On Thursday when I got into work, I had an e-mail from Cdub. It was forwarded from one of her co-workers, who was looking to get rid of tickets to Sweet Charity (starring Molly Ringwald!). I believe my answer to her was, "You should have called me! I didn't get this until today. I would have loved to go!" It turned out the tickets were still available. The seats were excellent, and the show was really funny. I wasn't actually very familiar with the show- it's funny and smart. You should see it.

It's a good thing that we enjoyed the show, because we went out to dinner beforehand and got some of the worst service we had ever gotten. The waiter took our drink orders, walked away, and didn't come back for our dinner orders until the drinks were ready, 10 minutes later. I even tried to stop him after he brought water over, but he ran off. We finally ordered, the food (as usual at this place) was excellent. We ate, our plates were cleared at 7:25. At 7:40 we still did not have our check. When I finally managed to flag the waiter down (he spent a good bit of time evading us), I told him to bring the check, as we had tickets to a show. He did not get a good tip. (He probably realized we weren't happy, as it was the manager who finally brought us the check.) I was not happy.

Saturday we volunteered at Operation Sharehouse. I love volunteering there- there's a tangible result to your work (we packaged over 5,000 meals). They also allow (and encourage) children as young as 5 to participate- we had several little ones working with us- which I also like.

Afterward was errands.

Today, I headed out to the Capital Dressage Show to volunteer as a ring steward. Ring steward keep track of the competitors and also get to check bits and spurs after the ride. (Translation: I stuck my hands (with gloves on) into the mouths of horses I'd never seen before.) It was a nasty rainy day today (and also the 3rd day of the show), so we had a lot of scratches. Most people went early- we can't force them to, but if they are ready, they may. Afterwards I went through the trade show- I needed new gloves and some boot socks. When I went to purchase them, I learned that the tack shop was giving 10% off to volunteers. Yay!

I was supposed to have a riding lesson at 3, but after standing out in the rain all morning, I wasn't feeling it.

When I saw this headline on CNN: "Pregnant lady chases pirates at box office" I was compelled to click on it. Unfortunately, the story was not nearly as interesting as I thought it would be, as I had read the headline as "Pregnant lady chases pirates at post office".

I am part-leasing a horse. I get to ride her twice a week plus my lesson. I've recently fallen for her (odd, because usually I prefer geldings to mares) and I think that we will make a good dressage team. So does Heather. You can see her here. Scroll down to "Sandi".

Should you like to send me some sort of congratulatory gift, may I suggest a dressage saddle?

I’ve done it again. I have completely overextended myself. My planner? You should see it. It doesn’t even have the volleyball schedule in it, mostly because I don’t have the volleyball schedule yet. Oh, and volleyball starts tonight. Plus, now I’m increasing my riding schedule (note: that is a good thing), I’ve got Jaycee crap all this weekend, all next weekend, and then the weekend after that. The last week of the month I spend a day in Atlanta (I fly in the night before), have volleyball and riding, and then head up to Richmond. (The Richmond thing is also good.)

Also overwhelming? I am manpower chair for a huge project the Jaycees are running this month. I am having a very difficult time getting people to help. I just had someone back out of everything she volunteered for except for the fun thing (not uncommon for said person. Not known for doing projects involving labor, but shows up for all the parties.). When I told her I didn’t need her for anything, she wrote back “Thank you so much! I am doing manpower for (another upcoming large project) so I feel your pain.” No, clearly you don’t, or you wouldn’t have cancelled. Ask Aquamama about the wonderful things I was saying to you through the computer.

Regular readers of this blog (Hi regular readers!) know that I do this on occasion. So, now you have an assignment. Next May, one of you remind me not to sign up for volleyball.

I had put a library hold on this book months ago- I think I first read about it over at Michelle's. I got an e-mail the other day saying it was available, and I just went to pick it up.

Y'all, it's brand new. I am the first one reading the library book. That's pretty cool.

Watergirl: So I was out in my yard, in my bathrobe, holding a cat and talking to my neighbors.

Aquamama: You could be a crazy cat lady.

Watergirl: I think I pretty much just admitted that I am.

Last night I had dinner with one of my professors/friends from grad school. (I haven’t seen her in forever! So glad I got to.) She filled me in on the many happenings with fellow students. The major theme seemed to be that the people I thought were least likely to have children now have children. Which is interesting when you consider that I’d always thought I wanted kids, and now I think, “Probably not so much with the kids.”

Anyway, this friend moved to Madison, WI last year. I was asking her to describe what Madison was like, and she said, “Well, the East side has a lot of industry, and it’s the poorer section of the city. Then you have the Capital Area, where there are million-dollar condos for the legislators, and then you have the University area, with the university type housing…” I said, “So, it’s kind of like Raleigh.” She said, “Yea, I guess so. Anyway, the rest of the city is all suburban.” “So it is Raleigh.” “You’re right. It’s Raleigh. With snow. And no garbage on the streets.”

