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Alle de Sevigny's LiveJournal:
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| Sunday, January 25th, 2009 | | 6:47 pm |
2008 Reading Wrap Up
Yes, this is a bit late...it IS almost the end of January. But tere you go. I only read 46 1/2 books in 2008. It is a shameful total. I already have 5 finished in January of this yar so maybe I'll be back on track in 2009. Of the 46 1/2, only 5 were out of the fantasy category. Four were hsitorical fiction (a series, so not even individual books) and one a crappy, supposedly horror novel. Only five books gor five stars, so I either read a lot of bad books, or was very stingy and hard to please or all of the above. The five star books were: The Shadow Isle by Katherine Kerr The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss The Heir to Sevenwaters by Juliet Marillier The Blue Girl by Charles DeLint The Summer King by O.R. Melling I had very high expectations from The Shadow Isle and Sevenwaters, and thankfully was not let down. I had little hope of the DeLint, since he has had great ideas, but for me, has characters that are all the same. He gets off to a very interesting start and then his novels fizzle for me, but The Blue Girl did not. I therefore also read his 2008 release Dingo, which was not as good as The Blue Girl, but which received a solid four stars from me. The Summer King was a very nice surprise. The thrid in a series, it is the strongest. And that brings us to The Name of the Wind. I had read so many glowing reviews, so one would think I would have picked up the book long before I did. Trouble is the reviews came from (mostly) pretentious blow hards whose taste rarely coincides with mone. Score one for the blowhards, as this was fantasy fiction the way I love it. Two books received 4.75 from me: Jim Butcher's Small Favor and Kim Wilkins The Autumn Castle. One published in 2008, the other years before. The latest Dresden book did not disappoint, and I am looking forward to the 2009 entry to the series. Castle was a nice, fun dark faerie tale...so glad my library had it! Other very good reads in 2008 include The Born Queen by Greg Keyes...a very satisfying end to his Kingdom of Thorn and Bone series. Tamsin by Peter Beagle, The Bell at Sealey Head by Patricia McKillip and An Earthly Knight by Janet McNaughton all scored high. The McKillip book wasn't quite on a level as some of her work, but was better then 2006's Solstice Wood. I do have to mention the Scott Westerfeld series I started in 2008 and finished in 2009...Uglies. The three books are Uglies, Pretties and Specials. A fourth book titled Extras was also added to the trilogy, but Specials really is a nice wrap up of this fun YA series. His Midnighters series is not nearly as good a story. My biggest disappointment in 2008 was Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn and Well of Ascension. I have to get the final book of the series, but am not too hopeful of it being all that good. I do have hope that he will do justice to WoT though. I can understand why he was chosen by RJ's family to finish it off. Si I guess that's a wrap! | | Saturday, December 20th, 2008 | | 9:12 am |
View from my office
 We all decorated our work spaces and were awarded 'holiday bucks' to use during the holiday party. This picture was taken of the view out my office window after I had put up pointsetta stick on thingies. It looks pretty cool! One of my staff took this picture...I'll try to get the others I know are out there, or I'll take my own next week...there is a shot of my dragon (that sits on my monitor) wearing her custom made Santa hat. Hee. | | Thursday, December 18th, 2008 | | 7:14 pm |
Sevi models her newest fly sheet
Its lilac with purple trim! And it has silver reflector strips...very cool. Hee. In other words, its perfect for me......errr...her. "Hi Mom...gotta carrot?  Look at the cool reflectors!  Cute pony  | | Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 | | 12:07 pm |
Five Years Ago Today
I bought my horse and promptly renamed her Sevigny. The name is from Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles...I always loved the way it was spelled and the way it sounds, plus the place in the books was always known as a peaceful, lovely spot. I remember handing over my check and leading her out as my horse...in a total panic wondering what the heck was I going to do with a horse??? I had always wanted one, but the responsibility suddenly felt like a ton of bricks on my shoulders. At the time, she was young (6 1/2), green, underweight, unfit, and wouldn't pick up her left canter lead. She is a thoroghbred/quarterhorse cross and is 15.2HH. I hadn't been back in riding for long, and in the scheme of things was about as big a novice horse owner as there can be...a green horse and green owner/rider combination is usually a recipe for disaster. Luckily, it all worked out. I was surrounded by knowledgeable people and learned lots and quickly. Plus Sevi was put in training. I wouldn't have bought her if it weren't for that. This year we made a big move and changed barns. She is now closer to home, and in a much better situation. Instead of a large stall, she has access to a paddock and is enjoying herself there. I had issues with how things were managed at the old barn and its amazing how much more professional her new place is. She gets along with most of her neighbors and has friends all over. Its funny to watch them 'chat over the fence' so to speak. The facilities are way better then where she was formerly kept, and there is access to trails. We went on our first ever road hack on Thanksgiving. (Who knew mailboxes were so scary? ) She was really, really good. So happy anniversary Sevi girl! You have been a joy! | | Monday, December 1st, 2008 | | 1:32 pm |
Surgery update...
