Posted March 10th, 2010 by Nealia
Nealia asked me to take over this evening for the blog. For some reason by the end of the day the last couple nights she has had some pretty disabling headaches. She asked me to fill in. Nealia had a full day in the barn today and went back out for more lessons at 4:30 to work with one of her equitation riders. We got the Press Releases out for the Open House we are hosting for the rescue on Sunday March 21st at 1pm. So that got done.
We got an email today from some good friends in Illinois. They often forward to us funny stories, jokes and thoughtful stories that are passed along on the internet via email. You probably receive similar emails from your friends. Today the topic was a story actually a conversation between an elderly man and an aide at a nursing home. I thought it pointed out a very basic but fundamental “Life Lesson” and since that was the original reason for Nealia’s blog I thought I would share the piece with you.
Here is the story:
A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.
As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window. ‘I love it,’ he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy. ‘Mr. Jones, you haven’t seen the room; just wait.’ ‘That does not have anything to do with it,’ he replied.
‘Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged. It’s how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. ‘It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.’
‘Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I’ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away. Just for this time in my life old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you’ve put in.
So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories! Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still depositing.’
Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.
They said in the email that if you shared this story with 7 people that you would receive a miracle. I do not know about that but I thought the story was worth sharing. Maybe I will get some extra credit somewhere??
By the way I am the guy from the cleaner date. Another update is I think ADP fixed my insurance problem. I will know for sure in the morning.
Posted March 8th, 2010 by Nealia
I did manage to stay happy all day, which is hard sometimes on a Monday. I wish I knew why I get down on Mondays, but if I knew why I get down would I know how to stay happy? Most of today was just doing some laundry (with the dogs) and forgetting to change the loads. Our new washing machine (you know, the one Drew had to teach me to use) has an alarm that is not very loud and I do not hear it. I suppose it is possible that I am just getting hard of hearing in my old age, but I think the alarm is not very loud. I will have to buy a cooking timer and put it out by the machine so I know when the laundry is through washing. It has been a rough day trying to do the laundry, sometimes I feel sooo abused!!! NOT!! just kidding. I did take a trip into town today and got to go to the bank with Mark!! Now that is the exciting life a horse trainer has.
Speaking of what an exciting life horse trainers have, let me tell you about my one date with Mark. Close to 14 years ago, about this time of year, Mark had taken a job in New York City and was going to be moving there in a week or so. At this point I have to back up. Mark had been a customer of mine for a couple of years and we knew each other, but not in a friend type way, only a customer type way. We had been out to lunch with the rest of the barn and we had been at horse shows but always with the other customers. I was always cracking jokes as I still do and when I would tell them usually Mark was the ONLY one to get them. I used to wonder if Mark and I where the only ones who watched TV when we were kids. Mark was the one person who really got my sense of humor. Whenever the barn would go out to lunch, Mark would never be at my table as the ladies would surround me and he would always be sitting at a different table. This is the way it went to two years. Most of the weekends when his girls were out riding I could tell you by what coat he was wearing whether he was staying at the barn or going to run errands. If he wore his hooded jeans jacket he would be staying in the barn for the day while the girls rode. When I saw the leather coat I knew he would be gone for the day running errands. That is as close as it got to me really getting to know Mark. One weekend Mark told me he had taken a job in NYC and would be moving in a few months, the girls however would not be moving and would continue riding at my barn. On Sunday evenings some of the customers would stay for dinner and one Sunday Mark and the girls stayed and ate with us, as it would be one of the last time for a while that they all would be having dinner at our house. As it got later the girls were getting ready to drive home and Mark said he had to go to the dry cleaners and asked if I would like to ride along with him. My life as a horse trainer is filled with daily adventures and hundreds of people wanting me to go and do wild things with them because I was a “Party Animal”!!!!! NOT!!!!! and NOT AGAIN!!! That is so not how my life was! So now that you know that I basically had no life, except watching TV at night , I jumped at the chance to do anything a little out of the ordinary. I was waiting in Mark’s car as