Everything is falling into place

All summer — well, make that ever since May, when my grandmum passed away — my life has felt hectic and rushed: 

I've got to do this and then I've got to do that so I can do this, so then... *gets a phone call* Okay, now I have to do that as well...

 Everything seemed spur of the moment and nothing was regular, I simply bobbed around trying to keep my head above water. Don't get me wrong, I like spontaneous moments. But having no structure at all I've realized, is not a good idea.
In my last post I moaned about having to start school again and how I was dreading it. Looking back I regret it. I looked at that post and thought: Oh for goodness sake! Grow up a bit, Gwyn. Okay, yeah you don't understand algebra very well and struggle with it, but you're not doing anything about it. This isn't like you. One, one "raises the eyebrows!"
So I did do something about it, oh yes. I took it to the highest power. I prayed. I prayed for knowledge and understanding. I got it! I could believe it the next day when I zipped through twenty problems in thirty minutes. And I understood my lessons! On the second day of school in the middle, mind you, of my textbook! There is nothing on this earth that could have done that for me.
 The mind boggles.
And still there are some who refuse to believe in the power of prayer.

{*Tid bit*: Many say they don't believe in prayer because they didn't get what they wanted. Did they ever stop to think that maybe God knew more than they, and that they didn't really need it? Just a thought.}

I have learned much in my first week of school; the importance of balance in everyday life, more of how God works, unequal quantities, exponents and signed numbers, the battle of Troy and Paris and Helen's huge role in it, just to name a few things.

Tomorrow is Monday. I will get up, do my chores, do school and homework, practice music, and play with my animals. I can breathe again. :)

Welcome back Normal, you've been missed.

-Gwyn

Robin Hood, Prekness, Round up, Farrier, and a Farewell

What do all these things have in common? They all happened between Saturday and today!

{I've might be a little brief because there's a thunderstorm on its way}

I'll start with the Prekness Stakes: Congrats to Lookin' at Lucky, the Derby favorite! What a great run! I was hoping that Super Saver would win again and have a chance at the Triple Crown, but oh well. It was still great.
  I'm sooo glad that nobody's gotten hurt so far this year. I think for the past three years there's been at least one "casualty". I'm keepin' my fingers crossed! On to the Belmont Stakes in a few weeks!

That same evening my eldest sister took me and my older brother to Ridley Scott's Robin Hood. I love his movies! They are all brilliantly made and just wonderful! However, he could lay off the gore.
  This Robin Hood is a whole new take on the classic tale. And, as was promised in the trailers, it went above and beyond my expectations. I mean, the cavalry charges were magnifico!!!!!! I saw Andalusians, Friesians, New Forest Ponies(!), Barbs, and many more beautiful and unique horses! And the wolf hounds were cool too :)
  Story: ***********+!!!!
  Costumes: ***** Five stars!
  Weapons: ****/* Four & 1/2 stars! Brilliant! Though, I did see one weapon that didn't exactly fit the era{turn of the 12th century}. I can't remember what it was, but I know a saw something :P
  Rated PG-13
 BUT
As a whole, I would highly recommend this film to peoples ages 15+, because, as I mentioned before, the violence, and a few inappropriate scenes towards the beginning.
  But still, an amazing movie. Adding it to my list of favorites.

I rode Roanie all day Sunday. What a wonderful time I had :)

Yesterday I spent a total of 6 hours on my feet helping the farrier trim all our horses' hooves. Talk about a long and smelly day. Bleck. The horses didn't feel like cooperating either.
That evening our neighbor asked my Da and I to round up his two year olds{horses} and stick them in the barnyard for him. So I pop on Shyanne and Da grabs Wilber and we head out into the neighbors' South pasture. Well, I hadn't ridden Shyanne all Spring so she was real fresh, and by the time we got to the TYOs we were both pretty worn out. Then the TYO's capered around us really close as we headed them slowly back the way we'd come{over a mile}, making Shyanne a nervous wreck and permenetly bruising my rear with her stiff legged prancing and hopping.
  We had just come within sight of the barn when Diamond, the ex-stud horse, came charging over the hill. Great. Da had to beat him off and all his mares wile I had to push and bunch the TYOs myself. We made it back - barely - by the time it was dark.