...and its all good!!!! Originally, the doctor told us the surgery could take as long as 6 hours (!!!) depending on the tumor. After getting the MRI taken this morning, he said it would be more like 3-4 hours. And now its all over...surgeon gave it a 10 out of 10 for the entire process and thinks my Dad could be going home as early as tomorrow! So, no conventional surgery was needed...it was a pure endoscopy, which is the least invasive. This is such good news as the cancer had been labled very aggressive and the tumor was fast growing. My Dad will start radiation and also chemo (possibly) in January. Thanks for everyone sending good thoughts/vibes/prayers my Dad's way. | | Saturday, November 29th, 2008 | | 7:04 pm |
November Update
I guess I can start with Thanksgiving, not that there was anything significant about it, but it was a relaxing, enjoyable day. It started off with bright, lovely sunshine! We've been having a LOT of crappy rain, so this was extra nice. :-) I had baked an apple pie the night before for a friend, so I dropped that and some other things off at their house and then headed out to the stables. Sevi and I went out on the road with my friend on her horse. We haven't braved the roads since moving here, but figured Thanksgiving would have little traffic. We were right. However, things like mailboxes, garbage cans, birds in trees, dogs in yards, dead palm fronds on road, bicycles, a few cars and trucks, and people using lawn mowers still exist, so it was a bit of an adventure! Sevi was actually really, really good. When she spooked, it wasn't too big, and when she would stop, it only took a little coaxing to get her going again, even if she was unsure. Her ears were rotating every which way...it was pretty funny. And she was better behaved then my friends horse too! She got a pebble stuck in her hoof, so I had to dismount, take it out and then get back on....she stood nice and still for me so I really appreciated that. The biggest spook by both horses happened after we were back on the stable property, and was caused by *gasp* BIRDS. Silly horses. After I had her groomed and put back it was time to shower change and head out to another friend's home for dinner. We all had a nice time. So Friday was similar to Thursday both in the weather and in what I did. Visit friends, barn, ride horse (in a lesson this time) put horse away, go home etc. There is a sameness, but its good as far as I am concerned. Today the weather completely sucked. Pouring rain. Its still miserable out. I hope it goes away tomorrow. Om Monday, my Dad will have his surgery. I met the doctor when I was in Boston earlier this month, and he has a great reputation as well as a really good personality. A lot of surgeons seem to have no 'bedside' manner, but this doctor is personable while excuding a great deal of confidence and answered all our questions in ways we all could easily understand without having a medical degree. My Dad is in very good spirits as well. | | Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 | | 11:19 am |
Off to the East Coast
So, I left a very long email with one of the people looking after Sevi...she has little experience, but wants to buy a horse for her daughter. Taking care of my girl (which is really limited since she's on full board) will give her a feel as to whether horse ownership is something she will want in her future. I think it will be, and hope she buys soon! Sevi and Brittany both have staff to look after them. The Kitty knows whats up, but has been really good about it. She usually stresses a lot. Today she's fairly chilled, which I am thrilled to see. Anyhoo...I may even be able to make it into Saturday night chat since I'll be on east coast time. :-) | | Saturday, October 11th, 2008 | | 9:14 pm |
| | Thursday, September 11th, 2008 | | 9:59 am |
Update
Mostly things suck. My horse's cough got really bad, so she now has to be scoped, and will probably require surgery. My brother's fiancee was diagnosed with uterin cancer. She went in for the operation, and had a heart attack in recovery, so then has triple bypass surgery as well. She is doing fine now, but geez. My dad has to go to the doctor to check out a growth. My sis in law drives him and on the way home, they were stopped to make a left hand turn (signals ON) and were slammed into from behind by a woman distracted by a spider in her car. Must have been some spider because she managed to flip my sil's SUV over in midair...it landed on the drivers side and both my dad and sil had to be extracted via jaws of life and rushed to the hospital. Both are okay and were released within 4 hours of the accident. My dad gets the results, and he has cancer. One of my very best friends told me she has been diagnosed with breast cancer. I hate 2008. | | Thursday, August 14th, 2008 | | 10:30 am |
