neigh-sayers

OK, my new pet peeve: I mention we're getting a horse to someone and they say something like:

"Why would you do that?"
"Really? Well get ready: they are so expensive!"
"Well! That'll certainly turn your life upside-down."
"HA! My condolences."
"They're really high-maintenance."
"Are you sure you can afford it?"
"They're a lot more trouble than they're worth."

I wish I had the nerve to say things like that to people when they tell me that they are realizing their lifelong dreams. But I was raised with...what are they called?...Oh yeah: MANNERS.

Looking at that list, I realize one could also (if one were a a complete and total jerk) say that to a couple expecting a baby. Imagine looking at a pregnant woman and saying such insensitive, discouraging things! SAD. "Wow - you sure have no clue what yer gettin' yerself into, little lady." WHAT. EVER.

Three Weeks Left!

Today is the three weeks point for until we get Tobbi. I am so excited, I get a horse! I'm a little bit nervous about if he'll like us or anything, but I know for a fact that we like him. Whenever we talk about horses, my 2 year old sister says, "Tobbi!" I love it.

One thing that my mom and I like talking about is that Tobbi was the first Icelandic Horse I ever saw, and that I ever rode! When we drove past the farm where he is, where we were going to go trail riding, I exclaimed to my mom, "I want to ride the pinto!" And he ended up being our horse. I like looking at pictures of me hugging him, riding him, etc. and thinking, Wow. I'm going to get a horse. And it's Tobbi! It's amazing, a dream come true.

I enjoy talking to friends at school as well. I'll get to school and a boy that sits close to me during class will ask me, "Have you gotten your horse yet, Lindsey?" I like how my friends (even the few of them who don't like horses) are excited about what's happening in my life right now: amazement.

-Lindsey

The Rapidly Approaching Due Date

We're officially in the homestretch! Tobbi comes home on April 8th, a month from today (AKA 4 weeks from Tuesday, AKA 31 days from now).

So far the whole process reminds me very much of having a baby, in that no matter how much preparation you do, no matter how much gear you buy and books you read and people you talk to, no matter how much you think you know or can imagine it will be like, when it finally actually happens and you look down and see that you are finally actually holding that little bundle (or 850-pound steed) in your arms, you realize that there's no way all the books and classes and websites in the world could have prepared you for the experience itself, that it will be far better and far harder and far different than you thought it would be, and that while most of the gear will come in handy, at the end of the day it's all about the love and who cares what you registered for or how many of your "what to expect" books you read (or not).

So we're basically in the last month of the last trimester. Which would explain the excruciating anticipation, the list-making, the last-minute internet shopping, and the time spent gazing at the calendar. My photos of him are like the ultrasound images I carried with me when I was pregnant with my daughters; I talk to them and whisper that I can't wait to bring him home. I design birth announcements in my mind when I'm supposed to be doing other things. I put on my breeches and boots and walk around the house just like I used to wash and fold and put away newborn clothes, imagining what it would be like when the dream comes true.