Fiera and Olympus

Maggie rode Fiera around the pasture yesterday. Just one lap with a
friend. She's starting to get the hand of carrying a rider. I can
hardly wait to get on her myself

Olympus went to a trail event over the weekend and he did great. I
didn't get him out on the trail but I ponied him a little around camp
and he camped great. The only problem we ran into was that he kept
turning on the lights by rubbing the back of the trailer

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone

Compassn bank is on my bad side

Today in the mail I received notice that my two business accounts were no longer going to be free. There are a couple things I can do to potentially keep one free but the other is my ride account which will lay format until next ride in 2012. They have previously told u's we can pay them $8.95 for our previously free personal checking. They are charging u's this service charge because we don't have enough money. If we had over $25,000 with them and $3000 per account we would owe them no service charge. So, once again the little guys gets beat down so corporate America can line it's pockets. I get to pay a service charge because I am too poor with too little cash flow.

I realize my railing will get me nowhere. I need a new bank. Any suggestions? Or are all the banks going to charge u's for the privilege of having a bank account? It makes me want to keep my money under a mattress.

Getting well

Today I got into a hot shower and soaked for a long, long time. It reminded me of when Eric and I were kids and we had a sauna shower in the utility room bathroom. Mom would stick u's in there whenever our asthma got really bad and steam us. I hated being locked in that shower back then (well not literally locked) because it was so boring and I was so ADD. but now I think of how nice it would be to have that steam feature in my house. I would love to relax in the steam.

I also think a lot about that house in Broken Arrow. I think I would like to be able to build that house in my sims 3 game. It was a cool house with two staircases, two toy closets and a rec room. Mom had her sewing room and dad had his study. We had so much room to run and play. That neighborhood was safe and fun. We'd go out in the morning and return late in the day. We only lived there four years but they seemed like my happiest child hood times. Of course my friends were already moving before we did but I assume other kids would have come. When we moved to Missouri in 1976 there were not kids in the new neighborhood to play with. Fifth grade is an awkward time to move.

Anyway. I was thinking about that sauna and it just made me remember

Sandra Ladd died yesterday even after almost a year of battling health troubles. She was a trail riding friend who I met in 2009. I can't remember first meeting her but I do know it was in may of 2009 that I had a chance to really chat with her. She camped in a van at first and later upgraded to an old motor home (exactly the kind I'd like to have--just the right size). She was a vegan who had battled cancer on multiple occasions. This is what led her to becoming a vegan. She loved it when I made veggie side dishes for potluck. At pole canyon I was contemplating an interview and possible job change. After telling her what I did and what I was going to do she encouraged me not to trade my current life for another. I wasn't offered the job anyway but when I saw her again in the fall she asked me what I had done and applauded my decision. Over the year that I got to see her at rides she was always happy and perky and fun. She and her horse sassy were always at the top of the division. When she had her car accident in may 2010 she was at the top of her division battling with another friend. We'd all hoped she'd be back. But then cancer came back and her body just couldn't hold out. I am so happy she survived her December proclamation of death to host our TTC judges clinic in January. We had hoped that the emerging brain tumor would be stopped but it was not to be. Sandra was ready to join our Lord. We just weren't ready to let her go.

My temperature is rising

Grrr. Day two of being sick with a fever and feeling crummy. I can't sleep because I either start coughing or have to use the bathroom because of all the fluids I'm drinking. Furthermore I get hungry but when I eat my stomach gets upset. My brain is muddled and I sit in my chair watching tv, bored out of my gourd but not feeling like doing anything. I have surfed the web, played words with friends and sat on Facebook. I have done the dishes and made a pot of soup for supper. I tried to lay on the sofa but I discover that I really am not comfy on the couch. But I can't sleep in the chair. I'm whiny because I have things to do and don't feel like doing any of it.

I see that iPad 2 is out today. I hope I can find a used older iPad now though I notice that ipad2 is the same price new. I could adopt Olympus with the money but an iPad is cheaper to feed.

Girl scout Scamper is in the books

My first attempt at ride management is over and I feel like it went pretty well. I would never have been successful without my many helpers, but I have to admit that the person who stands out the most is Suzanne Currier. This is partly b/c she didn't want to be a trailmaster and did the job anyway and she did it brilliantly. The other two people who made everything run smoothly were Faye Reznicek, David's mom, and Lianne (whose last name I failed to write down).  I couldn't have done the ride without everyone on my team from judges to secretaries. Christa Bass, my ride secretary, did the job beautifully even though she's a single mom, working on her PhD and working full time. 

The weather Friday was beautiful.  The riders even complained that it was a little bit hot out and kids were running around in shorts. an evening storm was forecasted with varying degrees of rain and cold to come in. We were a little worried about the impending bad weather, especially when I heard rain at 1am, but there was nothing to be done about it.  It wasn't that cold on Saturday morning, but that soon began to change as the sky clouded up and cold, cold winds blew in. Several folks pulled before the ride ever started sighting fear for their safety in the wind. Several more folks pulled after the first loop, when they realized that they weren't having fun, and another couple pulled because they became ill on the trail from an upper respiratory infection and from a stomach virus. 

Sunday had much nicer weather, but we were faced with a small shortage of safety riders and P&R workers. We loaned a horse (a calm, steady horse) to a safety rider.  Mr. Calm and Steady bucked off his rider and sent her to the hospital. The weather was nice sunday with no wind...it was unexpected.  Amy Martin and her girl scouts entertained us with their backpack obstacle and were very helpful with P&R's. My rules' interpreter, Roger Garlitz, found Amy to be very entertaining.  Sunday ended with no more incidents.  I was amazed when the whole thing was over how quickly the two days had passed. I was feeling pretty good. I wasn't tired, but I was hungry. Several of us who stayed over had dinner at a mexican restaurant. 

One of the  Girl scouts made our riders safety bracelets, out of nylon parachute cord, to do her silver award. These were very well received by the riders and volunteers. I really appreciate the work the girls did before and after the ride.

One thing that has come up to me after the ride was to possibly change who benefits from Girl Scout Scamper.  For four years, the proceeds have gone to Camp Misty Meadows to help their Girl Scout Horse program. However, it has recently been pointed that they have done very little to help the ride at all, in contrast to Amy's troop of local girl scouts who have come every year to support the ride.  I'm still thinking on this, but one idea is that the ride could provide scholarships to local girl scout troops (or not so local, since I know a troop in DFW who would also love to help with the ride behind the scenes) so the girls can attend camp if they otherwise could not.  Lots to think about for next year.

I enjoyed my first management experience very much. I think it went well, but I also feel like it's possible that it went well b/c I was too oblivious to what could go wrong.  I like to think it went well b/c we all knew what we were doing, but I'm not sure that's at all true.  I know that several of us doing first time jobs did a great job. My P&R chair did a fabulous job her first time out and now she has a new job she could do. My trail master was new, but took her job very seriously. Jill Hughes was another first timer who was a great secretary to the horsemanship judge, Shirley Parker.  When I had agreed to manage the ride in the first place, I had great plans to find experienced people to help me all the way along but I never did find those people, so I really appreciate all the people who have never done these jobs who still stepped up to help me manage the ride. I had experienced managers as my secretaries for the vet judge which really came in handy. If I ever got stuck, I could go to Alanna or Becky and ask them questions. 

 I forgot to mention what a great job Alanna did making rhythm beads for the horse prizes. They were just beautiful. 

I'm sure I have forgotten to thank someone and I apologize.  I appreciate everyone so much who helped me make the ride go well.

Girl Scout Scamper March 2011