Halloween 2009

Just a fly by posting... here are a couple pics of Halloween this weekend... more to follow once they are loaded. The first night, Rich was PacMan and I was a pirate. The second night, Rich was an injured quad rider and I was his nurse. :) We had a great weekend!

Bathroom, Garage, Aunt, Vacation and ER visits

Many updates... I suppose I will just work through the list. :)

1- Bathroom is pretty much done. YAY! The only thing left to purchase are closet doors. Everything else has been completed. What a relief... and perfect timing! We finished it right before we left town, thankfully, as we would not have completed it upon our return (with Rich's one arm).

2- Rich purchased a giant garage! It is more like a "tent garage," but it is a garage none the less. It is 27' long x 20' wide x 14' tall. Now we can house the toys throughout the winter without having to worry about the weather. On a more comical note, the beams are made VERY well; they are very stout, AKA very heavy. Ever seen a gal my side and a one-armed man trying to put up a garage of that size and weight? Oh man, I would not be surprised if the neighbors win $10,000 on America's Funniest Home Videos sometime within the next few months. :)

3- I am going to be an aunt. (I feel okay divulging this now as Daja already made mention of it on her blog.) Her anticipated due date is June 7th... pretty close to future Grandma Joyce's birthday (the 5th). So, in not too long there will be a mini Jimmy running around... uh oh... hope Daja knows what she is in for. ;)

4- Okay, now an explanation to the one-armed references. 6 of us piled in Rich's Father's motor home this last weekend and made the 8 hour trek to the Oregon Dunes. We had 6 (yes 6) bikes on a one-car trailer. HEHE. Anyhow, we also had friends who met us down there; Michelle and Josh from Olympia, and Gary and Bret came from Albany. We had a great couple days filled with riding and friends. Unfortunately, Rich was having far too much fun at one point and came off (pretty hard) while jumping. Now, call me crazy, but when you are jumping the entire top of a 100 foot+ dune, I would imagine that one, small misstep can be pretty ugly. Well, an ER visit later Rich was threatening to do one handed cartwheels in Rite Aid... sigh. At least he can always have a good time no matter the circumstances. :)

Anyhow, here are a few pics of the trip.

This is the poor, poor trailer...

This is the fabulous motor home!

This is the jump that knocked Rich around.

The ER, LOL!

The Rite Aid where he was convinced he could do a one-handed cartwheel.

And ALMOST the entire group (missing Gary, Bret, and whomever is taking the picture) the day PRIOR to the crash- sunset.

***Disclaimer! I quick thank you to Rich who, over the past 6 days, has been the best sport throughout the relentless teasing. :)

Bathroom

So, the last couple days have been spent on the house. Actually, I should say that RICH'S time has been spent on the house; I am pretty much useless when it comes to home construction of any kind if it requires more than a paint brush or soap.

Anywho, the bathroom sure is shaping up. I have been waiting for a new shower since I purchased the home a year and a half ago, and now my wish is being granted!

Above is a picture of midway there shower wise. Since this picture the walls have been put in and the seems have been caulked.

Now on to finish the rest of the bathroom. It sure will be worlds better once all is done.

Quads, Boat, Horses and Puppies!

Ahh... the complete absence of students is somewhat relaxing. :)

I am still sitting here at work and yes I know that I am here far beyond my normal cut off time of 4 PM, yet I was scheduled to work until 7 PM on this particular evening. What do I do with my lack of work? Well update my blog of course. ;)

Summer has been an absolute BLAST! I recently caught myself on the verge of sadness when I saw that September was only a short month away; then I realized that meant that the beginning of quad season was only a short month away. Happy again!

Anywho, back on point, Rich and I have been quite busy this summer. We have been on the boat nearly every weekend, in addition to a select few weeknights. We took a trip to the Oregon Coast last month, and we are planning on taking another trip with in the next couple weeks. I have been keeping busy with Wrangler Girls in preparation for the Kennewick Pro Rodeo which takes place during the last full week of August. And as if we were not busy enough, we have puppies! Yes, six precious aussie pups! They are currently a week and a half old and as cute as can be.

