LIfe Last Week #2

Here I am again, behind as usual.  It's been a busy couple of weeks but I'll just bring you up to date with last week, since that was the most event-filled.  Last weekend, I made the 5 1/2 hour trek to Spokane, by myself, to support Sophia and the Western Washington Equestrians at their first show.  It's the longest I've ever driven by myself and I have to thank Tom and Barbara Good of the Good Life for keeping me company.  I think I listened to the entire 10+ hours on the way there and back!  I arrived late on Friday afternoon, checked into my hotel, grabbed some dinner (thanks, Outback, for not including any utensils!), and waited for Sophia to arrive.  She rolled in after 10pm (and we had to be up early the next morning), not a happy camper at all since she'd been squashed in the center seat of the rear row of seats in the van for the entire trip.  It was off to bed right away.

 

The next morning dawned cold but thankfully dry.  We headed to the venue for the warm-up which was to have commenced at 8:30am but was delayed almost an hour due to the late arrival of the medical team who had to be on site before any jumping could begin.  We were somewhat fortunate to be fairly close to a heater but it was still bloody cold and we had a long, long day ahead of us.  The team started out strong, with first and second place finishes in the first class.  Bravo!  The day seemed to move along at a good pace, although standing in the line outside for the one loo was quite a chore.  Finally, it was time for Sophia to ride (we're at about 4pm now).  She had a good horse, but one that had a mind of its own at times and she handled it beautifully, placing first in her class.  What a way to start the show season!  Not only that, but her team was the high point team for the day.  Way to go, Western!
 

 

We stopped off for some dinner and headed back to the hotel.  Sophia took a shower and was asleep the minute her head hit the pillow.  We woke up the next morning to the realization that we had slept through the alarm and that the team had left for the second day of the show without Sophia.  They left a voice mail, telling her where they planned to go for breakfast and what time they were heading back to the venue so we just took our time getting ready and checking out, before heading over to join them.  Sophia wasn't riding on Sunday, she was just there to support the team and we got there during the warm-up so no problems there.  I dropped her and her things and hit the road for home.  I got back in plenty of time to pick up MudLynn from the kennels and headed home for dinner and bed.  What a weekend.

 

Mah Jongg on Monday and then Vic called to say they were back (from a short underway period) so I drove to the base to pick him up.  He had duty on Tuesday so I drove to Kingston for a Scrapbook Meet-up which was fun - I love sharing ideas and learning from others.  Really looking forward to my Paper Crafts Club meeting next week.  I took MudLynn to the groomers on Thursday and ended up taking her to the emergency vet that evening because her tail was bent at an odd angle and she was clearly in distress.  They ran tests but came to the conclusion that it was a case of over-wagging and prescribed some pain and anti-inflammatory medications.

  

I did some Christmas shopping last week, a little at Target and some more online.  Our local spouses' group has a Christmas community project to benefit the local women's shelter - we make up gift packages of pajamas, socks and anything else we'd like to add so I popped in a lotion set for the adult box and underwear, socks, and a few Christmas treats into the children's boxes.  We will wrap them at our Christmas party next month.  I still need to look for a couple of items for gift exchanges - one for my Mah Jongg group, an ornament for an exchange at another spouses' group, and another gift for an exchange at the aforementioned Christmas party.  I think I'll buy something I like and perhaps I'll get lucky and it will come around to me in the exchange!

 

I'm busy keeping up with the November Page-a-Day Scrapbook Challenge in my scrapbook group's Virtual Scrapbook Retreat on Facebook although I've failed miserably at the Christmas Countdown.  I feel like I'm on track this year so I'll try to be better organized next year!  I've got my scrapbook station permanently set up in the family room so it helps that the fireplace and telly are right there, and MudLynn is usually curled up on her bed in front of the fire.

 

  

Hope you had a good week - would love to hear all about it!