300th post!!!!! A look back at my journey

It is hard to believe I have been doing this for 300 posts.  Three hundred!!  I have 29 followers and have semi-regular comments on most of my posts.  How awesome is that!  I figured in celebration of my 300^th post I would do a recap of my time in blog world.  This is very link heavy :)  Once upon a time, a lady moved to Michigan with her 2 horses and it all began….

In January 2011 I got a donkey to rehab because I wanted a companion for the horses and I felt sorry for her.  I gave her until August and if she wasn’t better I was going to let her go to be pain free. February 2011 I found a riding buddy in RB1 and also decided to give up on showing dressage shows with TWH and focus on eventing.  Stupid politics.  In April TWH and I went XC schooling for the first time and it was a success, in May TWH jumped 3’6” for the first time ever and figured out that refusing isn't an option.  It also made me realize just how hard 3'6" is for TWH.   Appy went XC in super wet conditions and TWH went to our first hunter/jumper show and we won ribbons!  In June TWH had our first ever real eventing show and placed 2^nd!!  He was going to become an eventer and it made me so happy.

We celebrated the donkey's 6 month anniversary and her successful rehab.  In July I met RB3 and in August TWH went to our second ever hunter/jumper show and won ribbons again.  September came around and App and I went to our last eventing show though I didn't know it at the time.  I wish we could go again, maybe at a lower level.  Someday.  

TWH went to his second eventing show and we got our first ever 3 and 4 in dressage (for pacing) but still placed in the ribbons because TWH is a rockstar in jumping.  In October I got my first blogger award and also determined what kind of bedding I really did NOT like.  In November I posted some videos of the App jumping and then I determined the bedding I really DID like.  And still love.

  

February 2012 I met RB4 and she has been an awesome friend ever since, she is my right hand gal at shows and I love it.  Come March my awesome vet alerts me to App’s declining vision and I started training a horse for RB3.  We also get chickens (of which, only 2 are left L) and our farm becomes a real farm now that there are chickens.  In April I pick up a new boarder/training horse and things start going badly, a precursor for the rest of the year.  I tear my calf muscle in May which causes App’s last eventing show  (though I didn't know it at the time) to be done with someone else but he still placed first cause he is awesome.

I get bronchitis and still help sell the horse I had in training for RB3 because breathing is just a minor detail.  In June I have my first fall in Michigan but I don't call it a REAL fall and I am done with the training horse after he re-tore ligaments in my knee which forces me to fire my first customer, which almost severs my friendship with RB4.  I enjoyed my last ride before I went in for surgery and had to wait until August to finally get back in the saddle.  In September I started teaching the donkey to drive which quickly progressed to teaching her to drag poles.  Cause I wanted my ass to pull my ass around in a cart!!

2013 started well with TWH working with COWS and he didn't freak out!  I finally had the dentist out for the first time since late 2010 (cause I am a bad horse mom) but there wasn't any serious problems because of the delay.  March gave me my second jumping session since surgery and in April I shared that I had to rehome the donkey (who is still doing very well!) which was/is sad but then I went to ROLEX and had a great time!!

In May TWH and I had our first show of the year and it was a success as was our second show in June.  TWh and I went to our first ever clinic in July and we also finished the HUGE project of fencing in our property as pasture.   September started off amazingly with a great show and TWH and I started to go Novice level.  That success was immediately tempered with the realization that TWH was hurt and that App was also lame.  2 broken horses in a 2 horse home is not a good balance.  We went to the equine hospital for ultrasounds and that realization was enough for me to realize TWH wouldn't make it through the higher levels.  They say everything happens for a reason, if TWH hadn't been hurt and App hadn't been going blind, I wouldn't have considered Mia.  

Thankfully come October things started going better.  I started Mia from the ground back up and in November started cantering.  December had the Blogger gift exchange hosted by Tracy and I got TWH’s most favorite treat in the mail, he really appreciated it!  

2014 though, 2014 was a whirlwind of activity.  As Mia jumped for the first time, I realized I may have a superstar on my hands and I finally had sound horses again.  In February I had my first bareback ride on Mia which was nerve wracking and finally got the courage to canter outside of an arena (big girl panties!).  It shouldn't have been that hard but I really think I was scarred from the 2nd training horse more than I realized.  Thankfully all better now.