Outside of events and hobbies, life is going well. Rich has been slaving in the yard, and I myself barely recognize the yard! He is doing such an amazing job! Work is going great as well. I am really liking how low the stress level is at my new job. So wonderful! It sure makes me wonder why I didn't look for a low stress job to begin with.

Well, short and sweet, but that's my life in a nutshell. :)

Woo Hoo!

*Singing* "School's out for the summer!!!"

My last day of class (aka: my math final) was a week ago- exactly. YAY! I couldn't be happier. Yes I went back to school voluntarily, but I sure will appreciate the break. I think I grossly underestimated just how stressful and time consuming it would be to go back to school after years off, even though I am well aware of the value of every minute invested.

Yet now I am sitting here counting how many days a week I need to work out, how many nights a week I will have wrangler girls practice, and all of the fun times I will be able to have over the summer (quads, boat, actually being able to see Rich in the evenings, ect.) while not having to worry ONE BIT about a looming 5 page paper or math test.

Ah... life is good. :) Finally getting back to the things I enjoy... with a huge smile on my face.

Job Situation

For those of you who have not yet heard, I recently accepted a new job.  I will be working for mom's company; I will be facilitating their classrooms.  05/08/2009 will be my last day at my current job.  

This is an exciting, yet nerve-racking move.  

On one hand, I am excited to reduce my work week to three days a week.  Not only will I have more time to do my homework and keep up on my laundry/housework, I will also have more time to do the fun things in life; like cooking and playing with my horses.  

On the other hand, having a part-time income may prove to be difficult.

None the less, I look forward to the change.  The next few months will be pretty tell-tale.  I am assuming the best. :)

Wow, the media is NOT a reliable source by any means.

http://www.zootoo.com/journals_j_currentevent/morethanonehundredneglectedmus_rtfitch

I have been following this story for quite some time now (before this man was actually found to be a fraud).  Red flags were going up as soon as I saw all the media hype over this fairy-tale ranch.  The media ( http://archive.9news.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=103019) was reporting that he was going to "train 100 mustangs in 100 days,"  and stated 'facts' such as "In two weeks, a wild horse can be fully trained" and "he (Jason) cuts their manes when they arrive to connect with them."  HUH WHAT?  Now, I don't know what magical powers Jason Meduna was assumed to have, but even the best trainers in the nation will say that it takes years to finish a domesticated horse.  And who in their right mind thinks that cutting a mane will create a bond with a horse?  Not to mention that his website (sorry, they have now taken down the site... otherwise I would post the link) seemed more dedicated to his superhero image (and buff, shirtless BOD) than the actual horses.  

More recently he reported a horse STOLEN (http://www.netposse.com/stolenmissing/RayuNEstolenMar09.htm), saying he was afraid that the horse had been taken by individuals who intended to "do the horse harm."  Yep, since people steal horses all of the time to hurt them for the fun of it.  (Again, a WHAT?!?! moment.)  

Once someone finally spoke up about the dying, skinny horses, he assured everyone that he was feeding them.  When individuals persisted, he then blamed their appearance on his neighbors, stating that his neighbors were POISONING them purposely with cattle feed (no wonder the neighbors now don't like the guy).

OKAY, enough of the scary, self-involved man.

A prime example of how the media only covers certain stories.  NATIONWIDE the media was covering the polo ponies "tragedy," in which 21 horse died a very sudden death. ( http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=7380774&page=1 )   Yet, over 60 horses and counting STARVE to death, and more are on the speedy road to the same death, and only local stations and/or horse type media are covering the incident.  Scary stuff!  Truly, the media only shows what it wants to show, and that's for sure!

But on an up note- WOW, the horse community amazed me on this one.  People stepping in to take care of the horses, people cleaning up his mess, just simply amazing!  Donations coming in left and right, Jerry Finch (prez. of Habitat for Horses) dropped everything and went there immediately to organize the rescue.  Simply amazing.

Sorry... I think I was posting this more as a vent of how shocking the whole situation is.  I truly have not been able to stop thinking about it for a couple weeks.  Purely unbelievable.

http://www.kearneyhub.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20303524&BRD=268PAG=461&dept_id=577571&rfi=6