Interesting day yesterday for my mom

June 6th, 1976, my grandfather passed away. He was not my mother's biological father, but he was more of a dad to her than her own father. Grandpa became my mom's dad when she was 5 years old. He had a son from a previous marriage that my mom never met nor talked to. Grandpa allowed Larry to be adopted by his (Larry's) step father at a very young age. We don't know the history between grandpa and his first wife. Yesterday, mom got a phone call from grandpa's son. His son (Grandpa's biological grandson) started researching grandpa. He found Granny's obituary and found mom. Larry is not much older than mom, just turning 60 years old himself and lives in Virgina. He e-mailed some current photos of himself to mom and she forwarded them to me. I wondered if he looked like Grandpa. He is the spitting image of him. Grandpa died when I was 7 and I adored that man. I am not going to post his photo on this site. I don't think that would be appropriate right now. But I hope that they continue to stay in touch and I hope Larry learns what a wonderful man his father really was.

Very nice weekend with horses, family and friend

Friday, I took a vacation day. I was going to go to the Rocky Road TTC, but other financial obligations came about and I stayed home. But that was okay, I got a couple of new trails at the barn cut and marked. Summer was really good about ground tying when I was cutting trail on foot and real good about finishing the trail off her back. Course she is usually a pretty good trail working horse. However, coming back into the barnyard, the wind was blowing and she is was in heat so she gave me a little fit but nothing that was too dangerous, just not acting her normal self.

Saturday, my mom came over and she, Amanda and I went shopping and out to eat. It was real nice. I don't think she has ever come over without dad and it has been a while since just us three girls spent the day together. After she went home, Amanda and I went to the barn and cleaned up trash off the trails for about an hour and a half.

Sunday, Summer and I met Liz and her horse Shelby out at Benbrook and we rode about 4 hours. It was a wonderful day. The horses did great, Liz's pain has really subsided since she had her hip surgery. We haven't ridden together, just she and I, in a very long time. It was nice just getting to visit and really catch up on stuff. Shelby and Summer pace real well. Summer is usually not the type of horse that cares if she is in front or in back, which is great for Shelby as she likes to take the lead and not let anyone pass her. But even she did good when Liz put her behind Summer for a bit. She didn't get upset like she might normally do. So that gave Liz a good ride without a big ol' arguement with Shelby. Could be though, because they are half sisters and were raised in a pasture together as youngin's. Who knows. I just know it was a real nice day of riding and I am glad it started and ended well.

Here is a pic of Summer (right) and Shelby (left):

Update on Mia, NATRC 2008, and stuff...

Well, Mia is starting to act a little icky again. Must be time for another cortizone shot. Night before last she was able to get the little boot off of her foot. I felt so sorry for her that I let her go without it for that night and yesterday. When David got home, she had scratched that large scab off of the side if her cheek/face. It wasn't as bad as you would have thought though. So I let her go without the boot until about 8:30pm last night. What is odd is that she won't walk on her foot. She hops around three legged. But I check her foot and she can splay her toes and and bend her foot, she just doesn't want to walk on it and gets upset if you touch it. Anyway, I rewrapped it last night, finished getting the scab off her face, cleaned her up with the solution the doctor gave me and sprayed the cortizone spray on her. She did real good. She did eat some treats last night and I can tell she ate some hard food last night as well. But I just think it is time for another shot.

On NATRC, our mini convention is the first weekend of next month and I am a little excited. I am going to be staying with Kate and Becky, and I know I will have fun. Those two are a hoot! If you have been keeping up with my posts then you might know that awhile back I posted that I had calculated the year end points and it looked like Summer and I was going to tie in second place in the team awards with George and his horse Beau, well we did!!!!! In the individual placings, Beau came in second and Summer came in third and in horsemanship, I came in second and George came in third, but our points combined were the same which tied us. Plus Summer got Novice/CP High Point Tennessee Walker. So we will be bringing home 4 awards. I know that it is not as good as some folks accomplishments, but I am real proud of us, and that is all that matters.

I am taking tomorrow off as a vacation day. I was going to go to the Texas Trail Challenge at Parrie Haynes http://texastrailchallenge.com/ but other financial obligations came up so I am not going. On a good note though, tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful, so I am going to go to the post office in the morning, go to the DMV, then head out and go work the trails most of the day. I am excited because I enjoy working and marking trails at the barn. I like doing it alone because it gives me some reflection time and time to spend alone with Summer, which makes for good bonding time. With all the foliage in hybernation right now, you can really see the horse trails, so I want to take those and make them into riding trails. I hope all turns out like I plan, with the fuel prices back on the rise and the economy sinking, riding in the pasture may be all that we can afford in the near future, you just never know.

