Hiya Darlin',
Slept deeper than even last night with my earplugs, woke up when it was still dark, only to realize that that was the new 7:00. Grrr! I hate Daylight Savings Time! Just when I get used to it being lighter past 7:00, it suddenly goes to 8:00 pm! Really screws me up. I wish they would just get over it already. Anyway, I did some laundry, then drove over to Val's and spent a couple of hours helping with the cleanup, then one of the horse owners, Melody, invited me to a party at her house, so I went over there for a bit. Saved me from having to cook and cleanup dinner. Got back, fed the horses, took a hot tub just after sundown (at 8:00!!), then settled down for the evening., as if there was much of an evening left. Almost too late to watch even an hour program on TV! Made a date for riding in the morning, so I'll be off to bed early. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Had another good night sleep, though once again was up before the alarm. Fed the critters then headed over to FITS by about 7:30, and by the time I had breakfast there, the LD riders had left at their 8:00 start time. It was a pretty relaxed day, where I intermittently drove around, pulling pink flags, signs and a few posts as people were leaving, until the last riders came in, when I finished pulling out everything and putting them all into the little shed where they belong. Everything was in, so I rewrote the sign at the entrance to read, "I'm on my 2nd, 3rd glass of wine, park wherever the hell you want! JJ." Tongue in cheek, of course! The party started, and I had several glasses of wine, then left after the sunset, managing the get the horses all done before it got too dark. Jumped into the hot tub, but near the end it started to rain, so I cut it short and headed inside. A shower, a last glass of wine and a one hour TV show and I'm falling asleep in my chair. Heading to bed ASAP! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie!
Finally, had a great night sleep! Put earplugs in and slept hard and sound for nearly seven hours, so woke up refreshed, even at 5:40! Got my chores done, skipped breakfast until I arrived at the pavilion, where their fabulous chef had a lovely sausage and fried egg sandwich for me. Spent the day once again chasing down people who can't read signs, or don't care to. Was particularly disappointed in the fact that one space, reserved for my friend Meg, who I knew was coming back at 3:00 am, had to have been disappointed when someone (who will not be named, but I know who they are) decided to park one of their many rigs in her space. I mean, it was empty, right? So that was enough for them to take it over. The result was that Meg had to park crookedly in an entirely different space. Very glad that despite that, she won the 100 mile ride! People just don't seem to realize the domino effect they create when they don't follow instructions! I had another guy park his truck in such a way that it blocked two of the three exits in the car parking lot, but that started by one woman who parked in the middle of the "road," then someone else parked next to her, and by the time she left, two others had taken up residence, and that meant everyone had to go around them, creating more wear and tear on the field, which is what I'm trying to minimize! Sigh... Anyway, overall, it was a quiet day, helped as many folks as I could, grateful we didn't have another major storm come through, though it was a close call, with cells on either side of us. I finally found the last arrival, who bypassed the sign and didn't call me because she instead called her friend who said "come on down" and I never saw her come in, but I called her, through a circuitous method of obtaining her phone number since she didn't have it on her registration, and finally confirmed her arrival, which meant my departure was possible. Again, the domino effect. I arrived back home a bit after 8:00, fed all the horses, fixed the water tank for mine, since it was empty, likely because my curious Mr. Apollo probably knocked it over, poured myself a bourbon, took a hot tub, started my laundry, and settled down for another short night, though everyone I expected to come in has arrived, and everyone else is a day rider, so I don't feel compelled to get there too early. I expect my day tomorrow will likely be spent starting to pick up flags and other markers in areas that aren't being used anymore. It's all over by tomorrow night, so Sunday will be cleanup. Then I can crash for a day or two, if my dog and horses let me :-). Heading to bed after my second bourbon and a shower, and hopefully another good night sleep. Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I still had trouble sleeping last night! After a hot tub, a hot shower, a cup of super strong Sleepytime tea and a melatonin pill, I still tossed and turned for a long time. Then, just as I thought I was drifting, Lola started getting restless, climbing the stairs, panting heavily, and generally being noisy. So some more hours went by. I finally fell asleep at some point, but it didn't seem like I got much before the alarm went off. Oh, well! I was up before dawn, had a quick bowl of cereal, got my chores done, and made it to camp at 7:04, two minutes after I got a call from a camper trying to get in. Wow. I spent the day mostly trying to deal with people and parking. It's amazing to me how thoughtless and inconsiderate some people are. Not most, but some, and it's