Mood swings anybody?

Before I get on with today's story, THANK YOU to everybody who stopped by to join my little Blogiversity party.  You are all wonderful and cool!

good news: My daughter, my little carbon copy, is two months into Grade 9, and her average in math is.... wait for it...  this seriously blows my mind... 97%.

Like, OMG as she would say.  Oh em gee.  Yeah!  This poor kid suffered in math class all the way through grade school.  I kept telling her that I really didn't think she was bad at it, but rather that she had a hard time keeping up with the class.  She didn't learn the way she was being taught. This year she's got a nice lady teacher who seems to understand how to actually explain the subject.  I am so relieved.  This kid deserves the self esteem boost!  Everything about this is good.

not so good: I had my eyes on a little farm.  We all did.  All four of us.  I mean, it could have been perfect.  All summer people put offers on it and either withdrew or got turned down.  We weren't ever quite ready to make a move on it , and on the weekend it got sold.  Not to us.  Is it possible to be mildly devastated?  Like, not staring at the wall with no tears left to cry kind of devastated.  Just, on my feet, getting on with life, can't stop thinking about the disappointment kind of devastated.  

good: I can drive down most country roads and see at least one place that makes my heart leap. There are nice little farms out there.  Finding one that suits us --not too big, not too small, not too expensive!-- is the challenge.  It's not impossible

not so good: I've had a headache ALL WEEK

good: sunny today.  Looks like it's going to be beautiful for Thanksgiving this weekend.

not so good: apparently I've been grinding my teeth in my sleep again.  It must be bad if I'm waking up Jethro, who sleeps like the dead.  And I'm waking up with very sore jaws.

good:  um.  Not sure what's good about this.  I'm grinding my teeth but not my tongue????

not so good: I've sent out about 30 letters to literary agents in the last month, and out of those, one asked for more pages and maybe ten replied with rejections, and other than that it's been CRICKETS, man.  Hellooooo is there anybody out there?  No?  Anybody?  Bueller?  The silence is deafening.  

good: Despite my aching eyeballs I found four more agents out there who might maybe possibly be interested in my little project.

not good at all:  Jethro and Bucky were in the city on Saturday to do a gig, and some ass hat backed into the Jetta.  Like, while they were in it.  Then accused Jethro of driving into him.  I can't believe anybody would have the guts to do that after getting a look at Jethro.  He's one hell of a big country boy.  I'd say Crazy Reversing Ass Hat isn't the sharpest sandwich in the wheelbarrow, if ya know what I mean.  Hint: look in mirrors before slammin it into reverse!!!!  If a horn is honking, maybe try to find out if it's the car behind you.  Jerk.

good, mostly:  Insurance is going to go up, but the Jetta's in the shop right now getting fixed up.  New hood, fender, bumper, grille, and possible rad shroud.  Jethro, that sweet optimistic man, says, "It did have a few stone chips that were starting to rust, so that takes care of that problem, I guess."

Not good:  I'm rumbling around with no exhaust.

good:  Everybody is totally digging my hot rod.  Oh yeah.  Had to go pick up the Girl after school one day and you should have seen how all those teenagers snapped their heads around to look where that magnificent noise was coming from.  (Yeah it's getting old now, okay?)

Not good: still haven't set a date for my Level 4 Rider test.

Good: Bo and I have been totally clicking this week.  I had him all collected up and two-tracking like a little dressage horse.  I think I'm getting it.  He's a big lanky old horse and not especially graceful.  He's lazy.  He's not very flexible.  But, somewhere in his brain, all of that early training is coming back to him.  I tend to be way too soft on my horses, and I've finally figured out exactly how hard I have to push this guy.  He needs to be pushed.  Best of all?  I'm totally softening him up, the crusty old codger!  I give him a nice brushing after our ride, rub his forehead, rub his ears, and he darn near falls asleep.  

More good?  It's Thanksgiving this weekend.  I'm going to have a big dinner with My Mom, the Best Cook in the World.  We're putting 100 bales of hay in the barn.  That always makes me feel better about life.  I'm going to go to church.  I like church.  I'm going to ride my horses.  I like my horses.  We're going to visit with Jethro's side of the family.  I like that side of the family.  Hopefully we'll get to see some friends too, and I like my friends.  

Today is a day at home.  I'm going to balance out that pesky housework (not so good) with some dog-cat-macbook time (very good).

Gotta balance it all out, right?