Wednesday, March 31, 2010 – Master Class

Our original plan had been to leave today, but because of the great way they’ve been looking after our horses at no charge, we decided to offer them a Master Acting Class anyway. We visited the horses in the morning, with a side trip to pick up more feed, then facilitated a Master Class in the little theatre in the afternoon. Discussed the possibility of perhaps offering a day long Master Class to all of the theatre groups in the area, something we’ll need to pursue at a later date. All around, a very good experience with the very nice folks at Virginia Intermont!

Tuesday, March 30, 2010 - Performance Day

Did some more work on the computer, then went into the theatre at about 12:00 to shower and to prepare for the performance at 2:00. Alas, the showers were turned off, so we had to quickly arrange to have our RV tank refilled. Cut it pretty close! Made it just in time! About 150 middle school and younger students attended the matinee, and they were positively rapt for the entire 75 minutes. A small group had to leave early, but they filed out quietly during a break, and we extended the blackout so they could get out in plenty of time. Afterward, we rested in the afternoon in anticipation of our second performance. Likewise, the evening performance at 7:00 drew well over 150 people, including the president of the college and most of the upper faculty and staff, and the audience was very responsive. Many people stayed afterward to talk with Hubby once he changed out of costume, including some students, which made our host Randy very pleased. A good day all around!!

Sunday, March 28, 2010 - Finally, a Rest Day

Slept late, and did nothing today except unhook the van in preparation of tomorrow's load-in, watch movies, read, sleep, and get caught up on this blog!

Saturday, March 27, 2010 - New Back Yard

Ran up to the Farmers Coop in Abingdon to pick up some more oats for the horses, and dropped it off at the barn before heading down to the college for next performance. Met the Technical Director, Will, who was great in assisting us get settled in behind the theatre. Once done, I went over the Fine Arts Building to find a wifi for one last attempt at solving my problem. No matter what I did, I couldn't seem to find how to get on XP with this new program, and even concluded that I needed a different computer, as this one apparently didn't have "hardware virtualization" capability, which was necessary for Professional to work properly. That would have been nice to know before I downloaded the dang thing! Anyway, I decided I had run out of time, and I would have to do whatever is necessary to solve the problem, so I hopped into the pickup truck and drove to the Best Buy, begging for help, promising that I wasn't leaving until I had a functioning computer, even if it meant buying a new one. Well, I have to say, that Geek Squad was great. They were the best of all of the previous ones I had tried to get answers from. They went online and found some software on Microsoft that would give me "hardware virtualization" capability, which has, oddly enough, nothing to do with hardware. Apparently, it divides the processor into two parts, one for W7 and one for XP, so that you can switch between the two. Four hours later, everything was up and running, we'd managed to solve my connectivity problem, and I understood enough about how the system worked to walk out with confidence that the problems were now behind me. YEAH!!!!! Ran up to check on the horses, then stopped at the grocery store on the way home to pick up a roasted chicken for dinner and some other things we needed, feeling like a giant weight had been lifted from my shoulders! Planning on having a GREAT night sleep, now that my biggest challenge of the trip was behind me! Still a few more problems to solve, a few files to find, but nothing like what I've been experiencing these last few weeks! Whew!

Friday, March 26, 2010 - Doctor and Drive

Recovered the furniture with sheets, finished packing up, and headed to Nashville for Hubby's "device check", a simple appointment where they determine that his defibrillator is functioning properly. Meanwhile, one of the many computer folks I had been talking to had mentioned that I could download an upgrade of my Windows 7 program, to raise it from a Home Premier to a Professional level, which apparently allowed you to use XP on the same computer, sort of off to one side. I found it on the Microsoft site, paid the $90+ and downloaded it at once, hopeful that at last, I might have found a solution, or at least gotten closer to one! We were finished quickly at the doctor's office, then took off. For once we didn't stop at our favorite Indian restaurant, we simply didn't have the time. Headed out immediately, and arrived back at the stables at about 5:30. Everybody was fine, though covered with mud from their stay in the pasture, and for some reason, large chunks of hair were falling off of Hubby's mare and leaving almost bald spots behind. I quickly got on the internet (there's a wifi at the barn) and discovered the most likely culprit, "Seasonal something or other" (I'll put that back in later), which happens when horses experience serious temperature changes during the springtime. Winter hair falls out before summer hair has a chance to come in. Considering they were in 70 temps in Texas, and here the temps had dropped into the 30's, it wasn't surprising. No reason for concern, just time, and maybe a little lotion, and she'll be good as new. Then we once again drove out with the RV to Wal-mart, having arranged to move over to the college tomorrow. Still no progress on my computer, despite numerous more tries. Arrrrrgh!

