOM. Second wind.

The difference between an ISTP and an ISTJ:

TP: "Why can't I get this thing to turn on? I've pressed every single button!" *racks brain as to what they didn't do that might have worked*
TJ: "Is it plugged in?"

Work Things:

I almost tripped flat on my face twice in one day. Once when the horse I was leading threw his leg out in front of me, and then again when I was putting a horse back in his stall and he stepped on the toe of my boot right as I was taking a step with that foot.

It's cold enough to be putting blankets on all the horses now. As of yet, the bruise count from that particular activity is only at one, thank goodness. But of course it had to be a doozy. Square on my foot, and then her hoof slid.

A new horse came, well actually a lot of new horses came while I was gone, and her name is Chloe! She's sweet, BEAUTIFUL, smart, doesn't freak out over little things, AND she's attentive! I already love her after only working her twice.

Snow went to a new home. Right when I was starting to like him.

So there are these two really annoying dogs that will jump out of the brush right as I drive around the last bend before I turn in at work. They chase my car. I am very grateful that that road is not busy.

*really, really windy day* *every single horse spooks as I lead them outside* *except for the one horse that spooks at everything* *he walks perfectly normal all the way down* Horse logic.

I asked my boss what I needed to work on in my riding, and one of the things she mentioned was my posting. I was a little confuzzled because I was pretty sure I had been doing it correctly. So I went ahead and videoed myself (meaning, I set up my phone, but then only rode by it about five times in all the time I was riding), then realized that my stirrups were WAY too short. Guess that's what I get for being the tallest out of all of us.

We got two new barn cats! And oh my goodness, they are so amazing! They love attention.

We cleaned out the tackroom. No barn is utterly devoid of dust, and this one is certainly no exception. Even with a bandana over my nose and mouth I was still eating dust while I was sweeping the floor (note: there is no airflow in there, outside of the door into the rest of the barn, which also has very little air movement).

Barnyard Things:

Three of my birds were missing when we got home.

One of my roosters flew the coop about a week after you got back. Of course it had to be the one with the nice crow. The other rooster, bless his heart, sounds only marginally better than a dying cat. I have my fingers crossed that he'll eventually grow out of it.

One of our friends had an extra rooster she didn't need, so gave him and his best girl to me.

With how pretty everyone is turning out, I can't wait to incubate eggs next spring! (or see if anyone goes broody)

Back in August, Coal got into a scrape and is finally finishing healing from that. He kept scratching at the scabs before they could heal completely, and he got into another fight with a neighbor cat. He is our scrappy, prodigal cat.

Ginger is still plugging away, at 12. She still looks almost in her prime. Outside of being easily susceptible to tapeworms (because, barn cat + rats, mice, birds, and rabbits = lots of potential for worms), she is the perfect kitty.

The coyote family came back to the valley and sang for over a minute one evening just as dusk was setting in.

Music Things:

See my post, HERE

Since then, however, Spotify finally put the Broadway Anastasia soundtrack up! I may have squealed.

Blog Things:

Blog Introduction

HERE

HERE

Photo dump

HERE

How was your October?

Now that it's November, who is excited about doing NaNo?

What is your favorite season?