Currently...

As the dog days of summer seem to race by, the current status quo (in absolutely no particular order) is:

• Listening - to country music. Like never before. The Zac Brown Band particularly rocks my world.
• Enjoying - hacking in the green green fields with Ace and just flat out having fun in my riding, on the grass, in the brook... alone and with others.
• Growing - at work. I realize that I have finally cracked not needing to be liked at work. I am in the highly desirable (snort) position of being involved in risk analysis and control and part of pushing through change at work. Sometimes I suck at my delivery regarding change and have to work on it but I am not upset at people not loving me, its ok nowadays.
• Appreciating - my house, I didnt realise until just now that although it may not sport the wrap around deck, its pretty.
• Failing - outstandingly at healthy eating. My healthy eating went to shit in June and stayed there. I have some work to do over winter for sure....
• Loving - living. Every. friggin. day.
• Enthralled by - my children, everything they do and say. Sometimes I just sit back and observe them. They are living the childhood of my dreams.
• Counting down to - the opening of the biggest Canadian Ikea. I so miss being able to just walk around it and the option to indulge in cheap curtains at my will.
• Being in control of - finances, first time in years. At first it felt terrible, now it feels fabulous!
• Preparing for - back to school, pretty much all the school supplies are purchased except for the ever elusive writers notebook for Lily, after much consideration and nose turning up at many that didn't make the grade, she finally chose one. Of course no-one checked it (including her) in our haste to get out of Walmart. Its blank. It needs to be lined. Back to Walmart I shall go - fml.
• Noticing - how friggen cold it is in the mornings now.
• Feeling - horrified at the images coming out of Texas. My God, I cant imagine going through that.

On the road to retirement?

Just lately I have been thinking about obsessing about the idea of retiring. The house up the road from us has a massive motorhome now sat on the driveway. We had a chat, hes 54 and newly retired from the military. He and his wife are planning on selling the house and their older car and travelling North America in that rig with their newest car attached on the back. I have seen the rig, its all kinds of lovely with slide outs and a queen side bed in its own room, nice bathroom, granite countertops etc etc (trust me this etc etc list is extensive)
When not travelling in a whimsical fashion in warmer climes all winter, they will be seeing their children, who now live with their spouses in Ontario. It sounds dreamy to me.

I now cannot get past this ideal. Obviously we need to downsize our beloved house to do it, which in a perfect world would be paid for and that (selling this house), I cant imagine doing easily. Obviously my children will be older. To be 55 and retired is 13 years away for me.
I have started doing the math and its entirely possible to be following in the neighbours tire tracks in 15 years time (at a push in 13). What I now need to do, whilst fiscally planning this out carefully (so it can actually transpire) is actually continue to enjoy the years between now and then, and really live them.
I absolutely do not want to fast forward to mid fifties with grown up children. That would be a terrible waste of my life. I cannot forget though, the look of the Bahia Honda RV park which I have been looking up online like a stalker....
dreamy huh?!!!

So... now to get there by carefully planning the finances, but at the same time enjoying the present moment... hmmmm

Weekends enjoying my home

My "home" encompasses far more than the house I live in. My home is the subdivision it sits in and now also the barn Ace is in. Last weekend I decided to spend all weekend at home, enjoying life generally. I rode, I walked the dogs, I cleaned the house. There were some cool clouds at the weekend and it was typical August hot.
A couple of photos from my at home weekend, enjoying what we have and spending zero dollars.
(I plan to enjoy a whole lot more of these)

Tubing

This weekend we managed to get in some tubing down the river on Saturday. It was a perfect day for it with high temps and safe, lazy river water.

Sunday was quiet with very noisy crazy rain. We need the rain, so I am not complaining at all but by heck did it rain.
I decided to ride Ace in the indoor with another horse. It was insanely loud in there. Overwhelmingly loud. He was a good boy although understandably a little tense and tall. With his teal polos on he looked like an oversized polo pony. I was pleased with his behaviour and we called it a day after 15 mins as I thought my head would explode with the noise.

We now have some step up trailer training planned as we are returning to Salmon River showground at the end of September for the final of the seasons shows. It turns out that Ace and I are currently sitting in 2nd place in points for hunter. Who knew?!!!!

Ace moves house

Last weekend I was actually intelligent enough to book nothing as I was moving Ace on the Monday. (Usually I try to fit something like this into a booked weekend and stress myself out)
Therefore I had time on both Saturday and Sunday to clean up items I had borrowed so that they could be returned, empty my locker of horse "stuff" and take it to the new barn and generally say my goodbyes to the old barn. It was a time of some emotion as I am no good at saying goodbye to people as I get way too attached.

