Me and MY Mom.

In our recent Mother's Day celebration, I enjoyed the many pictures people posted on their Facebook of their moms. I noticed that usually it was a picture of "Me and my Mom", and that most pictures fell into two categories:

1. Picture of me and my mom when I was a baby.
2. Picture of me and my mom at my wedding.

And it got me thinking about pictures I have of me and MY Mom.
And there aren't that many, especially ones of JUST me and my Mom.
I could think of one "recent" picture, taken about 3 years ago?  But, then I was stumped.
So, knowing my parents and I were about to have a too rare visit together, I decided that my goal was to get a picture of Me and My Mom.

They arrived, and then, we got busy. So busy that the picture was forgotten and put aside, and then, this morning, as the sun came up and my parents prepared to leave, I got a picture.

Me and My Mom.

 Happy Mother's Day (albeit belated) to Me and My Mom.




And, because I didn't want to miss the opportunity.....

Happy early Father's Day to Me and My Dad!

These two have given me such gifts in my life.  I am a lucky girl.

Youngest gets a new pony-partner!

 It's been a few weeks since our latest addition to the barn arrived. I tried blogging about her arrival from my tablet, but it came out in jibberish, so...a non-entry. And, I have a bunch of pictures of this cutie, with Youngest, on my phone, but my phone and computer don't agree about their existence. My phone, incidentally, has also determined that I live in Providence, Rhode Island, and cannot be dissuaded by fact, nor GPS. So, my announcement of Youngest's new pony is belated, and not well documented photographically (except on my phone, which has pictures and video...)


In any case, Sunnygirl, (a.k.a. Cheez-It; because Youngest is 13 and she is red/orange) is a Quarterpony mare. She belongs to a lovely young lady who is at University and finds herself with too many horses and not enough time to enjoy them all. So, for now, S.G.(I've shortened it a bit, or sometimes lengthened it out with the whole "Sunnygirlcheezit") is a member of our family.

After Pearl died, I knew we needed to begin a search for a mount for Youngest, but it was just so darn cold all the time. Today, May 21, I still arose and put on polar-tech. But, with the horse season beginning regardless of the decisions of Mother Nature, we still gave it a go. And, found S.G. with little time to spare. So, the day after she arrived, she got to start working with Youngest, first in the ring, practicing their dressage tests, then on a ride out in the open.

 I was curious to see if S.G. would come back without her rider, not knowing exactly how she would feel about riding out cross country- would she get excited and a bit too much for Youngest to handle? Also, would Youngest stay focused and on top of the horse? So, off they went. Middlest with Nelle, KZ with Scooter and Youngest with Sunnygirl.

This is not just a picture of a beautiful cloud-filled sky! On the grass above this word is S.G. then Nelle, then Scooter a bit behind. Youngest and his new pony, off leading the pack. No worries.

At this point, I must mention the gorgeous field above and the amazing ring at top- that, despite days of torrential rains still has great footing- belong to our friends, the Z's, who generously allow us to come ride with them. Without friends this spring, little riding would have been achieved yet, as our field has dangerous footing, and is suitable for the walk only. So, we have been to the Z's many times, Dr. S's several times, and the fairgrounds arena has become our other back yard.

Youngest is learning to jump aboard S.G., who is generous about taking the cross rails with little guidance, as Youngest learns how to position his body over fences. He is making great strides in his abilities, and they are cantering around the arena now- I knew he'd find a taste for speed!

Welcome to a sweet, kind and red/orange pony!

Something's gotta give? Done.

Thoughts on Cleaning, as I spent my six unalloted hours of May, 2014 partially cleaning my kitchen, dining and living rooms:

 When they say "Something's gotta give" apparently for me, it's a no-brainer. Cleaning goes.

 There are people who vacuum everyday. My Eldest Sister is one of these. I am vacuuming up both Easter grass and Christmas tree pine needles.

 I dust with a shop-vac.

 I have brought this upon myself. As I have a house, animals and child(ren)- I don't see that the sheer number of kids makes the difference as much as the kid itself. And, I have also brought this upon myself by having dishes, furniture, an indoor toilet, a refrigerator, clothes, food, dogs....which all provide kids, adults, wind, bugs and dust opportunities to coat the home in dishes, food, clothes, dog hair, dirt, hair and bugs. If you have a place to sit, someone will sit in it. If you give them a place to rest their feet, and place their beverage, they will do so.

It would dismay my mother, and hopefully be no surprise to my m-i-l, that they keep much neater, cleaner houses than I do. I say this would dismay my Mom because if you ask her, she will tell you she is not a cleaner of houses. Yet, if you wandered through her home, you'd not agree. And, I think she might entertain the illusion that her Youngest (me), keeps a tidy home. This state of denial is possible as I live a day's drive from my parents, and they rarely stop in. ( I say rarely because I did get a call, while we were living in TBC, that they'd like to stop by for an iced tea. This was an unlikely request being that they lived in Tennessee, but a welcome one. I was laying a brick patio that day, and I don't recall that house being in this one's current state of dishevelment, which may have supported the illusion.) My mother and I approach house living/cleaning in a similar way. When you have a project to do, you do the project, allowing the house to do it's own thing. When the project is finished you look around, and get to work, and then you have a completed project and a clean house. But while the project is happening, the house? Not too much. Unfortunately for my house, I have been working on a project for 5 months.