Quick Update
So, post move, Sevi has been settling in well. Friday and Saturday she was all keyed up, and she did not like it when I left her in the turnout...she wanted to be able to see where I was at all times. She is back to not caring at all now, heh. Sunday, she was very chilled out, so I rode her and she was good. Monday through Wednesday though she was fairly stressy because her two neighbors were being beeotches and she didn't like that much. They have all sorted things out in typical horsey fashion. I love that Sevi does NOT take crap from any horse. She is not aggressive, but she doesn't back down either. Each day I've turned her out and walked her around to get her used to the property. There are still unexplored areas but I don't want to blow her mind, so we're taking it slow. On Friday I lunged her and discovered that she hates the roundpen. Its enclosed and the walls are solid...the one at the other place was pipe, so she could see all around outside. This stressed her out a lot, but she dealt with it. Saturday I had a lesson and she was really good. Sunday I free rode and Tuesday had another lesson. SHe is doing very well under saddle. Yesterday though, she was all Girls Gone Wild in the turnout. I have seen her gallop flat out many times before and I've seen her preen for other horses, but I've never seen her with so much movement in her trot ever and I've had this horse for almost 5 years. She had huge, floaty movement like a warmblood. It was way cool to watch, even though I was scared she might hurt herself. She was a wild thing back in the paddock too, calling out to every horse around. Silly mare. Here's to hoping she's well behaved when I ride today. In other news, I should be closing on the refinance in early September. I am buying my brother's portion of the house, so it will be mine all mine. The mortage will be lots. I guess I won't be travelling anywhere soon. | | Saturday, August 2nd, 2008 | | 6:42 pm |
The move
I look ridiculous  Waiting for the ride  Still waiting...  The sign at the new place  I think I'll like it here  | | 6:54 am |
Moving Day!
Well, Sevi was supposed to be picked up at 2pm on Friday, but the limo driver...err...trailer driver had to rearrange things and we ended up leaving our old home at 10am. This made for a harrowing morning, as it was the 1st of August and I had to run a bunch of reports at work. I suppose I could have vpned in from home, but in retrospect, it was better to be there as I ended up being able to finish another project as well. So, in at about 5:45, and out at 8:45 to head to the barn! I had packed up most of my stuff from the lockers the evening before, but still needed to pack my saddles and also get Sevi bundled up for the ride. One of my friends was there to lend moral support, which was wonderful. She also packed up a ton of hay cubes for Sevi. Hee. Sooooo....got her groomed, put on her boots and head bumper, and the tail guard and waited for her taxi. When it came, she was a little anxious and I had been explaining everything to her for a while now. She hadn't been on a trailer in over 6 years, but I led her up and in she jumped like she had been doing it all the time. What a good girl! So I said my goodbyes, jumped in my car and followed the trailer. She was whinnying throughout the drive, poor baby. Luckily, it was only a 15-20 minute drive, and she soon was unloaded to her new home. She was soaked in sweat poor girl! So I took her to her new paddock, and led her around the whole place so she would know there weren't any horse eating monsters hiding out, then I took off her travel gear and halter and let her acclimate herself. All her neighbors were very curious about her. She mostly ignored them, heh. I got her a flake of hay I had taken from the old place, but she was more interested in playing with the automatic waterer. She was having a lot of fun with it and then had a nice roll. My tack locker is huge! And has electricity. I think I can put a cot in there and move in! I am going to get a mini fridge. My crazy, wonderful friends had stopped by earlier and had put up a sign on Sevi's stall and in the locker they left a bunch of balloons and a 5 pound bag of carrots. Heh. Later on I took Sevi to the turnout. She was a little hyper, but not crazy, and she had a nice run around out there. She met me at the gate when I came to bring her back in, but was still anxious, and had sweated up again. I gave her her first shower over there, and then took her back home, and played with her a little. I think she's going to really like it...me too... as there are so many nice people, and lots of activity. I can't wait to see how she made it through the night. | | Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 | | 7:29 am |
More pictures...foal!!!
