Times, they are 'a changin'. Cristen got the Barn Staff job she applied to in our last post! It's been four days and she has never been happier. This is the first time she's been comfortable and happy enough in a job that she can see it becoming her career. As barn staff she helps feed, turn out and take care of the horses. Every single person she has come in contact with, staff and volunteers alike, has been very nice and welcoming. Management is professional and level-headed and the horses are unbelievably well behaved. It's such a turn around from other barns she's worked in and other management she's worked under.
This job is going to be a life-changer for Cristen. Her depression and anxiety are being kept in check without the aid of pills and she'll start to tone up and get in better shape. She says she's very excited to see what her pant size will be come December. :) After a couple of very hard years, things finally seem to be turning around. Hopefully we'll be able to move out into our own place in the next couple of months, but until then we're going to enjoy what it feels like to be human beings again. To be part of a world that doesn't struggle day to day, that can look forward to better things happening in the future with doubt cast far aside, it's truly an amazing feeling. It's very freeing and, for lack of a better phrase, life changing. Plus, she gets to drive a John Deere Gator (which she is over the moon excited about) :)
Summer seems to be coming to an end. Days are getting shorter, and cooler, leaves are starting to change, kids are back in school. You can feel the changing of the seasons in the air. Part of us will be sad to see the green go, but the other part can't wait for the pumpkins, spices, apple and grape picking, sweaters and beautiful colors that will fill our world. Best of all: no bugs! We've been unable to do any Geocaching this summer, but will jump back into it this fall when the GPS signal will be clearer and we won't have to fear West Nile Virus carrying mosquitoes.
We hope everyone in the path of recent Hurricane Irene stayed safe and evacuated when necessary! To those thinking that Irene is a "harbinger" of what's to come (NYTimes, I'm looking at you!), keep in mind that this is one of the least active hurricane seasons we've had. This is not a "bad sign". Weather patterns fluctuate year to year, season to season. One season can be catastrophically bad while the next can come and go like a kitten. Some of our worst weather outbreaks in recorded history have occurred in the early-mid 1900's. Remember that when you're freaking out that the newest storm system spawned a deadly outbreak of tornadoes.
All I pay my psychiatrist is the cost of feed and hay, and he'll listen to me any day. ~Author Unknown
