::update on the funny farm::

It has been eight months since I last posted.  Life has been really trucking along at the Funny Farm.  I just started my last year of grad school.  I have loved my clinical experiences.  I can’t wait to do the actual job.  Caring for patients of all ages and having long term connects. 

Our public school system has the option of an all day preschool, which we decided to send Quinn to.  He gets on and off the bus every day with his siblings.  Lily started seventh grade and is in the junior high.  She tried out for the school play and got a little part, which is great since it’s a high school play.  Mr. Max continues to be the most pleasant child alive and is starting the fourth grade.  Emma just moved in to her dorm and college.  It blows my mind to see her so grown up but I miss her proximity. 

Yet – with all four kids in school I find myself with a little bit more time.  Just a little, since I’m still working mostly full time and going to grad school.  Still that little bit of time is burning a hole in my pocket.  I’ve decided that I really want to get back into horses.  I grew up showing dressage and 4H till I was about 13 then did A circuit hunters and jumpers.  I have no urge to leave my family to go to horse shows by myself.  It’s also out of my tax bracket to do that kind of horses anymore.  I’ve been researching and researching and what I really want is two trail horses.  One for me and one for Josh.  He is game for that idea.  Which is one more example of him being the greatest husband ever.  I’ve fallen in love with a breed of horses called Gypsy Vanner, which looks like the kind of horse you would draw pictures of if you where an eleven year old girl that dreamed about horses all day.  I’m going to take some lessons and learn how to drive horses, and try to get to a few Gypsy Vanner farms so I can figure out if they are the right breed for us.  I’ll look into some other draft horse breeds to but really I just envision these horses as something I pet and groom every day and ride every few.  Maybe they do some light dressage, occasional driving, and go on a day long trail ride at least a few times a month.  Enough about horses. 

Our farm is lovely this year.  We got rid of lots of clutter.  My garden is out of control in a pretty way, not a jungle way.  Tomatoes and cantaloupes are all over the place.  We have sold off all our livestock except for three goats and one old wether sheep.  Donkey is staying with a friend.  Its made the maintenance around here a breeze.    We got a four foot deep pool for the kids that they spend tons of time in every day.  Q is the biggest water baby of all time.  He spends a good chunk of his day swimming or sleeping. 

     Gus Gus has proven himself time and time again to be the best dog that every walked the earth.  I adore him.  He loves the kids and he walks on a leash like a saint.  His only issue is he can sometimes get aggressive with other dogs when he is on a leash.  I just keep him out of situations where he would come nose to nose with other dogs.  We give him lots of brushing and baths and take him to parks as often as we can.  He lives outside and guards his livestock and then cleans up nice, jumps in the van, and heads to the park.  We have so much fun with him.

     We had some sad news on the farm.  Teddy, our old quarter horse that had lived her for 13 years and was owned by my dear friend, died of old age.  We got the chance to bury him in our back field.  Poor old guy.  He didn't suffer.  He just woke up one day and was struggling to breathe.  The vet came out and said that the old man was dying.  I lead him out to our wedding tree and we put him down.  He went down peacefully.  I miss the old man, but he had such a great life.

   Josh and I went for a little Disney sneak out trip.  It was just us but Emma was sown there on a senior trip.  We got to spend lots of time with her, which was so wonderful.  We also knocked off our Disney Bucket list one item: go to all four parks in one day.