What Next?

Over the course of the past 6 months I have been consumed with finding my footing, trying to raise teenage boys as a single mother and testing the waters of a new relationship. Seems the only thing I am even remotely good at is the raising of my boys. That is a good thing. I love, love, love my kids. Even when they are being smart mouthed, making messes of my freshly mopped floors or irritating me in general. I see my oldest son open doors for old ladies. I watch as he is so patient with the younger kids and the way his eyes light up when he is in the presence of a dog. My youngest son never ceases to make me feel the simple joys of life. Having autism, Justin finds pleasure in the smallest of things. A cookie straight from the oven equates to all the world's riches to him. I need to keep hold of that and keep it close to my heart when I am struggling. My boy's are my world.

I also competed in 2 endurance rides last fall. It had not even been a year since having broken my back. Shaqerriae and I completed 25 miles at Cougar Prowl and 32 miles at Off Road Warrior. I was hoping to do Freeze R Burn this February but it is just not going to happen. No time to condition me or my horse and no money. My next hope is for Blue Bonnet in April or May.

I am pretty certain that things between Jeff and I are over. I should have know that the past is better left alone and that we should have just settled for being friends. I love him. I never told him that because I was scared to. Just the same, I do. Heartbroken as I am, time heals all wounds eventually, right?

WTH?

I quit blogging. Didn't seem important. Still doesn't but it is much cheaper than a therapist!

Since my last blog so much has happened. The biggest happening being that I am getting a divorce. Again. Relationship - Fail. Always the optomist even when I losing, I have been able to find good in this turn of events. I enjoy my kids more. I enjoy myself more. I am learning how to have interpersonal relationships with people outside of my close knit circle. All these years I thought I had come to not like John Q. Public. Turns out, I like him a lot. I am doing things I have never done before and despite the complete frustration of some of them, I like it. I am a pretty self sufficient kinda girl so I'll just grab this particular tiger by the tail and hang on until the tail comes off.

Another big milestone is that I am back to riding my horses and not freaking out thinking that I am going to die every step. I can never repay Di and Sabrina for all they did to get me to this point.

Last but not least I have had an old friend resurface in my life. A friend from a time period that I worked very hard to put in the past because I made so many mistakes with those people and I missed them very badly. Jeff came in the form of a Facebook email late one night in June. I have been seeing him since and he still makes my heart race.

Um, I Don't Think So!

In a recent visit to the gynecologist I came across an concerning item. Now this wouldn't have normally caused me alarm but at this particular time I am undressing and preparing for The Exam. I'm not sure about you but the last thing I want is someone approaching my nether regions with 'Comfort Grip' exam gloves....

Here's Mud In Your Eye!

The husband was going out of town the next day for a week. We had started moving a fenceline that would enable us to access both back pastures more efficiently. We were within striking distance of having it totally finished. It HAD to be done NOW, nevermind the 6 or so inches of rain that had fallen. No problem. We loaded the youngest up in old shoes and off we went. We pulled into the back gate where there used to be an old mobile home. House is gone but the concrete foundation strip slab things remain. The youngest, Justin, stood on a strip and was thrilled to toss pebbles and rocks into a deep rut filled with water. Great! He was happy as a clam so DH and I could get to fence building. As we got involved in our work we kept an ear for Justin along with a quick glance. Evidently he either ran out of rocks or decided it was much more efficient to grab big wads of slimy pebble filled mud and throw them with force into the water. This caused thick, nasty water to splash violently. (Side note to the barn cat: I am sorry but you stupid thing ought to know better than to keep coming back after getting drenched in mud and water. You have 4 legs. Use them) The kid had mud in his hair, ears, and every other square inch of his body. His denim jeans were now whitish-grey. The shoes lost under layers of gooey clay based mud. And to top it all off he wore a smile that made the sun look faded. We finished our fence and it was time to go home. With a wet, slimy, muddy kid. We opened the back door to our poor devoted truck with it's worn out leather seats. Thank God for leather and farm trucks! A wet wash rag and it's good as new. Despite having to strip down to his nickers and a thorough scrubbing he enjoyed his mud bath. All the video games in the world could not have compared.

