Alice's Trail Ride Through Life

Finally a workout

2012-01-06T08:08:00.001-06:00

I actually made it outside yesterday evening to do the first couch to 5k run. It was much easier than when I did it last summer. Maybe I didn't lose so much condition. Today I need to take the dogs for a walk but I also hope to make cycle class tonight. I was going to the gym last night but it was packed with all the new year's resolution members. I hope it doesn't stay this full. I think I've got a little plantar fasciitis. My left heel has been sore.

Peter is sick again. I'm sequestered in the bed room trying to avoid his germs. He has taken over that space. I'm getting a lot done not watching tv.

Maggie's wrist not broken and feeling better.

Maggie ends the old year badly

2012-01-01T09:38:00.001-06:00

Yesterday we had good friends over to ride. There were four riders and four horses. Even Fiera got ridden. My friend's daughter is a skilled rider and had a blast on Liberty. I rode Olympus and Maggie rode Dixie. My friend, who is fairly inexperienced followed us around on Fiera. All was well. All had a good time. At the end Maggie decided to ride Fiera for awhile. Fiera was doing well so Maggie asked her to canter, which turned out to be an error in judgement. The bucking for ended in a broken wrist. We spent the afternoon in the care now. She has a splint and we'll call the orthopedist on Monday, though I'm not sure that the doctors are working Monday. We want her to have a cast as she has a competition in a few weeks that she doesn't want to miss. She will heal fast. But it's hard to watch her hurt.

I'm trying to decide between the old and new. I have been riding Olympus more planning to compete him this year. I did that because maggie was going to ride Liberty all year but now she's gone back to Dixie. Yesterday, after popping on Liberty I remembered how good it felt to ride my trained horse. He will side pass, back and do all the obstacle things as I have trained him. He also can be an excited nut and scream and call and just generally make me crazy. Olympus knows nothing of obstacles. He will barely stand over a log much less side pass them. But he is pretty calm with everyone running around him. He showed me this week that he is still concerned about some terrain situations. He won't walk down gullies easily. He's still pretty scared of stuff. I want to compete this horse but I wonder if I take him NOW if I'm going to blow his mind. OTOH I don't know any way to teach him better than to take him out and just do it. I wonder if he will learn bad things if our partnership isn't complete. He's not tough as nails like Liberty. If I don't ride him this year, I will next. I just can't make up my mind. I thought I had but then i realized that the way Liberty was do good at home isn't how he is away from home. And conversely Oly is really good under pressure, at least at the moment. Plus he's darn comfortable to ride. I think I have decided to stay in cp either way, either horse. I just don't think I want to ride as far and fast either way. I guess if I stay in cp I can trade out horses on a whim since I have no long reaching goals for myself this year and I can collect horsemanship points. See even after writing it down I can't decide.

Comments are welcome.

Riding today and future decisions

2011-12-27T22:35:00.000-06:00

Well, after riding Olympus today, I want to go back to Liberty. I'm sure this is just because I know Liberty. When he does whatever he does, I know what it is he's going to do so I can expect it and be prepared. It's scary riding a new horse, even if it is a well trained, beautifully gaited, comfortable horse. Today Olympus took the bridle great (I took it apart, and did not put the browband over his ears) I then put the browband over one ear, but not the other. he did great for most of the ride, but then the bridle began to slip further and further back on his neck and then the browband touched the hair on the inside of his ear. Then he shook his head, causing the browband to slip back even further. He began to shake his head and longe a funny way trying to get away from the thing on his ear (or the bit...it is time to do his teeth, so I'm not ruling anything out) It became a vicious cycle which stopped only after I put the reins on his halter and put the bridle away. Then, with no bit, his normal head carriage was gone (miss that!) and he was a lot faster (hmmm, could be good, could be bad b/c I'm real attached to his pokey little trot and canter) and he still shook his head around. But he did not take off after Rascal when Rascal took off, which was way cool, he did trot out more steadily once he adjusted and he did not have any trouble stopping, so it may just be an adjustment on my part. He's not in great shape and he tends to protest about being ridden when he gets tired. Olympus is not made from the strong "nights who say ni" stuff that Liberty is made from. He's more the wimpy tight to complain about "everything". I was feeling bad about how much I had to get on and off (suddenly, he could not traverse several ravines and ditches and had to be led down) and I was worried that he wouldn't do water either. But then Susan, wanting to catch up to Alanna, let her horse canter and he really went off super charged...and I was reminded why Olympus is such a nice boy. He just sort of watched, but never sped up. Good boy Olympus. I was also reminded that i have really only had this horse on the trails about 11-13 times in all, so really, he's fantastic! I think he's just now starting to figure out what he can get out of. The new halter bridle will arrive soon and that will help.

When I brought him back, Liberty came to visit me. I hugged my boy tight and smelled him and I was instantly reminded why I love my main squeeze...and reminded that I haven't been on him since October and how much I miss him. With Liberty I know what will go wrong potentially. I know he's a wreck on the trail on his own. I know he's a loud mouth at the P&R. I know that he's afraid of birds and that he always spooks left and if I can hang on he won't dump me. I also remember why he's harder to ride in some ways (way more narrow...I can't stick as well) but also how he thinks so much of himself and is just such a blast. i"m wondering what to do. I rode Olympus at six O b/c Maggie was going to compete Liberty...but now of course, she's not (never mind the conversations about not changing her mind). She's going back to Dixie. So I find myself wondering if I should go back to Liberty...and if I go back to Liberty do I just do the CP thing or do I go back to Open even though it means Maggie and I have to work things out logistically. Do I ride Liberty in LA and then see who I had the most fun with? Do I need to care about getting points this year and trying for a year end award (which negates caring which horse I ride more often) Do I try for a national championship knowing I'll be up against Jonni's horse, Hank, Alanna and Rascal, and Tory and Bam...I hadn't thought about that this year at all b/c I really thought that I was going to be working a lot more hours. The idea of riding so far after working 45-50 hours wasn't at all appealing...

which leads me to the next bit.

I found out today that my friend I have been filling in for will be back next week. I asked the Executive director if that meant I should plan only to work through next week, but I haven't heard anything yet. I did mention again that I really liked my job and would be happy to stay on resource for as many hours as they could/would give me. I knew this was temporary, but I don't think I expected to be this fulfilled by the word. Not just making more money (though that has been nice) but just what it has done for me as a therapist. While I have been given to patients, and they seem to be happy with me, i have been receiving validation that I'm a good therapist. That I have always been a good therapist. Before I kind of wondered if I was good at what I did. I wasn't sure b/c I didn't get a lot of feedback and validation, but now I'm sure that i am a good Music Therapist. I know that I have grown over the last few years as a MT and that I'm able to work in areas I never really thought I'd be good at. I'm sure that i will go to some nursing homes, or maybe hospitals or wherever and begin a marketing campaign for more work for myself. I'm going to develop a brochure and I'm going to get more work (if the hospice can't keep me around for whatever reason). I have gone to DSSW and emailed them for more clients, but I honestly don't have a good feeling that more will be forthcoming. I have a friend who has more hours than she can handle and has cut back, so I know the hours are out there, but I don't think that I'm popular there right now. I want the work, but I have one person I have worked with there that just doesn't seem to like me and she doesn't think I do a good job. I have had a couple clients quit me that were hers in the last year and while I can see why I may have done something to be quit in one case, the other one was just ridiculous. I'm not sure that she didn't actually cause my problem with both clients, she's just that hard to get along with. The people I have now are great. We seem to get along and the clients seem to like me, but I know that this can turn on a dime. I treat my work with DSSW way more seriously than I used to when maggie was in school. I treat it like I would an 8-5 job and I try not to take off...I learned the hard way that flexibility means that the client can change up their schedule all they want, but we'd better not change ours and that even though you have told a client for 2 months you're going to be gone an entire week, they may be still get made at you when you do take off...or when you change the schedule to see a client in advance of a coming snow storm this does not necessarily make you popular and the client may say that you change your schedule too much (even though they change theirs more) Anyway, enough of that...lets suffice to say, I want more work if it's not with hospice then I'm going to have to regroup and look for more.

Which brings me back to the horses: If I'm going to work less, I can't afford to go to so many rides but I won't be as tired and worried about getting back to work on Monday so I could ride open. If I work more, I'm tired and can't ride as much during the week and so CP is better. I'm not sure that I didn't like how much energy I had on Saturday when i came in. Olympus is easy to ride and I was relaxed and not exhausted and sore...of course, I only did one day since the ride got canceled. It might be fun to ride Open heavyweight against all the really good horses and see how we stack up. We did OK last year, but we didn't really have the normal people to ride against, so it wasn't a true test. I'm sure I'll ride him open at the Arab championships in September...unless Maggie wants to do it.

I asked Peter if he had an opinion and he pretty much outlined what I already think. So, no answer there. I think I'm just going to have to see who gives me the most joy and go that route. I think that I don't mind going to slower and shorter and having more time to hang with my friends and play the guitar and sing in the afternoons...or give the occasional massage again which I have the energy to do if I'm not riding open (and could use the money for gas, lol) So I suspect I'll stay in CP, just have to decide on the horse. I need to get on Liberty and go riding. I miss him. We have fun together. Oly is sweet and I have fun with him too.

Christmas eve pleasantries

2011-12-24T19:58:00.000-06:00

I'm finally home. Today I got called into work for a few hours and I was bummed at first that I had to work because I was really looking forward to having a peaceful day at home. But I was happy in the end that I had gone to be with the family.

Now we're watching the SyFy Christmas specials and drinking hot cider with spiced rum (yummy). Peter made dinner for us tonight. It was a Shepherd's pie. Tasty!!! Already watched haven and now working on Eureka. I'm considering crochet...or Sim's. Not sure yet. The Eureka special is really, really funny, so hard to think about doing anything extra besides watching the shows. I think we'll watch White Christmas after this is over because Maggie will be with her dad tomorrow night, and it's a movie we watch every year.

I have cinnamon roll dough started in the bread maker. Maggie loves my cinnamon rolls and I loved that my mom always made cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning when I was a kid, so it's a nice tradition. Peter is cooking dinner tomorrow too. He's making prime rib and potatoes and asparagus. I'm making an appetizer of jalapenos wrapped in bacon, stuffed with cream cheese. He also made a pie called Joe's Ky pie...it's chocolate, pecans, sugar....kind of like a cookie in a pie shell. Looks good anyway.

Shawn will pick Maggie up tomorrow night. We might go see The War Horse, but Peter and I may stay home and let Maggie and Shawn go alone. I'm a little sad. I'm going riding Monday (my only day off) and I really wanted Maggie to go with me, but Shawn had taken the day off just to spend it with her. I'm sure I can find an adult to go riding with, but maggie and I have ridden together in a long time. We've been so busy! She has been getting to ride some, and I have been riding other times. We don't ride the same division now, so I can't ride with her at the rides. I miss my little buddy. Next weekend I hope the weather is nice and we can go then!

Our Christmas tree has lots of presents under it. I don't know what to expect, but it will be fun. I'm sure we'll head to church at 11 as well. Maggie has been attending a church on Wednesday nights called Grace Baptist. I really like it. It's made me excited about church again. Peter...well, not so much. It's Baptist and not really his thing, but he's going with us some too. maggie had made a nice group of friends there and it makes me happy to see her part of a group of nice kids.

Off to play with my sims...or crochet...or something.

Crunch time

2011-12-18T21:49:00.001-06:00

This week leading up to Christmas promises to be busy. I did most of my shopping online yesterday so I'm covered there. Tomorrow I will get a few things wrapped and in the mail but except for a few small things I'm done shopping. We have really pared down our gift giving and I think that's so much better. No crafting for me this year. I have been too busy working.

This week the boss from Chicago is in. He is going to ride with me on Tuesday. I'm both nervous and excited about it. I hope it's a good sign that he is observing me. My friend who I have been filling for will be returning soon but I really hope they keep me on in some capacity. Not just because I'm earning more money. Especially because I love the job.

Saturday wasn't a good horse day. I haven't been on a horse in 2 weeks and I'm missing it bad. I was going to ride on Saturday but we never got past the bridling. I have a new bridle on order from nancy mitts at Stablegear tack to solve one more problem. Maggie has decided that she won't ride Liberty the rest of the season. She just doesn't like him enough. So it's Liberty who will get a break since I'm going to stick with Olympus.

I really miss sewing. I hope I get to do some this winter but I suspect that free time is in a short supply temporarily. As I get more comfortable working the new job I'm sure I'll find free time. I hope to get back to the gym this week because I'm tired of not being physically active. Gotta start working through to get on a triathlon path again.

The worst day

2011-12-07T15:04:00.001-06:00

This is a rant most likely you will read it and wonder what the big deal is i find myself thinking the same thing I dont know why today is worse than another day it just is I have just been having the worst day. My ipad calendar got stuck and froze. And I had clients to see and outlook had hijacked the calendar and I didn't know who I was supposed to see. It was a real mess. I finally had to delete and reinstall the calendar. Then I was late. Then the program I do documentation with stopped working (not my fault) so I didn't get to see my clients nor did I do documentation. Then there were admissions so I have to do their assessments before I leave town on Friday. Then there was the fact that I didn't sleep well last night. And maggie is home so I couldn't even have my meltdown in private. And she lost her literature book and her test (found the test). This all put me into a state of total tears and crying. My work of the last 6 weeks has caught up with me in a big way. I love the job and the money I'm earning. I want to keep this job forever. But to do so I have to do double duty four more weeks and I'm just tired.

So then I calmed down and we left the house to go feed. Then I realized I had to go to the bank and then I realized I was out of gas. Then I realized I didn't have time to go to feed and that I was now late for maggie to get to school and me to my hair appointment (only fun thing in my day) I'm feeling alone and stressed out.

So now I'm getting my hair done but I just keep crying and crying today. I can't turn off the faucet and it's embarrassing which makes me cry even harder. Just typing all this out makes me cry more.

I have patients to see after this. I have paperwork to do. I have to complete my ceu's ASAP or I won't have a certification. I'm still supposed to leave town Friday though I have taken steps to save myself from that. I want to go be with my friends and ride my horse. I just don't know how I'll get it all done.

Little dog lost

2011-11-27T14:51:00.001-06:00

Well we have lost our sweet stray dog the same way we found him. The door blew open today and he ran out with the other dogs. Peter didn't realize that he had gone or that the door was open. Bonnie and Frankie came straight back or rather he found them down the street but no sign of Baby Thor. I am heartbroken. I had planned to take him to have him read for a possible microchip tomorrow and had looked forward to putting him back with his family. Or I'd looked forward to just letting him stay if I couldn't find the owner. But the thought of him on the streets in the cold is distressing to me. He was such a sweetie. We all liked him. I just have to pray he found his way back home but I'm sure going to miss his sweet puppy breath.

Covered up in dogs

2011-11-23T23:08:00.001-06:00

We have a little stray dog who found us on rainy Monday. No. I'm not going to keep him. I don't care how cute he is or how good he is. I would have to find a home for Frankie (or Peter for that matter) if I kept the dog. But for the record he is cute cute cute. He's housebroken and neutered and he even gets along with Frankie and doesn't chase cats. He plays ball and at the moment he answers to the name of Baby Thor. Why Baby Thor? Well it started with Maggie calling him Odin even though he was more of a Loki. Then we migrated to Thor. But a recent episode of the TV show psych called someone Baby Thor and I just thought it was cute. Mostly he comes anytime I say come here so I'm not sure his name really matters. Plus he's not going to live here past Monday anyway. Maggie and I have been working to find his people. I will have him checked for a microchip at the vet Monday and if he isn't anyone's and I can't get my friend Susan Hays in Missouri to take him (she needs a dog!) the little old lady down the street with a bunch of dogs says she'll take him. In the meantime all four dogs are curled around me making me awfully warm.

