A new trainer and a new prospect....

We are in full training mode swing now for the upcoming show season.

Our first show in 2 years is coming up.  We did not show last year because we were in full training with our trainer at the time, who was fantastic, and really really made us be able to move on to the trainer we are with today.  We started with this trainer about 6 weeks ago and we are improving rapidly.

Our trainer now is Gabriel.  That is all I will say.  Easier to say his first name than say, our trainer, all the time....

We are having a couple of practice runs, taking Tee to different barns in the area, that Gabriel trains horses at, so that Tee is not so excited when he goes to the show.  He needs to get out and get used to being in different areas.  It is very good for him.

Otherwise, we are having a huge amount of work done at our house, Landscaping......and as it turned out, the guy is also a huge horseman and he and his girlfriend own a Western Barn, not far from where I live.  As it also turns out, his girlfriend wants to learn some dressage.......she is a western rider, primarily, and wants to learn a little more about the discipline of dressage.

So I am going to give her a hand.....give some lessons..........

Now this is not something I ever thought of doing.  But I would love to do it.....I feel that I have a load of knowledge from my past trainer, Lisa, and my new trainer Gabriel that I can share with other riders.  The thing is, with my trainers, Lisa and Gabriel, they really only take on riders at a certain level, particularly Gabriel.  So, I can teach the newbies everything I am learning.....pass it on - eh?  

I am kinda excited about it.  Hope it all comes through!!!

But for today, it is off to the barn to work my butt off....

Easter brings new life to our house, literally...

I love Easter.

Always have - it is a great time to bring family together and celebrate the religious side of the holiday....

But Easter egg hunts and Easter treats are pretty good too.....

And so is the Easter bunny and what he delivers to you, when you are a toddler....

Seems that the Easter bunny thought we needed a few more little ones.....

Much to someones delight....

He was not sure the he was allowed to touch them at first.....not sure quite what to do with them.....

But he soon got the idea....He gently herded them around.....trying to catch one to give him a cuddle....

And much to his delight, he did, and he sat and held his new little friend very gently...

Ahhhhh life - wouldn't be dead for quids!!!!!

Sometimes you just have to stop.....

I am a firm believer in that......

That we run from the start of our days to the end of our days.....

There is always something to do and the lists of chores are endless.....

And just when you cross one thing off another one joins....just to spite us I am sure!!!

Then there is the endless tidying, cleaning and laundry....oh my gosh....so much laundry.....

Then there is the grocery shopping, bringing it home, putting it away......

Then there is the meal planning and the cooking.....

Then the cleaning and tidying after the meals.......

Never mind picking up the dry cleaning, dropping off the dry cleaning, the trips to the post office, the trips to the drug stores.....

Don't forget to fill up with gas along the way somewhere.......

So yesterday, after a morning of this running around, I decided to stop.

Just stop.

The barn could wait until today.

The rest of the cleaning, tidying and laundry could wait too.

So I stopped and I just hung out with my toddler....we played "toys".....

He loves to play "toys"....

Toy time is something that won't wait, and will not always be there.....

All the other stuff will be.

So I just stopped everything else.

And it was great.

Happy toddler, happy mummy, messy living room....and who really cares about that?

Not me.  Not yesterday.

So don't forget to every now and then, just stop and just let everything wait.  Go sit in your backyard and read a magazine, or just sit in that chair under the tree, finish working in the garden later....just enjoy it for now.....or just play with the kids....everything will get done.....

Just not right now.

Ahhhhhh feels so good.

I Still Call Australia Home...

I do.

I am Australian, born and bred.

And I miss her, not all the time, but sometimes.

So I created a new page on my blog where I can just chat about her.  And share photos, and stories....

There are certain sounds I really miss, especially in the mornings.....And I am a serious morning person.

And evening person.

Just not a night owl.  Definitely not.

I love Vegemite.

I love the sun.

Oh how I love vegemite toast....mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm delicious.....

I must go and root around in my pantry and find some and make some immediately....

I am an Aussie afterall!!!!

My favorite cuddles...

At night, when all the craziness has settled down, dinner is done, the sun has gone to bed and we are all in our jammies....

There is cuddle time....

I take my young toddler....

We go upstairs, get in our jammies.....

Get under the covers..

And watch his fav TV shows....holding hands is one of his fav things....

It is so great, this evening ritual....

I love every minute....

So I am off to do it...as I am late and he is getting tired and impatient....

My little snuggler......

Go with the flow....

Ever had one of those days where your best made plans get shot to pieces, and no matter how hard you try, things that are beyond your control take your perfectly planned day and turn it into a mess?

Yes well, that was my day today.....

And I had my day planned to the minute.....

I am a bit of an organizational freak like that....

