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..

My Ex-Mule's Lifetime Achievement

 ...as the first mule to successfully compete in & complete the Pan-American Championship Ride in 1999! Quite the accomplishment, even finishing dead last counts as a success. As you can see, this ride had a 50% completion rate...

100 Mile Pan American Championships 1999

Midwest RegionManager:Myna Margetts08/07/199990 starting, 46 finishing100 milesWinner:DML Smoke Silver ridden by Constance Walker in 09:32BC:
ridden by in , points

1	L	09:32	Constance Walker	on	DML Smoke Silver	450/450
2	L	09:32	Darla Westlake	on	MC Rams Z	375/375
3	F	09:43	Christy Janzen	on	Tais	450/330
4	F	10:03	Amanda M. Taylor	on	VP Bojtok	375/300
5	L	10:13	Patti Pizzo	on	Savaq	330/270
6	L	10:13	Linda Crandell	on	LR Forgeym	300/240		*R*
7	M	10:50	Stephanie Teeter	on	Nature's Khruschev	450/210
8	L	11:08	Julie A. Bullock	on	Ashara Neferititi	270/195
9	F	11:15	Marcia Smith	on	Saamson	330/180
10	N	11:16	Kevin Bohm	on	Ns Fay Royale	/		*RH*
11	L	11:17	Roberta Harms	on	Sha-win	240/150
12	M	11:29	Dana Reeder	on	Wyle-a-way Iris	375/150
13	L	11:55	Jan Worthington	on	LM Master Mind	210/150
14	L	11:55	Melissa Crain	on	Charbiel	195/150
15	H	11:56	Linda Fisher	on	FC Extreme	450/150
16	N	11:57	Larry Handziuk	on	Misty	/		*RH*
17	F	12:06	Candy Barbo	on	Augustus	300/150
18	L	12:23	Carol Steiner	on	MX Tio Vivo+/	180/150
19	N	12:28	Diane Duperron	on	Coralina	/		*RH*
20	F	12:35	Wendy Benns	on	Flirt With Ecstacy	270/150
21	F	12:46	Shellie Hatfield	on	Major Attraction	240/150
22	F	13:03	Genie Wunderlich	on	Twister	210/150
23	M	13:05	Harriet Aiken	on	MC Raptor	330/150
24	L	13:14	Teresa McHugh	on	Spring Nevada	165/150
25	N	13:17	Renata De Siqueira	on	Nature's Sungari	/		*RH*
26	L	13:26	Suzanne Hayes	on	Ssa Csea Dream	150/150
27	F	13:32	Ruth Sturley	on	River Dancer	195/150
28	L	13:32	Shirley Dennis	on	Faust	150/150
29	F	13:36	Carol Lewin	on	Csardas Ryptide	180/150
30	M	13:36	Jim D. Wiseman	on	Cyrano HC	300/150
31	F	14:30	Karen Binns-DiCamillo	on	RGS Zazarr	165/150
32	M	14:30	Debi Sanger	on	Novah PR	270/150
33	N	14:45	Silvia Assi Vaccari	on	Corkey	/		*RH*
34	N	14:45	Henrique Garcia	on	Nature's Nikita	/		*R*
35	M	14:45	Dory Jackson	on	DHC Nassahr	240/150
36	L	14:58	Anita Fiondella	on	CF Precarious	150/150
37	L	15:01	Juanita Gibney	on	Sir Bazharr	150/150
38	L	15:02	Joan Harris	on	Gallager	/		*R*
39	M	15:09	Gary Ceragioli	on	Desert Roses Raz	210/150
40	N	15:09	Bob Toothill	on	Bg Tazim	/		*RH*
41	L	15:43	Joan Storrey	on	Soaring Eagle	150/150
42	L	16:34	Claudia Harper	on	Castanea Cavalette	150/150
43	L	16:35	Barbara J. Cameron	on	Zoneyna	/		*R*
44	H	17:57	Joaquin G. Avellan	on	DJB Chaser	375/150
45	F	17:57	Jennifer Noblin	on	DAF Bobbi Sox	150/150
46	H	17:58	Mike Jaffe	on	El Cascabel Coyote Waits	330/150
RO			Nancy Beacon	on	Traverston Cob
RO			Cynthia Bell	on	Wameco
RO			Cecilia Butler	on	DJB Conquistador
L			Lisa Baker	on	Sassy			*H*
RO			Conrad E. Briggs	on	Blaze
L			Bruce Burnham	on	J Joqhuir			*H*
RO			Darolyn Butler	on	DJB Bab Razzmatazz
L			B. Jane Cloud	on	Ezer's Cloud
L			Earle Baxter	on	CH Catch Me If You Can
RO			Joseph Sandy Brown	on	Ruby
RO			Prue Critchley	on	Fort William+/
RO			Gail Fiebelman	on	HK Obsyssion
RO			Mary Fields	on	Christiansen10
M			Len Fox	on	Markoss//
RO			Janet Fredrickson	on	Sharteka
L			Dominique Freeman	on	Fire Mt Fancy
RO			Jack Enderle	on	Fad Silver
RO			Kim Hofmarks	on	Dakota
RO			Robert Gielen	on	Dvj Cassels Marcus			*H*
RO			Bianca MacKenzie	on	Kukuyu
RO			Susie Morrill	on	McFyre Flyte
RO			Eliana Rocha Leao	on	Tashi Samr			*RH*
RO			Amanda Winder	on	Dark Shadow			*R*
RO			Karen Badger	on	N.s. Sahiba			*RH*
RO			Rachel Bohm	on	My Bonny Ladd			*RH*
M			Luciana M. Doria Grande	on	Dragon Slayer			*RH*
M			Valorie Reeves	on	Copper
RO			Tricia Mellor	on	Keylyn TH Censor+/			*R*
L			Jose S. Marino	on	Brown R Winston			*R*
RO			Lari Shea	on	Avantii
RO			Laura Stoicescu	on	Windswift Barak			*H*
RO			Joe Mattingley	on	Ja Flair
RO			Sandy Skinner	on	Sha Hasans Asadd
RO			Joyce Sousa	on	Mc Dillon
RO			Clark Palfreyman	on	Sloan			*R*
RO			Jim Peters	on	El Alarib
RO			Rita Swift	on	Just Cass
RO			Kathy Majors Thompson	on	LS Zane Grey+/ /
RO			Stephen Rojek	on	Perigrine
RO			Yvette Vinton	on	Ww Due Me
RO			Brian Reeves	on	RB Royale Brand
M			Bob Spoor	on	Brown R Riseyn
RO			Lana Wright	on	Ll Stardom
RO			Margaret Wade	on	Fbs Silver Bucy			*R*

The data in this website originates from the AERC National Office. Updates can and do occur. The official record source is the AERC National Office.