Friday, December 30, 2022

Humbug Antidote

 Unfortunately Izzy’s first Jingle Bell Run was a bust - long story short, I had to go pay a contractor who’s been working on Zach’s house. Of course these folks want to get their money especially over the holidays.

The kids went to Denver while I held down the fort, feeding critters so it was no holiday for me with a thankfully brief but intense cold snap. Luckily no power outages, ice or snow (there were snow flurries on Friday but nothing stuck). I was trying to complete my Christmas shopping at the mall Friday afternoon when alarms blared, strobe lights flashed and they evacuated the mall because of a brawl in the food court where I had just enjoyed a nice sushi roll. You can imagine the tidal wave of shoppers who poured out of the facility - I then spent almost an hour in the resultant traffic jam just trying to get out of the parking lot!

It felt sinful taking “a day to myself” yesterday but that’s what I did when Janet invited me for a return visit to Wyatt Ranch - yes please! Although Mr Bo thought I was trying to work him to death…

These photos are out of order - near the end of our ride, Bo would NOT hold his ears up!
                                               Better attitude in this photo (early on in our ride)
                                                                Fording the Paluxy River



Tuesday, December 20, 2022

Bah Humbug

 Aka “Forcing Ye Olde Holiday Spirit”!

This evening is our Dallas Jingle Bell Run, a huge raucous family-and-dog-friendly event near downtown. I’m in no shape to do a 5K, but I’m going to go anyway and take Izzy. Couldn’t interest P in going but one of my yoga students actually talked me into it - we’ll both be casual amblers. Izzy and I will probably hit the cutoff and just do the 1 mile fun loop.

In years past I’ve jogged it with Buddy-dog (carrying Clarice like a football, the following year I made her wait in the car! Clarice has never been into strenuous exercise ;-) but my last time to toe the line in Big D was 2018 with my darling Amelia. I’m sorry to say I only got to enjoy two 5K events with her: the Jingle Bell Run & the Polkafest Run here in Ennis. So I might have a tear or two tracking down my cheek, but I can blame my eyes watering on the cold wind. It will be nice to see the Anatole decked out for the holidays, a little “forced holiday cheer” is better than nothing!

Last night Zach invited me for a brief holiday shopping expedition at North Park - Victoria has a few days off and the kids are going to go to Denver, winter jackets were needed. But I believe my boy is double-dipping  - he now wants to celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas! However since he passed calculus, I feel he has earned the extra gifts. Words cannot describe my relief…

After her initial orientation period, Victoria has been switched to overnight shifts so she will work tonight and she and Zach will hop a plane tomorrow morning to go to Denver for four days. I hope all goes well with their return on Christmas Day.

We have hiked many a mile in NorthPark Mall - I remember the pecan reindeer team from MY childhood!
Taco Time! Velvet Taco offers quite the eclectic assortment: chicken tikka marsala, fish & chips, chicken & waffle, chicken pot pie (L to R)
Say hello to my little friend - tiny baby scorpion in my shower. I wish I could've posted video of him angrily wringing his tail & gesticulating with his pincers - he was trying to make himself big & scary






Monday, December 19, 2022

Peaceful Easy Feelin’

 The lil’ jukebox in my head played this old Eagles song as I drove back from Glen Rose Saturday afternoon - unfortunately it (my own "peaceful easy feeling") only lasted as long as the drive home, although Baraq & I had a very pleasant ride. Sam was my sole riding buddy - I didn’t seem to be able to scare up anyone else this close to Christmas! This holiday behemoth stumbles towards me, I have done practically nothing in preparation!

I have spent an ungodly amount of time on hold with customer service representatives - online ordering is supposed to make our lives easier, is it not? Insert ironic laugh here - I had Friday off, tried to do a little Christmas shopping but just couldn’t get “into it”… Met up with son for dinner, yet caught shit from hubby when I then returned home later than P expected. I had called the man to give him a heads up - I knew he wouldn’t want to come meet us and he said he was going back to the gym?!? Damned if I will sacrifice any opportunity to spend time with my son - maybe one of these years P will realize that.

Thursday I had a quick “oil check” visit with my doctor and embarrassed myself by spilling my guts about some of my marital problems - she did ask me how I was feeling after all! I am afraid 12 months into this ordeal (my car accident was 12/03, Covid exposure probably 12/29 with “The Longest Haul” starting end of January/first of February) this may be “As Good As It Gets”, so I need to make the best of it. 

