Friday, July 27, 2018

the dog days are here

Happy Friday everyone!! I've been completely consumed by all things moving these past few days. Complicated by my home internet service still not being fully transferred. Considering I work from home, this has been moderately problematic.

just busy over here doin our dinosaur derssage thang!
Things are good tho. They've been busy. Despite being completely exhausted, I've still been spending a lot of time with Charlie lately. I mean, let's be real, he's my rock, right?

and wanderin around the farm, where in - ooh! we've spotted the rare wild whoopie!!
Plus I had impulsively entered a twilight event at Loch Moy scheduled for this past Wednesday. These events are really great bc they're super low key - essentially glorified schooling of all three phases.

this darling shetland is basically the queen matriarch of all things OF
You go in and do your normal dressage test for a normal judge, with normal scoring and commentary etc (altho the final event is not actually scored up or placed, really). But you're encouraged to do so in your jump tack - whatever bit and leg protection is fine. This way, you can go directly to the jumping phases: stadium and cross country.

and as such she basically gets free range of the place. not a bad life!
Stadium is normal, but cross country is set up so that each jump number (1, 2, 3, etc) has all the levels lined up in a row, and you can jump whichever looks the best to you. Entered BN but wanna school N? Nbd! Or if you have a problem and need to circle? Or jump a few height variations? Totally encouraged!

The jumps are also scattered all around other features like banks and water etc and organizers tell riders to hang out and do everything they want. Obviously none of this is timed and penalties don't matter (so long as you're being safe haha).

meanwhile. curious cats.
This seems like a great idea for me and Charlie with where things are right now, so I was bummed to see the event postponed for a day due to the heavy rains we've had the past couple weeks. And I wasn't able to make the rain date.... Womp. Oh well, they moved my entry to later in August, so hopefully that'll work out eventually.

and stud plugs!!! it definitely helps that they are neon green, tho they're still hard to see sometimes when the hoof is packed full of mud and debris
Bc yea, wow, just when you thought I couldn't shut up about how hard the ground has been, suddenly things turned very very very wet. Rain every day. Pouring soaking rain. Light mists. Drizzles in full sun. It's been crazy. Not complaining - we needed the rain - but it would be nice to have something a little more middle of the road!

the rest of my stud order came through too lol.... four more road studs and mud studs, and 7 more firm ground studs, since i just ordered one the first time, whoops
Esp bc we're still on track for that pace clinic I mentioned, which is scheduled for tomorrow. It's bright and early and is gonna mean a lot of work tonight getting ready (despite, as I mentioned, already being really fucking exhausted from moving....). It should be fun tho.

and more cats. here they are getting their beauty sleep ahead of another long night of keeping me awake...
I'm really looking forward to getting some insights and guidance not only on what the appropriate pace is for Novice, but also to really focus on riding Charlie forward. And getting the feel for what that optimal cross country gallop is for catching jumps right out of stride. And don't worry, I'll take lots of notes ;)

this whole moving situation has been a whirlwind for them, apparently
In the meantime tho, I'm still just digging out of the digital black hole I've fallen into this past week. Including catching up on a lot of my reading - something I've missed fairly desperately lately. I need my fix and want to catch up with what all of y'all are up to!!

poor suffering critters....
Thank god it's the weekend tho. And not least because I still have a metric ton of work to do in clearing out the old apartment as the month nears its close. Guys. Let me be a cautionary tale to you: hoarding is bad haha. Omg. Sooo much junk it's insane.... Folks at the Baltimore City dump are starting to greet me by name lol!

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel tho, phew. Soon. Maybe after this weekend, or next week lol. Here I was thinking July is usually a quiet time of year, our "Summer Recess"..... But nope. It's been jam packed. Am I the only one that gets surprised by the busyness of summer? Is anyone else out there running off your feet? Or maybe you're the opposite - you've been able to take some time off lately?

In any case, hopefully things will stabilize soon. Have a great weekend!

36 comments:

  1. We just moved, too. Moving sucks! The amount of stuff we accumulated in a townhouse was insane. We thought oh, we'll easily be out by X, and have Y and Z to set up the new house. Ha ha ha ha ha! And the sellers of our new home left us...um...stuff, so back to the dump we go... Ugh!

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    1. oh man, it's really unbelievable, right??? like.... i've been preparing for this move for MONTHS. started going through everything, combing through what goes to trash, what goes to donate, and what goes to the new place for ages. i thought i was so organized and so prepared. but omg the sheer volume is overwhelming lol. luckily these things DO END. or, uh, so i'm told ;) hang in there!

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    2. YES!!! We thought we were doing so great... until we weren't. I am soooo grateful to my amazing friends who showed up to do various things unasked or otherwise I'd probably be living out of a Uhaul right now! And we literally moved 10 min down the road. I don't know how people move across the country.