Peter and maggie left for Eureka Springs with his parents this morning Originally I was to go as well but I had to work today (12 patients and documentation in 10 hours of work--documentation not quite done) and I have to work Friday. I'm actually enjoying the being home alone. I used to get lots of alone time at home but not so much anymore. I'm going to Olenjack's grille for buffet tomorrow and Shawn is joining me. He has to work also but is picking up Howie (he misses him) and we'll share a meal. I think I'll ride too unless Olympus is too gimpy from his wreck in Sunday. (short version he passed out and freaked out pulled back and fell down and is now gimpy)

I have the strange urge to clean and organize but I also have the urge to lay around. I want to know why I can't clean when other people are home. It seems that I'm bothered by the people sitting around not cleaning so I don't clean either. But when no one is here I will clean because I can get in my little zen cleaning world. I used to do little bits of cleaning home alone but now I'm never home alone.

Saturday I'm taking Olympus to a clinic with Harry Whitney. I can take him gimpy or not because the number 1 thing I want to work on is his bridling and head issues and I can do that even lame. Plus I want Harry and Shea to see if they can spot where he is limping before Monday's vet appointment. Peter and maggie come back on Saturday do I'm really on my own only one day.

I guess I'll sign off for now. Heading to bed for a night if sleep.

The weekend

2011-11-20T07:36:00.001-06:00

I am going to riding in a little bit with maggie and another friend. It's cloudy and there is a 49% chance of rain so I'm hoping it will either start before we leave or hold off till we get back.

Went with a couple friends to see the new twilight movie yesterday. It was fun and the movie was pretty bad. I can't figure out why they thought they needed to split it in two parts. It could easily have been told in one.

I have been tired this weekend. I have enjoyed the opportunity to sit around.

Extreme frustration

2011-11-14T08:24:00.001-06:00

I was down to 213 two weeks ago. I'm not sure why I lost those 5 pounds but I sure felt good and was really happy. Today I weighed in my original 218 that my body seems to love so much. I again have no idea why I gained because I have logged my food the whole time and have been eating right. I did take some time off from exercise but running around like crazy doing two jobs must count for something. So needless to say I'm annoyed. I now have to change my ticker back to only 4 pounds lost instead of nine. Grrrr.

Sent from my iPad

Last chance

2011-11-06T16:40:00.001-06:00

Maggie sad tonight. She did not get the first place he needed to get 1st in horsemanship and she is pretty sad. I wish it wasn't so hard on her.

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone
so be excuse and be amused by typing errors.

Life is crazy

2011-11-03T08:33:00.000-06:00

Blogging has been kept to a minimum of late. I started a new job with hospice in Fort Worth. I'm also still seeing my DSSW patient. Life is been kind of crazy.

I love my new job! At the moment, I'm in Denton, what are you still live when I was in grad school. I just dropped off my old house, and unfortunately it's a bit run down with the years. Today I supervise my first music therapy student ever. I hope that I do a good job.

Because I have been so busy, I am dictating using Dragon dictation. I'm trying to transfer you to make sure I haven't made any strange errors, but sometimes the programs that strange thing. So if one doesn't make sense, take into account the iPhone's interpretation of my voice.

Today will be crazy, I have many people to see in Denton Louisville in flower mound before the end of the day. I hope I'm able to get everything done. I'm looking forward to an exciting few weeks while I fill in for friend you taking some time off.

This weekend maybe I will travel to Oklahoma Talay call Blackwell. It can be a crazy day tomorrow, with me working all day and in meetings from Decatur at about six o'clock tomorrow evening. We won't arrive in Stillwater until about midnight. But it's worth it! Maggie and only four point 5 1st Pl. but I would give her the opportunity to try.

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone
so be excuse and be amused by typing errors.

Music month

2011-10-03T18:53:00.001-05:00

> A nice announcement from the governor, and possibly something some Texas MT's could capitalize on…
>
> Texas is world-renowned for its eclectic music scene. Marked by the contributions of musical legends such as Buddy Holly, "Blind" Lemon Jefferson, Willie Nelson, ZZ Top and Selena, Texans have made an incalculable contribution to music. That is why we say, "You can't hear American music without hearing Texas."
>
> The Lone Star State has long enjoyed a wealth of great musical artists. With its phenomenal growth during the last two decades, Texas' music industry competes internationally to attract songwriters, performers and industry professionals. With nearly 8,000 regularly performing Texas bands and ensembles, the music business is a vibrant and important sector of our economy, providing jobs as well as entertainment for this great state. Our music industry also sparks tourism, as visitors from across the country travel to Texas for festivals such as South by Southwest.
>
> To highlight the importance of the Texas music industry and recognize the accomplishments of our many great musicians, an appreciation campaign is being conducted during the month of October.
>
> At this time, I encourage all Texans to recognize the many contributions of the music industry and those who create great music in our state.
>
> Therefore, I, Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, do hereby proclaim October 2011 to be
> Texas Music Month
>
>
> in Texas, and urge the appropriate
> recognition whereof.
>
> In official recognition whereof,
> I hereby affix my signature this the
> 11th day of September, 2011.
>
> Governor of Texas
>
> http://governor.state.tx.us/music/files/directory/texas-music-month.pdf
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
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Saturday activities

2011-10-03T10:02:00.000-05:00

I have been meaning to write this since Saturday and I keep getting bogged down with emotional breakdowns and pre-ride stress...so here goes.

I think that Maggie's horse, Dixie, may be one of the most underrated NATRC horses ever. She's not built that well, but Maggie adores her. She can be a bit stubborn and her maneuverability is a little tricky...she gets stuck a lot. Not anyone can ride her. While she's incredibly safe and trustworthy, she's also very forward and sometimes will demonstrate her displeasure at someone inexperienced hopping on by going faster than they prefer. She's honest, so she never bucks or does anything nasty, but if you aren't watching out you'll be back at the gate before you know it. What I love about riding Dixie, and having Maggie ride Dixie is that she is so incredibly steady. With the exception of spooking at the occasional cut log (which is mostly signified by stopping) she will keep chugging in her own rhythm, for a long, long time. She is pretty fast at the trot and i don't much like her canter (but that's OK b/c she's not my horse) and she would rather rather trot anyway. Saturday, maggie and I swapped horses for awhile (she rode Liberty) and I was blown away by how steady she is in her natural rhythm. The problem is that she's a little fast for her own good and can blow her own P&R's by rating difficulty...but when you rate her, sometimes she's tense and her back is sore, so I wonder if she's not better off just chugging along. Her nice, easy, comfortable trot is Liberty's canter. He used to trot big too, but one day discovered it was easier to do a slow slop and so now that's what he does, but Dixie just trots and trots. Maggie is going to try open on her again next year. She was successful in two rides in 2010, but over the summer Dixie didn't sweat and then she wasn't ridden b/c she wasn't sweating so the fall rides didn't go so well for her...but next year will be different as we've found a way to manage her issues through dietary changes.

In other news, Joe Bear went to a new home Saturday. Right now, it's just a trial to see if they get along. He will be a child's pony and keep an old thoroughbred company while his Percheron cross counterpoint is showing in dressage. They tell me he's settling in great and they have a way for him to be able to eat more than I could manage. We'll know in a couple weeks if it's going to work out or not. Watching him run around their pasture, it was hard to believe that he is an old man of at least 36. He acted more like 15 or younger. It was hard when he chased us down the driveway after the trailer, but I know that he will be happy and get tons of attention.

addendum on yesterday's post

2011-10-02T14:06:00.000-05:00

I was thinking more about my subject yesterday and I think why I am bothered so much is that people lie. I try to be honest and straight forward. I won't call in sick if I'm not sick. If I need a day off, I generally just say so and try to reschedule. I find myself so frustrated with the incongruity of my clients. They don't tell me there is ever anything wrong, so I never have a chance to fix it. Like last spring with that one client. I really thought we all got along great, so it was a real blow to my pocket book (two hours per week) and my emotions to find out that they didn't like the way I was scheduling them. I never even had a chance to fix it. Then recently the program manager asked if I could come back on with the understanding we'd have to have a set day and time and they refused. Their reasons were that I was too talkative (which I know was a problem at first, but swear I fixed) and the scheduling issue...which is also fixed by warrant of the fact that I am taking my schedule more seriously than I used to a year ago...and I'm so busy I don't have time to rearrange anything, so I try to never have to change things up if possible. I'm starting to believe that their discontinuation of the service had very little to do with me, and more to do with their own lives. This client was involved in PT, OT, horse and aqua therapy. So, they were super busy. They frequently canceled on me...yet when they had something to say to my "boss" it was all my fault. I just find it so depressing. yes, I have to move forward and yes, I am good at lots of things, but working for other people doesn't seem to be one of them. This scares me for the future. I want to work with and play nice with others. I want to figure out why I am such a target for mistreatment. It almost seems sport for those who don't like me to beat me up...and yes, that makes me sound really paranoid. Anyway, blogging about it does help kind of get it off my chest. I know that these things are in the past, but I'm still stinging from the weight of my past mistakes. I would like to think that showing up every week counts for something, but evidently the small things that I do wrong count for more. Wouldn't it be nice just to be perfect?

Crisis of Spirit

2011-10-01T20:54:00.000-05:00

I have never been a highly popular person. I'm someone who is loved by the friends I have (and I love them back) and I'm considered friendly in new meeting situations. Whether or not new acquaintances become friends is questionable though it is is known that I get along and know a fair number of people, even if many fall into the acquaintance category. The main problem is that I talk too much. I always have. I'd like to think I won't forever but I probably will. My good friends just know that's who I am. Sometimes in work settings it has been a problem but most of my clients just know that's me and since we like each other it's no big deal. Sometimes even through my greatest efforts to be what I consider quiet, it's not enough. This has not been a complaint in awhile but it haunts me even when no one is complaining. Sometimes people want a quiet massage and sometimes people talk. I try to follow the lead of my client so that I do the right thing. Sometimes the client talks and their parents want a quiet massage and that's where it gets tricky for me. Quiet I can do and talk I can do but staying quiet when they are talking is hard. I get sucked into the conversation. This all came up the other day when I lost the client for texting. Whenever something like this happens i find myself questioning all behavior. Was I answering a call or text when someone thought I shouldn't have been? Or did I talk too much? Did I change schedule too often? The whole reason I'm self employed is to be able to change up my schedule but that one always seems to bite me. Then after I fret awhile and nothing else bad happens I'll feel ok but I always find myself feeling like the next shoe will drop. I want to know why some clients are so hard to please? And why I find myself displeasing people I thought I had good rapport with? And further I wonder why people feel the need to blame the therapist when they decide to drop a service when it wasn't really her fault? For example: last winter I got dropped from a client because they said I changed my schedule too much. This was after they cancelled me to weeks at Christmas and I missed a week because of snow and ice. I asked to change the next week's schedule to see her before the next storm hit. Then there was the week two weeksblater that I took off which I had been telling them was going to happen since December. So I got dropped from them and I had thought we were all good. I always ask if I need to make a change. I don't just tell them I'm changing. So I find my work frustrating and my self confidence is often damaged. I feel 'wrong' a lot of the time. I wish that I didn't dread getting in trouble all the time. It's very stressful and it always hits me hard.

So I have complained about being dropped. I need to state, for all my client's parents who read my blog and are my friends on Facebook none of these stories are you! I love all my people and like to please them. I think the biggest source of stress is thinking things are good and finding out they weren't too late to fix it. And it seems like they are all clients belonging to one program manager, which continues to make me look bad and costs me more clients.

Exercise

2011-09-30T16:34:00.001-05:00

I'm on a slippery slope. I have not worked out all week. I haven't ridden and I have only walked once. I miss it. I am cranky without it but I have issues getting up in the dark to go to the gym. I think it was easier this summer because it was light. So after the time changes I should be better off. My work has been in the way and this last week was just crazy. I'm hoping to hit cycle class today but don't know if I'll make it or not. I have to exercise in the mornings. I could probably do afternoons too if i had time I'm so tired at night that I have a hard time forcing myself to the gym.

One of those days

2011-09-28T22:08:00.000-05:00

Today was just a bad day all the way around. I got in trouble for something early in the day and it colored my whole day. I was caught using my cell phone during a massage session. Honestly, couldn't say when I did it. I play music for the clients during their massages from my phone and I don't know if the mom saw me flipping through music or actually texting, (which I do occasionally when someone texts me and it seems important) but I don't sit in a massage with anyone and text or email with both hands or more than sporadically. So, anyway, I did it and I got caught and I lost the client. which makes me really sad b/c I liked that client and it wasn't a regular thing to text at her house, so it's kind of weird that I got caught. It ruined my whole day. The program manager brought up how I lost clients last year b/c i was talking too much...of course, that hasn't been a problem since I've been playing music for the clients with my phone b/c we all have something to listen to. I love giving massages, but sometimes, it's slow and boring for the therapist. I try so hard to only chat with the clients who talk to me and often I find out that the parents or the clients think I talked too much, even when I've made an extreme effort to zip my lips. I just don't know how to be silent I guess. I find myself hoping that the doctor will say I have ADD and whatever magic pill they give me for ADD will just silence my brain and alleviate my need to be stimulated. It would be so nice to just have a quiet brain that doesn't need to be fed information. I asked the PM if anyone was complaining about me talking now, b/c I've really been working so hard not to talk to them even if they talk to me, and she said no, that no one had complained...but now I got busted for a random texting/emailing phone event. I even asked if it was possible that the mom saw me flipping through music for her daughter b/c until a few weeks ago, I didn't even bring my phone into their house. I never thought I'd get "fired" from a client for using my phone. I figured that the worse thing that would happen is someone would say "hey, don't do that". I feel like a dope...

Then from there the day just went to heck. I was late everywhere I went, though I did get a really nice haircut. I also found out that a client I thought I was going to lose in a week is on for another month, so that's a good thing.

The agency I work for has experienced cuts to their specialized therapies so my schedule was going to reduce from 15 hours down to 13 hours anyway, but now it's going down to 12 and then 11...not enough. emotionally it's enough to keep me full up, but fiscally, i need more, steady income. The great part is that i have some other contracts that have really pulled through and I'm continuing to cultivate more new contracts all the time, so that my eggs aren't all in one basket.

Today is my mom's birthday. She sounded happy when I called her. I wish I could be there for her birthday dinner with my brother tomorrow.

Lunch ideas

2011-09-27T22:21:00.001-05:00

I need to figure out a healthier lunch option when I'm driving. I start with good intentions and end up eating fast food. I'm not anbig sandwich eater nor am I a huge salad eater. I need to come up with something I can take in the far or buy while I'm out that's going to be healthy. I don't have a microwave usually so it needs to taste good cold. I have been thinking that I need to find myself some places to eat that aren't fast food and/or I need to find a park or shady place so I can have a real lunch. I'm thinking that driving down the road eating isn't the best option for my overall diet. Medifast sure made this easier.

Alice Yovich

Sent from my iPhone

so be excuse and be amused by typing errors.

Tracking apps

2011-09-22T08:06:00.000-05:00

I used my footsteps app today when I did my 15 minute run/walk. I think I like it better than run keeper. Run keeper never says I'm going as fast as my footsteps app, and it doesn't seem to switch my speed from walk to run when I'm mixing it up. It also doesn't say I'm going as fast as I know I am when I'm running, clocking me under 4mph when I'm jogging. That doesn't seem right. Of course, I don't know that run keeper isn't right, but the footsteps pedometer app logs me more like the couch to 5K mileage I see on the treadmill, so I tend to think it's right.

So, what apps are good for logging miles and speed? I like the idea of run keeper, but I didn't find it accurate. I like my footsteps b/c it logs my calories similar to what my fitness pal does.

Speaking of my fitness pal. I found a new app called Lose it that goes with a book by the same name. It gives me more calories and works along the lines of the BMR calculator that I learned about from listening to fat2fit radio. I'm pretty impressed so far with the idea that you shouldn't "diet" but should eat like the thin person you want to become. I have started losing again and I'm not working so hard. It's coming off more slowly, but that's OK.

Add testing

2011-09-21T13:35:00.000-05:00

Today, I went in for testing for ADD. It has been suggested to me by several friends and loved ones at this might perhaps be one of my many problems. LOL. I personally do not think that I have ADD. I am very good at juggling many balls. I do an outstanding job of remembering named. I am good managing things and meeting deadlines. I do not have a messy office, nor do I procrastinate. However, many of my friend's have suggested it, So I decided to be tested.

