Update

I've been kinda sucking at this blog thing lately. So here's a blah-blah-this-is-my-life thing.

I'm loving the volunteering gig. Absolutely loving it. Fastest three hours of my week. And for those of you who had the "Oh dear god, Pusher is working with children?!?" reaction (which is totally justified!), I've realized something. First of all, Syl is right in that the older they get, the less I fear them, and most of the riders are in the 10-17 range. Also, I'm much better at dealing with them in a structured environment. The kids at We Can Ride aren't looking to me to entertain them; I don't have to keep them out of trouble; I don't have to try to read them the stories that they've written by scribbling on a piece of paper (for the record, I always read them wrong). I'm okay with kids if all I have to do is take 'em outside and give airplane rides til my arms are ready to fall off, and I'm okay with these kids when all I have to do is make sure they're okay in the saddle, help them with the instructions the teacher is giving, and answer the same question 34 times.

Last week we had an unexpected houseguest — childhood friend of mine who just moved back to Minneapolis and needed a place to stay for a few nights. If nothing else, it was a good reminder of how much I enjoy my quiet, comfortable, placid existence. :-)

Lagging a bit behind in the garden. I'm trying to at least keep up with watering the tomatoes and the new trees, now that Mother Nature isn't handling that bit for me, but the weeds are emerging triumphant I'm afraid. Sugar snap peas and the early crop of raspberries are ripe now. Yum. I'm hoping to spend lots of time out there this weekend. Took some pictures lately too; I should put those up in the blog.

Last weekend was our first weekend of the summer up at the lake. We took Friday off and were joined by Jaysan and The Sexy Blonde. Cool enough for a late morning bike ride (I didn't die! Or wuss out at the end of the driveway!), then hot enough for a swim. Lots of grilled meat, cold booze, and nature. Yay lake.

Meme

Okay, saw this over at Ms. Huis Herself's blog, and had to try it even though brevity and I are only distantly acquainted at the best of times.

1 Where is your cell phone? Nonexistent
2 Relationship? Happy
3 Your hair? Appalling
4 Work? Tenuous
5 Your sister? Bold

6 Your favorite things? Intangible
7 Your dream last night? Interrupted
8 Your favorite drink? Alcoholic
9 Your dream car? Ang's
10 The room you're in? Cubicle

11 Your shoes? Boots
12 Your fears? Annoying
13 What do you want to be in 10 years? Better
14 Who did you hang out with this weekend? Friends
15 What are you not good at? Brevity

16 Muffins? Rarely
17 Wish-list item? Rock
18 Where you grew up? Suburbia
19 The last thing you did? Work
20 What are you wearing? Usual

21 What are you not wearing? Sweater
22 Your pet? None
23 Your computer? Sleek
24 Your life? Lucky
25 Your mood? Content

26 Missing? Friends
27 What are you thinking about? This
28 Your car? Gift
29 Your kitchen? Adequate
30 Your summer? Awesome

31 Your favorite color? Purple
32 Last time you laughed? 9:30
33 Last time you cried? ?
34 School? History
35 Love? Yes

36 Tag? Sure

By popular demand

The local honey trick: Every day, beginning 6-8 weeks before allergy season kicks in, eat a teaspoonful of local, unpasteurized honey (hello, farmers’ market!). Similar theory to vaccination. I make no guarantees. When I looked into this online, I saw lots of people saying it didn’t work. And maybe it doesn’t — maybe whatever I’m allergic to in the spring just had a bad year — but I haven’t had a trace of seasonal allergies. But hey, even if it doesn’t work, it’s yummy.

Note about unpasteurized honey: apparently you’re not supposed to feed it to infants and toddlers.

Something new

Monday (probably) I start volunteering with We Can Ride. I had my volunteer training this past Tuesday, and I'm so very excited about it! We Can Ride does therapeutic horseback riding for developmentally/physically disabled people of all ages. It's an awesome program, it's really well organized, and (selfishly) it's a way for me to get my horse fix.

The only downfall so far is that I discovered Tuesday that after having been away from them for so long, I'm once again allergic to horses. Boo. But I'll just drug myself up a bit, and hopefully the allergy will go away again.

Speaking of allergies, I'm about ready to claim victory for the local honey folk remedy. Here it is June 7 and I haven't had a hint of a seasonal sniffle. Many thanks to the Sexy Blonde for procuring local honey for me.