that some that seem to take up all my time. I had people parking outside the car parking area, I had someone park in an alley instead of the parking area, and before I caught it, five more people had parked next to them, so the entire parking area went from four rows to three, so then people started the fourth row outside the parking area. I had folks parking along a fence where there was clearly a gate for entry, blocking the gate. I had riders that parked their trucks in front of their trailers, rather than alongside of their trailers, thus blocking the road. I even had one rider who had FOUR vehicles in front of her trailer, all of them encroaching on the road, and she was on a corner, which meant if I had tried to make that corner with a big rig, it would have been nearly impossible! Certainly much more difficult. I had one that, even though I showed them their site and delineated their flags, parked completely perpendicular to their site, taking up two and a half spaces, totally in the wrong direction. People just don't listen or comprehend anymore, IMO. Other than that, it was a much less busy day than earlier this week, only managed to get about 12k steps in today. Had a lot more food available, including breakfast, which means I won't have to take time for breakfast tomorrow, I can get it onsite. Just as the ride meeting was ending, I checked the radar and saw a storm coming, and since I was done for the day (everyone coming for tomorrow morning was already in), I raced home to try to get the horses fed before the downpour. Didn't quite make it, but managed to get my horses hay out just before the heavy rain, and was in Chelle's barn feeding hers during the worst of it. It rained a few more times during the evening, much appreciated to cool things down from this very hot day. Happy that it will tamp the dust down, too, it was starting to get bad today. Anyway, poured myself a drink, took a shower, and plan on heading to bed shortly. Praying for a good night sleep! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Got to bed last night at 11:00, slept until 3:00, and couldn't get back to sleep no matter what I did. Two hours later I finally got up and got the day started. Managed to get over to ride camp about a quarter past seven, got Nancy settled in, then started putting up the remaining signs as soon as they were ready. No big crises today, but quite a bit of entertainment watching folks trying to maneuver their trailers. One lady had enough sense to let me back hers in, which took it from a "who knows how long" job to two minutes. Too many folks not following the signs in the car parking area, but I moved a few around and I think it was easier to understand, though I still had a few diehards that ignored everything and parked in the middle of the "road." We'll see what it's like tomorrow, since I'm sure by now the word has gotten out that I don't mess around when it comes to parking! It was pretty warm today, but it's supposed to get hotter as the week goes on, and rain predictions keep popping in and out of the forecast, so who knows? Managed to gather enough information to figure out that everyone that's riding in the morning that was spending the night had arrived, or was soon to arrive and knew where they were going, to join friends, so I felt safe to leave around 8:00, at the same time as Chelle. Fed the horses, did some laundry so I would have fresh clothes, took a much appreciated hot tub, took a shower, made a half a cup of Sleepytime tea so it would be double strength and wouldn't take me long to drink so I could get to bed before 10:00, not to mention counteract the several glasses of wine I managed to slip in during the welcome party. Thanks to Art, who filled in for me at the gate on several occasions today, I was able to sneak away and get some food and drink. Since there were only a few AERC people not accounted for the 9:00 ride tomorrow, and I figured they were mostly day riders anyway, so coming in at 7:00 would be early enough, thank goodness. Was afraid I would have to come in at 5:00 a.m.! Won't be long out of bed tonight, not after 19 hours of being awake and on the move. Another 15.8K steps today, even though I did a lot of UTV driving. Thanks goodness I bought these New Balance shoes! I'm pretty sure I'd be a lot more sore if it weren't for them. Certainly getting stronger everyday at this rate. Anyway, heading to bed as soon as I finish my tea! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Woke up extra earlier hoping to seem some glimmer of the blood moon lunar eclipse this morning, but it was nothing by foggy, so no astral view at all. Was over at the FITS site around 8:30, and immediately started working on putting signs up around the site, then grabbed Art and put signs down to the holding barn. Once the dew dried up, I was able to start painting all the sites, which didn't work too well with the white paint I was provided, but I got it done. One FEI rider was there right at noon, with Jo right behind. I spent most of the day finishing off some parking marking, and situated about half a dozen AERC trailers before I left for the day. Got called back once, but it was a misfire, finally getting back home a bit after 8:00. Poured a drink and went inside with Chelle and Carol for a bit, had a bowl of ice cream and some nuts, decided it was too late for a hot tub at this point. Shower and bed next! Over 17K steps today! Good night darlin'! Love you!

