So Irresponsible!!!!

Today Cory came up to our house to do some work to help us get our home on the market. He brought Ava to play with "Grandma" (that would be me!!). It was windy, foggy, cold and a bit drizzly out but Ava wanted to go see the "horseys" so I conceded and we headed to the barn.

My first thought was that we would walk by the paddocks and pet some of the horseys to take care of her horsey fix for the time being since it was soooo cold. We stopped at Zoe's place and I couldn't help myself - I put on her halter and we walked Zoe down to the barn for a little brushing and to let Ava help.

No, that wasn't enough for me. I guess I should have figured this out about myself by now. I decided to maybe let Ava sit on her back but before I knew it, my saddle and bridle were in place on the mare - don't quite know how that happened. Of course, I had to get on and quickly snatched my little granddaughter on board with me. She fit so snuggly and cute in the front of my saddle.

I was going to just walk around a little bit but then, before I knew it, we were on the trail to the top of our property. We went all the way up and came back to the barn. Thinking this was way more than a little 2 year old (almost) could possibly have hoped for, I went back to the barn feeling kind of disappointed but wanting to not overdo. Ava's little face fell when I lifted her off the horse and her little lip started to quiver. What was a grandma to do? I quickly scooped her back on board with me and we were off to the park for another couple of miles of riding.

I know, so who takes a little 2 year old out on a 1-1/2 hour horseback ride? Um, yeah, that would be me. And what kind of little girl can be happy sitting in the saddle with her grandma for that long? That's right, GRANDMA'S GIRL! OH YEAH!!!!

Marley

This is Marley. We never asked for another cat (heaven knows we certainly have more that I have EVER wanted - I don't really care for cats and my husband absolutely loathes the creatures!).

But, nonetheless, Brandilyn found him abandoned in a warehouse in the freezing cold up in Idaho Falls and he was pretty near death. He was emaciated, dehydrated and had really infected eyes. Brandilyn, being the animal loving soul that she is (okay, she DOES get that from me) rescued the little guy going against all the rules of her landlord with regards to having pets.

When she came home from Idaho last year, Marley came with her. When she left for Idaho this year, Marley stayed home. He grew, and grew and grew. He grew in stature and he grew into our hearts (well mine).

This cat has the most "pussanality" of any cat I have ever known. He is smart - really smart and affectionate. For instance . . . when I'm sleeping at about 3:30 a.m. (this used to be Brandilyn's rise time, I think, when she worked at the USDA) he will jump on my bed and gently rub his paw under my nose. When I swat him away, he is persistent. When this doesn't yield the desired result, he jumps on my rocking chair making it go "click-clack, click-clack, click-clack". This will continue for a spell and if he still hasn't succeeded in pissing me off enough to roust me out of bed, he will then go to the door and bat at the spring making the "boooiiiiinnng" music to spring (pardon the pun) me out of bed. By then, I'm pretty annoyed and he finally has my attention. Brat!!!

But then there are the good times. Like when I'm getting dressed and he jumps on the island in our closet and rubs his head against mine. Oh, and when I'm doing laundry or cooking or getting my hair done that he meows and rubs and purrs. It just melts my heart. Of course, that's when I figure out that all he wants is to go outside so that he can stand at the glass door and meow to come back in. So, yeah, I guess it is all about him. Go figure.

Beauty All Around

Can you actually believe this? It is November 16 and the weather is phenominal! I was out riding my horse in the hills at 8:00 a.m. with only my t-shirt on (well, I had jeans, socks, boots and underwear too but you get the point, don't you?). The fall colors were glorious. There was greens mixed with orange, red and yellow. It was the most beautiful painting I have seen that Heavenly Father has created. My senses were ALIVE!!!

I was on Ellie and anyone who knows Ellie knows that it was a pretty wild ride. The mare loves to RUN! She seems to never tire. I am in awe at her athletic ability. We went on a trail that Dave and I had discovered while he was out here visiting and it was so magical to be out for 2-1/2 hours all by myself with my horse and two dogs (yes, Pierre went and he was DRAGGING when we got home, poor guy).

There is something so spiritual about being in the hills alone with your thoughts (of course, with Ellie it was a little difficult to concentrate too much on my thoughts - it was more like "whoa, whooooa!!!). But, the point is is that I am so able to focus on the positive wonderfulness of my life and what a gift I have been given to be living here in this place in this time. All I can say is, "Thank you Heavenly Father for all of my blessings!!"

So, if anyone wants to come and join me on a Sunday morning at 8:00 a.m. (Nancy was supposed to join me but she must have overslept or something), they are soooo welcome. I would love to share the magic of the hills on the back of one of my trusty steeds with you. But you have to promise to allow me to have my space to just drink in all the beauty and majesty of this beautiful earth we live in.

Are You Kidding ME????

I can't believe it! It is a beautiful, gorgeous fall day here in the Bay Area. At my home here in the stunning hills it is a pleasant 78 degrees. You can't beat that. It is 4:30 in the afternoon. I have been home for about 45 minutes with the twins and they have both finished homework.

They both wandered into my office to snoop at what I was doing on the computer (after all it IS the only video screen these two ever really see since we don't do TV or allow video games nor do they have cell phones (thank heavens)). After being annoyed about the 6th or 7th time, I shooed them both outside. "Go out and enjoy this beautiful afternoon", I said. Both kids rolled their eyes, stomped their feet and shuffled outside.

