Yoga 'Figurine' Obsessed.

It all started last Halloween.  Sidney surprised me with this yoga skeleton for my office.

After that was Christmas, and who can resist a yoga Santa?

So when Kendall was at the plant nursery and sent me a picture of this yoga frog, who could resist?  My dad for one.  He could not believe that I would spend $25 on this cute little thing.  I tell you what, if it was a new golf club, he would have spent ten fold on it.  I was sure to tell him that:).  The smile that this frog brings to my face, every time I see it on zoom, is worth every penny!

The Sweetest Things.

Here are a few of my favorite things....

I love that my parents are living closer.  They have really started to relax and enjoy retirement life.  My mom has taken up driving the golf cart for my dad.  I love that they are growing old together.

I love that my daughter has found something that she truly loves.  Her confidence has grown so much, and she has made some remarkable friends through the process (young and old).

I love that Sidney has the confidence to show up to a clinic filled with complete strangers and jump right in.

I love fresh cut flowers...in every way.  So when Abby brought Kendall flowers, I openly stole them and put them in with a few of my hydrangeas.  The result was pure beauty.

I love that my independent daughter asks me to meet her at the studio and could I bring a smoothie.  She has a car.  She has money.  Really, she just wanted to see me and for that I am thankful.  This picture says it all.  When I saw this on my phone, it melted my heart.  

I love pretending I am Edward Scissorhands.  Sometimes it works.  Sometimes it doesn't.  In this case, it was a win!  My ugly overgrown evergreen is now a beauty that no longer blocks the sprinklers.

I love our dogs.  I love that the girls love our dogs.  I love that my book loathing daughter is reading a book and secretly enjoys it.

I love our dogs (again).  I love that they love the sun as much as I do.

I love Pigeon.  Pigeon love potato chips.  He is a goofy boy.

Go Poly!

Cal Poly plays in the Mountain West Conference.  Which means they play a lot of schools not too far from us.  One of the schools they compete against is Idaho State University in Pocatello.  Kevin used to always buy us tickets to the game, which takes place at ISU every other year.  I personally enjoy going, because they play in an indoor arena.  This was the first year, since Kevin passed away that they were holding the game (largely due to Covid).  I bought the girls and I some great seats and we left at zero dark thirty to get there in time for the game.

It was a total blast.  Before the game, we walked around the tailgaters and had a good time.  There were a surprising number of Cal Poly fans at the game.  The girls and I headed in a little bit early to watch the team warm up.

It was ISU's homecoming.  The arena was packed.  The game was excellent and was action packed down to the wire.  ISU won 40-31.  At one point, Kendall was up out of her seats yelling.  It was so much fun.  Another awesome thing about this trip is that Kendall is interested in going there for college.  She learned that they have a dance team and one of the girls from her studio is a freshman on the team.  She was excited to say hello and check the team out.

Another awesome thing is that one of the ladies at the ranch told us her daughter graduated from ISU and now works in the Admissions office.  Her daughter was not in town that weekend, but she arranged for one of the student ambassadors to show us around after the game.  Telson was amazing.  He gave Kendall all of the ins and outs.  The facilities there are incredibly nice.  It is quite a hidden gem.  At the end of the tour, Telson took us into the Admissions office, where Morgan had left and ISU backpack with swag and a personal card for each of the girls.

These girls are always being silly.  I find it hilarious when I see all the random pictures they have taken when no one was looking.  

Of course, we had to take the customary bathroom picture in the hotel room.  Notice Kendall's new Bengal sweatshirt that Morgan gifted her.  She is a traitor already.  

The next morning, the girls and I hiked up Red Hill to enjoy the view.  At the top there is a cool monument signifying the four years of college.  The senior year is broken off to represent the transition into the working world.  

Kendall has a couple more years to decide and a few more colleges to look at, but this one is definitely toward the top of her list.  Before the trip she said her excitement was 6/10.  After the trip, she said her excitement is 9/10.  Never one to give anything a perfect score:).

Doing It Afraid.

This may come as a surprise to some, but I am terrified of horses.  We had two horses growing up, but I was never comfortable on them.  My sister was the horse girl.  I was not.  So when Sidney showed an interest in horses, I went along for the ride, assuming it would be short lived.  Boy was I wrong!  Somehow this spring, I decided to buy a horse.  I am not entirely sure what I was thinking.  That being said, Pigeon has become part of the family.  In fact, everyone had ridden him except me.  He truly is the best horse ever.  I trust him with my own daughter.  Yet, somehow, I could not muster the umph to get on him myself.  He is a good horse, but a fast horse.  Sidney  has worked with him a lot.  He has relaxed so much.  I have watched Sidney give other people rides on him.  She is so good with him and with the new riders.  