I took the girls with me on the Sunday when we moved his stuff so that they could see the new barn. It was such a hit with them that we managed to spend all Sunday afternoon there just looking around.

On Monday Ace arrived and settled in by trotting up his new paddock with an elevated floating stride, tail high. I could have stayed all afternoon with him but had to return to work. It took two days for him to settle in, calm down and return to his normal size.  Then on Wednesday evening we had a little ride in the outdoor arena and yesterday, after work, a hack around the fields there.
Complete bliss and tranquility.
The views are peaceful and beautiful. The breeze blew warmly. We wandered around in a happy state.

The perfect weekend

Just enjoyed a blissful weekend where I believe I managed to crack the code of the "perfect style weekend", although Paul was away on a bachelor weekend so I was a single parent until Sunday morning which dimmed my joy a touch. The girls and I got the grocery shopping done on Friday eve with wild weather warnings on the radio (we had some thunder and lightening at midnight but no possible tornadoes that had sent the girls into a spin).

Saturday was a little nuts with the horse in the morning so that we could go to the beach and then the Lavender gardens at Seafoam. We went to Melmerby where it was breezy but the water temps were delicious. I went in, no jelly fish in sight, and we swam for an hour or so and had a picnic on the sand and all round just relaxed.
Got home via the lavender gardens in time for a speedy supper so that I could drop Chloe off at the camp ground where her friend was and chat for a bit before returning to our neighbours firepit where I chatted some more.
Bed followed Netflix where I tried (and failed) to get into Homeland Season 3.

Sunday was bliss as I deliberately *did nothing* By that I mean, I made no plans so we could please ourselves. I walked the dogs once Paul got home at 10.30am just as the heat was really starting to kick in.

I hung out some in the back yard:

 

I relaxed, I watched "Love it or List it Vancouver", I cleaned the house so it looks and smells great, I got through all the laundry - washed, dried AND put away #winningatlife, the girls made mug cakes, I rode Ace in the early evening, we had homemade burgers and sweet potato fries with mango curry dip in the evening. I tried and failed, again, to watched Homeland Season 3. I think I am going to give up with that one now.

exploring the possibilities of a Roo

I went on the annual strawberry picking event with my BFF and my youngest child a few weekends ago.

Its something Lily and I enjoy doing and whilst I was perusing the plants for the best strawberries possible I happened to mention to my BFF that I *still* want to stop off at an RV and trailer dealership and look in them all in a happy kind of way. Its been on my "odd" bucket list for a few years.
One hour later and we were both at the closest dealership complete with sticky children and a red stain on my white shirt which I felt compelled to explain constantly.
The kids were pumped and so was I.

I got the chance to look inside the Rockwood Roo 183 which has been on the wish list for about a year and it was all kinds of delightful. I suddenly had visions of us pulling up to some coastal camp ground complete with dogs and new Ikea plastic plates, or, better still, Bahia Honda State park RV site.

I went home all pumped and announced that I really wanted a camper trailer but we need a new car as the Outlander doesnt have the required ooomph to tow anything.

Fast forward 2 weeks and the neighbours up the road, who are newly retired at 54 (swoon at the prospect) have a massive motorhome on their driveway and casually mentioned that they plan to now circle North America in this and forgo all requirements for cold weather clothing. I was invited in to look around, I grabbed Paul and in we went.

I was now even more excited about camping prospects and dragged the whole family down to the camper sale event at the weekend to look once more at the Roo and marvel at its $30k price tag whilst still not having a towing vehicle.
We discussed happy camping possibilities as a family and how we would need to change the car. $$$$$$$$$$ started circulating around my head like they do in cartoons.

Because I am me, I spent a fairly sleepless night in a fit of anxiety over this, the kind you would envisage doing had you actually spent those dollars. The next day Paul and I had a heart to heart where I admitted my conflicted thoughts...one side of my head had the Ikea plastic plate, dog travelling, Roo 183 dream whilst the other side was thinking "are you nuts???!!!!".
We came to the conclusion that whilst the retirement dream involving a large motor home and 365 day heat is very attractive, we are right now unlikely to make campers. We are plane, car rental, hotel people. He reminded me that our children have no desire to spend three days in a car going to Florida now and thats not going to change.
The Roo idea is currently shelved.....