Mark said goodbye to the girls, and I said to myself “You are so pathetic that you are excited to go for a car ride to the cleaners”. I wondered if I seem to have a lonely life to Mark. “What the heck”, I said to myself, “I am going to go anyway, I do not care how it looks”. After we picked up the laundry Mark asked if I minded swinging by his mom’s house so he could start her car, as she would be returning home from Florida in a day or so, and he wanted to make sure her car would start (as it had been very cold for several weeks). Wow it was my lucky day!!! I actually was going to be able to talk to him a little longer, and I must say, I enjoyed the first part (in my mind) of our date. We both were laughing and it was nice to be with someone who really got me! By this time I realized I really did not have a life and I WAS pathetic, but you know what? I did not care, I did not feel lonesome now, I felt great!! We got to his mother’s house and Mark started the car and wanted it to run for a while so he offered me a drink. All that was in the house was diet Dr. Pepper (ooh ick) and rum. What the heck! If you put enough rum in the diet Dr. Pepper, you can hardly taste the cola at all. Mark and I spent maybe an hour or more talking about our lives, horses and our goals when we decided to get MARRIED, yes MARRIED! I did tell him not to expect to see me naked anytime soon (sorry for the visual you now have) and that did not seem to phase him. Mark took me home and I was floating on cloud nine, or maybe floating in a sea of rum, but that did not matter as someone as wonderful and handsome as Mark actually liked ME! The next day I received a call from Mark and I held my breath waiting for him to tell me he had made a mistake, as there would be no way he really wanted to get married to me. Just when I was sure that my bliss would come crashing down and reality would set in I heard Mark say “I have been thinking all day about last night and I really do want to marry you”. OMG!! did I really hear him say that? I must be dreaming! BUT I WASN’T! He did want to get married, the only hang up was he was moving to New York in a week or so. To shorten this story we got married on April 27th, just 6 weeks after we had our “cleaner date” and we have been married soon to be 14 years. I will tell you this, these have been the happiest years of my life as I did marry my soul-mate and Mark says he found his soul-mate with me as well. The number of fights we have had in that 14 years you can count on one hand and have some fingers left over, and he has been absolutely the best to and for my kids. Not the end of story, the rest is for another time.
I want to say “I’m Sorry” to Linda, as I did not mean to include her in my S—-d people rant a few posts back. I like you and respect you and know you try to do the right things.
I wish everyday could be as nice as today was as far as the weather.
I am THANKFUL that about 14 years ago Mark did want to marry me.
Posted March 7th, 2010 by Nealia
And the winner is….. my whole barn, as everyone had great rides. Today seemed to be the first hint of spring and I think it motivated everyone in the barn to give their show best. On days like these it is absolutely the best time to do my job. Everything just seems to click, all the horses seem to want to show us their best and that makes for a great show for me. Have I said before how much I love my job? To me there is no better life than working with and around horses everyday. To be able to look out any window in my house and see HORSES is a dream of a lifetime. My only wish is that my kids can have a job that gives them the same joy I get everyday from horses. If everyone in the world could have a job they LOVED, imagine how much happier the world would be. I hope Mark finds a job that is as rewarding as mine. I think maybe the horse community may be his ticket to a spiritually rewarding job. Only Mark will know the answer to that statement.
I know that there are days that are not good and are very upsetting, but those days are by far outweighed by the good days. The statement “the light at the end of the tunnel” is how I feel about the spring coming. This winter has tested us and I hope the summer will help make it easier for next winter. It has been a real work-in-progress to learn how to make a living and be smart about business decisions for North Wind Stables. I have to thank Mark again for helping me look at the business end of NWS in a different way. I think it is empowering me in a strange way. We have tried new advertising methods that we learned at the UPHA convention, and today both Mark and I could see they are working. Thanks again to Lynn Via and the UPHA for adding the marketing section to the convention.
Next week we will be tackling the task of trying to figure out what to do with the problem of one of our horse shows in NJ. This year, several shows’ dates have moved around and it has caused a real problem in our area. It is a well known fact that horse people do not like changes and besides that, the changing dates will hit NWS right in the pocketbook. I hope it does not split our club even more, trying to figure out what is best for the club and keeping that separate from what will be best for each of the barns in our area. The upcoming meeting could throw a monkey wrench into my bliss at the barn. I hope I do not feel the need to pass out any of “The Signs”.
