The Weather is Crappy, Life is Boring and I’m Over it

The Weather is Crappy, Life is Boring and I’m Over it

While you wouldn’t expect a Texan to complain about the weather, winter riding and winter survival in general is a bit different here.  See, up north where it’s truly cold, there are institutions set up to deal with the cold.  These institutions include things like snow plows, covered riding rings and winter jackets.

A cold day in Texas means “put on a sweater”.  Cold + any type of precipitation?  Forget it.  If it’s below 40 and raining, we’re going to whine and complain until the (longhorn) cows come home.  It’s just how we are.  Sure, it’s colder where you are… but you’re also more used to dealing with it.  Right?

Saturday was 36 and raining. I left my house once… for tacos.

Photo by shortblondeguy.com
Photo by shortblondeguy.com

I made it my motto this winter to ride as much as possible, because with unpredictable weather you can only do the best you can do.  Still, with work and life commitments plus this horrible, slogging rain I’ve only been able to ride about twice a week in 2015 so far.  Twice a week if I’m lucky!

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I’m sure Simon is fine, but mostly I let him chill and be a horse on days I can’t get out there.  The drive is long (40 minutes each way) for me, so I opt to save that gas money on other stuff for him.  Like a saddle fitter (coming soon to a blog near you) or Ikea furniture… which he doesn’t seem to appreciate much.

As you may or may not remember, turning our guest room (which should really be called husband’s mad scientist for tech world domination room) into a dual office was one of my 2015 personal goals.  When husband got a boost of motivation this Sunday, that process jump started quicker than I anticipated.

Ikea tetris... do you keep a single croc, a dog crate and a saddle rack in the back of your car?
Ikea tetris… do you keep a single croc, a dog crate and a saddle rack in the back of your car?

So now I’m surrounded by half made Ikea furniture, and lots of lots of books that we need to get rid of.  The end goal here is actually going to be super positive, because I’ll have a space to craft and sew and blog and do whatever I want without having to pull a pile of computers out of the way first.  However the in-between state makes me want to curl up into a fetal position.

so. much. shit.
so. much. shit.
I will call this 'my corner of sanity'
I will call this ‘my corner of sanity’

Eventually I’ll have cool things to blog about, but for now I’m just crawling through winter like the rest of us.

36 thoughts on “The Weather is Crappy, Life is Boring and I’m Over it

  1. What desk did you get for the corner of sanity? I need one that big for all my monogram creation and work from home drama!

    1. It has a strange Ikea name, but it’s basically their only true corner desk. We did 1 corner, 1 medium length and 1 long length with different supports underneath. That plus some storage came in under $300 so it’s quite a good deal.

      1. It’s the Linnmon tops with Adils legs…I’m quite familiar as my boyfriend and I are planning a similar setup for our office as well! Haha.

          1. Hahaha, my boyfriend and I LOVE Ikea!

            Also, it looks like you’ve also got one Alex unit (without the drawers in yet!) hidden against the other wall.

            Yep. I’m Ikea crazy. lol.

  2. I’m with you.. winter sucks. Its been raining all week and I have a horse show Saturday. I’m secretly freaking out on how i’m going to ride and prep for this show. I’m hoping they cancel it so i don’t embarrass myself from not riding all week!

  3. I’m laughing… because we just went through this with my brother-in-law’s stuff. 50+ boxes of random that needs to be shipped to Australia. That cannot happen fast enough.

  4. I hear ya…bad weather is bad weather no matter where you are. Rain is one of the worst things..I almost prefer snow. Almost. But never ice. Ice bad.
    Best of luck with the office – sounds like it’s going to be fabulous!

  5. I’m with you. I went to the barn the other week dressed to ride, but it was 50 degrees and windy and dark. I couldn’t bring myself to take off Hemie’s blanket so I just cleaned tack instead. I hate winter.

    1. ALSO I have the answer to your dilemma from the hodgepodge room post with all the sentimental knickknacks: put out a few in your “display areas” around your home, and keep the rest of them in an attractive or out-of-the-way storage container, then every 2 to 3 months swap out whats on display. =) You could always have a spaniel on display somewhere and you wont really be the crazy dog lady!

  6. Lol “corner of sanity”. If it makes you feel better, it always feels colder here in ATX to me then the same or colder temperatures in OK. Effin’ humidity (not that OK doesn’t get humid.. just not in the winter).

  7. Being a military family, I went from spending 5 years in Hawaii (basically anything below 70 degrees was time for sweaters and jackets and complaining about how cold it is) to San Antonio for a year, (mostly warm or way too warm) to Kansas where 36 degrees *almost* feels like t-shirt weather once you start to acclimate! We only have an outdoor to ride in so I’m sure my horse thinks I’m a really mean mom for making her work in weather under 20 degrees, but hey, I got her an adorable bright pink cupcake quarter sheet so that should make up for it, right?

    Your “corner of sanity” looks great! I need a corner of sanity….

  8. Agree 100% winter sucketh. Myself & the horses got thoroughly soaked coming in from turnout this evening. I had hoped to ride at least one, but i knew if i took my wet gear off I’d never get it back on to walk home in. So figured I’d keep it on till then and ride another day. Maybe with some luck tomorrow if apt meeting doesn’t last all night *fingers crossed*

  9. Oh man, I get the whole acclimatization thing but…it’s -24 degrees Celsius here (-26 wind chill). That’s -11.2 to -14.8F for you guys. Yes, minus! I consider 5 degrees (-15C) rideable temps. It is always so interesting to me how different we treat the cold depending on where we live. We definitely need to invest in a whole different riding wardrobe to make it doable! I am envious! But would likely feel just the same as you if I lived there. When in Rome…

  10. The weather has been really crappy everywhere. (Except maybe Florida, I don’t know I’m not up to date with their weather patterns). I live in San Antonio and yeah it’s not COLD cold here, but it’s still chilly. And wet lately. But despite that I manage to ride 6 days a week at a barn that has no indoor and no true arenas with sand or nice things like that. I manage that plus a more than full time job and somehow get to the barn that is 20 minutes away without having a car. Not to mention the fact that I work for my trainer as well so I spend minimally 6 hours there every day. Oh and we have our first show of the year this weekend.. It’s hard, but worth it. No fair weather equestrian here.

  11. That is going to be awesome!!! I have to agree about the in between process. It’s horrible! Going through things/throwing things out isn’t my favorite way to spend my time hehe. Hang in there… spring isn’t too far away!

  12. Doesn’t everyone keep a croc, a dog crate and a saddle rack in their car? You mean that isn’t normal?

    Also, I’ve never been to an Ikea and I really feel like I’m missing out.

  13. I love your description of winter in Austin! I am also a transplant from up north (Colorado & Connecticut) so I know what cold really is. If we never rode when it was under 40 where I’m from, we wouldn’t ride for 5 months of the year!! It’s all about perspective – and the institutions to deal with it as you say 🙂 that being said I find myself quickly becoming a winter wuss here…

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