September 2nd! Yesterday was my mother's birthday. She is now 88 and dementia is taking over. "If you have a dollar and you spend 7 cents, how much do you have left?" Sorry, it's NOT 3 dollars!!!!

I have now arranged to take 2 private lessons a week and join in the quadrille on Sundays. Last Sunday I rode a horse called Faja who was trailered in by another student named Diedra. Faja was an arab mare and very nice. We were all constantly screwed up the whole time because of miscommunication and bad riding. heh



OH and I both went to volunteer at the therapeutic riding center. I was a side walker for a little boy about 6 years old. I had to stay away from the horse as otherwise, he would jump off into your arms. He did fine but it was very hot. Note to self: next time get on the inside of the horse so i'm not running around when he trots. Parker (the kid riding) was chewing the loose end of the helmet strap and all of a sudden I noticed that blood was dripping down his chin.

Dean started out leading a horse and then when the designated leader actually showed up, he changed to be a side walker. One girl in his class fell off but was not hurt. Rudy the pony spooked when a bucket dropped. I think the whole thing is kind of chancy - much opportunity for accidents.

Bought all new dishes at anthropologie. Must get some glasses also. Need juice glasses and medium glasses. Cleaned out entire kitchen. The only things left are cleaning the hood vent grill and the actual oven (just need to turn it to clean, lol). I also cleaned out the downstairs bathroom drawers and underneath the sink and one drawer of the planning desk in the breakfast room. I'm just doing this little by little when I feel like it.

We started kind of the south beach diet. No starch for 2 weeks. Today I ate:
-scrambled eggs with broccoli and cauliflower
-a can of tuna packed in water with celery, parsley and diet mayo; pickles; and an ounce of cheddar cheese
-a hamburger with low-fat swiss cheese; a salad with lettuce, tomato, cuke, feta cheese and kalamati olives

I'm completely stuffed. You must also drink lots of water. I have not been completely following the diet as I have had yogurt with a sprinkling of granola the last 2 days (not today). It's not a hard diet and I just want to jump start a weight loss of a few pounds. I've been at 119 for a year and it's way too much. If I get to 112 I will be okay but more would be nice. Just because one gets older it doesn't mean that I should weigh so much more than I ever did. It's all flabby, wiggly fat. I exercise and take vitamins and have a pretty health diet but cutting down on tons of pizza, bread, pasta and rice (oh god all my favs) is not that bad. I mean I'm not going to starve myself or get super thin!!

The hardest part of being retired is going to be not being pulled down by OH's inertia. This coming week I have:
Tues - yoga class
Wed - riding
Thursday - haircut and color - must drive into town
Friday - riding
Sunday - riding

OH has nothing. He does not even go to the gym unless I make a point of going. But he can only go MWF and Sunday and Sunday is the only day I can go in the morning (which is the only time he will go).

I bought Stephanie a mixer for her wedding reception. We are going on Sept 21-24. Kids and everyone are going so I'm happy about seeing them. Will I see Paul?? For the first time since high school??? omg, it will be hilarious.

Funny about re-connecting with Jane after all these years. She is super nice. Of course I don't pretend or put on airs or anything so there is nothing for her to do but be natural also. I called U. Bob the other day to give him a ma update. He's very nice too and has a superb sense of humor.

I chopped off the back of my hair today. Hairdresser will probably brain me when he sees it. I think it looks good tho. Right now it is a a good stage where I can just let it dry and it goes into a nice curly shape. Too bad there is an inch of grey showing!!!

We had the trees trimmed at a total of $1400.00. God, I'm sick of this house and all the fixing up it needs. The whole yard is getting landscaped this fall if I can manage to pry some $$ loose from someone. The master bath- take out the tub and put in a cool, large shower or be cheesy and just leave the tub and replace the tile and fixtures??? If I leave the tub, I can get the silestone countertop. And then my closet is just too awful to attempt.

It's late and I want to go read my Georgette Heyer book. bye