Testing was very simple. I had to do a series of puzzles , answer questions. The psychiatrist asked me familiar facts , math problems, and I had to do a personality and psychiatric disorder inventory. I found a psychiatric inventory particularly interesting. I was given a series of statements that I either had to say yes or no to. Many of the questions were phrased in the negative and made it very difficult to answer properly. For example, one of the statements was do you feel about many people talking about you behind your back? Or rather I feel like many people talk about me behind my back? Or maybe it was many people talk about me behind my back and laugh at me. Anyway, I understand the point of the question was to measure my paranoia about people are talking about me behind my back. How am i supposed to answer that question? Do I answer yes b/c people do talk about me behind my back or no so i dont look paranoid. What if there are people talking behind my back? Is it ok to admit it bothers me? There were also many questions about my drug alcohol use. I have a little Alcohol use and no drug use so I found the questions particularly amusing.

I return to the doctor in two weeks to get the results. I need to treated he might be.

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone
so be excuse and be amused by typing errors.

I almost left the above post just like it Was with the amusing typos but decided not to. I attempted to blog through dragon dictation and was not successful

I'm curious of the test results. Many of the puzzle problems were hard as were the math. I had to sequence numbers forward, backward and in greatest to largest. I think I was better at organizing the numbers smallest to largest than either of the sequences. On the the sequencing when it got over 5 numbers I couldn't remember the ones in the middle.

Great ctr

2011-09-19T19:34:00.000-05:00

I have spent a lot of time the last week reading the posts of The Bloggess. She is hilarious and I find myself wishing I had a tiny bit of her story telling ability. But, alas, I do not so I will have to tell a more basic and slow witted story of my ctr weekend.

The ride this past weekend was in the LBJ grasslands in Decatur, tx. It's a marvelous place to ride with more than 50 miles of trail. I don't get there often enough. Maggie and I arrived about 2pm and were able to find our favorite camping spot with ease. I got checked in for the natrc and Arabian horse ride (Liberty is a half Arab ) and Maggie played with her friends (though I guess at 14 they hang out, not play).

Saturday morning Liberty was massively upset at having been separated from Dixie. He was expressive in his defiance.I ended Up riding with corry key, a vet from Arkansas, and her awesome stallion, Zaliel. In this case two wrongs made a right and two badly behaved horses became well behaved friends on the trail. They paced perfectly and they were there for me when Liberty dumped me after spooking at a cow. (Corry is the author of a great book called Horses who Eat potatoes)

Sunday she had to pull and I was very sad. I have never had that much funon trail at a Ctr.

Texas two step ttc

2011-09-19T16:22:00.000-05:00

We passed a fun and exciting weekend at Tarrant Ranch with the Texas Trail challenge. We had challenges both days. Maggie Road in the first day and I judged. The second day Maggie and I helped to pull down ribbons for candy, and she helped with one of the obstacles. There was a large group both days, I would say over 40 riders each day. There are also many buddy riders.

on the first day, when I was judging, I had to very fun obstacles. The first obstacle was a very large date. Tenderfoot had to pass through the gate while keeping control of the gate at all times. Both Maverick and Horsemen how'd open the gate with the left hand back through the gate, close the gate. They had to keep control of the gate the entire time. Most everyone did this fairly well, but there are a few resources refused to approach the day. There were a few beautiful example of the opening. The second obstacle was a series of transitions. Tenderfoot had to make a walk trot whole transition, Maverick had to do a Tropicana hall transition, and Horseman had to do at canter halt canter transition. The tangelo cancer, when done well, is a beautiful thing. I was playing with it on Sunday, and discovered that liberty really enjoyed the challenge of it. Everyone seemed like they were having a really great time. We had good potlucks both nights, and some birthday cake for candy on Sunday. Maggie placed higher than she ever has before. She was third in the maverick adult class. She Juniored out last year, and is no longer riding with the juniors, who ride tenderfoot. The next one is at Waco's lacy point. It will be held in the second to sorry third week of October. I hope everyone will come.

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone

Hair color

2011-09-07T22:01:00.000-05:00

All my life I have been a natural blond. I was really white headed as a kid and it's never quit being blond. However, the last couple years, it's looking a little dingy. I suspect that means it's turning a little bit grey. It doesn't look grey, it still looks blond, but it's not vibrant. I tried to go strawberry blond but the red never stays in my hair. (Imagine my surprise that Maggie is still a red head after one planned box of temporary color turned her permanently red and now we're seeking ways to keep up with it or turn it back) So, when I bought her last box of color, I bought me one too. I picked ultra light sun blond. I figured as poorly as my hair takes color it wouldn't make much difference...well, uh, that's not true this time. I'm really, really blond now. However, it looks fabulous, so I'm not sorry. It's bright...Photos of my bright blond hair and my shiny new tights will most likely be available next week at after the NATRC ride.

New Friend Saturday

2011-09-03T16:30:00.001-05:00

I had the opportunity to meet and make a new friend today. Her name is Dee and she is the wife of my guitar teacher. She has always loved horses, but for various reasons she has been told that she shouldn't ride anymore. It's not a serious, structural issue, and she is planning on starting slowly to see if she can ride again. Today she just came out to smell and brush horses and enjoy herself, but in the future, I'm going to get her on a horse at a walk and maybe a trot on a longe and see how it goes for her. She would love to be able to actually go trail riding if possible, but she needs to build core muscle, so we're going to approach this like a therapy. She is just amazing and we really hit it off so I'm looking forward to the company. Peter and I are going to go to the Stagecoach tonight to see my teacher's band play and just go out. I never do that, so it will be fun! We're going to stay out just an hour or so since Maggie and I have some riding planned for in the morning.

I had planned to sew today and instead we're just enjoying watching old Eureka episodes and playing with Sims 3. I ended up ordering some new tights from Evelyn Allen at Just for Horsin-round and now I don't have to make my own. Maggie is making a pair of sleep pants for a friend and I'm going to help her with those. She got the pattern traced off, just like my mom, showed her. Then, while sitting on her knees she got her right knee cap stuck again. this hasn't happened in 6 months, but I see a trip to the orthopedist in our future. I came to realize that it had been a couple weeks since I'd sat still and I decided to just enjoy myself today and be lazy!

I am tired

2011-09-02T23:01:00.000-05:00

I don't just mean physically tired. I mean I'm worn out with all the possibilities of things I could or should be doing. I am worn out with thinking of riding or sewing or reading or house keeping or game playing. I need to be doing some of the 50 cmte's I still need to achieve and could use a few quiet, unscheduled days for that. The good news is we have a three day weekend and I can get some of this stuff done. I just know there aren't enough hours to accomplish everything. Tomorrow I am meeting a new friend to ride. Sunday will find us on a short trail and Monday will depend. Monday we are playing games with a friend as well. I also need to get to the gym to swim or spin. Like I said I am
Tired.

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone

Weight set back

2011-08-30T07:06:00.000-05:00

In the last three weeks I have had a huge weight set back. In other words I have gained 8 pounds over the last month. I have been following my food logging, eating less fast food and working out. I haven't been working out as hard, but I have not stopped being active at any point. I'm very frustrated. I thought it was going to turn out to be water weight and I was sure that today I would wake up and it would be gone and instead I am up another pound. officially, Thursday is my weigh in, but if 3 pounds don't miraculously come off before then I will have gained a 3rd week in a row. Obviously time to re-evaluate my calorie levels.

Catching up

2011-08-28T00:19:00.000-05:00

I haven't been blogging much lately. I have stuff I'd like to write about but it's time consuming and stressful and not quite ready for primetime so it will have to wait.

We've had a busy weekend maggie and I. ON Friday I had a client to see near Decatur so I brought the horses to a friend's cabin for the night so we could start the day early Saturday. We then drove to Plano to visit with Peter and his parents as well as to see peter's brother's family. Then we went back to the cabin in Decatur. This morning we got up early to ride about 10 miles of trails marking it for the upcoming natrc benefit ride in two weeks. We came back to the cabin and ate and napped and then went to dinner and to see fright night. It was fun! Now getting ready to turn in so we can ride tomorrow morning before returning home.

Peter was busy too. He had photo class and games today. We had asked him to join us up here but be felt it was too long of a drive for the evening and morning. I was disappointed as I would have enjoyed his company. The cabin is so quiet and peaceful. Being in the country has been wonderful.

I'm still working out though I admit the last three weeks I haven't worked as hard. The next two weeks I'm going to pick up my training going into the fall ride season so I am more fit for the distance. I should be already but want to step up my game.

We are trying to find a home for our old pony Joe bear. He has been with us almost 11 years. He is in his mid 30's but totally sound and rideable. He may be broke to drive but we have never driven him. Just a rumor from his past. He doesn't eat hay anymore but his ideal home would be able to feed him a mix of feeds a couple times per day where he can be alone to eat. He is good in a herd but needs to be protected at meal times. He would be perfect for someone's grandchildren. I am not really looking to sell him or lose control of him. I just need another place for him to live. He's 12.3 hh and my daughter rode him as did her friends until a couple Years ago. He needs a smaller rider. He's a sweet Puppy dog of a pony and it would be great if someone could ride him more regularly as it will keep him young. It would help my bottom line to have one less pony to feed as well so it could be a win win for one of my friends who needs a pony Contact me privately for more details.

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone

Bluebonnet: BEHS Needs Help - Foster homes in Texas and Adopters in Texas and surrounding states needed

2011-08-26T13:48:00.002-05:00

The pleas for horses needing help sometimes get overwhelming, so I hate to add another plea. But the fact is that between economic hardships and one of the worst droughts in Texas' history, times are very hard for the horses here. Hay is scarce and expensive, and because of that fewer people are able and willing to foster or adopt.
We're getting more and more requests to help starving and abandoned horses, and if we're going to keep helping horses, we need some of ours to go to adopters and we need foster homes. So I'm turning to you all and begging for help.
We have many horses looking for their forever homes, and we're waiving adoption fees on twenty-five of them right now. Some are companion (or pet) horses who cannot be ridden. But others are broke to ride or sound enough to be trained to ride. The horses whose fees are not waived all have much lower fees than ever before. We need to move these horses out! If you aren't in Texas and are interested in adopting, send me an email. We'll discuss out of state adoptions on a case by case basis.
If you are in Texas and have some room but can't add another permanent addition right now, please think about fostering. We pay for pre-approved veterinary care, pre-approved supplements, pre-approved medications, paste de-wormer and $10 of each farrier visit. Other expenses may be tax-deductible since we're a nonprofit. The horses you foster give you so much more than you put into them. You'll become a better horseperson while making a very real difference in the lives of horses. You will be saving a life.
Please join us in helping these very needy horses. Their love and gratitude will be the greatest reward you can imagine.

------
Jennifer Williams, Ph.D.
President & Executive Director, Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society
www.bluebonnetequine.org

Join us for the annual Bluebonnet Horse Expo on October 22, 2011 in Austin, TX - www.bluebonnethorseexpo.com

Learn how to start and run your own rescue - www.howtostartarescue.com

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Mani/pedi

2011-08-21T15:46:00.001-05:00

We went to see our friend alexa in Wichita falls yesterday and stayed the night. We brought games and swim suits. We had dinner, swam and played games. Now I'm getting a mani/pedi and Peter is getting a pedi also. I think it will be his first one. I don't detect any enthusiasm in him but we girls are going to rope him into it. I have not had a manicure in years since my daily guitar playing causes chipping. But I'm getting solar nails.

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone

Fit 2 Fat Radio

2011-08-15T10:11:00.000-05:00

I ran across a new podcast/blog that I'm finding very interesting. I even purchased the first season of their podcast and their ebook because I found what they had to say so intriguing. They are 2 guys talking about fitness and weight loss, but their take is very different. They say that as dieters we should eat more food not less. That if we are truly hungry we should eat more food and not be starving ourselves. Their idea of BMR (basal metablolic rate) and food consumption is unique. I would like to think their method can work for me, but I'm still skeptical. They say that to lose weight you need to eat like you already weigh what you want to weigh. When I plugged in all my numbers into their calculator, I got a range of calorie consumption from 1771-over 2500 depending on my level of activity. It made me realize that my fitness pal (the calculator I have been using) doesn't actually add up how much I'm burning through activity into the mix of calories I should be consuming. When I plug in their recommendation for calorie consumption, it says I will lost 0, and that isn't taking into account the exercise I am doing. These guys say that if we eat more calories our metabolisms will repair themselves and we'll lose weight. Stayed tuned to see if this is true.

I got back on the exercise bandwagon today after being a slacker last week. I did 37 minutes of walking at 3.5 mph and burned about 247 calories. of course, this means I have another 200 calories to burn later in the day, but I know that i will do it. I came home from my weekend 4 pounds heavier than i left. I did log it in but don't really feel like it's a true reflection of my weight loss overall. I always gain water weight when I'm traveling. I drank quite a bit of the wrong things this weekend and I feel pretty puffy. Thursday will hopefully be lower than last week's number of 215.

Ugh, reading for the weekend

2011-08-11T17:39:00.000-05:00

Today has not been a good day at all! I was supposed to have breakfast with a friend who canceled. It is not unusual for her to cancel, but I had hoped she would not. Then we got the dog groomed and I ran errands. I was supposed to have a guitar lesson and see clients this afternoon, but my 24 hours are evidently not up on my bug yet. I'm still rumbling in my tummy, and staying close to home. I think I feel the end of it on the horizon. I'd better be at the end because I want to go to Parrie Haynes and will be very upset if we don't get to go for some reason.

Today I helped someone try to pick out a horse from Bluebonnet, but we currently don't have what he is looking for and that made me sad. I thought it would be cool to help someone adopt.

The upside of no work is we are packed and ready to go to parrie haynes.

Exercise slacker

2011-08-11T07:10:00.000-05:00

I have been a terrible slacker this week. Monday I only walked for about 30 minutes (well, walked/jogged combo with bonnie) I was going to go to the gym that evening but some things prevented me making it.

Tuesday was a bad, bad day. I walked for 50 minutes in the morning, but I didn't burn the close to 500 calories that i need to burn each day. The horses got into the grain, so the vet had to come tube them and I was outside in the heat for 3 hours and didn't drink properly. Then I had plans in the evening, so I decided to skip Hip hop, but then the plans fell through and by the time I realized they weren't going to pan out, I had showered and changed and didn't want to sweat anymore.

I didn't feel bad at all on Tuesday but yesterday I think the dehydration caught up with me...or I ate something bad, or I just picked up a bug b/c I felt sick all Wednesday afternoon. I had to come home and lay on the couch instead of going to boot camp or seeing the clients I should have been seeing...so, bad news all the way around.

This morning is already jammed full of activities and i woke up at 6. I'm going to go lift weights and play on the wii. But I know from Sunday that the wii fit only burns about 125 calories in 30 minutes, which isn't all that significant. I'll play with the frustrating Jillian program instead. It is a much harder workout even if I can't always get it right.

This morning, Bonnie goes to the groomers and then I have to work all afternoon. I have a hospice client i'm supposed to see but I'm not 100% still and I'm going to reschedule him for next week. I don't need to take potential stomach trouble to him. My tummy is still rumbly.

I read that about 2 months into working out there is a drop in motivation. I think I have hit that low spot. I have also read that once you get through it you are on a lifelong path to continued exercise. I have also read that it's OK to take a planned break. So, this week will be my planned break and I can hop in with both feet again next week.

Tomorrow Maggie and I leave for Parrie Haynes for one last party at the birth of Texas Trail Challenge. The park is closing due to budget cut backs. Our friends were laid off in July and continue to make plans for their future. It's one last time for us all to be together. Then I found out that my dad will be in town on Sunday. He just told me yesterday. So I have to make sure I leave Parrie haynes by noon so we can get the horses home and get cleaned up to spend the evening with them. I'm happy to see him...just wish I had known sooner. it will be a fun, hot weekend. So glad there is a swimming pool and we can sleep in an air conditioned bunk house.

Early mornings

2011-08-08T09:23:00.001-05:00

I am discovering I'd rather get up early and work out than lay in bed for an extra 30 minutes. When did THAT happen!? Wednesday I'm going to attempt 545 spinning glass. I only have to get up 30 minutes early to do it. I figure it's a worth a try. I like Friday afternoon spin. This is just earlier.

