Trade Offs

 Last night, I had to trade out my usual short session of evening yoga since my dragon Bonnie had emerged from her lair and needed to be fed & bathed. (She has made a space for herself behind the faux rock backdrop, generally emerges once a week but stayed in seclusion almost a week and a half this time) She is such a beautiful animal; I admire her as she peers at me with keen interest, “flooping” her long forked tongue because she knows that Mommy will be preparing her feast (canned dog food, a little softened kibble, a few mealworms & veggies).

So this morning I did my abbreviated morning routine to loosen up my stiff spine. Another rough night as I couldn’t get my thermoregulation right - I was too hot or too cold and when I finally got everything “just right” about 4:30 in the morning, I fell into a deep sleep right before the alarm went off! Ugh!

Another successful ride on Baraq; this time 15 miles with Miss Catie and Silas. Of course, she absolutely loved him and did a long grooming session after our ride. She didn’t get enough riding to suit her, and wanted to meander around bareback during their rest period. Fortunately the rain held off until Saturday night, but the turbo went out on my truck on the drive home with a loud pop and surge. Luckily I was able to limp on home with limited power & sent the truck back to the shop yesterday on their tow truck. This is getting old;  if my truck is entering its phase of “Fix Or Repair Daily” I may be shopping for a more reliable vehicle - it’s no fun to go on a recreational trip only to be stressed out about getting there or getting back home safely!

An even more distressing fact is that Christina was sick with a horrible-sounding cough: it wound up that Marty (her husband)  took her back to the doctor yesterday & they hospitalized her for IV fluids & antibiotics with pneumonia and a secondary kidney infection, yikes! 

And then on Sunday, we had a nice outing to the race track to continue our prolonged celebration of Victoria‘s birthday. It’s hilarious how my iPad jumbles up the order of these photographs, but I’ll have to caption them later!

“Everything Hurts & I Think I’m Going Blind”

 This is an old quote that somebody in one of my low-carb groups proclaimed years ago when they had overindulged:  “carboholic poisoning”,  let’s call it!

Yesterday I fasted for 21 hrs since I had lab work scheduled at 2 PM, then I held out for Victoria’s BD dinner last night. Her dad smoked some awesome baby-back ribs & sausage, and bought brisket from one of our local BBQ emporiums. I made deviled eggs & mashed taters, couldn’t resist some of the dessert items at Costco (chocolate tuxedo cake & flan). Adela always makes beans & rice, homemade salsa & guacamole. Best of all was the fact that Andy could eat, chewing on “the right side of his mouth” (many ironic puns were made) It was a great dinner, but I overindulged at the dessert buffet, so this morning I am feeling the myalgic effects of too much refined sugar. Possibly complicated by the good stretch Brittni laid upon me at my new PT place - The Stretch Zone. Basically a chiropractic model of care: they want you to come in once or twice weekly, but it reminds me of Thai yoga with assisted stretching. 

I’m getting a metabolic panel done through this other outfit that offers “lifestyle counseling” - it’s worth a try, at least it will be good to have a new set of bloodwork numbers. Doubtless they will try to sell me a pile of supplements; while I am open to try a few new things, I’ll politely refuse hormone replacement. (One of the people in my long Covid group feels they got good counseling/nutritional support from them)

https://www.lavalleperformance.com/about/

Photo Finish

 My compulsion to record things in this blog must have something to do with this heaviness in my chest -once I finish my coffee and get moving, this feeling should fade away but it’s very distressing when I’m staggering around the barn trying to get the ponies fed. 

I didn’t take very many photos last weekend despite the scenic setting of C-Bar because of the rain… I’ve got to make time to go back just on my own to explore those trails; they are awesome!

                      All I had in the big trailer was a ratty old thin nylon rain sheet for poor Silas

Silas’s snazzy new Aztec patterned rain sheet, courtesy of Alanna!

Love & Physics

 I am very fond of poetry and I appreciate that old Ecclesiastical phrase: “To everything there is a season”

All relationships seem to wax and wane like the phases of the moon; this is especially true of a marriage. With my recent infatuation with Oppenheimer, I joke to myself about the “physics” of my second marriage: Peran occupies space, he has mass - therefore, he irritates me! Please believe me - I am NOT a nag; I keep these irritations to myself, even as I strive valiantly to reward every fraction of good behavior just like every other form of training.

