Fittin' In

I love this poster.  It basically sums up my difficulties.  I don't allow enough room in my life (or time) to fit in everything on my daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly to do list.  However, I usually manage to fit in time for every meal, and then some, and my mouth and stomach have no problem fittin' in a load of food.  But then when it comes time to fittin' into my skinny cowgirl jeans, occasionally I have a bit of a squeeze. 
I have difficulties fittin' in time to do all that needs to get done (Bible readings, gym workout, housework, and yard work like weeding and raking) and still have time to do the things I like (riding, walks, outings with family & friends, landscaping, fun reading, and dancing).
Clearing trails, learning bridge and Spanish, going to dance and stretch classes, and working with my horse and dog fit into one of these categories as well.  And then there's blogging.  It is both a need to do and want to do activity.  However, it tends to take precedence over most other things, but takes up way too much time.  I've said it over and over again, I need to cutback on my blogs.  A lot of my time is spent on fitting photos into to the post to look right, (but I encounter difficulties related to the red poster above) and all for not, because some browsers show my posts differently anyway.
At least the problem of fitting in to society hasn't been too big of a concern for me.  I really don't care if I don't conform to all standards of looks and behavior that some social gatherings I am at dictate.  However, I don't really want to stand out, offend, or ruffle anybody.  Staying under the radar is usually my goal, but, when the music starts, I can't contain myself.

Amiga greets Deana's new horse Sandy.

Saturday, April 1st, the weather was fooling with me.  It took longer to 'straighten up' than predicted.  So, after an early lunch, I went to the barn before the air warmed and clouds cleared off.

Deana (a friend from Bible Study) had just brought her horse Sandy, who will be in quarantine for the next two weeks.  Fitin' in won't be an issue for either because Deana has boarded Sandy at this barn several years ago.

When I arrived, the herd was acting wild, and I could see several (including Amiga and Zorro) running, bucking, rearing, spinning, and kicking.  So, it was no surprise that Amiga felt a bit sore when I rode her in from the pasture.
 
Even though Amiga was barely favoring her right front leg, I only rode her for 40 minutes.  By the time I brought in Zorro, the sun had come out and it was getting warmer.  I rode him (seen right) for 40 minutes as well.  He spooked several times, (a few for no apparent reason) but not bad enough to dislodge me from the saddle.

By the time I got home, I only had 45 minutes to walk the dog and get ready to leave.  Shirley picked me up at 3:45 and we were off to the Hebbertsburg's Community Center.  This was the kick-off of the first (first Saturday night of the month) fundraiser for the community center this year.  We were way early, because in the past, it has been standing room only.  We wanted to be sure to get a seat, fitin' in to the dance hall for the dinner and dance.  

While the band played, the crowd was a little slow to get up and dancing, but that didn't slow me down.  What do I care about fitin' in.  I was having a good time dancing.  Seen above, the Sweet Tea's (including Shirley), doing an impromptu dance during one song.  To the right, they danced during the two intermissions and this (video) shows them performing their Happy Birthday dance.  

Shirley dropped me off back at home just after 8 pm and I went straight to Jan's to care for her cats, who I had run out of time for (couldn't fit in) earlier in the day.
 

Sunday was a beautiful morning.  Our usual visitors were at the feeders.  This little chipmunk fills his pouches, fitin' in as much as he can, slides down the pole, scurries off, and then comes back for more.

We were expecting Courtney before lunch, so I skipped Church, went to Food City and got food for a picnic.

I didn't realize that the hair above her eyes looks like eyes.

It turned out that Courtney got a late start and then was held up almost an extra hour in a traffic jam on I-40, so she didn't arrive until almost 1:00.  Since we were running late, rather than picnic at the barn, I had lunch all ready to go when she got here.  My 'helper' would not stay off the porch table, and tried to remain unnoticed as she watched me through the kitchen window.







We ate as soon as Courtney un-loaded.  Then we were off to the barn.  On the way, we saw this bobcat (slightly larger than Maggie) cross Westchester about 30 yards in front of our car.  (It was just before the big dip going to the barn.)







The cat (seen right) went into the woods and then just sat watching us as we stopped to get photos.  I need a better camera than my i-phone.  This → was the best I could do.





Fitin' in all we wanted to do was going to be tough, so time was of the essence.  We were quick to get our horses, although we did pause for a moment, for a little camera war.



Courtney took this one of me, riding Amiga to the barn, who I was directing with my legs and the lead rope attached to her halter.

It wasn't long before we had the two horses brushed, tacked, and ready to ride.

Courtney and I rode for 45 minutes.  We went on part of the new trail so I could show her it.  Seen left, Zorro was trying to avoid the water, but Courtney got him turned and through it without a problem.









Courtney and Zorro followed Amiga and I out, away from the barn.  This helped build his confidence.  Then when we turned around on the new trail in the woods, Amiga and I followed them back.  Courtney rode Zorro well and he did great (video).


We didn't have much time to horse around when we got back to the barn.

