Seriously!!!!

Aundra –

What a delight it was to talk to you today! You have great energy and will continue to grow as a teacher I’m sure. At this time it isn’t a good match for our school and I’m sure you will find a good match. I gave your name to several principals [yeah for a school that is under funded, struggeling, equal to Oakland type] and shared good information about you. Again I wish you the best of luck and am confident you will find your match in our school district.

Sincerely,

Liz Kim
Principal, Strandwood Elementary

Dude and I wrote her a thank you card saying how much I thought this school was a match for me. Talk about exhausting. I interviewed at 8am, came home wrote the thank you card, got my foot stomped on and bleading by a tantrum thoughing child, and get this f*ing e-mail. I didn't even get a call, I got an e-mail.

Dear God It's Still Monday

So, I'm driving home today at 5:30pm and I realize that I left the house at 7am this morning. That it's still Monday! The trash can's are still out and need to be walked back to that house. Damn this was a long ass day, espeshally 'cause I didn't have lunch. Well, I did but fretos and a frapicino doesn't cut it so well. It's not even that my day was eventful, I went to work, sat by the pool and watched kids, went and tutored, saw the chiropractor who is trying to put my hips back together, put rear breaklines in my car, and went to Rite Aid. Now i'm home and have to do "reasearch" on the school I'm going to interview with. First I need to eat food so my head doesn't explode.

Dial up is too slow and it's to beautiful in Tahoe to be on the Computer

Two things... dial up sucks. If you haven't experienced it lately, if you've been blessed with the joys of DSL or Broadband... do your best to never go back.
Second, how do you become a social light. I have these people i "know," ride horses with or rather against, and they are either on their horse or partying... how... how do you get to do that... be that... Part of me thinks DAMN that would be fun, and another part of me thinks, aren't all these people just supper fisial bitches... am I being judgmential?

My Car... smurfet

If you look at the earlier post you will know i just worked my ass off putting new breaks and springs on my car. All of this was for an Audi event down near LA. It was a track I'd never been on so i was kind of excited. Well, at 1:30pm today after I dropped my car off to get allined now that it's lower to the ground and all, I get a call from Ron. Ron is one of machanic buddies who was also going to the event. Well he tells me the event has been cancled. There were 14 people signed up... a fifth of them were Urbans... Ian, Me, and Tao. Anyway, Ian found a place for us to go play with our cars... and my newly jazzed up car. Instead of LA we will be going UP to Button Willow (near Reading) to play on Thunder Hill... with a new group of racers... might be interesting. Well, that will be next week... this week it is up to Tahoe I go.