Spring Fever!

Spring has sprung much to the dismay of my lovely sinus passages. I am all in favor of a Federal bailout if Zyrtec starts going under! I have not blogged for a multitude of reasons. None of them would probably stand up in court but there ya go.

I have been riding Shaqerriae and actually enjoying it. This is huge to me as it was only a few weeks ago that I was apt to burst into tears just sitting on a horse. I am forever indebted to Di and Sabrina for the incredible support and patience they have shown me. I cannot count the pony rides, holding my horse while I mounted, not riding because it was too ___ (fill in the blanks). I got to ride in my time and when I felt comfortable. They understood when I mentally could not do it. How cool is that? I also have to brag on my mare. She knows I am incompetent and she takes care of me. I stay on her back because she allows me to. Certainly that sassy little Arab could have me off in milliseconds if she chose. She is my once in a lifetime horse.

As is the case with spring EVERYTHING is growing. I have mowed and mowed and mowed. I am askeered of our tractor so I mow our little farm with my riding lawnmower that I bought from a garage sale for that purpose. Piece of advice: If you see this mower for sale RUN! It leads a hard life.

Last week, we had to euthanize our beloved Doberman. We got Molly June 1, 2008. She was an awesome dog that fit right into our family as though we had her her entire life. As it was she was 6 the day we picked her up from the SPCA. She was a chronic vomiter although never with any rhyme or reason. She really got bad this last month. A vet appt revealed that she had mega esophagus and there was no cure. We took a week to let this diagnosis sink in. Molly was going downhill very quickly so we made the decision to let her go. She is now buried at our farm where she loved to run. We miss you sweet girl!

No pictures. Honestly I have been too busy with my real life to sit at the computer. Hey, that's a GOOD thing!

Oh, Now THAT Will Be A Safe Home!

Half asleep today and the phone rings. "Honey, are you busy? I need you to look something up on the internet for me." Nope, it wasn't my husband. It was a friend's husband. The second the word 'honey' left his mouth I knew he needed something. I do the same to him but that is irrelevant. Seems the friend's DH was in need of a wildlife rehabilitator. Apparently little Mr. Redneck Country Boy With Too Much Time And A Gun On His Hands thought it a good idea to take aim and fire at what he thought was a squirrels' nest waaaay up in a tree. Nevermind that he has no idea of what a squirrels' nest looks like. What he shot instead was a hawk. Shooting hawks is illegal in Texas. I graciously offered to call the authorities and turn him in but he took the wind out of my sails when he informed me that he had already told on himself. Damned the bad luck! What he thought was a juvenile Red Tailed Hawk was later identified by the wildlife rehabber as an adult male Red Shouldered Hawk. The friend's DH clipped his wing but the bird should be just fine. The husband, on the other hand, might be in need of a rehabilitator of his own after what happened next.

On his way back home he called me to tell me that he got his bird off to the rehabber and guess what she gave him? For reasons I will never wrap my mind around, this rehabber saw fit to give 2 fertile turkey eggs to this man that just brought her a wounded bird THAT HE SHOT so he could hatch them. At first he asked if I would hatch them as I have an incubator. No way, Jose! Those are YOUR problems! He will be borrowing the incubator and hatching his own eggs. It wasn't but mere seconds from hanging up with him that his wife called me. And she was hot. She is so very not amused that he is bringing home eggs to hatch. She and I did the chicken hatching and rearing thing for a while. We got tired of keeping the coyotes fat and sassy. We are so over the raising of fowl yet he dares to bring TURKEY eggs home! I hope those birds grow up fast and relocate lest someone go squirrel hunting again!

