Steeplechase

 Why does it seem as though the goalposts are constantly shifting?? It isn’t as if Val “only” gets run off the road in a serious car wreck - destroying my little Nissan & putting me in the ER with a concussion, lacerated lip, and broken rib. And then get dragged into a lawsuit by my neighbor, who is looking for some mythical big insurance payout (he & his wife were in their Suburban behind Mr A**, who turned in front of me, forcing me into the guardrail which I bounced off & rebounded into their truck)

** this was his employer’s work truck, which he supposedly did not have permission to drive? & strangely enough, Mr A has vanished into the sunset (the sunset in Mexico, that is) so we’ll never know his side of the story. I suspect it would be the Mexican-standoff driving theory, which is that the first vehicle at an intersection (even if only by fractions of a second) gets to proceed on through…

ANYWAY, I had to book Dr. M to cover for me yesterday so I could go up to Frisco for mandatory mediation. (There have been multiple continuances - I had to hire my own personal injury lawyer in 2023 since the lawsuit exceeded my car insurance boundaries). We have filed our own countersuit in what I consider a case of “self-defense”: I do have evidence of a TBI; the argument will be how much of that can be attributed to the accident, and how much could be the aftereffects of long Covid? It will prove to be a case of whose experts prevail - I think we’ve got good ones.

At any rate, mediation was unsuccessful because they were being ridiculous - they started with an offer of $5K (I have no idea where that figure came from?), then  an increase to $17K which was the price tag they attributed to my medical bills - again, I don’t know where those figures came from; I’m sure my day in the ER cost considerably more than that? So “we’ll see ya in court” which is scheduled for June 17th - perhaps we can finally get this BS settled. It’s stressful - I came home yesterday in desperate need of a nap.

Photo Dump (Part ???)

 

                                      Awe-inspiring Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Notre Dame

                                           Idling around at Pat Mayse Lake (Catie & her dad Marty)

   A long-perspective shot of Tony & I on the trails at Reynolds Creek (if you zoom in, you can see the next riders, stopped ahead of us at the water trough)

Captain Dunsel

 I was going to tie this into yesterday’s “Restart” post but I didn’t have enough time in my idle ramblings… I missed the tail end of Season 3 (no big loss) in my endless saga of Star Trek reruns during Catie’s visit; this week it swings back around to the excellence that is the 1st season! Captain Kirk faces redundancy when they install “The Ultimate Computer” to take command of the Enterprise; I likewise feel a little bit useless as Zach & Victoria wheel out in their wedding planning…

I don’t want to rain on their lil’ newlywed parade, but to me, spending upwards of $10K on a wedding venue sounds like a poor thing to pin your marital hopes on?? And of course that’s far from the bulk of the expense - by the time they cater the party, buy flowers & clothing & arrange all the other activities, they could easily spend $30K!!??!! Yikes! Not that I want to sit back here saying “I got mine” - while I greatly appreciated my folks throwing us a nice reception when Peran & I got back from our pseudo-elopement wedding in Scotland, but A.) they didn’t have to do it, & B.) as I recall, they spent maybe $3K - granted, this was 22.5 yrs ago - let me plug those figures into an inflation calculator; maybe at today’s prices, that is pushing $25 - 30K??!!?? Again, yikes! But of course, my main concern is not the money so much as the glaring gap that I perceive in their financial management strategies - this money might be better invested on premarital counseling. Yes, I know - pot, meet the kettle!

Restart

 Trees are beginning to bud out (although I haven’t seen the pecan trees budding out yet; they are never fooled by a false spring) as we head back into another bluebonnet season! I had a whirlwind trip to California, followed by a bounce to Indiana to get my cousin & her kitty cats settled in - Zach was almost in tears when I sent him pictures of her beautiful backyard: “Why would she ever leave that, Mom?” Well, let me break it down for ya, son:

A.) Isolated hilltop location which she’s never been fond of - her ex-husband picked out these lots

B.) $20K as an annual property tax burden; the cost of living overall in California has gotten outrageous (it made my eyes water to see gas at $6/gal & I didn’t even see a diesel pump!)

C.) As I mentioned earlier, Heida fears that her ex is now going to build on the lot next door; talk about being forced into in-house confinement! 

I’ll have to dump photos later since this iPad still isn’t cooperating with that function…

My Cousin’s Keeper

 (A gross exaggeration of course, but I have to come up with a title and I’ve made many jokes over the years that I don’t have siblings**, I have cousins!)

