Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Beholden

This post was going to be about how our Christmas was marred by rampant sickness. I was going to bitch about fevers, sinuses clogged with goo, and frequent unpleasant trips to the bathroom. Then I got to thinking, and I changed my tune. Here are some things that I'm grateful for.

The main focus of this blog is, of course, Kaswyn. Even though I do a fair amount of whining about his lameness, the cost, and frustration of everything, I'm lucky to have a horse at all. I'm also luckier beyond compare that Kaswyn is the horse I own. Quoting my trainer, he's such a noble creature, so giving, willing, smart, and big hearted. Replacing him will be impossible.

I'm so lucky to have found my perfect partner in Craig. Not that he's perfect himself, but he's perfect for me. I don't have to go through life alone or with someone who's just not right for me. I love my husband, and he loves me. We trust each other and work as a team. We're on the same page with finances, how to raise our kids, and after eight years we have finally learned how to have a fair fight. And this is something we both really appreciate.

We both have very loving and supporting families. Everyone is so generous, caring, and basically downright normal. Not a crackpot in the bunch. My sister doesn't really count as a loony, she's just, uh, easily distracted. But like everyone else her heart is in the right place. Even if it does take her an hour and a half to get ready to go anywhere. And she's always late. But always stylish and smiling.

Even though our house has ugly wallpaper that needs to be ripped down, and our kitchen has about as much counter space as our bathroom, I'm thankful we have a house at all. So many people don't have houses, or even apartments to live in. Not only are we not homeless, but our girls get to grow up in a pretty nice house in a good neighborhood. No mold, rats, leaky ceilings, or drive by shootings. An occasional mouse, maybe, but nothing dangerous.

Financially we're not as well off as many people. We don't buy whatever we want, we don't go on vacation, and we're on a strict budget for everything, including food. However, our girls always have food to eat and never go hungry. And we're not defaulting on our mortgage, or in bankruptcy, like so many people right now who got caught in the current real estate market. We're going to keep our house, and keep feeding our kids, so we're lucky.

We're blessed to have two perfect, wonderful, funny, beautiful little girls. By and large, we're a pretty healthy family, except the past five days when sickness descended upon our household with alarming ferocity. It's been pretty miserable, and right when I was feeling really sorry for myself for having such an illness plagued holiday, I read an email over Craig's shoulder about a certain little girl and the results of her recent liver biopsy. Thankfully the biopsy showed that the cancer had not returned, and she could still consider herself 5 years cancer free. I said to Craig that I would have gladly spent three days, a week, an month in bed with something that I knew I'd recover from if it meant that she wouldn't get cancer again. Craig said "Sorry honey, but I don't think it works that way."

Wouldn't it be great if it did?



4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello Dressage Mom! I have really enjoyed reading your blog b/c I am also a mom (4 & 7 y.o. kids) w/ an Arabian gelding. We've been doing dressage for 2 1/2 years--since I bought him. He's my first horse & I'm also totally grateful for the life I've put together that includes him. I've learned lots from reading your posts. Question, tho: Did you ever write about managing it all--work, kids, horse, husband, etc.? Sometimes I feel totally torn b/w family life and my horse, that competes for my time, money, affection and energy. It's so difficult sometimes to shift from "barn time" to "home time" and vice-versa. Would love to hear your thoughts on this issue or read a previous post. Thank you!!

Dressage Mom said...

I've never actually written a post about how I make the dressage part and the mom part work together. You're not the first person to contact me and ask that question, so maybe I need to sit down and write something on the subject. It might take awhile, but I'll get to it. I have to finish my Breakup story first!!

Thanks for reading. :) Best of luck with your horse too! Maybe I'll see you at Sport Horse Nationals....

craig said...

Honey, I think *every* post you make is about how you balance horse and family. Because it's not one big thing, it's the hundreds of small things. Or, that's how I see it.

xo

Rising Rainbow said...

i'm sorry to hear that you and yours were sick over the holidays. That is a bummer, but you are right there are more imortant things in life than a little bug at an inconvenient time. Too bad more people can't see it that way.

Life is so short and every moment is to be treasured.

 
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