This weekend has been good, bad, productive, fun, relaxing, stressful, enjoyable and crappy all in a matter of 3 days.

I started my three day weekend by getting up early and taking the pups for a walk.  After the walk I headed to the barn and had one of the best rides on Tucker that I have had in a really long time.  We worked in the ring and rode out on the pasture trails and it was one of those rides where we were both relaxed and I think really enjoyed each other.  After the ride I was able to find a couple caches and go buy some boxes to start the never ending process of packing. 

Packing I did indeed.  I spent many hours this weekend filling boxes and trash bags, and yet when I look around the house it does not look like I've done anything at all yet.

Saturday morning I took Radar to the dog park.  I let him burn some of his energy and then came home and traded dogs.  Jules and I headed to some neighboring areas to find some more caches.  This was a really nice way to spend the 4th.  We cached until Jules told me it was too hot for her to be out there anymore, then we came home and cooled off in the pool.  To celebrate the evening I went with some friends to Kings Mountain where we watched a Revolutionary re-enactment and fireworks.  Kings Mountain was a great place to watch the fireworks because it is one of the historic sites of a significant battle in the Revolutionary War. 

All had gone pretty well in the weekend so far, it was about 1 am were things took a turn for the worse.  I woke up getting sick and it lasted into early this morning.  I'm no longer getting sick, but I still feel exhausted and not right yet.  I think I ate something bad at the fireworks last night.  In spite of feeling crappy all day today I had to pool enough energy to get the house clean.  I learned last night that we MAY have someone interested in coming to look at the house.  It is not listed yet and we were really planning on waiting until we moved out to prep it to show, but how could I miss an opportunity that presents itself.  I took Radar back to dog park so he would sleep and leave me alone while I was cleaning.   I spent most of the day getting things in order and now I'm just laying around hoping to feel good soon. 

You Are What You Eat: The Plan That Will Change Your Life by Gillian McKeith

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was an informative book on nutrition. It was pretty basic in discussing the benefits of eating raw fruits and vegetables. It talked about using supplements to make up for what is lacking in our diets and could be causing illness or problems within our bodies. It was certainly a glimpse into how poorly humans as a whole eat and the bad things we are doing to our bodies because of that.


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I'm exhausted today after lots of vitamin D therapy.  Life has been moving along and all is going well, although it seems like I rarely take the time to post about it anymore.

Lance and I are working on buying a small horse farm.  It's 3.5 acres with a cute little house on it and an existing barn and riding ring.  It is the perfect place for us.  I think it would be a great farm for us to be on with the horses and dogs with enough room for everyone, but not so much that we would be in over our heads.  The sale is moving along about as they always do, stressful but exciting.  We had not really planned to do this just yet but we came across an incredible deal and did not want to miss out.  Our house is not on the market yet and that has me a bit nervous, but I remain hopeful it will all work out.

Other than the farm we are just enjoying our summer.  The pool has been lots of fun this year and I am already thinking about how much I am going to miss it after we move.  The horses have been having some skin problems which has drastically cut back on how much we can use Freckles.  We have been to the barn lots lately but it does not seem like I have been doing as much riding as normal.  I think the heat of summer is also a contributor to my lessened riding.

Life is good and I am really just enjoying it right now.

While I was walking the dogs this morning a man that I see pretty regularly on my morning walks stopped and said to me "You get stuck with walking the dogs huh?"  I laughed it off at the time.

The truth is my morning walk with my dogs (and sometimes husband) is one of the best parts of my days.  If I miss it, I feel completely off of my routine and it seems to take forever to wake up.

It is interesting to someone else it seems like a chore.

I also reflected on how interesting it is the people that you interact with and develop relationships with as part of your daily routine.  Walking my dogs which at first was fairly isolated due to the early hour has turned into quite the social event.  I greet the local mechanic every morning as he starts his day, an elderly woman that admires the dogs will at least wave if not stop her car in the middle of the road to chat and there is another walker we pass a couple times a week that usually has a "Good Morning" for us.

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
The saga continues and I am still loving it. This one hinted at adding what I think will be a very interesting layer.


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It was a great day filled with all of my favorite things.  I spent time with my hubby, rode my horse, walked my dogs, found some caches, took a dip in the pool and I just finished off some ice cream.

