Ch-ch-ch-changes

I am so excited to announce that I am starting a new work adventure! On July 6th I will officially be the new Website/Volunteer Coordinator for the Franklin County Animal Shelter.

It is 15 minutes from the farm and the job involves a lot of aspects that I truly enjoy doing: graphic design, social media management, education and outreach, and volunteer coordination. And of course, I will get to play with PUPPIES AND KITTIES every day.

The Shelter director is very supportive of me continuing school although I will do so on a part time basis while working full time.

I am of course sad to end the MaineGeneral chapter of my life. I've been with an amazing team for almost four years and have learned so much while feeling like I'm making a difference in people's lives.

But I was ready to make a change. Things were getting a little slumpy and just when I was about to give up and curl into a ball, this job came along. And it all happened very quickly! It appeared on the Shelter's Facebook page late last Wednesday afternoon, just after I had had a cry and contacted a realtor about selling the farm that morning because something had to give. I immediately applied, heard back on that Thursday, had an interview the following Tuesday, was offered the job Wednesday, officially accepted the job and gave my two weeks' notice on Thursday!

The plan is to keep the farm while I figure out if I can swing it financially (perhaps getting one or two boarders or a roommate) and emotionally (i.e., I'm hoping the new job will give me the mental health boost I've needed), and then make a decision.

So yay!

While this whirlwind of change was happening, I was also gearing up for horse certification weekend for MMSAR. I had a lot of anxiety about it because last year was...not good. Plus I've only had Bisbee for three months and am still rebuilding my confidence as a rider.

I considered just bowing out completely because the anxiety was overwhelming, but after being talked down several times by a trusted friend, I tried to remove all pressure and frame it mentally as a practice certification for next year, in case we didn't pass.

But we did, with over 90% scores (as did the other two fabulous horse/rider pairs certifying). It started out a little rough when he wouldn't stand for me to get on, but once that was over we passed everything else with ease. Good boy, Bis!

I'm feeling much lighter and eager to start my new job...bring it on!

End of Year 1

My first year of vet tech school is officially over!

I'm hoping to get a few more hours at work for the summer, but even so I think I'll have quite a bit of time on my hands for a few months. I'll have less money at my disposal (ie loans) but I also won't be spending 420 miles worth of gas each week. Woo!

Some goals for the summer:

- Work with Finch on agility

- Get the farm ready to possibly sell in the next couple years

- Find someone local to ride with

Horse updates:

Harlan is doing well in his new home and his new owner loves him. 

Bisbee is turning out to be SUCH a find. He is calm and has a great attitude; although he has some holes in his training I only have to teach him once before he gets it. He doesn't get upset and takes everything in stride. The dumb dogs have crashed into his legs play-snarling and wrestling and he didn't bat an eye (it helped that he was eating delicious grass at the time). 

But perhaps most importantly, the markings on his right side look like a widdle dragon blowing little puffs of smoke up into the air.

Harlan's New Home

Today Blonde Bomber Acres got a little less colorful, but Harlan has found his new person and I'm so excited for both of them.

Selling a horse like Harlan is difficult. He requires a special person to celebrate his quirks and not get side-tracked by his prettiness or big build. I had a lot of people ask about him who would have been completely inappropriate for him and he for them.

Then came Karen...she seems to have just the right mix of patience, calm energy, and adventurousness (is that a word?) that Harlan needs, and I think she'll enjoy how much of a fun ride and partner he can be.

It was a bittersweet moment to drop him off today, but I'm excited to see their partnership grow!

Zin (the boarder pony) is back at BBA to keep Bisbee company and Harlan seems to be settling into his new barn very well...they even had a stall name tag ready for him.

Getting Back to My (Blonde) Roots

There is a new strawberry blonde here at BBA!

After a few weeks of heavy thinking, I made the difficult decision that Harlan and I aren't the right match for each other.