New Years, wasted a beautiful day, and Mia

New Years: Went to a party with the husband. Had a pretty good time. Drank too much, ate good food, everyone acted like fools, and I kissed David at midnight. Took me a bit the next day to get out of bed, but I was able to go riding with Tracey at the barn. Course we didn't go out until 4pm. (smile) I don't think I could have done any earlier. Fact of the matter was, I wasn't too bad, but Tracey and I went to Wal Mart to buy air soft BB guns for the barn dogs. The owner gave us permission as those stupid dogs will start play fighting behind your horse when you are riding, or run underneath your horse and that crap has to stop, someone is going to get hurt. And if it is me, we might have a doggie homicide at the barn. I will bring my 9mm instead of the BB gun. I like those dogs, but I am not going to get hurt because they are stupid!

This past Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day. But about 5:30 pm Friday evening, my body decided it was time to invite Mr. Virus in. You know? Mr. Stomach Virus. I am much better today, but spent most of the day Saturday in bed or in my chair in the living room. I was so upset. Almost everyone I knew was out enjoying the weather. Well, my daughter stayed home with me and David spent most of the day at home with me. He only had to leave to work on a friend's car for about an hour.

Mia is still doing the same. If I could weigh her, I would say she has probably gained a little more weight. She is as trained as the dogs now though. When my alarm goes off, she is right by her food and water dish, waiting on her morning bowl of tuna. I have to give her that to get her pill in her, but it is working, so I do not mind.

TTFN

More on Mia

David took Mia in to the vet yesterday evening. Dr. Ogden gave her another cortisone shot. This one is longer lasting than the one he gave her Friday. And some good news, she has gained a whole 6 ounces since Friday! And, the hole has a scab on it! That means it is trying to heal. She is feisty and playful and getting down right ornery! I love it! I just pray that her time here on earth is longer than the doctor's are predicting.

Mia

Well, we took Mia to the vet Friday morning and the vet cleaned up her face for us and she does have a hole of skin missing. The mat and scab of hair, blood and pus was hiding the hole. It is a little smaller than dime size. It isn't as gross as I thought it would be but it is there. He gave her a cortisone shot to help her with her appetite and itching. That did help, she is eating much better. He also gave us a spray that contains cortisone and some antibiotic. I talked to him about declawing that back foot and he said no, she won't be with us that long. That is hard, she is such a sweet and loving cat.

Here is a picture of my pretty girl before she started getting sick:

Christmas 2008

Well, it is gone. Yet another Christmas that we can't wait to be here, is over.

I am on vacation this week, so spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, shopping and cleaning the house as my parents were coming over for Christmas dinner. I do this every year. Spend most of my vacation cleaning the house. But I don't mind as it has become a tradition. (smile)

We had a good Christmas. Amanda got what she wanted. She is almost 18 years old, so it is hard to buy for her. Her job of choice is to be a beautician so she received a stylist roll around cart with all the accessories, Tinker Bell floor mats, the third book in the Twilight series and much more. David and I weren't going to do much for each other as he has spent a ton of money on vet bills for our cat Mia. I will tell later what is wrong with her. Anyway, he bought me a TomTom GPS. I was totally not expecting that. I got him some odd and ends but nothing that nice. As I said, my parents came over and brought us all gifts and cash. I can always due with money. (smile) We ate a lot, as usual for a Christmas day. The movie A Christmas Story was on all day and surprisingly enough, that is where it stayed. You could hear my dad laughing or chuckling most of the day in the living room. His favorite part is where Ralphie beats the snot out of the red headed bully. I love the deranged Easter bunny part. It is all funny though.

It really was a nice holiday. I feel very blessed to have a good daughter, a wonderful husband and loving parents. It was sad though as this was the first Christmas without Granny. So yes, there was crying. We went through her cedar trunk. That was the first time it had been opened since her funeral. That was the one item I wanted most out of her house and mom gave it to me. So of course, there was crying during that too. Mom didn't want anything out of it, she wanted it to stay in the trunk where everything would be safe. And it will be.

I am going to try to go to the barn later and go riding with Tracey, but that wind is horrible. I don't mind riding in it, but is seems more of a job than a pleasure when you ride in not perfect weather. And God knows, I had better take my allergy meds, if not, a horrid migraine will set in.

Took Mia to the vet this morning to clean her face up. It is hard to describe, but where the cancer is, she is constantly scratching and we have to wrap her foot so she can't use her nails to scratch with. But she is still rubbing her face raw and the skin is starting to pull away from her cheek. The fur is all matted with blood and pus. It is all very gross. Maybe I shouldn't be posting this on the Christmas blog but that is part of my Christmas week. We left her there because we have an appt with her vet at 3:15 to see what we can do to ease her itching and try to help her leave her cheek alone. David and I have even talked about, if she has even 6 months to a year to live, having that one back foot declawed so that it doesn't have to be wrapped (as she really hates that) and she can rub her cheek all she wants but not cause any damage. We have done all our bank account will allow. Plus there isn't a good prognosis even if we were millionaires and could afford it. She is still eating good, playing, and VERY loving. So we are going to spend money on making her as comfortable as possible until it is time to let her go be with Sheba.

Anyway, enough sadness now.

Better go, hope all who reads these had a blessed Christmas. And if you didn't think it was blessed, try to find the blessing even in a sadness. God has a reason for everything He does.

Happy New Year,
Tammy, David, Amanda, Summer, Libby, Tigger and Mia.