Last week as I was hitching up the horse trailer (a process with which Peran is intimately familiar),  he failed to pick up the chock under the jack. I proceeded to back over it, hit the obstacle but fortunately only bent the handle & did not damage anything on the truck differential. I took my truck in last week for what I presumed was routine maintenance, but I always trust the service manager to give it a good once-over for roadworthiness. When he found multiple issues (I was worried because the air conditioning didn’t seem to be getting as cold as it normally does) I pleaded that I had obligations last weekend so I needed my truck back by Friday night. Eric came through for me, but Peran kept on texting me for updates - I told him I wasn’t bothering the man until after 3 PM so he could concentrate on getting the work done! (The dealership has a new concierge service where they will pick up your vehicle and bring it back… They had picked up the truck on Tuesday but of course, with a tight schedule on Friday I had to get Peran to take me back to the dealership to pick it up - shouldn’t be a big deal for an unemployed person, should it??)

I had the trailer loaded and ready**, so Friday night I could back right up under it, get hitched, load Silas and head to horse camp which was only about an hour and a half away. We had cloudy overcast skies and misting rain most of the day Saturday, then the bottom fell out late Saturday afternoon with heavy thunderstorms. My neighbor brought over a brand new rain sheet which she had ordered for her pony but was a little too small for him - fortunately it fit Silas perfectly! We canceled Sunday’s ride since everything had turned so marshy - I’m glad I was parked at the top of the hill where I could get out fairly easily. The NATRC crew was welcoming as always as they continue to try to recruit me into their ranks.

** I had asked Peran to load a big square bale for me which would last probably for two or three rides - he declined at the time because of course rain was forecast; as the days of the week trickled by, he didn’t do it so I finally broke a bale and loaded half a bale myself. I know they are my horses & my responsibility, but to my eyes, again it was a minor task to ask of my husband?

At least cancellation of Sunday’s ride means I got back several hours earlier so I was able to deliver some medication to Victoria‘s grandfather who is now struggling with oral thrush after his radiation treatments. He is very thin and basically living off soup! After checking on them, Zach and I went and shared some soup dumplings which are really excellent. I did not make it by to check on my own mother,  but to a certain extent I now have to trust the facility to take care of her. There’s only so much I can do.

Fallout/Repercussions

 This dual meaning popped into my head as I prepared to start typing (Val’s amateur therapy session). Each morning, I am generally able to take about a half hour to skim social media, glance at email (which piles up like an electronically-overstuffed closet - eek!) and gather my thoughts for the day…

I probably allowed my son to play for too many video games as a youngster: research accumulating now is demonstrating how damaging excessive screen time is when kids should be out doing normal socialization and playing outdoors. (Insert meme about my generation being “raised different” - we were sent outside and told to come home when it got dark) At any rate, I tried to participate by playing some games with Zach and just serving as an audience for others. “Fallout”, an apocalyptic video game series about civilization after nuclear catastrophe was one of his big favorites. Now they’ve made a TV mini-series of course - Z’s been nagging me to watch it. I’m pleasantly surprised by how engaging it is!

At any rate, a large part of my life these days seems to consist of regret over how I should’ve done such & so better: less screen time, more homecooked meals, and worst of all, how I should never have taken M back to court to even out the child support - since I’m convinced that is what triggered our final, apocalyptic custody battle (speaking of tragedies). John perked up his ears last weekend as we sat at the ride meeting - Khristin was announcing Friday ride results & called out Sue Jaffe - I told him that yes, she’d managed to back M into a corner/got him to marry her after John remembers all too well M’s fervent declarations early on that “he’d never remarry!” At least M has dropped out of endurance riding…

I wish I could remember John’s exact phrasing, but he made a comment about Michael’s immense talents and capabilities being negated by his toxicity. Well said cousin!

And now I’ve got to get on with my workday; time waits for no Aggie veterinarian!

DOMS is For Realz

 (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) - always kicks in worse at about the 48-hr mark. Sunday I felt pretty good - I was riding high on adrenaline and a sense of accomplishment. But over the course of my busy workday yesterday, I could feel myself stiffening up; last night after I got home and sat in the recliner for a couple of hours, it was hard to get up! But I forced myself upstairs to feed Athena (my baby tortoise) and did a brief, easy yoga routine which helped tremendously. I think I need to title my memoirs “I’d never have lived this long if it weren’t for Yoga”.