This morning i said good-bye to my eldest sister as she and my aunt set off across the country - my sister to grad school, and my aunt back to her family in the same state. A sad moment. I honestly don't know when I will see her again. Could be in a month - could be Christmas! Who knows. *sigh*
  Life is changing so fast suddenly. My grandmum's passing; my brother's graduation; me getting my driver's permit; planning on possibly flying to see my cousins - on my own(!); My{other} sister's old friend moving in to become her new "house-mate"{It's funny. The girl has the same name as my eldest sister that's moving! :P}; and of course my sister's leaving. I guess we three girls won't be having that crazy summer together on the lake after all. :(

Ouch. I am sore too. 've been weed-whacking all afternoon. Makes your arms go numb after awhile :/
Well... Later. If I'm still alive :) ~Gwyn

P.S. New speed record for me: 78mph!!!!! Weeee-oooo!

Horrid reminder that summer is over....

*groans* Last night I began my 'odd exercises' {as some people call them} again after neglecting them all summer. I'm paying for it now! My back is tight, my arms feel like they're about to fall off and my stomach  hurts. Even typing hurts! How pathetic is that??

What I do twice a day is a mixture of yoga {thank goodness I already have good balance; another thanks to horses!} stretches and aerobics.

I start with the stretches gradually shift over to 'yoga', {or my poor excuse for yoga} then I begin with the harder stuff; 20 push ups{I feel it!}, 25 sit ups, heaven knows how many times I do the weights...! I don't count because it makes me tired faster thinking of all those pull ups! 

As I uncurled this morning I was reminded by my stiff self that I had to do it all again. Wimp that I am, I curled up and slept for another hour. Grrr. By the time I did get up{mad at my self} it was nearly 8! I did do the exercises, however, much to the protest of my limbs.

And through the pain and stiffness, I feel very good about myself. I love the physical challenge{even if it doesn't sound like it} it gives me and the sense of accomplishment and the over all healthy feel I get afterwards.

Another thing that keeps me going is competition. You're going to think me extremely dumb, but, the person I compete with is actually my own character from my book, Gwyn. Ridiculous, huh? Yeah, but it helps. Every time I feel like quitting I think of her and how she would be able to do it for a lot longer, and it drives me on. I will not have a character in better condition then me!! Lol! I guess I set a goal for myself without even noticing X-)

Well, we'll see how long I can compete with my imagination before I drop dead.

Oh! and if I do survive until tonight, you can expect more drawings...:)

Gwyn

Homeschool Picnic/ role play

Yesterday evening was our Homeschooler's picnic/ kicking off the school year.

There were a lot of new families this year, which I found odd. Usually we have only one or two new people join us, but this year there was at least seven! Most of them are young families, with toddlers and preschool-aged kids, so now we have even more little people running about! It's chaos!

Last night I just had to laugh at our motley crew. Most of us(homeschoolers) are ranchers too far away from anything to even consider public schooling. But there are the, hmm, how would you describe them? Urban types?

The rancher dads talk about cows(or in my friend's case, buffalo) and sheep while on the other side, the {I'll just call them urban} dads talk about their jobs and stuff like that.

The rancher moms will talk about cows, jams, veg gardens, kids, ect. and the urban moms will talk about laundry and their children.

I'm not favoring or anything, this is what was really being said last night. It was kinda funny:) Its like two different languages! Almost.;)

After awhile I got tired of talking about...hmm, I don't even remember what it was us teen girls were talking about.:s So, I found my friend Jamie and we walked around the park. Several times. 

I wanted to join the boys and play kick ball; it looked like so much fun! But none of the other girls wanted to, making up various reasons why they couldn't("Its immature,"). I didn't want to be the only girl! 

