Explodybrains

First of all, THANK YOU to everyone that donated to Denali's Mom's gift. In that first few hours, I got nearly $80 in donations! I'll keep donations open through Thanksgiving, and take down the button after that. We have lots of good options for gifts; Sydney has offered to do some custom horsehair work, but we will still have leftover money. Laz's momma had another good suggestion about custom posters like the ones she had made of Laz. I had another idea but we'll have to see how much money is left over. Any other suggestions would be great!
If you donated but haven't contacted me via e-mail yet, drop me a line. I'd like to have everyone e-mail me with a little message for her (and your name and/or your blogger name so she knows who you all are) and then send a collective card along with the gift.

Seriously, you guys are the best. Sometimes it completely floors me how much blogging and the connections you make through it can really touch the people around you. Thank you.




In other news, guess where I am right now!



Aaaah, yes. Michigan. I am home for a few days of rest, relaxation and turkey consumption, back in the good ol' thumb state where I was born and raised. I was definitely needing a break, seeing as I am inconsolably stressed about the upcoming move and Gogo's swiss cheese tendons. (Ok, so they're not THAT bad.... but they may as well be at this point.) Last night I finally received a reply to my inquiry about keeping Gogo at my new job despite her injury. The e-mail simply stated that the facility was not equipped to have a laid-up animal on the propery, and that I would need to make arrangements for her elsewhere. And also, if I could find a useful animal to replace her with, that would be good too.

Well. Very unfortunately for me, the salary at the new job does not allow for keeping a horse boarded off the property AND pay for the expenses of TWO horses, much less a dog and a cat and all my other bills. As the riding and training was such a huge part of the job, and because I really am not planning on snagging up the first project I find, that leaves me with no real choice but to decline the job offer and search elsewhere.

Only. All four of us - dog, cat, horse and myself - are all about to be totally homeless. Doggie, kitty and myself can of course stay in honey's apartment, despite the fact that said apartment is a bit small for that many creatures. But I need to find somewhere for Gogo, and FAST.

I have two options for temporary living. 1) stay in CT and live with honey and find someplace nearby for Gogo. 2) go to MI and stay with family and find someplace nearby for Gogo. Both are doable options. Neither are things I could do for longer than a month without a job. Both of these situations have one central problem: finding a place to keep Gogo, NOW. This in theory should be easy. I mean, all she needs is a field and a shed... no arenas, no stalls, no concerns about location or footing or amenities beyond the simple ones. In reality, I only have 6 days to do this. Barns in CT/NY are very, very expensive. Barns in MI are less so, but it all depends on where you are. I do know a lot of people in the surrounding area; barns where I've kept Gogo before, and where I've kept my other horses as well. There is the possibility of 24/7 turnout in the giant herd where Quincy lived for a few weeks while he was retired, right up until he died. I already spoke with the woman on the phone; I told her she probably wouldn't remember me, but when I mentioned that he had died and his name, she said, "Oh no. That day is burned into my head forever. We've been in business for 40 years and I've never seen anything so horrible." Um, yeah... me too.

So there are options. They take care of my immediate shelter-seeking needs (although if any of you have barn suggestions in either CT, NY or MI.... let me know). We can safely see our way through December this way, but not beyond that.

So now it's time to get serious. In reality, my job in NC was not going to me any further along the path to achieving my goals. Contrary to popular belief, I DON'T want to ride/train/teach for a living. I really, really don't. I love to ride MY horse... and I enjoy riding other horses sometimes. Doing it for a living? No. Teaching? I don't even have the slightest clue how to begin, and I don't want to do it. I guess the problem with knowing these things about myself is that I also know that it creates certain large limitations in my vaguely chosen fields.

Again, I keep coming back to it. Hoofcare. THAT is what I want to do. It's still just a matter of HOW. There's more to it than just trimming... I want to specifically get into sporthorses and farrier work beyond the traditional steel. I've had a lot of good recommendations, and I have a few good leads. It's all a bit vague still, but ideas are becoming more solid by the day. Maybe someday I'll be able to make this all work and not be completely homeless every single time I change jobs. Maybe someday I will have a big, booming business and my own farm. Wouldn't that be amazing?

Yes. But first.... I need to have a place to live.

Baby steps.