Friday Funny ~ Officials

A Department of Water representative stopped at the ranch and spoke to the little old rancher.
He told the rancher, "I need to inspect your ranch for your water allocation."

The rancher said, "Okay, but don't go in that field over there."

The water representative haughtily said, "Mister, I have the authority of the Federal Government with me.  See this card?  This card means I'm allowed to go WHEREVER I WISH on any agricultural land.  NO questions, asked or answered.  Have I made myself clear?  Do you understand?"

The old rancher nodded politely and went about his chores.

Later, the rancher heard loud screams and saw the water rep running for the fence followed closely by the rancher's bull.  The bull was gaining on him with every step.

The rep was clearly terrified so the old rancher ran to the fence and shouted, "Your card!!  Show him your card!!"

Wordless Wednesday ~ Eli on the Job

Hello? Anyone there?

I'm still alive, I've just been busy getting some stuff done and trying to get my head together. 

Man oh man I feel like this was The Summer That Wasn't, when it was supposed to be The Best Summer in Years!
I had a few months off (with severance pay) and thought I'd get so much done, be able to ride tons and just enjoy myself.  Then I got hurt a few times, my main horse was sore and we had the worst summer weather I can remember.  Seriously it seemed to rain at least every 3rd day, and not just a light rain.  There was even one week, during the time most people around here put up their hay, that it rained five out of seven days.

*now I know some of y'all live where it's rainy & muddy 

a good part of the year, 

but that's just NOT normal here*

Now of course when things are getting back on track, now is when it's time to start the job hunt.  Or go to school.  Or both. 
See, still trying to get my head together. ;) 
One thing I do know, is I've missed blogging these past few weeks. 

This week's  Sunday Stills theme: "In honor of the Olympics, lets try for some sports shots. You may be able to find some sporting activities in your own backyard (I’ve seen some epic battles at the hummingbird feeder), but it might be fun to grab your camera and head to a community park and look for a softball game, swim meet, bike race, horse shoe tournament, etc. Take your kids, grandkids, family dog..." 

The SBRA Provincial Finals was here, unfortunately my indoor shots didn't work out (the lighting was awful, unless you had the pro photographer set up)  Instead I have a pic from the warmup arena, and a couple of something most barrel racers are addicted to, bling ;)

Pardon me...

but I'm having a bit of a pity party right now.

I'm sitting out on SBRA Provincial Finals.  It seems like it just was NOT in the cards for me to run this year.
First I only had one horse qualified, Voodoo.  And then he came up sore.  As in he was a total roaring A-hole sore.  Turns out he had good reason, he was out in his wither and really sore through the rib cage so to have an absolute fit when I tried to mount made sense.  He is feeling better and is forgiven.  And he probably would have been okay to go if *I* had been okay (more on that in a moment)
Applejack wasn't qualified; between not having a saddle that fit for almost a year and battling soreness issues he wasn't in shape soon enough to get to enough jackpots.  The good news, we have a saddle and I think his soreness is resolving.  I had been thinking he was IR or borderline IR.  Well after a farrier switch and a good look at his feet I'm thinking that yes he may be borderline IR but most of his problem was how his feet were being trimmed.  (oh and THAT is a post in itself!)
Lefta wasn't qualified because she's too green.  I'll be exhibitioning her this year and hopefully hitting jackpots by spring.

On to me... first I didn't get a lot of riding in because I was having really bad pain in my arm/elbow.  The doctor said it was basically tennis elbow, who'da thunk that would hurt so bad?  (Thank you Smudge)
But for quite awhile I couldn't lift anything heavier than a mug of coffee (and there were days that that was too much)  Riding was pretty limited, and when I did ride it was Lefta or Voodoo as they're the softest.
Now here is the kicker, I ended up having to medical out of finals because of my ear.  How freaking wussy does THAT sound?!  But really it is pretty bad.
I have a history of ear infections.  For the last two or three years things have been pretty good.  But before that, oh man I had so many.  And each time my doctor would say "Next time you come in with an ear infection I'm referring you to a specialist"  Problem was she never did.
Last week my right ear was bothering me.  I thought I just had an ear ache because I had been out in the wind and hadn't put cotton in my ear.  Then it went from aching to a full grown "omigosh I want to cry/vomit" kind of pain.  Thursday I went into the minor emergency clinic and the doctor said not only is it infected but my ear drum is ruptured.  We talked about my history and he wrote up a referral to a specialist.  When I told him I'd need a note in case I had to medical out of a competition I had entered with my horse in a few days his exact words were "Oh you should be okay to ride unless it's something crazy like barrel racing"

*sob*

I just looked at him and said "Saskatchewan BARREL racing provincial finals" he immediately started writing a note.  He did tell me to play it by ear (my wording, sorry lame & punny) and IF I was feeling okay I could still run.  However the burst ear drum causes vertigo, dizziness,nausea, extreme headaches and a very stiff neck.  Saturday I tried to take a short cut and climb over a fence, I nearly spun off the top.  Sunday I tried to get on a horse just to walk, no go.  Monday Pie & I were running errands in the city and he took a corner in the Explorer a bit fast and I felt like I was a goner.  SO yeah, I wasn't going to be running barrels.
It feels VERY weird to be at finals watching friends and not running :(  But hopefully I'll be okay in time to get myself prepared for district finals (end of August)  What I'm hoping for even more is that I regain my hearing in that ear, well at least to what it was before (my hearing is already a bit compromised)