?

I have a 1:1 review meeting with my manager next week. I have not had a raise since I began this job (about 1.5 years ago).

Pending that my review goes well, is it appropriate to ask?

We recently lost one of my team members to a promotion and we are scrambling to fill his former position. There is a vacant spot that needs to be filled of the same job description as myself. Myself and other 3 team members are now absorbing his work, in addition to our own until a replacement is found.

I applied for a job back in April and have not yet heard back from the company. The job is still listed as active on their website, and today I noticed they re-posted it again (and the original position is still listed). I don't want to appear desperate, and I also realize that this is a very large company that may have a long hiring process, but I really want this position! Should I re-submit my resume? Perhaps with a little editing and more focus on my qualifications? (side note, I do meet all of the qualifications for the position for experience and education).

It's off white, knee length, fitted, and 3/4 length sleeves and a belt. I'm wearing it with a denim jacket for an outdoor wedding. The bride is a good friend of mine and I truly don't think I'll be detracting from her at all but I want to be sure!

We are very "on the fence" (pardon the pun) on which to choose. We have a 50lb dog and a 10lb dog that need a fence, the large dog does like to bark at people walking by, but I really doubt he would jump a fence since he's rather lazy. We only have neighbors on one side and they already have a privacy fence, so we would basically be fencing in a neighbor-free side. My husband likes privacy for the obvious reasons, but he also wants the yard to be more secure so he is more comfortable leaving lawn furniture outside. A split rail could allow someone to jump the fence, but a 6' privacy would make it much more difficult. I also think the split rail will allow more sunlight in the yard, since we have lots of trees there isn't too much light, I hate for a privacy to block a good portion of what we get.

Just want some more thoughts here :)

I am doing a Combined Test on Sunday (dressage and stadium- no XC). I recently had to sell my dressage saddle because it no longer fit my horse comfortably. I haven't found another to replace it yet. We are doing this show on Sunday and it is okay for us to use our regular close-contact saddle for dressage. However, I'm not sure what I should wear because of this!

I have regular hunt attire (white shirt, jacket, tan breeches) and I also have my dressage attire (white shirt stock tie, dressage jacket, white breeches). I'd prefer to wear my dressage attire, but don't want to look stupid either since I am not using dressage tack.

What would you prefer?

My horse moves and works very nicely in an elevator bit, but I know this is not legal for dressage. What type of bit works similarly but is legal?

My mother in law recently moved out of state about a year before we got married. My husband has decided there would be an "open door policy" with her visiting, even though before we had even moved in together I expressed that I would not be comfortable with her visiting and staying in our home. Our agreement would be she would not stay longer than a week. She has stayed in our apartment no less than 12 days every time she has come to visit (which has been five times in one year).

This last trip started June 30. After about 9 days, I started getting really annoyed by her presence. I asked that she possibly spend some of her trip with my husband's brother and his fiancee. After lots of arguments, she reluctantly went to his house for two weeks. She then returned back to our apartment and has been here for 8 days.

She is a school bus driver and has the summer off, so wanted to spend it with her kids and family (which I understand). I'm in no way trying to keep her from spending time with her family, but it bothers me because we are newlyweds, starting our own lives and families together (same with his brother who is getting married later this year). His brother can also get free hotel rooms for her, as he is the manager of a nearby hotel, but she chose to stay in our homes instead.

She has already brought of the topic of leaving her fiancee and moving back home, and wants to live in our house until she is back on her feet with her two dogs.

My husband is so mad for me "setting limits" on his family that he wants me to set limits with mine. I don't see this as setting limits, I see this as being a rude guest that thinks they can stay as long as they please.

Can I also mention that every day that she has been here that my husband and I are at work? She literally sits on our couch and watches TV while we are gone all day. I don't see that as visiting. She makes her own food and doesn't eat with us. She sits on the phone for over an hour every night too talking to her fiancee. She smokes on our porch (which in turn makes our apartment smell). And throws away her cigarettes in my kitchen garbage (which smells repulsive, in my pantry where my food is).

Uh.... how do I go about resolving this!

We recently purchased our first house and need to fence the backyard for our dog. Our neighbors to the left have a privacy fence around their property. We have no neighbors on the right. Are we allowed to include their fence when we build ours? Do we have to inform them we are fencing the yard? Do we have to pay them for use of their fence since it is enclosing a whole side of our yard?

Haven't been able to get in touch with my vet today, but just want some advice and other opinions.

My TB just had an abscess opened last Monday 3/18, the vet cut just enough to open and drain it. We have been doing oral antibiotics, soaking, etc. As of Monday 3/25 he has been sound again. I have started lightly riding him and he has been very willing and happy to work. He has been stall rested with just 1-2 hours in a very dry arena every day.

I would really love to turn him out with his herd tomorrow since it's going to be a really nice day. However, it's really muddy in their pasture and there is no other option for all day turn out at my boarding farm aside from this area. He is still finishing his antibiotics but is sound. Today when I rode him, he was comfortable at the walk and trot, but his back was definitely tense at the canter (which is very unlike him). I'm sure a lot of it has to do with being in his stall for almost two weeks now and not being able to roll and move freely, so I'd love him to go outside.

But... do I want to wait to turn out longer? Or go ahead and let him out tomorrow? It's muddy out there but it has not rained for 4 days here so it's about as dry as it will be for a while. It's supposed to rain this weekend, so if he doesn't go out tomorrow it's going to be a while for another nice day.

Opinions?

So I last minute decided to enter a combined test next week and I have a question on my dressage test. I would ask my trainer her opinion but she's out of town until the event!

