How Do You Find a Baby Turtle???

Jada's new friend is a hatchling turtle. It lives out in our pool cage and when she gets tired of it we will release it back in a pond near where we found it. So where exactly do you find one of these? Well last week when Jada and I were at the Jen's house it poured out (not unusual for a FL summer afternoon). When the rain had slowed down Natalie told Jada she was going to find her a frog. She searched and searched with no luck (very unusual for Florida). Petrija told Jada not to worry she would find her a turtle. Hee Hee sure you will find her a turtle. Well the next day while in the sand riding ring and on horseback Petrija hollers out that there is a baby turtle and sure enough there it was. Jada was super excited. So... I'm sorry Petrija for doubting your turtle finding abilities.

Where do you work???

I was looking on my computer and came across this photo. In the past I have had many different (and some not the usual) jobs. I guess I have been willing to try just about anything although many are animal related. So here is a list of just a few:

• Oronacah Farm- this was the summer I graduated high school. I was supposed to help with the farm stand and with customers who came to pick there own berries. All I remember was eating excessive amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables. It was probably the healthiest I have ever been. And oh yeah doing donuts with the golf cart in the back fields.
• 311 emergency line for the hearing impaired-A friend of my father's started this service in NY and I sat and watched the phone lines. I also watched an insane amount of movies.
• NYPIRG- yes one summer I was one of those annoying environmentalists that came to your door and asked you to donate money because they were using your backyard as a toxic waste site.
• dog groomers- Actually I was the bather and had the lovely job of excreting anal glands and cleaning the teeth of very angry snarling dogs.
• shit shoveler a plenty- I have cleaned horse stalls at a variety of places. I guess the most glamorous was in Maine. I worked for Mr. Bourke (yes the owner of Dooney & Bourke handbags). I took a few of his visitors out on trail rides and cared for 4 horses. Mainly I partied with the rest of the staff and lived in a awesome little house right in Acadia National Park. Apparently if you have enough money you can build in a National Park.
• Northern Armored Services-sort of an armored car business only I had a maroon mini van that I named Gertie. Gertie was installed with a radio and I could talk to all the other drivers. (I was 217 another example of how I remember random numbers) I actually picked up deposits and dropped them at the bank including large clients like K-mart. I wore a lovely shit brown shirt with a badge and all and they offered me a gun which I quickly declined.
• SunTrust bank-Yes I worked in the corporate world for a short time. And then promptly went back to school.
• Wildlife Rehabilitator-I loved this job just couldn't handle many of the crazies that worked there. The best thing is I met Keely here.
• Mom- this is me now!

Yes I live in Florida still

So I have now lived in Florida for 6 years. Yes, I know I have been saying since the 2nd month we lived here (Hurricane Charlie conveniently tore through our town then) that I was moving back west the first chance I got, well I guess that first chance has not arrived yet. Life in Florida has been different and if you already live here you know this and if you are thinking of moving here then here are some things to consider.

·when it's 8pm and there is a little breeze and it's only 80% humidity and only 88 degrees out you will say it feels nice and cool out.
·everyone at some point has done the fire ant dance
·it is impossible to rid your yard of the armadillos and their lawn pot holes
·it is normal for people to shoot alligators in their backyard
·there are lots of beaches (too bad I hate the beach)
·people fish everywhere including the bridges off major highways
·it is not uncommon to see trucks, trailers, or even school buses full of watermelons
·water moccasins invade when it floods and everything floods in the summer
·people panic over freeze warnings and obsess over covering their landscape plants, also if you don't leave your water dripping your pipes freeze and you may blow up your well
·deer? We brake for pigs and big ass ones at that.
·Georgia peaches and plant city strawberries are sold in the medians, parking lots, and anywhere else a truck can find a spot to stop
·old people drivers!!! I have had to stop for 2 accidents since living here to help out the 80+ yr old drivers who just plowed into someone else and think they can still drive their mangled vehicles off the road. Yes I literally have had to turn cars off both times to keep them from moving.
·the orange blossoms smell amazing in the spring
·it can be raining at your house but not your neighbor's
·lightning has killed the modem on my computer twice fuse protectors and all and blown up the cable boxes and phones once too
·maybe this one is just me but I had no idea what a lanai was until I moved here. apparently it is a staple of Floridian architecture
·ok in general the winters here are pretty nice weather wise but then snow birders come back and everything is crazy busy
·the sunsets are beautiful

So where does this all leave me...still living in Florida but starting to finally accept that this is my home although I still hope someday to be back in the mountains.

