Ok, one more post for today..

This story happened a while ago in Brisbane, and even though it sounds like an Alfred Hitchcock tale, it's true.

John Bradford, a Sydney University student, was on the side of the road hitch hiking on a very dark night and in the midst of a storm. The night was rolling on and no car went by. The storm was so strong he could hardly see a few feet ahead of him. Suddenly he saw a car, slowly coming towards him and stopped. John, desperate for shelter and without thinking about it, got in the car and closed the door, just to realize there was nobody behind the wheel and the engine wasn't on! The car started moving slowly. John looked at the road and saw a curve approaching. Scared, he started to pray, begging for his life. Then, just before he hit the curve, a hand appeared through the window and turned the wheel. John, paralysed with terror, watched how the hand appeared every time they came to a curve.

John saw the lights of a pub down the road so, gathering strength, jumped out of the car and ran to it. Wet and out of breath, he rushed inside and asked for two shots of tequila. He then started telling everybody about the horrible experience he went through.

A silence enveloped everybody when they realised he was crying and wasn't drunk.

About 15 minutes later, two guys walked into the same pub. They were also wet and out of breath. Looking around and seeing John Bradford sobbing at the bar, one said to the other, "Look, Bruce... here's the fucking idiot that got in the car while we were pushing it."

Chikenz

Chikenz
Originally uploaded by Julienne:).

Sent this picture to Matt and got this cute response! hehe.

m - "look at that nice horse with the chickenz on its head.. its being so good to let them sit there..."

I don't know why but I find animals on top of other animals' heads so funny.

Gone are the days I wake up at 11am and lounge around in my PJ's until past noon. Alas, I am back at work today.

I'm so glad I took the 2 extra days off of work after T-day. I really rested up and caught up on all my sleep. Today I resumed my schedule of waking up at 7am and I still feel like I woke up in a different time zone. I'm walking, I'm sitting at my desk, but I still feel like my innards are asleep.

Yesterday I did quite a bit of Xmas shopping, in person and online, and I'm now about 70% done with my Xmas list. I've never been this prepared so early.. I think I was motivated by Shelley. :) In any case, it feels nice to have some of that out of the way. I even sat and wrapped gifts last night. I'm debating returning stuff from Bath and Body Works and re-buying using the $10 off coupon I got yesterday. Hmm.. is it worth the extra $10? I would have to unwrap some stuff so I'm not sure yet. I got suckered into buying gift boxes from there.. if you go in there this Xmas, don't do it! Resist the pleasantly helpful salespeople I say!

I finally got in a decent ride on Monday before the storm hit. Isabella and I went up the big eucalyptus grove behind the pasture into the PG&E hills along this way overgrown trail. We went about 4-5 miles (most of which I had to lie down on Isabella's neck to get through all the brush) and finally we just couldn't go any further without some sort of hatchet to get us through the branches. I have a big scrape along the side of one thigh and a big bruise smack dab in the middle of the other one. War wounds. Riding back to the barn was fun in the rain- I was urging her on so we wouldn't get totally soaked and Isabella let loose and booked it.. yeehaw! Fun stuff. :) Rain's here now.. it'll be hard to get a nice ride in with the trails slick and muddy.

I have a bunch of items I want to sell on ebay.. maybe that'll be my project for the week!

Redondo Beach Pier

Redondo Beach Pier
Originally uploaded by Julienne:).

A crazy wild ride on my other horse.

Redondo beach pier - two dungeoness crabs one spider crab one lobster two frie

Redondo beach pier - two dungeoness crabs one spider crab one lobster two frie
Originally uploaded by Julienne:).

Dinner saturday 11-26-05

Note to self.. Crab season has begun. Let the crab feeds begin. YUMYUM. Apparently there is some sort of crab embargo going on. Hopefully that will resolve soon so we can get our crab on.

Fun in Petsmart

Fun in Petsmart
Originally uploaded by Julienne:).

