Off roadin' for the holidays

Since this blog has mostly been dedicated to Fiona, I am going to go off course a little this time. In short, Fiona is fine. I watched Samantha ride her today and it all went very well. She saddles Fiona in the stall and then bridles her out in the roundpen. Fiona's still sportin' an attitude about certain things, but no major misbehaving.

Anyway, these holidays have been WEIRD! We went to NC to visit my wife's family and experience our first white Christmas together. Hickory, NC hadn't had a white Christmas since 1947, so I believe this one was just for us! While on the trip, both my wife and I got some super virus similar to bronchitis but like amped up big time. We are both still hacking and coughing away. That's been a pretty major bummer, but not really that weird since lot's of people get sick when they go on vacation. I also got my wallet stolen. At first we thought we just lost it, but I found out today there were charges on my AMEX card so someone clearly just took it. Jerks! The charges were for gas and food, so it's sort of hard to be mad at them, but it's still crappy.

Here's the weird part; I have heard of the following happen to people during this holiday season. 1 person got thrown off a horse and broke his ribs, 1 person had a heart attack, 1 person had a stroke and 1 person died. I am not even kidding! All of these events happened between Christmas and New Years and none of these people were over the age of 60.

I met Meta's cousin Brandy on Christmas day for the first time. She was sweet and welcoming, bubbly and fun. She introduced us to her boyfriend, Shane and her massive dog, Cane! Cane is a pitbull terrier that breaks the mold in terms of temperment. When I first saw him I thought "Are we here to have breakfast or be breakfast?" However, he was just sweet as could be, not a mean bone in his body. We had a lovely breakfast with Brandy, Shane and Brandy's parents Steve and Diane. I couldn't have asked for a more inviting home to spend Christmas morning in. We had a lovely time, chatting with everyone and enjoying the amazing southern food. While I missed my family, I felt right at home.  That was the one and only time I met Brandy. A few days later, she went out and had dinner and she wasn't feeling well afterwards. She died the night of the Dec 28th, she was 32 years old. Everytime I think about it, it just takes the wind out of me. Our love and prayers go out to Steve, Diane, Shane and Cane.

I am also putting in a good word with the Big Man Upstairs for Jim, Curt, and the lovely gentleman who I met at the stable today but neglected to catch his name. May good health return to your ailing bodies and may the love of your family and friends fill your hearts. Let's hope the rest of 2011 is better than the end of 2010.