We're still alive...

Tyler's birthday party was great! I sent 14 invitations to his classmates, and only two of them showed. What is it with these people?? It worked out well, though. The party room we had was probably too small for all the kids to fit into. Our neighbors and their daughter were there, another couple that we know through them, and their daughter and her family. Their son is one of Tyler's good buddies. All in all, it was a fun time, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Tyler got some nice gifts, and was a very happy boy. We did take pictures, but they're still on the camera (which is new) and I don't know how to download them yet. When Marc gets to it, I'll post the photos for you.

The weather here got cold...I know...wah, wah, wah. It's cold for us! It's sad when I think 57 degrees is warm! It got into the lower 20's a couple of nights; folks are saying it hasn't been this cold this early in the year in decades.

I'm working both jobs right now. I'm at the barn 2-3 days a week, and at work 2-3 days. I kind of adjust my schedule based on what I want to accomplish, and where. I love that it's so flexible!

I'm selling my horse trailer. Sigh. I love this trailer. I bought it when we lived in DE, from my best friend Stephanie. This trailer has moved our stuff a couple of times, and hauled Ranger a lot, to shows and trail rides. Suddenly, the Old Fart decided he wasn't getting in it anymore. I think it's a combination of things...he's physically bulked up, and therefore wider in the butt and shoulder, so he may feel cramped, and he's been in other trailers that are bigger and lighter-colored inside, so he may have just discovered a preference. Either that, or he's being a 24 year old, spoiled and stubborn horse who gets pretty much whatever he wants.

So, my little trailer is officially for sale, and I'm shopping for a bigger one. The great thing is that I have all the time in the world to wait for "the" trailer for me; our barn owner has a trailer that I'm allowed to use whenever I need to. That's great, because it takes the pressure off.

School continues to be great for Tyler; on his last progress report, he aced everything (again). The other day, he sounded out the word "brilliant". I thought that was quite ironic...

Marc's official package (resume) for his application for promotion to Major goes up in December. It'll take a few months to find out if he made it or not, and then it'll take forever until he pins on the new rank and starts getting the paycheck. I know he'll get promoted; he always freaks out with these things because there are limited slots available, and he's competing with all the other Captains in the AF that are eligible at the same time. I read the letter that his commander wrote for his recommendation, and he basically said they'd be stupid NOT to promote Marc. So, I think it's pretty much in the bag. I'll keep you posted...

For those of you that are American Idol fans, here's some advice: go buy the new David Cook CD! It came out last Tuesday, and I bought it at WalMart for $14. I am NOT kidding you when I tell you that I LOVE every song on it! He did a wonderful job on the album, and I would've paid a bunch more money to get it. Needless to say, he needs to go on tour so I can see him perform live! I also love the new David Archuletta song, but have not purchased the CD yet.

Marc is hunting this weekend. He was really excited...he hasn't been deer hunting since we lived in SD!! He's with our neighbor, George, and another friend of George's, down at the farm. They left Friday after work, and return Sunday afternoon. I know George got two deer right off the bat, but last I heard, Marc and Elvis were still sitting in the tree stands waiting. Our cell phone gets no service down there, so I have to wait until Marc gets home to find out how he did. I don't mind the hunting...I just don't want to eat it. It's like fishing...I can bait my own hook and cast my own line...I can even clean it myself if I have to...I enjoy fishing...but I'm not eating that nasty thing!

I'm off to bed. Tyler and I went to see a movie tonight...Madagascar 2...totally hilarious! We loved it; but now I'm exhausted and ready for sleep!

A picture of Ranger

This was taken a week and a half ago, on our ride through Tuskegee National Park.

I'm going to steal one of those "wide load" signs off a semi truck and paste it to his ass...

I figured it out!!

Not that it was that hard, but I didn't know where to start! So, here's the picture of Marc and Tyler....AKA Buzz Lightyear and Woody!!

I'm such a slacker!

Okay, so I routinely check the blogs of my friends, and am always so sad when they haven't posted anything lately. Yeah. Then I realized I hadn't posted anything either. Slacker!

Things have been good here. Marc and Tyler had a wonderful time at Halloween...Tyler was Buzz Lightyear and Marc was Woody. They were so cute! I wasn't home...I was at the barn for the party and costume contest. Ranger was a bumblebee. People really enjoyed his cute costume, and Ranger didn't really care that he had pipecleaner and pom-pom antennae attached to the top of his halter. I was walking him around the arena for the "parade", and I asked him if he thought he should learn how to "buzz"; I'm not kidding you when he shook his head NO!!! Too funny...I swear he's part human.