Mia had her first ever cross country schooling and I sprained my finger (which still hasn’t recovered almost a year later) and then went to her first ever clinic where we met our current trainer M.  TWH’s season opener show was in the Novice division and we started rocking the season.  The second show in June went just as well and we were moving up in points.  

Mia’s first ever judged trail ride was in July and I learned she does NOT like bridges but her first real show was in August and she was awesome with a 2^nd place in both classes.  TWH dealt with my stupidity in dressage and again placed at the Novice level in spite of it and ended the season sound.  September had Mia’s eventing debut at the Beginner Novice level and October had results that were good for her experience level and we learned a LOT.  TWH got a new leaseee K and showed in the 18" division.

November had me ordering my first ever new vehicle and it is S-E-X-Y.  We also found out TWH and I won reserve champion in our division for year end awards.  YAY!!  I finally participated in No Stirrup November and was pleased with the results, going to have to keep doing that and not slack off.  SO and I ended 2014 huge and I went on the best vacation ever.  

2015 has been good so far.  I started taking lessons from an actual dressage instructor and am seeing really good changes and Mia and I actually jumped up to 3’9”.  How you ask?  Amazingly enough, if you refuse to look at the jump AT ALL, you can’t see  how big they are!  Who knew, right?  K is riding TWH several times a week and he is looking and acting great. 

Our plans for 2015 so far is to go to a clinic in April and our first show is the first and second weekend of May.  Thanks for joining me on this journey, it has been fun!  I hope that you decide to stick with me even though I don't post a lot of pictures and I don't post a whole lot.  Here is to the next 300 posts!!

Cold here? Yeah, it is cold.

Geez, when was I even able to ride last?  I know I rode on Monday.  I don't think I have been able to ride since.  I have had to cancel giving all of my lessons.  And this morning the tractor refused to even run so I could scoop poo.  Yep, it is cold.  -14 this morning.  Yesterday was a high of 3.  Yep.  3 degrees.  It isn't going to be even decent until at least Saturday.  It might possibly be kind of high enough to do SOMETHING tomorrow but most likely not.

So do I have anything of interest to post about?  Not really.  I rode Mia last week and actually had a good ride.  I rode with K (Sunday??) and Mia started out REALLY well but reverted back to being unable to function in the canter to the right.  Head high, unbalanced, refusing to bend, going super fast, etc.  I broke out the draw reins in an attempt to keep her a tiny bit together and despite a good fight, we did end on a good note.  On Monday I came out with a much better plan.  I KNOW that Mia can do this, she is just refusing for whatever reason.  So let me tip the tables in my favor and make her WANT to do what I want, I brought treats.  We had a really good warmup (our trot is coming along really well!) and then I worked on trot/canter transitions.  As soon as I was able to get her to be balanced I immediately stopped and shoved a treat in her mouth.  That took all of 3 times before she decided she could be balanced.  I repeated the process with her head and after 2 attempts she was cantering around balanced and with her head forward and down.  Yep, that's my mare.  Can't force her!

Since then I haven't been able to do anything.  With single digit or below zero temps at night and single digit highs on the weekends, I am sequestered to the house and the horses get to enjoy some cold time off.  Appy is super happy is his new(er) heavyweight Amigo blanket with hood.  Mia is snug in her Schneiders blanket and I even put TWH's blanket on.  I have bumped everyone's hay up to 15-18lbs per bag, 2x a day from 12-13lbs per bag, 2x a day and so far no one has wasted it.  Win!  Hopefully this Arctic blast decides to go back to the Arctic soon and I can ride my ponies.  Stay warm!

So then this happened, OMG BIG

I haven't had too much ability to ride this past week thanks to the cold, I had to cancel 2 lessons thanks to it not even being 10 degrees out.  Ick. This weekend, however, it went all the way up to 40 degress so some riding needed to be one  Yeah, I know, it isn't that warm to a lot but it is really warm to someone who has been living in single digits for a good long while.  This morning was busy with non-horse stuff but this afternoon K came over with some friends and rode App and TWH.  I made it into a mini lesson so her friends can see some of TWH's fancier movements and they seemed to think it was cool that he could change how he moved so much.  They asked if I would hop on the App to show some of the things Kara has said he can do, no one else can really make him do it and they wanted to see his training.