Clarice continues to perform her best “dead dog” impressions as she relaxes in her bed - causing me to tiptoe over multiple times, wondering “Is this it?” with her little neck at an awkward angle. I’m going to take her to visit the Animal Diagnostic Clinic next week - I’d like to do another scan to see what Ye Olde Pancreas looks like! I took her picture this AM, but iPhone and iPad don’t seem to be talking to one another - but I can post a few photos from our ride.

                                          Trail photo of Sam & Thunder doesn't do the place justice
                                                       Fording the Paluxy River
                                    Ranch owner is building nice paddocks, suitable for overnight campouts
                                            Easy access to trails behind his hay barn
                                                       Hilltop cross overlooking Glen Rose
                                       This cowgirl bears startling resemblance to Scarlett Johansson
                                             Mila's first visit with Santa & Mrs Claus!
                                                      Stiff competition for #1 Lap Warmer
Finally got "dead dog" photo to download ;-)






Sunday, December 11, 2022

PEM & PWM

 Spend much time on the Internet and you become familiar with many acronyms - not just text-message abbreviations like “LOL” either!

One symptom which is a common complaint of many of us long Covid sufferers is PEM: Post-Exercise Malaise, aka overdoing it! While graded exercise is prescribed for some fatigue-related conditions, overdoing it can cause devastating relapses. And as Jake Spoon said, “I didn’t see no line Gus, I was just trying to get through the territory without getting scalped, that’s all!”

While I’d like to compare myself to the fun-loving Gus McRae or dutiful, hard-working Woodrow Call, I probably have more in common with Jake Spoon, just trying to get by at this point. I have added my own acronym: PWM, Post-Work Malaise which ain’t exactly new in my case. I could unearth old Spark-blog entries from years ago in which I bemoan my lessening stamina - it used to be that a busy workday was a challenge and I would finish up feeling proud of myself. It is becoming an increasing struggle to “get ‘er done”, after which I stumble home to collapse in my recliner, not looking forward to resting up & trying to do it all over again the next day…

I went to the gym with DH Friday night and did a little grab-bag of activities: a few minutes on the elliptical, half a mile on the treadmill, followed by the stationary bike and a couple of the weight machines. It was a hard task to roll out of bed yesterday morning - I was sore from nose to tail. I continue to try to draw inspiration from my dear Clarice, who soldiers on with her special pates of canned puppy food and softened kibble - I wish I could post videos here, she has a very amusing, alligator-like toss and swallow routine down! Her weight is stable, her blood work has returned to normal - I’m gonna take her back to see the internal medicine specialist at the end of this month more for a humble-brag than anything. I am as proud of her as anything I’ve done in my entire career - almost 4 months out after a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, that’s a long time especially in dog years…

I don’t know if I’ll have it in me to slog through a 50 mile ride next month, but all I can do is keep placing one foot in front of the other. As other endurance writers have paraphrased, sometimes you learn as much from your failures as from your successes.

I have very little in common with Charles Darwin from the brilliant-scientist perspective, but I do know he also suffered from chronic illness - one  theory is that he developed Chagas disease (bitten by “kissing bug” in South America), which caused heart problems, fatigue and general ill health. I can certainly relate to general peevishness - if this is my “new normal” I strongly protest (ha ha, that’s the sound of the universe laughing at me)!


Janet has been giving Alex a tune-up; I’ll pick her up next week to see if we can forge a stronger bond. After all, she was supposed to be the successor to my dear Coyote (ex-mule stolen from me, I got a lot more mileage out of missing the mule more than the husband!)


Monday, December 5, 2022

Keep Going

 “When you’re going through hell, keep going” - Winston Churchill 

“No one can take advantage of you without your consent“ - Ann Landers

I need to bookend these phrases as I continue to struggle through this non-joyous holiday season - I got myself into this mess, there is no way out except to keep trudging forward, grimly trying to accomplish each task. What I would like is to hire a foreman to ramrod my remodeling project - of course, every client who comes to the new property is eagerly asking when we will have the building remodeled - “No time soon!” seems to be my foreshortened, gruff answer. I miss my dad - if he were still alive & able, he would be all over it. I got sick and tired of Subway sandwiches, which was the only place he wanted to take a lunch break when we were working on the Red Oak facility! Dad always ordered their Italian sub, the least expensive option on the menu - that’s not even offered anymore with all their “upscale” options. (I went there the other day for a quick, auld lang syne option.)