Glory Days

I miss this. I miss the conditioning rides that made me so sore I walked funny the next day. I miss getting in shape so that I didn't hurt the next day. I miss the miles, the trails, the conversation, the rush, the sync with my horse. I miss the much anticipated shower and crashing in bed only to awake to my husband bringing me coffee in bed the next day because I was spent from riding my horse and getting a completion. I miss hoping for my first 50.

It seems that life altered my wanna be endurance career starting with my soulmate horse getting injured days before a ride. A long rehab lay ahead. Things just progressed. I had hoped to do BlueBonnet in a few days but I can't. I can't because I am fat. I can't because my back hurts. I can't because I freeze every time I am on my horse and a leaf rustles. I can't because I am terrified to ride. Yet still I want to do just that. I want to ride and sweat and be at one with my horse as she hits her big trot and eats the trail up, working for me and me alone. Our bodies and minds one.

I am trying to get back there. I rode Shaqerriae yesterday for an hour and a half. A bit in a field and mostly in the arena. I trotted and trotted and today I am sore. I am sure she is too. My doctor put me on some medication that is allowing me to be a bit more physically active. I am trying to find my way back to endurance riding. Or if that is not to be, then at least riding.

The photo above was taken at the last year of Frigid Digit. The horse I am atop is LL Cruzin Altitude. I was riding him for Di. Well, no I wasn't. To say that I rode "Stilts" would be a lie. I hung on, gritted my teeth, closed my eyes and prayed that I would still be with him as we crossed the finish line. Stilts did not require a rider when it came to endurance. A rider was merely a passenger that was not to interfere with his game plan. That game plan was to go 90mph over and through whoever and whatever was in his way. I don't think I was ever happier to get off of a horse's back than I was Stilts' the day of this ride. I also don't think I miss past horses quite as bad as I do Stilts. Di sold him not long after this ride. My husband offered to buy him for me but I knew he was too much horse for me. I regret letting him slip through my fingers.

Bad Blogger

As is the case with most things in my life that don't require bathing, feeding, cage cleaning, nose or butt wiping, etc this blog has been neglected. Truth be told my psyche has been screwing with me. Maybe I am better.

What have I been up to? Well, just a couple of days after the trip to OK with Jan, the boys and I got recruited by the DH to hot shot equipment for a warehouse his company was closing down. TWO TRIPS WE MADE! I even had the extreme displeasure of running a cathead to pull a reluctant forklift onto a trailer. Scary stuff. I highly advise against it. Since we were in Louisiana, I wanted so bad to go see Billy from Vexcon. I think DH was afraid I would kidnap him and bring him home so that detour was overruled.

I got Shaqerriae off to Di's for easy access so that I could get back to riding again. Weather, nerves and back pain prevented me from getting to where I want to be but at least Di got me to the point that I am not bursting into tears while I am sitting still on my horse. She will never know how much she really did help me. Shaqerriae is back home and I am supposed to ride her tomorrow with Sabrina.

Now the sucky news. Went to the spine specialist yesterday. Vertebrae fractures have healed nicely. But oh, what do we have here? Seems I either tore the ring around a disc or ripped the ligaments apart when I had my horse wreck. This is why I am having so much pain. Evidently I had too much swelling at the time of the accident for the xrays to show it up then. I will have to go in for an MRI to see what is what. Meantime the doctor suggested I leave the horses alone for now. We will see. I do know the anti-inflammatory meds he prescribed are killing me. This definitely puts off any serious riding for a while.

I guess that is enough to bore anybody with for one reading. No pictures. Things have just been too crazy. Now, let's see if I can become a more responsible blogger!

ROAD TRIP!!!

