When I got my hours on Friday for this week I was only scheduled for 20hrs. I was kind of disappointed not only because I wouldn't make as much money but also because that meant that there was a good chance that I would be called in at any time possibly with very little warning. But yesterday I was called and given shifts for today, tomorrow and Friday. So now I'm up to 44hrs and I know what my schedule is in advance. I'm quite happy about this. Today I had to do the job that bruises my arms again. Tomorrow I get to do something new that I haven't done yet. And I get to work with someone. I like working with people if they are nice and aren't grumpy. I think that I've already met the guy that I'm working with tomorrow and he seems nice. I was quite fortunate for my night shifts this week. I was working with 3 different people and all of them were very nice. The machine that always has problems was no better than usual but the operator that I was working with would pretend to be upset rather than actually get upset. At one point the packages kept flipping over but we couldn't figure out why. We would watch them come down and they'd be fine and then the conveyor would stop because one of them had flipped later. There was no reason that we could see for this to happen so it was quite frustrating as we would be constantly running back and forth to get the conveyor going again. Finally I saw the problem. There was a chair too close to the conveyor and the packages would get knocked over as they passed the chair. Well, when I told the guy that I was working with what the problem was he grabbed the chair and threw it to the side. Normally that would bother me but he did it with a huge smile on his face so it was funny instead. I find it interesting that the times that I don't actually do anything wrong I end up getting blamed for doing something wrong and the times that I do make mistakes nobody seems to care. I made a couple mistakes this week and neither of the guys that I was working with even said anything. It really was no big deal to them.
Yesterday I went for the second time to work with the new horse that I'm starting. I was able to get on her and walk around. She was really good. She seemed much more relaxed yesterday than the first time I worked with her. The biggest thing for her right now is her balance. She is really wobbly with me on her back but I don't think that it will take long for her to get used to carrying a rider. I am hoping to do some trotting either the next time or the time after that, but it will depend on her balance and how she feels.
Brig bucked for the first time with me on him yesterday!! I stayed on too. He was hyper because he'd had a few days off and there was a new horse on the property that was running around, pacing and whinnying. There were also five or six kids running around and playing. It was the kids that actually caused the buck. They were playing on the swing set thing that is beside the arena. I think that when we went past one of the kids swung towards him on a rope or the monkey bars or something because he bucked and then bolted a little ways. It was kind of funny once I got him stopped (which really didn't take long as I turned him towards the fence slightly). I had been worried about his bucks because I've seen them on the lung line. He kicks his legs straight up high in the air so that his body is fully extended. It is really funny to see. But I was worried that he would do that while I was on him. I'm pretty sure that he didn't do one of those bucks and that it was a smaller one as I didn't even lose my seat.
Sierra called me on her birthday. I had been planning to call her but thought that I should wait until the evening. When I grabbed my phone to call there was already a message from her on it. I actually ended up talking to Ethan, John, Sara and Sierra that night. Even though Sierra is now 5 it still surprises me how old she seems. I think that Sara must talk to her about me or read/show her my blog because she would ask me questions about things that surprised me. She does have a very good memory though. She asked about Winston, of course, she loves Winston. But she also asked about Erin's baby and if I'm still at my dad's. She talked about my work and how I have to stay up all night because 'those are the rules'. At one point she was saying that I should come see her on Sunday. I told her that I have to play ball on Sunday. Then she asked about Tuesday and I told her that I had to go ride a horse, so then she tried Friday (I think that she tried to bribe me at this point by telling me she'd bake me a cake when I came). She got a kitchen that 'really works' for her birthday. I told her that I wasn't sure about Friday but I would like to come if I could (of course I knew that I wouldn't be able to but I thought she might go on forever if I kept saying no, and I really would like to go visit). Anyway, after all that she then said "I didn't know you played ball". It really surprised me that she would come back to something that I had previously said because she was curious about it. It was such an adult-like thing to say. The conversation was so normal at times. Not like what I would expect in talking to a five year old. She asked about my games and whether we win or lose and what was our hardest game... I think that she goes into her room to talk so that it's quiet. At one point Ethan came in and she politely asked him to leave and explained to him why he had to leave. It really was cute to listen to. As you can probably tell I really enjoyed talking to Sierra. It is hard though if we run out of things to say. She wants to talk to me for a long time just like Sara and I talk for a long time. Of course with Sara there is always plently to talk about but with Sierra I have to try to think of things. Anyway, good job Sara on raising such a mature, smart, cute daughter.