This morning I only got in 30 minutes of running and walking due to having to get a flat tire fixed. Bad news is that the tire had to be replaced so I'm still sitting in the tire store. Soon I will take maggie to ride then off to see clients.

Please keep my friend Michele Adams in prayers. She is a 40 year old mom of two and has been diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. I've known michele since 1994 and she is mom to my first foal, Sparkey. She was supposed to be leaving for Italy to be a missionary and instead she's undergoing chemotherapy and fighting to live.

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone

Guitar lessons

2011-08-04T14:02:00.001-05:00

Since my CMTE's are due at the end of the year, and I haven't had a guitar lesson since college, I decided to take guitar lesson. I had asked around and finally decided on docs guitar studio. It's located in hurst on pipe line Road. I had my first lesson today, and Randy was amazing. He has helped me already learned some new chords and I have homework for next week. His prices are reasonable. If you need any help with CMTE's for just want to learn some skills I highly recommend. E-mail me privately if you want his number.

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone

Trudging on

2011-07-21T21:31:00.000-05:00

I'm at a point of trying to decide if I'm going to keep with weight watchers another month or just use a free food tracker. I'm not sure if one is better than the other, but I do like being able to see how much exercise I have done for the week in terms of points. I have begun to make sure that I exercise enough to cover whatever extra food that i'm eating above my 31 points and not touch the "free" points that they give me. No matter than I am not losing any weight still. I find that I don't mind so much anymore. My inches aren't shrinking either...However, the working out is paying off in spades. Liberty spun out on me last weekend and I didn't fall off. Today he spooked several times and my new core strength kept me from falling off. He threw a little buck today and I stayed centered. So whether or not I lose another pound (I have lost a total of 7 since I started back in April) I can tell that my work is paying off.

I got to go to Alanna's place in the grasslands last night and ride with Vicki Fraser and Alanna. Annette Griffin and Deena Moore were to have come, but it didn't work out. It was so nice to leave the city behind, sit outside and gab and talk. I even ran a little with Vicki and the horses (very little b/c I got winded) but we had a nice walk around the pond on Alanna's 80 acres. Today we got up early, at a big breakfast (emphasis on big) and went riding from 8 till about noon. we rode the yellow trail and checked out the new bridge. We took turns leading, mixed up the pace a little so that no one got overheated, but we did manage to hit every pond. Liberty did his best to cool us all off, but blessedly did not lay down. We shared lunch and we went our separate ways.

It seems like it took me forever to get home today...traffic and all, but it was worth it for the get away.

I will work tomorrow and part of Saturday. I will get up and lift weights and swim or run tomorrow. I'll try to hit a class on Saturday,but I have to do my CPR certification on Saturday morning, so it will be whatever I can fit in. I need to step up my running, but I like the swimming so much more. I will just have to wait and see.

I have 3 clients tomorrow for a total 4:30 music and massage combined. I have some new massage contracts I have picked up that start tomorrow, so I'm pretty excited about that as well. God has blessed me with more work!

Maggie and I are supposed to be meeting up with Christa and Michaela to ride a couple days next week as a mini-vacation. It happens that the days we're meeting up are project to be under 100 and possibly raining...I don't mind to ride in the rain in they don't. Christa and Michaela have been gone to California for almost 3 weeks. We have missed them.

Working out

2011-07-13T11:10:00.001-05:00

An amazing thing has happened. I actually like to work out. I'm not sure what has happened to me but I like it. I went to hip hop dance class last night and it was great fun. If I miss a morning I actually find another time to work out. Ok so my weight loss is slow but I am fitter and stronger and that makes me happy.

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone

Help for horses. Bluebonnet Equine humane society

2011-07-11T14:10:00.000-05:00

Howdy everyone,

I'm hoping you'll forward the below message to email lists, message boards, Facebook, friends, family, etc. who might be able to help. This is the most sincere, from the heart plea for help I could write. I'm scared for so many horses out there across Texas and I worry about our ability to help them.

****

I've been involved in rescue since 1998. I have faced many challenges: halter breaking and taming wild horses, learning to run an organization, overcoming a nearly crippling fear of public speaking to speak out about rescue horses, testifying at seizure cases, etc. I have held horses' heads in my lap and cried over them when it was time to let them go. I've cried tears as some of my favorite horses have left for new homes, and I've smiled and laughed and felt overwhelming joy when I hear wonderful success stories about our horses and their adopters. I've met some wonderful people. I've faced horrible burnout and overcome it to help more horses.

I am not alone in this – there are many people in BEHS who have walked similar paths and help many horses. There are people across the country and around the world helping horses. I'm so grateful so be part of that brotherhood (sisterhood? Personhood?) of humans helping horses. And I want to extend a huge, giant, ginormous thank you to the foster homes, adopters, members and donors who make BEHS possible.

But 2011 is the most challenging year I've faced. The economy has affected so many of our members – people have had to return their beloved horses, they've had to stop fostering and some have been forced to let their membership lapse. Donations are down, adoptions are down and we rarely have anyone new sign up to foster. The drought has made grass non-existent and hay is nearly impossible to find.

But the need for help continues to grow by leaps and bounds. We're receiving more neglect reports than usual, we're turning away people who want to donate horses they cannot afford to keep, and we're unable to help starving, abused and abandoned horses when sheriff's departments call. We won't agree to take in horses from cases when we don't have the homes or funds to care for them. And this means we're turning many, many horses away. More than I've ever had to turn away before.

So I am begging from help. If you are looking to add a horse to your herd, please consider adoption. Our fees are very low (and July is adopt one, get one free month). Many of our horses disprove the myth that rescue horses can't be successful. If you have extra room and can foster, please sign up (BEHS pays for pre-approved vet care, pre-approved medications, $10 of each farrier visit and paste de-wormers. Other expenses may be tax-deductible). Join the rescue – you don't have to volunteer, live in Texas, or even be a horse person to join BEHS. Your membership says you support BEHS and the horses in the rescue. Or make a donation to help care for the horses in the rescue.

I have never been this worried about the future of the horses in Texas or so scared about our ability to help them. Please help me and help Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society continue to help needy horses.

Thank you for your time reading this,

Jennifer

------

Jennifer Williams, Ph.D.

President & Executive Director, Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society

www.bluebonnetequine.org

Join us for the annual Bluebonnet Horse Expo on October 22, 2011 in Austin, TX -www.bluebonnethorseexpo.com

Learn how to start and run your own rescue - www.howtostartarescue.com

--
If you need approval for routine vet work (vaccinations, teeth floating, castration, etc.) please contact Jennifer Williams at jenn@bluebonnetequine.org or Denise Crosthwait at dcrosthwait@sandersandwest.com.

Emergency contacts - Please attempt to contact Jenn first. If you cannot reach her, then try Denise or Paula. If you try all three but cannot reach any of them, leave messages for them and then call your veterinarian.

Jennifer Williams - 254 881 2180 or 832 425 8129 (emergencies only)
Denise Crosthwait - 979-272-7404, 979 777 0768 or 979-846-5700 Option 2 (emergencies only)
Paula Weisskopf - 713-705-5343

Alice Yovich

Sent from my iPhone

Saturday

2011-07-10T10:58:00.000-05:00

Last night we went to Johnnie High's country music revue in Arlington. It's just down the street from where we live. It's a country music show that has local talent, but has also helped to launch the careers of several country stars. There was a singer there last night that was on the voice. his sister was singing in the show and he had come to hear her sing. His name is Patrick Thomas. He was on his way to Nashville as of this am. He was pretty amazing. I also ran into one of my friends there. I found out she was there b/c she posted on facebook, and the little bubble came across Peter's phone. It was pretty funny. Peter had been wanting to go to this place for ages.

We went to Babe's fried chicken for dinner first...and yes, I could have had grilled chicken, but why would i when their fried chicken is so tasty. However, I looked up the 'cost' in weight watchers for one fried chicken breast and it was 19 points. Geesh! Oh well, I had planned to try it Lynne's way this week and have a cheat day followed by all good days. We'll see what happens with that.

I'm afraid I'm getting a cold. I have woken up with sore throat and goo in my lungs two days in a row. I'm hoping it's just allergy and I can hold it off.

Yesterday we saw off a good friend, Toni Roland, before she let for her move to New York. The weekend riding and hanging out didn't go as well as planned since Toni's movers were slow to arrive and then Karen Haile had to work late Friday and then Teresa had a family thing to take care of, but we managed to mostly get it done. We rode at Teresa's on Friday evening, just on the "soft" side of her place. We went into the Paluxi River and let the horses play in the water. Liberty was very funny! He swam in the river, rolled over and dug up moss from the water and flung it everywhere. It was absolutely hilarious. Olympus is getting to be great on the trail. He walks calmly, takes his other gaits calmly and we even managed to work on a gate yesterday, though it took forever. He never got upset about any of it though. He just kept letting me put him back into the situation he wasn't crazy about and eventually settled and did what was asked. He's such a nice horse!

We will really miss Toni in Texas! It was great to see her, but all too short. She is on her way to Bar 50 ranch. I wish I were going with her. She is going to wind her way to New York via bed and barns and riding.

Boot camp

2011-07-06T22:38:00.001-05:00

Second time at boot camp went much better than the first. I made it through 75% of the ab work and 80% of the rest of it. I'm going to sore tomorrow so it occurs to me I may be swimming instead of running but I'll see how I feel in the morning. My food has gone better this week. I still have weekly points leftover. I weighed tonight which was a huge mistake since it said I weighed 220. This morning it said 216 which is .8 higher than last week. I am not eating extra because I am working out more. I should be losing weight. I'm starting to wonder if I need a doctor. This is just crazy. Maybe my muscle tone was so pitiful that it's tKing forever to rev up my metabolism. But this is just nuts.

My secret weapons have been 5htp and kon jac root. Both keep me from being so hungry. Maybe it's sugar? I still eat a treat within my points every day. It's just nuts.

I got up and did some riding this am. Sat on fiera while she grazed and did ground work with Liberty. Linda is coming to hang out for the weekend starting tomorrow. I like Linda. We are going to Teresa musgrave's to see out friend Toni off. She is getting divorced and moving to Ny state. I hate that she is leaving.

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone

Running

2011-07-04T22:00:00.000-05:00

Today I finished week 2 of couch to 5K. Next week is a big jump. I go from running 90 seconds and off for 2 minutes to doing that 2 times and then doing 3 minutes on with a 3 minute recovery. I hope that I can keep my pace slow and do it, but I'm concerned I'm not ready. I will do that on Thursday. Tomorrow, I will be swimming, Wednesday biking. Hopefully I can do it!

So, I weighed today...and I'm four pounds higher than last week, which makes no sense. My eating has even been good. I measured myself and some of my measurements are actually higher than the last time. Geesh, I can't seem to get a break. I like doing Weight Watchers because I like knowing how my food is affecting me in relationship to my exercise and I like having the points to see if I'm giving myself too many treats. However, it's really frustrating to have the scales go nowhere in spite of my efforts since April. It may be that I have to not use my weekly points and I may need to cut my carbs a bit more. I have been trying to keep the sugar at bay and I have been eating balanced meals of a protein, veggie and healthy carb each week. it just doesn't seem to always get me anywhere.

However, I'm not going to quit. I'm going to keep working out, more weights, more time in the pool and more time on the bike. Something is bound to move eventually. If not...then I'll be the fittest fat woman in America.

Boot camp

2011-07-02T15:12:00.000-05:00

This morning I decided to conquer boot camp. I think, perhaps, it conquered me. I actually did pretty well and found that I enjoyed it. I put the Wednesday night class on my calendar so I can go again and I hope to take Maggie. I may not make it because Maggie and I tend to ride Wednesday nights. But if it's on my calendar I have half a chance of making it. Especially it's hot outside.

This morning i got up and made Peter and myself breakfast. He picked up Maggie from her friends while I was working out. Then I made us all lunch and we have cleaned house. Now Maggie and I are watching the tv show "v" from last season. When it cools we will go to ride. In the meantime I'm enjoying some downtime.

Bicycling

2011-07-01T09:22:00.000-05:00

Today was my first day to bicycle. peter fixed the bike I bought from Amy Crane last summer and then never rode. He got the brakes fixed and the tires are new and improved. So, today, I wasn't feeling like the pool, so I decided to take out the bike and do that for the first time. It was so much harder than I expected. I rode for 26 minutes. I have no idea how far I went or how fast I was going. I rode from the house, down the street, across Collins to the bike and walking path by the football stadium. From there I rode up to division and almost back to randol mill, but I couldn't make it up a big hill, so I turned around and went back at that point. I had to stop a couple times and rest for about 30 seconds or so, but I made it back home. I even rode past the group of dayworkers waiting for work that I have always been intimidated to walk by. So, I only burned 3 points on the weight watchers scale of points, so I know i have to do some riding, walking or swimming or something else later today...but at least I got out there and did it.

I have been at it for 3 weeks now and this week has been hard to be as intense as I was the past two weeks. I find myself being tired this week and wimping out on the workouts a little. I have done my work out every day, but I haven't worked as hard. I read in one of my books that the third week was the hardest one, so it could be that I'm just hitting that hump. After 21 days the exercise is supposed to become more of a habit.

In other news: I had someone ask me if I could watch their disabled family member in the mornings and I said yes. But when I gave my price of $10/hour, she didn't get back to me. I did say that I wasn't sure what people charged, so I was willing to negotiate, but she never replied. It may be too much money for them. But, I will be having to revamp my whole daily schedule and find a new time to work out (which is becoming important to me) so I don't feel the need to work for nothing when it's going to turn my schedule upside down. The other side is that I really could use the extra cash, even if it's not as much as I would like to have. I'm not sure yet which one is the best choice. I could come back and offer $8/hour and I could offer to do his therapy when I'm there on one of the days so they would only be paying me for three days...but then I still have to rework my schedule. I could sure use that cash in my debt snowball.

Today I am seeing one client, but it's far away. Maggie is going to hang with her friend Abby and go swimming. Then I hope, since it's "only" going to be 99, we'll ride this afternoon. If it's too hot, we'll come home, have supper and go out this evening.

we had a great time last night playing with the new Glee Karaoke game. We had a great time singing Glee songs with each other. I usually do really well on those games, but I was consistently flat last night and Maggie and Peter and Maggie kept beating me. We had fun anyway.

Maggie and I went to see Buck the Movie last night. It was so awesome. We really enjoyed ourselves. It wasn't really a horse training movie, but it was neat to see how one of the most revered natural horsemen lives his life.

Exercise and thoughts on Exercise

2011-06-29T22:28:00.000-05:00

Wednesday is my day off from exercise. I intentionally don't work out on Wednesday morning because I can usually sleep in a bit and I have a busy day of work. However, the last two Wednesdays I have actually wanted to work out. I was thinking of doing my workout tonight, but I went riding instead. By riding, I actually feel pretty good that I got some exercise in my day. The better I get in shape, the more I realize how weak and out of shape I am. Tomorrow is a running and weight day and I'm hoping that we will get to Yoga class at 4:30 tomorrow as well. I need to have some flexibility work with the aerobics and weights. I went to Pilates last night and found that I'm pitiful in the core strength department. One of the books I read said I should aim for one sport of the three found in Triathlon for the first month. so that means running, swimming or biking each day, but not more than one in a day. When I get to week five of running, I will have to start doing biking and swimming on the same day. then after another month, I guess I have to work up to doing all three some days. I really want to get in shape and do this thing, but I'm realizing how far I have to go!

Liberty did something naughty tonight, but it didn't frighten me. I was riding him in the field, which is not his best thing in the world to do anything, and we were doing the most beautiful canter. Then he got mad (cause he wanted to go back to the herd) and felt like he was going to buck, so I pulled up his head. I guess I pulled up a little too hard, or pissed him off, but he went up. Maggie said it looked really pretty. He came down again and just stood there. I think he was as shocked as I was. I immediately rode him off in another circle and made him work a lot harder than he had been. It never happened again and he was a model citizen. We also did a ton of obstacle work tonight and he was amazingly great! He was very responsive and fun to work with. The canter departs are getting so smooth.

