Bad Day Gone Good

So have your ever had one of those days where you just know everything was going to go wrong? I woke up early this morning to my shoulder (which due to a previous injury...thanks Johnny Cash... acts up on occasion) was screaming in pain. I had trouble getting back to sleep and when I finally drug myself out of bed I found my back was also hurting...I'm hating this whole getting older thing! I managed to get going and get the kids to school and convince myself to "suck it up" and head out to the farm. After morning feeding and chores, I got Pilgrim out for our workout. He played on the lunge, acted up, reared and generally made a fool of himself. Needless to say, I was not looking forward to our ride. And then something happened...Our ride went great! Pilgrim was trying and listening and learning. He had really great soft, round moments. We did tons of trot work and I could really start to feel him reach underneath me with his hind legs to push forward and round his back. We also introduced some simple lead changes which he seems to understand and picked up quickly. I was so impressed with him and it completely turned my mood around for the entire day...which was good since I still had MayMay to ride! Once again I was reminded why I love these critters so much. It even motivated me to work extra hard so I could get in some extra workouts, so after MayMay and broke out Jazzy for some lunge time and groundwork. Lessons kept me busy all afternoon until rushing home so Dwight could get to Karate.

I have to brag on Faith for a minute...actually both my kids really. Faith has been volunteering to help around the house and farm a bunch. She's been so helpful that I agreed to give her a weekly allowance as long as she continued to help. She's been saving the money so she can buy her own laptop...in pink of course. Since I like the idea of her learning to save money and taking on more responsibility, Chuck and I have been really supportive. She's enjoyed helping so much and proud to be earning the money, she talks about it all the time. So yesterday, Dwight approaches me and informs he wants to start helping around the house and the farm so he can start earning extra money. So last night, while Faith cleaned the kitty litter box and washed the dishes, Dwight helped pack their school lunches for the next day and wiped off the kitchen table. Today he swept the tack shed while I taught lessons. Some days they make you proud to say "Yep, they are really good kids!"
Although my favorite comment generated from all of this came from Faith : "With all this extra help Mommy, soon you'll have nothing left to do!"     LOL