Matt has been bugging me to post a new bloggy entry so here ya go.

I've been completely unmotivated to write anything here since the vakay.. (also unmotivated to do anything around the house, as evidenced by the stack of dishes in the sink and the suitcase and laundry sitting in my living room). When I need a pair of socks instead of my dresser drawer, I just go to my suitcase sitting next to the coffee table. :)

I also have a ton of photographs from the vacation to load up on flickr for your viewing pleasure. Maybe this weekend I'll get around to it.

The main reason why Matt wants me to write is so he can say that he saw Eva Pigford (winner of America's Next Top Model) on our last day in Florida. We were on our way towards the Delray Beach Affaire, a huge art fair in downtown Delray Beach, when he saw her with two male friends walking along Main Street. I only saw the side of her head so I didn't get a clear look, but it's very possible it could've been her.

Hooray, the sun is out and birds are chirping outside. One bird this morning was right outside my window this morning with what I could've sworn was his rendition of Peanut Butter Jelly Time. I was very amused. Yesterday I got in a really great training ride with Isabella. She was very PO'd that I took her away from her dinner, plus she's in raging heat so she was whinnying and flipping her tail up(very embarrasingly for me) every time we got near any horses. She wanted anything hooved within a mile radius to know that she was ready and available for use. When we reached the top of the hill where we looked down into her old pasture, she let out this humungous buck and crow up into the air (where all 4 feet leave the ground) and just about deseated me.. bad horsey! The rest of the ride went without incident and it was fun to see her so lively and interested in where we were going.

That's it for now.. tomorrow we go to Andrea's house for dinner to see her and her adorable baby, Shelby, then Saturday we help Merima and John move to their new house. Later!

Matt and I arrived in Florida bleary eyed and tired after a long red eye with a connecting flight in Chicago. The first flight from SFO to Chicago took about 4 1/2 hours and we had a chatty kathy behind us - a man who was determined to talk the whole way to his old old mother who was going bald and didn't give a shit about what he was saying. The second flight from Chicago to Ft Lauderdale we managed to get in a few zz's but were stuck in the seats behind the only noisemaker on the flight - a baby that cried THE WHOLE 2 1/2 HOURS. ugh. I felt for the parents, but I felt more for us. :) After Matt's parents picked us up we drove to Delray Beach and slept for about 5 hours. We met up with his family and had a really lovely Easter dinner at a fancy country club(we hadn't eaten for about 24 hours and were starving!).

My most favorite parts of the trip so far have been the following:
1. On the plane Matt had a freakishly long nosehair that he gave me permission to pluck (the first and most likely last time I'm allowed this priveledge). I grabbed a hold and with great zeal I made an attempt to pull out the errant hair. Unfortunately all I succeeded in was to cause a great deal of nose pain for my boy and for the next 5 minutes all he could say was, "WHY???? WHY?????????? OH WHY??????" and he retreated back into his window seat. hehehehe.

2. After dinner Matt and I said goodnight to his parents and proceeded up the outdoor stairs to our room on the second floor. After many altitude changes and a full dinner I was feeling quite gassy. Matt, ever the gentleman, allowed me up the stairs first. About 1/4 way up the stairs I emitted the largest, longest fart of my entire life. It sounded like an elephant had trumpeted through the African plains. The Great Fart echoed through the stairway and I imagine his parents heard even with their door closed. It was so great.. I laughed so hard I barely made it to the room.

I felt so out of sorts this morning. With this Florida trip coming on and with so many things to do, one would think I'd be overwhelmed, but it's been more like a faint voice in the back of head reminding me of stuff I need to do. Last night however, I dreampt I got sick and slept through my alarm until noon, not telling work that I wasn't coming in. Very irresponsible considering there was a department meeting this morning. I hate that feeling that I'm not being responsible and disappointing people. That, combined with all the stuff I need to do this afternoon (work out, see Isabella, go to Petsmart to return some horsey stuff, laundry), made me feel strange in my skin when I woke up this morning. I crawled back into bed and asked a sleeping Matt to hug me tight for a while until I felt centered again.

There are so many things to do today, tomorrow, Saturday before we leave.. I'm trying to take it a moment at a time, not trying to get too freaked and stressed about everything. It'll be nice to see Miss Isabella tonight.. when I can get centered again.

Aside from dodging feathered terrorists, life has been pretty quiet. I've been burning about a tank of gas each week having to go down through highway 92 to circumvent the Devil's Slide closure, which has brought traffic back into my life. On Monday I tried going through 92 earlier and working out in Half Moon Bay to see if traffic was lighter, but it made no difference at all. I did manage to get a good ride in (the first in a while!) before the storm hit yesterday. Isabella was pissed off I took her away from her dinner and made her work instead of being a trail poke for a change, and exhibited her fussiness by being generally crazy, bucking/leaping around, and trotting with her head up in the air. I've pretty much decided that the saddle that I thought was a 'good enough' fit isn't quite 'good enough' and I'll be trying out yet another saddle when I get back from Florida next week.