Well Bailey (my trainer instructor's middle daughter's horse, heh) had her foal on Monday morning. She is a quarterhorse/warmblood cross. Dad is cremello in color, mom is dun (or is she buckskin??? Cream gene had to be somewhere for the foal to be cremello too)and baby is cremello. All that pink skin is just looking for sunburn over here though, so I'm a little worried there. Little cutie with mom  Blue eyes and pink skin  Exhausted  Just let me sleep  | | Thursday, May 1st, 2008 | | 6:41 am |
The Story of Brittany Katrina Marie Lanakila
I can't just post the pictures without telling her story. She was born on Windward Oahu and sold to a pet store, where a police officer bought her. He and his wife already had an adult cat name Mischief, and Mischief did NOT like the new kitten, and beat her up a bit. That was the least of her problems though. One day shortly after I had bought my house, a woman who at that time worked for me asked me if I would take her new kitten. They had had the kitten for about 4 weeks and if she couldn't find a home by the weekend she was taking the kitten to the Humane Society. I asked why and she told me about Mischief, but more alarmingly, she had seen her husband kick the kitten across the room because she ran up to greet him. I agreed to take the kitten and that evening The Kitty came to her final home. When I took her to the vet, I found that she had already undergone name changes...originally they had named her Patches (how original for a calico kitty, heh) and had renamed her Praise, as they had been 'reborn' a few weeks after purchasing the kitten. (Poor Mischief had become Blessing.) I told them her name was now Brittany Katrina Marie Lanakila and that would be that. The vet probably thought we were all insane. Anyway, BKML was deathly afraid of my older brother who lived in the Kailua house at that time. He was rather upset since he would never harm any animal. But he was exactly like that jerkoff turd who kicked her across the room in build and coloring. When I explained that, he took extreme care to win BKML over and he did so. He is a favorite of hers now, even though he has since moved to Honolulu. When BKML was about 6, her new vet discovered a heart murmur and recommended an ultrasound be taken. I assumed that I would drop her off and arrange to pick her up after it was all done. Wrong! I had to hold the poor kitty down! After listening to an ongoing commentary of 'oh my goodness, this is bad!' for over half and hour, I thought the Kitty would soon be departing this earth. The vet then announced that I should get her regular vet to take her blood pressure and that depending on what the results were (she assumed it would be bad) there may be medications that she could have to help. She ignored me when I told her that her last blood pressure check had been perfectly normal. Anyway, the test was done, and was normal. The ultrasound vet then announced 'I guess there are so many things wrong with her heart that they cancel each other out' and left. That was 9 years ago. The Kitty has been fine. And here she is!  Just hanging out...look at that color pattern!  Watching Dancing with the Stars, heh  Crouching Tiger, Hidden Kitty  Sleepy!  Hope you enjoyed hearing her story and seeing her lovliness. *g* | | Monday, April 28th, 2008 | | 11:41 am |
Pics - no not of The Kitty!
