Herd Dispersal Sales...

Every now and then I will see a post on Model Horse Blab that someone is selling off their collection.  Usually the reason given is because they need the money to pay bills or to fund a horse or whatever.  On Model Horse Sales Pages, I see "Leaving the Hobby" sales where they sell of collections they've been growing for years.  Seeing those posts always makes me sad and I wonder why they started collecting to begin with.  What drew them into it.  For me, it was a love for horses and a new friend who had some.  As a young kid without a job, I couldn't have every horse I wanted so it took awhile to build my collection and at one time I had over 200.  Small potatoes compared to some collections, I know, but it was a lot to me.  When I had that many, I was actively showing.  I didn't have a real horse so the plastic ones helped me feel closer to the real ones.  There was a period of time when I stopped collecting and I got rid of a bunch of them, but I didn't have a big sale.  I gathered up my non-showable ones and donated them to a thrift store.  I was stupid.  I wish I hadn't done it, but I did.  End of story.  When I wasn't collecting, I still loved horses.  I still went to real horse shows and read magazines and such.

Recently I became aware of an auction site on the internet and saw an auction that resulted in this blog post.  Now granted, I don't know if all the items up for sale were by one person, but I followed a link to a certain person's auction that leads me to believe it was all the same person.  Not only were they selling a collection they'd obviously had going for many years, but they were also selling pictures and books about horses.  Did this person, in their decision to leave the hobby after all this time, also decide to leave their interest in horses?  Most people who start collecting plastic horses (or resin or china or whatever their favorite kind is) do so because they love horses.  Some have their own horses or work at a horse ranch or have some sort of daily encounter with them, but many don't.  They either can't ride due to physical reasons or they don't have a horse for financial ones.  Let's face it, real horses are expensive.  I just can't imagine not liking horses anymore so I can't comprehend why someone would sell off horse books and photos/paintings because they were leaving the hobby.  I guess collecting model horses is a hobby.  I don't know.  I never gave it much thought.  But if you don't want to collect anymore why not keep some that mean the most to you and sell the rest?  Put them away for awhile if you don't have room to display them.  I did that myself.  I had a few on my shelves in my room and the rest in a large plastic tub.  Last year, I took the ones out of the tub and found room for them.  It wasn't easy, but I like being able to see what I have.  In the next few months I see myself PIFing some of my models and maybe giving some away again, but not because I'm getting out of the hobby.  I'll do it because I want others to have ones they're really looking for and because I want to focus mainly on a few molds.  I don't know.  I haven't decided yet.  But what's good for me obviously isn't good for everyone else and I don't judge people for why they decide to sell their collection.  I'm just saying it makes me sad to see it when it's because they are leaving the hobby.

On a happier note, I want to share some beautiful models from another hobbyist's collection.  She has some beautiful models and I always enjoy reading her blog.  She makes tack, too.  I wish I could do that.  Hahaha.  Anyway, these models are all owned by Jennifer Bray Buxton and the photos are used with her permission.  The details on these lovelies are really stunning.

All Grown Up

Color Storm

Raconteur

Rajun Cajun---my favorite

All 4 horses were repainted from their original version and are just positively exquisite.  I would love to own any of these, like previously said, but my bank account would be very unhappy with me.  hahaha.

Happy Tuesday.

**eta**  I almost forgot.  Today would have been my parents' 47th wedding anniversary.  Last year I told my mom that I remembered what the day was and asked if she wanted it acknowledged at all and she said no so I told her that was fine, I just wanted her to know I knew what day it was.  Even though my dad has been gone for 3 years now (wow!  has it really been 3 years?), I know it's still difficult for her.  We all miss him.  I can only say that sometimes it's a blessing that her memory isn't all that good because she doesn't always remember his birthday or the anniversary of his death.  When I mentioned it last month she apologized to me for not remembering.  :(  I know she thinks of him often, though, but I guess I can not remind her of the different anniversaries.  Of course, that could backfire in that she may think I didn't remember.  It's not easy.  He died two weeks after her birthday, the day before mine (the official date of death is actually my birthday) and a month before their anniversary so that time of year is difficult.   I just have to be there for her.  We can talk about him and remember things and laugh, which is good.  "Dad would have liked that" or "Dad would've said something like that"  :)

It's Monday Again!

How did THAT happen?  Seems like we just had a Monday a few days ago.  Wait.  What?  You mean we DID have a Monday a few days ago?  Well, darn!  Isn't one enough?  Of course, whenever someone says we should just do away with Mondays I tell them it wouldn't work because then Tuesday would become the new Monday and it would be the same thing.  Oh well.  I hope everyone had a good weekend.  Mine was okay.  Took a bunch of clothes to Goodwill that were either too big or I didn't like how they fit.  I can be pretty picky about my clothes.  If they're too low-cut, out they go.  One shirt got donated because it tended to "creep" to one side which caused the sleeve on the opposite side to ride up and that was uncomfortable.  I'm not, like, super duper modest or anything like that, but I do like to make sure everything is covered (even if there isn't much to cover) and if it can't be "hidden" behind one of those panel thingies you snap into the straps of a bra, then I don't keep it.  Sunday my mom and I went to breakfast at Denny's then did our usual grocery shopping.

