On the verge of the New Year: reflecting on the past

I have nothing special planned for this New Year's Eve. I believe this is the first time EVER (other than as a child) that I really don't feel the urge to get out and do SOMETHING to commemorate the occasion. No desperation to find a guy (that I may not even know very well) to kiss at midnight. Nothing.

So I think I will attempt to recall some of the past events of New Year's Eve. My memory is sketchy at best. It's certainly not because I drank too much, because I've never been a raging alcoholic. I guess this is kind of a challenge to myself, a brain exercise so to speak.

Alright, let's flex that mental muscle. Hmmm...

1997 -> 1998 my first year of college. Don't remember. Probably hung out with my older sister (and roommie at the time) Janice and her friends. Maybe one of my best high school friends, Luke (I remained good friends with him through the first year of college and after that we drifted apart).

1998 -> 1999 this was the year I studied in Manitoba, Canada. Back for Christmas break, I met my new twin nephews for the first time. Hung out Janice and her friends. Kinda had one of those mutual attraction things with one of those friends, Steve. He's the one I kissed.

1999 -> 2000 spent that evening in Michigan with my loser boyfriend at the time, Rob. What a waste of breath that guy was!

2000 -> 2001 don't really remember. Guess that mental muscle isn't working particularly well. Had graduated earlier in the month and was living with the parents while looking for a job.

2001 -> 2002 end of first semester at grad school in the deep South (Alabama). I know I visited the family in Indiana for Christmas, but I can't remember if I returned to Auburn before or after the New Year. My good friend Nancy would've been in Edmonton, Alberta (Canada), visiting her own family. What did I do?

2002 -> 2003 once again can't remember. Jaume and Marta, the Spaniards, returned to Spain and married for legal reasons. They planned the ceremony for April. Nancy was in Edmonton. Me? Either in Indiana or Alabama. Told you that memory is unreliable! Maybe I have pictures somewhere?

2003 -> 2004 had graduated from Auburn and was once again back in Indiana searching for a real job while working temp. Probably another time with Janice and friends (didn't keep in touch with anyone from high school myself, so I barely knew anyone in the area anymore). Most of my siblings lived near or in Indianapolis. Jim (brother) and his wife Becky had lived in a growing community north of Indy. Sarah (sister) and Levi had married in August and moved to an apartment south of downtown Indianapolis (later purchased a house nearby). Tom (brother) and Tami (now sister-in-law) lived near downtown Indy (now they live near Tampa, Florida). Michael (younger brother) lived in Indy as well, on the north side (he has since moved to Chicago).

2004 -> 2005 still looking for a "real" job (while working at Purdue). Wow, my memory is lousy!!

2005 -> 2006 had moved to Omaha, then purchased my house in Iowa and moved there. Took the week off between Christmas and New Year's Eve to spend with family in Indiana. Think maybe I went out to a bar with Janice.

2006 -> 2007 dating Josh, the Army guy. Pissed off at him because he wouldn't come with me to see my family for Christmas. Flew by myself to Indy but returned before New Year's Eve. Josh picked me up in the crappy Mazda (had wrecked the Ranger in November). He had injured his back when he slipped on the ice on the back step of my house while I was gone. He wasn't particularly mobile. He didn't want to go out anywhere for New Year's Eve. Definitely very grumpy. We stayed at my house and watched the ball drop on TV. Wow, can't beat that for excitement! :-P

2007 -> 2008 drove all the way to North Carolina to pick up both Josh (Ft. Bragg) and little puppy Quimbalina (Asheville). Actually, Josh picked her up for me from the breeder and had her with him in the barracks when I arrived in Fayetteville. Got a little sleep, then we headed out on the road back to Indiana. I had left my truck with the parents and borrowed my dad's car (Taurus) to get better gas mileage. Rainy in the mountains of Virginia/West Virginia. Visited my brother Jim and his family, stayed for Christmas with my parents, then to Sarah's house for the traditional gift exchange. From there we drove back to Iowa, stopping near Des Moines to visit with Josh's grandparents (mother's parents I think) for dinner. Continued on to see his other grandmother before finally pulling up at my house pretty late, puppy in tow. We took Quimbers with us everywhere while Josh was around. I hadn't yet named her, just called her "Puppy Girl." Visited with his sister and her husband (I never liked the husband) several times (they don't live far from me). Had dinner New Year's Eve at a tiny restaurant in the small town north of me. Once again stayed in for the evening and watched TV (Josh didn't want to go out).