Friday night a friend called me and asked me what my plans were. What I said, “Not really anything.” Actual answer, “I was going to clean the bathroom.” So, I didn’t clean the bathroom that night. I met some friends for dinner and then we went to see Knocked Up. Which is very funny and I enthusiastically recommend it. Way more entertaining than cleaning a bathroom.

Saturday AM I did the Race for the Cure. I love it, partially because the neighborhood we walk through really gets into it. They set up sprinklers to walk through, make signs cheering us on, and there’s usually a brigade of people with SuperSoakers.

That afternoon I took a nap and ran some errands. Then I went out to celebrate a friend’s 25th (!) birthday.

Sunday I started laundry and cleaning the house before heading out to do Adopt-a-Highway. At one point, I bent over to pick up a water bottle. I realized the bottle was covered with ants. I looked down to see that I had stepped into a nest of fire ants. So, if you were driving down Wake Forest Road Sunday afternoon and saw a girl hopping around with one bare foot while flogging her leg with a sock, hi! Luckily, I reacted quickly and didn’t get too bit up.
Finally got home around 6 (more errands). I finished cleaning the house (including bathroom!) at around 7.

Occasionally, I have panic attacks while riding. It goes back to the accident. It will always be in the back of my mind, but sometimes it visits the front. Heather is patient and works with me to fight through it.

Last night, I was riding Sandi bareback. Backing her up, which is not something that is difficult or should cause any instability, had me nearly in tears. We spent most of the lesson working on it. I got calmer, able to stop her when I felt she was backing uncontrollably. We pushed it until I knew I couldn’t push it anymore. I ride again tonight. This time I’ll have a saddle and we’ll work on the backing some more.

So, it’s been a bummy week. Nothing in particular, just bummy. When I have weeks like this, I get the desire to either

1. move to a new place. A completely different town. Just gather my things and head out. Right now, the places on my list all have snowy winters. Which I moved here to get away from. But apparently now miss.

   Or

2. get a dog. Right now, the preferred breed is a greyhound.
   

I realize those things are not remotely related. I have no idea why those are the two things that I become obsessed with. I mean, on the one had, a new place would be interesting. New people, new favorite places. But then again, it took me about 4 years to feel settled here. And then the dog thing. I love dogs. But they are a lot more work then cats. And there’s still the possibility of traveling for work. Which means I’d have to pay for a kennel. Oh, and also, according to my lease I can’t have a dog.

So, one of the solutions is more feasible (new town!) but one is easier and could be accomplished sooner (dog!). What to do, what to do.

Or, there’s the going back to school thing…

Yesterday I got a bonus at work. I was all, “I will buy a bag!” “I will buy more shoes!” “I could put it towards a saddle.”

Then my back twinged, and I remembered that I really need a new mattress. So, the money will go towards that. I’m planning on getting a queen. I don’t suspect that that means the cats will no longer sleep curled up against me- I think that is most likely not a space issue.

I have not gotten over the dog thing yet. Of course, I also didn’t mention it to my landlord when she called to ask me how things were at the house and if I was going to renew my lease. My mom is all, “No dog! Vet bills!” and while she has a point, I can’t stay away from this page.

If your friend sprays Miller Lite in your eyes, it burns.

I’m going to have to start locking the boys out of the room at night. Jasper has developed a habit of waking me up in the mornings. Usually he just cries, but Sunday morning I woke up because he was standing on my back. (Note: Should you ever need to wake me up, that proved surprisingly effective.)

Oh, and if I don’t get up when he wants me too, he lays next to my face, all, “Well, OK, I’ll be right here when you want to play.”

Monday night I was supposed to fly into Atlanta so that I could attend a training course on Tuesday. When I got to the airport, I learned that my 7PM flight had been cancelled. (No I didn’t call first. Shut up.) They put me on the next flight out, which didn’t leave until around 8:30. However, that flight was delayed. When I asked the gate agent how long it was delayed, she said, “It might take off around 11. That’s what they’ve told me.”

I called our travel agency to see if I could get another flight out. (After arriving in Atlanta, I was supposed to take the MARTA to where I was staying. It’s about a 45 minute ride. So, I would have gotten to the hotel around 2-ish.) There was a Delta flight at 0600, so I booked that, went home, and went to bed.

(Actually, there was completely unrelated drama that I had to deal with while in the airport, and the delays and all made for a stressful situation.)

I woke up a 0330. Orion was not expecting the alarm to go off then and jumped about 10 feet off the bed. Was at the airport by 0430. Through security by 0440. No coffee at the airport until 0500. We lined up at Starbucks.

I was at our Atlanta office by 0830, in plenty of time for the training. Back at the Atlanta airport by 5:30 PM. I was supposed to take a 9:30 flight, but they put me on standby for the 7 PM flight. I was able to get on it, and was home by 10:30.

Long day.