I've been informed that I really need a blog, for a variety of uncomplimentary reasons. Tada. Blog.

Today I woke up early, thinking "I have a horse!" I mean, I had a horse before but this is a shiny new horse. The dog and the kitten also both wanted me up, which
helped with the waking up. I came downstairs and found it was 54 in the kitchen. I decided it was a good day for a long hot breakfast while the sun warmed up the world outside.

When the thermometer outside climbed over 25 I put on my long johns
(really should have done that before I got dressed) and headed out. First order of business was getting more horse cookies, as I was tapped out. I picked some up at the feed store. Then, to the farm! All those hot beverages suddenly wanted to exit. I stepped behind the barn for privacy and almost immediately the farm owner came racing by, intent on a frozen pipe emergency. Awkward moment.

In the field, Playboy was very snoozy in the sunshine. Pluto was walking in the middle of the field with a "what the hell happened?" expression. I feel bad for him. He's been away from home before, but he was with his breeder and probably some of his herd buddies. Now he's in a strange place with no friends and nobody familiar. He'll make friends but it has to suck for him right now.

I came in with treats and brushes to spend some bonding time. He wasn't interested. I finally had to put a lead on him to keep him from walking away from me while I tried to brush him. He wasn't dirty but I figured the brushing would be soothing. He politely tried one horse cookie but declined any more. Playboy had no such scruples. He ate all that he could con me out of.

I measured Pluto, then tried Playboy's blanket on him. He looks tiny, but in fact he takes nearly as large a blanket as Playboy does. He's long, just not wide yet. That should change with time.

I forgot I had yummy dinner boxed up in my fridge from the restaurant yesterday. I was able to be frugal *and* eat well. That rules.

I'd been thinking that I needed to start saving more money, and then I spent all my money on Pluto. Now I'm forced to save. Yay me? Way to be proactive with the goals.

Let's see.. I can cut out restaurant food and alcohol. I guess I could stop drinking sodas, but then life wouldn't be worth living.

I just glanced up to find the big yellow eyes of the kitten staring down at me from the top of the bookcase. What could be going through that little mind?

Several minutes later, I look down and see him cuddled up against the radiator, gnawing on my Z-rest pad. I wonder if they make rawhide chews for cats?

That is so not the breakfast of champions. There really needs to be some eggs in there, and maybe some fruit.

The roses Judy and Kate sent when Julia died are still sitting here. They're dead and the stems are starting to mold. I still can't bring myself to throw them out.

What if you grew proportionately when you gained weight? Our bodies do it for us when we're children. Better nutrition begets taller children. At least that's my supposition, thinking of the huge children of tiny immigrant parents I've known.

So you eat a lot, you get a little taller. You diet, you get shorter. AT thru-hikers
would be under five feet at the finish line. Chronic McDonald's abusers would
be seven feet tall.

Would tall men still be attractive when you knew they'd gotten that way by spending all their disposable income at Horn&Horn Smorgasbord?

I really want to go out to the farm and see Pluto and Playboy, but it's not time yet. Oh, the agony.

I drove out to the barn after work to check up on my boys. Pluto turned out to have escaped last night. He spent the night eating Kevin's lawn. Fortunately there's no interesting place for him to go there, though if he found his way down to the train tracks it would be bad.

I forgot my boots so I went into the field wearing my trail shoes. They're
a smidge muddy now. All that snow and rain has left its mark.

Pluto was more agreeable about letting me groom him tonight. I tried to find his special itchy spots. I couldn't tell if I was succeeding or pissing him off. One way or the other he made funny faces.

When I got home there was a cute, funny card from Datto in my mailbox. In fact the card was much like Datto himself, except he's not red.

I filled out the goofy personality quiz. I got the matches. I said "nope". Spinsterhood looks ever better.

I heard a noise in the bookshelf. I looked over. Andy was violently removing all my topo maps from the map box. Does he want to hike? Does he want me to get lost? Is he on some kind of dogfood high? Regardless, it's highly annoying.

I look upon the upcoming commercial holiday with mild horror. I haven't been dating anyone at that time of year for several years. When I was dating someone, he was not inclined to make a fuss. Unfortunately I was conditioned as a child by my dad. This is not a complaint about my dad - he is an awesome guy and I love him to pieces. He just set the occasional high standad. And according to the dad standard, at Valentine's Day you get chocolate and a card and a big hug.

So watching the holiday go by unremarked is painful.

That said, I've had surprise valentines a number of times. The year after I broke up with Alex, three different male friends sent me flowers. That's the most flowers I've ever gotten for *anything*. I'd email them right now to thank them again, but they'd think I was hinting.

That's what I should do. I should go get Valentine's Day cards for all my male and female friends like we used to do in elementary school. A bunch of us are either single and not expecting anything, or married and not expecting anything from a friend. Either way it should be a nice surprise.. unless you're reading the blog, in which case just act happy when you get the card, please.

