Merry Holidays~

Our gingerbread train! Sweet eh?

From me, while I am back at work! Boo! But don’t feel too bad for me, I certainly enjoyed a big chunk of time off. I got to sleep in!! (yes!), go running! (and hurt my knee again!), lots of riding lessons- good and bad, and eat a ton of good food, drink some great wine, cider and tequila, and spend time with family.

Merry Christmas from the critters! 

I am a bit sad that Xmas – and let’s face it, my time off- is over, but I did make the most of my time off and got in a lot of fun activities, so I can’t get too bummed now, can I? I think Oats prefers when I am at work, because then he gets days off too! Hahah.

Gidget looking polite, even though she had a meltdown too. 

My jump lessons were both ok and not great- like, not terrible, he was still a good boy, but I felt a little jumbled and all over the place. My first lesson in my time off was NOT great- it was a dramatic windstorm complete with pouring rain. Honestly it felt like a tornado! Oats lost his ever-loving mind. He was bolting, trembling and freaking the eff out. Strange for him…. The vibes were clearly not to his favour. I 100% was sure I didn’t want to have a lesson, get on my horse who is having a panic attack and jump, but by the end of my lesson guess what I was doing? Jumping a small course of smaller fences! Hah! Never say never I guess? We still couldn’t get near the side of the arena that he was afraid of though…

My sister in law got this for me- isn’t it adorable?

And for my dressage lesson the next day, he was perfect! Go figure eh?

Christmas was good, lots of family time (which is good and bad…), and we did some family activities, and made a gingerbread train too! Both Gidget and my husband had meltdowns though, ahhh. I managed to really rack up my knee running, how I did it is anyone’s guess but I had this really sharp and intense pain under my knee cap. I managed to limp home, and now over a week later I have trouble going down the stairs. FML. AGAIN!

My friend from Ottawa sent this to me- it’s a chocolate postcard! So cool eh??

I had another jump lesson on Boxing Day, and it was ok- but I couldn’t like, get my knee to stop pinching….And our straightness was an issue too, unfortunately. I had a dressage lesson the next day and it was definitely not quite as lovely as our lesson the week previous. Why is it that when I have a FABULOUS lesson, the one immediately after it, the one were I am actually expecting to be great, sucks?? Riddle me this!

We played a game with balloons- these were the balloons I bought. Funny eh?

Oh well! I did my trot fence practice yesterday too, and while the arena was bizarrely busy (5 horses on a Sunday? WTF??) It went really well! Good Oaty! Bareback ride tonight, he gets tomorrow off because I have NYE plans, and then lesson on Thursday again like normal. I guess returning to the routine has it’s benefits.

My secret Santa NAILED IT! This weighed about 10lbs, and was so good I almost died eating it! 

Some of the amazing gifts I received this year! 

 

Cross you off my list

After completing an arduous three-day week coming back from my holiday (exaggeration obviously), I actually wasn’t feeling well at all. I felt tired, weak, run-down and kind of unwell. This manifested in a Friday of feeling terrible, and a nap (the horrors!!) on Saturday. A nap instead of a run? Wha? In what world do I need to do this? Clearly, I did though.

Tucker is not so sure about what happened this weekend…Crazy windstorm! 

Gidget loved it, she loves naps so much. We got a Christmas tree on Saturday morning before I left for the barn, and they only had 4-5 left, kind of all scrawny rejects, haha. Ours is short, but not scrawny. So, like half a tree? Weird they didn’t have any. I guess there was a Christmas tree shortage this year?

We left the tree to put it up officially on Sunday, and I took it easy with a nap and some baking in preparation for our riding stable’s annual Christmas holiday party. We had a lovely time! I ate wayyy too much good food and we did a gift exchange and I loved my gifts from my secret santa, they were fantastic! (Reese’s clusters, yummm, a new mystery novel that I had actually gotten from the library to read myself but hadn’t yet, and a very cute fox mug ‘For Fox Sake!’).

Oats got Friday off, and then was ridden by moi both Sat/Sun. And he was such a good boy! I feel so glad when I ride him, he’s my favourite. We worked on some flatwork/lateral work on Saturday, and Sunday I decided to do some strength work for me- two point intervals. Good, except that my foot kept slipping wildly out of my stirrup- something was wrong with the grip pad on it. Ugh. I checked the pad after and it looks like it has worn away and is now totally slick? Frick!! It’s actually kind of hazardous now, outright slippery and my foot slips straight out if I try to get leverage on my heels. Shit!

Oh well, Oats was a saint! The weather, not so much. It poured on and off allll day. I packed my run clothes though and out I went! It…kind of sucked. I got soaked. Oh well!

Home time, and we put up our tree and decorated it that evening 🙂

Guilt and horses

Coming into the holiday season, I’m often confronted by lots of charities, organizations and others looking for donations. I’m using the term ‘confronted’ because honestly, it feels like a real barrage sometimes and because it is the holiday season, it’s all coming in one huge rush. Last weekend when I was grocery shopping (a task that I approach grimly on the best of days) I was approached by both the Sally Ann bell-ringers and some boy scouts selling something…ARGH.

And it’s too much sometimes.

And that makes me feel guilty.

I’m lucky enough to be able to work a good job, I work hard at it, and I have enough support and finances to be able to afford a good but cheaper boarding situation, lessons and training, grain for my horse, the occasional splurge item like a horse show or a road race (ok a lot of road races, they are cheap as anything compared with horse showing).

 

Yeah this wasn’t a great show…

But that’s also where the guilt comes in even more…Because there are fellow horse people – friends, boarders, trainers, etc., who are not as fortunate as myself and it makes me feel vaguely strange about the relative small luxuries I allow myself.