I hopped on Appy and had a good ride.   It is funny, back when I rode him exclusively there were so many days that we would argue over basic stuff and now on the few times i hop on, he collects right up and tries really hard to do all of the fancy stuff that he can do but doesn't have really have the muscle to do anymore.  They were very impressed with his shoulders in, haunches in, half pass, flying changes, halt/canter transitions and 5-10m canter pirouettes.  Appy certainly tried really hard to do some of the movements but I could tell that he doesn't have the muscle for a lot of it.  One day I will have my fit horse again, ONE DAY!!

K's friends then asked if I would ride Mia, they had heard about my riding (?? nothing that special!) and really wanted to see Mia.  They then asked if I would jump, I mean I haven't jumped since around November so why not haha!  Especiallly after they offered to be my jump crew!?!  Deal sealed.  They set up a simple grid exercise with 3 trot poles to a crossrail to a one stride oxer per my instructions and we warmed up and went throught it.  Mia was a bit excited through the poles the first few times and I had to slow her up a lot until she finally decided that she did not need to canter through the poles and we then progressed pretty quickly.  With our first jump a 2' vertical, we progressed quickly to a 3' ascending vertical for the second jump.  Mia knocked the jump down with her hind toes a couple of times before some leg was added and she started clearning the jump again.

Feeling brave, I had K bump the jump up to 3'3" in an effort to challenge Mia.  With no issues whatsoever, we kept going up.  3'3" was the highest we have ever jumped and we obliterated that today.  What did Mia and I end up doing?  Well, I kept telling myself it was only 3'3" until we were done and I hopped off.  What did Mia easily clear?  Without knocking poles over?  Without a single refusal, run out or hesitation?  3 foot.  9 inches.  O. M.  G.  I have never, ever jumped that high before.  It looked SO big but I refused to look at it and it SO didn't feel huge as Mia just soared over it.  I am so impressed with her!!!!!!  And I am so impressed with myself!!!!!  Not a single pants-peeing occured in our new record-breaking ride!!!

My hope is that within the next few days I will have some pics and/or video of the monumental ride.  K got pics and video but wasn't able to send them to me on the phone.  Hopefully she will be able to transfer them onto a disk and I can post some. I am so excited :)  Happy days!!!!

We gotz no two point

Riding has been at a minimum thanks to a combination of weather and schedule.  The nights it is over 10 degrees, it seems like I have to give a lesson or something else pressing comes up.  The weekends have been so ridiculously busy that they haven't had much riding either.  Stupid winter.

I rode Mia bareback around the pasture last weekend and was very impressed.  There was no crap fit and she plodded along like it was no biggie.  It probably helped that K was riding with TWH, I will need to try to go out alone to see how she acts.  Unfortunately Mia has become pretty damn herdbound over the winter.  I can take her out alone but she does not like being left alone at all anymore. I have been turning her out in the am by herself while the boys finish breakfast and she is no longer galloping in the pasture so I guess that is a start in the right direction, gotta keep at it though.

Everyone was ridden last night, RB4 came over and rode App while K rode TWH and I rode Mia.  It was nice having everyone out and getting a little exercise.  K is now learning dressage so both RB4 and I focused a lot of our ride on K and trying to undo some of the H/J training she has had.  Getting her to relax her hips so her body follows the horse, getting her to keep her back straight instead of hollowing her lower back, riding WITH consistent contact, pointing her toes foward/in instead of out, etc.  It is certainly a learning process for her but she is getting it.

Mia was pretty good as well, the only real issues were her counterflexing to the left overall and being super stiff and fast to the right in the canter.  She was so strung out in the canter that I dropped my stirrups and rode in more of a dressage seat and then did canter figure 8's and that really settled her back down so that we could end on a good note.  Each attempt to get her to bend, relax and carry herself was short circuiting her brain so I am glad that the figure 8's help her so much.

For myself?  Geez I have no two point anymore.  Two Pointober was the last time I did two point and man does it show!  I started with a lot of stretching in my calf and could pretty easily hold two point in the walk but the trot was rusty.  I could hold position but I would teeter-totter in balance, smack my crotch in the pommel of the saddle, slip my lower leg back, not to mention I couldn't hold it for more than a few laps at a time.  Loser I am!   On the plus side, I am not sore today which I actually expected to be so that is a plus.

In a disappointing bit of news, my new instructor M's daughter B is in town this week and can give lessons Weds through Sat before she goes back to Ocala.  The bad part?  I can't go!  I am volunteering with a (car) race with SO and we are leaving on Wednesday and won't be back until Sunday night, the same time frame B will be here giving lessons.  Grrr!  I asked if she would let me know when they come back up to MI for lessons as I want to take one, talk about bad timing.  I guess if I can't do even 2 mins of two point it is probably best that I don't take a jumping lesson, but still.  Frustrating.  