At Least It's Not Monday

My day started off fine, got to sleep in a bit. But i wake up to the sound of my heater BLASTING. So I get up to turn it off and out side my big sliding door is my father and some big bald guy looking at the stack of wood for the deck. Then my phone rings and it's my credit card company to tell me my card had been used in England (I know... it's called the internet). So i have good intentions for my morning to go to the allergy people and run before I head to Berkeley to see my niece and get new breaks put on my car.
I'm driving to run and i realize I have a check that I need to deposit and my favorite ATM is next to a Starbucks. Now i can't go run right after a Chai so I go to get my shots. I do some prep work for tutoring the next day.
Now i get done with my shots and it's 10:30 but I was going to see Abbie at before lunch and I still have to take a shower. Oh well can't go run... too bad.
I shower, drive to Berkeley and play/eat with Abbie. At 1pm Ian and I head to Eddie's to put breaks on my car. They already have fucked up my order on my break kit once, wrong bolts. So it takes an hour for Ian and I to get a rack to put my car up. We deside that since my car is up and we're working on breaks we might as well put new sprigs on too. The springs are 100 times harder to put on than we thought...
Okay springs are on and we start to put on the breaks. We put them on and the break pads hang over the edge of the caliper (that's the round thing that the breaks grip). NOT GOOD. It's now also 3:30. i have to work at 4:30... We call the makers of the product, 2 Bennett, "this has never happened before." So try to mess with stuff. I call the person I'm working for and tell her "My car is in pieces i'm going to be late." She is wonderfully accomidating. And gives me an extra hour. Ian and I keep working. We still havn't gotten any where with it... I have to leave my poor brother with a car in pieces while I take his truck to go watch some kids. I also can't watch the kids with the truck, I have to drive them back from a swim meet. As i leave my brother i realize I left my bag with all my tutoring stuff in my car (five feet up in the air on a rack). i call Ian ask him to grab it and I'll grab it at 7:30am ('cause I work at 8am back in Orinda). I'm still late to go to the swim meet but I make it... and my kind mother meets me with their Jeep, a clean pair of pants and a sweat shirt. I see the kids, meet their grandma, go change and spend two hours at a swim meet (a frist for me). I get ice cream with the kids, bring them home, and get them to change into PJ's brush teeth. The boy is goofing, which ends up making the girl be extra good. Finally all is dressed and brushed and we read a couple chapters in their book. We walk up the stairs and the boy grabs the book from me and yells how he wants to put a book mark in it. I tell him when we get to his room he can get the book mark and he can mark the book. No, this will not work he wants the book first. No, I wasn't going to give in. I told him the situation and he wasn't having. He yells. He punched me. I look him in the eye and tell him that's not okay. He's not going to get anything if he act like that. I also keep repeating the "rules". If he gets the bookmark he'll be able to get the book.
Long yelling kicking story short... I end up having to lock him in his room (his door knob is backwards just for that purpose). After 10 min I hear "Can you open the door so I can go to bed please." It was so much nicer that "You're a poopy head..." If he only knew I've been called so much worse. Finally, he gets into bed, gets his dogs, and falls asleep.
Now I just have to get up really f-ing early and spend four hours with a family i've never worked with... tutor one new kid... tutor the ADHD kid... ride... and go see my brother and buy them dinner 'cause he worked so hard on my car. To do that I had to cancel a job interview for a distirct that is a hour drive from where i live... no big loss i hope.

And lo and behold today I wasn't a star. I actually had a "maybe i should quite and save myself some money" moment but i think that was PMS more than my ride. Someday i'll be consistant. When that day will be... it would be great if it would come before i spent thousands of dollars up in Canada.

I WON MY CLASS TODAY! I WON MY CLASS TODAY!
Okay so i did have to move down to the class where the jumps are three inches lower but still... i still won. i found my eye again (meaning i could find a desent spot to get my horse to jump the jumps from) {we were haveing issues with that earlier this week}. So yeah I WON MY CLASS TODAY!!!

Annoyed

Okay, I'm annoyed. I'm not sure if it's PMS or stress. Who knows but it doesn't change the fact that i'm annoyed. At two o'clock I get a call on my cell. I'm at work... and it's Channing asking if I own a bike helmet. Dude, I'm at work and you are going to call me about a bike helmet... ugh since she's told me about her boyfriend and i didn't "freak out" and I listened to her justifications, she's been so much friendlier... but after that info I want to be even less friendly.
Also i've been living on the edge and leaving work a little early (like an hour) to get appointments and stuff. And 'cause i don't have anything else to do at work. I've been feeling a little worried that i've been cutting out 'cause i want to get a letter of rec from the pricipal... yet i'm not doing much to make her want to give me a letter or rec. Ugh... am i self savitashing or what. Anyway, so i'm annoyed that I've been dumb enough to be playing hooky. Then i get to my gym (why I played hooky today) to work out and the door is locked. Last week I set up a 3 o'clock appointment. Now i was there a few min. early so i drove around (really having to pee). I show up five min later and still locked and I don't see Scotts car. I call him and it goes to message. So i'm annoyed that I left work early to be stood up after a longish drive to the gym while I had to pee.
I havn't heard from anyone about the job opening at Orinda... or any other opening i've applied for latly. I was "getting shit" from people about how I "think work is a four letter word" and other inuendos that I don't really want to work. Fuck them, do they know how many letters i've sent. How many times I've up dated my resume. How I spend $400 on a new suit for interviews. AHHHH
Now i have to work tonight (really not that bad) and tomorrow is my last day as a teacher. Then I tutor and I have to pack and wake up early to fly to LA and ride. I know I'm so lucky but going to shows does not equal a vacation. Canada will not be a vacation. San Diego was not a vacation. This is one of those moods that some one could give me a puppy and I'd be like " 'gee thanks now I have to take care of this thing." I think i need some f-ing chocolate. Maybe i'll go to Starbucks and get a mocha... or a snickers... or recees... or a fucking hug. I need a hug. I need what I can't get. Damn!

