I quit the barn. :(

Yeah, it may not make any sense that I'd say I quit, and then add a sad face to the end, but I am sad. I'll miss the horses, and I'll miss the riding. It just wasn't what I wanted. I have learned a lot while riding, even the younger guys, but I'm sick of cleaning stalls (I did that in high school... A LOT). I haven't had a true lesson in a while, and they really only have one upper level horse that I can ride. I've just come to the realization that if I want lessons on a regular basis, I'm just going to have to pay for them. However, at this point, I can't justify spending $65 a lesson, so I'm going to try to pick up some more side jobs developing web sites. If I can get another web site job like the last one I had, that'll pay off my last credit card, along with 15 lessons. :) Anyway, so I'll be going to the barn until the end of October, and after that, it's up to me to fund my own lessons... wherever I happen to go.

I rode my bike Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. I got home early on Saturday after my barn chores, and Michael and I went on a ride. We had a strong headwind on the way out, and a nice tailwind on the way back. We did 32 miles or so, and I felt strong (actually felt somewhat restless) after the ride. Sunday I did a solo 24 mile ride--I'm really starting to love my Sunday rides--not as much traffic, I can go as far and as fast (or slow) as I want, and have only one thing to think about: riding. I took a side road into a subdivision called "Caballo Ranch" or something, but only saw one horse facility. The wind has been pretty strong the past few days, so I had a bad headwind on the way back. Monday's ride was even harder, even though it's a recovery ride. Normally we do some pretty big hills, but this time it was mostly flat, and I was still having a hard time.

We had a HUGE thunderstorm last night! I woke up to it, and I swear, it seemed like the lightning was striking right next to my apartment window. And the thunder was so loud. Jaiden normally isn't bothered by it, but I think he must have been a little worried last night. When I woke up, I just stayed in bed for a few minutes, and suddenly I heard Jaiden give off his "OMG! There's someone in here that I don't know!" bark that scares the hell out of me every time. I think he just heard a noise in the kitchen, so I went to him, touched his side, and he wagged his tail and laid down at my feet. Lol.