Maggie was funny. Olympus was just adorable, as usual, and she told him she didn't want to like him so much, but she just couldn't help herself. when helping with the bluebonnet envelope stuffing on Saturday we found out that there were two O horses from that rescue...Olympus and Oliver. Oly, was supposed to have been Oliver, which would have fit him, but they mixed him up and another horse because Oliver. It explains why we have always felt like he was really an Oliver...and why we usually call him Oliver.

Fiera's first ride

2011-06-27T21:39:00.001-05:00

Last Thursday and Friday annette griffin and I got together to ride at Trace Trails. Annette is a rather recent region 4 transplant from Iowa and I have really enjoyed getting to know her. She had a green horse to ride as did I, so we both brought experienced horses and greenies. Thursday evening I saddled up Fiera (who is Deli's daughter from Larry's stallion Phantom Shiek aka Repo) and rode her for 20 minutes on the trail. Annette accompanied us with her experienced horse. We have, of course, been preparing for this day at home. She has been very laid back and lazy so I wanted to get he out and see where we were.

First thing we were met by a mob of deer. She was really tense and I hopped off which proved to be a good move. When I hit the ground the deer took off spooking Fiera. She came to my rein easily and I brought her back to me. She was no worse for the wear and settles quickly. I remounted and she took off at a nice walk in the lead. She was snotty and scooted under me a few times but each time came back to my cues. She also followed nicely and didn't rush to catch up to Annette's fast walking horse.

In the end we rode through the woods and back to camp. Liberty called the whole time and Fiera never made one peep. She was nervous, but sensible. I was alert but not afraid. It was a success.

I need to work on a few things now. She is not light in the bridle and she pulls on me a little when she is moving forward. She doesn't move her butt over as well as I'd like. She won't go near water under saddle. But these things will come.

After taking her out I rode liberty until dark. Then we sat around and chatted and ate. It was her horse, Bella's first time out since she was injured at scamper in March. It was the easiest camping i have ever done. I opened the back door of my suburban and just slept.

The next morning Annette had this cool coffee pot to go over her stove that worked like a mr coffee. Somehow, when the water heated it went through the top filter and made coffee.

On Friday we took her new horse, Tally, out with liberty. We had a great ride of about 6-7 slow miles. It never got too hot. Then we took the horses swimming in the pond. I almost came off once over Liberty's nemesis: birds. Be didn't spook at the deer or the pigs. Silly old pony.

The weather was pleasant there and the trails mostly shaded. I don't think either Annette nor myself wanted to leave.

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone

Playing tennis

2011-06-27T19:50:00.001-05:00

Maggie has expressed an interest in tennis so the Yovich family is taking up tennis. Tonight Peter and I went to the courts and played for 30 minutes. It was 99 degrees outside and we got hot fast. I discovered that I have no aim and I swing over the ball a lot. It was fun though and I will enjoy playing again in the future.

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone

Maggie home from camp

2011-06-26T11:01:00.000-05:00

I'm thinking of getting a $150 pool this week, haven't decided yet for sure. If I do, I'll use my gas $$ that I save not driving somewhere to camp over the 4th. Since I had been thinking of going to Stillwater to ride for the weekend, it ought to be cheaper to buy a pool. Peter says he is worried about the cost of chemicals but I don't see how it can be that bad.

I have started training for a triathlon. I'm training modestly. At the moment I'm alternating between swimming and running each 3 days per week and doing a Jillian Michaels circuit training routine. I was surprisingly able to do 3 times of running last week. I say surprisingly because I really hate to run. Or at least have in the past. I'm using an app I got for my iPhone called couch to 5k. I can play my own music and a little voice comes on and tells me when to walk and when to run. last week it was running a minute and walking 90 seconds. This week it's running 90 seconds and walking 2 minutes. I'm at the gym on a treadmill. I have trouble with shin splints and pacing so this was the best way for me to start. I am super proud of myself because yesterday I went to the gym in the evening to workout after picking up Maggie from camp, being up early and driving all day. Today I plan to swim and start my biking. We may also play tennis. I may ride tonight. I decided that since I was probably going to keep eating too much i should burn calories at the other end i have actually improved my eating since I began the working out. A sprint triathlon isn't very far. It's half mile swim, a 15 mile bike and a 5k run all back to back. Very doable. I want Maggie to do it with me but she doesn't want to. Having a pool would play nicely since I could do some weights in the water and tread water.

Maggie had a great time at camp. She won a beta fish for being the best team player in her cabin. This shocked u's both. She managed to spend a whole week with 3 other girls in the heat and not lose her cool. Quite a feat for an only child. Her friend, Michaela, decided to stay for horse camp. Maggie was torn but wanted to come home. Thought she plans to go for two weeks next year and I have her paperwork to sign her up on the early bird special. It was a great experience for her.

A quiet week in Arlington (my home town)

2011-06-22T20:32:00.000-05:00

Maggie is gone to camp. It feels very odd for her not to be around. Her little dog, Howie, is with Shawn so I'm puppy free as well.

But not being one to let the grass grow under my feet I have plans. I'm going to take Liberty and Fiera and meet a friend to trail ride. it will be Fiera's maiden trail voyage. She is doing great in the pasture. She stops, turns, backs and walks and trots. She isn't really seeing a tin of point in going forward right now so I thought seeing the sights might inspire her. She has been ponied and has run loose with my horses on trail. I think she's ready but yes, Peter, in case I'm wrong the insurance is paid up ;-)

I had planned to ride tonight. I didn't find it intolerably hot but the horses evidently did. Fiera was standing in the trough when I arrived. I wondered why they seem to be running out of water each day. Evidently she's getting in each day. Silly girl. I trimmed Oly's front feet tonight and he was not good. He wasn't really awful but he was so worried about Dixie that I had a hard time. Dixie was off eating and not giving him a second thought.

Today was my recovery day on the exercise. Tomorrow I hope to run, lift and swim if I have time and energy for all three.

A little catch up

2011-06-21T09:15:00.000-05:00

Since I have 15 minutes before leaving for group, I won't even begin to get caught up, but I felt like writing a little. I write blogs in my head all day long, but then I get home to a computer and never seem to have the time to write it down on paper, so it stays in my head.

The big news is that I'm going to get in shape. Yes, I have said this many times before and it hasn't been true...or it's only been true for a very short time, but this time it's really true and it's going to stick. I started working out on vacation mostly b/c I was eating too much and I wanted to minimize the damage. Then I was at Susan's and it was easy b/c she works out and I didn't have to cook supper for anyone and it was fun to have a work out buddy. So then I came home and procrastinated for a few days and then woke up that Friday (two weeks this Friday) and decided I would start working out. I took my Jillian Michaels Win by losing book to the gym (in electronic form on the iPhone--way cool) and started her circuit training. I did that Friday, then last week I did 3 of the 4 days, but also started swimming and walking. Yesterday I started the first day of couch to 5K which is running 1 minute and walking 90 seconds for 20 minutes (with a warm up and cool down of course) and then today I swam after doing my Jillian work out. So, it's tuesday and I have done 2 Jillian workouts and 1 swim and 1 "run". Yea me! I have been getting to the gym between 6:30 and 7. Tomorrow is supposed to be a day off and I won't lift any weights, but I will either go run on the treadmill, or get outside and take the dogs for the walk/run. Thursday I should be able to work out before I leave town to go ride. Then I will have to switch things up at the end of the week. I hope to either swim or run every other day as much as possible. I will start to throw some biking in too as soon as I get my bike repaired.

I have two goals in mind for myself. I will be 45 in October and I would like to run a mini-triathlon by the end of the year and I would like to ride Liberty in a 50 miles race no later than the 7 IL high roller ride in January. I don't know if I can actually work in both of these goals on this time frame, but I have to give it some try. A mini-triathlon will require me to run 3 miles (5K) swim half a mile (which is only 16 laps--I am already doing 10 laps with minimal rest--today I did 5 100's) and bike 15 miles. Despite being heavy (i'll say it, I'm fat. I weigh 217 pounds today despite my efforts to eat right and follow my Weight Watcher's points) I'm in really good shape. I can already see how my strength and cardio fitness has improved. When I first got in the pool 10 days ago, I had trouble swimming one lap without needing a rest. Today, after the running and lifting (I have not had a chance to swim since then) I was able to do 2 laps at a time and didn't need much rest in between.

So, it's a start. By putting the goal out there in the public, it makes it real and it makes me accountable. So here we go.

Today is not a busy one. One of my clients is on vacation. I have a group and then I have my faraway client. I hope to get done and get a ride on Oly, Liberty, or Fiera in this afternoon before it storms again and I have to cook supper.

Blogging

2011-06-13T08:10:00.002-05:00

This is more of a non-blog than a blog. This is a blog to say that i know I have blogged in ages, and now I have so much to write about that it's going to have to wait another day or so.

Wimberley Wayfarer

2011-05-16T21:19:00.000-05:00

I always mean to blog about my rides and I never manage to actually get it done till it's kind of over with. I will start with the end of the story where I talk about how sore I am, but not tired this time and wish that I could figure out a way not to be so muscle sore. Please send suggestions! I'm not miserable like I was last fall at Robber's Route, but I still need to figure out what I need to do about the muscle soreness. I think the answer may be working out at the gym and trying to take some equitation lessons. More on this later.

I had the pleasure of getting to ride with Jennifer Masters this weekend. She had said that she wanted to ride alone earlier in the week so I was going to go out in the back by myself. But, after a series of trail mishaps which kept bringing us back together, she decided that riding together was OK. I let her go first on all the obstacles because she said her horse does better that way. It was fine with me. I need to practice going second, or last or whatever, since Liberty isn't very patient. This didn't go well the first day, but the second day he was more attentive while we waited. we had lots of opportunity to trot fast and canter. I can tell that his recent adjustment has put the sparkle back in Liberty as he never offered to buck or spook or misbehave in any way. I could not have had a better weekend. At the end of the weekend we were second in Horsemanship and First in Horse. We had respectable scores with some stupidity points for restlessness that would have been a killer in a bigger class...but at the end of the day, I'll take it. Management did a great job of taking care of everything. the food was great, the company fine! Well done!

Real Life NATRC skills

2011-05-07T23:20:00.000-05:00

Maggie and I rode to the park from our pasture where the horses live today. It's a little under a mile to get there, but I have a serious phobia about riding on the street so we have never done it. Today I walked Liberty in hand down the street, which gave us both a nice walk. I found that I walked faster on the ground than we do sometimes with me on him. In the park we made several winding trips on many different trails, but I'm sure we didn't ride many miles. It was challenging terrain however. Several steep, washed out downhills and some places we had to back out of because there was nowhere to go and nowhere to turn around. I even had to dismount and move some debris so we could get through in a few spots. It was actually quite challenging. On the way home, we found another way out and I managed to keep my nerves of asphalt and city streets under control. I was able to ride all the way home. I discovered that Liberty will sidepass off the rode nicely and he doesn't spook at cars...just people in the bushes and weedeaters, lol.

Long day

2011-05-05T17:34:00.001-05:00

I had a great plan for my day. I had one client to see and then the farrier was coming and maggie and I were going to go riding. But then I had to take the suburban to the shop and the afternoon floated by in a stream of lunch and goodwill shopping and them more waiting for the truck. In retrospect we should have worked in a pedicure in the hour we spent waiting in Milt's for the truck.

The news is mixed. The Immediate problem is fixed but we have a couple thousand dollars in repairs for oil leaks to fix over the next six months. Nothing is immediate but it all has to be done. The parts aren't expensive but labor is high. The truck is leaking from the front and rear main seals, the oil pan, the valve cover gaskets, the rear pinion and then a separate repair to the transfer case. Fortunately it's an older truck and my mechanic says he can rebuild it himself rather than sending it to a transmission shop.

I asked the question of whether or not i should just buy a new truck but the realization that I would have to spend a lot money to get a truck nice enough to avoid the repairs I'm going through makes me realize that paid for is better. And I don't have to fix it this minute so I have time to prepare for the inevitable.

The day has been topped off with a repair to a flat trailer tire. End result no work out and no riding. Unless trimming fiera's back feet counts as my work out.

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone

Playing with Ponies

2011-05-03T22:48:00.000-05:00

Tonight, I decided to play in the field with the horses. Oly has some serious water issues, and since we had a ton of rain yesterday, I thought it was a good day to practice ponds and water stuff. He started out jumping huge jumps over the water and ended up walking through puddles that frightened him in the beginning. It wasn't perfect, but he was sending through the water by the end of about 20 minutes. I did it with treats. Every time he would step in the water, he got a treat. He caught on fast. And like everything he does, he's so sensible and reasonable. He never got upset and he was happy to try with the water over and over until he figured out what I wanted. What a good boy.

Then we went into the pasture and practiced trot out. He was so awesome to jog with. I practiced jogging and stopping and jogging some more. I finally turned him loose and he jogged and stopped with him, even though he wasn't in a halter or lead rope. It was so cute. He seems to really like being with me and I'm happy b/c I love being with him.

So, then I took Fiera out into the pasture to the same spot to work on the same thing. I know that she is a baby, but she is NOT as reasonable as he is. She is bossy and witchy when you push her to do something that she doesn't want to do. She is NOT scared of water, but she sure doesn't want to go through it. And when I use a whip, she is not OK with it. She gets mad! She did finally go through a short, shallow bit of water, but it took a lot of work and she was really pissed. I took her jogging in the pasture after the training too, and she really moves out. She is so smart, but I think she uses her intelligence for evil. she's not quite three, so I know part of it is just how old she is, but I'm not sure I'm tough enough to make this work...but I'm going to keep doing the work and pushing her to be the good girl I know that she can be.

Liberty had a free pass tonight. I fed him and groomed him and loved him a lot, but he didn't have to do any work. I love that horse!

Liberty versus Olympus

2011-04-26T09:06:00.000-05:00

So far Liberty is losing the battle. The other day I was riding him and he shied at nothing and I fell off. I'm so tired of falling off that horse. I don't fear falling off of him b/c I have never been hurt and I don't worry about it happening either...maybe that's why it happens so often. I may need to start actually thinking about the possibility that I will fall off. When Liberty is on, he's on. But when he's squirrely...watch out.

Olympus is scared of everything, but he stops, hesitates, looks and we negotiate. I will see how this relationship develops, but right now, I'll take Oly over Liberty in the trustworthiness department.

However, Liberty loves to swim and play in the water and Oly so far hasn't decided that the water is a good place. I figure I'll save that for a hot summer day and a safe watering hole.

Help for a soldier

2011-04-25T11:36:00.003-05:00

I'm posting this for a friend whose daughter is being deployed to Afghanistan. My friend's name is Claudia and her daughter is Heather. If anyone wants to send support, please contact me for contact info.

I just heard from Bunny (Heather). She is settled in her base in Afghanistan and all is well. Her address is:
PFC Gaughan(Pitts), Heather
F CO 2-27 IN
FOB Bostick
APO AE 09310

She will let us know what she and her battle buddies will need. Apparently items such as shampoo and bar soap are greatly needed.
Sprite (Claudia Gaughan)

Bettfly

2011-04-23T10:16:00.001-05:00

Going to try some new marketing

Alice Yovich

Betterist in:

A day with my daughter

2011-04-08T21:25:00.000-05:00

Maggie and I had the most glorious day today. We got up and had breakfast at cracker barrel with Laura and Allyson. Then we got our haircuts, and now we look fantastic! I'm thinking of growing my hair out a bit, but I haven't decided for sure as now that I have a good cut from Laura (at Moda Salon in Ft. Worth) We loved the part of town that the new salon is in. It's where there are apartments overhead. I would love to live in a loft like that!

Then we came home so I could eat lunch at home (trying to watch money and calories) and watched some TV. Then we had to meet the hay man. We unrolled 10 bales of hay off the truck and rebuilt the fence so that the hay was protected from the horses. in the process, we opened up part of the fence that I had previously kept cordoned off so that the horses will have more shade when it gets hot. I also tried to put Fiera in the round pen to keep her safe, but eventually turned her out b/c I felt like she might try to jump out. I'm going to work on that later, but I'm afraid she will hurt herself if I leave her in the round pen. She has jumped out of it before when it was an arena.