Hi Darlin',
What a day! Just as busy as I expected it would be, with the added knowledge from my new Garmin watch that I did over 14600 steps in the process! So grateful for my new New Balance shoes that arrived yesterday, I'm not sure I would have gotten through this day without them! Remember last year, I was crippled by the time I finished the day, so I was just as grateful for the new partial knee replacement! Got a lot done, got all the flags out, and a few fence posts and ribbons, so tomorrow is all about painting in the lines and putting up signs. Out host Larry paid me a great kindness by going out and buying a paint sprayer wheel so we wouldn't have to borrow one like we did last year, so that job should be fairly straightforward. Got great help from Walter, then Art arrived from Canada and helped out, too. Finally had to quit around 4:00. As I was leaving, I forgot my tailgate was open and a whole bunch of stuff fell out, so I had to return and pick all of that up. Got home a bit after 4:00, and immediately started working on revising the map based on the changes that were made today. Art came by around 5:30 to take Lola for a walk. I guess after being cooped up in a car for two days driving down from Canada, he needed to get his steps in! I fed him some ad hoc supper and shared a drink, then after he left, took my hot tub, showered, tried on my new caftan which arrived yesterday (fits perfect and is SO comfortable!), now I'm heading to bed nice and early. Another long but hopefully just as productive day tomorrow! Also hoping that Miss Lola doesn't wake my up in the middle of the night chewing on my Persian runner rug like last night. I don't know what got into here, but I was not happy at 2:00 in the morning finding THAT out! Leaving the door open tonight, hope she behaves better! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Woke up even earlier (must be getting used to these early mornings!) got my chores and breakfast done, did a few odd jobs, then had a quiet afternoon in order to recharge my body battery for the upcoming busy week ahead! I sort of planned on walking, but wanted to wait for my new shoes, but they didn't arrive until later in the day. I also ordered a new pair of wipers for my truck, one was completely falling apart, so I replaced both of them. Settled down for a quiet evening, though I did have to send out some emails and messages about FITS. Just going out to have my hot tub, then shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Woke up before my alarm and started working on my shoulder, for over 45 minutes. It always feels better after I work it, so I'm still hoping someday, somehow, it will finally fix itself. It rained a steady rain most of yesterday afternoon and evening, so everything was still damp this morning. Got my chores and breakfast done, then took Lola and Apollo for our two mile walk (can't wait to get my new walking shoes!), then afterwards, sat down for a few minutes only to nod off! Crazy! Finally got up and going again, spent pretty much the entire afternoon on the long overdue chore of washing and waxing my truck. I even went so far as to put on some tire black, which I can't remember doing in years! Finished it off by doing the windows inside and out. The rest of the interior still needs doing, but the outside looks great! At least until the first time I go down a dusty road... That took nearly all afternoon, and I was aching a bit by the time I was finished, which was just about time to feed Chelle's horses, have dinner, and feed my horses. Very grateful for the hot tub tonight, it worked wonders on my aching muscles. Settled down for the evening, off to bed soon! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!