Quick Trip to NC and Back
James and I just returned home this afternoon from a little trip down to NC. My dad turned 60 on Saturday and had his party on Sunday. We drove down as soon as we could after I got off work on Saturday evening and got in to the folk's place at 1AM, Kayla curled up between us on the truck's bench seat.
It was fun and stressful and relaxing, all for different reasons. It was good to see the folks and David and some other family, though we didn't see any of our friends this trip. We spent Monday running all over the place, including the courthouse and about eight different thrift stores. I found a couple dragon beads and picked up the little bits of hardware that would turn them into earrings. We also found a few random items at thrift stores, all less than one dollar. There was a 3/4 cup scoop ($0.16) that we'd wanted to find for measuring Kayla's food, a few books including one Vampire Hunter D manga (all $0.25 each), and a tiny flower pot ($0.30). We didn't find anything substantial that we need, though for those of you visiting Raleigh, we highly recommend hitting up Second Chance Pet Adoption's Cause for Paws thrift stores. They have three locations, two of which we visited, and were awesome! Lots of furniture and odds and ends and seemed to be quite a bit larger and better stocked than your average Good Will, and have oddly themed sales every day.
Tuesday was much more lazy, with only really going out to run to Petco and meet Mom for lunch. Though I suppose we did get out to the new $2.00 theater in Garner to see The Proposal, which was fun but very much a $2.00 movie. Tuesday was a rough day for me, fretting over various financial burdens that presented themselves, and I was struggling to rise out of the blue state I was in.
Things got better the closer we got to Pennsylvania and our little country home on Wednesday. We finally reached the house around 4:15, a mere 6 hours and 15 minutes after our departure, and Miner greeted us with very enthusiastic vocalizations from his pasture. He, at least, was very excited to see us home. I think he thought we abandoned him, even though it was obvious the neighbors had taken care of him, and even attempted to braid his out of control mane.
Tomorrow starts another day at work, and I'm looking forward to it truthfully. On Saturday, two of my horses won races, Jellyberry winning a $30,000 allowance race at Monmouth Park, and one of my personal favorites Boojwhacked running first in his first NSA sanctioned race in Shawan Downs in Maryland. Also at Shawan, my old man Flyer ("Flying Contraption"), came in third, despite being the oldest and fattest horse in the race. At twelve years old he is one goofy horse, but so much fun to ride. It was good to see him run well after over a year off. Our other horses running didn't do as well. Whether it is due to their training or the jockey, I can't say for sure, but I do wonder how they would have fared with a different rider on their backs, though I wouldn't dare say as much to Bruce.
All of these things aside, I submitted an application in response to a random employment ad looking for medical transcriptionists. Whether it would be something I could do in my spare time, or take on as a full time thing, I don't know. But if it could supplement or significantly increase what I'm making with Bruce, I might be tempted to take it. If only I could find a way to continue working for Bruce with the horses and still make ends meet without frustration. It's hard enough not having James a couple nights a week as he moonlights down the road from the house. I still think the company he's working for is taking advantage of his skills and getting him extremely cheap. I just wish I could convince him to do something about it.
*sigh*
It was fun and stressful and relaxing, all for different reasons. It was good to see the folks and David and some other family, though we didn't see any of our friends this trip. We spent Monday running all over the place, including the courthouse and about eight different thrift stores. I found a couple dragon beads and picked up the little bits of hardware that would turn them into earrings. We also found a few random items at thrift stores, all less than one dollar. There was a 3/4 cup scoop ($0.16) that we'd wanted to find for measuring Kayla's food, a few books including one Vampire Hunter D manga (all $0.25 each), and a tiny flower pot ($0.30). We didn't find anything substantial that we need, though for those of you visiting Raleigh, we highly recommend hitting up Second Chance Pet Adoption's Cause for Paws thrift stores. They have three locations, two of which we visited, and were awesome! Lots of furniture and odds and ends and seemed to be quite a bit larger and better stocked than your average Good Will, and have oddly themed sales every day.
Tuesday was much more lazy, with only really going out to run to Petco and meet Mom for lunch. Though I suppose we did get out to the new $2.00 theater in Garner to see The Proposal, which was fun but very much a $2.00 movie. Tuesday was a rough day for me, fretting over various financial burdens that presented themselves, and I was struggling to rise out of the blue state I was in.
Things got better the closer we got to Pennsylvania and our little country home on Wednesday. We finally reached the house around 4:15, a mere 6 hours and 15 minutes after our departure, and Miner greeted us with very enthusiastic vocalizations from his pasture. He, at least, was very excited to see us home. I think he thought we abandoned him, even though it was obvious the neighbors had taken care of him, and even attempted to braid his out of control mane.
Tomorrow starts another day at work, and I'm looking forward to it truthfully. On Saturday, two of my horses won races, Jellyberry winning a $30,000 allowance race at Monmouth Park, and one of my personal favorites Boojwhacked running first in his first NSA sanctioned race in Shawan Downs in Maryland. Also at Shawan, my old man Flyer ("Flying Contraption"), came in third, despite being the oldest and fattest horse in the race. At twelve years old he is one goofy horse, but so much fun to ride. It was good to see him run well after over a year off. Our other horses running didn't do as well. Whether it is due to their training or the jockey, I can't say for sure, but I do wonder how they would have fared with a different rider on their backs, though I wouldn't dare say as much to Bruce.
All of these things aside, I submitted an application in response to a random employment ad looking for medical transcriptionists. Whether it would be something I could do in my spare time, or take on as a full time thing, I don't know. But if it could supplement or significantly increase what I'm making with Bruce, I might be tempted to take it. If only I could find a way to continue working for Bruce with the horses and still make ends meet without frustration. It's hard enough not having James a couple nights a week as he moonlights down the road from the house. I still think the company he's working for is taking advantage of his skills and getting him extremely cheap. I just wish I could convince him to do something about it.
*sigh*