Yoga was interesting tonight. It was more energetic. We did shoulder stands,
which I haven't done in forever and wasn't sure I could do tonight. But I did, with moderate wobbliness. I bet I'm sore tomorrow.

Batty went for a terrifying (for him) visit to the vet because he was all snotty and sneezy and loud when he breathed. Diagnosis: mild cold. For once I don't have to give him antibiotics. He didn't appreciate the reprieve, but I sure do.

I just slept through my alarm and bright lights for an hour. I feel a little shaky and nauseated. I emailed in ooky, giving myself the option to go in later. Maybe I'll feel better after I've been up for a while.

IMHO, you should have to have some fun to feel this way. Drinking too much, staying out late, and getting dehydrated dancing like a maniac are all acceptable ways to get to the ooky stage.

Andy is being incredibly loud trying to fit himself into a box about half his size. I love that kitten but sometimes he gets on my last nerve.

I'd still be asleep, but work called. For chrissake, is it too much to ask to take one day off without an interruption?

The UPS man came with what I assume is Pluto's new blanket. If I can drag myself out of here, I'm going to go down to the farm later and convince him to wear it. And pick up some food at the store, too, because all I've had today is a quarter of a powerbar. I think real food is in order.

I heard weird noises in the back of the house. I went back to find Andy sitting in a pool of water. He'd knocked over a full bowl of water and was happily trying to turn it back upright. The water ran under the trim and has most likely damaged drywall.

If I could turn him in for a book, a new mop, *anything* today he'd be gone.
Grrrr.

I suppose the cat destroying last year's Z-rest is a valid reason to get a new one.
This could get expensive.

You know how they have mourning drapes for mirrors? I'm not really sure what the meaning behind them is. Are you not supposed to see yourself? Are you not supposed to see the dead person? What ever the reason, they serve the purpose of not showing you yourself with red, swollen eyes.

I don't have red, swollen eyes.

But I am very pale and my eyes look like I'm wearing red eyeliner, and it's not attractive. I obviously need sickness drapes.

It reminds me of the makeup done for vampires in some modern movies. Makes me wonder what the reasoning behind the makeup was. "Make them look sick. Make them look unrested. " Maybe the idea was that vampirism is like the flu?

Today I came home from work early and watched "Charlie's Angels, Full Throttle." There was a lot of buttkicking and very bad acting. Painfully bad. Still enjoyable. I have low standards.

I also (after a suitable interval, to cleanse my palate) watched "Lost in Translation." HUGE change. Good acting, subtle script, beautiful shots. The whole thing moved at a snail's pace, and it didn't go where I thought it would. It's the kind of movie that makes you say "hmmmm."

Do you ever get the feeling that there's something you should be doing? That perhaps you're only pretending to be someone in your current life, hiding from responsibilites elsewhere? I get that feeling all the time. Every so often I'm tempted to pack a bag with some food and shelter and a very large knife, and set out to meet my destiny. But then I remember how nice it is to live somewhere warm and (relatively) clean where nobody hurts me and I don't have to hurt them, and I settle back down.

Still, sometimes I get the feeling I was really destined to be a barbarian.

When we were euthanizing Julia, the vet asked me if I wanted to do it there in the shed, or if we should move her somewhere else first. I glanced around and said "They can get a front end loader in here. This will be fine." He looked at me oddly and said "You're very practical."

I've spent the majority of the last three days home sick, and it looks like I could spend several more here (thus ruining all my weekend plans, but that's another story.) Nesting is setting in. I want everything to be all clean and organized. Unfortunately, just sticking some dishes in the dishwasher and turning it on pretty much wiped me out. I think I'm doomed to be in a messy house for a while. It's terrible.

The four housepets are loving having me home. At least Paige and Andy are. It's harder to tell with Trouble and Batty. They might want me to leave so Paige would be locked up for a while.

There is an open box on the floor of my dining room. My new tent came in it. I've been leaving it out for Andy, who really loves it. He keeps removing the paper so he can pounce it, and he's been putting things in and taking them back out. Including himself. Right now there's paper (well perforated) and a big fluffy dog toy in there. The box migrates around the room regularly (note to self - turn on lights before going in dining room) but interestingly has not gone through any of the doors to the other rooms. It's small enough to fit through the doorways, and one of the doors doesn't even have a sill. I wonder why he's keeping it in there?

For a while he was keeping a big REI paper bag in the front hall. I relocated it to the living room and so far it's stayed there. Which is nice, because a big paper bag on the floor as you come in really says "class".

He needs his own room. Trouble has the guest room upstairs, Batty has the dining room closet. Obviously Andy needs a special place. Right this second he's trying to fit himself into the map box again. I think that's too small to be his special place.

I think it's time to take some Nyquil and let psycho kitty roam the halls alone for a while. Here's hoping his survival instinct is stronger than it seems.

