One more crossed off.........

Humid air, clouds and sun, the smell of a stable, the whinny of horses and the old song “Raw Hide” playing over an outside speaker greeted us as we pulled into the riding stable. There were 4 of us on this excursion and all of us had excitement in our eyes. Well except for one who’s face was filled with panic at the mere thought of what she was about to do. She knew she could back out, but deep inside she knew this was something she wanted and needed to do for her own sake, so she pulled up her “big girl panties, sucked it up like a princess” and signed the papers that needed to be signed.

It was time for the horses to be led out into the mounting area and with more courage than I have seen in my P.I.C she was the first one to enter and was the first one that mounted her horse! Kudos to you P.I.C. since I know what courage that must have taken.
It took a bit of time for all of us to be introduced to our horsey companions and then after that our guide Bob led the way down the trail. It was down a stony hill and across a vey small creek, up over a grassy meadow, through a beautiful forested area and across another meadow before slowly making our way back to the stables. I have never felt so peaceful and serene as I did on the back of my horse Rosy. She did all the work; I just had to guide her every so often to stay on the trail. I can honestly see how the love of horses can happen so easily.

We did make tentative plans for a ride in the fall. That trail will be absolutely amazing when the leaves change colours. After the ride it was off to have a bite to eat at Boston Pizza since we had all worked up a huge appetite. It really was an amazing day spent with some wonderful friends. Life is great when you don’t worry about the little irritating bumps along the way!

Another Link added

Omg! I’m writing yet another blog and so damn soon after my last one!
I just happen to be in an extremely good mood. This summer has been a very good one for me and aside from accomplishing not much of anything I was still making fun and exciting things happen. This blog will be short and sweet since another will follow with in the next few days.
Last night my circle of friends grew by one more. We all went out for dinner so I could introduce her to everyone. We all had a great time and the night quickly passed with a few drinks and many laughs. It’s great to add one more link to my circle of friends.

The Lazy-Crazy-Hazy Days of Summer 2010

Steps up the rickety stairs to the door of my blog. Lordy it’s been ages since I was up here. Oh well, hopefully I was missed, or I should say my insane blogging was missed. Well let’s see…pulls up a dusty old chair and cleans the cobwebs away so my eyes can actually see what my fingers are telling you as they glide along the keys of my keyboard (and stop laughing at what I’m typing. I haven’t even got to a laughing part……….yet!)
Anywhoooo, I feel like I should be lying on a couch in my shrinks office since I’m going to blabbering away for a while, so go make a tea… coffee or depending on your choice of drink (mine is a margarita) sit back and read the insane ravings of D.M’s summer thus far.

Ok, stepping back to the beginning of summer I really didn’t do too much except laze around watching T.V during the day. It’s really easy to become a couch potato given the right frame of mind and honestly my mind has been on hold for a long time now. The only thing missing from this couch potato scenario is the chocolate bon-bon’s. Oh yes I forgot. I did receive a small box of chocolates on the last day of the programs, but I ate em all up that day. Yep that’s right I did. One must never have chocolate around when one is watching T.V because they will never last. So to make sure I would not get into the habit of needing the said sweets I ate them when I got home from work. There that problem was solved. I really am good at problem solving when I need to be. So to end this section of my summer, June passed by in a rather un-eventful way.

