Rookies Battle Log

[Rookie]

1 hour ago, Whisper said:

Really proud of you. This has been a long, hard saga, but you've kept pushing, and you're doing what is best for Daisy. 

Thank you! ❤️ I'm finally starting to feel excited. Thank goodness I am leaving Friday because I hate waiting and even just these 4 days are painful. And like you said this has been a long time coming so it feels extra drawn out to me. 

 

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I have a rough plan in my head and I am sure nothing will go to plan but thats fine. 

 

Today

- Get money out for trailer Friday

- Go to barn tonight to ride and organize stuff into bins... anything that won't be going to new barn will be put in my car and brought home

 

Tomorrow

- Drop Winnie off for 8am at the vets for her spay*

- Steal my brothers pickup from his work, pick up my friend and go to Barn A to load everything up and move it to Barn B

- Buy my friend lunch ❤️ I owe her big time lol I was running out of people to ask. Most my barn friends who could help are banned from the barn, my brother is working, my sister is sick

- Pick Winnie up if spay happens

 

Friday

- Daisy gets picked up around 10-10:30 and brought to her new home

 

*I still don't know if its happening or not. They will run bloodwork in house when she is there and if the vet isn't happy with her numbers she could be sent home again

[Rookie]

Thursday went smoothly. Locker and stuff was successfully moved. Friend and mom were treated to red lobster from me and Winnie got her spay done. 

 

The trailer to pick up Daisy was rescheduled for to tomorrow because she had to service her truck today I guess. I still need to get Daisys care instructions printed and to get money out of the bank for tomorrow.

 

Winnie has been pretty good today with staying calm but a few hours after lunch she's been sounding like shes trying to cough something up, clear her throat... Gurgly in her throat. Poor sweety. I'm not really sure what to do for her. I gave her a pepcid AC with her dinner. I don't think this has to do with her spay but instead is probably related to her throat issues. I might try taking off her onesie in case the neck is a bit tight

[Rookie]

Today is Daisys move day. I'll be leaving in maybe 30 mins. I kind of want to leave later to minimize the time just sitting around at the barn but I'm worried the trailer person will be like I'm here and I will be😅

[Rookie]

Move went really smooth! I'm really proud of Daisy. I'm hoping tomorrow goes well. She has her first turn out at the new farm

[Rookie]

Yesterday went good as well. The lady was saying its like shes been here this whole time and settled in right away. So nice to hear. I honestly thought she would be super torn up about moving but shes enjoying her hay buffet.

[Rookie]

She was very distracted when I visited her Monday lol trying to woo the boys. I didn't end up riding because I'm a nervous rider so it was just too much with her not standing at the mounting block. I opted to work on poles and lunging instead because she's lost a lot of muscle. I helped my mom give Sizzle a hair cut Wednesday then went to my new barn and just hung out with Daisy and got her to do more poles. Gotta get her using her booty 😂 

 

Eating wise I haven't been doing great and we've ordered a lot it seems. I think we did 2 home cooked meals this will because roomy initiated it. We are slowly running out of groceries too because I haven't quite figured out my new schedule. 

 

I found 2 job postings that might be good but I'm not sure. One sounds like you need to come with ideas and if you're ideas make then money then you get paid better? So probably not a great fit for me but it sounds like they offer the flexibility I want in my life. Where if I don't want to with in the morning then I don't have to so long as I get my work done. I've been making good progress on my side project and the tutorial even though I'm still mostly watching Winnie. We are day 7 into our spay recovery. 

[Whisper]

Happy to hear the move went well, and that Daisy seems to be liking her new place!

[Rookie]

13 minutes ago, Whisper said:

Happy to hear the move went well, and that Daisy seems to be liking her new place!

Yah I'm relieved!

[Alanna]

I'm glad Daisy is settling in well! Hopefully it makes a difference for her cough soon, too.

[Rookie]

2 hours ago, Alanna said:

I'm glad Daisy is settling in well! Hopefully it makes a difference for her cough soon, too.