My Local Sac. Show

My show did start off on the wrong foot. I got a call from my trainer that was "Well, Stella was odd today. I need to show her tomorrow." I was like f**k she's never "odd" at horse shows. She loves horse shows. So, I asked what went wrong. To sum in up in words that don't make since to almost everyone who reads this: she was dropping behind Linds's leg, hesitating in the corner, looking up at the flags, and stopped in the tripple combination. Roughtly Stella was not Stella. So this got in my head and if i didn't call you freaking out about it all (and the fact i found out Orinda has a job opening) you're lucky.
So Lindsay rode her Friday am and let me know that my true Stella was back. "I just dropped the reins and kicked her around and it was so much fun." Linds said with a BIG ass grin on her face (i could hear the grin over the phone). A weight was lifted off my shoulders and I arrived at the show feeling much better. At 4pm that Friday I rode and rode great in the warm up ring and was excited to ride the course. To sum that up, it went well but we stopped at on fience but it was jump it or crash though the fience and die... so i'm okay with the stop. No ribbon but that's understandable... so i drove home not needing to return 'til 4 the next day.
Now the next day was the Dash-For-Cash (an open class so I ride aganst profesionals). I get to the show around 3 watch other people from my barn and look at the course for the night. It looked like fun. There was an option with three fences in the middle of the course that you had to pick two of them to do for #s 5 and 6 and the other two for #s 9 and 10. It looked fun. As I walked the course with Lindsay she was incouriging me to take tight turns and go quick. So 6pm can around (my parents drove up to watch!!!!) and I watch the first couple go, I go 16th our of 25 or so. Butterflys grew in my stomic but people were riding well and doing different things with the opptions.
I got on and did my best to warm up slowly (the less time i have before i go into the ring the better). I get warmed up and I go it. I go quick and have the third rail down, do the first option great (tight bending three) and keep going. I do the second option (curve in two) and tip up her neck and get rail two (8 sec. added) I finish up with the fastest time, 78 sec. Two seconds faster than the person in the lead but with eight second added I am in 5th. I watch my past trainer go, other people i know go and hope I don't get moved down too much. All in all I ended up 8th (not to bad for my first open level night class.
Sunday: Now Linds and I were worried i'd have a horse ready to run off her feet for me after or class yesterday so today was about learning from the day before and getting the horse I want next week for LA. Simmilar course as the day before. I go, get lucky in a few places, ride great in others and am clean in my first round. Didn't know I was clean but get "yelled" at to be told I am. I go over my jump off (this is where speed matters) and I go. Stella is a super star. We fly. We go a bit wide around one corner but keep going and don't louse speed. I do the last two fences great (a steady five) and am... once again... FAST! I was winning until the last horse went in and beat me by a quarter of a second (by leaving out a step on the last line). But second aint too bad.
Now on Wednesday I fly down to San Juan Capistron for my last show befor I'm up to Canada for Spruce Meadow!

My roommate's 48 year-old boyfriend and my 19 year-old roommate.
that's all I have to say about that....

Ugh

Sunday night was a going away "party" for my friend Duncan. Duncan is the Beer Pong guy. So were we all going to play a little B-Pong and drink... now it turned out that the bar wasn't too keen on us playing B-pong so that didn't happen to all of our disappointment, but hey what can you do. After three cranberry vodka's I thought it would be great to move the party to my house. Well it turned out only three people wanted to "continue" the party at my house but hey at that point i didn't care. Don't worry i wasn't driving and I got home save with two people i knew well from high school and one i didn't but I didn't care. I served them Champaign and I had some Mikes mixed with Champaign (I don't know why). And it all got a little crazy (not like that get your head out of the gutter and i can't believe you think that about me!) I remember Adam and Simon leaving and me thinking there is no way they'd find away from my house (I think they made it). Well, Duncan looked at me and asked if i felt nauseous... well it turned out the answer was yes. So i solved that only to be presented with the problem that i couldn't stand up any more. So i stumbled to my bed and passed the fuck out. Poor Duncan had to find a spot to sleep on the love seat but he made it work. Well, the next day was an equal winner of a hang over as was my 22nd birthday. Nauseous until 4pm. It was great... ah now I know why you don't mix your alcohols. Thank god I was better by the time my parents had their BBQ.