This post will be at little short as I still need to see who ” the winner is…..”
I wish everyone could have a job that they like as much as I like mine.
I hope I will not get down on my day off. That does happen often and I do not know why.
I am THANKFUL for the day I had today!!!!
Posted March 6th, 2010 by Nealia
First off, I cannot remember what # life lesson I am on so I give up on that title. Second, I am sorry I missed yesterday but I went to bed early because I was beat, not beat up, just tired. I will start off with the barn and say what a great time I have had working in the barn; horses great, riders great and everyone is happy. What more can you ask for? Today was even better as one rescue left for his new home and two more were adopted today. If you could see me you would see I am dancing. Personally I am glad you cannot see me as I am not the greatest dancer. I used to be really good when I was younger………. well, maybe I was not really good, I only thought I was really good. I was a star in my head.
We are planning a trip to the World Cup tryouts at William Woods U. on the 25th through the 28th of March and I spent the last hour trying to figure out where to stay. I did get rooms at a Marriott for the trip which makes me happy as they usually have foam mattresses. I hate hard beds and Marriott has a mattress that is out of this world. I am sooo much happier when I sleep well. I hope Jessie makes the team this year. I think she is well prepared. I want some of my students to come to the tryouts as they are interested in trying out next time and I think it will help them understand what they need to be prepared for. I am a big believer in the World Cup as it can be a place for a rider that has a LOT of skill to shine as you do not get to ride your own horse. During the tryouts you have to ride a couple of different horses, some easy some harder. Jessie did the Invitationals two times with the Jacobs and I have to say that prepared Jessie the most in every way to be ready for her first go for World Cup. I hope Brent, Jane and Brooke continue to do the Invitationals as I feel it was one of the BEST experiences that Jessie and our family had in the horse business. Brent and Jane had everything planned out and we had no worries. All we had to do was be ready every morning and just go where we were pointed. I for one have really never been out of the country and I was more than just a little worried. We had wonderful hotels, we got to do a lot of “South Africa things” and we saw the country, plus we got to meet new people at every stop we made. It was a wonderful time for Jessie and a great vacation for us. My only regret was Jason could not be with us, as it was up to him to take the North Wind horses to the show in St. Louis.
It was nice today to see the sun even though it did not warm up much. The up-side to it being a little colder was the ground stayed frozen and there was very little mud. I know I must seem a little over worried about mud, but since we have had over four hundred horses come through our property and most of them go outside, we have no rolling green pastures. I would wish for MORE pasture space, but when there is too much space, some of the horses get really hard to catch. So I guess I should just be happy with what I have.
Speaking of being happy with what I have, it is important to know what you want. If you do not know what you want, then you will not know when you have it. I always feel sorry for people who do not have a workable game plan in life. These are the people that can have sooo much and still are not happy. There never seems to be enough for these people, they always want more or something better. I for one know what I have is good and I appreciate what I have. I know sometimes I whine, but for the most part, if I would ever be a billionaire, I would not want to move from my home, I would only want to fix it a little bit. First I want hardwood floors in every room; make a better place for Jason’s room; change the barn and add stalls to the main barn; build a new rehab barn and arena for the rescues. I would want an indoor pool (indoor so I would not sunburn) and I would also not be seen in my swimwear and scare the begeebers out of everyone on our property, or anyone flying over in an airplane. I am so sorry for any mental pictures that may have flashed in your mind when I spoke of my swimwear.
No wishes tonight.
I am THANKFUL for all that I have in my life.
Posted March 5th, 2010 by Nealia
Now that our own Andy Rooney has finished her blog for the night I need to add my 2 cents. I, of course is me…Mark, Nealia’s husband. She says she has to unload what is on her mind, make everyone mad (not intentionally), be thought provoking and hopefully in the end make some sense to it all …just like Andy. I give her props.
