Pancakes

Today I decided I would make breakfast for everyone. I don't often get to do this as we are so frequently not home on the weekend and we are hitting the trail at 6am or some such nonsense. I also don't make pancakes very often because in general I find them a pain to negotiate with the pans and the flippers and the mess. But today I decided that pancakes were in order. I have tons of cookbooks that I could use for pancakes, but I always turn to the home,add recipe card cookbook that ingot at my bridal shower for the pancake recipe. 

I received this book at a bridal shower for a wedding I never had. I ended up calling off the wedding but instill had all the recipes from that failed attempt at matrimony. In this book I have recipes lovingly written by the hand of my mom. There are recipes from others as well, but  my mom has written most of them down herself. There is a recipe for chicken salad from the host of the shower and others I recognize from my childhood. My Aunt Hazel had a recipe for crunchy chicken (which I haven't made in ages) and her 'famous' sour cream coffee cake which I have made many times through the years. It occurred to me that with the shelves of cookbooks I still turn to this cookbook for pancakes. And today i was rewarded with Maggie telling me they were the best pancakes ever and Peter ate seconds. 

Robbers route day 1

It is 6:48 am and we are sitting in the truck because there is a thunderstorm outside. Of course this post won't go through till Sunday evening because there is no AT&T service at Robbers Cave. It was supposed to rain last night but since that was the plan it's raining now. In fact last night was warm and muggy out. Bailey kept laying on me and making me hot.

So now we sit here waiting. Right now it's kind of warn so I hope it doesn't get cold before we get back to camp. I'm not sure I can haul enough clothes to the trail.

Fwd: Fall 2013 Hoof Print on Website

FALL 2013 HOOF PRINT UPLOADED! Dear Members and Friends,   Our full color electronic Fall Issue of Hoof Print is ready for your enjoyment. It has active links to our sponsors and advertisers in addition to NATRC business and the informative, entertaining articles you love.    Look for Hoof Print in the "Documents" menu on our website or click on the cover image to go directly to our Summer issue. --->   Those of you who also receive the B&W printed version will be happy to know it will arrive at your mailbox in roughly two weeks.   Feel free to forward this E-News to your friends!   Enjoy! Your Hoof Print Team      The electronic version of Hoof Print is available roughly two weeks earlier than the print copy.  Prepared for Laurie DiNatale, Executive Administrator, by Jean Green.                    Support us effortlessly when you search the Web, shop online or dine out with GoodSearch. Distance CTR - Come Ride with Us!

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Summer's end

I can not believe this summer is over. Maggie has gone back to her dad's and starts her 2nd year of High school tomorrow.  I can't believe, looking up at my taller than me daughter that she is going to be old enough to drive in a week. She is not really looking forward to school. She doesn't have any of her friends in any of her classes...they will all be hard--AP classes--and she is going to run track. She has joined the choir for this year, which may be fun, if she doesn't die from stage fright.

It is quiet in the house and I know it will remain so until next weekend. I like the quiet...Peter and I don't watch much TV so often the only sound is us occasionally sharing something back and forth and his games from the other room. I often come into the bedroom with my laptop to hang out near him, so we don't have to shout from room to room. (our a/c window units can be loud).  It's so different from when I was a kid. We were always coming and going. It's as though she has already gone off to college in many ways.

Maggie will be 16 next week and she is taking her driver's test the day after she has her birthday. She would take it on her birthday, but since her birthday is on Labor day, that won't work so much. She really wants her own car. Unfortunately, she hasn't been able to earn much money toward her car because of her age. She doesn't like to babysit and hasn't had a lot of opportunities to work.  She is saying that cash donations will be welcome on her birthday so she can put it in her car fund.  She will get a job or find a way to start earning money toward her car. I worry about how much insurance is going to run, but I know we will figure it out. She is wanting her own car so badly, but so far everything she and I like one of the dads does not, so we keep looking. It will either come down to Shawn finding something he wants to buy her or me finding something I can afford. We aren't arguing about it; far from it, but we have different perspectives. I like the cool, older model cars that Maggie likes. Shawn wants her to have something modern and reliable.  I think she and I both wax whimsical about that first vehicle.  When she has no school, she pretty much goes where she wants.  If she gets tired of being here, she goes back there. It's one of the reasons she's looking forward to driving and being allowed to drive. She can come over here during the week and ride her horse, or hang out for an evening and then go back to school in the morning. She has been successfully driving us back and forth to Azle. I'm proud of her. 