My neighbors

One of the things about living on the edge of nature is sometime nature crosses the line. Well, anyway, i drive home from work and here in my drive way are two young fuzzy horned bucks. You have to realize that this pic was taken from my car with my camera phone... That's how close they were. Even after i honked my horn they just turned their heads... Brave little things aren't they. I just hope they didn't eat all my plants.

Showpark

Week two is done. Few.... Well i flew down Wed. night to the cloudy gray (June Glume) San Diego. How i've gone down there six some odd times and never made it to the beach. Well, i guess it's 'cause I'm down there to watch fancy farm animals jump over brightly colored sticks. So this week at Showpark, i'm in the big grass grand prix field. I watch and go to get changed an eat lunch on Thur. and Gustavo (the groom [he takes care of the horses]) is walking Stella around. It turns out see was collicing. Horse's can't throw up so if they get a stomic ache they just roll around. If they roll around too much they can twist their guts or turn their colin and it can get real bad real fast. So the vet comes and puts his hand up her but and says "Yep, she's impacted. I'll drug her and see if it gets better, if not she'll have to go to the clinic." So half an hour passes, she's heavily druged and nothing gets better. So my poor pony had to go to the clinic and get looked at again. The gave her a tube of minieral oil (they shove a tube down her nose into her stomic and pump mineral oil and water [it's horses exlax]). They gave her an IV and we had to leave her at the clinic to "wait for a call". "No, news is good new." The vet told me as we left. Well, i didn't hear anything. Drank half a bottel of wine instead and still no news by 9am. We finally stop by the clinic and all seems well. They give her some food and she passed it all and after 24hr she's back to her normally self (just a bit hungry). So two of the four days of the show are out the window. but my horse is healthy so that's good. So the two days of shows... one rail both classes. I did all the hard stuff GREAT but the easy stuff... that was where i slip up. Oh, well. two weeks off and then a little show up in Sac. local thank god.

Kinders

We've been doing a snails in class. One of the stations was naming, weighing, and racing our snails. This was the result of one of the races. Five snails... this was a few min. in. We had to change stations before the race could finish.

A "job"

Well, I got a "job". I've been working for the last month in a kindergarten classroom 'cause the teacher has a busted knee. Last Tuesday night she found out her knee Dr. Wasn't going to let her come back. When she asked her Dr. If she could come back before the end of the year he said her knee was "like putting an egg back together." I had to go to San Diego for a horse show so I knew i had one strike against me. That and I'm missing the last three days of school (for another horse show [shhh don't tell]). So i knew i wasn't the best choice for them to replace this teacher, but i had been in there for a month already... Anyways, Friday i get a call to have me work on Monday. Monday I'm leaving and they tell me I'm working Tuesday. Tuesday morning I'm waiting for the lesson plans and the principal and another kinder teacher are talking in the hall. The principal turns to ask me if I can do the job. I say yes. She begs to get me to stay for the last three days and i let her know i can't. Well all in all I got the job and am now in a tug between what the teacher wants to see happen and what the teacher wants to see happen... Ugh. But I like the kids, and the class, and the work so.... Yeah for me!

My Brother

Tao, is my eldest brother. He's a artist down in LA. My brother and I's relationship is still in the building stages. I mean he left home for school when i was 8 so part of him still sees me as an 8 year old. Being the youngest has that fall back, I'll always be irresponsible, reckless, ect. Well my brother. He's a artist and he just had an opening (third) at "his" gallery in China/Korea town (?). Well, my brother was in a LONG TERM relationship that fell through a few years ago. Well the name of his latest instillation (this recent opening) is "It's not me... it's you." How awesome is that!

