Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Typing Again....

I'm back to sitting at the kitchen table.
This time though, I printed off the
source document so I'm not trying to read
off my laptop.
Still typing on Rod's laptop though.
It has a larger keyboard.

This time I'm typing up a log of all 
the town's resolutions and ordinances
going back to 1989!

It's pretty interesting!

And fun to see myself being appointed
to the committee I used to be on.

Meanwhile,
I got a phone call from my teaching boss.
He was HAPPY to hear I was 
currently sitting on my couch
doing NOTHING.
(ok, I was eating breakfast,
but since it was 10:30 in the morning
I didn't want to cop to that... lol)

He asked me to drive to South Miami
(yikes)
on Thursday afternoon and spend
Friday through Monday attending
the school of another instructor.

I'm going to learn how to use the company's
new e-Logic where the student is 
assigned a QR code (those funny looking
little stamp things) on their phone 
when they register for the class.
Then when they arrive, all they have
to do is tap their phone to my iPad
and presto! They are all signed in!

Eliminates all the paperwork!
Also eliminates all the "I was here on time,
you can't dock me 5 hours for being late!"
It timestamps when you tap.
No arguing anymore!

And the other instructor is FUNNY!
So it will be a treat to sit in her class
and watch how she teaches the same
stuff that I teach.
(And shamelessly steal some of it, I'm sure!)

I feel a little bad for her though.
I'm the most "senior" instructor
(except Barbara who has been teaching 
since the earth cooled, but she doesn't travel...)
and I imagine it can be intimidating to have
someone like that in your classroom,
watching your every move.
I try REALLY hard to not be,
but I've had other instructors watch me,
and it doesn't matter how nice they are.
It's intimidating!!!

Anyhow.

I'm going to spend the 4 days with her.
Then the last 2 weekends of the month
I'll implement what I learned in MY class.

And then starting in June they are going
to start sending the other instructors
to my class (one or two at a time) so they
can also be trained on the new system.

I think it's going to be FUN!

But I'm going to be out of town for 5 days.
So I'd better get finished typing!

BYE!

Sunday, April 29, 2018

A Quick Thought

I'm sitting here at the front of the room.
Full of hopeful "young" folks
preparing to take my class final.

We've covered all the material.
We've laughed.
We've shared.
We've learned.
We've talked about EVERYTHING
insurance related and not... (grin)

I'm READY to be done.
And so are they.
But we wait as the clock runs out
to 6:50 before we can begin.

I just want to eat my Subway
sandwich hiding in my office
at my desk.

Instead, I'm playing on my blog.

Hopefully all of YOU are having 
a satisfying, uplifting, encouraging
and successfully restful Sunday.

I'm shooting for Monday.
HA!

Friday, April 27, 2018

Trails

Yesterday I decided to check the state
of "my" trail that goes from our
back pasture out to the preserve.

We haven't been out that way
in quite a while...
I expected they would be in 
pretty poor shape.

They were actually better than
I thought they might be.
Thanks to the wild pigs
and the neighbor's cows
who insist on coming to the
grass on the other side of our
property to graze.

They actually have a nice little
trail system going!

Not tall enough for a person
on the back of a horse...
but the ground work was
mostly done.

I did some trimming for about an hour
and then some exploring for another
15 minutes or so and then
headed back to our property since
Rod was due to come home soon.


This is mid-point on the trail,
looking west towards the preserve.
This is the part of the trail that
has ALWAYS been really overgrown.
It still needs work...


And this is from the same point looking east
towards our property.
Doesn't this just look like a trail that
NEEDS to be followed????


I found a little friend.
He wasn't as happy to see me....
Did you know gopher tortoises HISS?
Yup, they do.
Scares the living daylights out of our horses.
hahaha

There are a couple of trees that will
require the help of a chain saw weilding
person of the male persuasion.
But for the most part its ready for riding!

YEA!!!!!
(The farrier came this week and the
boys all got pedicures... so they are
ready to go play in the woods with me!)

Friday, April 20, 2018

Not Beau's Fault (for once)

Beau really really enjoys
chasing chickens.
And if he catches them...
it's not good.

But this little bird 
wasn't his fault.

It wasn't there the night before,
but in the morning when I 
went out to feed and release
the chickens
(sounds like "Release the Cracken!")
there he was.

I think maybe he fell out of the
oak tree?

Who knows.


Poor little guy.

He wasn't as lucky as the hummingbird.

