I Can't Believe It's 2010!

Can you believe that the Y2K scare was 10 years ago?!?

Well, Buster has been doing very well. We had to take him to the vet about a week and a half ago to have his teeth floated- filed down to remove any sharp edges. He had been drooling excessively and it turns out he had a lot of sharp points that were rubbing on the inside of his cheeks. Poor guy. He's better now.

I body clipped Reno and Soda Pop. Reno looks like someone took a lawn mower to him. Soda Pop looks pretty good. Each day I see Reno I ask him, "Who clipped you?" Poor guy. They both jumped around and acted like brand new horses when all of the hair was off. They are so much easier to groom when their hair is short.

I've been riding a lot. I started jumping Reno again. If you remember last May, him and I had a terrible fall while jumping. Well, I found myself thinking about it too much. I was trying to shorten his stride up so he would get the correct spot and striding. I was hindering Reno... a lot. I finally let him just decide what he wanted to do. I let him pick the pace, the striding, and his own takeoff spots and he was perfect! That boy sure knows what he's doing. I had so much fun that I raised all of the jumps up and we were able to jump big for the first time in a long time. It was great.

I'm having so much fun being able to see the kids so much. I still feel like I have no time for anything, but that's ok. I'll make time.

Oh, So Much To Catch Up On!

Oh, my. I can't believe it has been so long since I last blogged! I'm going to try to update you all in one posting.

Here is what has been happening the last two months, in no particular order.

At the beginning of December, we moved all 3 of our horses closer to home. About 2 1/2 miles from our house, a house sold and it had an 11 horse barn on it. The new owners, Scott and Kylie Joy, decided to have a boarding facility. She made us a great deal on the cost of board for having all 3 horses there. They clean their stalls throughout the day, feed 2-3 times a day, makes sure they have clean water, puts on and take off the horses jammies (their blankets to keep them warm at night) and generally watches the horses to make sure they are in good condition and health. It's a great facility. There is an arena with jumps and all weather footing, an dressage arena, several turn out areas, and the horses have over sized stalls with shavings and an outdoor area. They take very good care of our kids. They even give Buster all of his medication too!

Mid December our horse Buster got really sick and was in an equine ICU for 3 days. Day 1 he was colicing which basically meant that he had an upset tummy, however, it could be fatal if not treated quickly. He got better the first day, not great but better, and then got worse again that night. The next day, we took him to the vet and he said he was severely dehydrated and had an impaction- an intestinal blockage. We took him to the equine clinic here in Prescott and they hooked him up to an iv. They gave him 35 liters of fluid before he felt better. It took 25 liters even before he urinated! He was there for 3 days while waiting for this impaction to pass. It did, but it was found that he had a "stone". A stone is similar to a pearl. It can come from anything a horse eats that doesn't get digested and stalls out in the intestines. It could be a piece of leather, a staple from a shavings bag, a small piece of twine from a bale of hay, anything really. Basically, the intestines cover this thing with mineral deposits to protect itself. It just keeps adding a layer of minerals until it is sometimes too big to pass. One that a vet showed us was the size of an ostrich egg. The one Buster passed was like a 2" x 2 1/2" river rock. We then rushed him to Phoenix to a very high class vet clinic for abdominal x-rays to make sure there were no larger stones still inside. Luckily, there was not, just a lot of sand. He is now on a very high fiber diet to flush the sand from his system. We put the other two kids on this fiber also since they probably have sand too. Anyway, about $2,200 later, we have a healthy horse again. Merry Christmas to us.

As many of you know, almost 6 years ago I started my own Mary Kay business. I was very motivated for a few years and then I slowly tapered off as life got busy. The beauty of the business is that it is all mine and I can go back to it whenever I want. Well, I did go back. I started up again. I had a party the other day and did very well. I made in 2 fun hours as much as I would have made in 4 1/2 hours of my air traffic controller pay! If that isn't motivating, I don't know what is! I have a website and you can check it out. It is www.marykay.com/kaylamm There is a virtual make over where you can upload your own picture and used different colors of make up and even different hair styles, colors, cuts and accessories to play with. It's fun. Try it out! If anyone wants to do a party, please let me know. I have several types to choose from. From a spa day to a quick 15 minute on-the-go facial to an online party, just let me know. Also, if anyone is interested in the Mary Kay opportunity, I'd love to talk with you. It is a great way to earn some extra income on your own terms.

Christmas was great. The Monday before, we drove to CA to visit with Jake's family. It was a short trip but a great visit. We were able to see everyone, including our new nephews, and some family friends. We had a great big family dinner at El Torito one night and we were there for hours visiting. We went shopping at stores they don't have in AZ and finished buying some Christmas gifts. Now on to the gifts: Jake got a Coca-Cola dart board for his man cave and some money to get the cave started. We want to have it painted and put a finish on the concrete floor. He wants to decorate it with Coca-Cola themed things. He also got a Wii game- the Toy Story Midway Mania, just like the ride at Disneyland's California Adventure. He got a blu-ray disc of a John Mayer concert. I got a sewing machine and all the accessories. Jake built me the biggest tack trunk I've ever seen. I now can put all of my horse stuff in it! He had my name painted on the top of it by our friend Jules. She does decorative painting, murals, faux finishes, etc. She is very talented! We had about 10,000,000 lights on our house and I'm pretty sure you can see it from space. We had the most in our neighborhood and plans are already being discussed about how to improve for next year. So much fun.