Monday morning started by grabbing April and hauling her to the vet for a $25.00 glance by the vet in order to procure a health certificate for her trip home to Oklahoma. The crabby old bitty thanked me by flipping out in the trailer when we got back to the farm and breaking yet another trailer tie. You gotta love mares! The DH made sure the truck and trailer were hooked up, fueled up and ready for an early morning departure complete with 3 spare tires and a socket set (?). Tuesday morning's alarm sounded much too early after a sleepless night. How can anybody be expected to sleep with a slightly psychotic cat running around the house in the middle of the night like somebody has shot her full of speed? Then the dog started. click click click went her nails on the awful Pergo flooring. Back and forth to get a drink of water she went. I finally chased her into the oldest tax deductions room and closed her neurotic water drinking ass in there. Ahhh! Sleep at last! And then the damned alarm started screaming. I slither out of my covers while coming to terms with the fact that I will not be putting on makeup and doing my hair like a real person. Jeans, t-shirt (with hole) ponytail and hiking boots and I am good. Pretty? NO Presentable? In some company maybe.



I get over to the farm and it is still dark. As I turn on my geeky little baseball cap light and open the gate, Rent-A-Donkey starts braying. Loudly. I turn to her and damned if she isn't headed right toward me a little too fast and very much a little too pissed off. She had her ears back, her tail up, neck stretched out and was hollering at me at the top of her little pregnant lungs. I would like the record to show that this fat girl can move if given proper motivation and honey, I was properly motivated! As I arrived at April's stall she is too freaked out by my light to move so catching her was a breeze despite the trailer attached to the noisily idling diesel truck. She loaded no problem and off we went to pick up my travelling buddy for the day.



I arrive at Jan's a hair past 7 (well maybe like 30 minutes late, damned snooze button). Out she comes all bouncy and happy down her driveway. She gets to the truck and she has her hair done. And makeup. And her clothes match. And she doesn't have holes. And I think I may have to hate her for looking so neat and perky this early in the morning. Off to Oklahoma we go by way of the first Starbuck's we can find. We had a very chatty and nice ride up to Joleen's with only one potty stop which isn't bad for two caffeinated girls.

Once at Joleen's we unloaded a very confused horse to the great joy of a very happy stallion. No nookie for you Bud! Jan grabbed her high falootin' camera and Joleen proceeded to walk us around to introduce Jan to all her gorgeous horses. Jan got a crash course in color genetics that I am sure sunk in to the point that she could relay it in her sleep. Jan was especially taken with Brunhilda, one of Joleen's splashsabinoframereallypretty horses. Truthfully, beyond sabino I just know that Brunhilda is one cool looking chick. Jan was playing photographer extraordinaire. Just ask her to see the pictures she took. HUH JAN????

After the tour we sat in the grass and played with the quite personable 'Dog' and chatted with Joleen for much too short of a time. Jan and I loaded up and headed back home to the good side of the river before the storms hit. We were both pretty whipped from the day but I know I certainly enjoyed it! Thanks for going Jan!!!!

Double Whammy

So the bitch in England that I bought my much debated and anticipated Barefoot Cheyenne saddle from stiffed me. I got my refund from Paypal today and did what any responsible girl would do. I bought another Cheyenne. And a shiny matching high dollar saddle pad. I am so jazzed about this saddle. I have been sitting the fence getting one because out of the eight thousand saddles I have bought for Shaqerriae NONE FIT! I have decided that if my fat ass cannot ride in a treeless then I either need to not ride her or get in shape once and for all. Well, I need to get in shape at any rate and that 3rd glass of Pinot Grigio I just had is not helping that particular cause. Anyhoo ( I loathe that term) I bought both and the seller is Fed-Exing them for free to me. Since I overshot my budget and am now broke I am taking donations of a girth, leathers and irons. That or can someone distract Di so I can raid her tackroom? See my saddle and pad? Ain't they purty? Lucky me my Zilco matches the pad!

B.R.S.

David, I love you and will forever miss you.