Now stepping up a bit, the month of July held a few funtastic things. The first being the Canada Day bash in the back yard, but I already posted about that so no use in tiring my fingers telling you about it again. The next event was the Out-laws family reunion. Oh good lord, that was NOT fun. I hiked up my big girl panties so high I walked around with a weggy for the entire day. It was the most uncomfortable butt wiggling thing I had to do. And yes, I am talking about my weggy as well as attending this event. They have this thing every year and it never changes. (be right back I need another margarita….cue the theme from Jeopardy while I go make one)
**************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** ok I’m back. Now where was I? Oh yes the reunion from hell…err I mean the other halves family event. The nightmare began when I woke up on the day of this event. I swear Mother Nature did it on purpose. By that I mean she made the day so frigging hot that it actually did feel like I was in the deep bowels of hell (temperature wise). Anyway, like the nice person I am, off we went to this non-blessed event. We did arrive a wee bit on the late side (accidentally on purpose) but hey that was all good because apparently we missed the first part of the usual drama. It turned out that someone was left off the guest list (I could only be so lucky!) once again, but came anyway. This didn’t go off to well when the said person and his spouse arrived. They were not sent away but we were told it was like the parting of the Red Sea as they walked into the back yard. I’m not sure how this couple rates when crowds part for their arrival. Hell I just get the silent treatment. If the Out-laws ever part for me I have it all planned out. I will surely walk through the crowd doing the Queen’s wave! I really must talk to this couple and find out what they did to have such an honour bestowed upon them. Aside from literally melting from the heat, the day dragged by ever so slowly. I got the usual silent treatment, a few quirked eyebrows when I did speak and even received a fake smile from dear old mom in law, bless her heart! Oh the joy I am feeling as I look forward to next years reunion (time for another margarita….cues the theme from Jeopardy again)
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The next major even was my side of the family’s annual barbeque. We stopped calling it a Family Reunion a few years back since my family has grown smaller over the past decade. Anyway this year my cousins from the States were able to attend. As usual Mother Nature tried to rain on my parade and she did succeed with a day full of major downpours, but I was not going to let that stop me from having a good time. Yes I had to squish about 45 people into my house, but it turned out ok. Even my other half enjoyed the day(which by the way he bitched about for weeks prior to the event). My Aunt and Uncle from Sharbot Lake even surprised us by knocking on the door. Now my Uncle well, he’s a story all on his own and made us all laugh by memories of our past. You see, Uncle Jim was born with an eye affliction. He’s not really cross-eye’d but his pupils wiggle back and forth constantly. As children this freaked the majority of us kids out. When Uncle Jim is looking at you, you never know since his eyes move constantly. He purposely did things to each and every one of his nieces and nephews just to freak us out. By the end of the day we all had a turn at Uncle Jims glances. The house finally emptied around mid-night and I stayed up talking with my cousins (who spent the night) till about 2am. We all were a bit groggy and hung over the next morning, but managed to go for breakfast at Cora’s a Family Breakfast/Brunch Restaurant. After we finished my cousins took the exit to the highway and headed home. I spent the day cleaning up and then fell into bed at around 8pm that night.

Stepping into this month (August) the final event I will write about on this blog is our camping excursion. Well damn it was fun. I wasn’t sure if this ole body was going to be able to withstand sleeping in a tent for 2 night’s but I did it! We went to Pinehurst Conservation Area campground with good friends of ours and even before the sun set we were in stitches. Our friends had not used their tent in 10 yrs and omg they forgot how to set the damn thing up. Even my other half pitched in trying to erect the thing but to no avail. That led to a quick run to Crappy Tire in Paris to purchase a cheap tent. By 10pm we had the campsite all set up and were finally able to relax with a few beers and coolers. Mother nature again tried to ruin my fun by sending the temperature down to a very chilly 10 Celsius. Little does Mother nature know that when one has consumed “some” alcoholic beverages the cold does not affect you. So haha Mother Nature…no brownie points for you this time! The guys spent their time out fishing and catching up on old times while us women sat at the campsite reading, laughing and getting to know each other better. All in all it was a fantastic weekend. Old memories were renewed, new memories were made and we all promised to do it again next year.

My next posting will be about an event that I am sure will make history as well as a few sore bottoms…….stay tuned for the next chapter……….smiles all sweet like thinking about my P.I.C

Great Friends = Fun Celebrations!

I hope everyone had a great Canada Day Celebration. The weather was absolutely wonderful. The sun was shining and it wasn’t to hot. The night did get a tad bit cool, but that didn’t hamper any ones fun. I spent the day straightening up the house and organizing the back yard since the celebration plans took a small detour. We did attend the festivities, but not until late afternoon. We went to see our good friends perform on the main stage and Nancy sure can belt out some wonderful sounds. Her vocals kept the crowd dancing and singing along. The band was absolutely amazing as they accompanied her through 45 minutes of classic rock, blues and a bit of jazz. We wandered the park for a bit with some friends and then left to go have a quick bite to eat. We were supposed to stay and watch Michelle Wright, but had decided earlier in the day to have a get together of our own at the house. So it was off to Wendy’s to get some food and then made our way to Mohawk Park and had an impromptu early evening picnic. It was wonderful to spend time with good friends laughing and joking around for an hour or so. We all went back to the house to settle in for a night of fun, music and drinks. As the night cooled down we lit a small fire in the chiminea and poked fun at the silly things we did as kids. We were a group of 10, but we must have sounded like a huge gathering as we laughed and joked around. Frank and Nancy stopped by and poor Nancy was talked into giving us a private show, although it didn’t take much to talk her into it. She loves to sing and belted out one of my favourite old time classic songs “Born to be Wild” along with a few more. Our celebration finally started to break up just past midnight. We are planning another get together on Labour Day for our annual fish fry and corn roast to end the summer of 2010 with a bang.