Okay, so we let 10 minutes pass at this point. They have both managed to wander in for "who knows what reason" and are lounging around in their rooms!!! No way! Shut up! I told them both to go outside and play and you would have thought I told them to go shoot their best friend! I'm totally blown away.

So now they are outside again, my appointment for the afternoon just pushed it back about an hour, so guess what!!?? I'm going outside to ride my horse (sorry Dave) and enjoy the afternoon wonderfulness! And, yes, I'm dragging those little lazy bums down to the barn with me! Sucks to be them!!!

Ava - Grandma's Girl, Finally!!!!

As I've said before, will say again and say a lot, I AM NOT A BABY PERSON! But, hey, then they get a little older, start walking and talking and I'm sooooo all over it! Ava has arrived! That's right, Ava has arrived!!!

Sarah and Cory brought her up for dinner a couple of weeks ago and I happened to be out in the arena riding Zoe (I think I mentioned this before). Well here are the pictures of that day. Since then, Ava has related "Grandma" to "horsey". I love it!!!

They were up here for dinner a couple of days ago and that girl was all about the horses. Of course it was a little cold and getting dark when they arrived so she didn't get to play with me. I was on the horse, all right, but they chose to stay in the house. :( However, later in the evening when we were in my office, Ava was pointing at all the horsey pictures and getting excited (just for the record, there are a LOT of horsey pictures in my office - it's my passion, duh!). She so had me going! I even pulled down my prized stuffed horse and allowed her to hold it.

Yup, I guess it would be safe to say that she now has Grandma wrapped around her dainty little fingers! She wants a horsey for Christmas? Um, yeah, coming right up. Now, to move that little family of theirs to Arizona . . .

Thinking Positive

I'm thinking that life is perfect. Everything will work out perfect. Everything is the way it should be and I'm grateful for the good things coming my way and the good things that I have right now. I'm grateful for great kids, a great home, an awesome husband and fun animals to make me smile.

Get it? Yup, I'm working on being positive. I'm working on attracting the things that I desire by being grateful that I already have them. Isn't that the way it works? That's what I'm reading these days.

So, we went house hunting in Arizona and found the "almost" perfect home. We really liked it a lot and I'm pretty sure that that is the home we want to be in. It would be nice to have a pool and a more updated bathroom/closet in the master area but the land is the bomb diggity and I think that we would be happy there. If you stand in the front yard, you can see the church. I just can't imagine living that close to civilization. What a treat!

I will keep you posted on when we are moving. I guess we should start packing and getting the house here in Livermore ready to sell. The new buyers should be here in the next couple of weeks to make us an offer. Pretty cool, huh? I think so. I am so excited that my family is so ready to go. I'm proud of the whole lot and know that they will all thrive in this wonderful new setting!

Linger

Several months ago I attended a yoga class (ok, well, I attend a yoga class a lot of days but that's not the point here) and the instructor informed us that her theme of the day was to "linger". She told us that she was going to have us linger in our poses a little longer (not what you want to hear at the beginning of class, I tell you) and that she wanted us to find places in our life that we could just linger a little longer.

I took it to heart and started finding ways to "linger". I tried to linger over breakfast. I lingered at the barn - now that was a fun one for me. Cleaning my saddles and other tack, brushing my horse just a little longer and spending some time watering and caring for my plants. I enjoyed that a lot. I even lingered in the laundry room - who would've thought that? But, hey, you can linger anywhere!

So, this morning, the clock was turned back an hour - well, it was SUPPOSED to be turned back an hour. I had a feeling that my husband had forgotten to do that little task last night when he went to bed and I was right. Anyway, waking up to the light and knowing that I didn't HAVE to get with the program was a beautiful thing. I was able to linger in bed. And linger I did for quite an embarrasing amount of time. Finally, I could feel the energy coming from the paddocks and drug myself up to go feed my babies.

I then lingered over my computer and then lingered over breakfast then lingered in the shower and lingered so much that I was ALMOST late for church. The kids were like, "Hey Mom! We gotta get going. Should we just wait for you in the car?" I was yelling back, "I'm in the shower. It might take a few minutes!"

So then I got to church and slipped into my pew. After I was sure that everything was in order, I pulled out my journal and began to write. I was enjoying it so much that, well, you know what I did? Yup! I decided to linger during my entry. I lingered right on into the opening remarks, opening song and then it was time for opening prayer. Do you know what I did? Nope. You're wrong. I put down my journal until I heard "Amen" and then I picked it up again. I know, I know. Bad me but I couldn't resist.

I came home from church and made a pact with myself. I would be reasonable with my lingering. But, now that I have discovered this wonderful thing is that possible? Like giving up Diet Coke and all the other evils is that really possible? So, I did what every girl that loves to linger would do. I went to my computer and, yes I admit it, I lingered there until I could hear my husband coming in the door announcing that he had the missionaries with him to have dinner with us. Whoops! Somehow, I managed to pull that dinner off only to find myself lingering later at the computer posting my blog, playing on Facebook, checking out my eBay action and IMing my daughter, friend in Arizona and my son's girlfriend in Utah.

I gotta tell you - I LOVE this lingering thing! It's working out pretty well for me. But as for my family . . .