We all make choices in the world, and because I understand others may not be facing the kind of life I have, I do try to give back, but I mean, I’m comfortable but not exactly a Rockefeller here either…

But I made my choice- to have a horse instead of a kid (like that was ever a competition though, haha), to travel and run races, to have lessons and the occasional horse show.

So, it all kind of comes to a head during Christmas, when we’re reminded daily that others are not so fortunate – not that it matters more this time, but that it’s kind of in your face a lot more over the winter.

Also, my sister recently lost her job and I emphathize strongly with that. It’s tough, and demoralizing, and not something I would really wish on anyone.

So, while I greatly enjoy my horse, my progress and my competitions, it’s important to keep all these fun activities in perspective and doing so may help me manage my ‘comfortable guilt’ for this season. Also, I’m making sure I’m not too ‘wanty’ or grabby hands for things at Christmas. Honestly, what do I really need? Nothing!

I am also trying to make sure I give small tokens of my appreciation to the people that ride with me, have fun with me, coach me and do other things. Maybe I can make their day a little bit brighter too!

It’s the little things, not the big things, that can make a difference.

Winning at winning?

Didn’t ride yesterday because…We went to the Foxstone Stable winter series awards dinner!!

Because I’m kind of dumb about the idea of year-end awards, I didn’t really think it through (because let’s face it, my and Oats’ performance rarely merits awards so that is not my first idea when signing up. Getting around is kind of the end goal…) I had one champion division at crosspoles, and one champion division at 2′. SO that meant I was the lucky recipient of two fourth-place year-end awards!

The other side of me was like, huh genius, maybe you should have kept in one division- added those two fourths into something a little better? But then the other side of me says- shut up! You had a really fun time at the shows, and they were GREAT experiences for you and Oats. Be glad with what you did, and think about what fun you’ll have next year maybe!

(Plus, the awards at the shows themselves are really great too!)

Great horse show prizes!

Anyways I didn’t have time to ride, we zipped out ASAP and attended the dinner. And wow, the awards are so generous! For my fourth places, I won Antares leather conditioners- two containers of it in total. I figure the price is something around $25/container. Not too shabby! My friend was reserve champ and made out like a bandit!! Antares saddle pad, a huger ribbon, AND she won the draw for the leather halter (jealous!!) and won a $200 bursary cheque for more horse-related activities. Wow!!!

Winter series awards

I’m sold on the winter series- they are so fun, and they really seem to be interested in giving back.

Fun times all around!

And- I have been particularly lucky lately. As I mentioned, at the show I won the draw for my division entries, which is fabulous AND last week I won a Granville Island Brewery date night crate valued at $200. Photos below: We are eating our way through it this week and I LOVE it. Yum!!

Granville Island Brewery crate

• Two s’mores from Butter Bakery
• A tin of crab pate
• Brie
• Hand made crackers
• Butter cookies
• Sea salt caramel chocolate bar
• Cappuccino truffles
• Two bags of Hard Bite chips
• A small bag of Stacey’s Brownie Chips
• A bag of vanilla marshmallows from Butter Bakery
• Rogers Chocolates sea salt chocolate cashews
• Vanilla-infused honey (I am deathly allergic to honey, boo hoo it smells amazing!)
• Red wine cranberry jelly
• A crate from Cumberland Crates (yes this is a thing, apparently)
• Two Granville Island Brewery glasses
• Two packages of roasted nuts
• Beer can chicken seasoning package

Close up of the gift crate

Bath & Body- Crafty time~

Not only do I love riding, like running and being active, but I love crafts. Normally my crafts involve glue guns but I have been maturing in my skills…

So, earlier in the season I experimented with lip balms. I made peppermint ones and they were a success!

Now I’m combining my lip balm skills and adding in a lip scrub, so now people (friends, family, loved ones) can not only have a nice pepperminty lip balm but also a smoothing scrub to start things off!

Bubblegum lip scrubs and lip balms

This makes great little gifty things for Christmas.

I call my lip scrubs ‘Bubblegum’ lip scrubs and dyed them pink!

It’s so easy:

• I used 1/2 cup white sugar,
• 1 drop pink food dye,
• 1 tsp vanilla (white),
• 1 tbsp coconut oil, and
• 1 tsp cocoa butter (melted).

Mix the whole shebang together, add your pink food dye, and voila! Bubblegum lip scrub. Parcel it out into cute little containers. I used jam jars, with the labels removed and the lids spray-painted blue. Just boil them first!

Gifts

This also feels super nice on your hands, if you want to make a bigger batch to use as a really nice gelato-type of hand scrub.

Next up- I am going to try my hand at making a peppermint foot scrub with salts. Should be good!

Do something nice for a friend

A friend of mine and her husband recently celebrated the birth of their first child- a boy! He is a bit premature and spending some time getting bigger in the hospital.

So, what do get for friends in need? I didn’t want to assume anything, and I know they would be too busy to get together…Being at the hospital day-in and day-out is exhausting and draining. The last thing I wanted to do was impose on their precious few hours recovering.

So, I baked some blackberry muffins, gathered up the baby shower gift I got and then didn’t have time to drop off before the baby arrived (eek!) and had Ian drop it off on their doorstep with a card. The card was actually a Winnie the Pooh quote that we printed and pasted to a construction paper ”Sometimes the smallest things take up the most space in your heart”

And voila! We left it on their doorstep and didn’t have to impose on anyone’s time. I still wanted to show I cared, but didn’t want to make it seem awkward.

This worked out really nicely, my friend appreciated the gesture and said she gobbled up a muffin as soon as she got home. And raccoons didn’t eat the muffins! Thank god!