Ok, now I have procrastinated long enough. It’s time to get the backyard cleaned up. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Happy Happy Summer!

Well I think enough time has gone by and now it’s time to get serious with my blogging. Well not too serious since I’m not really a serious person. Ok I can be serious but most times I like to add a bit of comedy to my life. Ok a lot of comedy since I really don’t have too much to blog about. But here I am blogging about nothing really to serious.

I’ve now been done work for 2 weeks, although I did go in last Thursday night for a rental. I have let my Supervisor know that I will not be able to cover any more summer rentals. There comes a time when giving rest to ones mind and body comes first and I think I am do for some major rest and relaxation.

Canada Day is fast approaching and for a change we’re going to attend a few of the celebrations. Our good friend Frank from “The Frank DiFelice Band” will be playing a set of Jazz music and his wife Nancy will be singing. A few more stage shows are scheduled after that and then Michelle Wright makes an appearance. I’m sure the Merlin Ontario born country singer will keep the crowd enthralled. I for one am looking forward to this years Canada Day celebration. A few days after, that I will be attending the “obligatory” family get-together on the “out-laws” side. That’s sure to bring many grumbles…err I mean laughs making the day seem never ending..errrr I mean it will be a good day.

I do have a few things I am looking forward to during the summer and one is my family reunion. We started holding them every summer about 10 years ago and then decided every other year would be a better idea since a few are quite a distance away and a few are even from out of country. My State side relatives are coming this year, well at least my 2 cousins. Their spouses don’t have their passports yet so they may have to stay State side unless their passports come through in time. Either way it will be wonderful to see my cousins again. I’ll have to stomp, holler and start the silent treatment if the other half won’t give up his “guitar room” so I can once again make it into a weekend guest room. Just in case he refuses I do have a few invisible fairies fluttering around here and he just might come home from work and find his prized instruments set up downstairs in the basement, safe secure and well away from the “GUESTROOM”

Another outing I am looking forward to is a night away in August. We will be checking into The Casino Rama Hotel, taking in a Kris Kristofferson show and then trying our hand at a weeeeee bit of gambling. I’m not one for gambling, but hey it’s something different and it could be fun. All credit cards and debit cards will be left at home, with only a certain limit of cash on hand. We’ll spend the night in the hotel and then make our way back home the next day. Maybe, hopefully Mr. Visa can be fed a little bit extra soothing his ruffled feathers a tiny bit, or maybe not! I guess I’ll just have to see if “Lady Luck” will be shining down on me.

Until next time fellow bloggers…enjoy life and if life hands you lemons, make a margarita and enjoy!!!!!

Time to catch up......

Ok so here is another dive into my corner of the world. As everyone has noticed, I’m not like most who blog and post everyday. Number 1 sometimes I just don’t feel like blogging and number 2, sometimes it’s necessary to keep my thoughts inside until I can straighten them out in my mind. Oh don’t be presuming there is something wrong because there isn’t…. I’m just me and that’s how I’m wired! Now, that’s been cleared up hummmm, let me think…what HAS been happening in my corner of this great big world.

Over the May 24th weekend I was hostess to the Out-Laws 55th Anniversary Gathering. There were more than a few tense moments and even a moment or 2 when I honestly contemplated a few rather criminal acts upon some of the Out-Laws, but than thought about Big Bad Bertha. You know the one you always hear about leading the Women’s Prison cell block and I took a time out instead. Damn good thing I had placed a bottle of chilled wine in the workshop out back! It poured buckets, but I was snug as a bug in a rug inside the workshop. I did have to make a showing so as sweet as I am I snuck back inside, did the hostess thing for a bit and then took Bentley outside into the pouring rain to have a wee bit of exercise. All I can say about that weekend is…”thank god it’s over!”