  I got to see some of the Rolex Kentucky 3 Day Event and would like to congratulate Andrew Nicholson and his horse Quimbo for winning the whole enchilada.

  I think a lot of people were betting on William Fox-Pitt to win, but he decided to pull up during the cross-country portion and didn't finish and his combined scores from Dressage and Show Jumping weren't enough for a win, but he did get 2nd place.  It was interesting to watch the Cross-Country on my iPad Mini Saturday.  Equestrian events don't get a whole lot of coverage in Arizona and when it does it's usually Show Jumping.  Some of the jumps in Cross-Country were a bit...intense

by carly dolan

by carly dolan

I thought the finale was going to be live on NBC at 1pm Arizona time Sunday, but when I decided to check the USEF Network I quickly discovered that wasn't the case so by the time NBC showed their portion, I already knew who won.  I was disappointed in that.  Not to mention NBC's coverage sucked.  The first 20 minutes or so were re-caps from the Dressage and Cross-Country phases and they had way too many commercials.  They ended up only showing maybe 4 or 5 riders.  Very disappointing.  But now that I know my iPad is capable of live streaming from the USEF Network, I can watch it there.  They show the events in their entirety.  Watching the events at the Kentucky Horse Park, however, makes me want to go to Breyerfest next year even more.  Not just for the plastic ponehs, but just to be at the Kentucky Horse Park and being surrounded by everything horse.

Horses have been a big part of my life since I was at least 4, if not earlier.  But when I was 4 I remember getting to ride my first horse.  My mom's cousin put me on a Palomino pony and led me around a little bit.  It was the greatest thing in the world.  There are no photos of that.  Surprisingly, there's only 2 photos of me on a horse, despite how many times I've ridden.  I'll share the other photo later, but this photo is from the last time I went riding...in 1999 for my birthday.  My friend booked us a 4 hour ride into the Superstition Mountains.  It was awesome!  The picture quality is horrible because it's a picture of a picture.

My horse's name was Larry and I believe he was a Thoroughbred, but it was so long ago, I don't remember.  The ride was awesome and I didn't want it to end, especially considering it would be my last time.  I didn't know it at the time.  In Arizona we pretty much have riding "seasons".  Because it gets so hot during the summer, you don't have much opportunity to ride during the summer unless you have your own horse and you go early in the morning.  Well, at the end of each season for the last several years I've made the promise to myself that by "next season" I will be riding again.  It's my own fault I'm not able to do it right now and I know what I need to do, but I seem unable to do it.  Sigh.  But I won't give up.  One day...soon... I will ride again!

Living in the wild, wild west...

No, this is not about the song by the Escape Club, although I do like it.  hahaha.  No, this is about actually living in the wild, wild west.  If you've never been to Arizona or have never seen pictures then you likely don't know that much of Arizona is desert.  There are mountains and trees and such, but mostly it's desert.  As such, we are fortunate to still have wild horses running around.  There's some debate as to whether these animals are truly mustangs or descendants of horses owned by people that were turned out to fend for themselves, but they are definitely out there.  Mostly on reservation land and, fortunately, excluded from annual round-ups.  In fact, the Phoenix area, I believe, doesn't do round-ups and the animals BLM does round up are on BLM land further north near the Arizona-Nevada border.  The horses on reservation land belong to the land, yes, but since they're on reservation land they're more or less protected by the reservation laws/rules.  But that's also where some of the controversy comes in.  If these horses are, in fact, true Mustangs, they are a protected class and have to be left alone.  The people who think these are just once-owned horses that were turned loose say they aren't mustangs, don't deserve protection, and should be forced to leave their grazing range.  As a horse lover, I think they should be allowed to stay.

On the way to work this morning, the traffic guy on the radio station I listen to most was giving a traffic report and said there were 4 horses running up the middle of Highway 87...between Gilbert and Shea.  Well, that's a BIG area.  Maybe 5 miles between the two intersections.  But it's also the only traffic lights in that area.  There's streets in between, but they're residential and from a helicopter might be difficult to read the street signs.  The traffic guy was viewing a report from a local news station who actually had a helicopter in the air and was filming the horses running (or walking) down the road.  The presence of horses isn't unusual in itself.  The area is all desert and mostly reservation land.  I've seen horses on the sides of the road several times before.  Not right on the side of the road, but near it.  What is slightly unusual is that they are IN the road.  Fortunately the area is wide open and highly unlikely they are in any sort of danger.  There's probably either county deputies, reservation police or highway patrol out there trying to herd them off the road as it's pretty well-traveled, especially during rush hour.

I looked on Bing for images of wild horses in Arizona and found a couple I'll share. Because of their wide range, it was hard to find ones that were specifically the Salt River herd.  I wish I knew where they hung out so I could go take my own pictures.

photo by Rick Grybos

photo by Willie Stark

Well, I guess I'd better get back to work.  It's Thursday.  Only one day left of the work week.  Not including today, of course. 

Baby Horse Cuteness!

Okay, don't get me wrong, I love baby animals.  Who doesn't?  But I don't like models of mother/child situations or pictures on notebooks of mother/child images.  I don't know why really.  I have a great relationship with my mom so I know it has nothing to do with that.  I don't tend to buy mother/child model sets.  Foals alone are fine, but not together.  Again, I don't know why.  I already know I'm weird so this is just a layer to that weirdness I've come to embrace.