I drove to downtown Dallas Saturday morning to serve as the standby emergency treatment vet in case there were any problems with the parade horses - A good client of mine serves on the committee. Obviously I work very cheap - free parking and VIP seating! But Izzy and I had fun, it was her first parade! (4 yrs ago, the last time I volunteered, I took Clarice but I didn’t think she’d appreciate the commotion this time around)

I did manage to muster enough energy to get out Saturday afternoon for a ride with my friends - what I hope is the first building block for my Arizona ride next month. Easier to natter on about these plans than to dwell on this deep pit I've dug myself into financially... The quote I NEED to focus upon are the immortal words of Spock (ST6: The Undiscovered Country): "What you WANT is irrelevant, what you have CHOSEN is at hand!"

But for today I need to concentrate on doing my best for my patients to continue replenishing my coffers so I can pay for said remodeling. There again, plenty of clients have sympathized with me on what an unfair situation this is - I didn't WANT to be starting all over in a new location at this stage of my career, but here you have it...



Junior & Senior Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders

 

 

                                              We didn't have NEARLY enough parade ponies!
 



Friday, December 2, 2022

Early Christmas

 My man at the trailer dealership got repairs done well ahead of schedule (I had requested to pick it up by December 8 but now that ride has been rescheduled) - I picked up my “early Xmas present” yesterday. Rebuilt hay rack, rebuilt & rewired generator (along with a significant portion of other wiring, including power supply to the furnace, which shorted out when hay rack disintegrated), minor plumbing leaks fixed, as well as routine maintenance like brakes & bearings… fortunately it appears the tires are holding up well for another season!

I handed over ye olde MasterCard, I need to slow down my massive cash outflows which have me feeling like some mortally wounded creature, hemorrhaging cash to all comers: the plumbers, the electricians, water tank and “rescue” landscaping (I had a man come in to do some minor dirt work and spread gravel to remedy the mud pit that our front yard becomes in rainy weather - I was joking that we were going to set up a ferry boat ride!) Let us not speak of my son’s profligate spending - despite my pleas to “make do”for a while, he dove right into major remodeling of kitchen and master bathroom, we now have to put all that back together.

This morning I have a dull headache which I presume is mostly sinus-related. Not all maladies can be traced to a primary source - I’ve had a nonspecific GI upset all week also, bloat & misery! So I’m going to go steam myself in the shower, take some ibuprofen, and ease into my workday.

Monday, November 28, 2022

Obfuscation

 In other words (to quote the immortal Styx, “Nothing Ever Goes As Planned”) - it was a strange, confusing weekend my friends! (Val is loathe to disrupt any long-standing routine)

A.) Thanksgiving itself is forever changed after Covid disruption and my aunt’s death (she hosted our big combo family reunion + Thanksgiving celebration for over 40 years); my cousin who has hosted for these past 3 yrs prefers the weekend before Thanksgiving - her house, her rules of course.

B.) Torrential rains disrupted any riding plans - ‘nuff said.

C.) We were invited to Victoria’s grandparents’ home on Turkey Day - I staggered home after work Wednesday evening to bake 2 pies and generate another pan of my Famous Cornbread Dressing (the secret: toasted pecans and lotsa butter!). Z had called to include his grandma in this event, but she had already begun complaining Wed night that she was exhausted and didn’t want to go… My dad’s old tennis buddy had stopped by to visit and overstayed his welcome. (I don’t know exactly how long this was, but I spoke to mom around 5:45 PM, Roberto had already left so it wasn’t TOO dreadfully late?) And when Thursday was cold and rainy, I knew we’d never get her out. I think dinner itself went well, even though P was a little overwhelmed by the crowd of unfamiliar people (in some regards he’s even more of an introvert than me)

D.) It felt weird to get up Friday morning WITHOUT work (I gave my staff a long weekend off), but Peran and I went to the Korean spa which was a pleasant change of pace. Rain continued off and on through Saturday, which I devoted to playing overseer as Z took care of long-overdue cleaning and maintenance of his snake collection. I had been having literal nightmares about having to show up with animal welfare authorities and treat Zach like the hoarder he was behaving as - I cannot tolerate animal neglect.

E.) Remodeling work continues on the Irving house - Zach plans to move in over the Christmas holidays next month. “Shoulda-coulda-woulda” second guessing continues - I shouldn’t have financed this endeavor but here we are; that ol’ umbilical cord proves to be a gnarly thing to disconnect.

My task was to socialize some of these wild creatures who haven’t been handled nearly enough


                     Don’t take my picture Mom - showing off Z’s house to future in-laws
                                                A young man & his python ❤️💕
                                                New bed for Clarice, still struggling on!