Marc's feet were doing well with the new orthotics, but are bothering him again. This poor guy just can't get a break! So, he'll probably have to schedule another appointment with the podiatrist. The good thing is that the doctor is AWESOME, so we know he'll continue to do whatever he can to make Marc more comfortable. I told Marc he just needs to ask for a bilateral foot transplant and get it over with!

Tyler and I got our flu shots today...talk about one sad little boy. It went very quickly, and he freaked out because he saw the needle right before it made contact with his shoulder, but overall did better than I expected. I thought he'd try to crawl into my shirt with me to get away from the Mean Nurse.

Tyler continues to read like a champ! He's sounding out words that I never thought he'd be able to, and he's amazing both us and his teacher.

On a crappy note (or good, depending on how you look at it), Tyler does NOT qualify for PT and OT services through the school system. Apparently he's too good. At first I was really, really pissed, because they're supposed to provide services for those who need it. Then, after some explanation, I realized that he doesn't qualify because his limitations do not affect him academically. He can perform virtually all of the tasks he encounters in the classroom, he can participate in P.E. and out on the playground. Outside, on the play equipment, he shows that he understands his limitations, and recognizes the need for personal safety...he won't go on anything, or up anything, that he's not comfortable with or doesn't have help with. So, his self preservation skills are quite sharp, and therefore he's not in any danger of hurting himself.

So, back we go to the hospital on the other side of town (20 minutes one way) once a week for therapy. We do what we have to do of course, but damn! It would have been really nice for him to get services at the school. It would've saved us time and gas. Ho hum.

I am extremely pleased that he's doing so well. One thing the school OT said was that his left arm/hand are about as good as they're ever going to get. That ticked off both Marc and me. Neither one of us will accept her opinion; we've seen Tyler come way too far in almost 6 years, and we know he can continue to improve. What bothers me about her comment is this: what if she says that to parents who aren't as involved with their child's issues as we are? Do they just take her opinion as "gospel" and give up on their child? I understand that she may not want to tell parents to expect miracles with the therapy, but good Lord! You can't say that's as good as a kid is going to get...how do you know that??!!!!! Can you tell that it really bothered me??!!!

Breathe....

The weather here has been wonderful...low to mid seventies during the day and in the fifties at night. We haven't had much rain, but are expecting some this Friday.

Speaking of Friday....it's our 10th anniversary!! Can you believe this man has put up with me for ten years already! It seems like yesterday when we got married...jeez, time flies. We'll go out for dinner Friday night (we'll take Tyler with us), and then on Saturday Tyler is going to our neighbor's house for the day...and we're going on a big honkin' trail ride! Yes, Marc is finally going to go with me on a psycho-crazy ride. He's borrowing one of the horses from the barn and I'll be riding Ranger. The last time I went to this place is when Ranger ran my right ankle into a tree and then slid downhill into the trees...and wound up wearing me around his neck like a scarf. My ankle is still screwed up from that! I'm really excited that Marc is going with us...now he'll see that I'm not embellishing the details about these rides. I think he'll have a lot of fun, and it'll be awesome for him to see what Ranger and I can do together.

I have officially completed ALL of my Christmas shopping. Scary, huh? I had to order some stuff for Tyler's birthday, so I decided to save myself some shipping costs later and just get everything now. I cannot explain to you how relieved I am that it's done already. I'm sure the UPS and FedEx guys are going to think I'm nuts...

So, Tyler's birthday is on a Thursday this year, so we're having his first official true-blue birthday party on Saturday! I'm so excited! It's a Scooby-Doo party; that's what he picked. We're holding it at the local mom-n-pop pizza place, and let me tell you, what a deal that is! For six one-topping pizzas and three pitchers of soda, it's $36!! Additional pizzas are $8 and pitchers of soda are $3. We can decorate the area any way we want, and there's a game room for the kids to play in after they eat. There's also an all-you-can-eat buffet for anyone who wants that instead of pizza...and the place will only charge $8 per person. I'm pretty sure I've spent more on the decorations/supplies than I will on the facility/food.

Side note: Mom and Dad, it's the pizza place you went to with us here in Millbrook.

I'm working at the barn more these days than I am with my neighbors. It's a "dry" time of year for the type of work we do, so the work for me is scarce right now. So, I spend those extra days at the barn, working off my board. In the spring, though, I'll be stupid-busy, and will probably be lucky to get to the barn twice a week!

I'm going to post this now, and then dork around a while to see if I can figure out how to post pictures...