While most of Nealia’s days in the barn are good as she reports I had a day less than ideal. As many of you know, I have been out of investments and banking since late 2008 thanks to the economy and various intersecting crises in the banking world. I have been spending my time constructively helping UPHA Chapter 15 with their horse shows and stepping in temporarily as President of Saddlebred Rescue. Some associates and I did put together a consulting company called Corporate Debt Advisors, but so far that has only achieved minimal traction. While keeping all these balls in the air, I have been trying to find a new job for myself as this boy needs to work; but not so easy. Well yesterday I was rushing to finish a new brochure for the rescue as we needed to overnight a package of materials to a horse show in Texas this weekend, and I blew through an appointment I had at the Dream Park to meet a new partner for the July horse show. This meeting was important as my meeting was with an event coordinator who represents 85 high-end crafters. They are interested in putting on a large craft show at the park which should help build attendance during the July horse show for Children’s Benefit. I made my apologies and more damage control to come on Friday. This is really not my MO. Today I also worked on some advertising for the shows, tried to get in some tax work as well and did some phone interviews for new professional support for Saddlebred Rescue on the legal and accounting front. Progress was made. During all this, I thought I should go through the day’s mail. I found doctors’ bills. I expected it was paper work related to my end of January stint in the hospital. You all got the memo on the appendix right? Anyway, I open the envelope and saw “No response from insurance carrier – please pay”. Now you understand I could have bought a new C Class Mercedes for what the bills were for an appendix deal. Well that was interesting so I call the insurance company who informs me that ADP Total Source who manages my Cobra informed them a month after my operation (yes last week) that my insurance was cancelled as of the year end – 2009. Nealia said I looked like someone had died when I was on the phone. Composure….so I call ADP who tells me that while they know I have paid for my premiums through March 2010 my account is on hold, they continue to have administrative problems to account for the government subsidies and their computer system has been down for almost 2 weeks, but it’s back on line as of yesterday. They tell me it will take minimum 3 business days to investigate. Sounds like I need to go back to work for a vacation. I know better days are ahead of us as I am a glass is half full kind of a person and tomorrow is another day.
Thanks for letting me vent a little.
I wish things would start to go our way for a while.
I wish we have a good show season and the local horse shows are successful.
I am thankful I have Nealia, family and friends. Nealia is my best friend.
I look forward to my oldest daughter, Kate’s wedding in Fort Worth the 29th of May.
I am glad I can live around the horses and okay …. yes the dogs too…even June our Boxer the AmishButtWiggler.
Posted March 4th, 2010 by Nealia
I would like to thank the ladies that wrote me to recommend checking my thyroid as it could be over-active. That is a scary thought because Deborah wrote that she LOST weight and got very hot and she had hyper-thyroid. Since I am gaining weight (because of my elbow), if I was hyper, that would mean when they slowed my thyroid down, I would gain even MORE weight. You cannot hear me, but I am screaming!!!!! As to the elbow thing, the reason that is causing me to gain weight is because it bends allowing me to put more food in my mouth. Thank you for your help, and I will be going to the doctor as soon as I am made to. I know everything that is wrong with me is because of being overweight, and I have a mirror, so I know I am overweight.
I have to write about Doug and his breakthrough in riding. This weekend Doug just got with Magic (the horse) and the canter that resulted was perfectly collected and looked as if Doug was doing nothing and the best part was, Doug KNEW he had it figured out. Today Doug was riding Johnny (one of our lesson horses) and again he GOT IT at the canter. If you watch some of our riders, Johnny looks like his canter is rough and it looks as if he will not stay right up on the rail. I have always said that when the rider does their job correctly, Johnny’s canter is as smooth as they come. It is not easy to teach this technique as it takes a feel and THAT is hard to teach. It is very hard to tell people what something feels like. Try telling someone what soft is. I can tell someone the movement you need to do, or the fact that when you do it right it is so easy. It is really up to the person to get into a REAL learning frame of mind and take responsibility for YOUR actions and understand that the rider has a LOT to do with how the horse is behaving or moving. Once you take the responsibility as your own, it is then and only then that you can become a GREAT rider. Very few riders get there because they want to blame most of the problems on the horse. Anyway, Doug was GREAT today. Way to go!! That type of moment makes my day.