Machovsky, David "Guido" Funeral services for David "Guido" Machovsky, 46, of Wills Point, are scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 3, 2009, at Allan Fuller Funeral Home Chapel in Wills Point with Rev. Benny Chaffin officiating. Interment will follow at New Hope Cemetery near Wills Point. He passed away late Friday night, February 27, 2009, at his residence. David was born May 5, 1962, in Garland, Texas, the son of Clarence Patrick Machovsky and Mary Ann Supak Machovsky. He was raised in Garland and Caldwell. In 1981, he graduated from North Garland High School and later from DeVry University in Irving. Throughout the 1980's, he was employed as an iron worker in many facets. David changed his profession in 1993 and became a tower hand in the telecommunications field. Before his illness, he earned his position as executive vice-president of Charys Holding Company in Atlanta, Georgia. On April 3, 1993, he married Deana Marie Rynders Shields in Dallas. He lived in Garland prior to moving to Wills Point 91/2 years ago. David was a member of Round'em Up Cowboy Church in Wills Point and a member of the Iron Worker's Union. He enjoyed boating, fishing, woodworking, welding, guns and horses. He also loved being with family, friends and watching westerns starring John Wayne. Preceded in death by his grandparents, John & Julie Machovsky; Charlie & Mary Supak; Floyd & Ruth Johnson and his father-in-law, Dean Rynders. David is survived by his wife, Deana Marie Machovsky, of Wills Point; father, Clarence "Mac" Machovsky & wife, Bea, of McKinney; mother, Mary Ann Humphries & husband, George, of Port Aransas; son, Jeffrey Shields Jr. & fiancee, Carrie Ihde, of McKinney; 2 daughters, Kati Machovsky & fiance, Anthony Providenti, of Pocono Summit, PA and Holly Shields & fiance, Lance LyBrand, of Wills Point; 3 brothers, John Machovsky, of Wills Point, Mike Machovsky, of Port Aransas and Frank Machovsky, of Corpus Christi; sister, Catherine Machovsky, of Plano; step-brother, Floyd Smith, of Raleigh, NC; step-sister, Tami Wilson, of McKinney; mother-in-law, Nancy Rynders, of Dallas; brother-in-law, Kevin Rynders & wife, Shelly, of Garland; many nieces and nephews and his pets, Samson, Hobo and Dollar. Pallbearers: John Machovsky, Mike Machovsky, Frank Machovsky, Jeffrey Shields, Jr., Tim Pelton and Lonnie Blackwell. Sympathy tributes may be made to the National Brain Tumor Society, East Coast Office, 124 Watertown Street, Suite 2D, Watertown, MA 02472. Family will receive friends at the funeral home Monday evening from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Allan Fuller Funeral Home 205 Hwy. 64 Wills Point, TX (903) 873-3933 www.allanfullerfuneralhome.com

I Shall Return

For the few lonely souls that wonder where I have gone: I am dealing with the painful loss of a friend. He was more than a friend. He was a part of my family. Until I can deal with the huge hole in my heart I just need some time. I'll post again soon when the tears ease.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LENNA!!!!!!!!!!!!

You go girl. Shake that booty and party like nobody is watching! I hope you have a wonderful day. (And I hope you are still talking to me after seeing this.)

Note to cyber friends: No, my mom's name isn't Lenna but she would be even madder if I told you it was Ethel. The picture is circa 1991. The ole gal won't shake her money maker much these days. She doesn't even get a real birthday this year, or next year or the year after. She had to be special and be a leap year baby. Saves me from buying her a gift every year!

Mom, I love you and wish you all the best!

An Apology

Dear Colon, I am writing with an advanced apology over what I am about to put you through. See, I promised myself I was gonna try to do an endurance ride in 2 months from today. How do you factor into that you ask? Well in an effort to make myself a bit less like a Blue Whale on my precious Arabian mare I thought I would get back to eating healthy. And taking supplements. Supplements that clean out and detox you, my colon, dear friend. This will only require an inconvenience on your part for 7 days. I plead with you to please be patient and have mercy on me. I ask that you take great care to not punish me for all that I have forced upon you in the way of chili, salsa, extra jalapenos on my nachos and the like. I will be better to you in the future, I promise. Please, be nice. Please.