This post, however, really has nothing to do with that.  I just wanted to put out there that I prefer not to have mother/child pictures or whatever, but sometimes there has to be an exception.  I love seeing baby tigers and baby lions climbing all over their moms.  I think it's cute.  But I digress.  This post is supposed to be about a cute colt that was born 10 days ago.  I'm not real sure the ownership situation, but that's okay.  I got permission from the person who took the photos, Natalie Kilpatrick, to share her photos of "her" colt and that's what I'm going to do.

On Model Horse Blab, Natalie started a thread inviting us to guess the foaling date, time, gender and color of the foal.  She told us what the colors of the parents were (I never claim to understand horse color genetics and breeds that produce color like Paints and Appies are even more confusing) and we could use that information to make our guess.  I don't know that anyone actually came close enough to having all the right answers to win or if there was anything to win, but at about 4:30 on the morning of April 14th, 2013, little Jager made his way into the world.  The following are pictures of him at a week old and, again, are used with permission of Natalie Kilpatrick.  :)  Thank you, Natalie, for granting me permission to use them.

Frolicking in the field

Hi there!

And this is my favorite.  When I go to zoos I am always trying to get pictures of the animals yawning or at Sea World of the whales with their mouths open.  For the cats in zoos it's to get pictures of their impressive teeth, but the whales it's about their tongue.  No, I don't have a tongue fetish, but it's just so cute when an animal, especially a baby, sticks its tongue out.  Okay.  Are you ready?

Isn't that just the most adorable thing?  Okay, they're all pretty dang cute, huh?  Watching foals in the first weeks of life is such a joy.  One I don't get to experience very often, but pictures can be almost as good.  I'm a very visual person.  I like pictures.  :)

Anyway, there you go.  I hope you didn't die from cuteness overload.  hehehe.

Have a great Wednesday!

What a pain!

Okay, so, I had my scanner programmed for my San Diego trip (and local stuff, too) but I keep going back and forth between going to San Diego and going to Las Vegas and currently it's Vegas so I needed to reprogram my scanner for Las Vegas.  You might be wondering "why bother?"  That's what my friend asked last night.  Not in so many words but she asked why I was putting LV frequencies in my scanner if I couldn't hear it from Phoenix.  Oddly enough, she never questioned why I was inputing San Diego  Huh.  Oh well.  Anyway, I was getting tired of re-programming my scanner.  Even with the software that does most of the work for me, it's still no fun looking up the individual systems and selecting the ones I want to import.  So I decided that since I'll likely be going to San Diego before my zoo membership expires next March, why not upload both San Diego County AND Clark County (las vegas) and have all the bases covered?  Makes sense, right?  On Sunday that's what I did...or...at least I thought I did.  I did all my looking up and importing then uploaded everything to my scanner.  Then at work yesterday, I turned on my scanner and something was odd.  Usually I et a lot of "hits" from Maricopa County Sheriffs Office and Mesa Police.  Those 2 agencies make up a lot of what I hear at work.  So I went to the scan list they should have been under, but those two agencies weren't there.  How the heck did that happen?  So I brought my scanner home again yesterday (usually it lives at work during the week) and did the whole thing all over again..setting alerts and such.  Then, I went to upload, but accidentally hit the wrong button and lost...everything.  I would have to start from scratch.  Ugh!  By this time it was 9pm and I was tired and I didn't want to deal with it anymore.  Flash forward to 4am this morning.  I'm awake much earlier than normal, but my mind is clear so I decide to go ahead and give it another shot.  This time...success!  Hurray!  Not only did everything upload like it should, but so did MCSO andMesa.  Yay!  I won't know how successful SD County and Clark County were until I'm actually there, but at least I have the local stuff.

Now, to address why I would go through the trouble of doing this...it's what scanner enthusiasts do when we travel.  We like to take our scanners with us so we can hear stuff other than what we hear every day.  I can listen to much of San Diego online, but there's no way to pause it on a channel if something interesting is going on and there's stuff I want to listen to that isn't provided through the online feed.  I still listen, though.  hehehehe.

I'm probably going to pay for being up so early...later on when I start to fall asleep at my desk at work...but it's okay because I know my scanner is...for the moment at least...programmed properly.  hahaha.

On Sunday I was watching TV and on HGTV was a show called You Live In What?  I don't usually watch that show but according to the on-screen program guide they would be featuring a horse barn that had been converted into a house so I decided to see what it was all about.  This particular barn had special meaning to the wife as she used to ride out of it when it was still a working stable.  They remodeled part of it into usable living space and also redid some of the stable area for their horses.  It was really a neat idea and I wanted t share photos, but was unable to find any so...I guess that's it.  I was going to post  a photo of a horse I really like, but my computer is being stupid.  Maybe I'll see if I can do it from work.  Stay tuned...

Okay, I'm here at work and I'll try to upload a couple of photos.  The first one is of Aberkrombie.  I don't usually like so much white on a Paint but I liked him the moment I first saw him.  And his person, Breanna, is really nice.  He's such a beautiful mover and the pair are quite successful in the show ring.  Last season they were Reserve Champion.