Luckily that little guy just got a
knock on the noggin and
got up again.



Lucky little bird.
You know what Rozann says...
If you rough house, you're gonna get hurt!

LOL

Thursday, April 19, 2018

Labels

I have all these canisters with good stuff
in them. And I know what it all is.
But the others in my house are often 
confused as to what is what.

So they stick to the chocolate whey powder,
cuz it's pretty obvious.
And delicious.

Today I decided to take the bull
by the horns.
So to speak.


Aren't they cute?
There are 2 crossed spoons on the top,
then the ingredient name, a blue line (that was supposed to be green)
and a bunch of random spoons.

Now the guys will know what they are
looking at!

I also use a bunch of different kinds of rice,
so I made some labels for my mason
jars I use to keep those in as well.


And I made labels for some of the other
strange stuff I use, but haven't committed
to putting in jars yet...
I needed 18 different things for the sheet
of labels, so I made one for everything
and then put them away in case I
decide to get stuff out of my pantry
and display it on my shelf.

It was fun!
And they look nice.
And Rod will be happy.

SCORE!

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Flowers!

I didn't think my little hibiscus
would survive.
I don't have a GREAT track record
with plants... might have to do
with my black thumb.

You be the judge...


This little yellow guy has SIX flowers!
Some are a vibrant yellow and
some are a pale yellow
but all have a beautiful red center.


This guy was a TOTAL surprise!
You don't get the full effect,
it's almost white with little pink
stripes running through the petals.
A beautiful flower!
(Good thing, cuz there's only ONE)


I didn't really expect anything out of
this guy for a couple more days,
but when I got home from the store,
he surprised me with a pretty pink flower.

They all look healthy and happy!


And, of course, my little gardenia.
Hang in there little guy!

Survived!
And thrived!
So far...

Monday, April 16, 2018

Behind

As Rod so gently reminded me yesterday,
I'm BEHIND!

It's been a busy couple of days.
Like it always is when you return
from a vacation.
Then you have to catch up all the 
stuff you didn't do while away.

But I'm caught up now.
Mostly.

So let's take a look at my photos and
see what we all missed, shall we?


I bought a new purse!
It was so nice using Nancy's little
red purse, I missed it!
This one is a little larger
and certainly NOT red.
But I like it so far...

And then on Saturday, Kyle and I
got a wild hair.  Rod was taking a 
VERY well deserved nap on the couch.

So we went to Lowes.
Sat in their comfy chairs in the a/c
and discussed our wild hairs.

And this is what resulted.


We had three bottle brush trees that
the previous home owner planted.
I kept hoping they would DO something.
But 13 years later they are still
scraggly, pathetic and just ugly.

So Kyle chained them up and
pulled them out.
Tractors are the BEST TOYS!


This one had a root on it that went
nearly all the way to the ditch!
6 feet of tree and 40 feet of root!
No wonder the tree never did anything.
All the energy was going to that root!


Loaded them up and took them to the street.
(See! I told you I didn't take our Christmas
lights down last year... or the year before...)
LOL


And then we planted four pretty little
Hibiscus bushes.
They are pink, red, pink, yellow(ish).
All have LOTS of buds.
I'm looking forward
to having something pretty along the drive
in the coming weeks / months / years.

They are small now,
but they grow fairly quickly,
Especially since I'm watering them.
And going to put some fertilizer on them.
If I remember to buy some.
Otherwise I'll just go to the pasture
and get some "natural" stuff...
(grin)

It looks better already!
(And a new gardenia bush, but its inside
the fence and I forgot to take a picture of it...)

Yesterday was a nice, relaxing Sabbath.
And this morning I'm continuing the trend
by following my eating plan (started a new
2 week no cheat challenge yesterday and
so far I'm 100%!)
(And down a pound)

Also started my annual T-Tapp 60 Day Challenge
on Sunday which only meant taking pictures.
This morning I entered all my 
measurements (which are DOWN from
the ones I did 60 days ago on 2/15/18!)
uploaded my photos (ick)
and did a 27 minute workout that
focuses on healthy hormones and menopause
management. Which is what I need.
I'll do that one for the next 4 days
and then we'll see.  I have LOTS to 
chose from. Sometimes sticking to the same
one is what I want, and sometimes I need 
lots of variety to stay on the band wagon.

Considering I've done approximately 14 
workouts in the past 12 months, I haven't
landed on the right combination yet...
LOL

Wish me LUCK!