*sigh* It stinks getting old:(

Ah, well. I'll go riding today and maybe tonight and that will make me feel better:)

Oh, before I forget, the role play ends tonight at midnight*(mt. time)! {*it has to sound professional!}:P

Till later then!

~Gwyn

Giving CPR to a frog, Cousins coming, and Room painting

Okay, you're probably wondering what all these things have in common with each other, right? Well nothing really, except they all happened today.

Right, I'll start with the frog...

My little brother, 'J', found a teeny little frog in a dried out pond-bed and brought him back to the house to show it to me. (I love frogs!) Upon arriving with said frog, J gave him to me saying that it wasn't moving. Immediately I took the frog for examination. The poor thing wasn't breathing!! I  could just see its tiny heart beating irregularly. I told J to get me a toothpick for I had an outlandish idea: I was going to give the frog CPR.(I know. It seems stupid to me now, I mean these things live in water! Why would it be drowning?) Anyhoo, toothpick in hand I bent over the prone frog. Carefully I opened  his mouth (a very interesting sight, if I may say, you can see the bottoms of its eyeballs!) with the toothpick, and, with my pinky, pushed on its stomach. 

Nothing.

I repeated.

Nothing.

I did it again.

Still nothing.

"J," I said, "I don't think he'll---" I stopped.

He closed his mouth!

With renewed vigor and hope I did CPR another few times and the frog got better! I was astonished! What the heck! Who knew?

The frog slowly but surely started to recover! Yay! I saved the day! We put him in rehab(consisting of a cheese carton, a dish of water and a few leaves) and soon he was hopping around like nothing happend. J wanted to keep him over night and Mum said yes as long as it stayed in J's room.

The bad news: Next day there was no frog in the carton

The good news: Frog made a full recovery. Or, at least, he was well enough to escape to some where in J's room

Bad news: We havent found him yet

~~~***~~~

Soon my cousins will be coming!!!! Yay!!! We'll go to the lake, go cliff jumping, bridge jumping... I love summer! Don't be surprised if I don't blog during the first two weeks of August:)

~~~***~~~

I am finely going to paint my room! I've wanted to for 8 years! And now Mum and Dad say YES!!! Woot! Its gonna be turquoise and a kind of rust orange. So it'll look South Western:) Hurrah!

Moving terrified chickens

<---The Traveling Chicken Hut dad built. 

Molly looks hungry. 

It's amazing how fast our chickies grew! We got them, what? about a week and a half ago, and they're already too big the nesting box!

Dad and August have been working on a traveling chicken hut, and yesterday they finished all but the wheels that will go on later. The chickens wouldn't wait, though. Hoping up the sides of the nest box and some even tried to fly! It was really getting ridiculous! So dad said they'd better be moved before they drove him mad!(:D (the nesting box is in his studio;p)

After much flapping, peeping, screeching and scratching we finally got them outside.*Whew!*

They huddled in the corners for quite awhile, but then one got brave and started exploring and chicken being chickens, the rest followed suit.:)

A happy ending.(so far)

<---The chickens themselves.

Sweet Shyanne

Last night I went riding with (almost) the best mare in the world.:)

She was fantastic for me! Doing pretty much everything I asked her to do.

<---This is a picture my dear older sister took of me getting on Shyanne bareback. Whatever this picture suggests I was able to get on, much to the disappointment of the sister:) Because she can't! Ha!

Cheeps!

Today our chickens came.(I know this has nothing to do with The Legends, but I've changed my mind about having this blog just for the stories. Instead it's going to be a mix of my real and fantasy life.) We got fourteen of them and about five different breeds. I have to admit I harbor no love for chickens, the little monsters, but I couldn't help but hold the runt of the pack....<:)(above) He appealed to my animal loving side (won't get attached, just won't!) Normally I just call cats, chickens and other small vermin something like: Kitty-kitty, Get-Out-of-the-Way!, and other appropriate names for the time. Oh, well. I guess they are kinda cute...