I rode today!

Finally, after many months (last September I think), I rode. My fear had built to the point where I didn't think I could get on a horse at all, even Noble. But I did. My neighbor Yvonne came over, and worked Sailor for quite a while. Sailor apparently thought her life's mission was to lounge around and graze all day, so she wasn't with the program at first, But eventually, she decided it was easier to do what the trainer wanted, instead of fighting it or ignoring her. After she was worked and bathed, Yvonne's husband Kevin did some light ground work with Noble, who was much better than Sailor. She knows what to do, and knows it's much easier to just do the right thing and be done with it. Then I rode her in the arena for a bit. We walked and trotted, even a little pattern. I only got nervous when Noble suddenly put her head down, and I had visions of Sailor doing that last summer just before I was launched. But she was just trying to get rid of a deer fly on her nose. I actually had to work a bit to keep her in the trot, because she was a little tired from her ground work. As frustrating as that is, it's better than trying to hang on when I horse is running away with you, as Yvonne pointed out. The main thing is I rode, even if it was old Noble, and I gained a wee bit of confidence. We'll do it again tomorrow, if the rain holds off.

On the mom front, my mother is doing much better on her new medication. She is happy, in a good mood whenever I visit. She's quite coherent, even if she doesn't always get reality correct. She's so good, she really could go back to assisted living, but unfortunately her money is tied up legally with the whole nursing home thing, and it will be gone within a few months. So I'm afraid she is a nursing home patient forever. If only one of the many places she has been in had known about this med, she might not have ended up in a dementia ward for the most extreme cases. But I'm not going to get going on that now.

In other animal news, we almost lost my cat Lacey this week. On Wednesday evening it became apparent she wasn't well. She didn't eat, just laid there and slept. So on Thursday morning I took her to the vet and left her there for the day so they could evaluate her. She had a fever of 104.8, and they gave her an IV, antibiotics, and a NSAID to try and bring it down. Friday morning her temp was still 104.2. So she stayed another day, while they tried to get her better. Her right eye was swollen shut, and they had to remove a small piece of grass from under her third eyelid. We'll never know if she was sick from an eye infection, or if it was a virus. But it didn't look good for a while. But on Saturday morning her temp was normal, and I was able to bring her home. She's still on an antibiotic and has to stay in for a week. She's feeling so much better though, that she follows me around the house yelling at me because I won't let her out. It's annoying, but I'm just happy that she is well again.

Rolling!

Noble in the middle of a good roll.

Just an update

I have been so neglectful of this blog. It looks like my life might calm down a bit because my mom is now in a nursing home in Bennington, Vermont. It's hard to visit, because she is in a dementia unit with people who are the worst of cases. When I saw her last week, she was very out of it, but still begged me to take her home. It really is heartbreaking to have to leave your mother in this situation. The staff is very caring, but it is institutional there. They have her on a new medication, that my brother feels has helped her awareness. We'll see how it goes.

Meanwhile, I have been working on a freelance writing job for a local school district's newsletter that is occupying all my free time. The poor horses don't see much of me, between two jobs and visiting my mom. I'm hoping to make time for them in the near future. I really need to get back on a horse for my own confidence, which took a serious hit last summer when Sailor threw me for the second time. It's awful, after 12 years of riding 3-4 times/week, to suddenly be totally afraid to get on even old Noble. And I hate myself for it. There's a new equine facility that opened near me that offers lessons, and I'm thinking of taking a lesson or two on a school horse just to get my confidence back. It's really crazy to take care of two horses that I don't ride.

Work at the bookstore keeps me very occupied. We have 17 author events in June, which is a lot considering I am a one-person department - and I work part-time. Fortunately July is shaping up to have only 11 events, which is much more manageable for me. Our big "star" author is Michael Lang, the creator/producer of the original Woodstock Festival in 1969. He has a book coming out called The Road to Woodstock, and it's fascinating reading. You get all the dirt on what went on behind the scenes. I worked in the press tent at the 1994 Woodstock Festival, and bumped into Michael Lang, but never officially met him. So this should be interesting. He's sort of an enigmatic person, so we'll see how open he is in person. Anybody near Manchester, Vermont on July 25, come on over and meet him and relive the old hippie days!