It's hard to say because I haven't ridden her but so far she's been lunged 3-4 times and only 1 cough which I think was because it was a bad air quality day. She's not 100% settled yet which I keep forgetting but she's been calm. 

[Rookie]

I am happy to report that Daisy is still not coughing at her new home. I finally gathered my courage and got on her in our new arena. The arena feels very small when I am on her and the ceiling feels very close. She isn't even a super tall horse! 

 

Today started off nice. I got woken up by Winnie doing a barrel roll on my head it's her new thing haha. Then I took care of the dogs and after their breakfast WInnie and I went up to my bed for.a nap/hangout which I haven't slept in for 14 days. Afterwards Winnie got to go to the vet to get her stitches removed. She was given the all-clear to resume her craziness  So we played ball and frisbee, she roughhoused with her brothers, had zoomies in the backyard and we went on a walkie. It was a good day.

 

I also was watching TedTalks about designing your life and thinking more of what my ideal life would be and what it means to me to have a flexible work schedule. I didn't come to many conclusions but I found 2 job postings I could apply to but they seem very intense BUT at least one of them mentions work when you want. Both are fully remote. 

 

So yah! Got Daisy moved.... got Winnie spayed and recovered... last 2 things on my list are to get a new job and to get new summer tires.

[Rookie]

I am very worried about finding a new job. 

[Rookie]

This morning I put some thought into how the trimming log and trim picture comparison portion of my app might look and work. Now I just need to build it. I feel not very motivated to work on it right now but I probably should... or at least work on my resume. 

 

Tomorrow I plan on going to my friends house to bake a Japanese strawberry shortcake. This will probably be the last time we hang out together before she has her baby (that isn't her baby shower).

 

Monday I get to go into the office for lunch and as a final hurrah because my final day of employment is Friday. Thinking about that is a bit wild and scary. Especially since I don't have another job lined up yet.

 

Tuesday night I will probably take Winnie to the free group training because she definitely got the memo that she no longer needs to rest lol 

[Rookie]

Today was kind of sad saying goodbye to my co-workers. I feel it hasn't quite hit me yet. I'm not sure if it will since I barely saw them before and I didn't interact with most of them directly. 

 

I had a short visit with Daisy to refill her supplements and treat her face. I was hoping moving might help bring me happiness again but so far it hasn't... But for different reasons. I know she's taken care of and she's doing well in that regard. I feel ... Closed in. I have lots space. I have less to do. It feels like I barely get to interact with Daisy now. Before, in addition to grooming and riding, I would also get to bring her in from the field, make her food, feed it to her and bring her back out to the field to say goodbye. My friend suggested that I make Daisy a little snack. I'm going to try that. And I need to look into setting up a lesson but part of me also wonders the point.

 

This evening, I tried to set up an appointment to get new summer tires, fix the leak in my winter tire and do my oil change. But the parts department was closed so I'll call tomorrow. Once that's done the only thing left on my to-do list is to get a new job. Well.. until something else comes up 

[Rookie]

To do

- call pharmacy for Daisys prescription

- pick up rx and drop it off at barn

- pick up Winnie dog food

- figure out tire/rim size for car

- call car tire place and see about booking appointment

- pay remaining balance at chiro

- 2 loads of laundry [started]

- make ribs

- go to free group training tonight

- figure out etransfer that didnt go through

[Rookie]

Woo got everything done yesterday that I needed to. Thats a huge weight off my chest. My car is at the mechanic right now. They will put my new summers on the rims, then swap out the tires and check one of my winter tires that I think has a leak. I still need to bring it for an oil change but they are super busy and I usually just go to the dealership for those services because my car is still under warranty.