When I first bought Harlan, I was confident and he was confident. We hit some snags but it was still a fun challenge...most of the falls I took could be explained by rider error or saddle dysfunction. Then came the last big fall, the one where I bruised my tailbone pretty badly. Something broke in our partnership. We lost trust in each other and I lost all confidence. Harlan is a horse that NEEDS a confident rider, someone to tell him that everything is okay when he's with them.

I know with time and miles we could probably get back to having fun together, but right now riding causes both of us wicked anxiety. Instead of a stress reliever it is a major stress causer. Harlan tenses up as soon as I stand on the mounting block and I have to fight to relax my body when riding. I had to do the tough job of looking at how many spoons I have available and how to apportion them between school, work, MMSAR responsibilities, correcting dog misbehavior, and riding.

I made pros and cons lists, I talked it over with trusted friends, and it ultimately seemed like selling Harlan and finding a more suitable horse was the best decision.

I had started casually looking at horses for sale, thinking I would get a head start for when I sell Harlan. I knew that what I was looking for, a thousand other people were looking for: big-boned, level-headed, calm, and with just a little bit of get up and go, all for a fairly small budget.

I trawled the sales websites and sent info on many, many horses to my friends; most were ruled out due to conformation issues, distance, price, training deficits, etc etc. One horse I came across and couldn't get out of my mind was a big Clydesdale mare...despite the fact that she was out of my price range and that I would probably have to buy a new trailer and tack to fit her big butt, I obsessed.

And then a new horse came on my radar. I had sent a message to one of the local sales barns, asking them to keep an eye out for something that might fit my needs. They promptly messaged back Sunday night saying they were out on a buying trip and had just bought something that I might be interested in. They sent me a picture of a 10-11 year old, 15.3 hh draft cross gelding and I was like "Clydesdale who?"

They also posted him to their Facebook page and his picture immediately got almost 100 likes and over a dozen comments. I made arrangements to go meet him the next day (yesterday) in the afternoon, and my friend Melissa graciously took time off of work to come with me.

The guy pulled "Ed" out and my first thought was Oh, he's smaller than I thought. His withers may measure at 15.3 but his back is more like 15.1 or 15.2. But he's stocky!

We poked at him for a while and then the guy saddled him up and rode him in front of us. Melissa rode him a little around the indoor and then I got on. I had the now-usual feeling of anxiety when I first sat on him, the fear of him exploding and me taking a dive again. But I forced myself to breathe out and relax, and I found that I didn't feel any nervous energy radiating beneath me, like I do with Harlan. This boy was awaiting my orders, not worrying about what was going on around him.

I took a few laps and then the guy opened the electric garage door that led to the parking lot. The boy (I refuse to call him Ed, that is a terrible name and was given to him by the sales barn) watched and listened to the whirring door and started to get a little nervous. I put a hand on his neck and he immediately stilled. My crusty old withered heart gave a thump at the thought that he trusted me.

We walked out past some machinery and blowing smoke from the woodstove, and toodled around the parking lot. He walked fast, not in a holy crap holy crap we're gonna DIEEEEEE way, more in a hey world, whatchu got going on? way.

I dismounted and we took him back into the barn and put him in the crossties. Melissa and I then proceeded to torture him with various objects, like a big push broom and some Kleenex. We jumped around and made weird noises to gauge his reaction...which was in total a look that said Really? You guys are weird.

His attitude the whole time was completely willing and calm, and he was very attentive and engaged. This horse had been put on a trailer in Ohio with 16 other horses and brought to Maine, where the very next day people came and ogled him. Pretty impressive behavior for going through that.

As a sign from the universe (at least that's how I'm interpreting it to justify my fairly impulsive buy), the woman who owns the barn where Harlan is currently boarded showed up half an hour after us. Completely a coincidence, she was buying a trailer from the sales barn and happened to come on the same day at the same time as me. She generously offered to trailer the horse home if I bought him.

I consulted with Melissa and my very patient mom, did some haggling on the price (PS, I am terrible at haggling), and I bought him. After I had signed the papers I found out that a woman who had arrived maybe 45 minutes after me had come to try him out. Scooped him up just in time!