The candle

Dear God I must be burning the candle at both ends. It's a good thing i don't have much of a social life 'cause if i did i'd be burning the candle on three ends. I've been working everyday i've been home this month and the last two weeks last month. I've had two weekends taken up by horse shows and one where i had a friend in town too (the last time i had a social life). I do laundry while i'm working with my father ripping up my deck. I do my prep work for the next day at school when i get my tv time and eat dinner. I go to bed at 10 wake up at 6 or 7 EVERYDAY. I'm four months behind on my book keeping. If it wasn't for on line bill pay i'd be getting late notices from EVERYONE. Tomorrow, I'm up at 6:30 out the door at 7:15. With kids from 8-12:15. From 12:15-2 I call the real teacher, prep and make sub plans for the other sub for the next two days, eat lunch and prep for the next group. I have the next group from 2-2:50. Next i have a job interview in Berkeley at 4ish. After than i have to pick a fellow rider up to drive to the airport to get another flight back to San Diego. Where i won't get as much sleep as i want and will be sitting on my ass far too long. Maybe durring my Preps i'll copy the teacher's manual so i can be ready for when i have to work next week. RUNNING RUNNING RUNNING

Del Mar Horse Show

I've just come back from my first of two weeks down in San Diego. This week was at the Del Mar horse park. There are three rings and only major classes. Now all the jumper classes are in the big arena. It was carnage in the ring. On Saturday night there is the $100,000 Grand Prix (mostly perfesionals). It was such a hard course only three people didn't knock down rails. The winner had one time fault (being slower than the time the the course designer allows). The winner on his second horse fell off. In the class before horses were stopping out, people falling off, people knocking down 8 rails. It was insane. One out of every 5 people in the top classes looked like they should be in the class. These amazing horses being punished left and right by these riders who CAN'T ride.
Well, so now you know how hard it was. I had 50+ people in my classes (Low Jr./A.O. Jumpers). I got 4th on Thur., two rails Friday, one rail Saturday, and two rails today (around 13th or 14th place). I'm not HAPPY with how i rode but i'm not NOT happy. Today Stella slipped and pulled herself together and we finished the class (with our two rails). But hey I did better than 75% of my class so I'm happy... i guess. But I have another chance next week. Wish Me Luck

Teenage Pot Heads

I'm sitting in the Dr.'s office waiting room. My allergy office, full of young children who have allergies, all the kids who are there after school, LITTLE kids. Okay well these two guys around 16 or 17 walk in being loud. They sit down and loudly talk about how much it would suck to be allergic to pot. The one kid gets his shots and walks back out and is like "Man, we have to wait 20 min." "What?" the one sitting there yells, "That sucks." Loud once again. Loud. These guys talking rudly and loudly. I was like shit man who is eager and bold enough to get stoned before they go to a Dr. office. It made me realize how stupid people are when they are stoned. It made me want to go up to them and be like... "Hello, you do realize there are kids here. You do realize you should take your stoned asses outside to talk like idiots."

Woodside Horse Show

I have recently finished my third horse show of the season, Woodside pre-spring horse show (or something). Now, I didn't do well ribbon wise like Indio (a couple first and a third out of 50 some horses) but i rode the best I've ridden in my life. I rode so well... god i don't even know how i rode like that but Lindsay, my trainer, compared me to Mandy Porter

Yeah MANDY PORTER!!!! Mandy Porter is one of the top show jumpers on the West Coast. With her 11 year old Belgian Warmblood mare Summer, owned by Wild Turkey Farm, Porter has posted wins in the 2004 Del Mar International Grand Prix, CSI-W, the 2005 Del Mar Palms Classic Grand Prix, and the 2005 Pebble Beach Grand Prix. They had multiple top five finishes in 2005.

No NOT Stella...

Porter lived and rode in Europe from 1993 to 1999 and represented the United States Equestrian Team at many international competitions. She also rode for the United States on three NationsÂ’ Cup teams in Gijon, Spain, Linz, Austria, and La Baule, France.

Ah, but then it went away on Sunday... so i need to find my inner Mandy by the time i get down to San Diego, this next weekend oh and next weekend.