My farrier not so gently reminded me today that my ride was in 2 months! How in the hell did that happen?? I am so very not ready. I have eaten salads and fruits and vegetables and gained 2 pounds. This ride is going to kill me. At the grocery today I noticed an innocent little display of "Slimquick weight loss jump start kits". Hmm. sounds reasonable enough. Especially if you are your cell phone and not really paying attention to what you are buying. That part is always more fun to do when you get home. Well, evidently my "kit" wants me to detox my colon before I take the weight loss supplement. Ooh this should be fun. I have never detoxed any part of my being before. It sounds a bit ominous.

With all that said, I ate my turkey and avocado sandwich and swallowed 4 non-descript capsules that are currently on their way to rid my body off all the ills I have put it through. Dear God, I hope I bought enough toilet paper.

Shaqerriae, this is all for you baby. Never let it be said momma doesn't love you!

Just Between Friends

It is a great thing indeed to have a friend. I am fortunate enough to enjoy a nice circle of them. We all have friends that we rely on for different things. You have the friend that will tell you that yes, as a matter of a fact, your butt does look big in those jeans. You have the friend that will indulge you in your rants about your husband/boyfriend/job/other friend, etc. There is always the enabler friend ready to whisk off at a moment's notice to assist you in doing whatever it is you should not be doing, especially when it means acquiring something horsey. And on the list goes. A good friend is a good confidente. There isn't much not shared when you and your friends are thick as thieves. Not even the process by which you wipe your butt.


It all started innocently enough over my third cup of coffee during a phone call to Di. She and I are President and Vice-President of an Arabian breeders/owners club. We needed to nail down a date for a dressage show we are putting on among other club matters. We haggled and fussed and found our show date. We co-composed important emails. We were doing work. And then it happened. I peed whilst on the phone. Now this in and of itself is no big deal. Girls, we ALL pee while on the phone to our friends. And quite possibly our husbands and mothers. How in the name of all that is Holy did the conversation ever turn to the amount and usage of toilet paper I will never know. But turn it did. All club business was immediately suspended as we certainly had something far more pressing to delve into. And as is the habit of Di and I, we delved deep.
Di, much to my amazement is a folder of toilet paper. She commented that she takes great pride to fold her tissue just so. Carefully she selects 3 squares of her tissue and neatly folds it, ready for use. Now let me tell you, if I took 3 squares, folded or not, that mess would disappear up the Great Divide that is my ass so fast your head would spin. When asked how she got the job done with 3 lone squares she stated that she sometimes went for a second set of 3 squares. I did find it quite interesting to note that she was unable to tell me if she folded accordian style or over and over. I admire her resolve to be so neat and tidy in the privy but I still have yet to wrap my mind around the concept of folding.
It is a good thing I have strong plumbing as I am a wadder. I want to grab hold of that Charmin strong and let her roll. Give me a big fluffy wad. No counting, no folding, no going back for seconds. Let's just get this done.


Now the argument was made by her in that she is able (as a folder) to fold the used over and have a clean side. "But you have more surface area if you wad" I reply. "Besides if you get a big enough wad you can fold it over". I think it is at this point that my dear unshakable friend shuddered. The mere thought of a wad of toilet paper coming toward her naked butt is enough to give her the heebee jeebiees. I don't understand it. I guess as neither of us has to rely on the other to wipe our respective whoo-whoos then I guess we can live and let live. It does make me wonder though, what type of friends do I have that will fold their tp? OK you nosy readers. Are you folders or wadders????? And don't lie.

