Weekly Update 1/1/18-1/7/18

Monday was absolutely gross, it was cold and rainy, and I had been out super late the night before at Manager's New Year's Eve party. Because of this, I spent the day cleaning my house, reorganizing my closet, and preparing my planner for the year. I did briefly leave to run to the barn, pay Cupid's board, and make sure she had her rain sheet on. Aside from this, it was a Netflix and snack type of day.

Tuesday I did my first run of 2018, a slow 3 miler through my neighborhood, without a watch to encourage myself to enjoy the run and not think about time. Currently, the Bluetooth on my phone is broken which means I have to plug my Garmin into my computer to sync it with Garmin Connect. Because of this, I've been extremely lazy about actually using my Garmin to track my runs because syncing the data is a bit of a pain.

Wednesday I dashed out of the barn after work. The temperature really plummeted and I may have panicked and bought Cupid a medium weight blanket. Thankfully I have Amazon Prime and was able to get same-day delivery. The blanket didn't arrive at my house until 8:00 so I had to go find her in her paddock in the dark. I'm lucky that Cupid is super nosey and wandered up to me to investigate what I was doing out in the dark. It was slightly creepy being at the barn in the dark, but it was also extremely peaceful just listening to the horses and seeing them relaxed.

Thursday I went back out to the barn after work, then headed home. I felt absolutely awful and just wanted to sleep.

Friday I made up for missing my runs earlier in the week and did a solid 45-minute training run. I went about 3.5 miles and felt really good after it. I thought about pushing the pace but because of the cold, I decided to take it slow.

Saturday I dashed out to the barn to hack Cupid and spend time with her. We worked through the intro dressage movements and on her simple changes through the center of the ring. One major item that we're having issues with is performing the changes on a diagonal as opposed to a straight line. After we finished our ride we ended up standing and talking to our trainer while she warmed up the kids. It amazes me that a year ago Cupid couldn't stand still but now she'll willingly stand for several minutes while I talk. My little pony is growing up!

After I got home from the barn I went for a quick run of 3 miles then came home to practice for orchestra. I ran my scales on both the flute and bari, then ran New World Symphony on the flute. It makes me so happy to finally play the entire New World Symphony, especially because it's one of my favorite pieces!

Sunday I accidentally overslept and ended up getting to the barn extremely late. By the time I got out there most of the usual Sunday crowd had finished and was heading home. Cupid and I just worked on our walk to trot transitions and trot to halt. She's gotten so much better at halting squarely when asked, so long as my cue is clear and consistent.

Later Sunday evening I had the first orchestra rehearsal of 2018. We ran the 1st and 4th movements of New World Symphony and received two new pieces for the summer concert. It's so nice to be back with the orchestra and finally get the chance to start putting the spring concert together. I'm super excited for this coming year with the orchestra, and can't wait to see if I get selected for any of the choir shows.

Total books completed this week: 3
Waistcoats & Weaponry by Gail Carriger, The Stone Girl by Alyssa B. Sheinmel, Red Heart Tattoo by Lurlene McDaniel.