Seen left, Courtney's Selfie with Zorro.

Seen right, Courtney's Facebook post with this comment:  "Safety first! Every ride every time!"

Visiting Sandy in the pony pen as we leave.

We scurried home, quickly got cleaned up, and then went to Rocky Top Ten in Crossville to watch Beauty and The Beast.  (Joe came too.)  I really enjoyed the movie.  It was well done, mixing animation with real life.  Ahhh, I remember my childhood days... when I wasn't pretending to be a cowgirl, I was dreaming of being a princess, or better yet, a beautiful lass on a horse.








We hugged Courtney goodbye.  She headed west to Nashville, and we went home in the NE direction.  The movie popcorn had been our dinner, but it wasn't sitting well in my tummy, so I took Maggie on a long walk, nine holes of Druid, and felt much better when I got back.

I woke way too early Monday, and finally got out of bed at 3:30.  I left Maggie in her crate, not wanting to encourage early rising, but at 4:30 took her for a walk because rain was coming.  It hit before 5 am and rained heavily, off and on, all day long.  I don't like the bird food getting wet, so I didn't hang out the feeders (seen left they are on the porch were I put them every night).  Since we were basically going to be gone the next seven days, they were going to be left inside anyways.




I took a 90 minute morning nap, waking too late to make it to Ballroom Aerobics.  The rain and gloom made it hard to get motivated.  I love the lichen, seen below on many of the tree trunks and branches.






The creek and pond were high, but not quite flooded.  I started this blog, did laundry, packed, got the pet care note written, cleaned some food out of the fridge, and started cleaning off my desk top.




I took another short nap because I hate feeling so sleep deprived.  Fitin' in slumber hours is sometimes a nuisance, but it is definitely a necessity.  Then I went to the gym and did weights, elliptical, and the one hour stretch class.  We had leftovers for dinner and watched Legacy 24.  I did my new nightly routine of Bible reading and Duolingo Spanish practice before lights out.  I also took a sleeping pill to be sure I would get a full night's sleep.

As you can see from the above photo, it was a gorgeous, beautiful, spring morning Tuesday.  I hated the thought of spending a good part of the day in the car.  Seen left, Joe returning from a morning walk with Maggie.  While he took her to the kennel, I finished up preparing to go; watering plants, cleaning the cat's pan, and packing the rest of my suitcase, cooler, and snack bag.  We shoved off a little before 10:30 am, picked up Lisa and Nolan, and headed to the Windgate Hotel in Athens GA.




The five hour drive went fairly quickly because we had lots to chat about.

Shortly after the half way point, we stopped at this pretty, very new, little rest area somewhere in South Carolina.  As always, it felt so good to get out of the car.

Upon arriving in Athens we  checked into our very nice hotel, and then we went downtown.  We parked and walked around looking for possible places to dine.  The downtown abuts to the U of Georgia campus, so the place was hopping.

After covering almost two miles, we decided to go farther from campus, so drove to Longhorn Steakhouse.  I enjoyed their country western cowboy decorating along with a great steak, potato, and salad.

Once back to the hotel, we all went to bed early because we had a 4 am wake-up call scheduled in the morning.

We were on the road by 5 am Wednesday, drove almost two hours, and arrived in Augusta just as the sun was rising.  There was a bit of a slow down getting off the highway because traffic was already backed up to that exit.  We followed the slow moving line of cars into Augusta National Golf Course and parked.







I had someone take the above photo with my cell phone once we got parked.  All the other photos were taken by Lisa and Nolan because cell phones and other electronic devices (including walkie talkies) were forbidden.  You could bring a regular camera in though.


Seen above, the sign greeting us as we entered the grounds.  Unfortunately, it proved to be an accurate warning.

The line moved slowly getting through the gates at the point where we went through a scanner and our bags were searched.  I got busted for a water bottle which I poured out, but they wouldn't even let me bring an empty bottle in.  





Seen left, we moved a little quicker as people started spreading out, going into gift shops, restrooms, and heading to the course.












We decided to walk the course backwards, starting on hole #18.  Seen left, we are showing #17 fairway behind us.
 

In a shot time the course filled with golf enthusiasts.

Seen below is the little pond, right in front of green #15.









As some of the pro-golfers approached, these stands filled up.



We joined the crowd, and had a great view of the putting action.  Because this was a practice round, the golfers tried many different putts, also aiming at imaginary spots where the holes would be placed over the next four days of the Masters competition.
 





All the caddies wore white coveralls and green Masters caps.  They were taking notes all along the way as they walked the course.

Nolan had hung back, getting some close-ups of the golfers.  Seen below from left to right are Rory McElroy, Sergia Garcia, and Steven Hadden.

At this point we had lost Nolan.  He came back up into the stands, but we went a different way down to meet him where we thought he had said he would be.  This is when cell phones would have really come in handy.  There were phones (seen below) throughout the course, but I don't know what good they would be. 