Thursday, March 25, 2010 - Big Day at the Bank

Woke up to some rain, which was intermittent throughout the day. Finished getting the computer going, though all my attempts to move anything to the new computer proved fruitless. Loaded up the pickup with our hay, which was in better shape than I thought it might be, and frankly, compared favorably with some of the better stuff we'd been buying along the road. I was afraid I would discover that our own lot was substandard now that we'd seen such a variety, but it held up under scrutiny. Then we took a trip into town, first stop at the bank, to do something we'd been working extra hard for for some time... We paid off our mortgage! It was now a 100% asset, and our very last bit of debt. It still hasn't sunk in, but I suppose it will when I don't have to deduct the monthly payment from our account in a few days! We went to a Mexican Restaurant to once again have access to a wifi (again to try to solve some computer problems, once again to no avail), then ran down to the fabric store to pick up some material to cover the hot tub. The old cover had shredded over the winter, and I was hoping to have enough time to quick sew another one before we left, which I did manage to do. Packed up several large bags of clothing, gathered everything on the list we had been keeping of things we needed on the road, and prepared ourselves for the possibility that we wouldn't bother to come back again for the rest of the year, or even longer if the mood strikes us. Sounds crazy, to leave a house just as it's getting paid off, but that's how we are, what can I say? Looking forward to leaving tomorrow and reuniting with our horses.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010 - Home Again, Home Again

Returned to the EC and dropped off the RV and van, and headed out for home in the pickup truck. A thankfully uneventful trip, gaining an hour as we moved into Central Time, and arrived home by about 3:00. Had a stack of mail waiting for us (we had called the post office in the morning with instructions to bring the mail out), and fortunately, everything was in perfect shape. No downed trees, or damage or any kind. A few branches down, as always happens in the winter, but nothing else. Hubby had been concerned that with the extraordinarily cold weather that a pipe may have burst, and was prepared for the worst, but everything was fine. It didn't even smell musty or anything! The only disturbance was our neighbor shooting a few rounds, but that's a long story... I immediately started solving my computer problems, i.e. getting Hubby's antique XP-operated laptop up and running, and making sure my entire bookkeeping file was intact so that I can get my taxes done in time. It will have to do until I get my other "new" computer workable. Had a relaxing evening, and looking forward to a good night's sleep.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 - Morning Surprise.

Hubby moving very slowly, so everything took twice as long to get ready. Just as we were finally getting ready get the horses in the trailer and move out, I noticed one of the tires on the RV looked low. Actually, it was dead flat, just didn't look it because of it's neighboring tire holding it up. Quickly located the problem, a bolt stuck in the tread, so we got out the tire repair kit and I went to work. The hole was so big it took two strands of repair strips and lots of rubber cement, but when it was finished, it held. Finally got on the road just after ten, a bit later than we had hoped, but okay under the circumstances. We had arranged with the Virginia Intermont College Equestrian Center to look after our horses while we run home and to Hubby's doctor's appointment in Nashville, and we arrived there about 6:00. Got the horses settled in, then went off to the Wal-mart parking lot for the night, having discovered that the EC couldn't let us stay in the RV there overnight, something about insurance. No problem, we've stayed in that Wal-mart before! Did some shopping, still couldn't get my computer problems solved, finally went to be exhausted by 9:00.

