Greetings from sunny South Florida! Luna, my cat, and I had an uneventful trip down, which included listening to nearly all of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo as an audiobook, staying in a seriously sketchball hotel in Darien, Ga., and getting asked at least once per truck stop what kind of horses I was hauling. (The answer: the green, stalky kind. I drove hay down; horses leave Virginia on Jan. 2.)

I hate to brag and all, but it is going to be in the 70s all week here, with no rain in sight, and I am writing this blog at 7 a.m., outside, in shorts. Oh. My. Lord.

And even though the horses aren’t here yet, I’ve got PLENTY to keep me busy. I arrived yesterday about noon, and got everything unpacked: all the horses’ vital stuff (space is a premium here at Double Bridle Farm, so I’m keeping the nonessentials—horse show stuff, warm blankets, etc.—in my trailer), all of my stuff. It was New Year’s Day, so I’ll have to save going to the feed store for today to get bedding and grain, but I did get to the grocery store and got all my supplies.

I have, ahem, been rather negligent in the eating-well-and-exercising department, so I’m using this transition as an opportunity to get myself back on track. I felt very virtuous when the checkout clerk said I had a very healthy grocery order, and when I came home I went for a run, which I have not been able to do at home—too cold. It’s Sunday morning as I write this, and while I’m definitely feeling it, I don’t hurt too bad.

Definitely on the list of priorities, though, is establishing myself with a chiropractor and acupuncturist down here. I go every two weeks at home, and with all the lifting of moving and the stagnancy of driving, I’m at least an inch shorter than I’m supposed to be. Ouch.

I’m grateful for the head start I have on the horses, who will get on a trailer mid-day today, so I’ll be seeing them early tomorrow. I can get all my shopping done—grain and bedding, of course, but also the silly stuff: Home Depot to get something to cushion their saddle racks, the Dollar Store to get a whiteboard to put their feed chart on, a spray bottle to put my anti-fungus mix in (more on that later), a more sufficient cutting board than my apartment came furnished with (I love to cook). Blah, blah, blah.

I’m also hoping I can get a little visiting in today—one of the many great things about the season down here is catching up with all of my horsey friends who live across the country and who I don’t get to see enough of.

And tonight? A dinner birthday party for Pam Goodrich, who is the main trainer operating out of this place, my former boss, and one of my favorite people. And tomorrow I play host to my friend Jennifer, who is covering the George Morris Horsemanship clinic thingy for the Chronicle. I have to play while I can, because the work is coming on a big trailer tomorrow!