He is probably an ex-Amish horse. Not gaited, I will have to get used to posting the trot again!

Because I am ridiculous, I had stared at his picture the night before and came up with a tentative name: Bisbee. He looks like a rugged old west gold mining horse to me, and Bisbee is an old mining town out west. Per my mom's request, his middle name is Ann. (Those who have seen me reprimand my animals know that most of them have the middle name Louise no matter their gender, so this is not a far-fetched request. Plus, Bisbee Ann has a nice ring to it.)

Now that Bisbee was officially mine I was faced with the reality that shit, he's coming home TODAY. Harlan is still at the boarding barn but because Bisbee's history is unknown and he was with a bunch of other sales horses it is best to keep him away from other horses for a quarantine period.

Which meant that I had to scramble and get my barn ready again for horses, including buying hay and grain.

It's going to be a challenge doing horse chores until the snow melts. The barn doors are frozen at the width of a person so a horse can't fit through, the path the barn is a long winding one I had done with the snowblower so I could access the chicken coop, and there is knee/thigh-deep snow everywhere.

Bisbee was a champ though when I led him through the hard, deep snow to access the gate outside the barn. He only made it so far in the pasture though before deciding that maybe sticking to the barn was a better idea.

Can't.....go....any....farther

Excuse me, there is no grain in this bucket.

It was nice to wake up and look out to see a face in the barn again, although I am SO. READY. for the snow to be gone. I'm looking forward to get to know Bisbee more and take him out for jaunts up the road.

Harlan is coming back from the boarding barn tomorrow and hopefully I'll find him a great new home soon.

Don't Eat The Yellow Snow

Every time there's a forecast of snow before a school day, I cross my fingers that we'll get a snow day.  When I woke up this morning and looked out the window to a tiny dusting of snow, I grumbled and got up.  The roads looked good so I decided to take gas-friendly Jerry the Honda Civic to school.

About half an hour into my drive to class I stopped and got a muffin and a cranberry juice. It had just started to snow big, fat, heavy flakes as I got onto the interstate so I kept an eye on my phone for a text from University of Maine-Augusta signaling that school is canceled.

Nothing.

I kept driving northeast while the snow got heavier and the visibility got lower. Still no text from UMA. Usually they cancel when there is a hint of a snowflake so I was thinking it was just a matter of time.

The road was slick as snot and I could barely see the car in front of me.  When I had to use my brakes to slow down the antilock brake system immediately engaged. I decided to call the school because if there was any chance of school being canceled, I wanted to turn around as soon as possible and get home safely.

The lady who answered the phone cheerfully answered my question with a "Nope! Drive safe!" Hmph. I would've already turned around and gone home if I didn't have a lab exam, so I continued going 45 mph and keeping a football field between me and the car in front. At this point I knew I was going to be late to my first class but figured it would only be by 10-15 minutes.

And then traffic stopped. Luckily I had that football field length in front of me to safely stop; the car behind me had to slide off onto the shoulder to avoid hitting me. Thinking it would only be a few minutes before whoever slid off the road up ahead would be cleared out, I pulled out my homework and got busy.

Do you ever have those moments when you know you can't access a bathroom so immediately you feel like you *have* to pee?

I was starting to feel a little discomfort but hoped it was just psychosomatic nonsense because I knew I was still 15 miles away from school and there was no bathroom in sight.

45 minutes later and it's definitely not psychosomatic. It was bad enough that I could no longer concentrate on my homework. I cursed my past self, thinking why o why did I pick cranberry juice on this of all days??


I posted a facetious complaint on Facebook and then immediately saw that someone else had posted a news article about a 40 car pile up.

After a brief moment of Oh shit, hope everyone's okay, thank god I wasn't in it, I immediately, selfishly started to panic because I HAD TO PEE. The news article said the highway was closed for the rest of the morning and I was a mile past the last exit before the accident.