This was a great summer. We didn't go anywhere really...just a few weekend trips. We went with Annette to Tarrant Ranch (which is unfortunately where poor Frankie got beat up so badly and was the beginning of the end of him) . I met up with Bambi at Lake Somerville (which was a really long drive) and we rode for a couple days. Then Maggie and I both went to C-bar stables and road with Tracy Black to help her get ready for Colorado. Then the big finish was the JUGGS weekend with Kate Love, Nancy Williams, and a slew of our other favorite people.  I tried not to over plan our summer. I hope that I succeeded.  I was disappointed that we never got a whole PJ day to watch TV. We still have most of the last season of Castle on the DVR.  I tried to plan a PJ day last week, but I ended up having to see clients, take her to the chiro, took her shopping, etc...in the end it was just a lot to get done. 

I am wistful to see summer go. The kids go back to school, I start working evenings again, but I gain a morning to do things with friends some weeks.  I haven't had time to do that in over a year.  I heard about some new clients up for grabs and I sent a prompt email...Here's hoping and praying i get at least one, but would happily take all three.  And the fall is full of adventure.  I'm going to take a class in Music therapy assisted childbirth. Thanks to Annette, I'm now friends with Christina Rider who has said I can stay with her if necessary while I take the class in Lincoln, NE the end of October.  So far, I'm pretty excited about the class, but other people have looked at me skeptically.  I figure we only know 2 things in life and that is being born and dying, so I think that there is a market out there waiting to be tapped. So far NO ONE in Texas is certified (at least we don't think so). I'm going to build a new business with my old one and make sure that I always have enough work...I have plans...

This fall will be busy. Lots of rides to attend, trainings to attend (I'm also taking a training for LegalShield so I can go to businesses and sell the product in the group and small business setting) I have fewer clients than I would currently like, but I have finally grown to appreciate not overworking myself. I have some caregiving to do with one other kid if that works out too...it doesn't pay a ton, but it does help me have a few extra dollars toward gas and stuff.

I guess that's about it. As usual I'm going to sign off reminding everyone to look at my LegalShield Site www.aliceyovich.legalshield.com.

The Devil in my House

I have had a run of really bad "luck" the last couple weeks. Enough so I have become to wonder if the Devil is involved.  (or if you are a fan of the Sookie Stackhouse stories, it might just be "a" devil b/c THE Devil causes too much of a crowd to form, lol)

I'm not even sure where the bad luck actually started.  In June, I had an expensive truck repair...but I still had one last paycheck from school, so it was all good.  Then, two weeks later, something else went wrong with the truck...another expensive repair. And then as I was waiting for my truck, my A/C went out on my car. Let's just say, I'm fortunate it's a cool summer because the A/C won't be fixed any time soon as it's the compressor ($1200+). Then, my truck broke down again yesterday on the way home...turns out all the hoses on the radiator are one by one going out, so when I pick up the car I can't afford to fix, I will be dropping off the truck to have the remaining hoses changed out, kind of like you would get all new tires if one blew.

the above is only the start. Our 13 year old water heater with a 12 year guarantee had the thermocouple go out...they really want to sell me a new water heater...$4000. Then our plumbing backed up and we now are told to put nothing "solid" down the pipes...ie: no toilet paper (sorry if this is TMI). They want another $4000 to rebuild our sewer line. I have seen the video of the pipe. I know it needs to be done, but not today...

So at the end of all this I owed Ben Franklin plumbing $666.34 and I owed my mechanic $866 and gave him $200 that day.  So I now owe him $666...kind of weird.

Then, I went to the garage to get my window unit a/c and discovered that both units had been stolen along with Peter's saw. I'm just ready for something to turn around.

I would happily go back to my crazy work hours of last school year to have the crazy good pay checks.

Work Frustrations

I never thought after last school year that I would be so desperately seeking work and work related hours so soon after being so busy. I had hoped that the school district would go on forever, but it hasn't. So I am out there, beating the pavement for either a JOB or more hours doing what I do best, Massage and Music Therapy.

I would like to begin seeing horses and working on getting my equine touch certification, but at the moment I am limited to avenues that do not require a great outlay of funds.  I am working on getting more massages each week and bringing in some corporate chair massage events. I have even thought about working birthday parties with music, horses and photography (a good avenue for Maggie too) for one price. I have been trying to get started on Equine touch certification to be a practitioner, but it's down the road since it's a long term process. I have been studying some equine massage therapy systems just to have a better handle on my comparative anatomy, but again, it's down the road.