Day four. Food's gone. Water's gone. Kitty litter's running short. I ate the slowest cat.

Okay, I didn't eat the cat but I'm really bored. I slept past noon and only woke up because the phone rang. Returned the videos, and the short trip wiped me out. Slept again. Got punctured by extremely bad kitten when I tried to eat cereal.

When I was a kid we had a cat named Scoops who'd go a little insane when she smelled raw chicken. She'd start walking blindly toward the scent. She'd bump into doors, cabinets, whatever was between her and the chicken. It was weird.

Andy's that way about milk. I'm going to have to start locking him up when I have milk and cereal.

I love how easy it is to make a dog happy. A new ball, a bone, a tummy rub.. instant euphoria. Of course, you can also crush a dog by raising your voice.

I'm feeling much better today. I got up early to go get my back cracked. Now I'm waiting for the boiler maintenance man. (Or woman..) This evening I might even go out to eat! I must call a friend.

Yesterday I saw Pluto and Playboy. They both got a lick and a promise grooming before I put their blankets on. I swear Pluto has grown in the last week. If the weather is nice later this week, I'll start taking him for walks. Time to meet the world, little boy.

Between instant rice and microwaveable indian food, you can have a tasty dinner in no time flat. I just had something that sounds like "Chicken Ragnarok" in under four minutes of microwave time. The future is here, and it tastes like cumin.

Every year about this time I start jonesing for a long hike. The last two years, luckily for me, I've been able to take off the month of May to hike. So I had something to look forward to. But right now I don't have any leave saved up, and I have this brand new horse, and thanks to said horse I'm broke. So no long distance hiking for me. Argh! I love my life and my horse and everything, but I would *love* to be able to take off for a while and just hike. Just a few hundred miles and I'd be set for another year.

*sigh*

I'm going to start planning overnights instead. A few of those will definitely make me feel better. And it's a lot easier to find a one or two night dogsitter rather than a thirty night dogsitter.

I'm about to leave for the doctor's. I'm getting an Upper GI series done today. The last time I did this, they made me drink banana flavored barium. I hate banana flavoring. Alex said when he went they had strawberry flavor. I got rooked, man.

If they find something, then I guess the doc treats me for it. If they don't, I get subjected to punitive endoscopy. At some point I think it's better just to live with the ulcer, don't you?

I just had a fabulous night on the suburb with Barbara. We had yummy dinner, discreetly ogled the foreign waiter, listened to the very good pianist, and then went out for drinks at a hotel bar. The hotel was the site of an indiscretion long ago, but since we never went into the private room wing I had no flashblacks. We played "erotic" video games which frankly were pretty tame, but nonetheless a good time. I guess it's less geeky to play video games if there are words like "condom" involved.

We've had more fun dates in the last year than I've had dates (fun or otherwise) with men in the last two years. If only we were inclined toward each other, we could totally be girlfriends. Alas, I'm still heterosexual. (And so is she.)

Despite my recent paucity of real exercise, I seem to be getting a little bit of tendonitis in my ankle. I can't have advil right now. I need to figure some way of stopping it from getting worse without modern pharmacology.

I heard noise in the front hall tonight. Moments later I saw Andy running down the hall in his "stealth" posture. Clued in by previous incidents, I chased him down the hall. I found him crouched over my lib balm in the kitchen. Nothing small is safe in this house.

Yesterday I got Pluto's feet trimmed by the farrier. He was pretty decent for the first three feet, but at the fourth foot he absolutely refused to let the farrier finish. He pushed me all around trying to get away, and kicked at Jimmy. Jimmy was great with him. Despite the names he was calling Pluto, he kept his tone pleasant and finally managed to hold that last foot for a few moments. Jimmy will tell anybody he's the best farrier for a hundred miles, and yesterday he definitely lived up to his rep.

Then I followed Judy and Kate out to their new barn. It's *gorgeous*. Except for the vast quantity of hallway to be swept, I'd say it's a very functional barn. Fans all over the place, spacious stalls, easy access, good lighting, and amazingly easy access to the upper story. Usually there's a rickety ladder or scary narrow stairs, or even no direct access at all. This place has wide beautiful stairs. The only criticism I could draw is the lack of an arena to ride in, but that's probably just the dressage queen in me. That and it's in BFE.

I went to Eastern Market with Sweth and his friends Becky and Barrett yesterday. It was my first time. I thought it was going to be a huge open air market. That's what I get for thinking. It was pretty nifty, though. I must go next weekend and pick up lotsa fresh veggies.

One of the vendors was selling nuts with sugary stuff on them. I bought a small package to share. And then I bit down on one and it was pretty hard and it hurt. And now my tooth is sensitive to hot and cold. Sounds pretty conclusive to me. I think a dentist is in my near future. Fortunately my dentist is awesome.

I took Pluto for a hand walk yesterday. He was fine until we got 50 feet from the field, then it was all too scary.