As of today, I’m back in my normal schedule of work plus barn plus life.  Even though I’ve enjoyed my time off, I mostly like my job and am okay getting back in the routine.  See, since December 23rd I’ve been very much out of any routine.

My company closes every  year between Christmas and New Years and the way the dates fell this year, I didn’t have to go back in the office until today.  Usually all of this extra time off is spent traveling.  However, my husband doesn’t have the same vacation schedule and this year we didn’t really stay gone that long for Christmas.  For the first time since I started working, I had a week off with no where to go and no guest in town.  It was delightfully strange.

Naturally, I planned to spend a lot of this time at the barn.  I got in two sunny winter rides in, including a really hard/fun lesson, before the weather turned south.  It was cold and rainy for several days, and I also got a minor head cold which kept me a bit out of commission.

Without being able to ride as much, I turned my hand to organizing all of our cabinets.  I hauled an entire car load of things to Goodwill (it felt so fantastic) and have been enjoying some clutter free areas.  Perhaps this isn’t a super fun thing to do on vacation, but I dug it.

There was also a lot of napping.

And some shopping.

And talking to my dogs a lot, since they were who I hung out with all day.

When my Christmas clippers (ordered immediately after the holiday with present money/gift cards) arrived, I turned my boredom into experimenting by clipping all of my animals.  Poor Eliot was the first victim.

The plus side?  Now his hair is short, clean and mat free.  I don’t get him professionally groomed enough nor do I brush him enough to keep his long coat free of mats, so this hair cut makes everyone happier.  He does look.. a little rough though.  Clipping horses are much easier than dogs!

Simon was also due for a second clip, because I hate hair.  Luckily I got a 60 degree sunny day in before work in order to bathe him.

Of course being a Texas winter, the weather is pretty nuts for the next few weeks.  Up and down up and down with lows below freezing a few nights.  With that in mind, I decided to do a trace clip instead of a full body clip.  I thought the extra hair would keep him warm, but enough has been clipped off that he will stay cooler working on warm days and dry off quickly at night when I ride after work.

Plus, it’s a new style we haven’t tried before.

So this essentially pointless post is mostly to say that I am feeling pretty damn good.  I got a lot of super productive things done in my day off, and am starting off 2015 with a good attitude.  There are lots of fun things up ahead, and I’m looking forward to it.

Hope everyone had a great holiday season!

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