Crochet Me Crazy

We had a busy day at the stables yesterday but Alison only worked half a day because she had to get ready and go on a trip with the youth group to a Christian concert. Jeff and whoever else we could get had to cover for her and the day turned out to be very busy! Michael came for part of the day until he had to go to work and then we got Serenity to lead the last two rides. I had to run Alison to the church 30 miles away at 2:00 and then come back to try to finish helping Jeff. I got virtually no sleep last night. I could not go to sleep because I knew Alison would be calling for us to come pick her up maybe around midnight. She didn't end up calling until 1:00 AM so Jeff went and got her. I was still awake when she got home at 2:30 AM --- then, after hearing about her night...it was after 3:00 when we went to sleep. I slept fitfully and had to wake up for church this morning. We didn't end up going to Sunday school but we did go to church. Now, we're home and I am planning on taking a nap! Alison had a really good time at the concert though.

Well, I said I would take a picture of the afghan I started but I undid most of it and started over. It was taking a funny shape and I decided I needed to figure out why before I went any further....so, no pictures of that.

It sounds so perfect for him. Now we have some decisions to make but I really don't think the decision will be that hard to make. This seems almost providential. Jeff is exactly what they are looking for and they are christian owned and operated. We'll wait for an offer and then see what happens.


I've started on my sister's afghan....I'll try to get some pictures taken. I haven't gotten all that far along on it though. The yarn and the yarn color is very pretty. I've been bad about taking pictures lately.

We're back to the normal routine of things even after Mr. Stables outburst. It's really not that surprising. You'd just have to know Mr. Stables to understand. Anyway, Mrs. Stables was pretty worried for a few days because she was afraid Alison wasn't going to want to do horse rides anymore. Alison is such a valuable assett to them. Alison still wants to work but she wants 2 days off a week and to be able to go to things she wants to do with the youth group or friends with notice. I think that's perfectly reasonable...she's been an extremely responsible and hard worker. She can run this place single handedly if she needs to.

As far as moving goes....we looked and asked around everywhere we know and can't find a thing. It's very hard to find a house to rent here. Mr. Stables had found a place someone he knows has sitting vacant and they have said yes. I had been praying that if God didn't want us to move there and that if it was time to move on, they would say NO. Well, they are working on cleaning the house out now so I guess we're going to do it. In all rationality, it is a very good deal for what we are getting. Even though it's going to be a stretch for us, we wouldn't be able to find anything any cheaper and the place has a lot to offer. I am actually pretty excited! I haven't lived in a real house in years!! It's actually not a house...it's a double wide mobile home but it is huge and has a big porch on the front and back with a beautiful view. It's bigger than my last house and it is on 22 acres. There's plenty of room for my Axis deer and there is even a cabin that we are going to rent to Michael to help us with the bills. Alison is so excited to have her own room and the best part.....WATER and a bath tub! A big kitchen with an island. We aren't going to know what to do with so much space! I don't have much furniture anymore and Alison doesn't have a bed. Oh well, we'll deal with that as we go.

God is really doing a lot of stuff and it's a good thing because I've really been praying for some change.....Jeff is going on a job interview today with an Access Control company. There's a guy in the church we've been going to who owns a Access Control company with his father. Jeff has tons of expertise in the access control industry. We had some people introduce us and he and Jeff are meeting today. Jeff is sooooo tired of not sleeping and the job he has now is wearing him down. Something has to give. We just don't know what is going to happen with the horse rides. That's the part that is up in the air. The Stable's owners are still expecting Jeff to work this summer but nothing official has been settled and we can't wait forever. Anyway, it'll all work out however it's supposed to.

I'm a little alarmed with other stuff going on....I just found out my son has a girlfriend! Girlfriend...not such a big deal but a girlfriend who's 22 and has a 2 1/2 year old son! The father of this kid wants to beat my son up and all kinds of other things that are disturbing to a mother concerning that situation. This is causing me all kinds of stress. He wants me to meet her and I'm not too keen on it at this point. God help me!

Alison on the other hand has a very nice boy I mentioned before. Both of our families seem to be happy and excited about that developing relationship. They talked on "Facetime" Monday night for a long time. They aren't exactly an "item" yet but Alison is pretty smitten. He's more what I had in mind for my daughter that what we had before....he's tall, smart, outgoing, homeschooled, stable, handsome, christian, chivalrous, plays several instruments by ear and plays in the youth band at church...from a nice christian family....we're off to a much better start here. As much as I LOVED Morgan...he just wasn't right for Alison.

Anyway, I'm able to talk a lot more openly and frankly her now that my blog is private! LOL

Well, I had to move my blog and change it to private status yesteray. Now it is basically a private diary and not open to everyone to read. The wrong eyes started reading my blog and I didn't see any choice. This is has become an invaluable chronical of our lives.

We're having trouble here at the stables with the owners/friends. To make a long story short, Mr. Stables blew up at us and asked us to leave. It's all a big mess and a big misunderstanding but it is what it is. I went over and talked to Mrs. Stables today and I think me and her were able to clear the air. I feel a lot better now that we talked. It all really upsets me becuase they have been very dear to us. I am not mad at Mr. Stables but I tried my hardest to get him to listen to me. I don't *think* we'll be leaving as enemies and I don't know what will happen with the horse rides. Either way, we are moving. It's the best think anyway because of Alison and Morgan. It's just time to move on. So, it's a good thing all in all and I'm actually very excited because we are going to rend a place. This will be the first time to have our own place again since we moved out here. I'm a little nervous because it's going to stretch us to our financial limits. Praying that God will work everything out.