Monday, March 22, 2010 - A Day at the Auto Repair Shop

Headed out early to the auto repair shop, arrived just after they opened. Five hours and $1500 later the van had all new brakes and rotors, and a whole new bearing assembly on the right front wheel. Not what I wanted to hear, but with almost 100k miles, I guess some repairs are going to be necessary in the coming year. Hubby still feeling pretty shook up, but nothing's broken and we managed to keep the bruising down to a minimum with the immediate ice pack. Got as much preliminary packing done as we could, since we have to leave early tomorrow morning.

Sunday, March 21 - More Work and a Crash

Another short but very good session this morning, seems he's getting close to mastering the basics when he puts his mind to it, and when a script is finally complete. Spring is overwhelming the capital, with some of the blossoms blooming, but not the cherry blossoms quite yet. Took a detour toward the Tidal Basin to see how they were coming along, but gave it up when we got stuck in pedestrian traffic with an immigration rally. Lots of people protesting (although I got the impression it was just an excuse to be outdoors on a beautiful day), so we turned around and let Gracie get us back to Lorton. It was early enough that we decided to have lunch at the Indian restaurant there, and get a ride in this afternoon. Lunch was fine, more crowded than we'd ever seen it. We decided on the buffet, which is unusual for us, as we avoid them because we always overeat, but we decided that would be our big meal of the day, and I managed to restrain myself (and Hubby) from having seconds. We headed home, saddled up the horses, and headed out for a ride. We didn't get very far. Once again, we keep learning the hard way. After so much time off, and after having eaten so much oats and grain, we should have realized how frisky the horses would be, and I should have lunged them around a bit, but I didn't. Then Hubby decided to try out a new saddle blanket, but for some reason didn't tighten the girth as well as he usually does. Anyway, about a hundreds yards down the road, both horses started trotting, then his horse started cantering, and when Hubby tried to stop her, his saddle slipped. It turned almost to her belly, and he hung on as best he could, until he had to let go. He fell onto the tarmac, landing on his side and back, and his horse kept going, heading into the woods toward the main road. Fortunately, she stopped just a few feet off the road, having gotten caught in the brambles there. A car came by and a couple asked if they could help, so I asked them to help Hubby get out of the road and see to him, and hang onto my horse while I caught the mare, which they gladly did. Clio was waiting, so I moved her out and resaddled her before returning to Hubby, who was now sitting up. He said he didn't think anything was broken, just bruised, and insisted on getting back up in the saddle. I said fine, but I was leading the horses home, to which he reluctantly agreed. He started stiffening up almost immediately, and was very slow in moving around and putting things away. We promptly put ice on the bruised area in his lower back, and he said his ribs hurt a bit too, so we spend the rest of the day resting and tending to his aches, with some Tylenol, ice and aspercreme. I suspect he'll feel like he's been in a car wreck for some time! We had already decided to stay until Tuesday, as the van had been making some noise (sounds like a wheel bearing) and we wanted to have it looked at before we took our next long leg to Bristol. Hopefully by Tuesday morning he'll be recovered enough to move. Not that he has a choice, we have to get moving by Tuesday to stay on schedule! Stayed up long enough to watch our country vote itself out of freedom and into socialism, then went to bed, somewhat depressed about the future of our country.

Saturday, March 20 - Work and Rally

Met with the client in the morning, still making changes to the script so it wasn't as productive as we would have liked, but getting closer. Then we walked out to the Capitol to observe the Tea Party protesters still trying to stop the train of the Health Care Bill. Starting to look bleak, unfortunately. Incomprehensible how anyone can believe we can add 32 million people to a system that's already going bankrupt and have it "save" money. Only inside the beltway can they delude themselves so thoroughly. One thing both Dems and Repubs can agree on is the process of this has been so corrupt that it should be criminal. But then again, they're the ones making the laws, aren't they? Anyway, we've scheduled yet another session for tomorrow, no rest for the weary! But I'm not complaining, it's how we keep the horses fed!

Friday, March 19, 2010 - Laundry

Had several hours with our client last night, making it a late night, and we also ended up scheduling another session for Saturday. We both felt so tired, and knowing we had another day of work, we decided to rest as much as possible. I did laundry (Pohick Bay has machines in their bathhouse), then we spent the afternoon watching movies and trying to relax. We felt like we hadn't had a break for some time, with the long trip from Texas, and with so much more to do in the next week or two, we wanted to recharge our batteries a bit. Still felt tired at the end of the day, but at least we didn't add to it. And no, I didn't get around to grooming the winter coats ofrf the horses yet :-).