Why is it that people who do not like me or have any respect for me, people who do not take the time to really know me, take the time to read MY blog and complain about what I write? To those people I say “Here’s your SIGN!” I also would like to offer up to anyone who thinks I am writing about you and I do not use your name, here is the deal. The following is a disclaimer…. The words you have read in the past and are about to read may be or may not be loosely based on some kind of facts and are not intended for anyone to know who or what I am writing about. Here is an idea; for those of you who think I wrote about you in a negative way and are upset….. Why don’t YOU understand that what I am REALLY saying is I am frustrated and ALL I really want is for EVERYONE to just get along and work together to make things around here better. Remember what the MOTTO is for our Country…”United we stand, DIVIDED we fall!” If you cannot get that, then I say “Here’s your sign.”
TV tonight was again good, Idol, The Mentalist and Project Runway. As far as IDOL, yeah, I say the Kewpie is gone! I wonder if Simon will meet him in Church?
I wish ALL my riders could get “IT” faster.
I wish I loved vegetables and fish. You cannot hear me but I am screaming AND making a face.
I am THANKFUL Mark has a cool head and has me edit my REAL thoughts on this blog.
Posted March 4th, 2010 by Nealia
OK here is the deal; for five days I have been dying of over-heating. I was sure if I did not sweat so much my body would self-combust! Every day I have been wearing less layers and today I was just wearing a sweatshirt and thin summer jeans. In the barn today I was hot (as usual for the past 5 days). Everyone (not Dr. Meanor) thought maybe it was from Lymes (which I have still not been tested for). I was beginning to think I would be hot right into summer where I would look like the wax figures that melt in the heat. Everyday when I come into the house I turn down the thermostat to 60 so I can stand it in the house. Well today I came in and I thought the house was cold . I thought maybe I had left a window open…. but no windows were open. I looked at the thermostat and it was sitting on Mark’s usual 70. Oh well, I thought and ate lunch. After lunch I started working on entries for two shows and I noticed my feet where like ice. I called into the other room and asked Mark if we were out of heating oil and the furnace was turned off…..OMG!!!! That is what the dogs say to Mark at night! Every night they look at Mark and say (in my mind) “Hey dad did you pay the heat bill, because it is really cold in here.” I have gone to the “dog” side. Of course we had heat and the house was 70, but I WAS STILL FREEZING!!! How can I go from burning up to freezing in less than 1 hour? From 3:00 pm on I have been cold; hands, feet, chills, goosebumps and everything that goes with freezing to death. I had to watch American Idol under a quilt with only my eyes peering out. Yes, I was cold from my nose to my toes. I am still frozen as I write this. I will have to drain the hot water tank when I take a shower tonight before I get in bed or I will not be able to sleep. What is my problem? There is a song I think Katy Perry sings that describes me today…You’re hot and then cold…you’re up and then down…. That would be me this week. Oh great; now I will have the song looping in my head all night! This could be a LLLOOONNNGGG night!
Speaking of American Idol, what is up with the judging? Last night all the guys mixed the songs up too much and the judges did not like it. Tonight the first girl, I call her “Boxersocks” mixed the song TOTALLY UP and they LOVED IT! The rest of the girls sang the songs fairly straight-forward and the judges complained; not original enough!! I DO NOT GET IT!!! How am I supposed to judge when the judges have ME confused? Has anyone else noticed this? After Idol, we watched Criminal Minds. Drew says it is fakey, but I think it is great! Another good night of TV for me. Oh I for got to mention The Middle and Modern Family; LOVE LOVE LOVE them!!!
As far as barn news went today Dr. M had GREAT rides today on her horses, with show bridles no less. Sherrill and Mary E were not to be outdone and also had great rides. We are ready for the show season. All we have to do now is wait for the first show. I have my entries in, thanks to Joanne and one freezing afternoon at the computer for me. Tomorrow is Thursday. I must remember that and here is why. At dinner tonight Jason asked me “Mom, do you know what day it is?” I told him it was March 3rd. He then said, “No, what DAY it is today!” I said, “Wednesday, of course.” Jason then asked me if I knew what tomorrow was. I told him of course I did, it will be Thursday. He said “REMEMBER THAT TOMORROW because last week you forgot it was my day off and you woke me up and made come to work. “OOPS! DID I DO THAT?” I said in my best Urkle voice. Note to self: NOT to wake Jason up. DO NOT WAKE JASON UP!!!
