Moose

Believe it or not, I am a horse owner. I’m having the hardest time not telling Becca. I’ve decided to keep it a secret because I think she’d have trouble concentrating on finishing up school if I told her. She’s already calling almost every day to tell me how much she is looking forward to the summer. She still hasn’t made any good friends out there and I think she wants a change of scene as much as anything, but it’s gratifying to know she’s so excited.

The horse is called Moose and I know very little about how he’s been trained except he should be good for a little girl who doesn’t know how to ride. I’ve been out to see him a few times and Taylor said I have a lesson a week on my account whether Becca is here or not and I can ride him if I want. I said no thanks. I guess I just feel like I know enough about training dogs to understanding riding a horse would be opening a door to a whole new realm. I don’t know that I have the time to go there.

Wendy was over again for most of the day today and I think we just about finished things up with the house. She bought three big blank canvases for the giant wall in the dining room and painted them this rusty red color, then hung them in a triangle pattern. I’m surprised how good it looks, even though they are basically just solid blocks of color. Wendy certainly has a more creative mind than I would have thought.

So now it’s down to working on the yard. The weather is much warmer and the leaves and grasses are growing in earnest now. Also I have to find somewhere to get Becca a helmet. The girls fly in one month from yesterday.

The Preparations Continue

It’s less than a month before the girls get here. The back rooms are looking good. I pulled up the carpet and sanded and refinished the floors. I went ahead and repainted the walls too. I had to stick with white but the rooms look nice and fresh now. Wendy found bamboo blinds that look good but weren’t too expensive. We had to order them off the internet, which I don’t like doing. It’s hard to get a sense of quality from photos. The hardware is cheap, but otherwise they are fine. Each room got a new light fixture, switch-plates, and a rug, plus some new shelves in the closets.

Wendy also found a website where you can order famous artwork on posters. There are hundreds of posters to choose from, and you can also pick a frame and mat. They frame it up and ship it to you. I told the girls they could each order a poster for their room. Julie wanted water lilies by Monet, and Becca chose an Ansel Adams photograph in black and white. Hopefully those will get here fast enough that I can have them hung before the girls arrive.

And if all that prep wasn’t enough, I’ve been horse shopping. I haven’t mentioned anything about the horse to Becca yet because I want to make sure it will work first. So far we’ve looked at two horses. Taylor is doing the initial screening and thankfully Wendy has been coming with me to see Taylor’s picks. Since I can’t ride, she’s been doing that part. I honestly hardly know what I’m looking for. Wendy liked the first one. I watched her ride and it seemed like everything went just fine. The second one wasn’t as good. Wendy seemed to have trouble getting it to go forward. After that I was ready to buy the first one but Taylor said there was one more she thought we should look at first, so we’ll be doing that tomorrow.

Something to Consider

I’m just in from a trip to Taylor’s. I went out to have a chat with her about her indoor arena. She showed me where she wants it and how she planned for it when she built her barn, but the guy who did her house and barn moved to the west coast, so he can’t finish up like they planned.

I’m going to be more of a general contractor on this one than the guy doing the real work, though there are somethings I’ll do myself. She wants a wooden slanted barrier put down along the edge, to keep the horses from getting too close to the wall. Kyle and I will be able to put that in ourselves.

I asked her about giving Becca lessons this summer. I thought Taylor would be happy, but she didn’t looked pleased. She asked how serious Becca is and what kind of riding experience she’s had. Then she said she doesn’t have lesson horses, and the one she uses for people who don’t have their own horse already has a full schedule, but she has an extra stall if I wanted to buy a horse for Becca, and one lesson a week is included in the price of board. I asked what it costs to buy a horse and board a horse and the numbers were higher than I expected. I told her it probably wouldn’t work for us.

But then I got home and was working on the floors in back. I was thinking about the girls and what they are going to do this summer. Julie called a few days ago to talk to me about joining a swim team she found on the internet. It’s right here in Turnpost but apparently kids commute in from a ways around to be on it because it wins all these big meets and the coach has an excellent reputation. I told her she could go ahead and sign up, partly because that was the first time Julie herself has contacted me since the divorce and I was so pleased I wasn’t going to say no, but partly out of relief as well. I was afraid Julie would spend the summer sulking. This will give her something to be excited about.

But as much as I’m not as worried about Becca, it would be nice if she had something like the swim team of her own. I called Taylor and left a message and a while later she called back. I asked her where you find a horse for a kid and she said she would look around for me. She said as an alternative I could possibly find a horse to lease, and that would mean basically renting it for the summer. Or she said I could buy a horse, then try to find someone to lease or share-board my horse from me to help defray the cost. I wrote down a bunch of notes and numbers and I’m going to have to think long and hard about this. I’m going to ask Wendy’s opinion as well. She certainly knows more about horses than I do.

We're Getting Somewhere

Wendy just headed home. She was here all day. I’m worn out, but I will say the house is improved. That woman is tireless. The cleaning service came on Friday, and that alone made a difference. It wasn’t cheap but it was worth it. Someone like me doesn’t see the grime, but when it’s gone I can tell.

The only discouraging fact is we are nowhere near done. We did the kitchen and the living room today. We started with shopping. I have been making do on a pretty small number of possessions since the split. Part of this is trying to make my savings last while I get my feet back on the ground professionally in this community, but Wendy has a knack for making small purchases that make a big difference. We went to the second hand store and got a few small furniture items that help fill up some of the empty space in the main living areas, and we also found a reasonably priced kitchen table and chair set (I’ve been using a folding table and and chairs). She says the biggest challenge is going to be wall hangings that don’t cost a fortune. But she assures me we’ll figure something out. We also bought some dishes. Those we got new. Everything I had was mismatched. That’s something I never would have thought of on my own.

I got permission from my landlord to work on the back bedrooms. I guess I’ll get that carpet pulled out tomorrow. No point wasting the momentum I’ve got built up.

Chloe, of course, doesn’t like the upheaval. She’s been sulking. Also I think she’s a little bummed out. Kyle has a new lady interest with a dog of her own, which means he’s been coming by with Gauge less. I tell Chloe that is life. Adoration is rarely permanent. She just gives me this look with her blue eye to tell me she is not impressed with my assessment of the situation. I’ll have to make sure I get her a long walk tomorrow.

It's Settled

We’ve got the thing with the girls all worked out. They are going to come up one week after school lets out, and go home one week before school starts. We had the divorce amended and everything. It was interesting, working this out. My ex was so much more reasonable about it than I expected. I think what is happening is her parents aren’t quite as helpful as she had envisioned. I know all the years we lived in Kansas she would drop these remarks about how much easier and better life would be if we lived near family. Well now she’s near family but her parents have had their own thing going for a long time. Turns out they might not want to drop everything to help raise their grandkids.

Anyway, it’s all squared away and I feel happy about the whole thing. It is also good to remember that while I will never forget how bad things got with my ex, there was a reason I married her in the first place. She has some good qualities. Now that time is passing and we’re not so much at each others’ throats, I am hopeful we might eventually become friends again.

But now I am looking at my house realizing I need to do some serious work if the girls are going to live here. It’s not as bad as it was for a while, but I haven’t done a thorough cleaning in some time. Also the two back bedrooms basically have nothing in them except the one that has my computer and desk and the other has some of my extra tools. There isn’t a single wall decoration in the whole house. I might have to get Wendy to help me make the place a little more homey.