Thursday, March 18, 2010 - Hubby's B-Day!

While we were supposed to meet with our client in the early afternoon, the schedule changed at the last minute to the evening, so Hubby and I decided to turn our B-day dinner into a B-day lunch at a little Indian restaurant down in Woodbridge. Then we did some essential shopping before coming back to camp and changing back into our dress clothes and heading downtown. Horses are looking good, but they really need a good grooming to get off their winter coats. May have a chance tomorrow, if we can muster the energy!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 -St. Patty's Day

Had a great night's sleep, then headed back to the church first thing after breakfast to get a "little" work done. Didn't get back till past when lunch should have been served. Getting tired of all this nonsense with Windows 7, but I do seem to be getting the hang of it. Still don't have drivers for my phone as a modem or my printer, my bookkeeping system didn't seem to be saved (I didn't think it would, but I was hoping), and my Google Earth bookmarks may or may not be on here somewhere, I'm still looking. Anyway, I'm getting sick of it all, and I'm looking forward to forcing myself into actually taking a day off one of these days! The horses are doing great, the long drive yesterday seemed to bother them not one bit, they're putting on weight like crazy, almost back to normal, and I can't wait to go riding again! The weather has been terrific, though, so we have that to be grateful for.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - The Last Big Push

Headed out early again, with yet another change in plans. We decided our two long hops plan and getting in a day early to rest would be better than our original three short hops plan. It was a straight shot on the freeway, rather than having to travel the backroads, so we'd actually end up saving time and gas. So off we went, with a bead on one of our favorite places, Pohick Bay, anticipating an arrival about 5:30. We made good time, and actually arrived at just before 5:00, with lots of daylight left to get the horses settled in and actually have an evening. Since there is no wireless signal at Pohick Bay yet (they're still working on it), I had to go looking for a wireless signal. Ordinarily I would go down to a shopping center a few miles away, but it occurred to me that the Gunston Hall next door might have one, so I headed over there. Unfortunately the gate was locked, so I pulled into a little Baptist Church to turn around, and lo and behold, there was an open signal there. I checked my email and did some more downloading, which took much longer than expected (duh!), and again, made it back about dark, to a starving and cranky Hubby. At least I didn't have to go far!

Monday, March 15, 2010 - Short Hop, with some Computer Progress

At the start of the day, our plans were to either take three short hops to DC or two long hops with a day off before we worked with our client. We decided on the three short hops, which would give me a little more time resolving the computer issues. Having made that decision, we headed for Lee State Park in South Carolina, a nice little park near I-20. Before we arrived, I found a Shoneys with a wireless signal, so the plan was that I would work on solving those problems for several hours. Hubby decided to go and get the horses packed in and I would follow up when I could. That took longer than I thought (big surprise there!), and I didn't arrive at camp until almost completely dark. A quick setup, and off to bed!

Sunday, March 14, 2010 - Off to Georgia

Having wasted so much time trying to (unsuccessfuly) solve my computer problem, we recalculated our trip and faced the inevitability that we were behind schedule and would have to make it up, and soon. Fortunately, from Shockaloe to our next stop was a straight shot on I-20, and both the beginning and end were only a short distance from the highway, so we decided to make the entire 400 miles up today. By now the horses were seasoned travelers, and with few hills and curves to contend with, we felt they could do the 8 hours with no problem, providing they got plenty of hay and water along the way. We got out early and drove unimpeded for hours, stopping only for the ocassional break. We had originally planned to go back to Hard Labor State Park, but really didn't like their high fees ($25 per campsite, $18 per stall, plus entrance fees), and as we progressed, we made such good time we decided to try for the next horse camp along the way, at the AH Stephens State Park, about another 40 miles on. We hadn't been there before, but since daylight savings started last night, and the horses seemed fine, we decided to go for it. We arrived around 6:00 EDT to a lovely, well-appointed park. Good signage made finding the horse camping area easy, maps were in the mailbox at the park office (which, of course, had already closed), and I quickly checked and discovered there was a wireless signal coming from the office. We were WAY too tired to do anything at that moment but get set up, feed the animals and us, and go to bed. There was water at every site, and there was construction going on improving the sites from rustic to a graveled pad. Having lost TWO hours today (from Daylight Savings and from going from Central to Eastern time), we were both feeling jet-lagged and ready for bed, where we were headed early.