 

Today  to-dos

- book oil change on car

- pay property tax

- pay bills

- get roomy to mow lawns

 

Big to-dos

- finish coding project

- finish updating resume + linkedin

- decide what to do about the job situation*

 

Random other tidbits that need to be done but aren't as big of a deal

- bring patio furniture out

- get electric mower

- set up hammock

- make appt to get foot looked at (I've had a hair or something stuck in it and the skin has grown over)

 

* I feel like I need to choose between enjoying some time+money now or getting a job right away and not having to lock away the money until I retire. I am kind of thinking it might be nice to take a few months off but I don't know what I would do with that time. This came up because my boss and coworker were talking about how people who get large severances and get a job right away end up getting screwed at tax time because they basically have double incomes for the year. Which is definitely not something I thought about and I was going to throw most of it into buying a few things I need, paying off vet bills, investments and emergency savings. My coworkers solution was to ask his new job to take more tax off his paycheque so he wouldn't need to owe more later but that doesn't make sense to me because I would still be giving the government more of my money in the end. So I told my boss my plan was to put a lump sum into my RRSP (tax-deferred savings account) but I wasn't sure how much to put in. My boss said that was a decent idea but to actually calculate how much I would need to put in  so I don't lock down money I didn't need to. So he made an excel tax calculator I could play around with to figure out how much tax I will owe based on my severance + bonuses + new job and what tax bracket I will get put into.

 

I was researching RRSPs a bit today and I learnt something  lol You can withdraw your money anytime but you will be charged a withholding tax and you need to claim it as income on your income tax. So if you are withdrawing its better if you have a lower paying job or no income (aka retired). The amount you take out cannot never be re-contributed (unless you are doing home buyers plan or lifelong learning plan). I also learnt that you have to close your RRSP when you turn 71. And you get 3 options when you retire... you can withdraw from RRSP and pay withholding tax + have to claim the amount on income tax, you can buy an RRIF (Registered Retirement Income Fund) which saves you the withholding tax but you still need claim it as income. Or you can purchase an Annuity. I am not really sure how this one differs from the previous option. 

[Rookie]

Todays to-do

- get car from mechanic

- stack winter tires in garage

- look for lamb ears or chews for Winnie

- get green chilis from store for dinner

- do night check at the barn

- work on coding project

 

Today is another fairly relaxed day. It is Thursday... which means 1 more day of employment. This week has flown by.  Winnie and I walked to the mechanic today to get my car back. Its so beautiful out so I am really glad I chose to walk instead of getting a drive. It's hard to believe that it's supposed to be rainy/dreary for the next 7 days.  I REALLY want to pull out my patio furniture but the weather report says otherwise lol.  But anywho, I am glad getting my summer tires is all done and its one less thing to worry about; the new tires feel great. 

 

For dinner I am making chicken karahi. I got the spices in a box and the recipe is on the back lol so I am sure it will turn out. If it doesn't then I am VERY talented

 

 

 

 

[Rookie]

I didn't do the tires 🤣 and I'm trying to do it today before it rains but there's random men on my lawn fixing the ground they destroyed last year. And I didn't feel like doing a struggle with strangers around. They might be done by now. 

 

I had a nice visit with Daisy yesterday but I couldn't get myself to actually get on her. I just couldn't shake the feeling she was going to walk off and it would be a repeat of last time and maybe I wouldn't be able to fix it. So we worked on other stuff and practiced standing at the mounting block (which seems silly because she's good at that part). I'm trying not to be too down about it and I am just telling myself "it's okay I'll try again next time". 

 

Winnie wasn't feeling good when I got home:( I actually ended up rushing her to the emergency vet only to be turned away because there was no vet on premise. Since covid, we have had a really big shortage in emergency vets everywhere is terribly busy and it could be a 2-4hr wait on the low side. But on the drive to the vet she started to perk up and become alert again. So I brought her home and kept an eye on her. She's better today thankfully. 

 

Today is my last day at work! This was my 10th year there. Crazy

 

[Rookie]

Welp, got my tires put away, tires retorqued and tire rebate submitted. I am trying to wrap up work stuff and make sure I didn't leave anything important in my email or what have you. 

 

Soon I will have a "goodbye" chat with my boss. Sadness. I wrote a sappy email to him and our boss boss but I will send it after the call, cause feelings.

 

Headache is still there. 

