Back in the saddle again...

I pretty much played "hookie" all weekend long. My cousin Kelly and her daughter Stephanie were here from Alabama for the weekend, so I spent as much time with them as I could. We have not had a good "sit down" chat in probably 10 years. It was so fun. We just hung out on Saturday after I had finished work. They invited Jessa and I to go horseback riding on Sunday after church.

Practical Deanna thought I should say "no" and stay home and work.
But then I remembered how quickly things can change. I mean we had spent 10 years between good visits, how long would it be this time? I asked Will if I could play hookie and he said "go"....so we went.



My cousin Kathy had a little boy on Thursday and they named him Rhonan Lloyd. Her sister Kris and her mother Marjorie (who plays the piano at church) went down to take care of her other two kids this week. That left me trying to fill in at the piano (I pale in comparison, but make up for it in effort). After church Jessa and I ran home, changed clothes and then jumped in the car for our adventure.

We went down to a stables about 35 miles away. Got saddled up and ride em' cowboy we were off. I have missed riding so much, but didn't realize how much until I sat down in that saddle again. It felt kind of like coming home. Of course I was riding this huge horse and it felt kind of like riding a coffee table. Around here the grass is pretty lush so every one of them had a grass belly. Sure is nice to see healthy horses.

The horse I was riding on was named Lady but should have been Lazy. She kept falling asleep while we were walking and when the horse in front of me would stop she would still be walking and walk her face right into that horses back end. Of course I didn't stop her, I wanted to see if she would actually do it again. Yep, she did. You guessed it "she was a blonde". We laughed quite a bit over that one.

Jessalyn was having a great time. Her horses name was named Lefty and she said that he was backwards because he always wanted to head off to the right. This was her first time actually riding where she was in control and not just being led around a ring. Boy was she grinning.

Jacob didn't want to come. They didn't have an "engine". He stayed at home with his games and called his friends.

The interesting part is that when we got home, I felt "good". My neck for the first time in forever was actually not having problems, even after falling off the ladder. I have this permanent disk sticking out because of the deer accident. I had Will feel it and it was not sticking out. It felt wonderful. Not only that, but I was never sore anywhere else after an hour long ride.
Now I know how to fix my neck. It's cheaper than the chiropractor and more fun. Wonder if Will is going to agree?

The girls are moving out of the apartment. They found a trailer to live in that was in their price range and will let them try their wings out on their own. Now we are going to trim out the apartment and complete the kitchen etc. Then use it. I can move some stuff in there and turn one of the two bedrooms into a craft/sewing room for Jessa and I. The other will remain a bedroom. So all in all, Will and I now have 5 bedrooms, 4 family rooms, 2 kitchens and soon to be 3 bathrooms. Are we crazy? Probably.

I've been trying to make up for my weekend of hooky. Not working so far. I spent all day Monday working, doing our monthly singing gigs at the nursing homes and picked up kids from school before coming home to endless phone calls and paperwork about school. Tuesday pretty much the same and yesterday was endless running and meetings. Not feeling too productive, but I'll keep trying. Today's another day.

Jessalyn made it into Show Choir. It's a big deal up here, so not only does she have band now to learn the flute, she also is in 2 choirs. You know what that means......ENDLESS RUNNING for Mom. Not only do I have to deal with her running, add in 3 other little girls that I have to pick up and get to band and then home. Their parents work, so I'm the only option on that one. Then in July/August it's summer school for both kids. Jessa has show choir and Jake has extra work to catch up on. Boy howdy... what a mess.

NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS! Jacob got an 86 for the quarter in English. He HATES English. This is the first time since 4th grade that he passed his English. Boy are we proud of him. He has always hated it. He understands all that they do and if you ask him the questions out loud he can answer them off the top of his head, but the writing down his answers really causes disaster due to his learning thing. He has a screw that is connected different. Not wrong because he can multi task anytime, but different because he has to multi task in order to do well on his work when writing it down. His teacher now understands him and his situation. She's wonderful. She has him listen to music while doing his work at a computer and that helps him to focus. It's so wonderful to see him show progress. I think things are looking up on that front. Praise the Lord!!

Last day of school today (for now).
Hope you all have a great day!
dea