Hi from Monday!

So Sunday night I spent taking the model horse apart trying to fix it. I was getting frustrated because things weren’t going correct. To quote Fiks from last night “I am out of spoons!” Fiks played Spider Man until it was Dinner time then we started watch IZombie , a show my cousin introduced us to and we got hooked on while we were on our honeymoon in England.

I was meant to meet with the farrier on Monday morning, but he got into an accident right before Christmas with his truck and trailer and doesn’t have his truck currently. He offered to have his apprentice to do him on Tuesday, but I can’t do it because I’m working all day. So we moved it to next week.

I woke up around 8 and left Fiks to sleep some more and came out to the living room and watched some Futurama. About a half hour later Fiks got up and made me waffles for breakfast, which was totally awesome. Oh, and some Yorkshire Tea (the best tea). We watched some TV for a little bit and then we got dressed to head over to my parents house.

We went and said hi to Gucci who turned around and met us at the gate. I think he was happy to see Fiks, who he hasn’t seen in a while. We went inside and saw poppa and the contractor were working on the utility room putting the new floor in. Poppa had the mole hole open so he could stand up while putting down the new floor. Mom was upstairs so we went and took Gucci for a graze. He did really good today, we grazed for 15-17 minutes and went almost all the way to the far fence since it had tried out quite a bit.

Then we went for our laps and he did really good. We did 3 good laps today. I thought we might do 4 but after the 3rd one he started to head back to his stall. We stopped by the trailer so that I could brush the mud off him, he seemed to be happy to get brushed. We went inside and talked with mom and played with Lumi for a while, then I made Gucci’s medicine and pasted him.

After we were done at my parents house we went out to lunch to get burgers. Fiks got lamb sliders and vader tators, while I just got a plain old burger with Swiss cheese. We hung out at home for a while before heading to my doctors appointment at the hospital for a MRI. I worked on putting the horse back together. I discovered that I was putting a post and a gear in backward so I fixed that and then started putting more gears on. It still wouldn’t turn great, but I’d have to discover why after my appointment.

So we went to t he hospital and walked to the MRI check in room. The receptionist had no sense of humor. Fiks asked what super powers I’d be getting and it just went straight over her head. He had to explain the joke and even then she barely got it. They had a form I had to fill out asking if I had any metal or artificial products in my body (no), do you have any tattoos (yes), are you allergic to anything (yes), are you allergic to the dye (yes, if they use inject able iodine). While we were waiting this woman came in and kinda made a scene. She missed her appointment and she demanded that she still get seen, basically. When it was my turn to be called back she tried to take my name and spot, but the nurses didn’t let that happen.

I stripped down to my skivvies, put on the gowns they told me to wear, and out to the MRI machine we went. They asked if I ever had a MRI before (yes), and explained it was going to be the same as last time then. They gave me ear protection and into the machine I went. I forgot how loud it gets in there, even with the ear protection. I think I went in like 80% of the way, because it was a tight fit with how I had my arms across my chest but I could still see ceiling lights. I wish that I had told Fiks to play some Halestorm on the way over so I could have some songs in my head while the machine was going. I couldn’t think of any songs, so I lied there and said my prayers and focused on my breathing. It was lots of short scans, 5 minutes being the longest, 3 being the most. I kept trying to relax my body without moving it, kind of hard. But I did it, and the MRI guy said I did a great job on not moving, so yay! I’ll go over my results with the Doctor next Tuesday.

We came home, moved some laundry, I took a shower because I always feel a little dirty after hospitals. Then I made dinner (nachos), and started to work on the horse again. I discovered why we had such a hard time turning the gears. We were doing it while the horse was on his side, we were meant to be doing it while he was vertical. Once I discovered this things went along rather smoothly up to a point. I asked for Fiks to come look at it because I wasn’t sure about the next step. So he comes and plays with it and undoes part of the horse on the inside. (BOYS! Love you Fiks!) He said I had it wrong, and then I showed him the picture to prove I had done it right and that he had messed it up (haha! Victory!) Well he had a tool from his grandpas tool chest and got the rubber band going around the butt and down through the hip and out the butt again.

Once we got that fixed he wound it up and showed me how the ‘motor’ works. See, I thought it was a toy you turned with the key to make it walk. Oh no, no no no was I wrong. You wind it up and then press the top and it starts moving on its own. I was so giddy with this new understanding of the toy that I might have squealed and jumped up and down in place on my butt a few times. So I kept working on it, until I broke a piece. It would be one we need both of and there is no backup piece. So we either have to fix it or email the company for a new part and wait.

I didn’t sleep good Monday night and I had to wake up early to go and paste Gucci. I was basically wide awake when my alarm went off. I got dressed, kissed Fiks goodbye and drove to my parents house. There was a really bad accident on the other side of the freeway on my way down. Traffic was backed up as far as I could see until I took the exit to my parents. I showed up and Gucci was eating, so I thought that poppa had been up and given him breakfast. I gave him his cookie and went inside to find poppa sleeping on the couch. We pasted Gucci, and gave him breakfast since I was wrong about poppa giving it to him already, and then I had to head to work.