Then we came home and ate some pork that I had prepared in the crockpot, which was yummy and then we've hung out and watched TV. So, it was just a lovely day.

One funny today...Laura, our stylist, told Maggie that she thought she should keep her hair red. So, we're going to do it again tomorrow. She told us how to just do the roots so she doesn't get too many layers of color on her hair.

Fiera and Olympus

2011-03-22T16:16:00.001-06:00

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

2011-03-16T20:52:00.000-06:00

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

2011-03-13T14:42:00.000-06:00

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

2011-03-11T17:59:00.000-06:00

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

2011-03-10T11:11:00.000-06:00

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

2011-03-08T09:50:00.000-06:00

Potential job loss on the horizon

2011-02-27T17:06:00.001-06:00

Texas has decided that in order to save some money they must cut out specialized services with DSSW. This is beyond distressing because not only do I believe in the massage and music therapy work I do with my clients I depend on this work for my livelihood. I'm sure I could do something else for worn but I don't want to. I love out life and the flexibility this job brings me. I don't relish having to go to work for someone else. Please everyone contact your senators and house people. As a professional doing this job my voice is not as well received but if family members and people in Texas speak up this can be saved. The money they want to cut will take away thousands of jobs. I would take a pay cut if I had to just to keep doing what I do.

THEY ARE CUTTING OUR COMMUNITY BASED PROGRAMS! YOU MUST HELP US TELL THEM NO ON MARCH 1ST!

On Tuesday, March 1, disability advocates from across Texas will be rallying at the Texas Capitol in Austin in support of the home and community-based services that make our independence possible!

CTD will be there and we want YOU to join us as we send a unified message to the State Legislature!

·         Home and community-based services are a cost-effective alternative to unnecessary institutionalization!

·         Home and community-based services create jobs that grow and sustain the Texas economy!

·         The state budget crisis can and must be resolved WITHOUT cuts to home and community-based services!

With one voice, we will say "YES!" to Texas independence and "NO!" to home and community-based services cuts for people with disabilities and seniors!

Schedule:

9:30 AM – Gather at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum (Congress Ave & MLK Blvd)

10 AM – March to the Texas State Capitol (approximately six blocks)

11 AM – Rally at the North Steps of the State Capitol

NOON – Lunch provided to Rally participants on the Capitol grounds

1 PM – Visits to local legislators and important committees (there will be team leaders to help you navigate the Capitol and with speaking to your Legislators)

If you are not located in Austin, and would like to attend, let us know! There may be a group of people traveling from your community, and we can help you connect with them or make arrangements to help get you here.

If you cannot join us at the Capitol, we still need you to speak out in two ways on March 1st!

1. Contact your state senator and representative and ask them to support Texas independence for people with disabilities and seniors by not cutting home and community-based services! You can find contact information for your legislators by entering your address here:

http://www.capwiz.com/cotwd/home/

2. Also contact these key members of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Appropriations Committee. These two committees are planning to make cuts to all of the home and community based services. YOU must call them and let their staff know that any cuts to home and community based services will hurt your families!

Call these House Members:

Rep Susan King 512-463-0718
Rep Craig Eiland 512-463-0502
Rep Warren Chisum 512-463-0736
Rep John Zerwas 512-463-0657
Rep Donna Dukes 512-463-0506
Rep Charles Schwertner 512-463-0049

Call these Senators:

               Sen. Jane Nelson 512-463-0112
               Sen. Bob Deuell 512-463-0102
               Sen. Kevin Eltife 512-463-0101
               Sen. Juan Hinojosa 512-463-0120
               Sen. John Whitmire 512-463-0115
               Sen. Tommy Williams 512-463-0104
               Sen. Judith Zaffirini 512-463-0121
Sen. Ogden 512-463-0105

TOGETHER, WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

For more information contact the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities at 512-478-3366 ask for Chase, Sarah or Dennis!!!!!!!!!!!

STEFANIE ANDERSON ECKERT, MM, MT-BC
A-Z Music Therapy Services
210-392-1277
www.a-zmusictherapy.com
smusicr1@yahoo.com

The information transmitted in this email is considered confidential and is intended for the addressee only. It cannot be used for the purposes other than its intended use.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

------------------------------------

List guidelines for topics and formatting can be found at:
http://www.preludemusictherapy.com/musictherapy.html
Please read and follow! Thanks!Yahoo! Groups Links

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone

Great ring work

2011-02-20T21:27:00.000-06:00

Tonight liberty and I got in some great ring work. We did work on transitions and worked on the canter depart without bucking. I realized he had never been taught a proper canter depart because we always canter on trail. then maggie's friend Ally rode Fiera on the longe line and they both rode Olympus. Olympus makes the both nervous because he wants to move fast the minute he's mounted.

I made a huge mistake

2011-02-19T16:06:00.000-06:00

My ride is in two weeks and I still have a few more things that need to be done. i have a blanket to make for my raffle, I need to clip some threads here and there and just get generally organized. This weekend is/was a two day ride at Parrie Haynes, a TTC. I "wisely" decided that I should stay home and work a little (see clients) and get everything squared away since I have a really busy work week ahead and will be gone from here Tuesday or Wednesday the next week. So, I planned a full weekend of cleaning and organizing and doing things that will make my life better here at home. I even resisted Peter trying to talk me into going so he could go take photos on Saturday. I could have changed my plans and seen my clients on Friday morning but no, I was going to be responsible. As a result, all of my friends (and I do mean all the people I most like to spend time with that aren't in the DFW area) are at the TTC and I'm not. I'm getting things done. i saw clients this morning, I'm doing embroidery and working on a gift for my secretary...I'm being responsible, but I'm about in tears over it. I almost packed at about 2pm and went. Maggie has gone to a friends for the weekend (they went to Dinosaur Valley) and I tried to get Peter to load up and go...of course, he did to me, what I always do to him when I he has crazy impulses: He talked me down. He's gone to home depot now to get a new vent for the dryer and I'm about to start embroidering again. It's really too late now anyway. It would be so late by the time i got there and I would miss all the visiting time. I did tell my family to never again let me skip something I would enjoy this much. I just keep telling myself I have more gas money for our trip to Arkansas Traveler in April.

Chris and Maggie

2011-02-14T15:26:00.001-06:00

In my first full year of CTR, I met Gail Kimery of Bixby, OK and her daughter Chris (on right in the left and middle picture, on left in far right picture) We were at the Indian Territory ride in 2003 near Tulsa. Maggie and Chris (both age 6 in this photo I believe) got out of the respective trucks and saw that they each had the same red boots. They immediately took to one another and began running all around camp together, playing and laughing. Through the years they have seen each other on and off. They went to camp together in 2009, the year that Maggie got Dixie. Chris and her mom do more endurance riding and Maggie and I ride NATRC, but they still have a ton in common. At the NATRC national convention in Nashville this past weekend, I happened to run into them both and was once again how similar the girls are to one another. Unfortunately, maggie wasn't with me, but it was really fun to catch up with Christina, who is 13, just like Maggie and still riding.

Below are pictures of the girls as they looked this past weekend (maggie is still a blond, she just temporarily changed up her hair.

Eat to Lose Pounds

2011-02-06T18:09:00.000-06:00

I found the following eating plan on Eat This not that and I thought I would give it a try for a week or two. I doubt that it can be maintained longer than that b/c it would get really boring, but I figure I can give it a try anyway. I have bought all the things I need to do it from Aldi's...we have tons of broccoli in the house now.

Eat to Lose Pounds

Lose weight fast with this seven-day healthy eating plan

Fit back into your jeans faster: Trainer Jay Cardiello created this seven-day eating plan to help his celeb clients achieve their lean Hollywood looks. The idea is to switch up your carb intake throughout the week—alternating low-carb days with moderate days—to keep your metabolism humming and lose weight fast. Plus, you'll always feel full and have energy to spare.

DAYS 1 and 2

Breakfast
Omelet with 4 egg whites, 1 whole egg, 1/4 c minced broccoli or asparagus, 1 tsp shredded low-fat cheese
1 c plain coffee or green tea
12 oz water

Snack
1/4 c plain nonfat yogurt and 6 cherries OR 12 oz protein shake with 1 scoop protein powder (low-carb, low-sugar, less than 115 calories)
20 oz water

Lunch
6 oz grilled chicken breast
3 c lettuce with 2 Tbsp light or low-fat dressing
1/2 c steamed broccoli, asparagus, green beans, peas, or carrots
20 oz water

Snack
8 almonds OR 12 oz protein shake OR Apple OR banana with 1 Tbsp natural peanut butter
20 oz water

Dinner
8 oz grilled chicken, beef, turkey, OR Boca burger (no bread/bun)
1/2 c steamed broccoli or asparagus
3 c plain lettuce with 2 Tbsp fat-free dressing, lemon juice, or balsamic vinegar
20 oz water

Snack
1/4 c cottage cheese with 1/2 c mixed berries OR 6 cherries

DAYS 3 to 7

Breakfast
Omelet with 4 egg whites and minced asparagus and 1 slice plain whole-wheat toast OR 12 oz protein shake and 1 apple with 1 Tbsp natural peanut butter
1 c green tea
12 oz water

Snack
1/4 c plain nonfat yogurt with 1/2 c mixed berries OR 6 cherries OR 8 almonds
20 oz water

Lunch
Pick one: Small sweet potato OR small baked potato OR 1/4 c brown rice OR 1 slice whole-wheat pita or bread
WITH
Pick one: 6 oz tuna in water; grilled chicken, tuna or turkey; turkey or Boca burger (no bread or bun) OR 2 c plain lettuce with 2 Tbsp lemon juice or low-fat balsamic vinaigrette OR 1 c broccoli with 2 Tbsp honey mustard
20 oz water

Snack
8 almonds OR 6 cherries OR Apple with 1 Tbsp natural peanut butter
20 oz water

Dinner
Pick one: 6 oz sirloin steak, beef burger, grilled chicken or turkey OR 8 oz tuna, salmon, or freshwater fish
WITH
1/4 c steamed brown rice OR 3 c lettuce with 2 Tbsp fat-free dressing OR 1/2 c mixed vegetables or 1 c broccoli OR 2 Tbsp honey mustard
20 oz water

Snack
1/4 c plain nonfat yogurt with 1/2 c berries OR 1/4 c cottage cheese with 1/2 c berries

Snow Day 2011

2011-02-04T18:44:00.000-06:00


Maggie making snow Angels

After waking up to a truck covered up with snow, I decided I wasn't going to make it to Houston.

Snowball Fight

Olympus and Dixie are friends.

Peter has taken a ton of photos and i have taken a few, but here are the ones in my camera from our snow day.

I was supposed to go to Houston this weekend. We had originally planned to go to Houston tomorrow, after the thaw, but I woke up this morning and discovered that we had close to six inches of snow and I decided i was better off just to stay home and let my friends do the trail scouting for me. It's not really what i want to do, but I do know that my time will be better spent double checking the timing by hand with a watch and letting them do the ground work. I'm sad because I really wanted to go ride and I know that it's going to be beautiful in Houston on Sunday, but it seems like a really long drive to get to ride one day. I'm better off saving the gas money and finishing up the prizes and raffle gift and just not going anywhere. I'm just someone who likes to ride and we were really looking forward to getting Olympus on the trail. (love that horse--I'm hoping to be able to adopt him or have our friends who ride with us adopt him, I can't imagine him not living at our house) Anyway, I digress. I called clients this morning and told them I'd see them on Monday since I won't be out of town. Theoretically, I could still go down tomorrow, ride Sunday and head home early Monday and see clients that night...I think I just decided that I didn't really want to go anywhere, I'm not sure my field won't be a muddy mess when I try to pull out...I guess I'll see if I get a yen to go tomorrow. I suppose we can just load up and go.

This morning we vegetated for awhile and then we played Wii for about an hour and then went to the field to feed.We had a such a great time having a snowball fight and running around in the snow. I gave everyone a big bucket of beet pulp with their grain and then we went to lunch with our friend Laura and her daughter. (I broke the Dave Ramsey, "don't go inside a restaurant" rule today.) then Laura wanted to go to a movie so we did that too. We went to see True Grit, which I had yet to see. We all enjoyed it, even though Allyson at first didn't want to see it. It was a good movie. Now we're home and I'm second guessing my decision to not go to Houston.

A hard decision

2011-02-02T13:03:00.000-06:00

Well, I have had to make the really hard decision to postpone going to Houston to work on trails until Saturday. There is not way for to leave before then as the temps won't be over freezing till Friday...and then we are expecting snow and Houston expecting ice, so not a pretty picture. This way, maggie and I will get up very early on Saturday and hopefully leave home by 6am. This will get us to Houston by 11 or 12 at the latest. It's not what I want to do and it's interfering with my fun. Darn weather! I know i will have time to do everything I need to do, but I'm still so annoyed.

Today I didn't have to go to the field and check on the horses as my friend, Laura Kiser, volunteered to check on everyone when she went out to a meeting. I feel so blessed!

Annoying weight gain

2011-01-30T10:03:00.001-06:00

Since I have mad an effort to lose weight (most of January) I have gained 3 pounds. I'm working very hard to accurately report food intake and exercise outgo. I have gained 3 pounds. Today I was up another 2 pounds though I suspect it is water weight gain due to fast food eaten yesterday. I even changed myself from lightly active to sedentary to give myself fewer calories to work with. My calories are now 1540 base and I am doing something to exercise every day. I don't always make great choices but I am working to stay under every day. I am very annoyed. Seems like I only lose when I do a drastic diet.

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone

Beautiful day

2011-01-28T22:44:00.001-06:00

I had some friends over to ride today. The guy, Nick, has lots of riding experience and his girlfriend who was riding for her first time. We discovered that Dixie really isn't a good horse for beginners. She didn't do anything dangerous but she didn't really go any direction Ashley wanted her to go. Granted, we didn't give her tons of direction as we just wanted Ash to sit on a horse and get a feel for it. Dixie followed Olympus around or stood by the gate but she definitely reverted to her old ram through anything self. Olympus, under Nick, was mellow and confident and made Maggie think again that she might like him to be her horse, though that discussion has been tabled for now. I watched nick walk, trot, and canter him and realized how much fun he'll be next weekend at 7IL. Maggie rode

the first time today as well. We have been up an down off her several times recently but today was the first day we'd asked her to move. Mostly she'd take a few steps and then stop and look at us. We were able to move her around by moving her front end and back end. She walked in a few straight lines but using the side pull she wandered around at a slow walk first for Maggie then for me. She seemed very pleased to have a job. We were pleased that it went so well.

I rode liberty who isn't wanting to canter in the ring. This will be something to work on in my next lesson.

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone

Sunday Projects

2011-01-23T15:37:00.000-06:00

We are all involved in our many projects today around the house. We went to early church service, and then Peter and Maggie fed the horses while I went to the grocery store to buy groceries for the week. We had a rotisserie chicken, baked potato and broccoli for lunch, and I've made a pasta salad to eat with some leftover soup for dinner. I cooked another chicken in the oven which I will eat this week for lunches, and I took both carcasses to make some stock so I could make another really good soup either tomorrow or the next day. I have another dish planned for later in the week. Since I work on Monday-Wednesday evenings, I do a lot of cooking on Sunday so that we have food all week and don't eat out. I had recently read that Dr. Oz recommends only eating out once per week because of the preservatives and chemicals in the food plus the higher sodium. It's pretty unrealistic that I can get through the week without eating out only once per week, but I have decided to make an effort to eat out no more than 1 time per day on the days that I'm driving around seeing clients for 12 hours. So, I have begun to cook things I can take in a cooler.

Peter is installing the dishwasher and Maggie is cleaning house. We decided that she could do the weekly all over "home blessing" (as Flylady calls it) cleaning each week, and i would do the 15 minute zone detail cleaning that she hates to do. When she has time to clean, she does a really great job and I would rather pay her than a cleaning woman anyway.

Yesterday we went to Benbrook and rode for a couple hours. We hadn't been out just the two of us in ages, so it was a pleasant ride. I let her pick the pace and Dixie was well behaved and Liberty was so laid back. Too bad he's not that mellow in competition.

