Yay Welshy came home! Rode today. Played with taking my left stirrup down two holes as since doing these hip loosening exercises its felt curled round, where as right leg is straighter.
I think it worked. Both legs hung looser and longer around the horse, although I'm not sure its perfect as I felt I was rising lower in the saddle and instead of the stirrup banging to the back of my leg it was not sitting on the ball of my foot. But that maybe a gripping issue on my part?
Practised trying to get our canter transitions fully accurate. I'm considering entering a mini dressage league so although I can get away in prelim as its "pick up canter between E and H" for example once you hit novice it becomes "pick up canter at E" and you only have a stride to work with rather than 6 or 7. She also has a tendency to run on a little and not return to trot all the time when I ask.

I may start a new blog to talk about all things "horse" I realise this may get rather boring and unfathomable - although I also realise people may think that about my life in general.

Blogging at work... Cos that's the way I roll and its MOTHERFUCKINGLY BORING!!!!!

I am making stuff up for my activity log today. On a bit of a high for my ride. So much fun and Welshy is home tonight!!

So. I have an interview. Well I have two interviews to be precise.
One is a telephone interview tomorrow at 12.15. Not sure how I'm gonna work that as my lunch break is 12.30. Will see if Little Boss has any ideas!

Also one on Thursday afternoon at 3pm. This is face to face. Both companies are based close together so would be good if I can get a face to face one about the same time.

Not sure what company I'd want to work for. Possibly the telephone one. But if either of them offer me a job I'd be very happy!!!

Mentioned to Mum that horselady suggested competitions. She said I probably wasn't good enough and couldn't afford them.

She's probably right on both counts!

Mega spending continues! Ate out after work - brought rather snazzy and sparkly new underwear that *may* have been more expensive than anticipated. Damn those shop people who lurk over you so you feel forced to buy.

Interview was ok. He's gonna put me forward for two medical compliance jobs both 19-20k. One educational compliance that I think I've seen on Reed in Ilford.
Not sure about where one of the medical compliance jobs is, but the other I know as they also have a blood testing centre that we use.

Riding good, good. Hopefully gonna hack out again Sunday, introduce poles next Tuesday. Proper jumps coming soon!!! Eeek!

Slow old day at work! I was knackered, weekend adventures catching up on me!!
I also discovered secure browse at work. Hurrah! I could get on to facebook et al before but felt guilty as it is monitored and i'm supposed to be working!
But. I feel its ok to ease off, convinced as I am that I'll be leaving soon, also I've got 60 odd people on 80% or more and I need to wait for things to come in the post, CRB's to arrive, interviews to be done. If I can get  more onto the 90% though I'd be happier.

In horse related news - been offered to take to competitions! Eeek and whee at same time. Scary biscuits!

ARGH. Spent so much more money than planned lately. 

Friday was an interesting day at work - Got headhunted again (whoop whoop!) and am going to interview Wednesday after work. Man was rather alarmed that I'd be chased by other people and shocked at how low my pay was!

Riding was a bit hit and miss that night. Horse kept jumping and being all skittery at a noise from one of the houses. Not sure if it was as she had a day off or if there was def something that freaked her out.

Saturday I met the lovely TDR before football and we had a few drinks before and after (funding his night out though!) we wandered into Greeny and met Babbs' who was celebrating his 30th with some of the other crew from work. When I first joined I'd go out with him, Lovely and Delgado a lot. Then I replaced them with TDR as main drinking buddy and then when he went the N M M C A S C crew joined so I had new male drinking buddies!

I do miss hanging out with them all! Anyway we had a few drinks (a lot) in The Yacht and then moved onto the Pelton Arms which we left close to 1am and as TDR had missed his last bus I ended up walking both of them to Babbs' home. 

It all got so flirty! Both boys competing and playing about. Lovely spending time with them though.

Got home at 2.15 and then woke up at 8.45 so I could get out to the marathon. So very tired! Good to go as always though! Off to see Horsey (who has been losing her Wonderhorse tag and feels like it could go completely after today!) Finally got to hack out, very over excited and bucking into canter on the main road when we were trying to have a sedate trot down it. A couple of other little explosions but I felt pretty secure when we were out on the fields ambling about on the buckle end of the rein and then suddenly a bit of a bronc and then back to being sedate and calm again.

A little trot through the woods turned into a bucking fit and a small rear (I'm not down with rears. SO SO much more dangerous than bucking with the risk that the horse may topple over and crush me and I know I can sit reasonably well a buck. No idea how to cope with a rearer.)

I tried to stay calm and relaxed but she was jigjogging a lot all the way home. Doesn't help that she (being thoroughbred) wants to race the others and trying to overtake all the time.

Started to apply for new jobs today. I said I'd leave it till May, when all the chaos at work got sorted. Well its more or less sorted now, so I figure that it'll take a couple of weeks for people to sift through CVs and get back to me, so its ok to start looking!
Also Idiot Northern has managed to get herself an interview for an admin role at 22k a year. So yeah. Charby's all down with that. So reluctantly fiddling with the CV and covering letter and starting all over again!
Can tell i'm being all optimistic! Currently looking for roles that pay an average of 20k! Some even 27k a year!

