One month in ...

... and 19 lbs. down!  Plenty more to go.  But what better way to celebrate than sushi for dinner with my gorgeous son (who lost about 80 lbs. himself), and a drink with a drop-dead gorgeous firefighter/cowboy?

Looking forward to a great day!  ;-)

My New Hat!

Thank you Designs by Kar Kar!

I love you, Jeff.

And I SO wish I could tell you that.  Even though that's the last thing I said to you, I would literally give my left arm for one more day with you.  It's been a year, and it's hard to believe.  The pain is as raw as if it was yesterday. 

I want you back.  I just plain want you back.  That's all.

Cowboy Campground!

Colleen came down this weekend, and Emily and I took her horseback riding up in Idaho City.  We camped out at the Cowboy Campground ... what a cool place!  It has corrals, water for the horses, an arena to work the horses in, a round pen, etc.  Loved it!  We will definitely be going back soon.

I didn't have a camera on me, so I just snapped a couple of lousy photos with my phone.  I'll spare you those. 

In the meantime, I sold my other saddle, and got myself a killer deal on a Circle Y trail saddle, which I love!  Seems to be fitting Kahlua really well also.

The job is keeping me busy, and I'm doing pretty well with changing my eating habits.  Feels good to be down a few pounds and fit into some jeans that haven't fit me in months!  Very encouraging. 

More later.

J

KIVA ... Again ...

Hey Kiva, look!  You get to have yet another litter, even though you suck on stock! 

YOUR NEW LITTER

Why is that?  I'm not sure.  Probably because there are people out there breeding Border Collies for everything under the sun except working ability.

Sad.

Again, I'm so sorry, Kiva.  I wish I had it to do all over again.  How different things would be.

Jump Creek

I can't keep up with this thing.  Now that I'm gone all day, I cram in what little I can during the couple of hours of daylight I have when I get home.  And those couple of hours shorten every day. 

Went to jump creek the other evening.  What a gorgeous place!  It's too bad it burned recently, but what was nice about that was the road that was created for all of the heavy equipment.  I'm not sure what they're using, but it's a big hungry thing, and it eats everything in its path, and leaves nice, soft dirt behind.

Took a few pics with my phone, but they don't do the canyon any justice.  Wish we could have gone straight into the canyon, but it's too rocky and it you end up at a dead end.  So, instead, we went up to the top and looked down into it.

Like I said, the photos do it no justice. 

I have Jaenne's camera, which she loaned me, but there are times when I forget to take it with me.  I think I am going to splurge on a nice compact camera that I can throw in my cantle bag that will hopefully get me some decent shots.  I can't take my DSLR out (I could ... but don't want to deal with packing it), and besides, my son is having way too much fun with it.  He's way more talented and knows how to use that camera to its fullest.  Maybe I'll have him take some photos of Kahlua and I when I lose some more weight.

Sold my saddle.  Now I'm on the hunt for something a bit lighter weight.  The other one, while I love it, was a beast to handle.  I didn't expect to be riding as much as I am, and I need something I can toss around a bit better.

Have more photos from a ride into the Owyhees we took last week, but don't have time to post them right now.  Will try this weekend.

J

To Sheep or Not To Sheep

Yup, we're here. 

Now that I'm back to work, I don't have any desire to work anyone else's dogs but my own.  Do I need to keep sheep to do that?  Nope.  I can just pay for a lesson or some dirt time and call it good.  No de-worming, no rotating pastures, no lambing, no selling rams, no hassle, nada.  You've also got the ungrateful city slickers who think you owe them something.  If these people really feel that way, then why don't they get out of their cutesy little comfort zones, buy a home with acreage, fence it, put some sheep on it, and manage it, and see how easy it is? 

Yeah, I didn't think so.

So rather than going out of my way anymore to help people with this (at times, not even a "thank you" comes of it), I'm going to decide how many sheep I'm going to keep, if any at all, and just keep them for myself, and refer everyone else out to other trainers in the area.  This may change in the future, but for right now, I'm a bit burned out on it.

The horse thing has been so much more enjoyable for me.  Going places I've wanted to go for a very long time, and without the hassle of dragging a drunk along with me.  I love the relationship between Kahlua and I.  It's fun, yet challenging, as she tests me every step of the way. 

It's amazing how much my life has changed over the last year or so.  Some for the good, some not so good.  I miss my brother like crazy.  Still.  And will forever, I'm sure.  I now know first hand how hard it is being unemployed for an extended period of time and have no interest in doing that again.  This was the first year in a long time that I didn't go to any of the concert at any of the fairs.  I don't know that I missed the fairs in particular, but there was an aspect of the summer concerts that I missed a great deal this year, but that's only because I fucked that all up when I let some whiskey make a decision for me last summer.  Such is life.