I'm working on prizes for scamper and getting ready to start working on the taxes. I have a couple of ebay things to mail and I'm getting that all organized too and planning to list some new things to sell. By the time it gets dark, we'll have accomplished a lot.

One thing that is frustrating me...I have begun to track my calories and exercise each day. I have been very careful to do it properly so that I am not cheating on myself...only I have gained weight instead of lost. I have been staying in my numbers most days and I have been exercising...just the scales aren't going down.

Snore no more?

2011-01-20T22:08:00.000-06:00

I forgot to mention that I was able to be fitted for an appliance today that the dentist says will help my snoring and get me better rest...now I just need to get peter an appointment with the same dentist so he can have one too and we can both sleep better and he won't snore either.

Being Lazy

2011-01-20T17:56:00.000-06:00

This week has hit me hard. I'm not really sure why, but I have been waking up with a headache. I felt better the day I used several doses of rescue remedy, so I keep thinking I should get up and go get some, but I'm sitting comfortably on my chair with a dog on my feet and I don't want to get up to fetch it right now. I feel a little guilty that I'm sitting here relaxing with a dog on my lap, but then I realize how busy I have been and think that maybe this is just what I needed. I have so much stuff I should be doing...prizes for scamper, etc., but right now, I'm really enjoying hanging out with Maggie finally getting caught up on Glee.

The day started out grey, but nice out...it's now sunny and very cold. Maggie had fillings today at the doctor. They had to give her gas and everything. She has a really sore mouth now. The dentist suggested I should not make her do school work today. After the dentist we went to the field and put blankets on all the horses, which they seemed to appreciate. Maggie was feeling a little more crummy than she had from work before. So I rearranged my work schedule to work tomorrow instead of today and I have been enjoying an afternoon of Glee with Maggie.

but, I have sooo much to do...so, I have been working on sending marketing emails to people for my ride, the Girl Scout Scamper, making out raffle tickets, writing notes, catching up paperwork. I have some hand sewing to do, etc. So, I have gotten to have a relaxing afternoon with my daughter and be productive at the same time.

Peter is home now and we're going to get steak for dinner.

It's been a heck of a day

2011-01-11T20:59:00.000-06:00

First thing this morning, I spilled a cup of coffee into my iPhone. I actually have every hope that it will eventually be OK once it sits in rice overnight and dries out. It mostly works...I can listen to stuff through external devices, but currently the speakers don't work on the iPod part...And it rings and seems to work, but not as good as it could. At least I can talk and get my email even if the music part doesn't work. The tech support guy said he took his into the swimming pool once and it recovered, so I have every hope that it will be OK.

Then on the way to my pasture to meet the Equine chiro, the truck engine light came on...but it seems to have gone away, so I'm hoping it was a fluke.

Then we had the horses adjusted...Dixie is pretty out of wack..

Then I was supposed to go see a client, but he was home from school b/c of a cough. Between concern over the cough and my terrible day which had turned into a terrible headache, I begged off till tomorrow. Hopefully he's not really sick and I can go tomorrow. I know that I am probably paranoid, but I figure if a kid has stayed home from school then they are probably sick enough that I don't need to go to their house. When I get sick I end up having to miss a lot of work.

So, then things started to look up. I came home, installed Turbo Tax and an embroidery software program so I could redigitize my scamper design.

Now we are all watching Castle together. It's just such a fun show.

First day back

2011-01-03T14:18:00.001-06:00

Today has been a hard day back to work. I didn't get to bed at a good time last night so I was very tired today. I got some decluttering done and found that most of my patterns fit in a file cabinet drawer. I feel like I'm getting a cold but it's probably just tired and allergy.

Maggie started working with Dixie on some of the things Shea has taught me but it's hard to teach her and it's hard for her to feel the exercises done properly. I will probably let her have a lesson with Shea in the future but I hesitate. I like having something that is mine and I don't have the cash to to pay for two sets of lessons. I know what will happen if I start it. Maggie will be the one getting the lessons :-/. I know that makes me selfish but I like having something that's mine. They definitely need help communicating. And maggie definitely need to hear it from someone other than me but it's still hard to give up something I'm doing for myself.

I worked with Fiera successfully today using the same techniques from Shea. She did just great. She's going to be a nice riding horse.

Pockets is obsessed with Dixie and pretty set on not getting caught again. Could be a challenge to get him Friday morning. It's funny that he likes her so much because she's pretty mean to him. Makes us laugh. Pockets will come up to me but if I reach out to pet him he runs away with his ears back but the. He comes back to me again.

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone

The New and Improved Liberty

2011-01-01T22:09:00.000-06:00

Today I went riding with a couple friends, Teresa and Karen. We went to Benbrook Lake and rode the south trail. We got Candy Kanes from the trees and moseyed down the trail and talked. It was great, relaxing fun.

I say that Liberty is the new and improved Liberty b/c he is just very mellow now. The two lessons I have had with Shea and the subsequent practice on my part are helping him get right in his head and teaching me to ride him very differently. He is now responding softly to my requests and even backed a little ways up a hill while the others were riding off. I'm able to ride him in a bit, which I never thought I'd be able to do.

I think I have decided to ride CP this year. I'm not for sure yet, but since I won't even get to do a ride before the beginning of April and I don't think that I'm going to be able to ride a lot until April, it doesn't seem fair to Liberty to expect him to do Open if I'm only going to ride 3-5 rides this year. i haven't decided, but, like Maggie, a lot of my friends are riding this year in Novice and CP and I'm not sure I want to compete in Open more than I want to ride with my friends. Also, since I'm working on getting Liberty to be calmer and work more on obstacles, it occurs to me that backing off the speed for a year might do us some good. The flip side is that with the working out I'm doing, I may really feel ready to step up the pace for us both in spring. Not a decision I have to make today.

Ringing in the new year

2010-12-31T21:02:00.000-06:00

I'm at home watching It's complicated and laughing a lot. Maggie has gone to a friends and I should be working on my Scamper prizes (well, I did for awhile) but I decided to spend one more night being lazy watching movies, playing Sims 3 before I have to really buckle down and get serious about my plans again.

I had a lesson with Shea today. I rode Liberty and he really softened up nicely. She helped me to get him to bend both directions and he's learning to come back more softly to me. At one point there was a bit of excitement in the pasture and I got off and worked with him from the ground which was nice as well. He was a really good boy today and learned to stay in the moment longer and longer.

She also worked with Dixie who had a Cranio Sacral treatment. Her back looked a lot better after the treatment and she seemed more relaxed and comfortable. she has to have 24 hours off and we'll see what we have tomorrow.

Eventful Day

2010-12-30T22:21:00.000-06:00

Maggie and I had lunch with Peter today and then I picked up a horse for Bluebonnet Human society. His name is Pockets (and I didn't get a photo) and he's a little Arab cross. he's really little. He's 7 and he is smaller than Dixie. In fact, he's smaller than Fiera too. His owner had to send him back to rescue because he lost the place he was boarding. He was sweet though, and hopped in the trailer with only a little hesitation. Rode home fine, turned around and jumped out head first. I put him in my arena and he's eating hay and the little bit of grass. He'll stay here till Friday next week, when I will take him to Jennifer William's house. She's the head of Bluebonnet and my path to LaGrange just happens to take me right by her house.

I'm taking RJ back too and swapping him for another foster horse. RJ isn't going to be a distance horse and I don't think I'm the right person to train him. He's a very nice horse, very sweet and has been just a doll. Fiera will miss him as they play like crazy. he doesn't have the conformation for distance...and he bucked off Maggie when we finally decided to mount him. Thought he was ready, but I guess NOT. He's just young and to me Fiera, at 2.5 is more mature in many ways than he is at 3. He's such a sweetie though and will make someone a great horse.

The horse they are sending me is named Olympus. He's an Arab and they think he will make a great endurance prospect. So we can get him on trails and get him in front of some folks and hopefully get him adopted. I think Olympus is on the front page of Bluebonnet's website right now. He's really cute. I will definitely miss RJ, but this is for the best. RJ's gaits should make him a lovely dressage horse.

Lovely ride this evening

2010-12-20T22:32:00.000-06:00

We are watching Back to the Future 2 as a family and I'm reflecting on the lovely afternoon I had.

Maggie's friend Allyson came over to ride Joe Bear and Maggie was going to ride Dixie. After rearranging the trailer and cleaning up, I finally got to ride. I rode Liberty in the loose ring, myler snaffle i used to use and he was great. After my lesson with Shea I have been concentrating on a lighter touch and he is really starting to respond. I think that this bit business may eventually work out. I was even able to eventually get a nice canter out of him. He was slow to canter b/c he doesn't like the feel of the bit in his mouth cantering. he likes to canter in the frame he decides on, not necessarily the frame I want. Maggie worked with him and got him going, and then I did as well. he tried to bully a bit, but I kept after him and after threatening a few bucks and temper tantrums he went nicely. He can't canter a circle, but he did pick up a canter on a bend, so I was pretty pleased.

Poor Maggie is having trouble with Dixie thought. Her back is sore and she just seems very unhappy about being ridden. Maggie had been riding her English,which I think just isn't going to work. She has realized she needs to ride her in my western saddle (or i need to find her an endurance saddle) but since Maggie likes to ride English it makes her life difficult. She's giving her some time off this week and is going to switch to the treeless saddle and the western saddle for awhile and we'll go from there. I'm going to keep my eyes open for her to buy an English saddle for jumping, but they never seem to be around for the price I want to pay whenever I'm shopping.

Busy Christmas

2010-12-20T08:37:00.001-06:00

I am blessed this holiday with clients in town so work hours are uninterrupted which will mean uninterrupted paychecks in January. As much as I would like a break I know that money is a far better thing now that I have gotten really serious about debt reduction and budgeting. I'm not really sure why I have chosen 2010 and 2011 to buckle down and grow up but I admit that it feels really good.

Christa was here over the weekend. We went to the Bluebonnet rescue Christmas party and she bought Maggie's old bunk bed for her daughter, Maggie's friend, Michaela. She also picked up some dynamite products I had ordered for her. We went riding yesterday which was great fun. Then I got up early to see her off and start seeing clients. I have three days of work but then Thursday is pretty free but I suspect I will spend it making last minute gifts.

I'm happy our holidays are laid back and relaxed. Life has been so busy it's been so nice.

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone

Stress and unrest

2010-12-07T21:34:00.000-06:00

I'm a grown up now, according to my friend Alanna. Somehow, I have recently become a grownup and I have lost the ability to just rest and chill out without thinking of the million other things I should be doing. I have decided that I do not like being a grown up.

I did finally manage to relax a little. I popped popcorn and now I think I will drink some decaf coffee.

Today was so busy and I'm tired. I had a client cancel with an illness and it was a blessing not to have to go an extra place. I needed the evening to just sit and enjoy the silence. Peter is gaming and I am home with the dogs enjoying the evening. I only watched one hour of TV and then turned it off. I just wasn't that excited by the noise. I have been researching Angelman's syndrome as a I have a client with this syndrome and I'm trying to learn things I can do to better serve him.

Tomorrow I think I will get back to working on Christmas presents and getting the rest of the ride report finished.

I called Sandra and talked to her this morning. She urged me to come to the clinic in January. She let me know that she expected us to come and have it and if she couldn't be there, we'd all know that she wanted to be and was with us in spirit. Of course, she is rallying. She might be here still, though it's not expected. Peter sent a large photo of her with Sassy from Pole Canyon Ranch. They were such a pair. Betsy said it wasn't the same riding the TTC's without her this year after her car wreck. It would have been a big race for the overall TTC winner that Betsy eventually won. Betsy had been planning on a rematch that will now not happen. I suspect that a lot of my emotional unbalance is caused by sadness over Sandra. Losing her is profound and I only knew her a couple years. I can't imagine what her long time friends and family are going through.

The ride went well for all concerned I do believe. Maggie had more fun than she has ever had. She is making a good group of girlfriends that she rides with and plays with. My heart swells with joy that she is making these bonds of friendship.

Christmas at the ranch

2010-12-06T22:19:00.001-06:00

I have been thinking all day about what I wanted to write and the truth is that I am too tired to put a coherent string of words together and tomorrow is going to be a long and busy day. It was fun to work with Alanna and Liz. I live the ride and while I did miss competing I liked knowing I could help it to run smoothly. I'm starting to feel like I might just be a good manager in the spring for Scamper.

The biggest mark on the weekend was the fuel pump going out on my truck but even that has a silver lining. Turns out the back fence was bad after the gas company put up their diagonal fence and without the breakdown fiera would have been turned out to possibly escape. The Lord looks out for us. I'm so grateful to my friends for helping me. I only hope I can be there for them. I am also grateful to my husband for driving to Alvarado to meet us and drive us home so Maggie and I didn't have to cram into the row truck.

Great fun was had by all. We had an adventure. Alanna says that an adventure is something more fun to talk about later than to experience.

Goodnight to all. I'm tired.

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone

The habit of exercise

2010-11-30T19:51:00.001-06:00

I need to start working out but it's so hard to get up in the mornings. I thought about going at night but then I'm too tired. I really need to do this but I think it's going to have to wait

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone

My boring life

2010-11-23T21:48:00.000-06:00

I'm sitting here working on embroidery for the upcoming CTR that I'm secretary for. I still have bags to string, a pillow to make and then Christmas presents to start on...then I have to start contemplating designing my shirts for my own CTR in the spring and getting those embroidered as well. I have a design picked out, I just have to stitch them out. I'll order about 36 shirts...I'm giving them to my key workers and the other 20 will be for sale. I won't put a year on them so that if they don't sell this year, I can sell them in 2012-assuming I live to fight another day, lol (I expect everything to go smoothly)

Every other Tuesday Peter games with his friends. I usually really enjoy coming home on Tuesday evening and being home alone. I eat wings, watch girl TV or movies, sew, chat on the phone, or just read a book. But I'm unhampered by anyone else's desires or noise. But tonight I would really have liked to have had someone to have fun with. I'm missing having someone to run around with, hang out with, etc. I mostly have grown very used to being on my own more and independent, but tonight, I would have loved to have had a girlfriend. My former run around friend has no room in her existence for anything except boyfriend and Faire...I don't even ask anymore as i know I'll just be met with a wave of excuses from "I'm broke" to "I'm tired" to "I don't have time" All of which really mean "I don't want to" I have accepted that this friend and I share a memory of good, past friendship, with resemblance of current friendship. We remain friendly, but we are not friends. Our interests have diverged. I know it happens...but I still miss the comfort of the friend I could call 5 times per day just to talk about nothing. And, our value systems were never the same. This was always bound to happen.

Peter has been wanting a keurig coffee maker, so that's what he gave us as a family Christmas gift. Only, we didn't wait till Christmas. Since we're expecting our first cold snap of the year, he bought it yesterday when he went shopping. Only problem is that I want coffee and it's 9:30, so that's out b/c I don't have any decaf :-( It makes really great coffee. I'm thinking with this coffee maker and some tasty coffee mate...I may be able to avoid starbucks altogether.

I used my birthday money my dad has sent me to buy myself a 19 inch TV/DVD combo for my office/dining room. I took over the dining room in april after we redid the living room. I had been using a large card table as a desk, but I decided I would rather have a real table. I had been about to go to salvation army, but remembered we had a table in the garage. So, today, Peter brought it in for me and now we have a table in the front room again. I will still use it as a desk and sewing table, but now we have a real place to eat supper too, which is nice. I'm looking forward to getting the embroidery machine off this cramped little desk in the living room. The TV is kind of small, but for an extra, listen to the TV while cooking, TV and a TV to watch while sewing it's perfect.

I have a friend coming from East TX to celebrate Thanksgiving. She is recently divorced and this is the kids' first Thanksgiving to be shared by their dad, so she didn't want to be alone. She's going to bring her horse and we're going to go riding on Friday (just in time for it to be cold) She was supposed to stay the whole weekend, but remembered that she had a scouting thing she had volunteered for, so now she has to leave early. I'm bummed. She is also my secretary for the Girl Scout Scamper, so we'll spend at least part of Thursday going over all the stuff she'll do before the ride so that we can be up to speed. I figure I can use the help making the labels and packets up anyway and she can learn what will have to be done, so it's a win/win for everyone.

