It's Monday . . .

Yep.  It's Monday, I'm back at work, the Feds have graciously accepted our tax donation this time (okay - no more sarcasm, I promise), and I managed to get all the laundry done (no small feat since I've let it go for the last two weeks!) AND I finally got our closet straighted up yesterday.  

I plan to stop by Curves this evening to see whether the circuit training system they have is actually quick enough that I might really USE a membership there.  Their ads say it only takes half an hour total, which I might actually be able to convince myself to spend.  I know I definitely need to do something -- my legs have lost enough strength at this point that I'm having even more trouble than usual getting up on a horse.  NOT a good thing.  Ladybug understands that she needs to go stand next to something tall for me to mount or dismount.  She's pretty funny, actually . . . after we've ridden for a while, instead of trying to run back to the barn like Duke sometimes does, she will try to go over to something tall -- the fender of a horse trailer, a fence, a barrel -- she's amazingly good at identifying appropriate platforms -- and stop next to it, hoping I'll dismount! 

But Lizzie doesn't understand that system, thankfully.  And I really don't want her to.  So I want to try and build up some strength in my legs again so I can mount from the ground.  I'm telling you, riding is NOT a simple thing for a woman in her mid-60's who has never done ANYTHING athletic in her whole life.  When I was a kid, I was even excused from gym class because I had asthma.  And by the time I outgrew that, since I knew nothing at all about any sort of sport, and I didn't like doing anything I wasn't good at, for the rest of my life I simply never did anything whatsoever that even required that I sweat!  Never!  Horses are, without question, the ONLY thing that could have made me start now!  I love riding so much that I want to do whatever it takes to be able to continue.  And seeing those folks in their 70's and 80's at Dad's nursing home who need to use walkers or wheel chairs was a pretty good kick in the pants, too.  I sure don't want to see that happen to me -- not as long as I have horses -- so I better get a grip NOW.