Vacation! (Long post)

Well yes, I did go on vacation.  I don't normally share much about the non-horse aspects of life but I had a really great vacation and want to share.  Minus, of course, the ebodeathswineflu that had me coughing for a solid 1.5 weeks before I can finally now call myself healthy again.  Sheesh.  And the chaos that happened when we came home.  Cause things aren't easy.  So here is the quick vacation recap!

On Thursday, Christmas day because we always end up at the cinema since neither of us has real family here, we flew down to Vegas.  Want  to avoid crowds and heavy lines at security?  Fly out at noon on Christmas day.  Easy peasy!!!  It too us MAYBE 5 mins to get through security??  The flight was long but had free "wifi" which allowed us to watch pre-selected TV episodes which entertained us on the way down and back.  Plus the old coughing guy who gave me the eboldeathswineflu who sat next to me for over 4 hours.

We got in around 5p local time but we were on Eastern time and were super tired and hungry.  Almost no restaurants were open so we ate at the Rio hotel, where we stayed, and paid close to $20 for a super crappy hamburger.  Each.  Never again.

Friday morning we awoke bright and early and made the over 4 hour trip to the Grand Canyon.  It was really pretty.  We had several hundred dollars in miscellaneous gift card/prepaid debit cards so we splurged big time and went on a 4 hour guided sunset canyon tour.  Did we go anywhere anyone else can't go?  No.  It was all pavement and pubic access areas of the park however we got a lot of background information and our guide knew exactly where to place us to get the best pictures at these access areas.  And he did not let us dilly dally!

He took as many pictures of everyone as we asked for, talked about the spots we stopped at, talked about the canyon and then got us back in the Jeep to move us to a new spot because he wanted us to see as much as possible.  We spent maybe 10 minutes at each stop except for the last 2.  The next to last stop was the Watchtower which was really cool.  You can go all the way up (very steep, narrow stairs) and there are fantastic views.  The higher you go, the less people there are and it made for a really awesome experience.  We finished at Moran Point for the sunset which was truly spectacular.  Then there was the 4 hour drive back to Vegas :)

One of the cool things about Vegas is the hotels on the strip.  They are just awesome.  As someone that doesn't gamble (lost all $21 we brought lol), I LOVED seeing the casinos.  On Saturday we got up early and walked up and down the entire strip (except for the Luxor/Mandalay Bay).  From Bally's to Circus Circus to Luxor and back.  That is 5 mile walk people!  What did I see, I saw as much as I could!  I saw the gondola rides at the Venetian, I tried to go on them but there was apparently a very long wait of at least a couple of hours and I didn't have that kind of time.

It was cool to look at anyway.  We saw a circus act at Circus Circus.  We saw the Showgirls statue at the Riviera.  The butts are VERY polished with all of the handling while the rest of the statue is pretty unpolished haha!

We saw the ship at Treasure Island.  We saw the Eiffel Tower at Paris.

No idea why Blogger won't stop putting this pic on it's side :(

We saw the Statue of Liberty at New York, New York.

Or this one.  Very annoying b/c they are actually vertical

We saw the Bellagio.

But they didn't have their fountains on :(

To finish the night, we went and saw the Penn and Teller show at the Rio.  Really cool show.  Really, really cool show.  Absolutely no idea how the tricks are done, it is mindblowing.  I know they have a full team to pull everything off but it is amazing.  Penn is as vocal about rights and doing the right thing as he sounds like in interviews.  We had a private meet and greet afterwards which was awesome!!  They even practiced a card trick on/for us that they were doing on the Late Late Show on CBS on 1/9.  I watched the trick in front of me.  I watched the trick on tv.  NO IDEA, MIND BLOWN.  Teller is really fun to chat with (yes, he does talk) and Penn is very engaging.

Sunday we went to California and visited Death Valley.  Really cool place.

The white stuff is actually salt, all of the ground is extremely hard
and crunchy from all of the salt!

We visited Badwater Basin which is 287 below seat level and then Dante's Peak which almost 5500 feet above sea leavel.