We are doing USEF 2010 beginner novice test a.

At the beginning of the test it calls for an enter at A to XMC. So it's a diagonal line. I've never ridden a test like this, so I'm unsure if I should change my diagonal or not. I typically like to start tests tracking left, so would I change my diagonal and then change it back? Or just leave it? Or start my test tracking right?

Opinions??

I recently bought a new (used) dressage saddle. Functionally- it's perfect. It's just some aesthetic things that are tarnished that I'd like to fix. Where my leg would sit has been rubbed to a red-brown color. Are there any products or home remedies I can use to make the leather black again, or at least darken it?

First off- the dog is 100% house trained- he has never had one accident in our house since we adopted him in February. That is not the problem.

We live in an condo so we have to walk our dog outside to go to the bathroom (no arguments about this please, it's a large condo, but we just don't have a fenced in yard, and he gets lots of exercise at the local park next door). When he goes outside, he likes to pee tiny amounts, just marking each tree or bush. Since he is in our yard the most, he now will barely pee in our area, so we have to walk him all over the complex until he is empty. This consists of a good 15 minute walk until he is done. Same with pooping, he will not do it in our yard, only on walks after around 10 minutes.

Really, I don't mind having to walk him, but when it's raining, (and come winter when it's freezing) I really don't want to stand in the rain while he takes his sweet time marking instead of just doing his business!

How can I teach him to just do it all in the yard at once??

My fiance and I will be moving into our new apartment in August. His mother recently moved out of state this past January. Since her move, she has already made four trips back home for various holidays, birthdays, or family gatherings, all trips lasting over 3 weeks. She stayed with my fiance and his dad (her ex-husband). It was a weird arrangement but now that we will be getting our own apartment together, she would like to stay with us during her visits home. This includes everyone's birthday, all major holidays, and our wedding and wedding related activites.

I wouldn't mind if she had arrival and departure dates within reason. She also expects to bring her two dogs with her (that do NOT get along with my dog). She tends to have an idea of when she will be going back to her home, but finds reasons to stay extra days.

My fiance feels that because his mother lives out of state he never gets to see her anymore, and because I get to see my mother as much as I want, that I should let her stay as long as she wants. He has already told her she can come stay with us the week after we are moved into our apartment.

He has an older brother that lives about 40 minutes from our apartment, which she is also welcome to stay with, but she feels as if him and his girlfriend need their privacy (like we don't...), and it is too far from the area that she wants to be staying in.

Again, I wouldn't mind if she stayed for a few days, or if she could stay some of the time at her other son's home. She chose to move out of state and it's not my fault that I don't want to run a free hotel service out of an apartment that I am paying for.

Advice? Or how could I talk to my fiance about this?

We are working on our bridal party this week. The groom is all set, his two brothers, two friends, and the bride's younger brother.

Me, the bride, not so much. I am not close with many girls, as my best friends are my younger brother and my future husband.

My parents both have children from previous marriages. Since there is a large age gap between us, I really never grew up with them or was ever close to them. I was in one brother's wedding (my mom's son), but was not in my Dad's kids weddings (not even invited to come to my sister's wedding). Since my nieces were born, I have become closer with my Mom's son's wife since I watch the girls a lot. I would really like to ask her to be a bridesmaid, but I'm not so sure. I don't even know if my brother would really want to be in the wedding anyway since guys are weird like that sometimes...

Would it be weird to ask my sister-in-law and none of my other older siblings?

My fiance and I found our dream home. Perfect size, perfect location, great yard, great price. Everything we wanted in our first home. Except it has a septic tank. I've heard mixed reviews about them, and I think we'd prefer to stay away from it. Is it possible to tap into the public sewer so we don't have to deal with the potential mess of a septic tank? Or as the current owner to have it done in order for us to buy?

Riding in a combined test on Sunday at the Starter level, riding Intro Test C.

Ok, so I am taking my TB to our first combined test next week and wasn't sure about which bridle to use! I have a nice black dressage bridle, but I don't have a dressage saddle, so it doesn't really match my brown hunt saddle. Would I be better off using just my regular brown bridle to match or would using the black dressage bridle be okay?

Eek, so my horse had his teeth and sheath cleaned yesterday by the vet. Since it has been raining, his turn out has been more limited. He had shortened turnout times for the last two days, and the temperatures dropped pretty quickly.

Normally, a bit of diarrhea for him when there is a change is normal, but today he had almost projectile diarrhea- complete liquid. I stuck around for a bit to observe him today, and when he went again it was only a bit more solid, but still runny.

While his turnout is more limited- it's not changed, it's still the same pasture he's been in all summer, with the same horses he's been with for months. His feed is still the same and he is eating normal. I gave him some probiotics and electrolytes tonight to help tonight. If it's not better by tomorrow, I'll call the vet.

Anyone have an idea of what could be going on? I'm really just trying to get a few more educated, horse owner opinions not an actual diagnosis.

Need some help! My TB has a problem with his saddle slipping back. He has huge high withers that make it difficult to keep the saddle in place, but his shoulders are too narrow and slim for a breast collar to fit properly. I had my chiropractor fit his saddle, so that fits fine, it just doesn't stay in place. I use a plain english saddle pad with a Thin Line half pad too. The saddle pad slides down and rubs his back as I ride because it doesn't stay in place. Girth is perfectly tight. I always start my ride with it in the correct spot and by the time I'm done it's slid back about 4 inches. I'm certain it's making his back sore too.

I'm an experienced rider- I've just not had this problem before!