I got there and read my book to kill time before my shift started. I was on duty for 10-15 minutes when a gentleman from the Chinese restaurant grabbed my attention and took me over to the front of his restaurant. Someone had either thrown a rock or kicked in his door at the bottom. Glass was everywhere. I tried to explain to the man to call the police, but he didn’t speak English, so he handed me his phone. I told the lady on the phone that she needed to call the police and file a report, and that I was just the security guard for the bank, not the whole building.

Shortly after the bank employees started showing up. The day went okay, I was just freezing for the first part of it. I had worn a white sweatshirt, so I couldn’t wear it under my jacket. But luckily I had a black zip up hoodie in the back of the truck, so I put that on under my jacket to help warm me up. It still took most of the day. I would run inside the bank, warm up, then go back outside. Rinse and repeat for most of the day. But we had no trouble, just one woman wearing a head piece I couldn’t decide if it was for religious reasons or what. I felt uncomfortable asking her to remove it just in case it was, so I just watched her. She did fine. The day went fine.

I came home and found Fiks asleep on the sofa. I teased him a bit for it. We did our own things during the night, me working on the horse and getting stuck and frustrated constantly, and Fiks played spider man. While I was working on the horse I got a text from the farrier saying that his assistant could fit Gucci in tomorrow morning.

We woke up early and boy, was it cold… again. 32 degree cold. We made our way over to my parents house and said hi to Gucci who was eating his breakfast. When we went inside I asked poppa when he’d gotten breakfast and he’d only had it for 15 minutes, so I gave him 15 minutes more to eat. Then I pasted him, giving him extra bute, then when we went to get him out and walk him the farrier was there, so he didn’t get warmed up before the shoing started.

He tried his best to be good, I believe he really did. But it was so cold his arthritis must have been super painful. And the wind was blowing which made it even colder. But his front hooves are super healthy, so that was nice to hear. I worry in the winter about that because he wears pads, and I’m sure water and muck can get in but I can’t get in to treat it without pulling off the shoe. While the farrier was doing his hind hoof and cleaning his frog, Gucci started to bleed. The way he described it to me was like when you were trimming a dogs nails and you hit the quick. Gucci’s quick is basically lower than it should be. But he packed him, wrapped him, and put his easy boot on for me. I think he felt really bad. He said he’s never had that happen before.

When he was done we went for a quick graze that I had promised him. He spooked a couple times while grazing, and I fell in a hole next to him, thankfully he didn’t kick me while I was down. We went in the house and warmed up for a bit, then went out and cleaned up the trimmings so Lumi couldn’t get them.

The grocery store wasn’t too busy, which was nice. But it was like 930ish. We went around and got our stuff, including a dinner to try in our new Instant Pot which I got for Christmas. Its a pressure cooker. So that’ll be exciting to use. I’m kinda nervous about it actually, but that’s why I’m doing it while Fiks is on vacation. 🙂

After we got home with the groceries Fiks said he meant to ask me to swing by the station to pick up something. I wanted to drop off my resume at a vet clinic anyway, so going back into that part of town was fine with me. First we swung by the station where Fiks picked up his box, then we went down the street to the vet clinic.

We spent the rest of the day being lazy mostly. I worked on my horse, he played Spider man.

He’s coming along slowly. We ordered some glue to see if we can fix the part that I broke so I can put the left side together. I then started working on the legs, got stuck, took it apart, didn’t understand how I put it together, and gave up. My brain was done.

I didn’t sleep good, so it was another morning of being up before my alarm. I got dressed and went to my parents house. It was still dark and I didn’t see Gucci, and I was kind of running late, so I didn’t give him his cookie. Poppa was waiting at the door. He showed me what I had to do to help mom, and then off we went to his doctors appointment. They said that he’d be done by 11, so after he was settled in I left to go feed Gucci breakfast and see if mom was awake.

Well, Gucci was waiting in his turnout, saw the car, and cantered into his stall and was waiting at the door for me. So I gave him his cookie, and he got a carrot out of me too. He got a new bucket of senior and a flake of hay. I went inside, turned on the heater and started moms coffee and went to go and see if she was awake; she wasn’t. Then like a hour after I left poppa, I got a phone call saying he was done and ready to be picked up. So I went to go and pick him up, that went fine. We swung by my sisters and picked up Lumi, and went back to their house. Mom was awake and downstairs watching TV when we walked in.

I came home after pasting Gucci and on my way home I met this huge puddle of water. Like the car 2 cars ahead of me disappeared in this wall of water. And then the car in front of me did the same. I couldn’t move over so I hit the wall of water too, kind of scary. I could feel the water pull my wheels to the side with the current. When I got home I told him of my adventure with the water and then curled up next to Fiks on the sofa while he played Spider man, trying to relax before I went to work. What I really wanted was a nap, but that didn’t happen.

Work went fine, well, minus the weather. It rained for almost most of my shift, like this.

And then we had a hail storm

Nothing really happened at work. Well, except for the one guy who was asking for a new debit card and couldn’t give any information and had explained he had just gotten out of jail. Totally misread that guy.

