It’s only Tuesday and I already find myself thinking that it’s been a long week. For the past 3 nights I’ve woken up at 3:30am and laid there running through every single thing I need to do within the next 6 months in my head. I dunno why, but I do know that it’s not conducive to good sleep. I also decided to read The Testaments after I finished binge-watching The Handmaid’s Tale, so like… I’m not ok. And then RBG died. And eventing community DRAMA. My brain is a little overloaded with thinking topics at the moment.

But some good news: I got my truck back!

They ended up replacing the radiator (apparently it had a massive crack in the back of it that was somehow missed) and did something to the engine that I can’t remember the specifics of and am too lazy to dig back through the paperwork right now. Mechanic SO was satisfied (not blown away, but satisfied with only minor grumbling) at what all they did, and he checked their work. The repair shop covered all the extra costs, including the 5 additional days of rental car fees. When I went to pick it up both the tech and the GM came out to talk to me, and told me 3 times about how they road tested it, both on residential streets and on the highway, as if I should be impressed by basic due diligence. I tried not to glare, since like… if that had been done the first time we wouldn’t have been in that particular mess. But, ok. I appreciate that they seemed eager to fix their mistake, so I have to give them that much credit I suppose.

As for whether or not they caused other long term damage to the engine, we shall see. SO and I both remain a bit skeptical, but he wanted me to drive it for a while before we made any snap decisions. I was planning on getting a new truck next summer anyway, so if the engine continues to perform normally then that should still be fine. If we have any issues whatsoever, or anything seems “off”, we’ll have to move up the timeline.

Henry has still been feeling normal, knock on wood. This horse and his feet, I swear. It doesn’t help that he’s a huge baby. It’s like he looks at a rock and is instantly crippled. On my last Corro order I did go ahead and re-stock all my hoof care essentials: more Durasole, Keratex, and ThrushBuster. It makes me feel better, at the very least.

He’s been wild though, which is a good sign with him. Like I said, huge baby, so if he’s at all sore anywhere he tends to be extra mopey and grumpy. He’s been a complete lunatic a few times in his pasture though (COULD YOU JUST NOT) and was super wild with me on Saturday when we went out back to canter. Dolphin mode was fully engaged. Those are good things though, in this context. My farrier will be out this week for our regular 5 week appointment so I’ll see if there’s anything he’d like to do differently. And since I got my truck back I went ahead and made his appointment for his “filling” with the dentist, so he goes in for that procedure in a few weeks.

Otherwise nothing exciting is really happening here. The weather has cooled down a bit which is AMAZING, but it’s also raining quite a bit so riding has been a little hit or miss. The grass looks SO FREAKIN GOOD for this time of year in Texas though, so I will not complain. This time last year it was just dead crunchy sadness as far as the eye could see. Nothing gets a horse person excited quite like good pasture.

I do need to do a small update on the tiny house stuff, maybe next week. I continue to slowly but surely go through the house and throw things away or put it in the donate pile (which has now become a room… there’s a room full of donate bags… I can’t even talk about it). I have also reached the point where I’m marking all the things that I’m going to just leave in the front yard and let people come take. A lot of my riding clothes wardrobe needs to be whittled down too, and my brain can’t even go there yet with everything else that still has to happen. And THIS is why I lay awake at night…