Kayla's LJay

I'm SO excited guys.
Like freakishly excited.
I got a phone call yesterday from my college, telling me that I was a recipient of a student award.
My first thought was "well shit. they have the wrong person." because realistically, while my grades are decent, they definitely aren't spectacular. Then I got excited, because maybe my college gave me something for coming to them after university or whatever, figuring it would be a cheque for $250-$500 or something like that.

So I went down today to the Student's Association. The lady looked me up and was all like "congratulations. You won the Spence Memorial Grant, given to students who are bilingual, shows financial need, over 80% on the prereqs, and shows character." And I was all like, "eh, character?" And she told me "we reviewed your application, and are amazed. Very few people could manage school, work, athletic activities and the volunteer work that you have done. So congratulations, you really deserve it."
So, she handed me a cute little college hat, and my cheque.
For $4000!!!


This makes a huge difference, guys. First of all, it was absolutely lovely to receive ANYTHING at all - especially since my grades aren't As. Secondly, it was nice to be called amazing ;) instead of just plain crazy or laughed at when I say I'm tired. Thirdly though, the amount pays entirely for my schleese saddle, and takes a very large chunk out of my credit card bill.

To top it off, apparently "award winners in good standing can apply for assistance in subsequent years." She said that if I can maintain higher than a 3.0 average, I can apply and likely be granted another $2000.



AND - to make this day even better than it already is, I'm due for a raise at work. Apparently, for the past 6 months, they haven't been paying me correctly. I'm casual, and by the way our contract works, I get paid for the position that I work in. I'm realistically only a Secretary I with the health region, but all my work for the past 6 months has been as a Secretary II, and they haven't paid me for it. So, boss decided to just raise my position up to Sec. II effective Feb. 1st. It means a $2.00 an hour pay increase!!!

Woot!

8am classes with chipper proffs. That look like bright, blingy poodles. Add to the fact that its accounting, and I start the day with a migraine that just doesn't seem to improve whatsoever.

So today I have to meet the farrier. Looks like we'll have to try corrective shoeing for the next few months (which irritates me, because I hate shoeing in winter). I'm actually really, really hopeful that this works out though, because its a relatively easy fix (and while shoes are likely expensive at $150 each time or whatever, at least its something that CAN change for the better as opposed to something like hock or stifle damage) I'll see if I can take some pictures of Rico's feet once the shoes are on so that you can all see.

I rode the boy yesterday. I was pleased, actually. He was fairly good, and we had some nice canter strides where I could feel him really stepping under himself. I need to remember to let him stretch down. There was an interesting article by Jane Savoie that basically questioned when you should ride your horse deep, versus riding your horse up. And in summary, it said that those that have a tendency to want to go above the bit should be ridden low and deep for the majority of times, and those that had a tendency to be on the forehand or curl should be ridden up. It also reminded riders that a stretch should never throw away contact-the outside rein should be on constantly. So I need to remind myself of that. It takes a while for Enrique to relax enough to get a decent stretch, but when he does, I need to still make sure that my half halts are going through and are acknowledged.

And...I'm broke. Which hasn't changed since my last post, but now I realized that my horse insurance is due, Rico needs corrective shoeing, my equestrian federation membership is due, his passport needs renewal, Costa needs a passport, and now Rico needs shoes. So I'm roughly $1000 short. :( :( Not quite sure what I'll do, honestly. Try to postpone some things, and borrow for others I guess.
Soccer was much cheaper, ladies. Much, much cheaper.
And I was damn good at it too.

Now, those of you that know me know that I consider school to be a joke. It's a means to an end and I gain absolutely no enjoyment from it whatsoever, which is sad, because I WISH I enjoyed school, but after 18 years in it, its not likely to happen now/ In fact, its a long standing point of humor in my family that while my degree took 4 years, I was probably at university a grand total of 4 MONTHS. I work better alone; where I can read books, make my own notes, and complete my own assignments when I want do. Sadly, though, the community college I am at now does not really allow for this much-you get attendence marks (which are like 0 for me!) and quite a few notes that aren't covered in books, which is quite unlike university. I am actually a fairly intelligent being, especially when it comes to computers and English, which has mainly been what this semester has been about, so if I averaged my 5/6 courses, my average would be an A-. But one course, a law course, ironically, is kicking my ass to kingdom come, and has given me a lovely D average, making my total average go down to a B. Partially, because, in the whole semester, I have been 3 times. The timing of the classes really suck. Class one is on a Tuesday from 4-6pm...which wouldn't be that bad, except I have a 3 hour break before that. So I never want to stick around, because, well, I can go to work and make money instead of sticking around and wasting time. Class 2 is Friday at 8am in the freaking morning, which would mean that I would have to get up at 5:30am to make it. Again, doesn't happen. So then I realized that I have a project due on Dec. 2nd that I have known about for the past month. Has anything been started? Absolutely not. Yay me.
But anyways, like many of you, my motivation really, really starts to depreciate come December. It's a chore to do anything-especially attend classes. And I'm sure the sadistic teachers know that, because instead of spacing out projects, everything is due within the last 2 weeks of class.

So, of course, riding is the first thing that goes out the window, followed by work hours. I have estimated that these next two weeks will cost me lost wages in the neighborhood of $750 and at least 4-5 rides on my horse. All so that I can write a pretty essay on civil litigation and do a test on Word Perfect (which, btw, is completely outdated. Those of you who don't use Microsoft Word should be ashamed!)