Went for a working lunch yesterday. Went well even with Idiot Northern suggesting completely seriously that I demonstrate strawpedo-ing!
God we spent ages worrying about what she'd come out with but it was good, thank God! Very chilled. Nice lunch at Zizzi, lovely lemon tart for afters and back to work with only an hour to go!
All days should be like that!

Another really good lesson. She praised me on what I was doing, told me she saw huge improvements between last week and this and even from the start to the end. Gotta keep it up. Determined to improve. My new goal now is not to piss about going to prelim dressage tests but to give Novice a crack.
First things first though - get the jumping under way. I'm happy doing the flatwork that i'm doing at the moment, its building towards the jumping. Perhaps after I could ask for a flatwork lesson - only if I change jobs so I can afford it! or to alternate in the weekly lesson.

Maybe May I'll see about if I can compete. I don't want to be a cunt though and its not my horse!

Today was such a slooooow day at work. My activity report showed over 40 items in it, but it just didn't feel like I'd done anything you know? TBH though a lot of it was calling people and leaving messages to see if they got the documents I spent ages posting out last week.
Wanted to get a bit ahead of myself for this business lunch tomorrow, whatever that entails.

Not only do I have current woes regarding this hen night/dirty dancing thing but P after having rejected my idea of South Africa wants to book to go to Sweden bear spotting. I'd been keen on this, except its a tour group with 8 other people so not down with that. Also (and I know animal spotting is all luck and chance) the possibility of spotting deer and squirrels also...... Well I spent four years fending off squirrels and Greeny park has fallow deer!

also close to 900 for four days is a lot. Especially when I'd budgeted 1600 for 10 days including safari and shark diving for South Africa.
She's really keen to book. I really don't wanna blow all that money on that when it could probably be done cheaper and without other people about (so anti-social!!)

How do I say no without seeming like a spoilt brat?

So The Lizard is having a hen do. I signed up to this reluctantly. Its in London and tbf apart from there being other people there, the idea of an 80's themed roller disco sounded exciting.
I deliberately ignored the call for names of people interested in going to a "dirty dancing" class which includes "that lift".
Didn't know what they meant. Vaguely thought it would include a trapeze. But didn't interest me at all.
Discovered today that my silence meant I'd been signed up for it. Eeek. Tried to google it. Probably should have put the safe search on first.... Poor eyes.
So I asked and I discovered its a film.
It sounded horrendous from the Wiki plot and then Welshy found me the footage of this dance thing and now I really don't wanna get involved.
Also. How rough does the girl in that look? And how much older is her bf in that? No wonder her parents didn't want them to get together (or so I gleamed from the plot on Wiki) Peado alert!!

Lady never got back re the other job... Been a funny week at work. Internet server down for most of it so very little I could do which I ended up getting pulled over.
We have a business lunch with Big Boss and Uber boss on Tuesday. I'm hoping I can subtly ask for more money. Subtle doesn't really come into Charby's vocab though!
Thursday I met TDR and a few others from the NMM for drinks after a friend/ ex work colleague died over Easter. Bless her, I shall miss her and her kindness.
Riding on Friday. Trying to work on the pointers given to me in my lesson about picking up more of a contact and I feel that at points perhaps it was coming though, she was relaxing into the contact and mouthing it nicely. Will be riding again tomorrow so can practise again although I'm hoping to be able to tag along on someone's hack. Bit bored of just endless circles!!
Ended on a bit of a poor note when she skidded to a halt and the motion propelled me up her neck and smacking my face on her ears because of spotting a dog.
Walked and trotted on after that but called it quits and I'm glad I did as the moment we got back into the stable the heavens opened and I got absolutely soaked in the two hours it took to finish my chores and get home and would have been an even later day should I have had to spend time drying her off after.
Still toying with the idea of entering a prelim dressage test in May and took a pic of an 80cm jump combination to inspire me to get cracking with that.

Very lazy day today, lots of napping and sitting in bed as it was chucking it down and it was cold and awful out.

Can't believe it was one year ago today that I had my last epic night out in Spain!!! What a crazy year its been!

Having a bad day today. Woke up and its grey AGAIN! A struggle to get out of bed knowing everything I have to do and fail to do. Geronimo's lamp had broken. Can't afford to replace it yet.
No bread as someone had finished the loaf and not replaced it. No breakfast. Brought a chicken pasta thing for dinner. It was disgusting. Too spicy.
Busy on the bus and tube. Couldn't get a seat.
Cracked on at work but ground to a halt by lunch time due to lack of internet. More tasks building up! More pressure on me to get things done and turned around.
Been talking to P about the possibility of going to South Africa since the New Year. Today she told me she didn't want to go.
I have no other friends who are a) commitment free, b) not trapped by the fear that their partners will leave them if they go away for a week, c) consider that holidays should be more than a week on a beach. In Tenerife.