How did I get so lucky?  Oprah's got nothing on me.

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was an upsetting and haunting story of a boy that survived the civil war in Sierra Leone. The horrors he experienced and participated in are a very disturbing truth of war. The book is entirely from his child's perspective of interpreting a crazy war torn country and people.



As I was reading the book I could not help but continually remind myself that it is possible for a conflict like this to break out here in our own country.



As upsetting as the book is, it is also a story of hope and inspiration. The author takes you through his horrors and shows you that he can come out clean on the other side. He demonstrates a capacity for love and eventually trust that would be lost to many of us had we gone through a similar experience.


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I spent a couple days this holiday weekend at a geocaching event.  I had so much fun.  The best part was I got to cache with many friends and family (sisters, one cousin and two nephews).  We had a ball.  The highlight was probably getting confronted by the cop while about 15 of us were out there looking for a cache.  He pulled up and commanded our hands in the air and some id.  I think he was shocked at the amount of us that came filing out from behind the fence.  Once we explained what we were doing all was well.

The saying of the week was when my nephew yelled in an irritated voice from the back "Don't even talk about West".  If you know how geocaching works you will understand why that is funny.

I was supposed to participate in a cook out at the barn on Monday, but it got rained out. 

It was very hard to go back to work today.  I like my weekend reality much better!

Scarlet by Stephen R. Lawhead

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is the second book in the King Raven stories which follows the Robin Hood story. I enjoyed this one as well as the first. I liked the character development the author gives to this cast that we are all already familiar with. This book takes us further into the journey of the fight Robin Hood is having to get his kingdom back. I enjoyed that this book was told from the perspective of one of Robin Hood's men, it gave an interesting viewpoint being seen from one of the rank. The book took me a bit to get through but I will certainly move on to the third one.


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I used to be a huge race fan.  I followed all the races, knew all the drivers stats, spent many a Sunday at a race or at home watching one.  Buying Tucker took up much of the time I used to spend on the auto sport.  Last night for our anniversary I took Lance to his first race.  I figured the All Star Race would be a good one to go to in order to introduce him to the sport.  It's shorter than the points races and it has all the most famous drivers at the time so he would know who was out there on the track.

I had so much fun.  I forgot how exciting the races can be.  I forgot how intense watching the drivers is.  I forgot how funny and friendly the fans are.  I missed it and I am so glad we went.

I've had a wonderful Mother's Day.  I've been able to spend with all of my animal babies and my wonderful husband.

Lance and I headed to a nearby park to look for a cache today.  It started out well and we were on track.  As we got deeper on the trail we saw lots of poison ivy, then as we got further down I saw several ticks on me and two on Jules.  I was feeling crawly but, we pressed on as the day heated up.

After finding the first stage we walked past an ideal place to enter the river we were hiking along and decided it would be a good idea to let the dogs wade in and get a drink.  Jules usually has to be pretty hot to think it is a good idea to go into the water and then she will usually only go in up to her knees.  Today was no different.  Radar on the other hand decided to take his first swim.  He will usually wade around in the lakes and rivers just like Jules entering only up to his knees.  Today he decided to venture far enough out that he actually had to dog paddle around.  It was pretty cool.  He was not really confident yet and would paddle out  a few feet and then come back where he could put his feet on the ground.  We played in the river for awhile as it felt cool and refreshing not only to the dogs, but to myself as well.

We stayed out there long enough that we ran out of time to finish our caching.  It was a really fun time.

Lance and I loaded up the dogs and horses for a spectacular weekend at the campsite.  Things could not have been better.  We had some nice rides, pleasant hikes, beautiful weather, great food and we were even treated to a barrel racing show Saturday night.  We took Friday off so we had a nice full weekend.  We had to leave a little earlier than planned this morning due to heavy rains but we had so much fun the first two days that I did not even mind.

It was the best Birthday and/or Anniversary weekend I have ever had.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I don't really think I need to give a summary of this book because if you don't know what it is about you live under a rock. However, I LOVED it. I enjoyed it so much more than I thought. I will be reading the whole series.


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It occurs to me that without animals I'm not really sure how I would fill my free time.  My life would be lacking and empty.  I believe I am a better person because of my pets.