We looked for Nolan for a total of about 45 minutes, waiting where we had last seen him and going on to the next tee as in the game plan.  Meanwhile, he stayed in the stands and watched this group play the next short par three hole #16 seen below.













We split up and Joe found Nolan at the 14th green while Lisa and I were on the other side of the fairway looking for him.  He was watching this group (Bernard Langer, Matthew Fitzpatrick, and Martin Kaymer) seen left.




We all watched them playing #14 green (seen right) while waiting on opposite sides of the fairway until we would be allowed to cross over it to get back together again.  These crossings are called fairway walkways, and they had crossing guards that would put a rope across when they were closing the walkway so the golfers could hit down the fairway.  Lisa and Nolan took photos of each other (and Joe and I) from opposite sides of the fairway.

Once back together, we made our way to the 13th green from the 14th tee box, but then the bad weather warning siren went off.  The loud speaker announced that play had been suspended and everyone was instructed to leave the course.  A bad storm was approaching, expected to hit.







Well, we and others took some more photos as we were corraled and moved by course attendants towards the club house.  These photos were taken along the 13th and 12th fairways I think.



 

We were towards the end of the pack leaving this area.  We followed the sea of people under the canopy of umbrellas as we shuffled our way back out to the parking lot, taking at least a half our to get back to hour SUV.









We had a picnic snack/lunch while sitting in the car listening to the radio report of the Masters practice status and the weather.  The rain didn't last long and we were hoping to get back in.

At this point I was having second thoughts about having given away my ticket to the Lady's Club fashion show that was also occurring at the moment.  Because I couldn't fit them both in, I had chosen this opportunity to see the prestigious Masters golf course.

Finally, long after the skies cleared, we were allowed to go back in, a little over an hour after being told to leave.  So we had to do the whole re-entry routine all over again.




This time, the line was longer to get back in and it started to rain on us.  Look at the sea of umbrellas below.








Once through security again and back on the course, we headed for hole #1 to walk the front nine in order.  The lower photo was taken looking back at the cottages and people coming in.

We had a group photo taken and got more shots of the greens.

Very few golfers returned to the course, but several caddies were out pacing off steps at various places around and on the greens and making notes.


We had made it to hole #4 when the siren went off again and we were told to leave.  Well, we decided rather than turn around, we would walk #5 and then head back on six - nine.


When we got to the #5 tee box, we were then told to go, and funneled out into the South parking lot, even though we were parked on the other side in the North parking lot.  They made us go the long way around.  They just wanted us off the grounds.  Below, Joe crossing a bridge taking us out.



Then we got sprinkled on walking (the long way) through tons of cars and pedestrians back to where we had parked.  During the two hour drive back to the hotel, we got caught in a few torrential down pours and lots of high winds.

We were back at the hotel by 4 pm.  We had plenty of time before dinner.  Because it is hard to fit in fitness while traveling, I thought now would be a good chance.  Well, we had walked over six miles Saturday, according to Lisa's Fitbit, so the hot tub was the best any of us could do.  We went back Downtown for dinner at a nice restaurant and pub, recommended to us by a young former grad we had met at the pool.

Thursday was a leisurely morning and an 8:15 departure.  The almost five hour drive back went fast, one because Joe speeds, and two because we were still able to find lots to talk about.  It was hard fittin' in all the photos from the Masters, so here is one of a Magnolia on the course, ready to bloom.







Here is another of the Dogwoods.  Joe dropped me off with Nolan and Lisa at their house so I could upload the photos they took, while Joe went and picked up Maggie.  We were home with plenty of time for me to do my usual Thursday workout routine, but I wanted to get this blog done.  It was in the thirties and windy so the house felt cold.  I turned up the thermostat, turned on the fire place and made a cup of hot tea.  There is no place like home.

Here is one more golf course photo, of an azalia in bloom.  After dinner, Joe and I watched both of the Survivor shows.  The Survivor Game Changers has really had a lot of twists to it this season and was fun to watch.  I had unpacked, hung up my wet swim suit, done a load of laundry, and repacked for the early departure on Friday.





Friday morning Joe, Maggie and I were out the door before 7:30.  Joe had to make a quick stop at the Dr. office to have his blood drawn.  I got out and walked Maggie around town, instructing Joe to let me know when he was almost done.  After 40 minutes I checked back in and he was still waiting.  So the dog and I did more walking.


Long story short, Joe waited (and I walked) for over an hour before he was done.  A change in the computer system had slowed everything down I guess and they were having troubles fitin' everybody in on time.  And then to top it off, Joe's Dr. was now going to be out of town and unable to see him for the appointment next Tuesday.  SO, Joe didn't need to get his blood drawn today!

The trip to Carol's was long.  I was sick and tired of riding in the car.  And my patience had already been used up by waiting on Joe.  I also felt bad for Maggie who is too nervous to lie down during car rides, so sat in her crate panting the whole time.  I was so glad to finally be fittin' in time to visit Carol and her sheep farm though.