Monday, November 21, 2022

Caveat Emptor

 “Buyer Beware” - although, in this case that turned out to be “Shopper Beware”, and I’m too many decades out from my high school Latin to recall the grammatical difference between “Buyer” and “Shopper”.

Let’s just say the human race keeps on coming up with new ways to frustrate and disappoint me… Mea culpa, I SHOULD have called to confirm but I have a bad tendency to take folks at their word - when Tammy told me she would hold Buckshot for me (no need for a deposit), I presumed that was factual. 

Poor little moron, I was so excited! I texted Tammy when I was about halfway there (she was 3 hrs away in Lockhart), but my heart sank when she responded: “Who is this?”




I’m posting the text exchange purely for my own amusement and edification - but the poor confused soul had sold the horse out from under me to someone she **thought** was me! (“She kept on texting me every day!”) Ai yi yi! I won’t keep beating this sold horse, obviously it wasn’t meant to be - lesson learned by Val: don’t shop via social media, rely on the old tried and true methods of using your real social network - the people you already know! My husband is relieved, although as usual he ain’t talking about it much. I had already fulfilled one part of the bargain - taking Alex-mule over to Janet the trainer’s who was going to show her to a couple of families who might  give her a good home as well as good consistent work. I feel terrible guilt about sending her away but the fact of the matter is she and I never bonded properly - “joined  up” to quote another famous trainer, John Lyon -  she deserves a place where she gets more attention and good steady work that a mule thrives upon.

And if Janet doesn’t find her her person I’ll have a nicely tuned-up mule and we’ll try again…






Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Unhappy Holidays

 Lemme tell ya, “Jaffe Trailer Park” ain’t a fun place to be when it’s cold & rainy!

A.) I’ve got to get a crew out to address the drainage issues: when it rains, most of the front area turns into a mud pit - water drains into the front carport to make a small lake! I need to issue clients a pair of mud boots while joking that I’m gonna set up a ferry ride.

B.) I thought the nifty little unit installed in the tiny trailer was dual-purpose with AC AND heat, but I haven’t figured out a way to turn the heat on? (Complicated by the fact the jerry-rigged power cord does not supply consistent power - note to self: call my cousin the electrician!) So yesterday on my lunch break, I ran down to the dollar store and bought a little electric space heater so I didn’t freeze at my desk…

C.) we continue to rely on short trips up the road for restroom facilities since the plumbers did NOT return yesterday with relentless rain storms. “Plan ahead”

Last night I again limped home stiff and cold, although not as bad as Friday. Baked myself in front of the bathroom heater for a while but pulled a muscle in my shoulder trying a new yoga routine (“deep fascial release”) - guess I’ll take half a pain pill and try to loosen things up with a hot shower. At least I have something to look forward to tonight - a friend/refugee from Bruce’s studio told me about a new Tues night class at 6:30 which is a MUCH more manageable time for me. (Gives me a few extra minutes to breathe & relax rather than rush rush rush to make a 6 PM class) And at $7/pop, it’s much more affordable! I haven’t been able to make the 6 PM Bruce class for over a month - so even when I could squeeze in one class per week, that averaged out to about $18 per session…




Monday, November 14, 2022

Whimpers

 And so, this ride season ends for me with a series of whimpers…

I limped home Friday like a little twisted crab, cramped and painful from the damp cold weather which had descended upon us. Temperatures were dipping down close to freezing and the furnace quit working in my horse trailer so I decided not to go to camp Friday night (this turned out to be a good, prescient decision). I went to bed and slept in for nine hours - it wasn’t perfect rest but it was very nice.

Saturday morning I went to check on my mother, who was laid out in her recliner as if ready to receive Last Rites (Extreme Unction for those of you raised Catholic ;-) but seemed to be recovering from her unspecified respiratory bug. (We did not return to urgent care or the ER in the absence of fever or breathing difficulty, I figured it was best NOT to expose her to all those other sick folks!) She dismissed her home healthcare aide Friday, claiming she didn’t need them. I decided to try to go to camp for one night - unfortunately, my damaged hayrack self-destructed about 12 miles from home. I found a place to turn around and limped back to the house. The ride manager confirmed that she DID need my help on Sunday (the 3rd vet had fallen & given himself a concussion!), so I drove out Sunday morning in my little car as a foot soldier. All went well and I was able to drive home Sunday afternoon to waste the rest of my time watching my Cowboys lose…

So it goes! Trying to psych myself up for another busy workweek but I just ain't feeling it...



