Big Day!

Well, today was the big day... after over three years on military orders, today was my first day back to work at the post office. I survived intact, but not without some serious butterflies. It was a very full day. My sub was supposed to assist me today. I guess he sort of did... but they had him doing all kinds of other stuff today, so he wasn't exactly there to answer questions as they came up or anything. They had him case for a while on another route... head to the main Post Office on Jordan St... Deliver express mail... So, it wasn't exactly the help I thought I was going to get, but he did lead me out on the route and show me places where I had to dismount with the mail and stuff. All in all, the day wasn't too bad, but it did seem kind of surreal to be there doing that job after all this time. I can definitely tell that I am out of practice as well. My right shoulder is really aching tonight and my fingers hurt a little. My back is a little sore too. Looks like a Motrin kind of night! Hopefully it won't take long to get used to using these muscles this way again. I should be able to pick up some speed fairly readily too. It's a pretty good route overall... And thank goodness I have a mail truck now!

Trip to Paris

The sunrise was absolutely gorgeous! It was definitely chilly out yesterday though. It never made it above mid twenties. Today is supposed to be toasty - nearly going up to the freezing mark!


Me and Lisa headed to the Tractor Supply in Paris. We were in search of a new halter for Heidi and another couple of bags of horse feed. Along the way we passed this creek full of geese. The creek is half frozen and covered with snow and they are just sitting there playing in it. There were tons of them!



This flock of geese was leading the cows to the creek.

Note the amazing house on the top of the hill. I think the house was actually smaller than the multitude of barns that were also on the property.

New Year, Big changes!

My military orders in Hattiesburg were up on the 14th of January. I spent the last week frantically trying to get the last of my stuff moved from the house there back to the house in Jay. I borrowed Kirby's truck to move some of the bigger stuff that wouldn't fit in the Honda. Kirby's truck barely fit in my garage there! Thankfully, I was able to get some renters for the house there. A military couple with a son that hopefully will enjoy the house as much as I did and stay for a while.


One of the best things about moving back to Jay is getting to spend lots of extra time with Madeline. She will be walking soon. She has already taken a step or two and as soon as she gets a little braver, she will be off and running.

With barely enough time to catch my breath from moving out of my Hattiesburg house, I loaded up a U-Haul to bring a bunch of stuff up to Lisa & Jim's. They are graciously letting me store some stuff in their garage until I can really get moved (again!) and get a place of my own. I had lots of duplicate stuff (two entire kitchens worth) and no place to put it. Since the house in Jay is going on the market at the end of this month, I needed to get some of the stuff out of there so that when possible buyers come to look they can actually see the place and see potential for themselves.

Me and Haley made it up here to Lisa and Jim's safe and sound Saturday night. I was pleasantly surprised with how easily the U-Haul towed. I was a little nervous when I first headed out. The only time I had towed before was with a Humvee! Jim helped me get most of it unloaded yesterday afternoon and I should be returning it later today. We got snow most of the day yesterday and it finally starting to stick last night. What a beautiful morning to wake up to!

Fall in the Deep South

This is what fall looks like in the Deep South! About 5am this morning, the rain started changing to snow. By 6am it was all snow. Haley loved it and was running across the yard like a maniac and was eating the snow off of the woodpile and stuff. It's still snowing lightly now, but it won't get an opportunity to stay long. We are supposed to be back in the 50's tomorrow. It was a pretty neat break from the norm though and I actually got a Snow Day from work today!

Slacker

So, I've been a total slacker about keeping up with my blog. It's been a long couple of weeks since I had to come home from Kentucky again. I got back to work on the 27th of October and then promptly missed another couple of days of work after having a medical procedure done. All is well, but it's hard to be focused at work. I have barely two months left on my orders here and should be picking up my checkout sheet the middle of December. It was really good to go see RonJon, Rachael and Madeline last weekend. It's amazing how much Madeline is learning and accomplishing in between my visits now. She has 8 teeth and can now say mama and dada. She also loves to try to mimic whatever you are doing. She tries to wave too. A little out of control, but definitely a wave. She was Little Red Riding Hood for her first Halloween. Too cute!

Gorgeous Morning

Bahloo was wallowing.

Breakfast time. Bahloo's new bucket is red.

Heidi is Jim's new buddy.

Bahloo didn't want to be left out.

Heidi getting some special attention from Lisa.

It's absolutely amazing to get up in the morning and look out the window at the horses grazing. It was a gorgeous morning. Sunny and a bit warmer than it has been the last couple of days. We spent some time outside with the horses while they finished up their breakfast. They seemed to enjoy the attention as much as we did! Bahloo and Heidi are relatively close in size. When they are standing side by side, you can see that Bahloo's rump is a few inches higher than Heidi's though. They are both big girls and should end up about the same size when they finish growing. Somewhere in the 17+ hand ballpark.

SHE'S HERE!!

Bahloo arrived a little after 11am. It was drizzly rain and turning cooler out, but the horses didn't seem to care. The vet says that Bahloo is in for a big growth spurt over about the next six months. She will be a BIG girl. She's absolutely spectacular! I think her and Heidi will be good buddies.... Did I mention she is absolutely spectacular??!!