The Magic of Christmas - Crib Notes

The holidays have arrived in a cloud of garland and pine needles, and it’s been operation Ho, Ho, Ho here at our house. Yes, we’ve had to keep a firm handle on our sense of humor this year.

First we discovered that our kittens can’t read the Advent calendar at all. They have each insisted on opening presents, much to the horror of the diligent wrapper who discovered the crime scene under the tree – three separate times.

The kittens also jump on the counter to try to attack the Christmas cookies, thwarted only by the screams of the holiday bakers who had foolishly stepped away for some eggnog.

The aforementioned kittens have now discovered the value of fresh air and sunshine during cookie cooling hours. And we’ve resorted to hiding the presents. All of them. There have even been a few frightening moments involving the kittens, the Christmas tree, and strands of garland.

Next we discovered that some sort of huge power surge must have killed off our rather expansive light collection last year. When we unpacked our 20 boxes of holiday decorations, dozens of strings had every single light on the string filled with smoky looking bulbs. Given our poor luck with inflatables (you may remember that our snowman and penguin ended up in Kerr County in years past), we are a little wanting in the outdoor decoration department.

Then there was the mantle. This summer we took a rather substantial fallen tree from a friend’s house and fashioned it into a massive mantle for our fireplace. A mantle so massive, our stocking hangers are completely useless. Our stockings remain in a pile, waiting for the hooks (which are on the ever growing holiday honey do list).

Still, we are coasting into the final stretch. Most of the cookies have survived the kitten commandoes. The tree is still vertical and only a few ornaments have been mortally wounded in feline attacks. We managed to toss up a few more lights outside and we found one stocking holder that is working out on the massive mantle.

On Christmas morning we will sit among the unwrapped presents, down the surviving cookies, and play holiday carols all day long. And we’ll probably forget we had to re-wrap presents three times and hide them in the recycle bin and secure our tree to the windowsill. And I bet we won’t even notice that some of our icicle lights are out.

That’s part of the magic of Christmas

Not a Silent Night

Carols on the Square...

Resolutions

Happy New Year!!

Boy, am I glad 2009 is DONE. My daughter tumbled off a horse because of my stupidity and became completely terrified of horses, sold a bucking horse, bought a new horse, couldn't load my horses, got them to load, found a melting point for my new horse, was as discouraged as I ever could be about owning horses, had my horse "talk" to me in a way that felt miraculous and my daughter got back on a horse.

Whew. Can you have emotional whiplash?

Time to move on.

It's that time - RESOLUTIONS!

I don't like to think of them as resolutions. So often they are just dreams, or goals, or targets on the horizon.

Resolution sounds like failure before I even begin, frankly.

So here are the 2009 Targets I've got:

Attend 2 significant (multi-day) clinics. One locally, one in NM (Right, Carmon?)

Work with my horse 3 x a week, even if I can't ride.

Remember that horses are a bit of an emotional roller coaster. Accept that and don't take it personally.

Be present. Be where I am. Listen when someone is talking, stop over valuing multi tasking when it comes to family and friends.

Write. A lot.



And on the giving up list: No more casual TV (only movies with the kids), no more candy bars (I made it candy bar free in 2008 but have totally lost it in 2009), Fast food limited to 1 x a week.


Things I want to do, but never manage: Get organized. Print my pictures. clear off my desk at the start and end of the day. Clear off everything on the kitchen counters.



Hmmm. Maybe I better hang on to those candy bars...

Wishing everyone a goal achieving, target hitting, resolution keeping 2010...

Watching for Santa, thanks to NORAD

Here's our favorite place to watch for Santa. Just in case you need to keep an eye out thanks to NORAD. Here's a video from earlier on SC's journey






And one of our favorite Christmas jokes...


Santa Claus, like all pilots, gets regular visits from
the Federal Aviation Administration, and it was
shortly before Christmas when the FAA examiner
arrived.

In preparation, Santa had the elves wash the sled
and bathe all the reindeer. Santa got out his
logbook and made sure all his paperwork was in
order.

The examiner walked slowly around the sled. He
checked the reindeer harnesses, the landing gear,
and Rudolph's nose. He painstakingly reviewed
Santa's weight and balance calculations for the
sled's enormous payload.

Finally, they were ready for the checkride. Santa
got in and fastened his seatbelt and shoulder
harness, and checked the compass. Then the
examiner hopped in carrying, to Santa's surprise,
a shotgun..

"What's that for?" asked Santa incredulously.

The examiner winked and said, "I'm not supposed
to tell you this, but you're gonna lose an engine
on takeoff."

Almost...

We went into the holidays with a bit of extra fun. A sleep over.

And a trip to see some amazing little minis

Clearly a clothes pony.

