in memory

spike died friday night/saturday morning…
mom called me saturday morning. she said she had nothing to do that night and wanted to come down and visit. it seemed like she was a little upset, so i said okay. she got to philly around 7pm, when i let her in the apartment i went to give her a hug but she looked terribly upset… (she later told me she couldn’t bear to tell me over the phone and had to let me know in person)
i asked her what was wrong, and she didn’t answer.
i knew immediately it was something with spike…
i asked what happened to her, she started crying and said that she was gone.
i broke down sobbing hysterically.
i got spike in december of ’92 when she was just a baby, barely 6 inches head to tail. i was 8 years old.
that was 14 years ago… she was about 15 when she passed.
that’s a good long time for an iguana to live, but that doesn’t make it any easier.
there is a very tiny part of me that is glad she passed quickly and painlessly.
she was getting old and it was getting harder for her to walk…
she was the best pet i ever could’ve imagined.
she was a part of the family.
she roamed around the apartment without a cage, incredibly well behaved
she never bit anyone, and never once showed even an ouce of aggression
she even potty trained herself, she would only go in the corner of the bathroom.
she was so incredibly affectionate and had so much personality…
she *loved* to be held and be snuggled and to cuddle.
she really liked it when i’d give her minibackrubs
and she’d look at me like “wtf?” if i stopped petting her
she used to curl up under my arm and watch tv in bed with me
she would take naps on my belly for hours…
once mom told me, i knew what we had to do.
we drove back to ny immediately and started making plans
it was so hard seeing her
she was all wrapped up in a pretty pink towel
(she loved being wrapped up and cuddled lke a baby)
and it just looked like she was sleeping, so peacefully…
this morning mom and i woke up and went out to where the horse trails at lakeside begin in hempstead lake state park where i’ll be able to visit her whenever i want
i found a lovely, secluded spot under some trees where she wouldn’t be distrubed and dug a hole
it absolutely broke my heard to have to lay her to rest…
i kissed her on her head and said my goodbyes…
i buried her with a b
ouquet of broccoli, her favorite.
i marked her grave with a stick and a rock, because well, she liked to climb on sticks and rocks.
i laid some pretty yellow flowers on top, and funny thing is, as soon as i placed them, a ray of sun broke through the trees.
it was the only sun coming through, and it was directly on the flowers… it sounds silly, but it made me smile.
rest peacefully spike, i’ll miss you more than words could ever describe…
i love you sweetheart.

December, 1992 – October 21, 2006

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it’s 2am i’m watching futurama and playing sudoku. man i love being a business major.

“losing a car is like a death in the family for you and your people, so condolences would be in order”
me and my people? thanks amy 😉 😛

well, the show went pretty damn good 🙂
i wound up getting 2nd in walk/trot/canter… shoulda gotten first, grrr…
we left drexel at 6am, drove to maryland, sat around in the cold for hours… i’m too tired right now to do the entire update but we had a blast. we had 6 girls competing, and won 7 out of a possible 8 ribbons. we overheard upenn make some comment about “wow, drexel’s team is really cleaning up, they’ve got some really good riders” hah, awesome.
my class went well. i rode this horse named ‘Bean’. origionally i was suppoed to ride ‘Peanut’. wtf is up with me getting horses named after legumes??
anyway, they way it works is they assign each rider a horse randomly, so you have no idea who you’re riding until it’s time for your class. never seen the horse before, never ridden the horse before, level playing field.
Bean was nice. a 15.2h light chestnut gelding, perfect with leads and totally pushbutton. i lucked out.
i should had first. everyone on the team said so, even megan who never sugar coats anything. except i was getti
ng close to the horse in front of me so i came off the rail to circle and the girl behind me decides to circle as well as i’m halfway through mine and practically runs right into the side of me. i had no choice but to pull up Bean and kinda fumble. ugh. but whatever, that bitch is going down at the next show…
so erik flew into DC sunday night for work and was staying in NoVa about 15 miles south of there… since i have no classes on tuesdays, i drove down to Virginia last night to stay with him. it was totally random spur of the moment, and totally wonderful. we went out to dinner with some of his friends and enjoyed the extra time together. today we woke up, he went to work, i slept some more, checked out of the hotel, and then went to meet up with him and his work people for lunch. drove back to PA after, and i’m already missing him (of course).
SEMA Vegas countdown: 13 days!

