Taking my own advice...

Twice this past week, I have had to take my own advice.  "SUCK IT UP!"

#1

I am part of the Faculty Council for National Junior Honor Society at my school.  In a nutshell, we review the applicants and decide who gets inducted and who does not meet the criteria.  Our 2010 ceremony was on Thursday, and I had to read the bit about Character.  Easy enough, right?  Not for me... I am terrified of speaking in front of adults.  I know this seems strange coming from a teacher, but I don't find the students as intimidating.  Adults make me break into a sweat and want to run and hide.  But I didn't and instead, I thought of those 3 little words that I so freely share with all my friends.  Everything went fine, and I survived.

#2

I usually don't travel alone on my horse adventures.  I almost always have Chele, Liz, KD, or someone else to hold my hand.  However, this weekend I found myself all alone and wanting to go to the endurance ride at the Black Prong Equestrian Center.  Three things almost stopped me - money, unconditioned horses, and FEAR.  Caren (on FB) suggested I go and volunteer.  I mulled it over, trying to think of a reason why NOT to, but I couldn't find any good ones.  So on Friday, I google mapped my route, loaded up, and headed out.  It was almost dark when we left, and for a brief moment, I almost wussed out.  Then, that little voice in my head said, "Suck it up!"

FYI - Google and GPS's are great EXCEPT when you are pulling a 3H gooseneck and they decide to take you thru the middle of downtown Gainesville on a Friday night.  OMG, if there ever was a time that I wondered WTH was I thinking, that was it!  A few extra gray hairs and a few wrong turns later, we made it.

Everyone was settled in for the night by the time we got there.  Cory and I got settled.  Life is so much easier with our new trailer.  We flipped out the Hi-Ties, rolled out the awning, and enjoyed an easy dinner together.

Morning came all too quickly.  Cory and I hopped out of bed and wandered around looking for someone to point us in some sort of direction.  (I felt like such an idiot.)  Eventually, I met Connie.  She asked if I'd like to scribe for the vets.  Sounded fine to me.

There were 4 vets - Doug, Laura, Anne, and Julia (wish I could remember their last names).  Our day began about 9ish when the riders from the 100 started rolling back in from their first loop and ended about 12:30 that night.  Oddly enough, the last 2 riders were from the 75.  I absolutely loved my "job."  The vets were fabulous and fun to hang with.  I was impressed by the riders.  Most seemed like they took great care of their horses and were concerned about what was best.  I never really got the impression that anyone was there to win a race.

The next morning, Cory and I woke up to cold and misty weather.  Our original plan was to ride one of the loops.  However, we decided against it.  We'd had so much fun the day before.  Rocky and Poca were quite content even though they were hi-tied 24+ hours.  Why mess up a good thing?  We enjoyed some breakfast and headed home (in our pjs).

Poppy is waiting for her share

Ruby waits for a bite too