Saturday, November 5, 2022

Remembrance of Things Past

 When I arrived at the rehab unit Thursday, Mom had gathered her few belongings into little Walmart bags and stacked them on the bed and along the windowsill. Much as she had done three years ago, when we escaped from Buffalo Creek just as Covid was shutting everything down, she demanded to get out of there! She claims her pain is minimal, her mobility is back to baseline, and she is fundamentally of sound mind so I took her back to her cottage. It’s her life after all! I am lining up some home health care to come by for the afternoon shifts and we’ll see how it goes…

I had been to see my doctor Thursday morning; we had a nice chat - of course it’s hard to determine how many of my symptoms are due to long Covid, stress and anxiety, or lingering hypothyroid symptoms, etc. She took a chest X-ray (which was fine) and settled on an asthma inhaler and a short course of Wellbutrin. “We shall see” - rech in 6 wks

“Relax” by Ellen Bass

Bad things are going to happen.

Your tomatoes will grow a fungus

and your cat will get run over.

Someone will leave the bag with the ice cream

melting in the car and throw

your blue cashmere sweater in the drier.

Your husband will sleep

with a girl your daughter’s age, her breasts spilling

out of her blouse. Or your wife

will remember she’s a lesbian

and leave you for the woman next door. The other cat–

the one you never really liked–will contract a disease

that requires you to pry open its feverish mouth

every four hours. Your parents will die.

No matter how many vitamins you take,

how much Pilates, you’ll lose your keys,

your hair and your memory. If your daughter

doesn’t plug her heart

into every live socket she passes,

you’ll come home to find your son has emptied

the refrigerator, dragged it to the curb,

and called the used appliance store for a pick up–drug money.

There’s a Buddhist story of a woman chased by a tiger.

When she comes to a cliff, she sees a sturdy vine

and climbs half way down. But there’s also a tiger below.

And two mice–one white, one black–scurry out

and begin to gnaw at the vine. At this point

she notices a wild strawberry growing from a crevice.

She looks up, down, at the mice.

Then she eats the strawberry.

So here’s the view, the breeze, the pulse

in your throat. Your wallet will be stolen, you’ll get fat,

slip on the bathroom tiles of a foreign hotel

and crack your hip. You’ll be lonely.

Oh taste how sweet and tart

the red juice is, how the tiny seeds

crunch between your teeth.





Wednesday, November 2, 2022

All Souls

 I need to analyze this deep, atavistic dread I have visiting my mother these days - last night I was SO tired but I drove up to check on her because I cannot get their direct phone line to ring through? (I skipped Monday because it was Halloween and I needed to drive directly to Zach’s to get lined up for the trick-or-treaters) Sunday afternoon she wept piteously as she begged to go back to her cottage - as of yesterday she has been in rehab ONE WEEK, they haven’t even done a full evaluation of her physical condition yet.

Depending on who I talk to, this is either a 21-day or a 28-day process - I want her to get the full benefits of rehab (what Medicare will subsidize) but fundamentally it is also her life, she is competent to make her own decisions. If she wants to go back to her cottage in her “splendid isolation”, I’ll just have to hire in extra help - mom was also reporting last night that she thinks Sonia said something about “staying home”. I texted her for clarification but as of yet she has not replied? Just what I need in all my spare time, try to find mom a new caretaker! Mom asked Sonia to wheel her over to her cottage to use her walk-in tub yesterday and Sonia refused - in my book that’s a firing offense right there. I can’t wait to hear Sonia’s excuse when I ask her about it.

The plumbing crew isn’t coming back until Monday, and this morning I have no cream for my coffee. Life is great. My husband seems to spend every waking moment when he is not tethered to his work computer skimming his smart phone. I’m not claiming any special superiority since I lean heavily on ye olde social media myself. 

I still feel pretty rotten physically with shortness of breath and a peculiar heaviness in my chest - I don’t know if you spell that myocarditis or not? Linda snapped a candid photo of me after our Saturday afternoon ride - I look like death warmed over! I’ll see if my fancy concierge physician can see me tomorrow after I help my mother bathe, that’s the least I can do.

Maybe I’m just bored to tears with whatever tale Robert is spinning, but still!!


Tuesday, November 1, 2022

All Saints’ Day

 It’s holiday season for sure - Halloween yesterday, All Saints today, All Souls tomorrow!

I’m throwing up a few more photos to preserve my memories of last weekend; this week I seem to be suffering from a bad case of “back to work blues”… my tiny horse camping trip was far too short and I wish I had a multi-day event to look forward to. But stomping my feet and grumbling won’t accomplish anything - I have to just put my head down and grind through these next few months while I get the new clinic location well-established. Life don’t care that you didn’t really want to be doing this at this stage in the game - it is what it is!

