LOST Returns Tonight - Sort of!

YAY! So excited that LOST is finally back on tv tonight! Tonight is a replay of the season finale in May with clues throughout the episode and then tomorrow night - the two hour season opener!

My Bucket List

Lisa and Rick went to see The Bucket List this weekend and then she posted her "Bucket List" on her blog and I thought it was neat so therefore, I'm doing the same! :)

My Bucket List

1. To see Katie grow up and start a career with animals.
2. Compete with Belle in open competitions or be on a mounted drill team.
3. To get to my goal weight and wear a size 8.
4. Learn how to snow ski (other than going down the mountain saying "whoa, whoa!!!")
5. Learn how to water ski.
6. Own a farm or ranch with a six stall barn and an covered riding arena.
7. Travel to Cape Town, South Africa.
8. Travel to Switzerland and Austria.
9. Have a two-week vacation in Hawaii.
10.Celebrate my 60th wedding anniversary...43 years from now.

That's the top ten - I guess! I'm sure there are many, many other things that will be added in the future.

Everyone has to have dreams! They are a MUST! But, if (God Forbid) I were to find out tomorrow that I had limited time left on this earth - I would not regret anything! I do love my life and I'm so blessed and happy!

LA :)

Snow Is Now A Four Letter Word To Me

Katie was so disappointed this week when we had the weather forecast Wednesday night of 1-3" of snow and the PTA even canceled their Thursday morning meeting in anticipation of the schools being closed because of the certain snowfall... NADA! We got rain! As usual!

Katie is EIGHT and she's never gotten to build a snowball or go down a hill on a sled! She hasn't even experienced having a snow day and playing with her friends in the snow and then warming up to hot chocolate afterwards!! *sigh*

Outside of the botched weather forecast - we haven't had the best of weeks. Katie finished up her auditory processing evaluation(s) that she has been having since October 2007. She failed. Turns out Katie never had hearing loss. Mild loss in the left ear. Never did she have severe to profound loss in the right. Never! She has an auditory processing disorder. Which now means another diagnosis. She will now add a neurologist to her team of doctors. And many more hours of therapy...

The good news is - she will finally be getting that MRI that I have been pleading with doctors for her to have since she was FOUR!

Lesson learned for me this week - I thought I was being an aggressive and thorough advocate for Katie with her health and medical care... turns out I need to listen to my gut and be much more aggressive and insist when I feel things "aren't right"!

So back to the snow... we thought "it's been a tough week... let's get out of town for the day"! So we did! We headed to Sugar Mountain in Banner Elk, NC. We picked Katie up from school early and headed to the mountains. Our goal was to make a 2pm snow tubing session. We got there at 1:15pm. Plenty of time, right!?

Wrong! We had to change into our snow bibs and boots. Sugar Mountain has gone down hill drastically since the last time I was there. It was dirty and old... Katie and I had a really hard time changing in our little bathroom stall - the floor was wet and dirty, there were two of us with our big bulky snow clothes and boots - I can't even imagine having done that a year ago - never would have worked... in a month or so, when I look back, it will probably make me laugh - but not today!

So we get changed, we get down to the tubing area and get in a very long line. At 2:05 - we are third in line and they announce that it's sold out!

*argghhh!!!!!*

So we headed home. We came home through the Linville Gorge and at least it was a very pretty drive! Frozen lakes, snow covered farms... but no snowball fights or snowmen!

So, it's official! I give up on snow! I lived in Washington DC for numerous years and never really experienced "a big snow". Now they have them all the time. I grew up in Charlotte NC and never really experienced "a big snow"! Now they get 6" snow falls all the time. Knoxville use to get big snow falls - not anymore! I could move to Alaska and the artic thaw would occur! All the snow would go away!

Tomorrow is a new day!

Please keep Katie in your prayers! She's the hardest working 8 year-old ever! I don't want her to have anything else lumped on her to struggle with! Enough for one little girl already!!

