Dog Found. Shoes Lost. Bell Boots Devoured. Car Sold.

Sorry to keep you all on the edge of your proverbial seats. After 5.5 of the WORST days of my entire life, my dog came home. At 12:30 in the morning. During a huge thunderstorm. To the door of our apartment. After spending hundreds of dollars and countless hours and lakes of tears on trying to find her and get her back, she just came home 5.5 days later and scratched and whined at the door. We had our small animal vet friend check her out and other than having worn out paw pads, some tape worms, and a few fleas, she was no worse for wear. She turned 5 yesterday, at home, safe and spoiled. Thank heavens.

That week was the week from hell. My grandma Dorothy passed away, TK got a concussion at football practice (yes, he is the coach.... but he still managed a concussion), and I got a speeding ticket on my way to my hometown for the funeral. I'm still in debt from the dog search/ speeding ticket/ unexpected 10 hour round trip home. But, its over now and for at least 1 week after it all life has been calm.

Of course, that doesn't mean I've been riding. Granite has a mystery swelling in his left hind that would come and go. Of course, he wasn't lame, just mysteriously swollen for a week. And then, he kicked off his shoe. His feet look AWFUL. Crumbly from the weather and every time he managed to pull a shoe off, he takes more wall with it. I've gone through three sets of bell boots this month trying to keep his shoes safe from his klutziness  but he eats them all! Our SuperFarrier came out yesterday and concurred that we should pull the shoes and let his feet rehab a bit. He has been on supplements for 3 months, so that will take many more months, but hopefully if he doesn't have shoes to rip off, his feet can grow a little. The farrier also said he felt comfortable with me riding him moderately without the shoes (because of his "special hoof" our farrier has always suggested keeping him shod while in work, but he thinks the angles are holding up well and we can proceed). So MAYBE, we will get to ride a little bit before my week-long trip to Oregon/Washington over Labor Day and the week to follow. I literally think I've ridden twice in August. As my best friend wisely stated yesterday, "there's always next year."

And finally, I sold my Red Car last week. After 7 years and some change with me (covering most of college, grad school, my first two big kid jobs, 1 major wreck, many minor boyfriends, a year of commuting, and countless trips home to see my parents), it was time to let Red Car take care of someone else. At nearly 187,000 miles, I just didn't trust her to make the journey back to my parents house any longer and it was getting unfair to TK to have to borrow his vehicle any time I wanted or needed to travel more than 1 hour on the interstate. So, we kept Red in the family and sold her to my fairy-horse-mother (Dianne)'s son. He is thrilled with her and I am happy to see her still loved and useful. Toyotas are GOOD cars!

And the search is on for a replacement. Fortunately, TK's little brother is hiking the Appalachian Trail (yes, all 2,200 miles of it), so TK is driving the little brother's car while I drive his until I find something to call my own. I was thinking small SUV, but we are (yet again) moving in October and will have a bit longer of a drive to the office and the barn. And I really don't want to be too bogged down with car payments and cost of ownership, so now I'm back to searching for a super-fuel efficient car to last me a good long while. I can't afford anything to haul Granite's big rear end yet, so I may as well try to be as economical as possible until I can. I'm hoping to go procure a new-to-me 2010ish Toyota Corolla this weekend. We shall see.

So that should about get you up to speed on my very exciting (NOT) life :) Cheers and happy trails to all as I look forward to HOPEFULLY getting some time in the saddle soon!