And this morning, thanks to my darling husband, all was blown to pieces....

And then, as it turned out, it was all for nothing!!

All the rearranging was for nothing! My day, as it turned out, had no reason to be turned upside down today.....

It could have gone exactly like planned.....

But it didn't....

So,I am left wondering....was my planned day derailed for some reason only my guardian angel (yes I believe I have on) or God knows about??)

I often wonder that...maybe if things had gone according to our plans, something bad might have happened??? Maybe someone else is guiding us that day...keeping us safe? Out of harms way?

Well that is what I like to think anyway when things don't go according to plan....

I don't think for a minute that I know the reasons why for everything, that sometimes mat be does know better than I do....that maybe today I was guided away from danger....

That someone ot something has their eye on me and my son....

And then I don't mind my day not going as according to MY plan....But maybe it went to someone else's instead.

I think I have found a new workout....

Seriously....

I ache.  Now I am pretty fit.

But  my muscles ache.

Wielding a pick-ax and digging up the lawn has proven to be a very good exercise plan.

My back, my arms, my hands, my hamstrings....my stomach.....

So I think I have stumbled upon a new form of workout for us gals.....

Throw away those weights, throw away that treadmill, yoga mats....

Cancel those expensive gym memberships....

AND....

Just go grab the pick-ax and shovel out of the garage, take them into the yard, find somewhere you want to put in a new veggie patch, flower garden.....or just find something to dig up.....

And go for it.

With all your strength.....I mean, you should be grunting and pulling and fighting with these things....sweat dripping.....generally just kicking that soils butt....

And your body will thank you....after it has rested....and recovered.....

Your bank account will thank you for canceling the gym membership....

And your hubby's and boyfriends etc will thank you for the great tone you have now got due to all that hard physical labor.....

Your gardens will look great....

What are you waiting for?????

Oh my aching muscles.......I am going to go and soak them....

A waterfall into our basement....

Last night we had a waterfall down the stairs into our basement.....

I am not joking.  I am deadly serious.

The storms were so bad and the rain so bad, that our sump pump could not keep up....

The water was pouring down the stairs of our walkout basement.  The water was climbing up the sliding doors and leaking into the basement like a sieve.  The sump pump was overflowing at the other end of the basement and the water was rising at an alarming rate.....

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law had decided to drop by for a visit....and walked into mad chaos...my toddler thought the whole thing was great as he ran around in his rubber boots.....

Thankfully they arrived, as my sister-in-law took my son, and my husband, and myself and my brother-in-law went out side and had to dig a trench to guide the water away from the house.....in the pouring rain, lightening and thunder....it was like something out of a horror movie - as we were swinging shovels and pick-axes in the lighting and it lit us all up like daylight every now and then....

We were terrified we were going to get struck by lighting......

We had to dig a trench and then build a dam....

And the rain still came, like a torrent on our heads......

Mother nature sure was mad at someone.....

When the water had reached about 3 feet up the sliding doors we managed to get the waterfall slowed to a slow stream....

The water in our basement was up to the stairs coming into the house....nearly over the bottom stair....our stuff was starting to float....

Not good.

We were soaked, covered in mud and exhausted.

But we seemed to win.

And the sump pump began to catch up.

We babysat our sump pump until about midnight.  The water slowly started to go down.

So this morning we are met with the mess and the smell.  The awful wet smell of the basement....ugh.

The mess of our trench digging outside.

The mess of the wet and soggy stuff in the basement.....

I am going to need more coffee........

Swimming!!!!!

My toddler is learning to swim......

This is really important to me, so that heaven forbid, should he ever fall into the water, he can get himself to the edge.

He does not need much encouragement to get into the water, he loves it.....but it is funny how kids heads work....

He is learning some stuff which is a bit scary, putting his head under, Pushing off from the edge to my arms and having to get there himself, kicking and paddling for all he is worth....

He is so brave but sometimes, he is not so keen....like learning to wear the goggles, which I am sure do not feel so great on his face, never mind stick his face in the water and blow bubbles....

But at the mention of a lollipop, all fears are forgotten, and he gives his best shot....

Now I is this a bit of bribery? Yes. Am I ashamed? No.

Amazing how his little head works....all fears forgotten, he sticks his head in that water with the goggles on and blows bubbles....

The first words out of his mouth when he comes up??? Face barely out of the water???

"Mummy, can I have my lollipop now?".....

My brave little lollipop loving pumpkin.....

I am woman hear me roar!!!!

Yeah baby - I am handy with a drill.

I really am.

This morning, I fixed my kitchen cabinets myself.

Simply because I could not stand it anymore.

The hinges were broken and we received the new ones yesterday....so today I fixed them myself and now, my kitchen cabinets work perfectly.

