As I describe the past week, remember that I have CFS and Fibromyalgia.
Life's surprises can all come at once. A week ago, my husband's niece called and said a horse had been abandoned near her friend's house and asked if we wanted him.
Who couldn't resist falling for that face.we wanted him.
He is a beautiful Palomino, only about 4 years old, and all we would have to pay is feed and vet bills while our niece nurses him back to health and works with him. 
Mas Amigo is beautiful and am sure he's getting fattened up and gets lots of TLC from our niece
Our niece attends Texas A & M and plans to become a vet so she knows horses. Her friend will keep 'Amigo' through the summer giving us time to either find a place where he can stay with us or find friends who nearby who will board him. We have wanted horses for some time but money is tight and timing hasn't been right. But looking at Amigo and trusting our niece's instinct, we knew he belonged to us.
Last Saturday, we attended the Ft. Worth Stock Show and Rodeo so I could see the Extreme Mustang Makeover where wild mustangs are rounded up from the prairies and trained in a mere 100 days. If interested in looking at some of the performances, go to: http://www.extrememustangmakeover.com/ It's an amazing show and the partnership between trainer and mustang is heartening. Some rounded up calves, others stepped into a large tire and circled around and one of the best was a blindfolded horse and reinless rider who guided the loping mustang around the arena. The most entertaining, however, was thechampion from a previous show, who has only had his mustang for 8 months.
Not the best pic but the mustang rodeo had the top 10 of 20 competitors.
Among the amazing feats, was the horse calmly walking up a ramp and onto a bamboo-looking swaying bridge, and then sitting on a bale of hay looking like a giant dog. At the end of the performance, the mustangs are auctioned off but we weren't even tempted to stay. We also had some quality time with my step family which is always a joy.
Before we left for the big ugly city, I went to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. While there, I received a text from my husband that his son's girlfriend had learned of a black lab who had failed as a service dog and needed a good home. During our drive, I made direct contact with the man who is a trainer but lives in Dallas but the 11 month old pup was in Oklahoma. As fate would have it, he was leaving early the next morning anyhow and could bring the dog back to Dallas by noon on Sunday (the next day). Of course, I couldn't say no to a lab needing a home. I still miss my Zoe and never imagined adopting another dog so soon after her passing but my instincts told me not to turn this one down.
When my husband and I first saw the dog, he was a bouncing maniac - so excited to meet us and was even happier to be coming home with us. After about an hour of debate, our 11 month old was renamed Buck, since he sometimes acts like a bucking bronco.
The newly named Buck couldn't stop smiling most of the drive to his new home.
He has some basic training but has obviously suffered from some neglect. We realized when we got home and had time to really look, that Buck's ribs, spine, and hips were showing. He has huge paws and weighed only 57 lbs.
Buck loves to please and sits for the camera
We were told he had diarrhea and that is improving with a bland diet. He inhaled his food so I have to put his food on the floor in small amounts at a time so he doesn't get bloat. But it was love at first
site for the suddenly mature 2-year old Luna and 7-year old Homer. They all play wonderfully together and I have thrice the laughs each day.
Amid all these changes, I had a deadline to keep if I hope to graduate this spring with my M.Ed. After delays due to illness, I was finally working on my final project that was due Friday, January 27th. There were no extensions allowed and I was already struggling to write more than a few hours a day as fibro fog and physical pain took over - not to mention so so sleep at times.
But somehow, I managed to complete the paper, Embracing the Tough Ones, which is a training for school counselors on how to work with difficult students. My committee has been very patient and helpful and I am grateful to them but despite any obstacles or surprises, I was going to finish this paper, accept any criticism, and do whatever is necessary to graduate from University of AlaskaFairbanks this May.
As I said in the beginning of this post, I do suffer from chronic pain and illness and at times it does get frustrating. But with planning, managing pain with some decent meds, and setting deadlines, I met my goal for Friday as well as gladly accepted greater responsibility for two sweet lives in need.
Now I can relax for a day or so, crash if it happens, and get back to a normal routine, which includes exercise, writing, and spending more time on my other passion:
LB Webb Life Coach, specializing in people with chronic illness and pain.