Christmas at the Cropp's

 
 
 
 


I just have to start by saying that I have the cutest, sweetest, most wonderful nephew in the whole world. I really enjoyed spending Christmas at Erin and Brian's house this year. And not just because it meant that I got to spend 3 days in the same house with Evan. It was just a good Christmas overall for me. On Christmas day I felt like I'd been away for a week and I'd only just arrived there the evening before. It felt good.
We didn't exchange gifts this year between the adults and I can't say that I missed it at all. In fact I think that I prefer it that way. I did still have a stocking to open in the morning.
I am off work for another week. I've really been enjoying my time off. I haven't been getting a lot done but I've not been bored.
Tomorrow I'm taking a couple of the kids from the barn tubing at a local mountain. We're all really looking forward to it. They always tease me because I act more their age than like an adult. But I have fun and they have fun and their parents get a good laugh out of it. I am moving Brig to a different barn in a couple of weeks. I'm going to miss the kids. The new barn is small and doesn't have many boarders so I don't imagine that I'll have new kids to ride with. But maybe there will be some nice adults that are fun. I told the kids that I will still go to Playland with them every summer and tubing every winter and anything else that is fun.
Brig has been really good lately. I've been riding him about once a week and free lunging him a couple of times a week. He has been great. He gets a little silly in the canter sometimes but I've been riding in the tiny indoor so he hasn't had a chance to actually do much of anything. I'm still worried about his leg. I don't think that it is fully healed despite what the vet says. He trips fairly often and there is heat in his leg occasionally. I'm going to keep riding him lightly and just see how it is. I don't think that the amount that I'm doing will harm him at all. In fact it might be better for him because it may keep him from goofing off in his paddock all the time.
I think that the new barn is set up a bit better for Brig. It has an in and out stall/paddock so that no one ever has to handle him and he won't pace the paddock waiting to be brought inside for the night. I think that once he gets used to it he will be calmer. The paddock is also larger so he can run a little bit more if he wants to.
I have an interview on Thursday. But the more I think about it the more I think that I probably won't want the job. As far as I know I will still occasionally have to work weekends and I will be working both day and afternoon shifts. The pay is also less. My main problems with my current job are that I don't know my schedule more than a couple of days ahead of time, I have to work shifts and cannot commit to anything on a regular basis and I have to work weekends at times. If I could find a job that was straight day shifts and gave me Sundays off I would take it even with a pay cut. But unless I can find that I don't think that it would be smart for me to give up my seniority (and take a pay cut) for a job that I will still not be happy with. But I am going to go check it out. You never know.