In an effort to bring in some money and capitalize on my ability to talk to anyone I have taken on a new business venture. I am now a representative of Legal Shield, a prepaid legal service that can help you with all your legal needs. One low fee per month gives you access to a lawyer 7 days per week with prompt calling back. There is a short video explaining how the service works. It’s really great. I signed up for it because I realized that I needed to do a will and all the prices I had been quoted said $500 or more. My monthly legal shield payment of only $17 will allow me to have my will written. There is also a fabulous Identity theft protection you can buy separately or with the legal plan and it actually restores your damages, not just tells you that you have been breeched like some plans do.  Please take a look. My website is http://www.alicesteinkeyovich.legalshield.com. It will take 2 minutes!

I have been very frustrated with launching this part of my career however because I seem to be completely unable to get people to look at my product and my site. I keep hoping that friends and family will at least take a look at it. I have emailed and facebooked and called and texted and Im'd many people and so far my first sales are eluding me.  I need 5 sales in the next month to make my promotion and get me started. I keep hoping that 5 people out of all the people I know will do it.   So far, one friend said it looked shady (without seeing the video) two good friends ignore the pitch completely and several others have said they'd get back to me, but haven't.  If it weren't such a great service I would probably understand. I have sold things before including Jafra cosmetics, Avon, Beachbody, Dynamite, etc. But this product is better than anything. I see if being a hugely successful business if I can just break in the ground floor.  One of my difficulties is having to be licensed in some states. Some don't require a license at all (yay for me) but in Missouri, where I have a lot of friends and family, I have to have an insurance license to sell it. I can sell the Identity theft protection to anyone though and I understand that it's the number one crime experiencing growth in the US right now.

so this post is part whine, part rant and part begging...I just don't know where to start right now.

I keep thinking that perhaps I need to go ahead and pursue my equine career and start promoting my equine massage skills. I'm a little nervous because it's a new path for me, but I'm good at it. I have plenty of human training and I work on my horses all the time. I just need to go for it I think.
 

Frankie Pookins; Franklin Delano and Frankenstein

My dog Frankie was attacked by something at Tarrant Ranch this weekend. We were the only ones camping (except for a couple other trailers far away with tiny dachshunds in their trailer) so there were no other dogs around.  He had been tied up all afternoon and I let him go to go to the water with us and Bailey came too.  They ran off playing and I thought they had been gone a little while, but the others thought I was worrying (Bailey always comes back right away when called and she didn't) Bailey finally appeared and then Frankie followed him. At first we didn't realize anything was wrong, but then we saw that half his head was bloody. Thank goodness for the help of Marjorie Shenkir and Jenifer Schreur Seago helping me get him cleaned up and doctored as best we could.  It was already late on Saturday so we did our best to keep him quiet and clean until we could get home. Later that day we saw an Akita wandering around (and he was all boy) but he didn't seem too menancing...though we weren't trusting that he wasn't the culprit. We also worried that Bailey had done something to him, but no longer think that is the case. We will never know what happened, but something tried to pick him up and shake him and then pound him. I'm amazed he didn't die.

 I took him to the vet today and they cleaned and irrigated his wounds. He had to stay overnight for antibiotics. He could still die from an infection, but the vet thinks he has every chance of being fine. He thinks the wounds could have been the Akita, or maybe a coyote or bobcat, even though it was the middle of the afternoon.  The muscles in his neck have been ripped and he has an infection because we didn't have enough clean water at Tarrant Ranch to properly clean the wounds.  I couldn't take him to a vet at 4pm on Saturday afternoon in a strange place, so he didn't get care as quickly as he should have.

For everyone who is going to be critical of me having my dog loose...it was the country. Frankie never gets to run and it's good for him to have a chance. He is really good about staying in camp as he gets older and Bailey is never out of voice range. There was no one else around...except as it turns out the lady who owned the Akita (who was very nice). I told her that she should look her dog over to see if he'd been in a fight and that my dog was vaccinated. So was hers, so at least, if he turned out to be the culprit rabies is not a concern.  I have been told that Akita's are vicious toward small dogs they might view as prey. Somehow it's strangely ironic that Frankie would be mistaken for prey after all the beating up he's done to smaller dogs through the years.  If he had been on his tie out, and he had been attacked in camp he would have had no chance.  There is no way of knowing what will happen. I know I will watch Bailey for signs of aggression and hope Frankie can get well. 

I suspect Bailey helped him get out of whatever. She has been looking out of him ever since seems concerned about him. I don't htink that she could have beaten him up this badly.