Sunday night I was a little wound up from the weekend’s festivities so I didn’t sleep terribly well, but last night was a little bit better. Even Peran slept in a little bit this morning - I was getting ready to go check on him but he stumbled downstairs by the time I came up from the barn. (Said he was too hot last night - we always try to delay the inevitable use of air conditioning; usually we can put it off until the first week of May)

Today I’m taking my truck in for routine service as I have this short stretch of good spring riding: next weekend I’ve promised to go be emergency standby vet at the NATRC ride near Waco, The weekend after that I have a “real” ride at LBJ Natl Grasslands near Decatur, and then we have a ride over Mother’s Day weekend in Cleburne.

Monday, May 13 I will be getting the best possible Mother’s Day gift of all time: Zach will be graduating!!! I can hardly believe it myself; I certainly don’t wanna jinx anything by speaking these words into existence - but I did ask Dr M  to cover for me. Of course I will be there front and center and we will celebrate the entire livelong day!

I will have to add more of my reminiscences about traveling the I-30 corridor when I have a little more time -  shouldn’t have taken that snooze interval this morning…

Had to add a few photos taken by Tyra - 

One Accomplishment

 (No snappy title comes to mind as I sit here groggily with my coffee, but hopefully something will occur to me before I finish my rambling account)

Obviously I’m posting so I’m home safely - actually everything went exceptionally well; the weather was perfect, the ponies were well-behaved and I think John’s kids had a good ride (especially Tyra). Joseph will need a more comfortable pair of riding britches since he found out the hard way that blue jeans (despite what you may have seen in innumerable Westerns) are not the most comfortable pants to ride in! He spent most of the second half of our ride asking Alex to walk - she is used to our normal pace, which is a medium jog-trot. Most of the mud had dried up and it was a heartbreakingly beautiful spring day in NE Texas. Khristin had a good turnout with 18 riders** signed up for the 75 miler - one of my friends got about 50 miles in but had to pull when her mare cut her heel, she thinks in one of the ponds? Just another spot of bad luck, I’m grateful none of it touched us. After the ride we packed up and headed about 35 miles north to where John is building his barndominium on a corner of his parents’ property. John is a meticulous craftsman and it will be a great retreat in the woods when he finishes.

** I stand corrected: 16 entries in the 75 with 13 finishers

Had a nice visit/dinner with Joe and Margie (John’s parents), who served as my refuge and retreat in my late teens when I was coming off my bad high school romance. More of a big bro/SIL relationship since they’re about 10 years older than me… camped out one more night in John’s’s pasture, then I had to load up and come home to the real world yesterday. Found my mom complaining that her arm hurts, but she will not leave the splint on! I have sent a message to home health care; like it or not, we may have to put her in a cast. She’s also misplaced her DirecTV controller but I was able to change channels on the box and found her a comedy movie channel with old John Candy movies. I’ll have to look up those classics “Armed & Dangerous” (John Candy, Eugene Levy, Meg Ryan) & “Who’s Harry Crumb?” You can tell they are 80’s movies because everyone is smoking cigarettes!

I pushed on from there & had a late lunch with my friend Toni. I was hoping for a call back from Zach, but obviously Victoria was off work yesterday (he ultimately didn’t call me until yesterday evening). However, I’m getting ready to receive the best Mother’s Day gift of all time since Zach’s graduation shall be Monday, May 13th. If Dr M can’t cover for me, I’ll just be unavailable that day because we will be celebrating! 

Slowly coming to life as I finish my coffee - I will post a few pictures which should also stroke my ego. It’s always great to accomplish a good deed even wrapped in my own self-interest (ponies ridden, family visit, introducing new riders to my sport) Tyra was especially smitten with Silas, bcz who wouldn’t be? His sole character flaw is the fact that he likes to urinate in the trailer, so I had to shovel that out when I got home.

                                                 This must’ve been the pre-ride safety lecture

                                                             John’s barndominium

                                            This one may be frameable - see rider in background?

                                                        Taking my ducklings out on trail