Girls

Last night N was inducted into the National Honor Society. It is a prestigious award at her school for the members are chosen through a criteria of grades, teacher recommendations, and extra curricular activities including sports and community service. My rough guess is that seventy five percent of the new inductees came from the two parochial grade schools originally. So we were doubly proud that she was chosen and recognized for her achievements.

In the last few weeks my daughter has taken leaps and bounds to becoming an adult. She has come in to her own through leadership and it is a joy to behold.

Her schedule has become tighter and tighter between band, 4-H, FFA and school work. Mix in college visits and you have one busy camper. Thoughts of a summer get away to Arizona have dissipated. She promises that next summer she will be able to fit it in. This summer she wants to concentrate on her tennis and band. Of course we must throw in showing her horse on weekends that work and the fair where she exhibits cattle. Make that two different fairs this year. One with FFA and one with 4-H.

Her sister on the other hand has become the athlete. Gone are the days of running around outside with her dog. Now are the days she concentrates on basketball. She goes to practice, comes home eats, and heads back out for more practice at our own hoop. This summer she chose basketball camp instead of 4-H summer camp, and has also chosen to spend four weeks getting up early to hit summer school basketball. When she is not playing basketball she is practicing drums. While a lot of folks would shudder at the thought of the constant banging, Jack and I delight in the sounds of wipe out as they drift through the house. Last night she came up half way through practice for band aids. It seems wipe out has given her blisters!

In Horse News:

All the animals I am in charge of were given vaccinations last week. Meaning the dogs, cats, donkey and horses. Dixie came up lame two days before the vets visit. He looked her over well, and like us could find nothing visible wrong with her. All of our suspicions was an abscess because there were no visible hot spots or wounds but she was obviously favoring her front left leg.

Sunday her abscess appeared and we are now doctoring it as best we can. An abscess for those who don't know is an infection within the hoof. It can be caused by many different things, but basically what happens is an infection enters the hoof (possibly from a cut). The bacteria (pus) then looks for an area to exit the hoof. In Dixie's case it exited at the coronary band. The Coronary band is similar to a persons cuticle. It is a soft tissue that helps connect the hard hoof to the horse leg. The exit area of the abscess is about an inch wide. Due to the size of the exit and the mud in our region of the country right now, we are attempting to bandage it to keep it from becoming a bigger issue. She is already walking better, so it is good to know that that pain has lessened for the girl. We can tell she is not feeling well because her ground manners have become impeccable. She likes to crowd our space and is very pushy on the ground.

Today I am thankful for Spring. Despite the gloomy weather outside my window, I know this weather will only bring better things!