If you guessed Annie Oakley to this year's annual Halloween Costume Guessing Game ,  then you would be correct. If you guessed that Dan would wear a fresh new pair of cat ears from WalMart, you would also be correct. Thank you for playing.

1. Great breakthroughs, y'all.  I'm incredibly happy about the fact that some of my biggest and best realizations in my life right now are ones that are surprising me, and ones that are coming as the year speeds away and closes out. 2012 was CRAZY. And the things I learned in it are ones that will change the whole rest of my life, and I am so happy about it. 2. I was in the bathtub on Friday, trying to soak out a mild head cold, and I look over to see Revvy silently standing in the doorway with my spectacles in his mouth.  Trying to decide if you're going to run after a puppy soapy, naked, and cold OR be blind for a week while you wait for new glasses is a terrible position to be in. I went with option A. I now have pneumonia. (not really, but you know) 3. Spent some time at the Ranch, and saw my mom ride Posie for the first time since her injury in May. It was really nice, and I'm really happy she didn't die, and didn't have to stop riding horses, and ...

Halloween is my favorite holiday. The buildup, the anticipation, the creativity, the dark underpinnings, the cheap and industrious ingenuity required to make a costume...I love it all.  Costume inventions are always the cherry of my Autumnal Sundae- I have never bought a complete costume, and except for the very poor pajamas I made in 8th grade (should the crotch be at the knees like that?) and a pillow I made last week (thanks, Sibby!), I cannot sew. So I usually end up going through the box of bizarre things I own and taking a trip to D.I. to find whatever I don't have to make a costume which is usually so hodge podge and obscure that most people have no idea what I am.  This year will probably be no exception. As a kid I used to be really into the dead person costumes and scary costumes (dead bride, medusa, skeleton), and then in college I tried to be "cute" (a harajuku girl, the statue of liberty, a gypsy, and once I was "fall break" which involved coverin...

As we approach the end of my temperate sunny days filled with bare skin and leather sandals, a heavily clad figure approaches- her many skirt ruffles shift and exude a cold bitter wind, and block out the light of day. She brings in the winter, the long nights, the racing to and from buildings to cars to buildings, lest you linger in the frost too long. She barely nods as she passes; I am just one of many people who cower in her presence, and must keep the pieces of myself together while she commandeers the season. Someone hand me my electric blanket. This year I am trying to preempt the gloomies that come with winter- I am airing my grievances, shaking the cobwebs off of any lingering emotional questions, and heading into winter armed like Joan of Arc with the banner of God. I'm investing in a light therapy box, I'm training for a 5K with my coworkers to keep my exercise up, and I am moving full steam ahead into Halloween with decorations, elaborate costumes, spooky goodie...

Don't worry. I get that I have a limited appeal. I have no ambition to become the next millionaire blogger because, frankly, I don't like writing about babies, I can't take very good pictures of food, and I'm not willing to give the whole world a daily glimpse into my psyche for you to pick apart and mock (though there is much to pick apart, and much to mock, I just prefer this to be done by the people I love most.) But I did buy a domain with my many years-carried blog title.  Mostly because I don't like the idea of someone else getting it and doing something with it that's not horse and corn dog related. It's my placeholder in the digital universe, and no matter where you go or what you do, I want you to know how and where to find me. Are you an ex-boyfriend? a long lost friend? A total stranger looking for that grown woman with the Breyer Horse Collection in her master bathroom?  I'm here, and I'll always be here: freaking you out, making you la...

This past weekend, I "put my shoulder to the wheel" as the mormons would say, and sent several hours at two barns, and then ran errands and cleaned and pushed myself right up until late dinner which Dan was nice enough to make for me.  About 6 hours later, I had the worst stomach flu I've ever had. I writhed in pain until around 8pm Sunday night, and finally fell asleep to the sounds of Antiques Roadshow. I got up every hour, and then at around 7, I woke up and started getting ready for work.  I had to stop and start a few times, unsure if I was really going to make myself do this. We have a mountain-load of work with a hard deadline in my department, and not coming in seemed like a bad idea. But I was not finding that deeper level to make me keep going. Until Dan let in the puppy (who, yes, has officially been named Reverend Trask, or The Rev, as I like to call him). I know we project a lot of stuff on pets, but dude, I'm not exaggerating when I say th...