It was during this time that I suspected I was sick and started chugging Robitussin. :(   Monday I was awoken to being having my butt kicked by being sick but I absolutely refused to stop.  SO tried to get me to go to urgent care (I really should have went) but I refused.  We finished up the strip tour and saw the Luxor pyramid (COOL!)

We visited the shark reef at Mandalay Bay.

Touching the rays and horseshoe crabs

Another on it's side :(  SHARK!

We tried to see the flamingos at the Flamingo but they weren't on exhibit.  We also tried to see the worlds largest golden nugget at Golden Nugget but we couldn't find free parking and it was a mess with construction so we gave  up and saw a little of Fremont Street.  We took a ride on the High Roller, the world's tallest observation wheel.  You stand in a pod and you can't really even feel it move as it stops/starts and rotates.

550 feet in the air!

Awesome views in the High Roller.  Definitely go during
the day though to avoid crowds, it is also cheaper.

We didn't get to do everything I wanted but that was my fault, I was running at about 40% and was not doing well.  We drove well off of the strip and toured 2 local casinos and ate at one of them.  The atmosphere was TOTALLY different.  Totally different kind of people, totally different kind of atmosphere, total lack of crowds.  It was actually really cool.

Tuesday we came back to problem after problem.  While we were gone, the woodstove started belching smoke and the stovepipe was smoking.  Turns out there was some sort of something that had collected on the cage of the chimney cap blocking air from flowing through.  That took 2.5 hours to fix.  The horses had drug our snow blade from the corner of the arena into the front third of the arena.  Somehow.  It is over 300 pounds and there wasn't a single scratch on anyone and the blade wasn't tipped over.  The horses had broken a tie ring that I use to tie hay nets.  Somehow.  There were no broken nets, no broken clips, no stretched halters, no idea how it was broken.   The horses had decided to drink almost 100 gallons in 3 days despite going through that much in 6 days the rest of the year so the house sitter and to wrestle with filling the tank when there is no spigot close to the tank.  The chickens got out.  Twice.  What a mess.  It took all of Wednesday to get things back and order and back to fairly normal.

We had such a nice vacation though, except being sick, and really hope that we can do it again sometime.  Vacations rock!  There isn't anything we wouldn't do again and things we would definitely do again if we went back.  Stay at a local casino instead of a strip casino.  The old casinos have the amazing food deals you hear about, NOT the new casinos $$$$, anything on the strip is pricey except Denny's.  Definitely plan on spending 2-3 days for the Grand Canyon and Death Valley, each.  It is worth it to go to a show, do NOT buy tickets before you go unless it may be sold out.  You can very easily get tickets at half off or more anywhere, including at the box office.  Be ready to just blow people off, people will walk up to you with a sales pitch every few feet, stop worrying about being polite.  We were going to go to another show Monday night but I just couldn't make myself go.  A lot of the touristy things are quite pricey, our hotel included a free ticket on the High Roller with a coupon for a 2nd ticket so it ended up being $10 a person.  Definitely not worth the $25 a person (during the day!) they actually charge.  I would definitely go back.  Has anyone been to Vegas?  Thoughts?

New Year, New Goals, New Updates

What a vacation.  SO and I went to Vegas for Christmas and had a wonderful time.  We went to the Grand Canyon, Death Valley and had a private meet and greet with Penn and Teller.  I caught some ebolswinedeath flucough thanks to some guy on the way down to Vegas and spent the last 2 days in Vegas in misery but refused to slow down or go to a doc because, come on, VEGAS!  I don't have time to be sick in Vegas!  It has been over a week and a half since this nagging, painful cough showed up and it is JUST NOW going away.  I finally stopped chugging Robatussin on Sunday and I can breathe now at least.

When I got back from vacation last Tuesday, I had a lesson scheduled for Friday.  It was to be the last one before M went to  Ocala for the winter (Jealous!!!!!!) so my lessons are to be put on hold for a few months.  I rested on Wednesday because, come on, my body gave me no other option.  I finally rode Thursday night and just could not do it.  Anytime I picked up a trot, and even at a walk, and took in a semi-deep breath I would double over coughing terribly. It was horrible and I cut our ride down to about 15 mins at mostly a walk.  I called M and told her the news and offered to have her give Mia a training ride instead of my lesson.  She was actually happy to cancel because things were getting crazy in her preparation to go to Ocala and not giving a lesson would free up her time considerably.  As such, I had no last lesson :(

Saturday I rode around the block with K and it confirmed that I made the right choice in cancelling the lesson.  By Sunday I could take normal breaths without coughing my lungs up.  Progress!  I rode last night and it was the last ride until at least Sunday as my basic requirement for riding isn't being met.  That requirement?  It needs to be at least 10 degrees outside.  The HIGH for the next 2 days?  A whopping 9 degrees.  Then 14 degrees.  Yeah, basic requirements are not being met.  Sunday is looking promising though, it should get all the way up to 21!  *le sigh* winter problems.  The horses are all snug in blankets and are parked in front of hay nets in the arena, they seem warm enough anyway.