Then running around the Capitol grounds.

and a few pictures for fun

More running...

Goofy faces.

goofy in front of the Texas Capitol Christmas tree
(I have to say, this year the capitol really skimped on
the decorations. what a shame)

Some regular smiles too..

Today it's back to the thirties. I hope Santa has his thermals on!

Twas two days before Christmas

This is running in my column today and I wanted to share...


‘Twas two days before Christmas and all through the house,

Panic was ensuing, even down to the mouse.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

With so much do, it hardly seemed fair!

The children were staying up late to be ready

Wishing for Christmas eve to get here already.

And I in my warm robe and Daddy in his

Lay stressed in our bed thinking of that and of this.

When out on the deck there arose such a clatter,

We both thought “Darn Cats,” but still checked on the matter.

And what to our sleep deprived eyes should appear?

But 20 hill country elves, loaded with gear!

Tinsel and tape, ribbons and bows,

Hot cocoa, and cider, and tacos to go.

“We’re here to lighten your load just a bit

before the big guy gets here, you know, St. Nick?”

Stunned, we let them in and they set right to work,

Adding décor to the gifts, bringing merriment and mirth.

They fixed the broken string of lights on the tree,

They multiplied our chocolate chip cookie count by three.

One found a dust pan, another a broom,

And they set about straightening every room.

Soon we were helping and laughing and found,

The spirit of the season had us dancing around.

We joked about the silly things that happened this year,

And the sad things, well, about those we shed a small tear.

We toasted the last of the marshmallows and then,

The hill country elves packed up their tools once again.

They left behind a sparkle with every footstep,

Away in the darkness of night did they schlep.

And then, out of nowhere the alarm rang loud!

We woke with a start, wondering aloud...

Was it just a dream? Was there still so much to do?

We came down the stairs, and yes, the place was a zoo.

And yet the room seemed brighter as we gazed about,

And we laughed, realizing without a doubt,

The Spirit of the season had filled our home with good cheer.

Thanks little elves.

We’ll take it from here.

Merry Christmas from ours to yours!

Some horses are just meant to wear hats

I wondered when you'd get to me.

Never have a gelding do a mare's job.
Now hand over the cookies and no
elves will be injured.

The danger of stocking hats

Oh no.
You've been reading those other blogs again, haven't you...

I can't believe this. I knew I should have hid behind the roan.

I heard you, Amigo! Get over here and
I'll show you how to wear a hat!

Can we be done? Please?

Was that so bad?

Humiliating.

There are cookies, right?

Absolutely. There are always cookies.

(The parade starts at 7msn...)

A Parade and a Miracle

It was not the best day for a parade. Not the worst, but not the best. Cold, with a misting rain.

Of course given the conditions in other areas I feel silly whining about 50 degrees.

Here at the lake there are three little towns surrounding the lake. Sattler, Startzville and Canyon Lake. Fourth of July parade is in Startzville, Christmas is in Sattler.

In the last two years a 'lake only' high school opened up and now we have a marching band and drill team for our parade. Almost as cool as when we got a second traffic light in Startzville.

But I've always loved seeing the horses in the parade the most. And this time I was part of the crew. No riding, though. I was riding in the back of our truck as poop patrol.

I wasn't riding Lily because we had two elves in the back of the truck and someone had to make sure they didn't fall. Sierra, in the meantime, was on the Girl Scout float (which was quite a production in itself).

So, shovel in hand, we prepared for the parade.

If you've ever been in a parade you know there's a lot of waiting around. And in the foggy morning behind the school, with horses covered in tinsel and bows, I was given a tiny little miracle.


Here's the whole crew:

Davy and Kelly on Amigo and Chico.
You could set a firework off under
Chico and that horse would
not spook.

Our Barn Owner and Endurance rider
Donna on her lesson mare, Treasure.

Anisha on Diego.
Diego is a great horse
even if he hates getting
in a trailer.

Lucinda on Cody,
another old reliable gelding.
And my miracle horse.

Nancy on Shiloh.
Shiloh is a 26 year old
gelding. We worry about him,
he is so hard to keep weight on.

Then, suddenly our elves decided to venture out
and see the horses. Mireya hasn't wanted to
be anywhere near a horse since her fall from
Canyon. She hasn't been willing to even
pet a horse since that day. The two
times I took her to the stables she
stayed in the car.



I've been despondent about it. There
didn't seem to be anyway to get her
through this, even though her own
drawings sometimes show her
riding a horse.

Specifically Canyon.

But she was with her best friend.
Sometimes we are brave with our
friends, certainly braver than with
our mom.

Then there they were, petting Treasure on the shoulder.

Then they went over to meet Cody. Cody
is DEAD broke. An incredible old
gelding.