The Kitty really doesn't like having her pic taken. I do have one very nice shot and hope to get more. I will then need to upload said photos...they are still on the camera. Or haven't been taken yet. I have 20 shots of Kitty, and only 1 is any good. Damn cat! Anyway, I have a few more horsie pics. *g* This is Champagne Jewel, better known as CJ. She is a 15.0 hand thoroughbred/quarterhorse cross that I've been working with.   And this is Pro Seiban, better known as T-Rex. He's a 16.3 hand Hanoverian who is learning 4th level & PSG stuff. He's been helping teach me flying lead changes. He has his work cut out for him though. In this pic, I am leaning way too forward. He had just given a massive spook and I fell back into some bad habits. Oops.  And we have to have Sevi here, or she'll buck me off next time I ride...I look hideous here, with mouth open and it looks like I'm cross eyed. Sevi looks very cute though.  Why was I babbling away about something as the picture was taken, why? Bah. | | Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 | | 7:39 am |
| | Monday, February 4th, 2008 | | 11:38 am |
Jumping on the meme band wagon
1. Tell you why I friended you. 2. Associate you with something - a song, a color, a photo, a word, a smell, etc. 3. Tell you something I like about you. 4. Tell you a memory I have of you. 5. Ask something I've always wanted to know about you. 6. Tell you my favorite user pic of yours. 7. In return, you must post this in your LJ Well, I needed to post something. We've had the crappiest winter ever so far. Wind and rain, and rain and wind. Bah. I am so very sick of it. I've managed to get some riding in, but not as much as usual. Well...that's as much because I've been sick (literally, not just sick of the weather)as due to anything else. Sevi's trainer has been riding her, so she's getting out. And I get her turned out and/or lunged as needed. I rode her this past weekend, and she was really good, and she was quite impressive the weekend before, given the really gale force wind conditions that were gusting about then. We're supposed to be gearing up for a schooling show in March, so that should be fun. I guess I'll be doing a 3rd level test, yikes!!! I'm not really ready for 3rd level yet, I don't think, but as its a schooling show, there's nothing to lose really. Sevi has a real nice trot half pass, and adequate canter half pass, although we need work on the flying changes. Her canter and trot work has been really good. The things that will trip us up? Counter canter and walk. My mare doesn't like to walk. At all. Why walk when you can prance, trot or jig? Also, we've not done much counter canter. Or any really. She should be okay at that though. Anyway, who knows if the show will even happen? | | Sunday, January 6th, 2008 | | 6:52 pm |
Hmmm...interesting
67% Hillary Clinton
66% Barack Obama
65% John Edwards
65% Chris Dodd
60% Bill Richardson
58% Joe Biden
57% Mike Gravel
56% John McCain
54% Dennis Kucinich
47% Tom Tancredo
46% Mitt Romney
46% Mike Huckabee
42% Rudy Giuliani
37% Ron Paul
33% Fred Thompson
2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz | | Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 | | 4:41 pm |
Less than a week to go!
Well, I've got all the decorations up, the tree is almost finished and looks really pretty. We just put out the ornament Carrie B and Mikey gave my mom from when they came here. :-) My mom was able to go out to lunch yesterday, so she was really happy about that. The doctors never thought she would make it past September, but she's doing great. They seem perplexed...you would think they would be happy, but they don't seem to be. Heh. My dad is hanging in there too. I've got my shopping done...for the family. Friends near and far are going to have to wait until I get back to Hawaii. I tried getting everything done before leaving, but it wasn't happening. I haven't even sent cards! Yikes...I am a sucky friend! I started reading Elantris...yes, Jani, you made me buy it. *g* So far, so good. Sooooo...that's my almost Christmas update...from your sucky, late Christmas gift giving and/or card sending friend. Love, Lee Ann *snicker* | | Sunday, December 16th, 2007 | | 12:08 pm |
Back East
Yikes. It's cold and nasty over here. I don't need the reminders that winter sucks, really. There is a very good reason I moved to a warm climate, and its not likely I'll forget that reason. Right now its frigid, with freezing rain coming down and strong winds blowing. Gee, this is great. We lost power for about 45 minutes. When we got the generator out and set up, the power came back on. Heh. Not that I'm complaining about that! My mom was meanwhile on one of her portable O2 canisters. So we are now all set, generator out and ready if the power goes out again. Other then that...the tree is up and needs ornaments, as the lights are already on. Things are all out ready to be put up, so I guess I'll be decking the halls in a little bit. My mom and I got a lot of wrapping down last night after dinner. (I got in yesterday at about 3PM) I miss my kitty, horsie and the warm weather. Even though Hawaii's weather has sucked (rain, rain, rain for about 2 months now, with sunny respites scattered within) it still beats COLD. *shiver* |
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