Thursday, October 22, 2009

Hidy Hoooo friends in Blogland!!!!

Well just what the heck anyway!!?? I've managed to escape from under the gigantic rock I've been hiding under for the past 6 or 7 weeks and come up for a little air...and say hello to all my long lost buddies here. Whew!! I have to admit that I'm kind of a tired gal. It's been a whirlwind of a summer and now that we're 1/3 of the way through fall (can you believe that!!??) already, I am going to try and sloooow down a little and get back into some sort of routine here.



The last time I posted anything here on my blog was a day or so before we left for our Hawaiian vacation. We had a blast! Hawaii was absolutely gorgeous and we loved it. And of course, we want to go back. Imagine that! It is everything it's supposed to be...and a bag of chips.



We went to the island of Oahu, which is the most populated island, home of Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Waikiki Beach, Diamond Head, World-famous North Shore (home of the big waves), the Dole Pineapple Plantation, Hanauma Bay (unbelievably, breathtakingly beautiful), which is world famous for seriously cool snorkeling...and probably a whole bunch of other places I have either forgotten or don't even know about. Whatever. We had so much fun, soaked up so much sunshine, ate so much wonderful food, took so many beautiful pictures, shopped till we dropped, attended a wedding and subsequent after-wedding party, took an ocean boat ride, snorkeled and of course...swam with the dolphins!!!!! One of my all-time coolest things ever. I also drank many, many MaiTais...and yes, one of them even had a little umbrella in it. Truely. I took a picture of it just so you'd all believe me.



One of these days very, hopefully, very soon I'll start uploading my pictures and post some of them here. This past summer has been so very busy. We attended 3 weddings and 4 wedding receptions/parties, went horse camping, our vacation, a few weekend roadtrips and all the usual summer stuff of working, gardening, yardwork, trying to accomplish the ever-increasingly long list of "honey do's"...and who knows what else. I'm telling you - seriously - I'm ready for a nice, long winter's nap. I should have been a bear.



But, as the poem goes...we have miles to go before we sleep. I still have a fairly lengthy list of things that I'd like to accomplish before we get too much deeper into the winter doldrums. Probably won't, but we're trying nonetheless. Last weekend, we added a couple more tons of hay to our quickly shrinking stockpiled supply. This coming weekend, we're heading to eastern Oregon for an Adventist's Horsemen's officers retreat south of Pendleton at a place called Ritter Hot Springs. I can't wait...hot tubs here I come!!!



I'm also up to my eyeballs dealing with Golden Bond Rescue of Oregon. Yes, that's right - we're trying to adopt a Golden Retriever. Like we need another animal around our place...but whatever, we love dogs. And, Annie would probably really enjoy having a companion. Anyway, it is far more complicated than I ever would have imagined. Sheesh!! You'd think we were trying to adopt a real child or something. I am feeling totally inadequate and completely incapable of having a dog. All the questions...you just can't imagine!! We have an adoption coordinator (our very own) and our next step is a home inspection. You know, to see if we and our house measure up. I'm starting to feel just a little paranoid, I have to admit. Then...I guess we'll have to add fixing the hole in the fence to our list of "to do's". Like I said--it just keeps getting longer and longer...



And...we're trying to get a woodstove installed in our kitchen before December 31st, so we can get the tax credit on this year's taxes. Okay, I think I'm getting a little headache right between my eyes.



Our horse riding club's Harvest Party is next weekend on Halloween. We're pressing apple cider, having a potluck and playing softball in the arena. I may just feel like vegging around the bonfire, but we'll see. I'm really not complaining, really I'm not...well, maybe a little. I've been enjoying all the socializing and accomplishments and everything, but I'm getting very tired right about now. I visualize laying on the couch, remote in hand...for days

We interrupt our regular programming to let you know that Blogville had a problem. I went home and got some sleep.

Fast forward to the present folks...(no, I am not on drugs!!)

Seriously, today is Monday October 26, 2009 and I'm A-okay - really, I am!! We have just returned from our riding club officer's meeting in Ritter Hot Springs last weekend. Very cool place!! But, that's another whole post in itself. I got some really great fall color pics to share with you all here. But, the point is that I started this post last Wednesday evening, I think and was not able to publish my entry...so, long story made short...I've just finished and updated you all on my crazy goings-on.