There is something so satisfying about wielding a drill, some hinges and some screws and fixing something yourself.

My little guy helped me out.....his job was to hold the screws and hold the cabinet door....

He did a great job.

Now I am wandering around the house.....looking for more things to fix.....

I am feeling powerful today.....us women are pretty cool eh??

We can do it.....anything we want.

I hate needles...just h a t e them...

I hate getting them....I hate it when I have to have my son get his shots too - he is screaming,  I have tears streaming down my face because he is screaming....it is just brutal and I need a good stiff drink after the whole episode.  Just awful.

Well today my horse had to have a bunch of them....brutal.  Horses have to have them to keep them healthy just like us humans.  There are some nasty bugs out there that would love to hurt my other 4 legged baby.

He also has a bit of a sore back, so he had some steroids to fix the nasties....and he had to have his joint medicine too....

Oh how I hate needles.......

I am standing there holding him and he is as stiff as a board, being so brave, as the vet injected the bumps on his back that love to make his life miserable....they hurt, I know they do.  The bumps and the needles going into the bumps to make them go away....but it hurts, he is unhappy, his eyes are looking back, his ears are back and he is jumping around....because it hurts....and I hate hurting him....but he needs these to get better and feel better....

.....oh how I hate needles....

I also hate the sight of blood in needles....even the thought of it now makes me want to faint.....seriously....just as well I am sitting down right now or I may fall down......on my hard tile kitchen floor which would not be good because then they might have to take me to hospital and then they would have to give me.........needles........

ugh.

Anyway, the last of the needles was right into the vein....awful.....he was as good as gold,  and I felt sick.  

Oh how I hate needles....

But we got through it....my brave horse and I.

My dressage trainer...

Is awesome.  He competed in the Pan American Games, and really knows his stuff.  I think that with any trainer/trainee relationship, you have to be able to communicate and understand each other.  And I think we do that well.  He also understands my horse, who is young and only learning, and he is great with him.

We have the show season coming up, and while we are more focused on the training side of things, so we can progress, we want to do some shows for the experience.  

Today he rode my horse, as he often does, so that he has an understanding of what is going on when I am riding, how my horse feels etc.  Dressage is an art, it is about communicating with the horse through a series of "aids" which tell the horse what to do.  These "aids" are given with your seat (your butt in the saddle), your legs, which are split up into the thigh and lower leg, and your body - which is split up into your hips, stomach and shoulders and then your head....and of course your arms, which are split up into your elbows, wrists and hands.....

Confused yet?

You try riding it!!!

It is obviously a lot more detailed than that, but that gives you and idea.  So at any time, you are communicating with one or a couple of these different body parts to tell the horse what to do.

As confusing as it is for the rider, imagine the horse?  That is why it takes years to train a dressage horse.

But my baby is coming along very well.  He is such a pride and joy....and he does try.  And I know he gets tired, I know he gets sore muscles, and I know he just sometimes does not want to go to "school"....but he is always a sweet natured, kind and giving guy.

A beautiful picture...

A month or so ago, I went with my son to have our portrait done.  We went to a professional studio where they take your photos and then they make them look like an oil painting, not a picture....

You can see what I mean if you go to http://www.kramerportraits.net/.

I went to choose the photo today.  I am thrilled with the results.  It is just something so special to me, to have this picture of me and my son.  Something I can hand to him when I am old, something for him to have too.  I think it is special.  I do not have anything like this of me and my mum and I think that is sad, it has always bothered me and still does.  My mother was not into having professional portraits done, so now we have none as a mother and daughter...we have no nice photos...nothing.

I am so excited about the picture, although we do not get it now for 12 weeks.   When it arrives, it is going to look fabulous in our home.  It is a moment captured and treasured.

I love my son.  Kisses to you my sweet pumpkin xxxxx

The perfect Sunday for me...

Started off with brekky at a diner....we love diner brekkies, for me, it means no cooking, no cleaning and just eating....the food, yum, it is an easy way to start Sunday....

Then playing in the playground, on slides and climbing and running around with my toddler shrieking with delight....my hubby thinking we are just crazy, and then joining in.....seriously, how could you not???

Then snuggle up for nap time....all cuddles and kisses....so delightful....

Then a lovely, delicious dinner cooked at home.....mmmm the house full of the smell of a roast dinner....

Ahhhhh Sundays.........

Today

Today while I was driving home from a lovely ride, I drove by a yard sale.

Now I am a yard sale junkie.

I love them.

Today I literally stopped in the middle of the road as these beautifully framed prints caught my eye.

They are of 2 riders and their dogs heading out on a hunt. They are called "morning" and "evening". They are just gorgeous. Beautifully framed. Perfect.