When I got home dinner in the Instant Pot was done and the house smelled amazing. All that pork and sausage and herbs, yummy. It turned out really good.

We ate dinner and watched more iZombie. Watching the intros made us miss my cousins house in England watching it on the sofa with them. I even posted that on Facebook on my cousins wall. She said that the sofa is waiting for us, so that’s nice to know.

I slept alright Thursday night, not the best but not the worst, either. I woke up with my alarm and got dressed for worked, grabbed my stuff and headed to my parents house to paste Gucci before work.

I gave him his cookie, he told me the sad story that he hadn’t been fed breakfast. I wasn’t so sure (without going into his stall, which I didn’t do), so I went into the house and asked poppa. He said he’d given it to him 10-15 minutes ago, so I gave him some time to eat some more breakfast. I gave Lumi some pets to kill time, and then the contractor showed up and I was no longer important to him. Poppa ran upstairs to get mom, and then once she was down we went and pasted Gucci.

I went to work and was running a little late, but that’s okay. I still got there in time. Got my tea, my work phone, turned on my podcasts and started my day. And the day went fine, I even got a surprise visit from Fiks who came to deliver my rings which I had forgotten to put on that morning.

It was an easy night for us. I worked on my horse, building its legs, and Fiks played more Spider man. He’s way farther in the game than I am at this point. But I haven’t had all week off to play it either, maybe I’ll work on it on one of my days off next week. Anyway, onto the legs.

I had started working on the right hind leg a couple of nights ago, got stuck, took it apart and then gave up. I left it alone for a night, then I decided I’d give it another whirl. Well, I put it together, it was still wrong, so I took it apart all the way back to the beginning again. Then I tried, got stuck, and had Fiks help me. Well, he had a hard time with it too, (nice to know it wasn’t just me), and ended up practically putting the whole thing together for me, I think I put the hoof on and that was it.

Right hind leg.

So once the hind leg was together, I felt like I had a groove going on, so I started working on the foreleg. That seemed to come together pretty easy, no where as near as complicated as the hind leg. Its not totally anatomically correct, but that’s okay, I didn’t expect it to be.

Right Foreleg

I slept until about 5 Saturday morning, then just lied in bed and listened to my audio book until my alarm went off. I wish that I was sleeping better. Anyway, I got up with my alarm and found Fiks out on the sofa. I made sure he was feeling okay and tried to get him to go back to bed and failed. I got my lunch and breakfast together, kissed him goodbye and went to work.

I settled in with my bagel, my podcasts, my new book (Storm Cursed) and my work phone and waited for the cars to start rolling in. Work was pretty steady until about 1 pm. Cars were coming in pretty regularly and I had a lot of golfers and people going to the restaurant. But around 1 pm it slowed down. On my break I played Harry Potter: Wizards Unite because they had a special event going on for a few hours.

I went over to see Gucci after work and I gave him a cookie and a carrot once I got there. There might have been a carrot in my other hand for this photo…

But he was good. Seemed happy enough. I got in the house and said hi to Mom, Lumi, and surprisingly poppa (who was running late). I helped mom put together her new mop and then pasted the boy. I gave him a new bucket and some extra love and some scratches to get the nose going.

I came home and we did dinner, and then I started working on the horse again watching Doctor Pol while Fiks watched a live streamed session of the C-Team from PAX. I made the left hind rear leg, easier since I had the right hind to go off of.

Woohoo! Legs!

I then started to work on the left front leg and realized I had a part backwards. I was taking it apart when I broke one of the pieces. Well, we had the glue, so I tried gluing the pieces back together. We’ll see if they hold up tomorrow.

I slept until about 430 Sunday morning, I just lied in bed and listened to my book and tried to go back to sleep. I got out of bed and got dressed, grabbed my lunch and breakfast, and off to work I went. We had a really pretty sunrise this morning.

I got my stuff out and settled into work. Which went fine. Except for the guy in the Tesla who tried to sneak through the gate and then screamed at me from his car. I just gave him a blank stare until he stopped then I let him though. I had a lot of golfers, we had a tournament today, and a lot of people going to breakfast. Someone brought me a frosted cinnamon roll, so I felt like I was a hobbit, having a second breakfast.

But the rest of the day went fine. I even finished Storm Cursed and started Shifting Shadows. My 3rd book of the year. I’m sure I’ll pick up speed once again. But they’ve all been pretty big books, so a week of reading isn’t bad. Shifting Shadows is a bunch of short stories set in the same world as Storm Cursed.

I helped my poppa with an errand after work and we went back to my parents house. I said hi to Gucci and then went inside to see Mom and Lumi.

I gave Gucci a quick graze, gave him his dinner, and pasted him all before the 49ers game. Poppa was afraid I was going to miss it and was just about to come outside when I walked in.

Mom invited us over for dinner for stew, so I stayed and watched the game with them and ate some dinner. We were waiting for Fiks to come over while we were watching the game, and man, was it a good one. The 1st half ended 0-20 49ers. I then started to feel tired and wanted to go home, so we said bye to mom, lumi, and Gucci and left. We watched the rest of the game, the 49ers winning. Which means were going to the Super Bowl.

See you next week!