Archives for November 2011

Tuesday, November 29, 2011 – Work Day One

Met with our client for a quick meeting in the morning before heading out to Joe Theismann’s restaurant across the quad, then started our first day of class. A good group, enthusiastic, which is good but sometimes makes it difficult to stay on time and on track. Didn’t finish up until after 5:30. Later we joined a woman I met in the spa yesterday for drinks and snacks, then headed back up to the room for an early night.

Monday, November 28, 2011 – Move/Rest/Massage Day

Slept late and didn’t check out of the room until 11:30 (after a great free breakfast, of course!), then headed across the street to Target, 1) to see if they had a Kindle Touch that I want to buy (they didn’t, so I’ll have to order one direct from Amazon), and 2) do a little more shopping for things we’ll need in the coming days. We then toured around Alexandria to get our bearings around Old Town, to check out parking and walking and where everything was. We even took a ride down to a park near the river that I found had a fenced in “dog park” in it, but it was very disappointing, little more than a patch of gravel, though there were a few other folks and dogs there when we arrived. Our dogs ran around a bit, but they really don’t get the “romp with other dogs” thing, so we left after about 30 minutes. Found an ice cream parlor where we had our usual ice cream lunch, then finally headed to the hotel to check in. Hubby had already talked to the valet on our first pass, so we were all set to check in with the dogs, and learned where the van would be parked, since that would act as their “crate” when we were at work. Turns out to be in the basement, which was perfect. Got settled into a small but comfy room, then I headed out to the spa to get a deep tissue sports massage that I had previously arranged. The last one I had in Atlanta had been wonderful, really helped my out-of-whack shoulder, and I had made a lot of progress since then, so I was hoping this would almost finish it off. Loved the steam room, that helped a lot, though the massage itself wasn’t as good as Melody’s at Bliss in Atlanta. She tried, but just never got to the real root of the problem. A few more minutes in the steam room and I headed up to the room, where Hubby awaited me with a glass of red wine he had picked up at the Managers Reception in the lobby earlier. Relaxed for the evening as we prepared for the job tomorrow.

Friday, November 27, 2011 – Preparation Day

Spent the day getting ready to move on tomorrow, and the prepare for our busy week next week.

Sunday, November 27, 2011 – Travel Day to Alexandria

Set the alarm and was out early, stopping at Waffle House in Lumberton for breakfast before running straight up to Springfield to spend the night at a Hampton Inn that I had previously arranged. Figured we’d need a day of rest tomorrow to get ready for our training camp Tuesday and Wednesday. Fortunately we arrived right about 3:00, checked in and did, indeed, have a pleasant afternoon and evening of rest.

Saturday, November 26, 2011 – Travel Day to Sky’s the Limit Farm

Even though it was a short trip today, we had much to do to prepare for our longer trip tomorrow, so we got out early. Arrived at Peggy Helie’s Sky’s the Limit Farm in Lumberton, NC just after mid-day, quickly getting settled in. Parked the RV next to the house and hooked up to electric, Hubby getting the satellite going pretty quickly, which will be great because I’d like to stock up on movies and programming, we’re down to about 15 hours on the PVR, which is really low for us. The horses got settled in quickly in a nice paddock, where they quickly stretched their legs and rolled around a bit. I swear, there isn’t much more fun than watching a horse roll around on it’s back, flailing it’s legs in the air while it tries to roll over his own withers to the other side! We met Peggy’s youngsters, then spent the rest of the afternoon packing, unhooking, and generally getting ready for our long trip tomorrow.

Thursday, November 24, 2011 – Happy Thanksgiving!

Slept late again, and today, finally, we pretty much just relaxed. Contrary to the rest of the country, we enjoyed a steak for dinner, a real luxury, as we haven’t had much since we started our diet at the beginning of the year. Thankful for our fabulous animals, thankful for our incredible life, thankful for our excellent health, thankful for each and every day we get to keep living the dream!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011 – Ride Day at Cheraw

At last, the weather was nice enough (it has been too cold to ride) to go for a ride. Apparently there is only basic trail with lots of criss-crossing, but all we did was stay on the main trail, which was just about a five or six mile loop. It was mostly in the woods, and the footing was good, no stones, mostly hard dirt with some sand. I still have some residual pain in my side from the fall I took, so all I wanted to do today was walk. After a couple of miles, though, Apollo wanted to do something more, and at one point he suddenly kicked up without warning and jumped a few steps. Fortunately, I managed to stay on, though my side was punished in the process. Hubby’s mare followed suite without warning, and Hubby ended up over the saddle and somehow managed to hang onto Clio’s neck, which fortunately broke his fall almost entirely. It was rather amusing, really, when I look back and saw him hanging like a monkey on the underside of Clio’s neck. Then he just dropped his legs, though he lost his balance and ended up sitting on the ground for a minute gathering his wits. No explanation from the horses as to their flighty behavior, they just stood there calmly. Well, we got back up again and carried on for awhile, until we came to a straightaway that Apollo thought would make a good race track. He leaped again, fortunately forward to I managed to hang on, then I let him run a little before reining him in again. That was it. I climbed down, found a clear spot off the trail, and ran him around in circles for about 10 minutes on the extra line on my McCarty setup. He kicked and galloped and jumped around in one direction, then I had him change directions and he kicked and galloped and jumped around in the other, until he finally wore himself out. I led him back to the trail and we set off again, much subdued. About a mile out, we did it again, not because he seemed as anxious to run off again, but just to make sure he didn’t get any ideas like that. We managed to make it back to the camp in good shape, and no one worse for the wear. Other than that, it was a good couple of hours. Trails not very exciting, they just kind of weave in and out of the trees, though they are pretty well marked, albeit a pretty short trip. Fine for what we needed, but for a long stay of riding, not so much. At least we got them back on the trail, and we both survived, which is always the goal!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011 – Rain Day

More computer work, more reading, more movies.

Monday, November 21, 2011 – Runaround Day

Hubby ran some errands, including extending our stay here until Sunday. I spent the day on the computer again. Looking forward to getting caught up enough to actually REST!

Sunday, November 20, 2011 – Relaxation Day

Again spent some of the day on the computer, then watched movies. Gratefully uneventful!