You will never guess what just happened…………………………………………………………………………………………….. I just got HOT right now!! OMG what is up with my internal climate control? It must be wearing out because I am sooooo old!!
I hope my body can keep a steady, normal body temperature.
I hope our horses and riders keep working as well as they have been.
I wish I did not like sugar —NO, CRAVE SUGAR!!
I am THANKFUL I live in BEAUTIFUL DOWNTOWN Hardwick NJ, which by the way is not a hot spot for terrorists or earthquakes!
FYI: Hardwick has no downtown and for that fact it is so small we have to share Blairstown’s post office. Hardwick is not even big enough to have our own zip code. It is still heaven to me.
Posted March 3rd, 2010 by Nealia
First off, Happy Birthday Pat. We did get to go out and eat lunch with the SBR crew. It was very enjoyable and a quiet, well….. except from us. We went to a restaurant in Blairstown and the only down side to that place was there was no one to clap loudly and sing Happy Birthday to Pat. Pat did have a plate of tortillas and Mark put a french fry on top to symbolize a candle. This was a nice way to finish a good day in the barn.
There is a tack shop in our area that gives Saddlebred Rescue the returns they cannot resell. You would be surprised, NO SHOCKED, at what people return for a refund. Today we received two turn out blankets and a cooler. One of the turn out blankets was soooo muddy and USED it looked like they used it all winter then returned it because it was muddy and wanted their money back. The cooler was FULL of white horse hair. Do not get me wrong as we are thrilled to get these blankets and stuff because all of our turn outs are muddy this time of year. It just amazes me on just how many stupid people there really are, and all the dumb things they do. In this case, the dumb things stupid people do benefit SBR.
I have received several emails and calls about me being totally bummed, but Mark gave me the best news of all. It is not something I can write about, but it did make me feel that things have a chance to get better. I still am not sure how much I should be involved in the clubs up here. I wish someone would say “this is what you should do”, and I could get behind it. Is there a right or wrong answer? What IS the perfect answer? All of this stress is freaking my body out as I have been hot (temperature-hot, not anger hot) for about 5 days now. I cannot get cool. I am freezing Mark to death in the house and at night I am sure the dogs think we forgot to pay the heat bill. Normally the dogs that sleep on the bed do not like each other much….well, really there is one dog that no one likes. When it is cold in my room at night they all huddle together and act like best friends. I would say that if we could make everyone up here really, REALLY cold, they would want to get along better if for no other reason than to stay warm. That would be everyone but ME, who would be saying “DO NOT TOUCH ME, I AM ABOUT TO SELF-COMBUST!!!!!” WOW it is great to be overweight and in my 50’s. I am thinking of a career change, I thought being an explorer in the Antarctic would be nice and refreshing. It is too bad that the heat I produce cannot be stored and used to heat the house.
Tonight was AMERICAN IDOL! Mark and I love the show, but I do not get the judges sometimes. For years all we have heard is, “be yourself and do not do the song just like the original recording artist” and tonight they kept saying, “you changed it up too much, just sing it like it was done the first time”. I do not know about you, but I think that is giving mixed signals. My favorites for tonight were the first guy, and the blond guy (maybe I am a cougar also) and the last guy. I cannot remember their names, but I know who they are. I cannot stand the black guy that looked like a Kewpie doll tonight. Aren’t you glad that you do not have to have me reporting tonight’s show, because you would have no idea what the heck happened tonight. The only thing you would know is I don’t understand the judges, I like three guys and I dislike one. The best thing about Tuesday night is 1st American Idol, and 2nd is The Good Wife….. I LOVE THAT SHOW!! Am I the only one or does everyone else think that is a great night of TV?
I wonder why the word ‘cannot’ is all one word the the words ‘do not’ is two?
I wish the Judges on Idol would make up my mind on what I am supposed to think and how I am supposed to judge. Be original or not.
I wish the mud would not be in our pastures.
I wish I would stop getting too hot, the sweating is not fun, AT ALL.
I am THANKFUL we got to celebrate my good friend’s Birthday today.