 My Mother-i-l is an organized one who I believe has always kept a tidy home.

 House cleaning takes place for me in two instances.
- The house is distressing me so much that I am thinking of moving, which then leads me to the realization that no one would ever buy the house in this state, and I begin cleaning, after which the distress and the moving thoughts go away until the house demands it again.
- I decide to entertain.
               -No one has come over since my kidney stones in March, and then I didn't care because I was dying of kidney stones.
               -Feeling like your dying helps you not worry about your mess.
               -I'm glad I'm no longer dying of kidney stones.

 A room doesn't feel clean and right to me until it has flowers.

 If there are flowers I can overlook some cleaning shortcomings.

 My work of six hours will be undone in much less.
 Which, is a blessing. My house is full of kids, animals, dirt and love.

Rolex 2014- workin' it!

I think that in order to get some things up on this blog, I am going to have to admit to myself that I do not have several hours at a time to do so, and thus, if I have a few minutes, pin something in, and maybe in short bursts, I will have shared our lives.
But, what....
Salem house hallway and stairs B&A? The new pony? Easter? The attack of the killer rooster? Eldest completing her first year at University? The termite swarm that is taking over my life, and probably the amazing house we inhabit? Or, shall I jump into the Rolex? There is no way I can cover our Rolex adventure in a single blog entry, so I will just give it the minutes I have and see what happens in tomorrows minutes!

 In this sea of khaki-panted, french braided girls, our very own Middlest is the one in the center, black jacket, grey piping (thank you Terry McKie Johnson).... this is their orientation early on the first morning of competition, Rolex 3-Day Event CCI ****, Lexington, KY, 2014!!!
So, the long and short is that Middlest was chosen to work as a volunteer at the biggest, most prestigious 3-Day Event in the sport of Eventing in all of America (North and South). There are only 4 CCI **** Events in the world. 3 of them are in Europe. One is under Middlest's feet. I, as her AOR (adult of record), was also included in the volunteer line up. We, along with 5 other of the members of her Pony Club and their AORs were on the dressage crew. We worked the first two days of four (yes it is called a 3-Day, but at an event this large and prestigious, the dressage phase takes two days for all the riders to present.)

 And, she was up-close and personal with the top athletes in the sport! She did various jobs during the two days, including poop-scooping in the warm up arenas.

 In the elite level of the sport there are many riders who are graduate Pony Clubbers. This is Doug Payne, who turned in the third highest dressage score of the first day of competition, proudly wearing his USPC Championships pin on his lapel. Thank you Doug for the inspiration! He was not the only one, I spotted several pins on top riders. I was just quick with my camera here, while working the ramp gate into the stadium!

 The workers had a few minutes each day to sit in the VIP stands, "courtside", to watch the amazing dressage rides. And, watch Hunters Run Pony Clubbers do the integral jobs- we had several collecting score sheets from the three dressage judges, one member who scribed for a dressage judge, and one who for most of both days opened and closed the main competition arena for each riding pair. They were fantastic, responsible and professional throughout. I am very proud of them all!

Middlest worked at the "bit-check" for a few shifts both days. The bit check is where a FEI Steward (Federation Equestre Internationale) and her crew (Middlest) check the horse after it has completed the dressage test to make sure the bit is legal, and their is no ear plugs in the horse. She is tucked behind the Rolex clock in this picture, in her Official ribbon and volunteer cap.

 The horses here are amazing. Athletic. Talented. Fearless. Powerful. In this photo is Buck Davidson (son of the legendary Bruce Davidson, 5 time winner of the Rolex) well on his way to becoming a second generation legend. He is on Ballynoe Castle- a personal favorite of mine, and as I was gushing about my admiration of the horse to the woman next to me in the VIP stands, I find out she is his personal veterinarian.I felt a bit sheepish, although I must have made her fill with pride. It was interesting to chat with a fellow DVM that is in such an interesting job.  Also in the photo are the Pony Clubbers running the scores...one of ours is on the left!

And just when I am star struck and moony-eyed, I see that though amazing, the horses are some times resistant none-the-less.

This is my Bit-Check Girl, the last day of competition, the last group of riders to go, waiting on Arthur and Allison Springer to ride past and begin their dressage ride. The ride that would put them on the top of the 82 entries with a top-notch score of 39.

I didn't get any pictures of Arthur in the ring, although I had my camera on and up. I just didn't notice anything but this pair. MAN, they were special, elegant in a way I hadn't seen yet, soft and relaxed, yet powerful and precise. I was in awe of the ride.

 When they finished the pair knew they had done something extraordinary.

 And Middlest was right there for it. I certainly hope this will be a lasting memory for her as it is for me!