Riding Mia is becoming more and more interesting since I started these lessons.  I am working really hard at taking the information I learned from my three lessons and applying them to my riding instead of falling back into old habits.  Things I have learned?
1.  Stop blocking with my right hand.
2.  Stop staying behind the motion in the trot
3.  Stretch myself down and also up as we prep and then go through a turn
4.  Stop pulling/riding backwards
5.  Allow Mia to stretch down and forward in all gaits as long as she stays consistent and soft
6.  Stop blocking with my right (everything)
7.  Stop pulling with my right hand
8.  Longer stirrups are a must
9.  Work on the trot and eventually the canter will come
10. Stop blocking with my right (everything)!!!
My right everything is too blocked.  Apparently I pull backwards with my right hand, block with my right arm, am too stiff in my right hip/leg and even look too much to the right.  Damn being a strong right kind of person.  My last 2 rides have been really good though, despite face hurting cold, in that Mia is starting to almost immediately stretch forward and down into the contact.  When, of course, I don't grab her and pull backwards.  Her walk has already improved, typically she has to warm up before she relaxes her walk and now she has a nice swinging walk almost immediately.  Yay!  At this rate, I would expect her to start giving it to me right away if I keep this up because apparently it was me and not her.  Go figure lol

We have plenty of homework to work on while M enjoys the weather of FL, she is supposed to come back up in a month or so to give a couple of lessons so she said she would let me know and I could trailer to her place.  So that is good.  Hopefully she will see changes by the next visit.

My goals for this year?  Fix my problems with my right side so I can ride better.  Get Mia finally consistent in the bridle once and for all.  Get Mia over lots of stadium jumps, preferably over some small courses either at home, away or both.  Get Mia ready to go *gasp* Novice level, I don't think she needs to stay at Beginner Novice this year since she drags me to the XC jumps and it is the stadium jumps she has issues with.  I am going to refer to M (or her daughter B who is also a very accomplished eventer) but she seemed to agree when I talked to her about it. I want K to successfully show TWH in the starter level and I will give her lessons to help get her there.  Ideally, I want App to get back into full time work which shouldn't be too hard since I now have a full time rider for TWH.  Will I achieve my goals?  I think so, I hope so.  Here is to 2015, let's make it better than 2013 lol!  Maybe even better than 2014!!

Getting our dressage on - a partial update

The last time I took a real dressage lesson, from a real dressage instructor, was back around August. August of 2010.  The two instructors since have not been true dressage instructors and while they were okay, they weren't super great.  Neither was hard on my equitation and I didn't feel more dressage-ey at the end of the lesson. at the pushing of RB4, I set up a lesson with the dressage instructor from our spring clinic.

Last Saturday was our first lesson and wow it was a good one. We started the lesson as expected, with some background. The instructor, M, said that she remembered us after she saw Mia and again said how much she liked my mare.  Mia was nicely put together and moves very well.  M immediately had me lower my stirrups which made her happier and though didn't necessarily feel better, I am paying for her opinion so I sure in hell am going to try it out! She really liked my basic position.  My leg was nice, my hands were nice, my back was nice and straight.  But then she started to nit pick.  I need to close my hip angle, apparently I am slightly behind her motion right now which is fine for a more upper level horse but not for my green bean.  I FEEL like I am leaning way forward but she says I look perfect so I am working on it.  She also had me stop looking where I am going and, if anything, counter bed a little because I am turned too much to the inside.

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Okay, so that was the write up I started 2 weeks ago and still haven't had time to finish.  Still.  So that is it for now, I have a lesson tomorrow again and I SHOULD have time to make a post about it because I am actually off of work until January starting tomorrow.  YAY!!!  Sorry for being such a bad blogger, I guess some update is better than none?  I have been practicing my new positions and they are coming along very well, hopefully M will see continued progress and I will be awesome come spring.