And apparently, a miracle worker.

Because after petting Cody, Lucinda offered
to let Mireya's friend sit in the saddle.

Then...

Mireya got ON Cody.

She got on a horse.

And I have hope.

Horses don't have to be her thing.
But I don't want her scared of them.

Maybe we're going to get there...

When you are IN the parade, your view is
a little different.

It was wonderful to shout Merry Christmas to all our
friends and neighbors who turned out in the
lousy weather, to wave to the kids, see Santa
and cheer for the pooper scoopers...

We offered everyone free fertilizer, but
no one took us up on it. Odd.


The fog had only partly risen from the hills...

Our parade was done. And the streets of
Sattler remained clean.

:)

Note: Mireya posted about her accomplishment on her blog. :)

Christmas time confidence, cookies and BFFs

I made it out to the barn today. I was dressed for yesterday's weather, and was soon stripping off layers like a bad vaudeville show.

As a result a day I thought I'd just come out and groom my horse turned into a day to ride.

Cibolo and I headed out to the round pen to see where we were. We were okay and I decided on a quick trail ride. Remembering the new five minute rule, I spent that amount of time getting exact maneuvers with the lightest possible ask. Nothing was perfect, but we got consistent at the end.

To be honest, I'm not sure what soft is, but I did get to the point where I could turn Cibolo with a light leg and rein and stop with my seat only. We headed out to the trail. There was one point where Cibolo was uncomfortable going forward through a narrow section of trees. Normally I'd just push him through, but I decided to try something different. He was trying to turn to the left instead of going forward, I turned him right and up the hill.

I know that motion solves a lot of things within horses. Standing still can be very anxiety provoking, and I've found that moving - albiet in a direction of my choosing - lifts some of the anxiety. Then we come back to the scary area, approaching from a different direction.

He was still worried, but much more willing.

And I felt more confident. Frankly I think it's the Christmas spirit. I'm a major Christmas geek. I LOVE the holidays, even as crazy as it gets. Don't care. Love the busyness, the jillion things to do, cooking all day to christmas carols.

It makes me feel like all things are possible.

We ended very quickly (I guess we only rode for 20 minutes), but it was all good, very positive.


I put Cibolo in with his BFF, Amigo. Given how much grief horses can give each other, I'm always interested in seeing how well they get along with their BFF.

Here's Amigo, getting that last bit of grain that's always in the back.






They can eat from the same pan, nibble hay next to each other. The barn has limited stalls, so in the cold weather they are actually in there together (it's a pole run and open to the little alley way).


Lily, on the other hand, has what I call the greeting stall. It's the one I park in front of so I see her right away. She was definitely wondering if there were any cookies left.





Yep. They were handed out with those gloves. She checked them over diligently, but it was two per customer today.




And here is my biggest problem.

I'm terrible with boots. I don't keep them oiled, don't shine 'em, and now, they are cracking.

So I guess I need a different kind of boot, one that puts up with bad treatment without coming apart at the ... well, there are no seams there. Either that, or I need duct tape.

Maybe for Christmas I'll get a pair of fancy boots that I will shine up regularly. But in the meantime, any suggestions for something a little tougher?

Cold, warm and wonderful

It was ridiculously cold today.

Ridiculously cold for this part of Texas. Because we don't do 21 degrees. Period.

And it was, of course, my day to feed at the barn. Because this is precisely how my life is going. I feed one day a week. So of course it's going to be colder than a well digger's ... you know.

Here's Cibolo demonstrating how cold it is by standing outside, surrounded by frost.





Apparently he... ahem... enjoys cold weather. I thought those things shrunk in the cold.


Personally, we don't really have the clothes for this kind of weather. After all, this doesn't happen but for a few days in January. Maybe. Most years it's too warm for us to even light a fire in the fireplace.

So I was freezing. All my warm socks and gloves have long since disappeared (I lived in Chicago for two years and did eventually learn to dress for the cold - but that was about 20 years ago). I decided the mucking of the stalls could wait since I was losing feeling in my extremities.

Only a few of our horses were blanketed at the barn, most were being kept in, out of the weather. This is big Cloud, he's a sweet MFT.




After I finished feeding, I was stunned to find all the water troughs frozen over. After breaking through the ice on all of them, I hightailed it for the warmth of my car. Needless to say, I didn't ride. I haven't for a week! Darn work.


Onto the warm stuff...

We had our annual tree decorating party. We always invite a few people over to put the ornaments on the tree. Everyone gets in the spirit.




Roxie was shocked at the size of the tree this year.




I got a new camera. I'm not so good with it yet.




But the tree, that was easy...




Next week - Shopping!

I missed it!

I can't believe I missed these antlers! Boy is this on my list for next year (poor Canyon).