Adios, January

I am not one to see a whole month as being evil, but, January, you really did me wrong. 

The month held such promise.

It all started on the 3rd, my 49th birthday. The nines have been historically difficult for me; 29, 39, 49. The tens always come as a relief; 30, 40, ... 50? How is that even a birthday? It feels like a death sentence. When I was 17, 50 was like old. Grandpa old. Now I am married to a 50 year old. Turning 49 was like a sock to the gut. I might have cried a few times. I hope 50 is as much of a relief as 40 was.

Happy freaking birthday, you old lady!

About the time that I acknowledged that being older was better than the alternative, the second week of January slammed into me. I apparently wasn't feeling enough gratitude about merely being alive, so the Universe thought I needed to be reminded of my mortality by giving me a little shove. Here, have a cold, you ungrateful little snot.

My husband had it much longer. I guess that's the difference between 49 and 50.

Just when I was feeling like I had life back under control, I had a CDS Chapter meeting which got me home after 9:00 pm. I leave for work around 5:30 a.m., so it was a hellishly long day. I had to work late into the early evening the next day, and then yellow dog started to have her stifle issue. Which by the way seems to have cleared up, but still, I missed another three days of riding.

How many "things" can I possibly do in one week/month?

By the middle of the month, I was starting to wonder if I would never again ride my horses on a Wednesday. I must have had a premonition because that's about the time I started worrying about the pimple that was really a spider bite. Dealing with that monstrosity really ate up the next week. The last steri strip just fell off this morning. I now have a reddish bump which I am hoping will eventually fade. 

A week of bugs?

I started looking forward to the final week of January. There was no way it could be as jammed packed with visits to doctors as the first three-quarters of the month had been. I had an earlier dental appointment, but since it's not on the calendar, I must have still made it to the barn. While at the dentist, he found a tiny little something that needed shoring up, so it was back to a medical professional on the first day of the week. I guess I should have been grateful that it wasn't on a Wednesday.

Please just end.

And here we are on the last day of the month. It took paying homage to the gods of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and I might have had to sacrifice a few cute bunnies (not really), because I've finally gotten back on schedule. I actually managed to ride on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Both horses seemed a little surprised. 

More good days than bad?

Always one to find the silver lining though, I read through my entries for the month and noted that we had some really good riding days. There were some wonky ones in there too, but let's not look at those. So for now, good riddance to this first month of the year. My fingers are crossed for a quieter February.

And, February, just because you have an extra day this year, don't even think about messing with me!