 I don't know the name of this other horse, but I've seen her a couple of times at the Paint shows.  I like her markings and she has such a sweet-looking face.

Well, that's it, I guess.  Have a good Tuesday!

What a weekend, huh...?

So many things happened that it's hard to know where to start.  I guess Thursday night would be the best place.  Thanks to their stupidity, the police caught up with the Boston Marathon Bombers.  That would be the bombers' stupidity not the police.  The events of Thursday left one bomber dead, but it also resulted in the end of the life of a  young MIT police officer and injured 15 other officers.  Friday saw the capture of the second bomber.  I can't help but think of all the things that fell into place for that to happen.  If the homeowner hadn't happened to go out for a smoke.  If he hadn't noticed the broken tarp on his boat.  If he hadn't noticed the blood on the tarp.  And what about if when he climbed the ladder to look inside the boat the bomber hadn't been passed out and had shot the homeowner?  Everything fell perfectly into place and the 2nd suspect was caught.  Thank goodness.  Now Boston can start to heal and return to a somewhat sense of normalcy, which is important after a major tragedy.

How about Neil Diamond, huh?  Out of the blue the man shows up at Fenway Park 40 minutes before a Red Sox game and asks if he can sing Sweet Caroline.  No warning.  No expectation of money.  Nothing.  Just a man wanting to show his support.

I became a fan through my parents but stay a fan because I enjoy his music (mostly the older stuff) but after hearing what he did, my admiration for him skyrocketed.  Apparently Fenway Park has been playing Sweet Caroline during the 8th inning for a number of years and so he decided to show up to sing it in person.  You are a class act, Neil.

On April 21st, the last home game of the season for the Boston Bruins, they had their annual Shirts Off Our Backs night.  Most, if not all, NHL teams do this at the end of the season.  They (supposedly) pick seats at random to receive their game worn jerseys at the end of that game.  I say supposedly because I think they only pick season ticket holders.  Apparently you're not a real fan worthy of a jersey if you're not willing to shell out thousands of dollars for season tickets.  Anyway, last night instead of giving the jerseys to the fans, they gave them to the first responders from Boston that were in attendance at the game.  That's pretty cool and I wish they did something like that more often rather than because of something like the Boston Marathon Bombings.  None of these photos are mine and were acquired from the team website.

I still think professional athletes are a bunch of overpaid babies (especially hockey right now because of 2 lockouts in 5 years), but you can't help but like them when they honor the people who work daily to save and protect us.  And, well, I just have too many good memories of my time with the local NHL team to hate them 100%.  hahaha.

Guess I'd better get to work.  Happy Monday!

The Domino Affect...

If you have model horses, you know what I'm talking about.  That horrible, unmistakable sound of plastic hitting plastic as one horse falls over and takes out a bunch of his buddies.  It's something that makes everyone cringe and feel sad for the poor owner who possibly suffered damage to their show string.  I know it's made ME cringe on more than occasion and it's happened to me a time or two.  Usually you're around to witness the Domino Affect, but not always.  Not this time.

I had been in the kitchen with my family and after the dinner dishes were put away we all went our separate ways.  I went into my bedroom and was doing something, but then I happened to look to my right where some of my models are and...Oh.  My.  Gosh.  I was in shock!

I apologize for the horrible photo.  I had taken it with my iPad mini, but then lost wifi connection and couldn't get my hotspot to work on my cell phone so I took a picture of the picture.  By the time I realized there was a wifi issue, the models had already been straightened, which is why I didn't just take a picture with my cell phone.  Yes, I realize it's not the best set up for delicate plastic horses and I plan to rectify that this weekend, but what's done is done.  For 10 minutes I was afraid to go anywhere near them.  My Totilas is in there.  My new Peter Stone horse is in there.  I was afraid to find there'd been scrapes and gouges.  Finally, though, I had no choice.  I am happy to report there was no major damage done.  Some body rubs on the horses on the upper shelf, but nothing major.  I don't live show anymore anyway so I'm not too worried about the scuffs.  I'm just glad there wasn't major damage and that I hadn't been around to see it happen.  I don't even know how it happened.  Did the Iris cart cave in some more and it tilted?  Did a mischievous feline somehow knock into it?  Since I wasn't in my room I will never know what caused the Double Domino.

Well, the  FBI has identified two men connected to the Boston Marathon Bombings.  It was 2 brothers from Chechniya.  That does come as a surprise since Chechniya has never really had a dislike for the US, only Russia, but it's rumored they were Islamic Millitants.  They've been in the US for at least 10 years and have other family here.  Apparently last night they were on the campus of MIT where they got into an incident with the police and ended up killing a campus police officer.  They then tried to rob a convenience store before carjacking someone in a Mercedes SUV.  After holding the driver hostage for 30 minutes and, allegedly, admitting to responsibility of the bombings, let him go.  The police followed the SUV where a shoot-out ensued.  It's rumored explosive devices were thrown from the stolen vehicle.  The older brother was shot and eventually died from his injuries.  Another officer, this one with the Transit Authority, was also shot and is in critical condition.  Boston, Newton and Cambridge are all basically on lock-down while they search for the younger brother.  People are being urged to stay inside.  Businesses are being asked to stay closed today.  I imagine it's a very scary situation for everyone in the area and my thoughts go out to you.  I don't think they will be able to take this guy alive.  They say his brother had a bomb belt on and was likely planning to not be taken alive.  If the younger brother has a shrapnel bomb on him or any other sort of bomb, I wholly support the police and FBI in whatever means they need to use to keep others from being hurt.  Even if he is captured successfully, he'll likely never face prosecution.  Probably either someone in prison will kill him or he'll kill himself.  Let's hope this has a peaceful solution and no more people are injured.