We had a good turnout doling out candy at Zach’s house in Mesquite last night - most of the kiddos didn’t even seem to notice that I had a live ball python around my neck, she coordinated so well with my costume!






Monday, October 31, 2022

This Is Halloween

 My employees started decorating more than a month ago - when Misti showed me her mini-graveyard pictures, I told her it was a Party Foul to start so early! By the time this weekend rolled around, she was ready to take the kids to the “Trunk or Treat” parking-lot event one block from her house and be done baby done.

As I ponder what kind of fool hauls off about three hours and 3/4 of a tank of diesel for a 2 1/2 hour ride Saturday afternoon?


                                  This girl here!

I had the campground all to myself Friday evening since I was the only one fool enough to haul in in the rain Friday night…  everyone else trickled in Saturday morning and of course it was then getting close to lunchtime so we had to fortify ourselves & didn’t saddle up and ride out till a little past 1 o’clock.

It was a very fun time although it made me a little sad that my husband wouldn’t come join us. JR grilled his special picanha steak Saturday night, and Linda’s non-riding hubby cooked up a huge camp breakfast Sun morning. (Picanha is the rump roast, which is sliced into steaks - I’ve tried it but can’t match JR’s mastery!)

https://www.mychicagosteak.com/steak-university/cook-picanha-steak






Friday, October 28, 2022

A Murder of Crows

 As I was prepping feed buckets for my ponies 2 mornings ago, I heard a cacophony of crows - something had them going in the wooded patch behind my barn. Then I saw reinforcements to their flock also flying in that direction, cawing loudly - it was quite impressive! I wish I had seen what their aggravation was: a hawk or an owl possibly?

Thunder is grumbling this morning - although it hasn’t rained yet, I’m sure it’s going to… I’ve got my trailer hitched up and backed down to the barn so I can head out to the nearby campground this evening. A damp trail ride without mileage credit is better than nothing and it’ll be good to hang out with my friends.

My mom understandably is not happy being in the full-care portion of her facility but I don’t think it can be helped at the present time. Sonia can’t be there 24/7 and I don’t have the stamina to pull a second or third shift either - I’m doing all I can to get through my daily slate of appointments. I went by yesterday to have my blood drawn to recheck my thyroid levels. The clinic bank account is slowly being replenished but I’m only just now choosing what portions of what bills to pay - my dedicated employees deserve to get paid first.


                                          (Not my photo but there were probably twice as many crows!)


Monday, October 24, 2022

Gimme a Break

Update: I should’ve known that a 91-year-old with osteoporosis does not hit a tile floor without damage…

I don’t know where this breakdown in communication occurred - Sonia (mom’s caretaker) took her to urgent care Wednesday and told me they took X-rays and found no fractures, but they did find a UTI - prescribed pain medicine and antibiotics, sent her back to her assisted living facility…(Sonia SEEMS perfectly competent in her English-language skills after 20+ yrs here, but there are gaps)

Her misery continued (unrelenting pain) but when I called the urgent care facility myself Thursday morning, they described a compression fracture at L1.

Then the real fun started - I called up to the main office of her facility to see about getting her transferred into full care while she’s recovering. Long story short, there is a protocol to be followed! but they let her records from urgent care sit on their FAX machine for 4 hours (!!!) so I didn’t start the required process of taking her to an ER to get her admitted to a hospital from which she will then be released to their care until 4 o’clock Thurs afternoon.

Hopefully this will work out for the best - the hospital wants to inject some bone cement into the shattered vertebrae to help stabilize it.

As I’ve wearily told everyone, I don’t make the rules, I just try to follow them - Medicare requires that she  be hospitalized for 3 days, then they will pay for 28 days of rehab care. Mom is miserably unhappy being hospitalized but they delayed her procedure until today, giving her IV antibiotics and repeating all the bloodwork to be sure she wasn’t septic. I really don’t know if this is the beginning of the end or not? I did have a nice conversation with one of my cousins (who is an RN) Saturday night as I drove home from E TX - she said mom will carry on as long as she can and then everything will start to break down.

I was able to fulfill my obligation to go work the ride Saturday - Christina rode Baraquinator in the 30 miler, which he breezed through as if it were nuthin’! My pretty pony! 3 of my trail riding buddies also successfully completed (quite a bit behind C and B)



Christina brought me chicken soup - she knows life has been tougher than usual here lately