Please forgive me.

Blessings from cingspots. :)

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Welcome back - hope to hear more from you soon!

Sherry Sikstrom said...

Hey Girl! glad to see you are back ! I hear you on th super busy stuff, the time just runs on by!

Carolynn Anctil said...

Oh my goodness, you ARE busy! Wait a second...I need to catch my breath. I'm a bit worn out just reading about your to-do lists.

lol...I know exactly what you're talking about regarding your dog adoption process. It's crazy the hoops one has to jump through to adopt an animal. I suppose it's a good thing though. I'm in favour of having strong advocates for our animal friends. I have no doubt that we'll be seeing pictures...yes?....of a new pup very soon!

lytha said...

hey, i've been there, and seen all those places!

did you eat dole whip? the pineapple sorbet? mmmmm dole whip.

i snorkled in hanauma bay and was so scared of all the fish swarming me! but then i saw the famous fish of hawaii, the one with the super long name, you know, and it was like my spirit guide, calming me down. so many colors on that fish! i'd never been snorkling before, and breathing underwater was really hard for me to learn. not instinctive!

diamond head hike, local restaurants with bands, biking around the shores talking to surfers, i love it! shopping for cheap cool jewelery, listening to the conch every night at 6...

pearl harbor, tossing flowers in the water, looking at the arizona with bodies still inside, very somber place.

i loved the warm pacific ocean, and the white shelly sand.

my parents rent a room for a month every year at the ilikai hotel on waikiki beach, and they let me visit twice. i am NOT a beach person, but i love honolulu!

pics please!

~lytha

Vaquerogirl said...

Glad you are back! Can't wait to see all the pics you took!

Chelsi said...

Glad to see you back. We need pics for sure!!! I wish I had a honey-do list! Need to get to work on that one. I SOOOOO know what you are talking about with private adoption groups. On one hand I think it is great, on the other I know of three AWESOME homes that dont meet the techinical criteria for adoption (one was a farm (no fence), the other two never got a reply on her applications.) There is a fine line between doing the best thing for the dog and being so over critical that you make the adopter feel like a criminal! Good Luck!!!

LuLo Designs/Blue Eyed Tango said...

Hi there, great to hear you're alive, thought maybe something happened....guess it did....LIFE! Sounds crazy busy...me too riding my 3 yr. old horse nearly every day! It's been hard but very rewarding and lots of fun! Hope things slow down for you...come on by when you get a chance! Can't wait to see your pics! Luanne

gtyyup said...

So glad to hear from you...what a FULL summer you've had!! And, it wasn't all work either!

It'll be great to see your pics of Hawaii...as I sit here with the snow falling...I'm sad that summer and fall are gone~~

hayseed said...

It's great to be busy-but don't wear yourself out-and I'm looking forward to your Hawaii pics!

Laura said...

Welcome back - a little belated but what can we do?? Sounds like you guys had a great time in Hawaii and doing all of your other events/weddings etc.

Can't wait to see a few pics!

June said...

I'm glad to have a new post from you! I was gettin' a little bit jealous every time I came over here and saw that Hawaii picture. :-P

My response, to your inquiry about getting rid of The Dastardly Shoulds, is up.

Lori Skoog said...

Sounds like you have been taking full advantage of life! Look forward to viewing your photos.

Melanie said...

Hey there! It sounds like you have been busy lately too....
What happened to the summer??? :)

Gklad to hear that you are going on vacations, riding those gorses, and rescuing dogs. Someone has got to do it, right??? :)

Lisa said...

It's great to hear from you and I am looking forward to seeing your pictures when you have the chance to get them on here. I hope the adoption goes through for you - how wonderful you are going to give a pup in a need a good home.
It's hard to believe it's almost the holidays again.
Lisa

Lea and her Mustangs said...

Oh its good to hear from you. I love Hawaii. I swear I am going back someday. Will love your pictures. Am glad you got some riding in among all the other stuff this summer.

allhorsestuff said...

GREAT...the trip finally happend...was wondering about it.casue you really really did do a good job of not mentioning it...I thought(sadly) that maybe it had gotten cancelled NOPERS!!!
Pictures Please!
So happy for you!
KK