I could not believe my eyes when I walked over and took a closer look. They were better than I thought. A real find. I was so excited. I paid exactly what the lady wanted, could not believe she was selling these pieces. No haggling over the price for me!!

I loaded them in the car with glee, I was so excited to get them home.

Now they have found their new home on our walls, and made our home even more beautiful with their presence.

Geez where did today go??

Seriously, today, this week??  Honestly, it has just flown by.  I don't understand how it is 7pm on Friday...

I was slack in my MK work this week, should've done a bunch more houses, but just ran out of time....

Today the rain was so awful, I did not even ride, my trainer would be annoyed if he knew....but we will make it up tomorrow.....it was just so miserable, and even though we ride indoors on days like this, it was just a yukky day and Tee could use the day off, he as been working REALLY hard and I know he is a bit tired and sore....even he was tucked up all warm and cozy in the barn, munching on his hay....

The housework has suffered some how too - all week I have been chasing my tail....but I made delicious Brandy Snaps for dinner.........oh yeah.....

C'mon Spring - get your butt into gear because we are seriously waiting to enjoy your beautiful days!!!!

A horse called Tee....

I took these while he was playing in his field....he loves to come up and mess about with me....a game we play....this big horse and me.....

So he comes over....

Turns his butt and bucks....I grabbed this one as I was laughing, hence the "butt" shot...

Then he decides he has had enough and goes and grazes and ignores me.....

Nice life he has!!!!!

Mary Kay Today -.....

Well, today I am off to do a letter box drop to about 75 homes.  

That is, I will fit that inbetween going to music school with my son and to the barn to be "beaten" up by my trainer, he comes once a week to train me and my horse.  We have a lot of work to do as we have a bunch of shows coming up.  I happen to really like my trainer - he is very good.

So while my little guy was napping the other day, I filled 75 bags with goodies from Mary Kay and now I am going to drop them off at 75 homes and see how things go.  That will mean I have done 125 homes.  My target is 250.  I figure I have to do about that, maybe more, to drum up some business.....

Wish me luck!!!

Week 3 of Mary Kay

OK,  So to bring you up to date, I have signed up, and gone to my first training with my Director, (a very nice woman) and I have my "starter kit" and I chose to buy some samples, brochures, bags etc, because I need to start a customer base.

She also has what is called "success nights".  These are actually a meeting of her team, the team of ladies she has created over 20 years, that she has brought on to sell Mary Kay.  This woman has been incredibly successful doing this.  She is very dedicated.  She is very personable.  She is like a mum, well she is a mum, but she is mum like, you feel instantly at ease with her.  Anyway, the success nights are very nice, a lovely get together with a bunch of ladies, who all have stories to tell.  Yes, it is all about giving each other a pat on the back and a pep talk, and who couldn't use that once a week????

I thought that a letter box drop would be a good way to start.  I know that personally, I like getting a sample of something, not just a brochure etc, so I decided to put together "goodie bags", which included a sample of one of the products (I chose hand cream and some skin care), and a brochure of all Mary Kay products, and my business card.

So far I have done 50 houses.  Took me not long at all.  I have to wait until I get the rest of my business cards, because they have not arrived yet.  So right now I am at a stand still.  I ordered them about 2 weeks ago, so I should get them soon.....I hope.

I figure I probably have to do about 250 houses.  I figure I can do at least 50 houses a week.

We will see.........

Off to the auctions we go

OK, I am addicted to the antique auctions - there are two well known ones that are very close to where we live and they are visited by people from all over the country - no joke.....people come in from NYC, all over NJ and then there were these nice blokes who had driven from South Carolina - seriously.  They are primarily antique dealers.

We went on Sunday - my husband and I both love it.  We go to try and pick up nice pieces for our home.  There is something about spotting a piece, and bidding on it.....the bid, someone bids against you, your heart races as you bid again....

I love winning - hahaha!  I love winning that bid on that piece I know will look perfect in our home....I love that feeling of pure glee I get when the auctioneer says "sold!" and points in at me!  I cannot help but break into a huge smile.

The auctioneers know me at these places now, there are not many mums with toddlers in strollers bidding on antiques against dealers from all over the country!!!!  I don't think the dealers know quite what to think of me as I put up my hand with stubborn determination to get that piece that they are also bidding on.

One of the major auctions is held on Mondays, and I go there by myself with my son.  So fun.  The owners of the auction always take care of me, making sure that the dealers don't push me out, making sure I get a fair chance to bid.....or they do the bidding for me, which is always nice....I just tell them my limit.

And then at the end of the day, you bring home your prize, your treasure, a piece of history, a piece with a story, a piece that has survived moves, different owners, different auctions for dozens of years.....and I clean them up, polish them up with great love and affection and become a part of their story.

Love it.