It’s the Little Things

I took Friday off last week with the intention that I was going to do some writing, work on my blog, edit a bunch of photos I haven’t had time to deal with, and read some other people’s blogs. Did I actually do any of those things?

Of course not.

I arrived at the barn around 9:00 AM on Friday and rode Luke while I waited for C to get done with a lesson. We had plans to cool our horses off by riding through the woods and around the fields near the barn.

It turned out that the field was full of gopher holes. We tried to steer around them, but by some freak act of nature, Luke managed to sink all four legs until his belly was touching the ground.

I think both of us were so confused by this that neither of us panicked. Luke had a hard time getting his front legs back up onto solid ground, but he finally managed to get out, after several somewhat scary, jerky attempts.

I was SO glad he didn’t panic or he might have hurt both of us.

C and I got off and led the horses back onto safer ground in the woods. So much for a nice relaxing ride through nature…

My friend and I also went for a bike ride to a lake we were able to circle part way around. We had a few challenging hills to contend with. I was really good at going downhill as fast as I could, but C with her skinny tires, whizzed past me going uphill.

I ended up getting home later than I had planned on so other than walk the dogs, that was my Friday.

Saturday I met a friend I haven’t seen for quite awhile for coffee. I’m so glad we both took the time to get together.

After that, another friend and I went mountain biking on a trail that didn’t have much in the way of obstacles like logs and rocks but had some ups and downs, and tight turns through the trees. Picking up speed and then having to make a tight corner is what intimidates me the most. I need to build up the feeling of what works, just like I’ve had to do with horses.

Then in the evening there was a party with live music and more friends down by the river. I haven’t figured out my iPhone camera yet… obviously… so you’ll have to imagine how cool this was.

Sunday, I didn’t do a dang thing except bake bread, which I had a few issues with because of my unreliable oven. How does a setting of 450 degrees result in an actual oven temperature of 550 degrees?

During my dough rising and baking fiasco, I caught up on a few emails, paid a few bills, and while the bread cooled, I walked the dogs.

So why am I giving you a litany of my weekend activities? Because it’s so amazing to me how much my life has changed. How much more time I get to have with friends. And how many more fun things I get to do.

I’m trying not to beat myself up over the things I’m NOT doing. Because…

To give and receive
The little things
That everyone needs