Saturday, March 13, 2010 - Travel to Shockaloe, Bienville National Forest

Though we were alone when we arrived at Gum Springs, several folks came in overnight, and more arrived in the morning. Then a ranger came by to tell us they were doing a prescribed burn near part of the trail, so in the end, we were glad we weren't staying anyway. Proof positive that everything works out in the end, if you just stick it out long enough! I just hope the same is true with my new computer, which is still defying my will. Managed to get online at one stop and check my email through the Web, but I'm no further ahead trying to get my phone to work as a broadband modem, or install my printer driver, or load up my ancient bookkeeping program (which installs on DOS, would you believe, and I can't even find the command prompt yet!) Not a happy camper right now, wondering if I can scrap Windows 7 and reinstall XP somehow.
But just when one thing seems impossible, something else comes along to add to the challenge. We arrived at Bienville National Forest (I was going on memory at this point, vaguely remembering where camps were from all my prep work. After all, my computer crashed last October and I had to do an entire summer's worth of the same work over again, so some of it stuck.) I had looked it up again on the website before we headed out, and confirmed that Base Camp I was closed until April, but BC II was open all year, so that's where we were headed. We stopped in a small town on the way that had wireless signal, and I sat in a gas station convenience store for two hours trying to get this stupid computer going, but the signal was so slow I had to give up, having gained nothing but more frustration, and a greater determination to somehow get XP on this machine.
We arrived at BC II, only to discover a yellow tape across the entrance, in front of a pile of huge limbs, and the camp looked like it had been hit by a tornado (which apparently, it had, but we don't know when). Trees were down, the gateway was impassable, as was the loop around the campground. It was nearing darking, and we were stuck. What to do, what to do? Well, once again, not to let a few measly challenges get in our way, we noticed a Water Management Deer Checking station right next door, with an open gate and a parking area sufficient for me to turn the big rig around. Being a Saturday, there was no one around, but there was a red pickup parked off to one side. We pulled in and parked, then dicovered a water spigot, and later, an electrical outlet! We made ourselves at home in short order. As we were doing so, the owner of the red pickup arrived, all decked out in hunting gear, having come back from a turkey expedition (empty-handed). He confirmed that he'd never seen the gate locked anyway, he didn't work there, he just parked there to go hunting, and no one was likely to care that we spent the night there (as if we had a choice at that point, dusk had arrived). We went to bed, relieved that we had once again overcome the obstacles placed before us. Now if I could only get this bloody computer to work!

Friday, March 12, 2010 - Computer Buying Day

Packed up and headed straight for the Best Buy. While I've always had Toshiba laptops, they didn't have one that was as small as I wanted (at least, not one with a CD player), so I decided on a compact little Dell. I wanted something that was smaller and lighter, since so much of our travel these days is on airplanes, so the Inspiron 1440 was my choice. Little did I know that Windows would do it to me again. Every computer had Windows 7 on it, once again my operating system of choice and knowledge (XP) was unavailable. After assurances from the sales guy that it was a great system (and I didn't have much time to decide), we headed out the door and up the road to a new horse camp, Gum Springs Horse Trail in the northern part of Kisatchie National Forest.
We had loved Cane Camp in the south part of the same forest, and this one was pretty good as well, though not quite as nice. I forgot to take a pic, sorry. It was conveniently located right off the highway, although that made it noisy with the traffic. There were water spigots scattered around the camping area, toilets, but there really wasn't any place that was level for the RV. It did have corrals all around, but most were too muddy to use. A lot of pros and cons, but fine for just staying overnight. Rather than using the corrals, we just highlined the horses nearby to keep their feet dry. I got to work trying to make sense out of my new computer, and the more I tried, the more confused I got. Not happy with the new Windows 7 layout, and there's no Outlook Express! Going to have to figure out how email is supposed to work with this thing! Went to bed frustrated, which is never good when you're trying to sleep!