[Rookie]

Call went well with my boss. I spent the rest of the day relaxing and willing my headache to go away. It finally died down to a mild throb probably around 8pm. My boss said I should plan something to do while I have the free time because who knows when I will have this sort of time again. That was nice to hear because obviously that was my train of thought as well. Sadly I haven't come up with any grand plans But I have been noodling on it. 

 

Some things that came to mind were....
- Paint Winnie
- Finish niece+nephew painting
- Take Winnie to agility Sniff Spot
- Do lesson with Daisy
- Do painting class*
- Go to cottage for a few days*
- Trip with mom?

- Read The Hobbit

- Get thing removed from foot
- Use up some massages
- Go to physio for knee/shoulder
- Join gym and start workout habit?

- Finish dads website?

 

* These were things I was thinking about last year. Fun enough, before when I was looking up painting classes it was always during the day and on a weekday. Do you think I can find a painting class not in the evening now? Nope. I did find some recorded online classes from an artist I really like. I might try to do those. I guess bonus points if I can do them AT the cottage  

[Rookie]

Today looks a bit dreary again. I don't have a lot planned because it's supposed to be light raining all day long but if that holds off a few hours I might sprinkle some grass seed and pull the hose out, turn the water back on to the outside and try out my hose keeper. Mainly because Poncho has been having diaherria since yesterday morning and you can't really pick it up. I have no clue why his tummy is so upset but I'm fasting him today. 

[Whisper]

Hope Poncho feels better.

[Rookie]

10 hours ago, Whisper said:

Hope Poncho feels better.

He was vomiting blood today so he's at the emergency vet. 😬 They were so busy that they kept him there and sent me home. The vet is finally looking at him and I will hopefully hear what she thinks they should do in 30 mins. He seemed okay aside from puking blood but that seems pretty scary.

[Rookie]

Well they don't seem to be acting with any sort of urgency so hopefully thats a good sign. We are doing bloodwork and a snap test now. They will let us know in 2-3 hours what the results show. They will then decide if they should keep him for 12hrs or if he can come home. The vet said she isn't really sure why he's puking blood just looking at him but she thinks it is not an obstruction. She said with his age she is kind of concerned it might be a tumour and she wants to do an ultrasound. Mr.R and I decided we would get my regular vet to do the ultrasound because this emergency vet doesn't have an onsite ultrasound and the 3rd party guy wouldn't be there until tomorrow sometime. 

 

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I am trying to think of what my next challenge should be. Since I am unemployed now I want to create a productive schedule so I don't get lazy. I also want to start adding more exercise in and be more on top of my eating habits. I am bigger than ever and I need to dial it in. 

[Rookie]

Update on Poncho, hes not puked in awhile. Hes friendly, bright, alert. Still has diarrhea. They are going to try giving him some bland food and if he can hold that down then he can come home at lunch at 1. Then Winnie has her appointment tonight   and I have to do night check at the barn after.

 

I feel okay all things considered.  I asked them if they think its pancreatitis and she basically gave me a non-answer. And she said it could be and/or it could still be something else and they are still worried he might have a growth. But I think they also misunderstood some stuff or are making assumptions. The first vet said he looks like a dog that has had drastic weight loss and I think she wrote that on his chart because the 3rd vet brought it up again. He's only lost 4.4lbs since October.  I agree he probably looks a bit sunken in... but hes also been puking blood, hasn't had solid poop in 24hrs, hadn't had food in 8hrs and was dehydrated. So I don't think its crazy that he's down 2kg and it's not a drastic amount on a 65lb dog. So I find it odd they keep mentioning it and calling it drastic or severe. They also misunderstood me saying about an issue he had the past 2-3 weeks ago as me saying he has had diarrhea for 2-3 weeks but that only started Saturday. Both issues I clarified with the first vet and its there on my admittance form but it wasn't corrected and  I still feel like I am playing the biggest game of telephone. Its frustrating but I am not a vet so I can only do so much and I do appreciate their help. I just wish they would listen better. But at least I am seeing my vet tonight for Winnie, so I can ask questions about Poncho too