It's as easy as falling off a horse

You know, falling off a horse is surprisingly easy. It's the hitting the ground part that is hard. Actually, even hitting the ground isn't that bad. Hitting other stuff on the way to the ground is rather painful, though.

I fell off my horse yesterday and I hit the gate on the way to the ground. I have a bruise on my ass the shape and size of one of the gate rails and another bruise on my arm that I just found this morning. My entire left side hurts, and that's not the side that hit the ground. That's the side that hit the gate. Some of it seems to be pulled muscles from fighting to stay on, too. The only thing on my right side that hurts is my jaw. I have a bruise along it. I must have bounced it off the ground.

I've discovered something, though. The worse has happened, and I survived. I'm not even really hurt. It wasn't that bad. Sure, I cried. It hurt like a motherfucker at the time. I've got bruises and sore muscles. But I'm ok. Hell, the side that actually hit the ground isn't even sore.

When I got back into riding a year ago, I found I had developed a fear of falling off the horse. It made me nervous all the time. I've got this fear of failure in other parts of my life, too. It shows up most noticeably in my writing. I'm afraid of failing, so I avoid actually writing. If I never finish, I can't get rejections, can I? But I have gotten a rejection, and it wasn't that bad. All that bruised was my ego, and not even that much because I knew that the manuscript I submitted wasn't all that fabulous since it was one of the first ones I'd ever written.

I got back on the horse, though. She freaked again but I landed on my feet that time. I've kept writing, and I'll land on my feet with that, too.

Don't be afraid to do the things you love. There are worse things than falling, like never getting on in the first place.

I'm happy to report

We are married after all! Mother was able to get us a copy of our marriage certificate. Yay Mom!
It is still a mystery as to what I showed the SS people all those years ago, but there you go.

Are we married, or not?

It seems that the manwhore's employer wants to see proof of our marriage so that I can stay on his health insurance plan. Something about saving money. Just a copy of your marriage certificate, they said. Ok, we said. So, we started looking for it. After going through files of 15 yr old bank statements, even older traffic tickets (his, not mine), old research papers and college notes, we haven't managed to find hide nor hair of a marriage certificate.

Neither one of us can actually remember getting one or sending off for it when we got back from our honeymoon. But I somehow managed to change my name on my Social Security card, and I do remember having to show them some proof that we were married. You would think that proof would have been a marriage certificate. I don't know what we showed to the human resources people way back then, either. Maybe they didn't ask. But if we had a copy of our marriage certificate, it has disappeared into the black hole of missing things, likely to never be seen again.

Fortunately for me, the State of Alabama seems to be lackadaisical about who they give them out to, so long as the person has all the right info. So, I've sweet talked my mother into going to get us one on Mon. If she fails in this task, I will have to make the trip down there and get it myself, which I really don't want to do. So much easier to have Mother to it for me and stick it in the mail.

But, are we married without the proof? Maybe. Maybe the kids are proof enough. That and the ball and chain around his ankle...

Some Mother's Day thoughts from my daughters

They did these at school with the help of their teacher, who laminated them. Of course, they will go in the cedar chest. Mrs. S had them answer questions about their mom and fill in the blanks. I put their answers in quotes because I can't figure out how to do underlining in blogger.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! by Ellie

My mom's name is "Amanda." I call her "Mommy." I think she is "30" years old. Her hair is "brown." My mom is pretty as "a flower" and smells as sweet as "a flower." She can do many things. I think she is best at "cooking." My mom is very smart! She even know "2+2." If I had a million dollars, I would buy my mom "flowers." I love my mom because "she kisses me ever night!"

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! by Emma

My mom's name is "Amanda." I call her "Mommy." I think she is "32" years old. Her hair is "blond." My mom is pretty as "a princess" and smells as sweet as "a cherry." She can do many things. I think she's best at "writing books." My mom is very smart! She even knows "how to ride a horse." If I had a million dollars, I would buy my mom "roses." I love my mom because "she kisses me every night."

A little poetry for a Sunday afternoon

"Some Wishes for You" by Charles Stephens

I wish for you...The thrill of knowing
Who you are,
Where you stand,
And why.
Especially why.

I wish for you...Not great prosperity, but great dreams;
Not riches, but a sense of your own worth,
These are what I wish for you.

Not even long life - however proud I'd be to have it so -
Instead, I wish for you...A life that is crammed with living,
Hour by hour.

I wish for you...an occasional troubled heart
To know and feel and change the woes and injustice
of a world that keeps you sleepless.

I wish for you...Solitude in the midst of company,
And a mind full of company within your quiet times.

I wish for you...Full todays and full tomorrows.

And love...I do wish for you...a bounty of precious love.
May you have it, and give it away frequently and abundantly.