Alison's heart is ALL a Pitter Patter for a boy from church. Butterflies, sweaty palms, shaking knees...the whole bit! Well, he came over to talk to her Sunday and she was a bowl of jelly. Then last night he they talked a lot more at youth and he got her number so they were texting last night. She is all smiles and I can't get her to shut-up about him! :)

The week has barely let up on us. We are already booked solid all day tomorrow. We figured it up tonight and my daughter and husband have spend 55 hours riding horseback so far this week. I don't have to ride horses all day...I help load and unload rides and deal with the people calling and milling around while they are riding. I also do pony rides. I had 17 pony rides yesterday. That's 28 laps around the parking lot. Alison was able to help me with those, Thank God. I walk 120 feet to the gate and 120 feet back to the gift shop 9 times a day. I probably walk a mile every day just walking rides out the gate. I surely get my excercise and my feet tell me about it every night. Gotta take my vitamins to help me get through the day. Last rides goes out at 5:00 pm and if we are lucky enough to stay on schedule...they get back at 6:00. Then we walk 13 horses to the barn and unsaddle them. After that, we load 8 bales of hay into the truck and feed the animals. Hopefully, we're done by 7:00 pm. It's up to the house to eat, take baths and go to bed so we can start again at 7 the next morning. Yes, I'm tired but those horses are amazing and sweet. They are tired too. I love them so much.

All of us...people and horses...are trying to get used to this grueling schedule again. Alison and Jeff are sore from being on horseback all day long and my feet are killing me from standing and walking back and forth from the gate to the gift shop for 10 hours straight. I ran in the house and made Jeff and Alison a sandwich and literally handed it to them on their horses as they rode out the gate. We had 60 riders today and it was non-stop rides all day. Tomorrow will be another non-stop day. I can already feel myself losing weight. We all lose weight every summer and this is a good thing because I haven't even gained much weight back during this past winter! Maybe I can make it back into a 6 by the end of summer!!!

Well, two very busy days but these past weren't anything compared to what's coming tomorrow and the rest of the week! We had 36 riders on Saturday and 26 today. Today, we didn't have any rides on the reservation board this morning so Alison and I took off and went to church this morning! We hurried back, rushed into the house, threw on our jeans and boots and rushed down to the stables to start working. Jeff was on a small ride when we got home. The rest of the afternoon was full but at least we still got to go to church this morning. That girl of mine isn't going to let us miss church if she can help it.

Tomorrow is starting early and we'll be doing rides with no breaks tomorrow and Tuesday is filling up to almost full already....

Tomorrow marks the beginning of Spring Break which means working long hours for us. Hopefully the weather will cooperate! We're expecting some rain showers this weekend!

Alison is feeling a little sad that she can't join in the fun of going to youth camp with the kids from youth this week. I'm afraid she's getting a little burned out which is understandable for a teenager. Working 7 days a week for 10-12 hour days all summer is a big responsibility. She's made friends at the youth group and there are always planning events and activities. She LOVES the horses and LOVES her job but I'm hoping we can work out some days off this summer so she won't feel like she's giving up her entire summer and burn herself out completely. I'm just a mom thinking ahead and seeing the writing on the wall!

Well, looks like one of these 3 afghans will be my next project!

This one is called for Baby & Me from the Big Book of Crochet Afghans by Annie's Attic:



This one is called Mother's Treasure from the book A Year of Afghans 1999



This one is called Sonata from the book Favorite Throws and Table Toppers by Annie's Attic



I will be making this for my sister. She is trying to figure out what yarn she wants it made from...something soft.

I can't sleep late to save my life anymore! I try and try but the latest I have been able to manage in a long time is 7:30. Most days I wake up much earlier and just lay in bed. Some days I just go ahead and get up before the sun comes up. It's quite depressing!

Well, last weekend they had to put the poor, old mule down. He was very OLD and has been in pretty bad shape for awhile now. Having a hard time getting around so they finally decided it was the right decision. He was a trusty, reliable sort and we'll miss him!

This is an old picture of Alison riding him when we first moved out here. Boy, they both have changed since then...



Nothing much else going on....we went to the last homeschool co-op of the year this week and I went to a homeschool mom's night out last week. the kids in the group are mostly too young for Alison but good things have come out of it. I've met a lot of the homeschooling mom's in the region and we found the church and the youth group out of it! Alison looks forward to every Wednesday and Sunday now.

I already mentioned that Alison and her boyfriend broke up...well, it's a lasting break up for sure! I've been very amazed at how well Alison has handled this. Every other break up has been tear filled and dramatic. This time I haven't been able to detect anything but determination and resolve to be DONE with the drama. She's back to her happy pre-boyfriend days. There's been a little tension since we live here right beside them and they have to see each other but even seeing him doesn't even seem to bother Alison. They had said they would remain friends since they were so close but he seems to have a pretty bad attitude ever since and is often downright rude. Alison has been determined to do the right thing regardless of how he acts and with him acting like this, it's actually a daily reminder of why breaking up was a good idea. If he was being the nice person she used to know, it might make it more difficult. So....It's all good. I'm glad I decided to let this whole thing play out on its own instead of trying to intervene so many times when I wanted to. My daughter has a good head on her shoulders and a desire to follow God so trusting HIM with her is what I try to do. In the meantime, there are cute boys at the youth group.....UH OH!!

Other than that, we are grooming horses and getting ready for Spring Break next week!



Thank God we've been having some beautiful spring like weather!