So, I surprised myself one day when I went to pick her up from the ranch.  She was going to clean his stall.  Instead, I told her I wanted her to give me a ride on Pigeon.  I was NOT dressed for the occasion at all, but I knew it was now or never.  The minute the words left my mouth, my heart started pounding, and I had to start deep breathing.  Sidney walked me through the process of brushing him out, picking his hooves and saddling him up.  At first I only wanted her to give me a lead line ride around the round pen.  She is such a good and patient teacher that she gave me time to get comfortable.  I have good balance, so that was in my favor and staying on was not too hard.  It was all the little things.  There is so much to think about.  It is much more complicated than driving a car.  Eventually, I let her take the lead line off.  At one point, I gave him too much squeeze, and he went trotting off.  That was enough to make my heart start to pound.  Yet, I knew he would do nothing to harm me.  

I would not venture to say I am ready to make this a regular thing, but I certainly was smiling ear to ear the whole evening.  Mostly I was proud of myself for doing it, despite my being uncomfortable.  Here's to 'doing it afraid'!

Life Skills.

 Sidney and I went to the range on a Tuesday evening to take Pigeon out to a riding clinic in Nampa.  When I went to pull the chocks out of the trailer, One of the rear tires was flatter than a pancake.  We were very short on time, so I called my friend Tina to see if we could borrow her trailer for the evening.  

The next night, my dad went out to help me get the flat tire off the trailer.  I was concerned about where to place the jack.  Thankfully I talked with my co-worker Bill before heading out, and he had a pro-tip.  I did not need to jack the trailer at all.  I just drove the front tire onto some blocks, which lifted the back tire off the ground enough to change it.

The culprit was a screw right through the center of the tread.  Honestly, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  

When I went to take the tire in, the man told me they could not repair it, as the tires were manufactured in 2008 (14 years old).  Yikes!  After googling a lot about this, I decided to change all four of them.  The place gave me a great price.  The girls ( and my dad) helped me take the tires down one at a time to get the old ones off the rim and the new ones on.  While they were off, I decided to paint the rusty wheels a clean shade of black.  After I had all four new tires on, I drove the trailer by the shop to have them torque them down.  Yep, there may have been easier ways to do this.  However, all of us now know how to change a trailer tire.  Girls Rock!  (and Grandpas too)!

Jokes on Me.

I am not even sure where to begin this post.  In my defense, you should all know that right after I got the truck some ridiculous person decided to egg it.  Harmless fun, right.  But, what I am about to tell you, would not have been so harmless!

A few weeks ago, Sidney asked me to drive her down to Dutch Bros.  I had a lot to do that morning, so I was not super keen on the idea.  I reluctantly agreed, then Kendall piped in that she would like to ride along.  I said, "Well, why don't you just drive.  No reason for me to go."  All of the sudden, she did not want to go to Dutch.  Strange, right?  Though I thought nothing of it.

On the way home, as we came around the corner, the following conversation transpired.

Sidney,  "Mom what happened to our truck."  

Me, "What are you talking about?"

Sidney,  "It looks like our back window is broke."

Me, again,  "What are you talking about?"

Sidney,  "Look."

Me,  "*, *, ****."  (words not included to protect the innocent).

Sidney started laughing hysterically.  Kendall ran out to the garage.  Sid had recorded my 'creatively worded' reaction.  Who could blame me really?  As you look at the picture, you will say to yourself, that does not look real.  Put yourself in my shoes, the half blind, unsuspecting innocent one.  Yep, they got me good!

"Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!"

 I took a work trip to Milwaukee this month.  I cannot visit this city without singing this song.  Laverne and Shirley Theme Song - Must Watch!

Our meeting took place on the 25th floor of this beautiful new mass timber tower.  The views from the 25th floor were amazing, but I forgot to take any pictures, so here is a link to see for yourself.  Ascent Tower

Somehow I did manage to take a selfie from the 7th floor pool deck.  Milwaukee is a pretty cool city.  My co-worker went to college there and had so many fun things to share.  She said that they have really spent the last decade cleaning up the city, and it showed.  

One of our board members lives there, so he knew all the cool places to take us.  On the way to the top secret 'speakeasy' we passed a cat bar.  What?  Apparently this is a thing, though I find it very strange.

I am not much of a drinker, but the speakeasy had some beautiful creations.  They each seemed to be a unique work of art.

I am just super thankful that none of us had covid, because we were very careless in sipping each others drinks, just to have a taste.

It was a great trip, packed full of lots of input on what to do in the coming year, peppered with a bit of fun!

Now off to listen to that theme song one more time...