China in her goggles and sneakers

Thought I felt better today, but the few hours that I was feeling somewhat decent must've been the time period where this bug was en route to my throat. What first was in my sinuses has now turned into a yucky dry cough. Ugh.

It doesn't help that I've had to be out at the barn the past few days, worrying about Isabella. Yesterday I turned her out of pasture (hooray, out of quarantine) but instead of trying to integrate herself into the existing herd, she's decided to create an Army of One, except in her case it's a Herd of One. She's hanging out by herself down the fenceline, wanting nothing to do with the other 6 horses sharing the 7 acre pasture. This behavior has totally perplexed me. I think she's looking for her old herd.. she had grown quite attached to them. But even still, she's normally a very herd-bound horse.. she loves her little family. But she doesn't seem to be taking to these new horses at all. The other horses are very mellow and fat, so they don't take much effort into running after her to gather her into the crowd. From what I've seen they just stand around the bottom food area and graze.. Isabella is losing a bit of weight, so I hope she ingratiates herself into the main herd soon so her weight will go up before the real winter season hits with the cold and rain.

Matt was sweet enough to come by Tuesday evening to take care of me.. not only did he buy me flowers over the weekend, but when he heard I was sick, he bought me Nyquil and soup.. as I lay invalid on the couch, he fixed me dinner and put my dishes away. Sweet boyfriend. :)

Found this video of Mark and his freshman roommate. It totally makes me happy in a non-gay kind of way.

At home sick today. Yesterday this cold hit me full tilt. I've been drugged up on Aleve Cold and Sinus and numerous Benadryl. Unfortunately I didn't get too great a night's sleep either because Miss China was up with massive diarrhea and wanted to get out every couple of hours. We're two pieces of work alright!

Ok, how did a $40 bridle turn out to be a $75 purchase? Ack!!

Some random person yahoo im'd me today..

abu_isa11: hi
abu_isa11: do u receive my
abu_isa11: business proposal?
yoinkminenow: yes, and it SUCKS!!
abu_isa11: how
abu_isa11: can u explain
abu_isa11: listen
abu_isa11: i have all the legal papers
abu_isa11: for it
abu_isa11: call me now
abu_isa11: or send ur number
yoinkminenow: no dude, it's a horrible proposal. rewrite it better and send it to me.
abu_isa11: how
yoinkminenow: i can't hardly understand what you're saying.
yoinkminenow: rewrite the thing
abu_isa11: ok go to the web site
abu_isa11: and confirm
yoinkminenow: no, i'm not going to do anything until you rewrite the proposal
abu_isa11: bye
yoinkminenow: i need you to validate your points and resubstantiate everything you've written
yoinkminenow: then we talk
abu_isa11: please am a busy man bye
yoinkminenow: good luck then. you'll never get anywhere with that poorly written proposal
abu_isa11: please stop disturbing me


Hahaha, back to work.

If you're a Verizon wireless customer, get free ring tones! 'Save as' to your computer, then mail them to @vzwpix.com.

So far I've downloaded:
Hooverphonic
We Be Burnin'
Few Depeche Mode songs
They by Jem
Gold Digger

A movie for you all to enjoy:

Condom Fun! (5 megs, might take a little while to load)

(sorry, it's not pornographic)

I have no idea why this is, but I'll take it if you're offering..

My blog is worth $7,903.56.
How much is your blog worth?

If your eyes follow the movement of the rotating pink dot, you will only see one color, pink.

If you stare at the black + in the center, the moving dot turns to green .

Now, concentrate on the black + in the center of the picture. After a short period of time, all the pink dots will slowly disappear, and you will only see a green dot rotating.