** not entirely true - God rest your soul, sweet Linda! I’ll come back to write more about that later, but for now I’m concentrating on my cousins…

My dad was the youngest of 3, the only son of George Sr whom I never knew (he died when I was 2). He was raised in close proximity to his cousin James - nicknamed “Tag” because he tagged along with the Lewis family every chance he got…  Kind of sad because it looks to me like his mother pawned him off on other family members quite often - at any rate, Tag enlisted in the Army, was sent to post-war Germany & came home with a German war bride. He went to work in the aerospace industry (Lockheed & Martin Marietta, he was a real rocket scientist!) & moved to California. They had a single daughter, five years older than me - we didn’t get to spend a lot of time together, but we were always kept appraised of each other’s accomplishments. Heida married her high school sweetheart & worked as a medical librarian at Stanford University for over 30 yrs. Her marriage imploded about 10 years after mine with many parallels to my situation, in that her husband gaslit her, trying to persuade her that he was not cheating even when it was blatantly obvious! (In Ian’s case, it was the Burning Man festival instead of endurance rides)

Heida’s decision to retire and move away was expedited by her former father-in-law‘s passing - he owned the lot next door to her: her ex-husband inherited it and she is convinced that he will build there.  Heida is a devout Catholic (much more devout than me, ha ha!) which is why she settled on this retirement community at Notre Dame. Tonight I can get out my suitcase and start packing!

The Best-Laid Plans

 (Fill in the blank: “can go to waste”, “can be for naught”, etc)

My problem is, these days I feel like I have NO plans - these last couple of years has been a desperate struggle just to keep my nose above water between the forced implosion of my clinic, the relocation/remodeling struggles, trying to get my son to the finish line in college, and my own health issues. Nevermind any other minor complications like my mother’s slow insidious health decline & my sterile marriage-between-amiable-roommates (at least I can give thanks that we’re amiable!)

I can chirp in my best Marty Feldman imitation “Could be worse - could be raining!” & then it does… I was scheduled to work a day/ride a day at Dr. Conway’s memorial ride on the southeast side of San Antonio during what I hope is our last gasp of wintry weather. I was not dismayed in the least not to saddle up Saturday because it was drizzly & cold - however, Sunday dried out & turned into a beautiful day. Unfortunately the 3rd vet Eron had lined up to spell me out was rear-ended by a dump truck on 410 when traffic came to a standstill - thank the Lord she was not hauling horses in her trailer (she was just bringing it as her RV to sleep in); they would’ve been seriously injured or killed! So there again it could’ve been much worse: all I had to do was work, everything went smoothly, we had no treatments & I was able to hook Tony up with our neighbor so he got in a ride. Twoie got a nice camping trip & extra grub!

This weekend we had a work day out on the trails on Lake Bardwell so hopefully we can get them re-opened; I managed to get in a 10 mi ride yesterday on Mr. Silas since Twoie had taken himself down to the bottom pasture - he would not come when I called & rattled a feed bucket. I needed to make sure Silas was uninjured after his recent ordeal - he’s fine, just mildly deconditioned! Unfortunately I’ve never figured out how to ride more than one at a time…

Zach had invited me to go to church yesterday, & while I was flattered, I had to decline because I told him I had already made plans to go riding. I am pleased that he & Victoria are investigating their options for having a church wedding.  Momma must’ve done something right!

                                                Checking ponies in the fog

                                                         Tony & Cowboy

                                                      Hard-working trail crew

Begin Again

 (Insert one of those convoluted infographics: the linear progress you expect to make, versus the convoluted mess life generally is!)

I went back & skimmed a few “ancient history” SP entries from 2014 - thank the Lord I am no longer having to “co-parent” with my ex-husband; talk about exhaustion!!! Then reviewed a few desperate entries from ‘21 when I was seriously concerned about Z’s “failure to launch”… Fun times! (not)

But yesterday I couldn’t face another Texas swing in the weather, with bitter cold & icy wind - it was like a game of chicken with my friend Sam texting to cancel first! But my consolation prize was meeting my son for a late lunch/early dinner; I hadn’t shared a meal with him for quite a while. And I mean “share” quite literally because he wanted to order appetizers off their happy hour menu; Z wouldn’t even let me look at the regular menu… I shouldn’t have indulged in that Moscow Mule; Zach said I was “moving like a zombie” when we left. Z was a little disillusioned, being reprimanded after correcting his boss’s mistake. I told him in large part that’s why I didn’t go to work at the zoo; I didn’t care to deal with the city bureaucracy. Thankfully he’s still getting on well with his coworkers & shouldn’t have to deal with a lot of daily interaction with this particular supervisor.

Meanwhile my only supervisor is me, myself & I, so I’ve got to get moving!

Edited postscript: the "Begin Again" title is derived from the fact that I finally peeled my rump out of my recliner last night, to stretch out on my yoga mat with my old "yoga crush" Robert - he has made some new videos for my YogaAnytime app; intermediate level is still a little beyond me, but dammit I TRIED..