A funny thing happened today. I asked Jake what his new year's resolution is and it was to keep the house really clean and organized. You know what mine was? To keep the house really clean and organized. Weird huh? We have a central vacuum and I LOVE it. I found a website that sells a ton of accessories and attachments for my system. I have made a list of the attachments that I want to get to have a super clean house. I also want to get the Shark steam cleaner for around the house too so I can sanitize things. I love a clean house, but not the cleaning part. I may end up hiring a cleaning person to do it all for me. We'll see.

We are planning a vacation with Saremy again next year. We don't know when, where, or for how long yet, but it will be awesome! We've already talked about going to Europe in 2011. After that, I think we'll be ready to have kids. So the year to look for is 2012!

Well, that is pretty much it. I am going to do my best on updating my blog more often. Until next time.

Strike 1... Strike 2... Strike 3?

Strike 1... About 3 weeks ago I was riding my horse Reno. We had begun to jump and practice for an upcoming horse show. We were almost done and Reno jumped a little too soon and as a result, landed a little too soon- right on the jump. The jump fell down, getting tangled in his feet, ultimately tripping him and making him fall. Meanwhile, I am still on top of him and I come crashing down as well. Reno fell on my right leg and I smacked my head into the ground. Luckily I was wearing a helmet and that is what hit the ground. Jake ran over to me and I told him I was fine. Reno was ok too and so I got up and started to get cleaned up. Ultimately we both were fine but my right foot and my neck and head were killing me. Jake took me to the hospital and they put me in a neck brace ( I didn't need it though) and did a CT scan of my head and neck and everything was fine. They took x-rays of my chest and foot. My chest was fine but they thought my foot was fractured. They let me go home and gave me some good drugs. A few days later, I went to my regular doctor for a check up and he found out my foot was not actually fractured... luckily. The next time I went to see the horses, I checked my helmet and found that it broke in 3 places. I wonder if they would have shaved my head to stitch it up if I didn't have it on when I hit? Probably. I don't think I can pull off the Sinead O'Connor look. So, to make a long story short, Reno and I are both fine. (Jake has a picture of me in the hospital bed. I can't get it to post here.)

Strike 2... Just about 2 weeks ago, Jake, and a friend of our's named Joe, and I went on a trail ride with all 3 horses. It was a very nice walk until about a mile or so from home. We came to a place where there was a barbed wire fence and a cattle guard. We thought the only way to get across was over the cattle guard. We've walked over it before and the horses feet seem too big to get inside. Well, Buster, got scared as he stepped on the cattle guard and he turned to the side and his left front foot slipped in and got stuck. Now he starts to panic and pulls as hard as he can to get his foot out. It does come out, but he is missing his shoe and he has a 3 1/2" gash across the back and side of his foot which is now gushing blood, and I mean GUSHING. Jake takes his shirt off and we hold it on his foot to stop the bleeding. I call my dad and have him grab a first aid kit and rush over. It takes about 10 minutes to stop the bleeding. Now, it's a Sunday which means that the vet is closed. I call him anyway and have him paged. Our horse trailer is about 30-40 minutes away at our house. My dad rushes over to get the trailer and bring it back. We wait there until he shows up. About an hour later my dad comes back and we open up the trailer. We notice a bird's nest with about 4 brand new baby birds in it. We can't just leave it on the side of the road so we put the nest in the tack room of the trailer and take it with us. We meet the vet at his office and he fixes poor Buster up. He said it was a clean cut and the best thing we did was to wrap it like I did. Now Buster is out of commission for about 3 weeks. Poor guy. We put the bird's nest back where we found it when we got home. I haven't seen Mama Bird though. We tried hard to get her to take them back but I'm not sure if she did. (Sorry no pictures of poor Buster... way too bloody.)

So those are the 2 things that have kept us busy the last few weeks. We have 2 out of our 3 horses have something happen to them, I'm hoping the third doesn't follow suit.

Surprise!

Jake and I were at home Saturday night moving some furniture around, when we got a call from my parent's neighbor, Fred. He told me that one of our horses was out and walking around the street. I knew for sure it was Reno, since he is the mischievous escape artist. I drove over there as quick as I could and I was shocked to see it was Buster out! Buster was the last of the three horses I expected it to be! He walked up to me and practically begged me to put him back in. Poor guy. He had some cuts and scrapes all over his legs and his left side. The fence had been bent in half. I'm not sure what happened, but I think he somehow fell over the top, probably got stuck, and had to fight his way out and ended up on the wrong side. I don't know. I really wish I had video on my animals at all times. I think I'd be amazed! This is a picture of Buster at the vet after having his teeth floated (filed flat). He is trying to wake up enough to go home. He isn't eating, he is literally resting his face on the ground.

Hmmm...

So I've noticed I have a ton of pictures of Nico on this blog but none of the horses! How could I forget them? So here we are, pictures of each and a description of the other "kids."

Reno: A human stuck in a horse's body. Reno is extremely intelligent and "cunning." He is mischievous and fun. Reno is a tremendous athlete and loves to work hard and perform in front of people. He's a ham. He is the one I took to the horse show in Flagstaff and the one in the picture and video posted on this blog.

Buster: He's the lover of the group. He would love to just stand next to you and cuddle you all day if he could. Buster would love to just crawl into your pocket and go everywhere with you. He is the only one of the three that actually will walk up to you when you go out to catch him to ride. He does anything he can to make you happy. He's such a sweetheart.

Soda Pop: She is the princess of the group. Most of the equipment I have for her is pink and she loves it. Soda is so feminine and pretty. She is probably one of the prettiest horses I've ever seen. She has an attitude though. Soda is very prissy. Like I said, she's a princess. She does enjoy being ridden and she is really good at what she does.

There you go, the other kids. I'll make sure I am better at keeping them in the loop too! I'm a bad mom! (I can't get the spacing right so sorry some words are spaced a little weird. Sorry)