Every morning is started with a walk with the dogs.

Monday night I spent at therapeutic riding center taking care of the goats, horses, donkey, pigs and rabbits.  While there I'm pretty sure my favorite pig was trying to mate with me.  I'm not really familiar with the mating habits of pigs but she was way more friendly and vocal than she typically is.

Last night the dogs were treated to their second walk of the day.  While on the walk I found my mind wandering and worrying about the amount of dogs in our neighborhood that are leashed outside 24/7 with little human contact from what I can tell.  I really feel that kind of isolation for a dog is very physically and mentally damaging.  I'm always left wondering why someone would have a dog in the first place just to pen or leash it up outside.

Tonight I will get to see my horses.  I am long overdue for a ride and I am really looking forward to it.  Lance and I are hoping to take them somewhere this weekend for a trail ride.

I'm not sure what Thursday and Friday will hold but Saturday we are going to Bark in the Park. 

I'm not really sure what made me step back and look at how much time I am with the four legged friends.  This week's activities is not that unusual from any other week.  It's probably how much I am still missing Shelby.  Her absence is still felt like a shadow that follows me.  In spite of the grief I am taking comfort in the ones that are here with me, they all have so much to offer and each brings something different to the table.

I love my babies!

For years my cousin has been treasurer for  the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum.  I've wanted to go down and ride his train forever but never made the time or effort.  This weekend they had a murder mystery play with dinner on the train so I thought that would be a good excuse to finally get up there to Oak Ridge, TN.

I really enjoyed the dinner, play and ride.  I especially enjoyed the personal tour of the caboose and locomotive when the play was over.

It is handy that we also have friends who happen to love geocaching that also live in Oak Ridge.  We got there Saturday afternoon were able to hit a couple caches before the play.  It rained all day today so we did not get to search for any other caches today, but we did get to have a nice breakfast with our friends.  The rain made for a long ride home but we made it safely.

On Tuesday I had to put my sweet baby girl Shelby of 13 years to sleep after she had a struggle with cancer for over a year.  It took me this long before I have really been able to write or talk about it without falling apart.  She was a wonderful dog and we shared a bond that I think is special between human and animal and I know there will never be another like her in my life.

I've been pretty sad and just going through the motions for the past several days.  Her absence is felt in everything I do and I don't imagine it is going to change soon.  

Lance and I had planned to go camping this weekend a year ago and as the day approached I was wrought with indecision about heading to the site.  The grief had sapped my energy levels and when your heart is not in it, going camping can use a lot of energy especially when you would much rather be curled up in bed.  I finally committed that the right thing for my friends and family would be to honor the promise and we would go to the camp site.  Next decision......do we bring the horses?  I wanted the therapy of riding but not all the extra work that having the horses would bring.

In a superstar move Lance made the decision for me.  "Let's leave them home" he said.  "Let's make this weekend just about us and about Jules and Radar".  We brought a bit of Shelby's ashes with us and decided to hike up the mountain to one of the prettiest sites near where we camp to spread them.  Heavy rains on Friday made things a bit muddy for us, but other than that the weather this weekend was beautiful.  It was extremely healing for me.  The memorial at the top of the mountain was appropriate and offered some closure that was I very much needing.  We had some friends meet up with us in the afternoon, they brought their dogs and we had lots of laughs, some hiking and some good food too.

We enjoyed each other's company, we laughed at the dogs and generally relaxed and let go.

I will always miss her, I will always lover her.  I'm starting to see past the grief and remember the good and appreciate what a wonderful, wonderful dog she was.  I know it will take time before the hole in my heart is shrunk, before something does not always feel like it is missing but I know in time it will get there and for the first time since Tuesday I am starting to see that.

The Stolen Child: A Novel by Keith Donohue

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was an unusual book for me to read. I picked it up on amazon's recommendation and was pleasantly surprised. The book closely follows two characters, one is a boy that has been kidnapped by hobgoblins and is forced to live in their world, and the other is the goblin that took his place in the human world. The book was not nearly as "spooky" or fantastical as I had anticipated but instead spoke to me about being where you are and not missing opportunities. It was about lost childhoods and no second chances. It had a gloomy feel throughout and I ended satisfied but not happy.


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