LA

This is what I'm talking about

So today was the best day we'd had at the farm in weeks. Partly due to the crazy busyness of the holidays and partly due to how crummy the weather has been. Our guys were very happy to see us. After we tried to get them groomed and cleaned up - that was a tough job - they were sooooo dirty... Don wanted to run them both in the arena - together. We've never done that.

But, they did great! I think us riding them together has actually started helping them form a friendship - as much as horses can be friends.

Belle has had her buddies since coming to the farm. Fudge, a pretty paint mare, has been a consistent buddy to her. However; Sunny has never really had "buddies". Sunny is a BOSS mare and she dances to her own tune. But, she has really started to accept Belle.

If we are in the pasture with Sunny and any horse other than Belle comes close to us, Sunny's ears go flat against her head and she lets them know in no uncertain terms to SCRAM!! But, she doesn't do that with Belle anymore.

We are still cautious when we have them together - because horses are so unpredictible but they really are doing well together.

I always love watching Don run Sunny in the arena because she responds to him solely on his voice commands and when he's done - he can just pat on his chest and say "OK, Sunny, come on" and she turns in and comes right to him. It was awesome today him running both of them!!

Katie of course, was totally in her element. She spent some great time with Belle today. Belle was even enjoying a lot of attention from Katie. It was the first time they've really connected and started enjoying being around each other. Katie can tend to still have eratic movements and Sunny never flinches but Belle, since she is still so young, will fling her head back with big eyes... but not today! And, it wouldn't be a visit to the farm with Katie if she didn't spend time with Oreo and Coyte - the cats and Belle - the Great Pyrenees watch dog.

Oh, Gremlin, the rooster that doesn't like Don and hides to try and attack him - made a run at Katie today! I think he finally associated Katie with Don and that was bad news! Dog gone that rooster!! I think he's the only animal we've ever met that we don't like.

Other than that - it was a great day!

LA :)

Happy 2008!!!

I know this sounds ridiculous, but 8 is my favorite number so I am excited to be starting 2008! I know... I'm quirky!

I'm excited to be starting a new year! Like the rest of the masses, I do have some resolutions for 2008. And in keeping with my lucky and favorite number 8 - I have (surprise...) EIGHT NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS...

#1 - Continue to focus on my improved health situation! That is definitely #1. If I don't take care of myself, I can't take care of anyone else and I have to remind myself of that daily. I'm going to continue to take one day at a time and hope that those numbers continue downward.

#2 - Exercise daily - except for Sunday - at least 45 minutes daily. I'm making a committment to try and stick with the plan of getting up at 6am and exercising before any roadblocks or distractions enter the day and sidetrack me.

#3 - To be a more affectionate and loving wife and a more patient mother! Patience has never been my strongest quality and it's something I struggle with daily with Katie. It has been much better in 2007 and I'm hoping it continues. Don is so wonderful and loving and I need to be more reciprocal instead of letting "life's stressers" bog me down.

#4 - To spend more time at the farm. To take Katie to the farm at least twice a week. To ride more. To do more ground work with Belle. Again, I just can't say enough the emotional benefit that Katie and I get from being with horses.

#5 - To be more organized with my eBay business, more efficient and productive. To be more organized with my bookkeeping clients, more efficient and productive. Basically - I need to be more organized and efficient.

#6 - To visit family more. We have several family trips planned for just Don, Katie and I - but I would also like to try and spend more time with family this year. Katie enjoyed Christmas so much with Dad and Marilyn and then she loved our trip to North Carolina... MORE TIME WITH FAMILY!!

#7 - To take time to spend on my photography and scrapbooking! Unless I took a class in 2007 or was at CKU with Lisa, I didn't accomplish any completed project... even then I didn't finish everything at CKU. *sigh*

#8 - To be a better cook and to get Katie more involved in helping in the kitchen. She loves being in the kitchen and she tends to eat healthier when she is involved.

I guess that's it! That's enough, huh?

I hope everyone is off to a wonderful start to 2008!

LA :)