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. :)