Posted March 2nd, 2010 by Nealia
Sometimes I think I should not take a day off. Today has been filled with sad thoughts and tears and I do not know why I feel this way. I did get a good night’s sleep and nothing went wrong, but I still felt like I was in a hole looking up at the world. Maybe hearing stuff about our clubs every day is getting to be too much. Every time I turn around I hear about more things that make me wonder why I give a damn. I have always said I did not want to get mixed up in politics and with that statement I meant Democrat and Republican kind of politics. Somehow I started getting involved with the local clubs and it seems as if they have their own brand of politics and now I am smack dab in the middle of it. I wonder if I should just walk away and not care about anyone else but my barn or should I continue to pound my head against the wall and try and help the club. I do not know how things that seem so black and white to me can look so different to other people. I also know that my people and horses should do fine in the shows and in the high points as they always have so no matter what the club decides on we usually come out OK. I do not want to appear to be throwing a temper tantrum as others have, but I am really getting to feel like it is not worth being upset and worrying over everyday. When is it time just to say, I have had enough. It is so much easier to just worry about my barn and SBR than it is to worry over the shows in our area. I am sorry I got Mark involved as he is always in the middle now. If I walk away, it could make it tougher on him.
Today at my lowest I decided to watch the EllenShow as that is always a safe bet that it will make me feel better. It did bring my spirits up but did not make my worries go away. The show is about having fun and doing good things, so who could not like that?
I am sorry that I do not have much writing in me tonight, maybe tomorrow.
The dogs and I did get the laundry done, but it took me all day as I kept forgetting to turn on the dryer. I guess I was distracted or maybe I am just getting old.
I wish the dogs could remind me when I forget things like turning on the dryer.
I am THANKFUL that we are not losing our house like soooo many people are now, because they have lost their jobs. THANK GOD for the horses and the people who LOVE the horses.
Posted February 28th, 2010 by Nealia
I came home from the barn and felt like I was walking on cloud nine. I was actually pumped. ALL of the riders and the horses worked out of this world today. Add to that, we have a GREAT bunch of customers that are happy and that makes for one happy trainer. Jason spent a part of this weekend taking photos of some of our horses in the snow and I must say they are VERY different and they looked amazing. Job well done Jason! I did not get the laundry done this weekend but that is OK as Mark and I have enough clothes and the laundry will still be there tomorrow (only there will be more of it).
As I sit here writing, one of our dogs is scratching on the door to get us to let him in. The funny part about this is, this the same dog that will come in through the dog door in the daylight but, when it gets dark he will not go through the dog door. Rowdy will sit outside the office and scratch on the glass door making a sound like finger nails on a chalk board. The dog does that three times, if we do not let him in he moves over and scratches on the screen, making a totally different sound. I think he must think we do not hear a high-pitched scratching noise. It is not a hard or frantic scratch, it is just a small little reminder that we seem to be forgetting him, and that we are not very good parents. Mark and I cannot for the life of us figure out why he will not come in the dog door at night. My only guess was that by the end of the day, Rowdy (who is quite chunky and as heavy as a cinder block) is so tired that he cannot get through the door without rubbing his man parts. Rowdy will do this scratching thing for hours in the rain, snow and cold and WILL NOT COME IN until we open the people door. I guess he has us trained; only sometimes we are not trained real well (in his mind).
Mark is working on the Spring Kick Off Event horse show and is sending out prize lists. If anyone would like one please email me and I will get one sent to you. This show is in early April, Heather Boodey is our judge, and the entire show facility is under one roof and is heated, so no matter what the weather we will have a great time.
Our whole barn is trying to figure out how we can get two clubs working together to help our shows in this area. So far we have had no brilliant ideas…….. I have had a couple of people tell me about what happened in their area when the fighting turns vindictive, and it was not good. Well, that means we have to work harder to find a solution. I came up with the idea of putting the stupid people on an island somewhere. But I seemed to be the only one who thought it was a good or doable idea.
I wish the dogs would not pass gas; they are going to kill me.
I wish every day could be as good as this weekend was.
I hope we do not have a real muddy spring (although I do not think that wish will come true).
I am THANKFUL that show season is just around the corner.