I know there are a ton of things on my mind, what with house hunting (and the first of what my grandmother has informed me will probably be about 10 happy couple fights re said house search), the money pressures, Kade’s time in kindergarten looming, job hunting, the massive project at my current job, losing weight/getting fitter (20 pounds down and oh the awesomeness!) plus all the other assorted life debris, like my complete inability to transfer clean laundry from baskets to closets…(in my defense, the internet was down last night and it’s a proven fact that putting laundry away without a TV show is just unusual punishment).

But all this is happily fading into the background even as I type this, as I keep double checking the Evernote (my newest attempt to be a ‘seize it all mom’ type) note labeled “Mt. Adams Ride 2016.” Originally I was just heading up the mountain this week to volunteer, label a few horse butts with grease paint and follow my friends around and eat their food, like I did at Coyote Ridge. I was also hoping that through sheer dint of his cuteness factor and hanging around such a jaw droopingly beautiful ride camp, that the short blonde one would be one step closer to being comfortable with horse lessons next spring.
So why am I obsessing over my packing list more than usual and dropping the kiddo off at school before heading up alone tomorrow? It’s all Jala’s fault, really. She dared me to see if I could find a horse to actually ride on LD. She twisted my arm and just to placate the short, scary woman I posted on the PNER Facebook page…and about 20 minutes later I was offered Andrea’s second horse Shadow to buddy with her on the LD. It will be my first endurance ride since I RO pulled two years ago at Grizzly due to my inability to make peace with such a pesky thing as heat exhaustion (which according to the forecast won’t be a problem at this ride, instead staying dry will be!)

Even though I still have to slog through another 5 hours of work, putting laundry away (I promised!) & packing the Emerald Queen, my mind is already up at 8000 feet with Darlene, settling into yet another unfamiliar saddle to put miles under hooves.
I also feel like I should take a bit to thank everyone like one of those award shows, Adrienne for letting me ride her amazing horses, Jala & Nicole for being awesome friends even though we only see each other a few times a year, & my boss for letting me wiggle out of a whole Friday of work, Andrea for simply offering a horse to lug me around 30 miles of beautiful Washington wilderness…& of course the men of our lives, Tom & Tom, for watching the kids so we could ride!