On the Radio...

This morning as I was driving into work, I was listening to the radio and the morning DJ was talking about the Boston Marathon bombing as well as the explosion at the fertilizer plant in Texas yesterday.  I fear for those that are missing, especially since many of them are firefighters apparently, but am also grateful for the many that were able to escape.  Anyway, the Boston Bruins played last night and had the Honor Guard from the Boston Fire Dept there to present the colors.  Their regular National Anthem singer started as normal, but only a short way in he stopped and the fans in the arena took over and finished the song.  It was so cool to hear 16,000+ people (it was a sell-out crowd) all singing the National Anthem together.  I imagine there wasn't a dry eye in the house and it brought tears to my eyes to listen to it.  There were no other sounds, just thousands of hockey fans singing the National Anthem.  It reminded me of the first hockey game I attended after the attacks on 9/11.  Many more people than usual sang the National Anthem that night and ended with chants of USA!  USA!  USA!  The Coyotes used to have a loud bang just prior to introducing the starting line-up and understandably when they did it that night, it freaked more than a few people out and they stopped doing it.  It's amazing how people come together during or after a tragedy.  The Patriotism is really heart-warming.

Welcome to the Herd!

About two weeks or so ago I went to the Stone Ponys website (part of Stone Horses/Peter Stone) with the intention of doing a basic Design A Horse, but just couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger and actually do it.  I did, however, look around and found a nice model in the "bargain bin" section.  I don't usually spend that much on a model, but with the way the Breyer prices keep creeping up, it won't be long before that is the standard price for a Traditional size model.  I had the option of having him left matte or made glossy and I stuck with matte.  He's sort of considered a One of a Kind since they only made 6 of him.  Anyway, the website said he would be shipped within 6 weeks of purchase so I sat back and waited for a shipping notice.

It never came.

Yesterday my mom and I were watching the news when my brother's African Grey parrot shrieked real loud...a sound she usually reserves for the UPS truck.  I didn't see any shadows go by the window so figured it was for next door or something.  I did hear the truck start up and drive away, but again didn't give it much thought.  A short while later I got up to go do something and decided to look outside, just for sh!ts and grins, and I saw two packages in the carport by the door.  One was a soft package and one was a white box.  The box was the right size to ship a model in, but since I hadn't gotten a shipping notice and I hadn't participated in the April Pay It Forward, I knew it couldn't be a horse.  How wrong I was.  I picked it up and turned it over to see who it was addressed to and immediately saw the Stone Horses logo.  Yay!  So, here is Speckled Jelly Bean.  Yeah, I know.  Bad name, especially since it's a stallion!  I'll have to try to come up with something more fitting, but I'm so out of practice when it comes to naming models.  hahaha

I've heard some horror stories when it comes to Stone horses so I went over him with a fine-toothed comb.  There's a spot at the very tip of his tail where some of the paint has rubbed off, but since his tail is black a marker should take care of that.  Also on his tail is a weird line all the way around, about midway down as well as a couple of weird lines further down.  I don't know what they are, but I'm not too concerned.

It's kind of funny, though.  I resisted buying a Stone for a long time and now that I have one, I've already got my eye on another one.  hehehehe.  They've also opened a round 2 of Design-A-Horse, but it's $30 more than what it was a couple of weeks ago and since I'm saving for a trip, it'll have to wait.

What have I gotten myself into?

April 15th, 2013...

It should have started out like many other days that had come before it. Since I had a doctor's appointment, I had taken the day off and the original plan was to go to the park for a couple of hours then go meet up with a friend and hang out with her for the day (she was going to come to my appointment with me), but none of that happened. No, I take that back. I did go to the park. Sunday night we got into a bit of a text messaging battle because she was being stupid and immature so that part of the Monday plans were over. Monday morning I woke up at 5:45am after apparently hitting the snooze button several times but I don't remember doing it. I finally got out of the house at about 6:30 and usually I'm almost at work by that time. Even though I wasn't going to work, certain people in my house know my routine, but she didn't question it, just commented I must have been running late. So, I went to the park where I spent the next 90 minutes not answering M's question about whether or not I was still going to come over at 8am as planned. As 8am drew nearer, I decided to go to one of the several Indian gaming casinos in the area...and by area I mean within a 30-45 minute drive. The closest location I don't like so I went to their second location which I'd never been to before...the Talking Stick Resort. After finally figuring out where I could park, I went to the casino/hotel entrance and encountered something that is very common in Las Vegas, but much less-so than the Phoenix area. Apparently even valet parking at Indian casinos don't put fancy cars in the valet lot with the others
 
When I was a teenager I would've been drooling all over this Lamborghini. I'm not a fan of the color, but that's okay. I still would've liked it. My friend Shannon and I were all about the fancy, expensive sports cars. We would go to the Porsche dealership in our neighborhood and get the car brochures they hand out to people who are interested in the cars. It was obvious we didn't have the money for one, but we were only maybe turned down once or twice. Anyway, I had brought $40 to spend on gambling and after losing the first $20 on video poker, I decided to save my other $20 and maybe find something to eat. But then I saw a machine that had a bunch of games the other machine didn't have so I decided to see if it had video Black Jack. I was pretty sure it didn't since I have yet to find video Black Jack outside of Vegas. Not even Laughlin had it that I could find.  Anyway, imagine my surprise


 The minimum bet, however, was an unpleasant surprise, but I still had to play. I made a couple of stupid choices in my playing and with the payout, even on a black jack, not very high, it wasn't long before I was out of money.
   