well, it’s been almost a month since i’ve updated…
nopi was a ton of fun. got to see my nico friends from all over (greg, torry, dan…) and whatnot. it was better than last year in that i didn’t get stuck standing in a booth working all day, but damn all that walking and hot sun is exhausting…
i ran into several people from years ago who, surprisingly enough, remembered me. one guy in particular stands out in my mind. erik and i were handing out autofon flyers all weekend (autofonimages.com) and i handed one to this guy and he says “wait a minute. can you turn around for me?” so i was like uhhh and i did (i was wearing a cutoff tank top since it was soooo hot out) and he looks at my tattoo and goes “i knew it was you! ainsley! how’ve you been? how’s your G20?” and i was incredibly confused because i had no idea who he was. i felt bad, so i told him that (but politely) and he refreshed my memory (yes i did actually remember him once he clued me in). his name i
s byron and i met him about 3 years ago at carlisle (when i went with jay) he has this blue wrx and i remember we spent quite a bit of time talking. funniest thing is, i hadn’t seen him in 3 years, we met once, but even his wife remembered me. dayum. nice people though, real sweethearts 🙂
we left sunday evening straight from nopi for los angeles. it was amazing. it was also our first “vacation” together (if you can call it that, poor erik had to work all week). it was sooo nice having him to snuggle on the plane for 4 hours 🙂
anyway, i had a really great time getting to see my friends (j, scotty, even people at work) and just enjoying the sunny socal weather. we stayed in universal city and did some fun “tourist” stuff since a guy from erik’s work was with us. we went to bubba gump at santa monica, did the hollywood walk of fame, went to pink’s for hot dog dinner, universal city walk, and other stuff i can’t remember. oh yeah, i went to wienerschnitzel and had 4 corn dogs. and j and i went to marie callendar’s and got a pie. man i miss cali food…
lots of pictures at iheartboost.com just click “gallery” and then “me and erik”
got back to atlanta and i had to leave to come back to pa two days later.
since that time i’ve moved into my new apartment, started classes, and have conti
nued riding.
the apartment is nice, but the kitchen is fucking disgusting in that it’s so old and falling apart and tiny and there has been a roach problem that is terrifying me and i call the landlords a few times a week crying… but eh, only 9 more months left and no psycho roommates to deal with make it tolerable.
classes are going okay. fourth week starts monday. i’m only taking 16 credits but drexel started this fucking lame +/- grading system this term. it used to just be straight letter grades. an A was a 4.0 i have a 3.87. i am trying really hard to graduate summa cum laude (need a 3.9 at drexel… ironically you only need a 3.75 at upen and 3.8 at temple) but if i even get so much as *one* A- (3.67) for the rest of the time i am here, there’s no way i could pull it off. so yeah, i’m fucked. oh well… magna cum laude isn’t bad, right? i’m just disappointed 😦
riding is going well. i’ve been having a lot of fun. i rode this amazing irish draft two weeks ago named spud, who was by fart “the most” horse i’d ever ridden. he was HUGE (his back was taller than my head) and a phenominal jumper. he was strong as hell and just an absolute pleasure to ride. i rode twice this week to prepare for our first DUET IHSA horse show tomorrow…
i don’t feel ready for it. my legs aren’t as strong as they should be, my equitation isn’t perfect, and well, i haven
‘t shown in ten years… (with the exception of the Ashford show in June that i got two blues at). i’m doing the walk/trot/canter class, but the problem is you pick the horse you’re riding out of a hat when you get there, so nobody knows who you’re riding, and considering the barn is in maryland, i’ve never so much as seen any of these horses… great…
…wish me luck…