A Very Quiet Saturday...

Hi Everybody. I never did take time and write about last weekend's excursion over to Miller Training Stables. I volunteered to participate in the "Inner City Slickers" event that Cindy Corwin had organized. ICS is a program put together by Michael McMeel to benefit "at-risk" teens by getting them together in a safe environment and allowing them to experience the joy of horses and being on a farm. There were 16 kids that participated and I think there were around 30 adult volunteers. It started at 10 and went until 4. The day started with Michael introducing himself to the kids. He talked to them about trust and friendship and how tough life is in general but assured them that there will always be someone out there to help. They just have to be open to accept it. After his talk, Abbie brought out one of her older lesson horses, Classy, and Michael told the kids about horses and how to lead them and just be around them. A few of the kids got to lead Classy around the yard. Then we all proceeded to the "Trust Fall" where the kids crawled up a ladder and had to 'trust' the adults to catch them when they fell backwards. The kids were skeptical at first but as a few did it then everyone wanted to do it. :o) Then we all went in and cleaned some of Abbie's stalls. After that was done I helped Gail and Karen get lunch ready for everyone while they all went over and lined up to do an exercise on 'conflict resolution'. We all had a delicious lunch of grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, potato and macaroni salads, chips, cookies, and some very creative cupcakes baked in ice cream cones. :o) After that Abbie got out some more lesson horses and the kids got to ride around on them bareback to experience riding. The afternoon ended with everyone getting on the 'bucking barrel'. A barrel suspended in the air that is manipulated like a mechanical bull that you see at fairs and other events. The kids had a blast riding it. :o) The day ended at 4pm and we all said our goodbyes. It was a great day.

This Saturday is a little different. No more parades. It's September 1st. Fall is on it's way in. Krystle is camping and Dani is off to Arizona to spend the holiday weekend with her sister and other family out there. I'm spending the day alone. It's weird. A few short years ago this would have been the busiest day of the year for me. .... well, really the busiest week. By this time I would have had a total of 3 0r 4 hours of sleep in 5 days. I remember it wasn't too long ago when I was running the big Gold Star show down in Des Moines. That was such a rush. I loved that show. I loved all the parties, meeting new people every year, but the most fun I had was when something went wrong and I had to solve the problems. I felt so important and needed. I'm afraid I took a lot of things for granted back then. I didn't really take the time to really enjoy the awesome rooms at the Marriott .... the fabulous parties and all the wonderful variety of food and drinks everywhere you walked .... all the activities and people around everywhere asking me to help them. I remember when I was so tired and hadn't slept at all for several days wishing that I could just once spend a quiet Labor Day weekend at home ...by myself .... not having to rush around and worry about everything. You know what they say ... "Be careful what you wish for .... because some day it might come true." So now today .... Labor Day Saturday .... a day that once was filled with all kinds of activity and people is now exactly what I wished for. I'll be spending the day alone here on the farm with my animals. I will likely putter around and get ready for the wedding that Gato is in tomorrow at the Arburetum in Madrid. That will be a lot of fun. :o) I have to get his new red and gold costume fitted to him and make sure his bridle and new plume are set and ready to go. I still haven't gotten the bells that go on his back legs figured out yet. I think I'll work on that this afternoon.

Make sure you all watch our facebook page for pictures of tomorrow's event! I have a feeling it will be absolutely BEAUTIFUL! I can't wait!! :o)