Oh well. I was just glad to have found video Black Jack and close by. I will probably go back to that place, but I won't step foot into the original Casino Arizona location. I lose my money too quickly. hahaha. So, after blowing my hard-earned $40, I decided to go in search of food. It's a casino, right? Casinos have buffets usually. And Talking Stick DOES have a buffet...but it's only open on the weekends. Huh? Apparently it's not a huge money-maker for them to bother having it open all the time. The sign said breakfast was available 24/7 at the Blue Coyote Cafe so I went there and after looking at the menu decided to get what is called a Farmer's Scramble. It has scrambled eggs, cheese, ham, bacon, sausage and potatoes. Not bad. Not bad at all.
  
Something interesting this cafe does is instead of putting lemon in their water, they actually put a slice of cucumber in the bottom of the glass. When I first saw it there I thought it was maybe a lime, but when I took a sip of it, I knew it was cucumber. It wasn't strong enough to be overpowering, it just let you know it was there. I wasn't sure with the first sip or two if I actually liked it, but by the 4th, I thought it was pretty good.


 From the casino I went to my DR appointment. Apparently this is a new location for them and they don't have their signage up yet so I was wondering around, looking for the place when someone poked their head out a door and asked if I was looking for Dr "N" (she said her name). Dr N is fairly nice, but as typical with previous DOs, she was chasing other perceived medical issues rather than what I had gone in for. But I got a prescription for Naproxen and one for Percocet, which is what I'd been hoping for. I only got 40, though, and I don't anticipate being able to get more than that so I have to make them last. I don't take them daily, though, just when the pain is really bad and not being helped by OTC stuff. 

Somehow, I'd managed to "avoid" hearing about any of what had gone on in Boston until about 4:00pm, even though I'd been near a TV when the news first broke. It's a horrible tragedy what happened and I hope the person or persons responsible are caught quickly. There's all kinds of speculation out there as to who was responsible and inaccurate reports about a middle eastern man being held for questioning. There's also reports that a person wearing a hoodie had been turned away from a secure area as well as a rental van carrying medical supplies. When stuff like this happens there's always reports that often turn out to be untrue. Last I heard, there were 3 deaths...the initial 2 then one later on. One of the first 2 was an 8 year old girl, which is the biggest tragedy. There were reports of traumatic amputations of limbs caused by the blasts. While the bomb wasn't likely professionally made, they knew what they were doing. My heart goes out to everyone involved, whether it's a runner, a spectator or a first responder. I applaud the people who ran to see if they could help the injured. Apparently spectators were going to help. Most people were running in the opposite direction of the blasts, but many ran towards it to help. I'd like to think I would have been one of those. I was an EMT for 8 years so I'd hope I would react properly and do what I could to help, but you never know until you're in that situation, which I hope to never be in. Please keep Boston in your thoughts and prayers.

What to do...?

I have some time off coming up in May and an airplane ticket currently for San Diego, but it can be easily changed with no penalty.  I have been going back and forth between wanting to stick with San Diego and changing it back to Las Vegas.  I really like both cities but I've been going to San Diego so much the past few years and the last time I was in Vegas it was only for a couple of hours.

I'm not a huge gambler.  I play video black jack and since starting that I usually walk away ahead.  I like the bright lights, though, and the atmosphere.  I don't go to shows.  I have a friend in nearby St George, UT and I've canceled so many trips on her to go to San Diego instead.  It's a wonder she even still talks to me.  I also have been having moments where I just want to figuratively eat the cost of the ticket and not go anywhere, but this morning while at breakfast at Denny's with my mom I decided to go with Vegas

Fine.  That was that, right?  WRONG!  I couldn't have been more wrong if I tried.  While doing our weekly grocery shopping I came across a sign for Sea World...

I like orca...a lot.  I DON'T like Sea World, though, other than the rescue and rehab work they do with injured marine mammals.  Whenever possible they return them to the wild.  But seeing this sign and then taking a closer up of just the whale to see if my friend could identify it...it made me start thinking of all the fun I used to have at Sea World before becoming disillusioned with them. So now I'm stuck back on square one. Sea World has two new whales I haven't seen yet, including a calf born on Valentine's Day. So now what? I know the whales and dolphins there can't live in the wild because they were either born in captivity or have spent most of their lives there and that's not where I have the problem...the problem is with the shows. I don't like the shows. So what do I do? Do I change my plans again and go to Las Vegas and see my friend or do I go where my heart is telling me to go and stay with San Diego. I don't know for sure if I will even go to Sea World but that's besides the point. I can't help but think of the times I've interacted with whales in Shamu Close-Up or seen my special whale, who's growing so fast...
 The first time I saw my little Kalia she was only a few hours old and that was on the webcam. I saw her in person at 6 weeks old and now she is 8 years old. Wow. The new calf is her half brother. She will always be special to me. And then there's the dolphins. If I go to Las Vegas I can see dolphins at the Mirage, but it always saddens me because it gets so hot there in the summer and they have no shade and all they do is hang out by the water jets. Sea World doesn't have much shade either but it doesn't get as hot. Plus I get to touch them in San Diego...