I did a risk-benefit analysis of my options. Holding it was out if I was going to be sitting there for another few hours. I had beaucoup bottles in my car if I wanted to pee in the privacy of my car, but the risks of peeing all over myself and my car seemed too high. There were 5 foot snow banks on either side of the highway so tromping into the woods was going to be an effort plus the bare trees did not provide much cover.

That left opening both of the passenger side doors and squatting between them. I told myself that the worst that could happen would be maybe 3 people would be flashed by my pasty white butt. I'd probably never see them again, so what's the harm?

After steeling myself, I turned off the car (I was taking my keys with me, it would be just my luck to lock myself out) and peed on the side of the road like a goddamn animal. Huzzah!

I got back into the car, posted about my success on Facebook, and then looked out my window to see a state trooper signaling me. Shit, did I just flash a state trooper?!? Am I busted for public urination???

I rolled down the window and was extremely relieved (in more ways than one, get it??) when the trooper merely said that I could turn my car around and go back to the last exit if I wanted to. Which I did, ruing the fact that if I had just waited 10 more minutes I could've used a bona fide gas station bathroom instead of getting snow down my pants.

I opted not to try to find a different slippery route to school and just headed home; too much excitement (and exposure) for one day!

Sending good thoughts to all of those people in the wreck.

Livin' the Twister Life

I feel like my life is a giant game of Twister right now....right foot on work, left foot on school, right hand on MMSAR, and left hand on all other obligations. Now switch it all up and don't forget to trip over the dogs as you try to renegotiate the position of your various limbs.

It's both exhilarating and exhausting. Mostly exhausting.

I apologize for the dearth of blog posts. Here are some updates:

- Edith the chicken has gone missing. :(

The trainer is also a skilled photographer

- I FINALLY found a saddle that fits both Harlan and me.

- Harlan and I have been taking lessons and improving/rebuilding our partnership.

- Finch and I took some lessons to work on her obedience and doggy social skillz with the longterm goal of getting into agility.

- Feeling left out of the Problem Child Club, Hobbes bit a friend's puppy and I am currently trying to figure out how to improve his doggy social skillz in all my spare time.

- I accidentally volunteered for the new position of Education & Recruitment Officer for MMSAR and am trying to plan some neat events this spring/summer.

How I keep myself entertained in bio

- I finished wallpapering the living room after 2 years of "working on it".

- We got a shit ton of snow and it's been really cold.

- I am rejoicing in not having horses at home for the winter.

- A project I helped with at work got some good recognition.

- I drive 1.5 hours each way 3 days a week for school.

- I am taking chemistry, bio, and intro to vet tech this semester. They are not fascinating courses.


So there's a slice of the twister life! I am definitely ready for summer.

Dream Weaver

I've been having recurring dreams / dream themes for a few months.  Would you like to know what they are? Of course you do.

1. Moose sighting
You guys, not having seen a moose haunts me. At least once per week I'll have a dream that I FINALLY see one. I dream about posting it on Facebook and happy-texting everyone I know. And then I wake up and I'm sad.

I really did graduate high
school legitimately.

2. School
I think it's pretty common for people to have school related nightmares. I've had them where I have forgotten to go to class all semester, forgot my locker combination, etc etc. However, I have had a particular dream multiple times. I'm me in this day and age, and I get a notice from my high school that there was a mistake and they shouldn't have let me graduate. So I have to go back to high school and take some dumb math or physics or something class, all the while knowing I have a college degree. It's terrible.





3. School Part 2
In this scenario I've decided to go back to my alma mater (for vet school pre-reqs or somesuch) and I'm going to live with my old roomie again. And then either a) we've forgotten to sign a lease and have nowhere to live or usually b) I realize I have a farm in Maine and I have to back out, leaving Annie with an apartment she can't afford all by herself. Sorry Annie.

He was definitely the type of cat who would haunt people.

4. Zombie Cat
A couple times I've dreamed that my childhood cat Simba is back from the dead. Not in a creepy zombie way, just...back.




What are your weird recurring dreams?