I hate horses, but I love my boyfriend

Ok, ok....maybe hate is a bit dramatic.  But some days I seriously dislike them, which is unfortunate, since they are my livelihood.  Today was definitely one of those days.

This may come as a shock to many of you, but they tend to injure me frequently (and many times, I injure myself while doing things for them, but not directly related to handling or riding them).

Allow me to paint a picture of my day for you, so that you can fully understand my current dislike of this animal:

Thursdays I don't teach any classes, so one would assume it would be a slower day for me, right?  WRONG.  Since I am in charge of managing the Equine Center, I am in charge of all of the paperwork and finances that go along with that, so Thursdays are usually spent in my office trying to catch up for the week.  This Thursday was exceptionally busy with meetings and so forth, and I needed to vaccinate several of our pregnant mares today.  This got pushed to the end of the day (when I was tired and semi-cranky), so I wandered around our hundreds of acres hunting down mares in various fields and sticking them with needles for two hours (sounds like fun, eh?).

Now, broodmares are docile, quiet, gentle souls, right?  Generally, yes.  Two of them on our property, not so much: Special and Merry.  Don't let the names fool you....these horses are minions of the Anti-Christ.   Its unfortunate that they produce such high dollar babies, or else I would have no problem donating them to our Anatomy and Physiology dissection lab.

Special thought that this would be an appropriate response to an IM injection:

Lets just say I won't be using my left shoulder anytime soon.  Merry decided to take this approach to resist:

I wasn't paying super close attention and she was able to get a good grip on my right tricep.  Sheesh.  That's what I get for not making my students do this today, I suppose.

But on a lighter note, life is still good.  This past week we had some absolutely beautiful sunsets (sorry there aren't any from the beach...I was in the water on my surf board without my camera :) ) and I ate some pretty phenomenal seafood a few times.

Also, my Christmas present from Landon arrived!!!!!!!!!!!

But first, a little bit about my boyfriend, so that you can fully appreciate the awesomeness of this gift.  Landon is a "manly man."  He likes football, beef cattle, eats steak and potatoes, and is a powerlifter.  For example, he dead lifts 600 lbs,

squats about the same amount,

and benches about 400.

However, there is more to this burly macho-dude than meets the eye....  He has another talent.  Check out what he made me for Christmas this year:

Isn't it BEAUTIFUL????  He painted it!  And its a huge 30" x 48" canvas (please excuse my hideous red wall in the background)!

So, when I have crappy days like this where I hate horses, I come home and sit down on my couch with an ice pack and some vicodin, and look at my beautiful ocean painting hanging over my fireplace.  And I am instantly reminded that I am loved, that my boyfriend rocks, and that my God is amazing for creating something as beautiful and wonderful as the ocean and sunsets.

Food for thought:
Psalm 16:11
Healthy childhood expressiveness (hey, she loves her fishes!)
When was the last time you tried something new?
The Year of the Dragon (according the Chinese calendar) starts 1/23/12