Saddened, stressed and sneezing

So maybe I am a little slow on the uptake. I finally get the picture and it's a sad one. I have been dismissed from a friend's life. That's ok. It happens. It wasn't ugly as most breakups go so at least there's that. The past year has seen several changes in her life and mine too I guess. Seems that our biggest basis for the friendship was the horses and since there is strife in that department then there is no need for me. Hmm. Fact is, I (and most of our friends) sincerely believe that her new horse is a bit too much and she took it as a slam. Umm, preserving my friend's well being is kinda important to me. That has effectively, over time, ended the relationship. The hammer fell today when she left me a voicemail that her new trailer was finished and she had hauled to the arena. Without me. I have been excused. While I am sad at the loss I take comfort in the incredible people that I ride with and have deep friendships with outside of horses. If the horses were gone tomorrow these people would still be there. That is a powerful thing to have in your heart.
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Now onto the stress and the sneezing. That sweet, adorable, precious kitty has caused my nasal passages to clamp down tighter than all get out. My eyes itch. My lungs itch. I knew it would happen. All the critters attack my sinuses (thanks Dad) with all their might. Zyrtec is my friend. Now if you'll excuse me I need to go switch laundry because said kitty PEED IN MY BED her first day here. Now if that isn't brazen I don't know what is!

What's been missing

I am a cat lover. Dogs are OK but they kinda go along life with a dumb smile on their face and pretty much anybody can be their friend. Unless the dog is Socks and the person is me. And for the record, she growled at me first. Cats can be a bit aloof and bitchy. That is a much more admirable trait to me. You have to earn it with most cats. Dogs? A Milkbone and you're friends for life. Well, the Socks clause still applies.

*

In the spring of 2007 the family and I made the trek to the Austin area to pick up our much anticipated Bengal kitten from Katznjamr Bengals. We had plunked down our deposit and had waited not so patiently for the time when our baby was ready to come home. She was not our first Bengal so we knew what we were getting into. Allie was beyond bad though. She took aloof and bitchy to new heights. She was destructive. She didn't like men. She was everything in a cat that makes non cat people hate cats. And I could not have loved that cat more if I had of hatched her myself. Last fall Allie got sick. The vet did everything to try and save her but it was not to be. I lost my Allie cat.

So on Tuesday my partner in crime, Sabrina, called to say that our vet has 2 kittens to give away in his office. An orange and a black and white. Told her thanks but no thanks. I wanted another Bengal and was waiting for another kitten this fall from Allie's breeder. I told myself no for 3 whole days. This morning I called to see if the kittens were still there and as fate would have it, the little orange female was. The vet's office said she was very upset as her buddy had been taken home last night. I asked them to give her her shots (they already had) and I would pick her up. I get there and am presented with the cutest orange kitten that is purring way too loudly, kneading me with her fuzzy paws and smearing my face with her nose and cheeks. Turns out she is a purebred Scottish Fold that didn't fold so she wasn't really marketable. I have never considered the breed for me. I think they look goofy. Ears, pedigree, etc aside, I think she is just what we have been missing. I am glad she is so sweet and so ADD because if she were too much like Allie in personality, well, that just might hurt too much.

So here I am

I have been hemming and hawing over blogging for quite some time. I don't expect to captivate John Q. Public with exciting tales from my life. What I do expect to do is to keep myself a bit more honest about promises I have made to myself. Back in December I was unceremoniously dismounted from my dear APHA mare. Two fractured vertabrae and a $22k hospital bill later and I think I am ready to ride again. I have the most fabulous friend who doubles as a horse trainer in her real life. She will be holding my hand and cracking the whip as needed to 'encourage' me to get over myself and enjoy my horses again. Goal: Bluebonnet Endurance ride in 2 months. In order to achieve this goal and not die I need to lose weight, get fit(ter), and actually ride my horse. No. Not the one that broke my back. My good horse. The spooky Arab mare that is my equine soulmate. Tylenol anyone?

Just so there are no illusions that I am superwoman, the youngest had a meltdown this morning. Over his brother's lunchbox. Over his brother's lunchbox that contained stuff he wouldn't eat. Grrrrrrr. This happened in the parking lot of the school this morning. I am sure we sent more than one mommy home burning up her phone line in our bitty town to tell her BFF about the redneck mom beating her kid. Ladies, I won't even ask you to walk a mile in these boots. Just a few steps should send you screaming.

So there. My first blog post and nobody has been harmed as a result. Yet.