Hunt Seat and April Break

     This week we had April break, and I should have been able to get a whole ton of stuff done. But I didn't. Which happens. I did bring my car in for an oil change and inspection, found out it needed some repairs to pass inspection, and I made an appointment for that all to happen. Then Tuesday I went to the gym with Ethan and worked muscles that I have not done much with (other than lift kids) in a while. I was sore, but not crippled after, which is good. Wednesday I went on a ruck with Ethan (for those who don't know, that is a fast hike with a weighted backpack. He had the weight, not me) and found that my body said I REALLY needed to ease up on things for a bit. So I had a slower, but not too slow, hike through the woods. And I thought about doll work. It really would have been a good idea to get some stuff started. But I did not. 

     Thursday I had an appointment to go and get my hair done. I spent 5 hours at the salon, which is not a thing I normally do, and got color removed, the hair lightened, and then added in a bunch of colors. I usually do all the colors myself, no matter how complex, so it was really nice to just sit there and do nothing. I remember the first time I dyed my hair, I dyed it black, and it made me look kind of dead. But now, for some reason, I really like how the black looks. And the black really makes the vivid colors pop. And I love it. 

    Since I didn't have to do the work I went back to the cascading colors of blue into purple, into pink. The blue right near my face is a much more subtle transition from the black than the pink that I was doing, so it is not jarring for me to see it and I really love how it looks. I have discovered I don't really like full vivid colors, like hot pink anyway, right near my face, but peaking out under the black looks excellent. I should have done some doll work on Thursday after I got home. But instead I chose to help Elecktra with some cleaning. And then I went to hang out with my friend Brandi. Definitely a better use of my time. 

     Friday Ethan asked if I wanted to go to the gym with him again and I said yes, but ultimately decided I really should stay home. He asked if it was because I was sore or because I was feeling guilty about not doing my doll work. I said yes. I was still a bit sore in places, my knee being the most notable at the time, and the Sgt. Desforges challenge is next weekend. I can't be broken for that. So I decided to stay home and get started on some doll work and then see if I was feeling up to maybe an easy walk later on. What actually happened is I got into the doll work and I kept going with the doll work. 

     I prepped 7 bodies, cut out and got 2 outfits sewn, got started on dressing a casual western doll, but ultimately finished this huntseat doll. Did I mention I also had no car? That appointment I made to get the repairs done on my car was for Friday (yesterday). And apparently the dealership now offers a valet service. They came to my house to pick up my car, brought it in for service, and then they drove my car back to my house. That was amazing. And I made enough of an impression on my service coordinator that he double and triple checked that nothing was going to be over the quoted price. Last time I was in for service they tried to charge me more, I asked why it was more than the quote, the woman called in a manager and said I "didn't understand my bill". And I was mad. I understand completely what a quote is and I understand that you are trying to make me feel stupid so you can charge me more. This new guy knows not to play that game with me. And my actual price was a good amount under the quote. The only bad part of the whole experience was the inspection machine was down so I could not get the car inspected. Which was the point of getting the repairs done in the first place. Maybe I can do that on Tuesday.

     Anyway, so I got into the doll work in the morning and I got into a groove and just kept going on things. And since I kept going and had a lot of momentum, and then was very close to finishing, I just kept on with it. I spent much more time working on dolls than I usually do in a day, but it was worth it. I got this lovely hunt seat doll finished. 

     This lady has a bendy neck so she is good for over fences or flat work. She is dressed in a black hunt coat so will look great with any horse color you put her with. Her breeches are not white, but they are light enough to more easily look correct in a lower level dressage setup, but dark enough that they work in regular hunt seat classes. And the best part is, she is ready to head out and get to work immediately. She is available for $240 plus shipping. As always, I am not advertising her anywhere but here until I have my next live sale (maybe the end of this month... starting to look like maybe not). If you are interested in purchasing her please send me an email to fieldofdolls@gmail.com. 

     I usually start out my vacations with grand plans of getting a lot of stuff done. And often, like this week, I don't get the things done. Other things get in the way, or I just end up slacking off and taking it sort of easy. And then I feel kind of guilty. This week I did not end up getting a whole lot of doll work done. But I also don't really feel guilty about it. I got in some extra working out, got my hair done, got my car fixed, I went and saw Crystal, I hung out with Brandi, and I did actually get some doll work done. I can fairly easily finish up the casual western doll, and I have bodies prepped for another 5 dolls. I got to enjoy time outside, didn't have to rush to get things done, and overall had a really good week. Since my car was in the shop yesterday, Ethan let me borrow his car to bring Travis out for our coffee date. I don't like to miss those if I can help it. Next Friday we may also take Ethan's really excellent suggestion. He said we should go to Barnes and Noble and sit in their café to have a coffee. It's further than Dunkin, so a bit of a nice drive, it's at the bookstore, and it would be different and nice. I think we will definitely be doing that.