Back to sewing...time to change the thread.

Leite's Culinaria- Truffled Mac and Cheese

2010-11-22T08:50:00.001-06:00

Check out this post: http://leitesculinaria.com/41558/recipes-truffled-mac-and-cheese.html

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone

On saving money

2010-11-21T23:22:00.001-06:00

I'm very proud of us. We have resisted the temptation to go to Ikea and buy something we do need but was more money than we really had to spend. Instead we have found a couple other solutions for now. Maggie is disappointed. We had been planning to buy her a new bed and as we priced it out we decided we just couldn't afford to do it. I hate that she is so disappointed. Peter was going to take her futon. I snore an he has been having a hard time sleeping with me snoring. I'm trying to help him make a comfortable sleeping spot that isn't the couch. Neither of us likes the couch. I have suggested my camping cot with a mattress but he isn't fond of that either. If we find a good solution I will trade off sleeping there. I often go to sleep way before Peter and since the bedroom is adjacent to his office it makes for multiple arguments.

Alice Yovich
Sent from my iPhone

A perfect day

2010-11-20T22:17:00.000-06:00

Maggie and I had the best day today. We slept late, ate breakfast out, and then rode at Benbrook Trails with Amy Crane and her mom. On the way to the trails Maggie and I sang with our Wicked songs on the radio. When we got to the trails, Amy and her mom had already ridden part of the trails and then we met up. We kept it to a walk since Amy's mom was riding Amy's horse Lexie and she is just getting back into riding. And Liberty was on his first ride back after his long lay off. He felt great and moved out well. On the way back, Lexie became very excited and Maggie swapped horses with Amy's mom. Later, Maggie commented that she was proud that she had a horse in Dixie who could be trusted to be ridden by a rider unfamiliar with her. She was also proud of herself that hopping on a horse she'd never ridden and feeling comfortable taking off at a trot was no problem for her. I admit that I was pretty proud of her myself. We ended the day with our favorite pizza and a Bones marathon. I have been working on my embroidery ever since.

Tomorrow should be another great day. We have church in the morning and then a brunch out at a new restaurant and then seeing Harry Potter at 1:45. peter has complained in the past that he doesn't get to see enough of us, so I'm trying to make sure that he gets his fill. :-)

Hopefully there will be some time tomorrow to ride just a bit in the pasture as well, since Liberty appears to be back and ready for work. I have to gush over my boy a bit. He was wonderful today. He handled as though he'd never been off work. He was trucking along at a nice quiet pace. he trotted when asked, walked when asked, stopped and backed when asked...well, his side pass was a little rusty, but he was just great. I am not sure he'll ever make a TTC horse, but I don't think I care.

Horse decisions

2010-11-19T08:07:00.000-06:00

This has been a very up and down week for horse decisions. A month ago, I began fostering a 3 1/2 year old Arabian/QH cross named RJ. He's just adorable. He's sweet and follows us around. We took him camping and he didn't even get stressed with his stable mate went to ride and he was left in the pen. I was poised to adopt him but the vet says that his conformation might prevent him from being a good long distance horse, which is what I was going to adopt him for. My plan had been for him to be Maggie's long distance/open horse since it appears that Dixie just doesn't go far and fast. The news made us really sad as we love this guy so much. He'd be a great pleasure horse, or a TTC horse, but Open NATRC or endurance isn't going to be his cup of tea. So, the decision was made to swap him out and foster a horse who had more potential for what we wanted to accomplish. But the more we thought about it, and talked to the head of Bluebonnet, Jennifer Williams, the more we all realized we weren't ready to adopt and the horse we were going to trade for has several potential adoptions applications on him already...and I'm just not ready to make a quick decision. So, we've decided to keep RJ and keep working with him. If he's still with us in the spring, I'll take him to the TTC at Parrie Haynes if he's ready and when I get ready to ride him, I'll make sure he's well advertised. This horse has the best mind. We just love him.

Joe Bear continues to hang in there. Some days I really feel like he's screaming at me to let him go, but then other days he runs toward us wanting his bucket of feed. He's very antisocial with the herd now, when he used to be in the middle of things. I'm not sure if it means he's ready to leave us or not, but it's so hard to know when the right time is. I find myself wishing he'd just lay down on his own and make it easy for me.

If I adopt another horse right now, I will feel obligated to move someone else on. There isn't a horse in my herd I want to part with (RJ included) Plus, I worry about the stress of adding a new horse to Joe Bear's life. He's taken RJ in stride...they get along great, but his attitude toward life in general makes me wonder if we just need to leave well enough alone for now.

Back on Track

2010-11-07T18:11:00.001-06:00

Peter and I had the best day today. we went to church and then took care of some errands. Then we went to the movies and saw the movie Red and had lunch at the movie grill. I highly recommend the movie! Then I came home and I have been working to find a new pattern to put on the six O shirts. I thought I had found the perfect one, but it turned out to take over an hour to stitch out. So, I found something much simpler, though not as pretty, that will work and I'll start working on those this evening.

Peter has been fixing the back fence. It has been falling apart for ages, but now it's finally going to be safe for all dogs, except maybe Frankie. It's next to impossible to keep him in.

Now I'm done with working and I'm going to watch TV with Peter. I'm finishing up a disc of True Blood. Then we'll watch something that Peter wants to watch. I think I'll crochet or play with my sims...But I will take it easy. i have some bags to sew up and string, but I think I just want to enjoy relaxing.

I think that I will start working with RJ this week. Peter looked at him today and agreed that he'd be a good size for him...if he rode. Of course, I'm always fantasizing that he will if we found the right horse for him.

What have I gotten myself into

2010-11-06T18:46:00.000-06:00

I did stay home this weekend and I am sewing. However, today was so beautiful outside, it was almost my undoing. I really wished I was riding with friends at the lake. I did get a good scratch in on the ponies. I went about noon and took of Joe's blanket and fed everyone. RJ was just adorable...getting scratched and loved and following me around. I swear that Liberty looked at him in a disgusted manner. He's not going to follow me around like a puppy...lol.

I'm working on the embroidery for the Christmas ride. The design that Liz and I liked best is very time consuming...more than i thought it would be. It has lots of color changes in it and each shirt takes about an hour. I'm still supposed to make helmet covers for prizes as well. I feel very stressed about everything that needs to get done (I still have things to do before next week's final follies as well) and I have decided to talk to Liz and Alanna about using some of my extra bags for prizes instead if that's OK with them. I hate blogging about this before I can actually talk to them, but I'm sure it will work out. If they really, really want the helmet covers, I will make it happen. It's probably not as intimidating as it seems right now. I have plenty of bags, and I only have to put string in them, so I'm crossing my fingers. I think Maggie is going to supply treats too, but I can't remember and need to ask them.

As I'm getting older I'm finding it harder to multitask. I'm getting better to do one task at a time better and more quickly, but I'm finding that it's hard for me to mix up stuff. I wanted do final follies stuff, but find myself working on Christmas ride. I wanted to go to 7IL to scope the trails and ride in a couple weeks, but I find that the idea of leaving town before the Christmas ride stresses me out. I may still work it out, but right now I think I won't leave town till the Christmas ride is over. It seems like one at a time works much better.

I was feeling down today b/c I wanted to be riding, but I feel really good about everything I have gotten down. I have been needing a quiet day at home with no one else here and I finally got it. I just expected to like it better :-) I'm not sure why I haven't been enjoying it more. I feel like I should be ecstatic. I have watched my Grey's and Private Practice (finally got caught up) and I have Sookie waiting for me in the DVD player. I have Miller chill in the fridge and I'm hoping Peter will bring me home some ice cream (we only buy the pint sized containers now b/c I won't over eat it) Yet, I feel kind of blah...Maybe after being so busy I don't quite know how to do nothing? Or even slightly nothing?

Another interesting development that I'm not sure how to take...it's on a totally different subject. I got my new manual for my work and it has a clause about missed visits. It says that holidays, sickness or therapist vacation are not valid reasons for missing a visit with a client. If I am sick, I'm supposed to try to make it up within the same week (I already do that) If it's a holiday, I have always just tried to reschedule or turned it in that it was a holiday. Now I'm supposed to call the office and tell them that I'm going to miss and they are to send a substitute therapist. I had never been aware of that piece of the puzzle, so I'm guessing it's a new policy, but I think it's crazy. I'm going to find some sub contractors (massage and music therapy) and get them signed up so I can have my own subs and then I won't have to resort to telling the agency if I have to ever miss a day. I do a pretty good job of staying clear, but sometimes I just need a day off. I think having a subcontractor will be useful so that I can take those days off in good conscience. Of course, the flip side is that my clients typically don't want a sub but at least this way I will have more control over the situation.

So, I will go back to tshirts and embroidery and TV. Maybe I'll play with sims 3 a little too. I made my first creation a vampire.

On being really busy--I think I'm losing it.

2010-11-02T19:07:00.001-06:00

Ok…I don’t really think I’m THAT busy. Well, maybe I am. I have a hard time gauging. All I know for sure, is that lately I am just so stressed out. It started before Pole Canyon when I was a first time secretary. I had a brief respite but discovered that even traveling to Missouri to see a friend was stressful. Then my horse got hurt and I haven’t been able to ride, but because I have so much going on, I’m not entirely sure that I have minded not riding.

I was supposed to go riding this weekend. (Maggie is gone with her dad and I can ride Dixie) I could still go if I wanted to. I was invited, which is way, way cool. Usually I hear of people going places and I just sort of ask myself along (which is perfectly acceptable among my friends) But this time, I was actually invited and encouraged. And I thought I wanted to go. Until I started thinking about everything I have to do for the Christmas ride. Then I thought that perhaps I would be better off to stay home and get other stuff done. Peter will be gone gaming and it occurred to me that being home alone with my embroidery machine and sewing machine and lots of good DVD’s might be more relaxing than hauling somewhere.

So, here’s what I have going on. I don’t know if this is more or less than the next person. I just know that I feel really overwhelmed right now.

I’m the manager for the NATRC Girl Scout Scamper in March. I have a manual and good helpers and it’s far away, so while I think about it a lot, I’m not really stressed about it (yet) I’m the secretary for the Christmas ride. It’s a little more immediate and I’m making some of the prizes, but I’m on top of it, so again, not all that stressed. I’m managing the final follies with Kate love in 10 days…it’s pretty much under control. A few prizes to finish up, but nothing major. I will have a big grocery shopping trip next week, but other than that, nothing too worrisome.

I’m homeschooling Maggie and working full time. I’m thinking this is where I’m having my most trouble. I love teaching Maggie, but it seems not to be getting done as much as I would like. She’s learning by leaps and bounds. I have a good curriculum and she’s very motivated. When I grade her work she is doing quite well. However, I feel like as much as I’m working, it’s getting put on the back burner. Maggie’s dad and Peter were both supposed to be helping me. They don’t really (sorry, peter, it’s true) He says he’s discovered he’s not a good teacher and Maggie doesn’t really like to learn from him (this is also true) Maggie’s dad will tell her to do her work, but he’s more into teaching her stuff not in a book.

I think the true source of my stress is because I really like being home and lately I have had no home time. I’m working late most nights and on the road a lot of days. I like the number of hours I’m working, but I hate the lack of free time I feel like I have had. I’m wondering what to do with Maggie. I can’t afford any private school this year, but I think next year I will send her to a homeschool 2 day program, or I’ll enroll her in the K-12 public school program so we can get more used to a regular schedule so she can be ready for high school if we decide to go this route.

The funny part is this is all pressure I put on myself. Maggie is learning lots of good stuff, she isn’t feeling like she’s missing out. She likes the traveling and the days of doing her schoolwork. I just worry so much about getting everything done properly all the way around.

I have had a little work stress lately. I started working for my contract to have regular contract work, but they have been really coming down when I take days off lately. I know that October was way busier than I ever want to be again, but I only missed about 6 hours of work total for the month. I’m a contract worker. The reason I am a contract worker is so that I can take care of my own schedule. I’m not really sure why they are on my case all of a sudden. I typically end up making up the days as well, so I don’t get it. I usually reschedule if I have to miss a day, not just not show up. It’s all very strange. I know that I have been lacking in the last month. I know that I am close to burn out. I just don’t seem to know how to get away from it and stop the madness. I think that it will be December before the madness is completely over. I just have to hang in there and hope for the best and try to hang on till Christmas.

Playing Catch up

2010-11-01T12:17:00.000-06:00

Scooby got a clean bill of health...well, as clean as it can be anyway. He has a tumor that could be removed, but it can cause problems having it removed as well. They xrayed his lungs to see if he had any tumor spread to his lungs, which it hasn't. So, we decided not to do anything to it for now, but just to leave it alone. and I will probably just have to put him to sleep if he gets really bad. I hate to do it, but I can't see spending hundreds of dollars on the old dog who might not recover anyway.

Joe Bear is kind of flagging on us also. He's eating less consistently and his weight isn't good. Maggie is starting to accept that he just not going to be with us forever. Poor old guy. As long as he's not hurting and he's eating, I'll probably keep feeding him, but I've started to notice on the cold mornings that he has more trouble now and I suspect that when winter comes it will be the end. Up to now the summers have always been the hardest for him. Since the winters are now also looking hard, it's time for him to go to Rainbow bridge.

I found out yesterday that the 17 year old daughter of an endurance riding family died in a car wreck. I don't know the family personally, only from facebook and email, but her death has really hit me hard. It's made me remember again just how precious life is and how quickly it can all go away.

ouch!

2010-11-01T07:23:00.000-06:00

this morning, laying in bed, my dog, Scooby pawed at my face and scratched my eye. I have a lot to do today and I'm hoping I can stick with it and not have to cancel anything, but my eye is killing me. It's unfortunate that it's today b/c I have a client that i haven't been able to see properly on a schedule and I just can't see myself calling them up and trying to reschedule. I'm taking Scooby to the vet this morning for a mass he has on his chest. I may have to just come home and lay down with my eye closed until time for the 2 clients. I'm not sure yet. eye scratches heal quickly, but are oh, so painful.

Blogging

2010-10-31T16:10:00.000-06:00

It has been so long since I wrote in my blog that my father in law asked me if I had given it up. I haven't. I just have been super busy. So I will get back to it soon. October has been a blur.

Alice Yovich
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Pole Canyon

2010-10-07T08:37:00.000-05:00

This weekend was so wonderful. I learned so much an it was such a pleasure to work with Alanna at the ride. My only disappointment was nit getting out on the trails at all but it was so great to facilitate everyone else's rides that I didn't hardly care. Maggie had a great-time riding with other juniors until she had to pull due to Dixie having a sore back. Then she had fun in camp and taking photos with Jim. Alanna made her weekend allowing her to drive her mule! Robin Timmons came along to share gas and ride safety which made the driving miles pass quickly. Thanks to all the competitors who were kind to this first tome ride secretary. I'm ready to do it again at the Christmas ride.

I was thinking that it's good that Elaine has already committed me to managing the Scamper. After this weekend I might have been to afraid of all the unknown factors.

Picking a date

2010-09-07T22:12:00.001-05:00

I have had to call off my Texas trail challenge for the weekend due to all the rain we're getting this week. We're trying to pick a new date and wouldn't mind input. It's probably going to be the beginning of the year in January or possibly march. People keep saying they would come in January but would they really? Opinions are welcome. Management is still hashing this out.

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Reflections of the week

2010-08-28T23:17:00.001-05:00

I can't believe I started the week feeling so bad and finished it up having such a great day today. Maggie started with sniffles Monday and I was feeling yucky by the time I went to sleep Monday night. Tuesday I tried to lay low and rest but Wednesday and Thursday I developed a wicked fever and just felt awful. Friday my fever broke and I felt almost as good as new but still have cold symptoms. I have finally decided that I had food poisoning. It's the only thing that can explain all the symbols and the temp. It also explains why I felt good again so quickly. I'm just glad I'm back to normal. Missing a week if clients was I'll afforded with the next two weeks I have coming up. I'm going to be ready for a vacation in October after I finish doing pole canyon natrc ride.

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