Thursday, March 11, 2010 - Change of Plans Again!

Hit the road fairly early, though we had long goodbyes with Hank, and Mike, a boarder who had just given two of his horses away to a good home (pasture buds that would have been hard to separate, and one really needed a lot of tender loving care, as he had a heart murmur and poor circulation that created a lot of other problems). Our destination was back to Davy Crockett National Forest, with a stop for hay on the way. By the time we got there, the hay I wanted was gone and I had to settle for some not so great bluestem grass from Kansas, pretty long and stalky, but we were stuck. I had rec'd an email during the day from a client in DC who wanted to meet with on next Thursday! Suddenly, our leisurely, almost three weeks to get to Bristol, VA with a brief stop in Nashville for Hubby's doctor's appointment had turned into a mad, non-stop dash across country to try to get to DC on time. Then, to make matters worse, my computer well and truly and irretrievably crashed! All of my information about horse camps that I'd acquired on Google Earth, while safely tucked away (I hope) on Carbonite, I had no computer to load it down on. So in addition to having very little time to get where we needed to go (and now, not knowing where all the stops were along the way), I also had to buy a computer somewhere along the road, and somehow get it up and running so that it would be useful again. Anyone who's ever done that knows what a time consuming process that can be, even with a backup! Well, if nothing else, life is a serious of challenges to be overcome, so we can only do our best to enjoy the problem-solving parts of our lives!
Arrived at Davy Crockett, set up, and proceeded to try to figure out where to go next, without the help of Google Earth. We determined that we would have to travel an average of 250-300 miles a day to get to DC on time, though the distance between horse camps isn't exactly that regular. We decided to go to Gum Springs Horse Camp, which had been our original plan, but only stay overnight instead of the several days we had hoped for. It was a fairly short hop, but it passed through Lufkin, TX, which had a Best Buy where I could look for a computer. We had little time to lose, so we went to bed early with plans to get up the same.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - Travel Day back to Austin

Headed out to Austin, reunited with our big kids at the Onion Creek Ranch, and got everything ready for our departure tomorrow. Horses are starting to fill out a bit, thanks to the extra portions ranch manager Hank was giving them. I'm sure they'll be back to their fighting weight in no time!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - Performance Day

Finished our setup with the help of Berto and Noe, great guys very willing to help in any way they could, but so busy, with so many things going on. A ballet company came in to do some Master Classes and to perform later in the week, so they were taking up a lot of the techies time. Hubby managed to get a nap in, while I did some work on the computer, which, for some inexplicable reason, decided to crash in the middle of the afternoon. Second hard drive in 4 months, this time it might be something more. Thank goodness for Carbonite! I'm not panicking because I did a full backup when we were in DC last week, I only hope it absorbed everything I need!
The performance went quite well, with a pretty good audience, though many of the younger ones had a hard time turning off their gadgets, I saw a lot of glowing lights in the audience, but mostly from those who came in late and didn't hear the instructions about turning them off. Amazing how many grownups don't know how to behave in a theatre environment, though. One guy came in, walked right up to the stage, and took a flash photo! Fortunately the host immediately went over him and stopped that nonsense. Then some woman in loud cloppy heels got up and walked all the way up on aisle and down another, sounding like a Clydesdale every step of the way! Incredible! But then, I'm a theatre snob, so I expect people to know better. But do you have to be a snob to know you don't talk during a movie, either?
Anyway, we loaded out that evening, had a celebratory cocktail, took the dogs for a walk, then headed for bed (in the loading dock where we were parked :-).

Monday, March 8, 2010 - Travel Day

Hooked up the RV and headed to Laredo. Spring is definitely springing here, as wildflowers along the highway and blossoms on the trees are starting to come out, especially as we head south. Arrived early, so we had a leisurely lunch at the truck stop, then arrived at the performing arts center around 3:00 as scheduled. Loaded out, set up, did the bulk of the lighting and sound with the nice tech folks here, finished up by 7:00. A movie and bed is all we have the energy for!

