2011

happy new year! sort of.

don't get me wrong i am VERY grateful to get to start another year in this somewhat charmed life, but eww eww eww- so far, 2011 has been a test of my patience. it all started at the end of 2010 when my computer got some terrible virus, and although husband was VERY sweet to have bought me this cute little DELL netbook, he failed to inform me that it had NO virus protection included. being somewhat ADD and flighty about these things, i just assumed all computer came with virus protection- well- no- they don't. so for almost a whole year i escaped unscathed, but two days after Christmas, all of my 187 contacts in my yahoo mail account received an e-mail stating that ryan and i had taken a holiday trip to wales, and were stuck there after being robbed at gunpoint and that ryan was beat up and i couldn't get him out of the hospital or check out of the hotel unless my dear family and friends rescued us by sending money via western union. so after 68 text messages most of which said, "umm you have a virus"  or, "are you really in england?" i tried to stop the mass destruction. turns out, some naughty nigerian (thats where the IP address was from that hacked my computer) was just phishing for funds and luckily, he got none, since i sent out mass text messages and called everyone i could think of that would actually fall for that (my parents friends). this naughty nigerian changed my e-mail password and then subsequently also logged on to my facebook and changed my status to London, England- i suppose in an attempt to make the e-mail look legit. not cool. yahoo.com help team is awesome and i quickly regained control of my yahoo account, they never quite got to my gmail account although they tried, and facebook help team (which just FYI you can NEVER talk to an actual person) is moving more slowly and i STILL don't have my facebook account back even after sending them like 48 pieces of requested info that only i would know and proving that my e-mail address is in fact fixed as well. this is week two without facebook- and i feel like lindsay lohan would feel if a big ole bowl of cocaine was locked just outside of her reach. 

to double the facebook withdrawals, i have had what i now call "stage four death cold plus ebola" for the last week or so. i NEVER get sick, i might tell you i'm sick to get out of a social event, but i never actually GET sick- until last week. what started as an annoying dry cough turned into mega cough, headache, sneeze fest with body aches and fever- and this special bonus where when i sneeze, this weird pain shoots from the base of my skull down my arms to my fingertips- thats the ebola part i decided. then add fatigue and stomach issues and voila- you have my last week in a nutshell. so really, theres nothing like sitting at home feeling like absolute CRAP trying to remember the logons and passwords for every website under the sun so that you can change them all before naughty nigerian gets to them, while simultaneously trying to explain to non english speaking CSR on the phone that YES, you do want to keep your account open, you just want to change the password and make sure there hasn't been any unauthorized activity and said non english speaking CSR cannot understand YOU- the native english speaker because of the amount of mucus that has taken over your body. and finally, when you decide that jumping out the window is not really a responsible solution to your problems, you can'e even get on facebook to look at peoples pics from new years and talk to friends without infecting them in person because the facebook security geeks are stilll nursing their new years eve hangovers.

thank goodness for doggies who love it when mom is home for what they think is just to pet them ALL day and for ponies that still snuggle and probably like it when mom is sick because they get to prance around and eat hay instead of work. and also- i am thankful for bad TV- specifically TLC and shows like "my strange addiction" and "toddlers and tiaras" and that one about the Palin family and the rafting guide named "mudflap". i have never felt so normal after watching these shows, and luckily there was no one home to see me throw myself into a coughing fit that made my stomach muscles sore because i started laughing so hard.

now that stage four death cold plus ebola is down to about a stage 1.5, i can finally start thinking about the things i am looking forward to in 2011. specifically, taking the big mare to a little show in february to do some jumper classes and a dressage test, and helping to finish up the chicken coop and getting them moved in so they can start laying eggs in the spring, and starting a whole new part of school- the fun part where i actually learn about things that i will be doing when i graduate, oh and planning for the rolex trip this year- my favorite part of spring!

will be back soon with my winter dressage lesson wrap-up and the story of getting to ride the #4 dressage horse in the nation! yay!