A regular "Dog N' Pony Show"

Last Sunday, Jess had her Dog and Pony show. I slapped my real estate sign together the best I could, and helped her get some things ready like sifting a pile of sand dropped off by a truck, and then spreading it in the arena. About 60 people came, mostly dog people. The animal rescue folks brought five dogs for those who wanted to participate in the contests but didn’t have a dog, which I thought was pretty clever. Unfortunately, the dog people took up most of the day, and then split before the horse demonstrations. There was a costume contest for horse and riders of which I took first place (actually, the horse took first place). I was riding Lucy, the largest horse ever, with a very fancy wagon-pulling harness on. It was quite impressive! I was dressed up like “Farmer Brown.” The other contestants were Jess’s students ranging in age from 7 to 17 so I felt kind of guilty by winning, but again, it was not me, it was the horse. It was a lot of fun! There were supposed to be “broom stick barrel races” where you are supposed to gallop with a stick horse between your legs which, unfortunately, did not happen. There was one stick horse in particular, plush and pink that made horse noises when you pushed the button on its ear, which somehow disappeared. It was thought to be stolen at first, but it was found the next day…it was in Paris’s stall trampled to death. She picked it up from the aisle with her mouth, pulled it in, and killed it…she was the only horse that day that did not get ridden  Jess ended the show with an amazing demonstration (I believe the correct term is Dressage, but I could be mistaken as I am just beginning to learn terminology). She was dressed in an Arabian style dress, riding Ari to music created by her cousin. It was very cool, and she looked great. All in all, the show was a success, and Jess is already planning more shows for the near future.

That night, Jason and I went to the restaurant/bar and we got to see our teams play. Both won, so we were happy! Green Bay beat the Vikings, yay! The employees got tired of waiting on us (the only customers there) so they closed everything down and told us to lock the door when we left. Jess picked us up and took us back to her place. In the morning, Boris the dwarf hamster was missing! His cage was open which might have been my doing, although I don’t remember playing with him. He was found the next day in the living room by AJ (the dog) in Jess’s Mom’s boot. AJ alerts the family to things that are not in place by barking. She does this with scorpions and with hamster escapees too now, apparently.

This week, I was busy with meetings, working on some online marketing, my business facebook page, went to the Tuesday morning gringo meeting, and made some worthwhile connections. Yesterday, I walked about 12 miles, and went to the gym for 2 hours. While walking to and from town (45 min each way), I found a new listing, and met a guy who owns thousands of acres in the area. Going places on foot has been very worthwhile, both for exercise, and for my job. On my way back from town yesterday, I saw an indigenous boy waiting for the bus. He had a baby squirrel which was domesticated. It ran over to me, stood on my shoe, and looked at me while squeaking. I had gerbils and hamsters growing up, but never a squirrel! Last night I went to the Bistro and met with a listing client to meet his wife and her daughter, a Panamanian attorney working in David. She spoke excellent English and I later learned she studied in the US for a few years. I may be able to refer someone to her…a recent buyer who wants to start his own business. Last night, I met Alan at the Spanish school for movie night and met some of the current students. I have not had internet for the last two days which has been frustrating. I have to go to town if I want to get online.

I’m getting ready for Halloween on Saturday by making a mask with a new method Lyn taught me. I’ve made many masks over the years using a balloon and paper mache, then painting it and applying decorations…I always go for scary. This time, we used aluminum foil to make a print of our faces, and then applied newspaper soaked in elmers glue.

This morning, still no internet, so I went to the orange tree to make some juice. I have been reading a book and playing Sudoku, interrupted by phone call or two. I checked on the garden which is looking great, emptied the compost, did laundry, fed Junior a cracker, and talked to Jess about going to Costa Rica in the future.

Reflecting on how things were at my last couple of jobs compared to now, I am far less stressed out. I work 35 or 40 hours a week, compared to 50 or 60 with an hour commute each way. I sometimes find myself working using the computer at 10pm, but if I want to wake up and go climbing until noon, I can. I catch myself feeling restless or like I’m not doing enough which is not true at all…I think it’s the stress built up over several years melting away.