   Yeah. I think the writing is on the wall. Thanks for letting me talk it out. Happy Sunday!

New Horse!

For the second time, Breyer Model Horses have done a special edition model for what are considered Flagship Stores.  I don't know what constitutes a dealer as a Flagship Store, but the place I get most of models at (and have been since the 1980s) is a Flagship Store so when I found out there would be for 2013 and what it would look like,  I emailed them and was put on the list for when they came in.

Last year's model was a palomino Appaloosa named Lionheart but I decided not to get him when he came in, which was late October/early November.  He just didn't appeal to me

Because Lionheart was released so late in the year, it was assumed the new model would also come out at the same time.  But then some people started hearing July.  Well, one day I was actually fortunate enough to get to talk to the Breyer rep for the store I mainly go to and she said Wapiti would be released in April and that Lionheart was supposed to have been releAsed much sooner than he was.  Anyway, I confirmed with the store owner that I was on the list and that was that.  For some reason I got it in my head Wapiti wasn't due out until May so when people started posting on the model horse message board I frequent that they'd Lready gotten theirs, I began to get worried.  We're too many people on the waiting list at my store that I wasn't going to get a call?  I know I'm a good, loyal customer of theirs, but when I backed out on Lionheart and Lil Ricky Rocker had I made a major blunder?  When the store got in their new Marwari model I wasn't called and the owner had sort of implied I wasn't reliable when he'd said he'd called the people on the list he knew would be in to pay for it.  Oops.  But I'd gone in and bought Totilas when it had arrived.  But anyway, last night I went into my room and saw on my cell phone I'd missed a call.  Could it be?  Yes.  Yes, it was.  It was the store calling to tell me Wapiti had come in and was I still interested.  I called back, even though it was almost 8:00 and said YES,  I was definitely still interested so he said he'd put one aside for me.  This morning my mom and I went and since I was the first person to show up he gave me my choice from three.  I picked this one

He's so awesome and even though I don't generally like Paints with that much white, I would totally have him as a real horse, too! While at the store I looked at the other models they had and got a chance to see the Lionheart mold up close. Not the actual model Lionheart but rather on the 2013 model Lusitano. I'm glad I didn't buy Lionheart because I don't really care for the mold. But that's okay because there's plenty out there I DO like! My dad's sister and her husband are in town today, passing through on there way from Mexico back home to Colorado and my mom, brother and I are supposed to go to a BBQ at the house they're staying at. It's my uncle's sister's house but she and her husband are out of town. I don't really want to go, but will. . Oh well. Hahahaha. It's only for a few hours so it won't be too bad, I'm sure. I'll be bringing my iPad mini and some notebooks plus my drugs in case my shoulder starts bugging me. I was hoping to use my shoulder as a reason to not go because the drugs make me nauseous and the pain would be too much without them, but I decided to suck it up and go. They wanted to do a big cook-out, I guess but Bike Week is in town and my brother has some kind of ride tomorrow he's already registered for (we only got a week's notice about this visit) so he doesn't want to stay out too late tonight so it's been downgraded to a BBQ. Hahaha. That's good because a cook-out would likely involve food I can't (or won't) eat, but hamburgers and hot dogs are do-able. Hahahaha

I'm such a complainer...

At least, that's how I feel often lately.  When I was in my first year of college, I was an Equine Science major.  During my 2nd semester, I was taking a huntseat equitation class and while cantering around the arena, I leaned too far back and fell off.  I landed on my side with my arm entirely under me.  I went to the ER and x-rays were taken of my wrist, because that's all that hurt at that time.  To this day, I still don't understand why they didn't examine my entire arm, given how I landed, but they didn't.  So, after spending 6 weeks in an elbow-to-wrist cast, it was removed by my doctor and that was it.  No follow-up x-ray to make sure it had healed correctly, nothing.  About 10 years later I was at the police station for a meeting (I was a police volunteer) when I suddenly had a shooting pain in that arm.  I went to the doctor a few days later and discovered a piece of bone broke off my wrist on the pinky side (the main break was on the thumb side).  There wasn't much they could do about it and the Physician Assistant told me to keep wearing the brace I'd bought and maybe physical therapy.