Sunday. March 7, 2010 - Sick/Rest Day

Hubby feeling way under the weather, we’re both still exhausted from the busy schedule we’ve had during the last week. He stayed in bed, I worked a bit, till he felt good enough to sit in his recliner. Read a while, then watched a couple of movies. Hope he gets better fast, we have so much to do in the next few days!

Saturday, March 6, 2010 - Rehearsal Day

Loaded in at Ballet Austin and spent most of the day rehearsing. Understandably choppy, as we had added several chunks of material from the long version of the play, but not bad overall. Would like to do it again tomorrow, but Hubby’s not feeling well, seems he might have a bout of food poisoning. Put him on Pepto, hope that does the trick.

Friday, March 5, 2010 - Travel Day

Left early to get to National Airport, as they had a shooting at the Metro station outside the Pentagon last night, which is only a few stops away from the airport, wasn’t sure if they were diverting passengers or not. Their solution was simply to not stop at the Pentagon station, which meant we ended up getting there a few minutes early. Had a longer layover at DFW, planned it that way so we could have a nice meal there and I wouldn’t have to cook when we got back in, which was going to be late. Ate at the Irish Pub, a big, meat-laden All Day breakfast, so that I could experience black pudding, which was Hubby’s father’s favorite. Looked just like a typical sausage patty, but not as spicy or salty. Add that to bangers (link sausage) and rashers (Irish bacon) and eggs, it was quite a meal. Surprised an Irish breakfast didn’t have potatoes! Guess they had enough throughout the rest of the day! Once we arrived in Austin, we drove out to my brother’s to pick up the dogs, he wasn’t there but his girlfriend was, so we chatted with her for a bit, then had to leave because we wanted to get back to check on the horses before it got dark. Wishful thinking, the traffic in Austin is some of the worst we’ve ever encountered, and it doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s day or night. Terrible! Anyway, everyone was safe and sound, and we were absolutely exhausted, so we were in bed early. Hope we recover in time to make the most out of our rehearsal space, which ended up being a studio at Ballet Austin. Not the least expensive option, but we had run out of time to solve the problem, and it was the best we could do on short notice.

Thursday, March 4, 2010 - Work Day

Spent the morning still trying to confirm a space to rehearse, then met with our client in the afternoon. Mission accomplished!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010 - Change of plans

Client’s schedule changed (no big surprise, that happens regularly), won’t be meeting with him today, will have to do it all tomorrow. Spent half the day on the internet and the phone trying to find a place to rehearse Hubby’s show over the weekend, (our previous arrangements fell through), and the other half trying (with limited success) to rehearse in the hotel room. Have several leads to follow up on tomorrow to secure a space. Rrrrgh! Didn’t need THAT unexpected hassle! Oh, well, c’est la vie! Just another challenge to be met!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010 - Off the Washington, DC

Having left our animals in good hands, we flew off to DC today to work with a client over the next two days. Flying is very tiring, especially when you have to change planes, though I love DFW as a stopover. So much to do there, when we have the time. Arrived at our favorite DC hotel, then went out to the nearby Mexican restaurant for dinner (our favorite Thai hadn’t opened for dinner yet, and we just wanted to crash as early as possible.)

Monday, March 1, 2010 - In like a Lion!

A rainy day, but we got the horses settled in and the dogs out to my brother’s house. Our new front yard actually looks over the neighbors house, but here’s a pic of the other side, which is Onion Creek Ranch. Lin pointed out that she thought our horses looked a bit thin, and when we looked more closely, we had to agree. When we left, they were more fit than they had been last year, but they were still a bit overweight, so when we saw them trimming down, we were glad about it, but it seems we went a bit too far. They still look big compared to so many other horses we see on the trail, so it’s not surprising it took an expert like Lin to recognize it immediately. So we took a trip to the feed store to get several remedies, doubled their rations, and, since we won’t be riding for a while, expect they’ll fatten up again quickly. Eating has never been a problem for either of these two!