Welshy talking about going to Bali. Its not gonna happen. Can't afford to. Need to cancel the week I booked off for San Adrian's fiesta.

I thought my lesson yesterday had gone well, but then I realised today that she was obviously lying. She doesn't want to tell me all the bad points to my riding and make me stop. Stop giving her money in the vain hope I'll improve.

I think I'll go to bed, I have nothing to eat or any plates to eat off of. Could do with losing a bit of weight by not eating anyway! Lol!

Unsurprisingly that place never got back to me re a possible new job.

Today started a little sluggishly, the lovely weekend sun had been replaced by cloud and it was hard to get out of bed but I eventually did so. Cold! Had to shut my window!

Internet was down at work which makes it hard to do anything and I was a little shocked to learn that I've got the fewest people compliant since Jan and have the fewest ready to go.

Still. I have 20 people on the 90+ marker and I got one done today, another waiting to get checked and am hoping to get a 3rd done this week, be even better if I can get a 4th!

Ended up doing a lot more than expected! 32 items on my activity report and then I had a phone call!

Yes Charby's been headhunted! Couldn't really reply until I was on my way home but a lady wants to forward my CV on to a company, that basically does the same thing I do, only for doctors.

We don't actually deal with that many doctors (I only have one on my books - who is a jerk!). But its pretty much the same principle, chasing and phoning all the time for work.

It'd be in Victoria which means commuting properly - boo!!! But is 18-20k dependent on experience so pays a hefty whack more than I'm on now!

I'd be happy with the 18k but would prefer (obviously) the 20k but all's good really! Just waiting to see what happens! Hopefully will speak tomorrow and we'll get a telephone interview done.

Not sure how I feel about it! I do love my job and all the little perks that come with it, but yeah. The money'd be good. Even- whisper it - own pony worthy. Although at the moment I'm really happy and enjoying the loan I've got going on! Jumping class tomorrow! Eeek!

What a brilliantly lovely Sunday. The Sun was shining. I made the adventurous option to sleep with a window open and it was lovely waking and feeling a gentle breeze on my face. Not as sunny as it was yesterday but still a lovely day.
Got up, had cheese on toast and watched Basil The Great Mouse Detective (one of Disney's underrated animated classics IMO) before heading to the yard.
Quickly shed my fleece jacket and mucked out in just a jumper, the wee girl I befriended offered to take me on a hack but I didn't go in the end, hopefully maybe next week.
I did some fast schooling work with her, Lots of canter work, I realised I grip with my legs in her canter so was trying to make a point of keeping them long and stretched out.
Played with doing 8 shapes and picking up canter in different parts of the school, even a flying change which didn't go well! My fault not hers.
Popped out a couple of trotting poles afterwards and just hopped over them. Arranged a jumping class on Tuesday. Starting from basics and moving on from there.
Came home about 4pm had a little nap and just played online. Not ready to go back to work tomorrow!!

I've done some juggling of my finances lately. I decided it was taking too long waiting to reach the 1k figure on my everyday account and moving tiny wee sums into my holiday account was silly.
So now I moved all the money in the holiday account into my normal account working on the theory that this makes it almost tantalisingly close to the 1k marker. And indeed, next weeks pay packet will move it into it, unless I somehow spend 200 in a week.
So. Next week should push me comfortably into the 1k marker and then I can move any excess that I've not spent in the following week into the holiday account (minus 50 that I shall leave to help cover the rent at the end of the month).
This. Should and I say should loosely, best laid plans and all that, mean that I should be able to move maybe close to a hundred a week into the holiday account and therefore raise the cash to get that up and running a lot sooner.

There's something so ridiculously comforting about having a decent amount of savings and the chance to be able to save more!!

So Welshy's off on his travels again. *Sigh* *notjealousatall* Visiting his friend in Gothenburg for the weekend and then another three week stint in Austria. At least we think its three weeks... They've not booked his flight home yet....

Works going ok, not really been in the mood to do it properly this week, still battling a bit of lurgy and my stomach bug so I guess that's not helping. Thinking more and more about moving on, actually counting down the days till May which is when I said I'd look.

Gotta get settled on it though, awful of me. I'm holding my team up.

Rode new horsey on Tuesday, arena's only small and there were three of us using it, bit too aware of personal space issues! Again tomorrow and on Sunday. I might go Monday to watch the flatwork clinic the YO runs before I decide if I want to join it or not. Absolutely desperate to get some jumping in. Not keen on others being in the school though and I need some lessons. Can't afford that as a private and I certainly am not up to the standard of joining in the clinics either, although maybe I'll go watch that one too next week.

Really feeling tired actually! Eye strain I think from work. Early night might be in order (despite curling up with Welshy for a 2 hr nap yesterday from work!!)

I know none of you care, but I've contracted dysentery. Please pray for my soul.