That was 1989.  Fast forward to March 2013.  Over the years, my shoulder would sort of fall out of joint.  Not really dislocate, but it would kind of pop out temporarily.  Anyway, last month I got up from my desk at work and my shoulder screamed in pain and my entire arm was a mass of tingle-ies.  I went to my doctor who ordered x-rays and was told it was "degenerative changes"...aka arthritis.  She gave me pain killers and referred me to a hand specialist to make sure the tingling in my fingers wasn't due to carpal tunnel syndrome.  Fine.  She also told me to start taking Vitamin D because I was severely lacking.  Fine.  I did that and within a couple of days my tingling in my fingers went away and the pain in my shoulder subsided.  Which brings us to the purpose of this post.  The pain in my shoulder subsided for almost a month, but it resumed last week and with a vengeance.  The pain pills aren't working.  The ones I got for arthritis aren't working.  I can't sleep through the night, even with the help of extra strength sleep aids.  I go back and forth between sleeping in my desk chair, which is the only thing that seems to bring me enough comfort to get any sleep.  I'll wake up in the middle of the night in my chair and not be any pain so I'll move to my bed, only to not be able to fall back to sleep.  Gravity seems to be a big culprit.  Gravity and pressure so that takes care of sleeping on both sides.  Sleeping on my back results in cats on my chest and occasional snoring.  I feel like I can't win.  I don't want to keep complaining to my family and friends about my pain.  I take Vicodin at least 2 times a day and arthritis pills in between.  I worry what I'm doing to my organs.  Today, my arm feels like I'm being electrocuted.  Like currents of electricity are being zapped through my arm, but the pain isn't quite as bad.  I also feel sick and a little dizzy.  Yesterday I had to fax something to my doctor and told her what was going on and asked her to prescribe something strong than Vicodin for my shoulder.  If she doesn't, I feel I will be forced to find a new doctor.  But I don't know how much longer I can go with this pain.  I want to gnaw my arm off and beat myself with it.  I'm saddened, though, that something I enjoy doing so much is the cause of this pain.  Oddly enough, though, as soon as I'm able to, I will ride again.  hahaha.

Anyway, I just wanted to complain here so my friends don't have to constantly read about it on Facebook or the model horse website I visit often.  Please, oh please, Dr O-G!  Please give me something stronger than Vicodin.  PLEASE!

What a great Monday!

Yesterday I was supposed to have a doctor's appointment, but due to a conflict with her, I canceled and instead spent the day out and about.  I went and sat at the local park for a little while then headed up to North Scottsdale to check on "my house" to see if they've done anything more with the remodeling.  The new owners tore down the building with the pool and I keep waiting to see if they're going to get rid of the barn, but so far it's still there.  There's no horses in it, but it's still there.  I wonder if they're ever going to put horses in it.

After that I went and picked up a friend and we went to Desert Saddlery to see if they had any Breyers or other sort of horse-y gifts I absolutely had to have.  The models they had that were interesting to me were ones I already have, except one and I decided not to get him this time.  They did, however, have one I didn't have and that I've been looking for.  A Totilas resin.  I have the Traditional scale version, but have been wanting the resin

While at the tack store, I had to wander around and get my fill of all the wonderful tack.  When we first walked in, I just stood there for several moments and inhaled deeply.  I love the smell of saddles.  I also took some photos with my cell phone.  Excuse the crappiness, especially the last one.  hahahaha

Although I grew up riding Western (I grew up in the southwest and 98% of riding stables only use western saddles) and have only ridden huntseat less than a dozen times (for school and a class I took through the city), I much prefer riding huntseat, even though I have bad experiences.  hahahaha.  I don't know what it is about huntseat that I like so much, but I do.  Right now, though, I'd ride Western in a heartbeat.  I actually had a dream Sunday night that I had gone somewhere and was given the opportunity to ride, which I jumped at, of course.  I wanted pictures of me riding since it was the first time in many years (like in real life) but all I had was my cell phone and for some reason nobody was willing to take pictures.  When I woke up, it made me think of the fact that despite having ridden over 100 times, there's only 2 pictures of me on horseback.  One is me on a little pony at a place called Rawhide and it's not exactly one of those carousel-type where they walk in a circle, but your horse is still tethered but the the other ponies.  And the other one is from the last time I've ridden, which was my 29th birthday (I just turned 43).  That's pretty sad.  I need to go riding again, but I have to lose weight.  Argh.  Why can't it be as easy to get off as it was to put on?

Hello!

Hello, there.  Suddenly I don't know what to say.  hahaha.  I had a blog before but when I changed my email account I couldn't figure out how to merge my blog with the new account so now I'm starting over, which is fine.  I won't get all wordy here, just a quick intro.  I'm Brenda.  I live in Arizona.  Not married.  2 cats.  I love horses, going to zoos, visiting lighthouses and taking pictures.  I have a job I don't always like, but I'm grateful for having it.  I'm a two time cancer survivor.

My blog won't always follow any sort of pattern of topics.  I'm often all over the place.  I complain sometimes.  I post pictures of horse shows I go to and talk about zoo happenings. I also complain about the weather.  A lot.  hahaha.  But basically just a real mish-mash of subjects.  Not all of my posts will have pictures.  Comments are always appreciated because it lets me know that people are reading my blog, but it doesn't bother me if nobody does.  I blog for myself and is kind of like a journal I allow others to read.  hahahaha.  Oftentimes I write my posts like I know people are reading them.  Don't know why, it's just how I do it.

I guess that's it for now.  I will leave you with a photo of one of my favorite places to visit:  San Diego.  This picture is actually from La Jolla, which is just north.

Have a great weekend!