I do have to say though, that because of this Out-Law Gathering it added many steps to my over all total in the Walking Challenge. At the end of week one Doug’s Diva’s were in 12th place out of 23. That’s not too shabby at all. I’m just waiting for the last walker to send me her totals and then I’ll submit the totals of week 2 to the one in charge. Hopefully we will move up on the scale since I’m working my butt off to keep my totals as high as possible. As I said before I have put a challenge upon myself and I am striving to keep up with my own personal wager. It does help that have a dear friend who keeps the encouragement going.

Work is coming to a seasonal end for me and I could not be happier. Yes I do enjoy my job, well at least one aspect of it, but in all honesty I’m starting to feel worn down. The Supervisor has told us that we are due for our evaluations and I’m not really looking forward to that. It doesn’t matter how hard I bust my ass for this place for the programs I never get the evaluation I think I deserve. I can almost recite word for word what it will say, but this year I’m not going to worry or become upset. I’ll smile and sign the paper without batting an eye. The next evaluation will come from a different Supervisor so it will be done fairly. By fair I mean that the new Supervisor (the one that has been recommended for this posting) seems to take an interest in ALL areas of the centre not just how much revenue they can pull in. She is more a people person and will be a welcome addition to the centre.

Speaking of the centre one co-worker in particular had her evaluation and as expected it was not good. In all honesty she has surpassed her time as one who can perform her job in an efficient way. I feel bad for her but on the other hand there needs to be a point when one has to admit to themselves that they have earned the right to enjoy life after work. She has admitted that she will not go quietly so during the next couple of months there may be tension filled hours. Thank goodness my work season will be finished in 2 weeks. Hopefully everything will be settled come September when we return. The Supervisor we have now will be there when we return but will be finished at the end of 2010. She did say she may have to come back a few times a week until everything gets settled with her replacement. Oh goodie goodie…NOT! Oh well…we will survive!!!!

Well I guess I have rambled on enough and it’s time to sit back with my feet up and a glass of wine in hand to watch the last few minutes of the second period of the Hockey game. GO CHICAGO…..

A Renewed Agenda

She huffs and she puffs and she tries with all of her might, but it’s certainly not to be able to blow a house down. Its day 3 of the Walking challenge and although it might seem like nothing to some, I never realized that when one counts the steps or rather when one has their steps counted then it’s harder than what it seems. It has to be noted that among the 6 walkers on our “Walking Challenge Team” I am the oldest so therefore I have something to prove to myself. One of our walkers spends 1 hour at the gym everyday, 3 other walkers are young Parks and Recreation employees and are constantly flitting around town every day of the week and one other walker uses her elliptical machine every morning. I’m the oddball out. I gave up my stationary bike years ago and opted to just be myself but included in “when and what I eat.” Well thanks to this walking challenge I had to dust of that old stationary bike and with a few modern “homemade comfortable alterations” I have been doing a daily 1 hour ride first thing in the morning. The first morning I felt like I needed to crawl up the stairs and slither into the bathroom since my legs felt like they didn’t have any bones or muscles in them at all. During the day for some odd reason my butt cheeks decided to protest by having every muscle there clench up and hold tight making it very difficult to walk let alone sit! By the end of the first day the pedometer registered 9,007 steps. Only 5 weeks and 6 days to go! The second day I awoke to screaming muscles but I forced myself to get back up on that bike and crank out another hour of stationary riding. I took Bentley on a walk and then turned around and took Abby for a walk. I don’t know whose tongue was hanging out the furthest by the time Abby and I returned. I had to work last night and since the upstairs was the area in use I manage to do 7 laps around the gym. One of the members of the rental group last night is a good friend of mine. When the group broke for a break my friend came down to chat a bit with me. I told them about the challenge that I was taking part in and this friend accompanied me on a few laps. They suggested that maybe, to make it easier, to set a goal for myself. They suggested that I should try and exceed each daily total making this challenge easier and more fun. I took this into serious consideration. It turns out that my friend was just elected Vice President of this rental group so we celebrated by walking a few laps! By the time I got home and got myself ready for bed I had exceeded my last day’s pedometer reading. My total for last night was 10,583 steps. I awoke this morning still very stiff and sore but with a renewed agenda on my plate. I decided that my friends suggestion was a good one so that’s what I intend to do. Each day I will find different things to do to keep my feet in action. I intend to exceed each daily total. It’s funny but this morning’s bike ride was still painful, but not as bad as the 2 previous mornings. I just glanced at my pedometer and broke into a smile. It’s just past the middle of the afternoon and I’m already close to equalling my last night’s total! I maybe the oldest but don’t count me out just yet!