Guess who had a lot of airport time on Monday
Weekend
We had a very productive weekend. The plan was to get some house organizational projects done. Friday afternoon found us at Lowe’s picking up some under counter lights, a closet organizer and a cabinet for the plethora of mzkero's in progress projects . One of the side benefits of being married to a very creative “P” type (Myers Briggs) is that you have lots (ok metric shit loads) of partially completed projects that may someday be completed. Mzkero decided that if she had a place to store these “in progress” projects behind closed doors it would be less stressful on both of us (i.e. - it would annoy me less). She’s right. It will. Mzkero did her due diligence and found an affordable but utilitarian cabinet on the Lowe’s website and called to confirm they had one on site. When we arrived, the cabinet was not to be found. The online inventory said they had 16 but no one could find any of the 16 cabinets. They had other much nicer models for $100 - $120 more but not the one mzkero had called about. The floor rep. was polite and well meaning but of little to no help. I was anticipating the serious up-sale pitch. Given, that I was having blood sugar issues most of the day and was generally very moody (ok bitchy) I kept quiet. mzkero escalated the issue to Customer Service stating firmly but politely this was not acceptable. The customer service rep essentially blew her off. Undaunted, mzkero asked to speak to the Store Manager. Clearly customer service rep expected us to accept the “Sorry, we don’t know where it is” and was taken aback a bit and dismissively requested the manager. At this point I was getting annoyed and was ready to become a real prick (remember - crosslet and low blood sugar is Not a good thing). But I decided, it mzkero’s show, let her run with it. The manger was really helpful and equally amazed that 16 of these units were no where to be found. Mzkero offered that the item could be shipped to us (not my preferred choice) but the manager offered the higher priced item for $150 (instead of $220 asking price). Of course, I had to I had to indulge myself and push for the wood grain model which was $250 for the same $150 price. Amazingly the manager said sure. So, for 30 minutes of aggravation and an extra $30, we ended up with a nice piece of furniture rather than a utilitarian cabinet. I was proud of mzkero. She handled to the situation in text book customer service fashion without getting bitchy. Very constructive and got more than she really expected.
The closet organizer was somewhat of an adventure. The closet is 4’ 5” and has old plaster. Installation was not as easy as it could have been. Yet, I’m pleased with the result and we took the opportunity to purge some older clothes.
The cabinet looks good in the room and projects are being put away. Mzkero and I got to spend a lot of time together and reconnect. All good.
Gaelen
So Gaelen is randomly coming up lame. It first started last week on Friday evening while I lounged him. On the clockwise circle he looked a little lame of the inside (right) front leg. It cleared up relatively quickly but I mentioned it to “C” my vet. She suggested I watch out for a hoof abscess. I rode on Sunday and he was perfectly sound and amazingly well behaved. I dismissed it as random muscle stiffness. Well… on Friday evening I lounged Gaelen and had him go over some low jumps without a rider. No problems. As soon as I mounted and started to walk I could feel something was off. At the trot it was obvious he was lame again on the right front. We stretched him and palpated the leg and shoulder. No hot spots. We tapped the hoof. No tender spots. Vet still says hoof abscess. The solution is soak the hoof in warm water and Epsom salt for 20 minutes twice a day until the abscess presents and then bandage the hoof until it heals. Ok that SOUNDS easy. Except you’re dealing with a 1100lb ADHD child with an impressive stubborn streak. Saturday was fine for about 5-10 minutes. And then… he got bored. And then decided to make it an ISSUE. And then he rear and banged his nose. And then there was blood. And not a little bit of blood. Not oh my gawd blood but it just wouldn’t stop. And the 1100lb ADHD kid that is now clearly agitated did not want you to pinch his nostril to apply pressure to the wound. And the dripping blood tickled his muzzle so he’d shake head showering things and people with horsey blood. Sigh! There are times when its best to put the horse back in the stall, let everyone’s blood pressure drop, and reevaluate. This was one of them and luckily I had the sense to realize this was one of those times. A quick call to “C” indicated we probably didn’t stitches. Kudos to her for not laughing and she managed not to sound condescending when she said "Its a face wound. Its going to bleed alot" The blood stopped shortly after that and I decided it would be best to call it good.
Now in my own little mind, I decided that at 8 months pregnant this was not a job mzkero should be involved with. 1100lbs of agitated horse and pregnant woman seemed like a bad combination. Everyone else at the barn agreed with me! Surprisingly (NOT!) mzkero had a VERY different opinion. She did manage not to get indignant (much) but flatly told me that she WOULD assist with this project and was completely baffled as to WHY I felt this way.
So, Sunday morning we begin the foot soaking adventure again. Because of some unhelpful barn staff we had to perform the procedure outside. I have to admit mzkero has far more patience than I do when dealing with kid and animals. We spent approximately 2 hours desensitizing G to the experience. G didn’t like the procedure but it was no longer an ordeal. We were both dreading the afternoon soaking but off we headed to the barn again. We spent some time with G. I lounged him - and he was completely sound. I hopped on bareback and he has still sound (note - I mounted with only a halter and lead rope). Sigh! Abscess??? Maybe; they do sometime behave oddly. Well we decide to soak on the cross ties. Mzkero held his foot in the bucket while I distracted him with carrots. No problems. A small victory. We are going to continue to soak G’s foot for the week and see what happens. Not that I really want to find a abscess but I more concerned about having a mystery issue. Unfortunately we had to miss a beach ride. We were really looking forward to it.
And before someone tries to geek this: No I don’t believe he’s only lame on Friday.