Ohh, Florida. Matt and I will be leaving Saturday on a red eye that will get into West Palm Beach on Easter morning. I'm looking forward to just relaxing and not thinking about work for a while, although I am a bit stressed about leaving China and Isabella behind. Merima will be China/housesitting for me (thankyouthankyouthankyou!) and Isabella will be checked on by my horsey friend Erin. It's always hard leaving your babies behind.. I'm going to miss my little girls!

I haven't been going through my American Idol recap so here it is:
Bucky - ugh, his voice is so awful and sharp. Why are the judges so nice to him? He needs to go..
Ace - he needs to go too. His voice is really nasally and yucky. Is it just me or does he look like Samantha's bf on Sex and the City?
Kellie - she's growing on me.. the dumb blond thing was really annoying at first, but her voice is charming and I enjoyed her performance last night.. badass.
Katheryn - she was my favorite for a long time.. I still like her, but Kellie may be replacing her as my girl favoriate
Taylor - my guy favorite. I loved his performance last night.. he's so quirkly and wierd, especially when he tried to kick the mic stand and missed. hilarious.
Chris - he's good but getting overhyped for my tastes. but he's a cutie.
Elliot - does the guy ever sing a bad note? too bad his teeth are messed up.
Paris - she needs to go. she bugs the hell out of me.

At the new barn there is a guinea hen named Eleanor. She looks kind of like this except pure white.

She is an evil bird with a beady little eye.. if you're ever looking for watchdog, just purchase one of these birds. The moment I step on the ranch this little bird stares at me (she has to turn her head to stare out of one beady little eye at a time) and follows me around, just waiting to strike out at me. She has already instilled Teh phEar in China, who now will wait by the truck and refuses to go any further into Eleanor's territory. Nan, the barn manager, has even given China full priveledges to eat this little bird if she wants to.. but given Teh phEar, I don't think this will happen anytime soon.

It's just amazing how one little tiny animal, whose brain is probably no larger than this: O can instill such terror. I've shaken my finger at it, thrown leaves at it, and yelled at it, but alas, this little poultry has *no* fear and has no qualms about chasing me around screaming my fool head off.

Damn.. ya'll caught me. I tried something different this year with my mom (after believing over and over again that I was pregnant on April 1st, she's finally caught on), and she didn't even believe me. Man, I'm losing my touch..

Anyways, I sent out this big long email to my horsey friends to sum up what happened this past weekend.. instead of writing it again, here it is in all its cut/paste glory:

Well, Isabella certainly gave me the scare of a lifetime this past weekend.

I moved her from Ember Ridge to her new home at Morning STar Ranch on Saturday.
The move went smoothly (other than having to have the tractor at Ember Ridge
pull the truck/trailer out of a muddy parking spot). Isabella settled into the
new pasture and when we left her on Saturday she was calling out but didn't
seem too upset.

Sunday morning at 8:30 (after staying out until 2-3am the night before, the
first time we've gone out in like, a year), I got a call from Nan the barn
manager, "Uhmm.. do you have your horse? If not, she's missing!!"

Sherrif's department was called, Julie from Ember Ridge was called, Terry from
Shamrock was called, I ran out of the house and drove around Montara, searching
for her. Got a garbled message from Terry at Shamrock (where we boarded for a
year before we moved to Ember ridge for 4 months), ".. You're welcome to come
back to Shamrock and stay.. (somethingsomething) We can put Isabella in a
stall.. (somethingsomething)." I guess I heard what I wanted to hear because I
hooked up the trailer and sped over to Shamrock.

When I got there, Isabella wasn't anywhere to be found. Rita was there and
bless her heart, offered Lodi for me to go trekking through the trails to
search for her.

Just as I was about to head out, I recieved a call from Julie at Ember Ridge..
Jose, the caretaker at both Ember Ridge and Ocean View, had Isabella at Ocean
View (for those not that familiar with the area, Ocean View is the ranch before
Shamrock). I held it together pretty well up to that point, but just the
relief that she was found made me break down and I had a pretty good cry at
that point (thanks again to Rita for giving me a well needed hug!!)

What a morning.. Isabella was pooped and hungry when I picked her up. I got a
call from Nan this morning saying Isabella was safe and sound in her pasture
today. I think I had about 100 heart attacks and aged about 20 years this past
weekend.. thank God she wasn't hurt and we found her! And Hooray for happy
endings..

p.s. Isabella let herself out by putting her head through the gate then lifting it off its hinges. The hinges have now been replaced by monstrous screws that she can't budge. They usually have the ranch gate closed as well but by happenchance that was left open at the time Isabella decided to leave the premises.

I'm blogging from Vegas, Baby, Vegas! Matty and I just decided on a spur of the moment to fly to Vegas and get hitched. Screw all the getting engaged and waiting forever to get married.. we did it! It was quite interesting.. I didn't have a white dress per se, so I just wore my cargo's and a tank.. and I was walked down the little white chapel by Elvis.

Good times..