Quimby sleeping on the floor at my feet on the ride to Indy from NC

My nephews enjoyed meeting Quimby (L->R Matthew, Benjamin, Gregory)

I love this one because of how cute Quimby looks, ready to play football with the boys (L to R the ex (Josh), Matthew, Gregory)

Hard to believe now, but at one time Quimby was smaller than my brother Jim's Cocker Spaniel, Scruffy (Jim is the one with the three boys)

2008 -> 2009 had split with Josh in the spring. Had plans with someone, the jerk no-showed on me. Went out with my friend from India, Sudhir, and two of his buddies (also Indian). Had dinner at a Greek place in Omaha (or was that when we went to the Mexican restaurant in South O? One of them we went to for Halloween). Ended up at a gay-friendly dance club downtown (my first such experience, having lived primarily in very conservative areas). Danced some, but it was extremely hot and steamy on the dance floor. Gave Sudhir a quick kiss at midnight. Can't remember if I kissed the other two guys or not...

...That brings us back to the present evening. No desire to go to a bar and spend the evening with a bunch of drunk strangers. Maybe I'm just getting old, although I've never been extremely into the drinking and partying scene. Supposed to be well below zero tonight, so too cold to enjoy the full moon as Julie had suggested (at least outside). I'll probably just go home and play games on the computer while little Kit Kit curls up next to me.

However you spend yours, have a wonderful time. I wish only the best to everyone in 2010! May the New Year fulfill the dream of better days and better times ahead for all.

Zeplin's little dance

As I mentioned in the previous post, when I took Caly for a walk down the road, the other two horses ran alongside in the pasture below until the snow became too deep. I took some not-so-great video with my failing camera. One sequence I caught shows Zeplin and Jazzy running up the hill

On the side of the hill, Zeplin did what I can only describe as a little "dance." Hopefully these pictures, while not fine resolution, will give a good illustration:

Ahhh, that's my little ham :-)

The aftermath

I took some pictures this past weekend of the snow piled all over the place. This is definitely the most snow I've seen around here since I bought my house (this is my 5th winter here). Of course, I had to include the ponies.

While you can still view ground in places, in others the depth of snow is difficult to judge. For instance, in this next picture, the chain link fence paneling shown (behind the weeds) is 6 feet tall:

In front of the front steps is a huge drift, as you can see just above Zeplin's neck:

Here is Miss Caly, prettily posing again. See the tree stump in front of her that the horses have been gnawing on?

At the bottom of my small hill, the tree trunks shot up through thick layers of heavy snow. The fencepost in this picture is probably about 4.5 or 5 feet tall, as well as the gate panel that you can barely see (to the right of the trees).

Off the side of the road to the left of Quimby here, the snow seems level. However, in reality there is a steep drop off at least 9 feet down from the road to the farmer's field. The snow was so deep it appeared to just be a gentle slope down to the ground.

There is still ice under the snow in places:

In the other direction you might be able to make out the road the horses took on their adventure Thursday afternoon. They were in front of the house to the right when I found them (see it way back in the trees with a few outbuildings?).

Yesterday, I took Caly for a walk down the road. Jazzy and Zeplin tried to follow in the pasture below, but they soon became mired in snow too deep to traverse. They had to turn around and head back:

Caly still looked good saddled, in spite of wearing fuzzy winter woolies.

I chose not to ride Caly because of the ice build up under her hooves. After walking Caly, I saddled Zeplin and took him for a walk, then pulled down the tailgate of my truck and used it as a mounting block. Unfortunately, my camera crapped out, and I have no pictures from my ride or of Mr. Zeplin saddled. Damn camera! I still haven't gotten it working again, so who knows when I will be able to take more pictures :-(

Zeplin wanted to take off as soon as I was on his back. I straightened him out, and down the road we headed! Quimby paced in front of us, looking natural as a snow dog. Some ditches that I knew were extremely deep were filled with snow. I wore two pairs of pants, two shirts, coat, scarf, hat, two pairs of gloves, and three pairs of socks under my boots. I opted for something to keep my ears warm rather than my helmet (I almost always wear my helmet). I remained warm except for my poor toes. They lost sensation early on in the ride. By the time I returned, they were painfully chilled. I rushed to unsaddle Zep and give the horses treats, then I hurried into the house to remove my boots and socks. The process of bloodflow returning to my numb toes hurt like hell! My abused feet were brilliantly pink, like the cheeks of an embarassed child.

That was definitely my last ride of the year. I need new riding boots that are well insulated before I even think about riding in the cold again!!