I joined an endurance club this year called the Quicksilver Endurance Riders. Mainly it's a northern california club that puts on various endurance and fun rides, and a good way to network with other endurance horsey folk. More recently in their monthly newsletters, they've had a feature called 'Member's Profile' where they publish a Q/A about a fellow club member. I was going through the questions and one of the questions was: What are your goals? I thought about this for a while. I don't ride to race.. Isabella and I aren't going to come in first or even top ten at a ride anytime soon. For some people, their ultimate goal is to ride a world famous 100 mile ride in California, the Tevis Race. I'm way too wimpy to do that. Up to 24 hours on a horse? No thank you. So I thought about who I admire in the sport.. I admire those that take care of their horses. I admire those that ride their horses with the hopes that there will be many more miles between them. It made me recall a quote from a prominent endurance vet:

The fine line between life and death for your horse is an extremely fine one. An astute rider will get a feeling from the horse long before any outside person, like a veterinarian, could ever hope to. Pay attention to what the horse is telling you and don't ride past your horses capabilities. Don't even think about testing the limits until you have the experience to know the answer to all of the questions yourself. David Nicholson, DVM

There is an "unofficial" recognition with the AERC that highlights the horse and rider team that have ridden in a 50 mile ride at least once each year for 10 years. The Decade Team Horse & Rider. Yes, that's the goal I want for me and Isabella!

I told Matt this recently and he gave me his encouragement.. but also mentioned, 10 years from now I'll be 38 years old. (Eeek, 38?!) He said I may have to take a few years off when I decide to make babies.. but heck, there are women riders out there that ride when they're pregnant.. There are women riders out there with infants that breastfeed their kids during vet check breaks! I'm not going to allow a small obstacle to get in the way.. all it'll do is add to the challenge of meeting my goal. :) 1 year down, 9 to go!

The Peach Random Gentle Love Master (RGLMf) Playful, kind, and well-loved, you are The Peach. For such a warm-hearted, generous person, you're surprisingly experienced in both love and sex. We credit your spontaneous side; you tend to live in the moment, and you don't get bogged down by inhibitions like most women your age. If you see something wonderful, you confidently embrace it. Your exact opposite: The Nymph Deliberate Brutal Sex Dreamer You are a fun flirt and an instant sweetheart, but our guess is you're becoming more selective about long-term love. It's getting tougher for you to become permanently attached; and a guy who's in a different place emotionally might misunderstand your early enthusiasm. You can wreck someone simply by enjoying him. Your ideal mate is adventurous and giving, like you. But not overly intense. DREAD: The False Messiah CONSIDER: The Loverboy, The Playboy, or The Boy Next Door Link: The 32-Type Dating Test by OkCupid - Free Online Dating.

Bert You scored 72% Organization, 38% abstract, and 52% extroverted!

This test measured 3 variables. You are very organized, both concrete and abstract, and both introverted and extroverted. Here is why are you Bert. You are both very organized. You almost always know where your belongings are and you prefer things neat. You may even enjoy cleaning and find it therapeutic. Bert is a big neat freak and gets quite annoyed when Ernie makes a big mess. You both are sometimes concrete and sometimes abstract thinkers. Bert is probably a bit more concrete in his bottlecap collecting addiction and his love of the weather. He does show his abstract side when he sings and performs his "Doin' The Pidgeon" song. You have a good balance in your life. You know when to be logical at times, but you also aren't afraid to explore your dreams and desires... within limits of course. You are both somewhat introverted. Bert is probably more introverted, because he spends most of his time either with Ernie or alone. Still he has no problem being around other people in his role as chairman of "The National Association of 'W' Lovers." Like Bert, you probably like to have some time to yourself, but you do appreciate spending time with your friends, and you aren't scared of social situations.

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 88% on Organization You scored higher than 18% on concrete-abstra You scored higher than 34% on intro-extrovert

Link: The Your SESAME STREET Persona Test written by greencowsgomoo on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Fascinating series of articles on the Golden Gate Bridge and suicide attempts on SF Gate..

Here ya go, my Lake Sonoma 50 ridestory!

My first 50!