It looks like we forgot about our Blog

It's been about 10 months since my last post. We have been busy since then. Jada is 3 now and has the attitude to match it. We took a family trip last summer to Ireland to visit the Hanleys and just last month went to Arizona. We had our kitchen remodeled and are currently adding on a new playroom and bedroom for Jada.

Tazer has gotten old real fast in the last 2 months. He paces the house panting and breathing on you. I have tried some anti anxiety meds but they don't seem to do much good. I am tempted to take them myself some days. He is going deaf and the noises from the construction are driving him crazy. He hates thunderstorms and I think the banging is too similar especially for a hard of hearing old guy like him.

The horses and pony are all doing well. Jada has been showing pony Moe in leadline classes. She got her English saddle for her birthday and loves it. I pimped it out with pink bands on the stirrups and and pony saddle pad to go with it.

Not sure if I am back to regular blogging yet but we'll see.

It's a little filly!!!

I must have known it was coming because friday I started "nesting". I mowed the pasture behind the barn and asked Jeff to trim the trees out there. I also decided it was time to start nightly checks. Jeff went out around 12:30am and said everything looked normal. I went out at 5am expecting to just feed a few hours earlier and to my surprise a little black horse was up and walking around. I am disappointed that I missed it but glad everything went very smoothly. The photos of her in the stall are her about 2-3 hours old and the outside ones she is about 7-8 hours old. We named her Indi for Independence seeing she was born on the 4th of July. Four different people suggested this name to me and I figured if I did not name her this they were going to call her it anyways. Indi is black now but will turn gray eventually (not sure what shade). You can see the gray around her eyes and the flecks in her body hairs. Not sure how I ended up with a bunch of white horses since I hate trying to keep whites clean. But at least I still have my dark and handsome Tyler.

Long Time No Post

I have not written in awhile. So where have I been? I am not sure. My weeks go by fairly quickly lately. I guess that means we are doing something. I recently purchased an annual pass to Disney World and since Jada is still free we are going to take full advantage of this. It is only a two hour drive to get there and we have gone twice in the last week. I plan on going next week too. Jada calls it "Mickey's House" and loves the Magic Kingdom. She likes the "up and down" ride aka the Magic carpet Ride. We went to Hollywood Studios last time and she loved the Playhouse Disney Live show and the Honey I shrunk the kids playground but the rest was not too exciting. We are going to give the Animal Kingdom a whirl next time.
I also started running some which for those of you who really know me probably think is pretty funny. My horse has been kind of off for 3 months and I needed some form of exercise. We will see how long it lasts though with summer rapidly approaching and the already 90 degree temps.

Another Poop Tale

This is another one of those stories that all may not appreciate or want to read. So there is my Warning/Disclosure. My new shower I got done in October is great for having Jada in it. It is plenty big and all her toys fit in there as well as both of us. Jada still does not do baths but instead showers. (You think this is my neurotic/I hate water issue?) When I finish showering I get out to get dressed while Jada continues to play. The other day I hear Uh Oh!! So I opened the shower door to Jada saying "poop!" and a big turtle on the floor. We had a talk I and I explained that we don't poop in the shower only in the potty. Every time after this that we go to use the shower Jada always starts out by saying "No Poop". So again the other day I leave the shower and let her keep playing. I peek in the door to her holding her butt saying Uh Oh! We miraculously made it to the potty in time and spared my poor new shower of more turtles. I guess squatting in a warm shower brings it on!