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    3. thank god for friends, right? i'm in basically the same boat: have moved just 3/4 of a mile down the road. and am wondering if maybe that's part of why i'm caught so flat footed - i figured that by being so close it would be so easy to just flit back and forth. but that really didn't account for the fact that literally every single thing takes so long, and is so exhausting. my friends have also been incredibly helpful tho, and i would not have been able to do it without them, for sure! sigh lol....... fingers crossed everything finishes up smoothly enough!

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  2. I swear to god. Moving is the actual worst. Nothing feels normal at all. Hope those cats are letting you get more sleep!!

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    1. they're all aboard the 3am wake up call train, and it's driving me crazy. the little cute gray one goes wandering around the rooms meowing loudly on repeat. unclear why. last night i shut the door to keep him out and the little fucker opened it and came meowing back into the room. wth. at least with each night these little musical interludes seem shorter and shorter???? sigh. cats are the worst too lol

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  3. Moving is awful until you get that final turn of the lock on the old place. Then its pretty great settling into a new place. Except for cats--one of mine decided they no longer understood what a litter box was and pooped in a house plant our first night. gaahh.

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    1. ughhhhhh i'm always so paranoid about that with cats, they're such pests sometimes! i had a cat that could be a problem about the litter box a few years ago, but luckily the two above have been ok so far....

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  4. I was like damn Emma is quiet, and then I remembered you move! Dogspeed my friend!

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    1. ugh yea, honestly the lack of internet has been the biggest issue and it's still not resolved yet. thanks tho - hopefully will be back up and running at full dogspeed soon! ;)

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  5. Noope. It's been a weirdly busy July for me too haha. I feel you there! OMG SO MUCH JUNK TO GO THROUGH when I moved to my apartment. I am totally not hoarding ever again lol. Can't wait to read how the pace will go!

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    1. Also, LOVE THAT DINASAUR PICTURE OMG. LITERALLY THE BEST EVER. I laughed so hard at work haha!!

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    2. lol i'm so glad you like the bronto haha - i'm oddly deeply pleased with how it turned out lol. and yea i'm definitely all aboard the "never hoard again zomg" train....

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    1. lol indubitably!! the finest example of classic dressage, worthy of any renaissance gallery!

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  7. Moving is the absolute worst!! The schooling show sounds really cool though, I hope the weather cooperates and nothing else comes up in between!

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    1. yea the twilights are definitely really cool events - i've been to a bunch with my friends or as a volunteer, but none yet as a rider. hopefully soon! some other things between now and then tho, hopefully all good things ;)

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  8. i almost spit coffee all over my desk when that first picture loaded. from the thumbnail i saw you but didn't see charlie's head shopped onto the dinosaur.

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    1. lolololol.... i may have had just a little too much fun making that....

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  9. Moving sucks, but I do love the end result. I've been looking forward to moving for a few years now as I stare around at my cluttered house wondering why I own so much crap and gleefully planning to get rid of all of it for the next move.

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    1. i keep focusing on the end result for sure. it'll be worth it, it was time for change, reasons etc etc etc. but damn the lead up and actual effort are just.. blargh. but the purging that goes along with packing was oddly satisfying! hope you guys are feeling reasonably prepared as you start making plans!

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  10. Such cute kitties! That event sounds awesome- I would love to do something like that! Hopefully you can make it to the one they have in August, it really does sound ideal for Charlie.

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    1. so far i'm entered for the late august event - now i just need charlie to cooperate so we can actually go!

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  11. OMG that photo is amazing. AMAZING. And yep, moving is the actual worst. I'm sooo sick of it. Eight times in eight years - why do I even bother unpacking anymore?!
    Super jealous of your twilight event, that sounds like a blast (and an awesome schooling opportunity!) Love that you're encouraged to school and can jump other heights.

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    1. ugh moving every year sounds like the actual worst. tho i'm not sure i want to stay put for 10 years again either - i've accumulated way too much junk!

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  12. Pace clinic sounds FUN! And moving is the worst. But your view looks pretty sweet! Good to have you back in the blogosphere

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    1. the pace clinic was super fun!! and yea i need to get my bloggin fix, it's just so hard without internet at home!!

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  13. That photoshop....omg. That is beyond amazing. I keep scrolling back at it to just giggle more.

    Such a bummer about the Twilight postponement! Hopefully a later one will work out. Wish my plans to go to one had worked out so I could see y'all!

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    1. lol i had way too much fun making that bronto pic, obvi ;) hopefully things work out so that we can get you up to another twilight or event one of these days!

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  14. Best of luck with the move! We may be doing that again soon... yikes

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  15. Moving is the most annoying thing ever! Hope you are a settled and sorted soon :)

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    1. thanks! so far it's going and going. just so much stuff...

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  16. Can't wait to hear about the pace clinic- that's something I definitely want to do if a similar one is ever offered near me. Good luck with the move!

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    1. the clinic was super cool - just finally got my post up about it!

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  17. Moving SUCKS, good luck and I hope it falls into place quickly. That first picture though, OMG!!! I almost died.

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