Blabbing. . . .

This past week has been a busy one. I started working on Friday (July 28) and have done 2 shifts at Christian Horizons. This is an agency who helps mentally (and some physically) handicapped adults live independently in the community. The house I work in has 5 residents, 4 female and 1 male. They are all non-verbal except the one lady who can communicate some. They are all non-toileting and need help in some way or other with their toilet needs. I am surprised that they are in a resident/community house, but I guess the government is shutting down the large institutions and wanting them to live in the community. The one resident has mental issues which lead to aggressive behaviours sometimes. I have to do a lot of training and that includes how to do bed restraints (for this resident). This is a very intense job, and the house has had trouble staffing because of this. We will see how it goes.

Last Saturday, Leah, Julia, and I went to a local horse show. Leah brought Sierra and showed in 10 classes (5 of which were gaming classes). Leah brought home 6 ribbons and lots of experience. Her best class was the trail class, which she got second place in her age division. This class is a bunch of obstacles set up and you have to navigate them with your horse. Julia was in the lead-line class, so that was the only class she could be in for the day. She really wants to take Stella the next time (the shows are once a month in the summer). Yesterday, the three of us went to horse jumping lessons. This is all new to me, although I just watched. Julia rode Stella and Leah rode Doc. This is all English riding and that is like greek to me. (I call us the hillbilly English!) Their teacher is really nice and experienced, so I think we will all learn alot. Being in pony club has good advantages. Leah gets $150 worth of free lessons in any type of riding she would like. Julia can't be in it until next year because you have to be 7 to join. This is an English club, so it is very educating!

Hannah and Leah have 2 weeks off from babysitting because their kids' mom is off for vacation time. They are happy for the break. They are the book worms in our family and read a stack of chapter books a week.

Daniel is back to riding dirt bikes after a week off. (He left the horse's pasture gate open too many times when he was getting the bike into the pasture, so he had to be off of it for a week) Poor guy, he has a good memory for the "important" things, but the horses getting out aren't on his list of important things!

Hannah is bonding with the dogs and eagerly awaiting the arrival of new kittens. We are still looking for a home for Topsy and she is in charge of making the flyer for posting. She is good at designing. She is also always in the mood for shopping and does well at it. She has a great eye for sales and fashion, even though she doesn't like to spend her money. She is always trying to convince me that this is something I should be buying for her!