Bits and Pieces of my life

We loved that boat, and still have it, even though since we moved from the “land of 10,000 lakes” it’s only been in the water a handful of time.

We’d go out fishing at every opportunity. I had not expected to like fishing as much as I did, but found it relaxing, and an enjoyable way to spend time with my husband that didn’t involve the use of power tools. Though by this time, we’d already gone over the whole inside of the house, with only a few odds and ends to finish up. Our kids were getting old enough that we didn’t have to worry about leaving them home alone. Our son loved fishing, and came with every time he could, but our daughter only wanted to come if we planned on cruising around. Ripping across the lake with the wind in her face was much more to her liking than sitting with a fishing rod in her hand. She was 12 now, and mature enough to handle being home for a few hours at a time while we were on the lake.

I thought a lot about what my husband had told me of his dream to someday own his own fishing boat, and I starting thinking about how I had always planned on having horses in my life. I started riding when I was about 5, a fat old pony my oldest sister’s soon to be husband lent to his new brothers and sisters in law. I come from a large family, and am one of the younger children so there are quite a few years between the oldest and youngest. My oldest nephew is only a few years younger than my youngest sister.

I literally grew up on horse back. My whole life revolved around horses until I was 17. My husband was the first boy I’d met who I was willing to spend more time with than my horse. Growing up, I’d always thought horses would figure as a large part of my life, but when my husband lost his job while we were expecting our first child, the horses had to go. I was willing to make the sacrifice; I loved my husband and the child I was carrying. As the years went by, and the children got older and I got more involved with my career, I stopped thinking about ever owning horses again. I don’t think my love for horses ever died, I think I closed it up real tight and didn’t dare let it come back out. By the time we bought the boat, I rarely did anything that involved horses, never went riding, never hung out with other horse people. It was a part of my past, and I had thought I was reconciled with keeping that way.

But we bought the boat . . . my hubby’s dream . . . And then one day I realized I could have dreams too. For 16 years my decisions had revolved around what was best for the marriage, and my children, and rarely for me. I still never expected to own anything more than our suburban home, but I realized that I COULD have horses in my life, just maybe . . .

Then a friend called and asked me to come spend the day with her, at her sister’s place in the country. This friend was going through a nasty divorce, and I spent quite a bit of time with her during this period. We drove out to the country, and I saw that her sister had three horses in the pasture, and my friend asked me if I wanted to ride. Normally I would have said “No”. That was something in my past, and I had intended to keep it there, but this time I said “yes”. We saddled up the old mare, which had not been ridden in for several months, and I climbed into the saddle.

You know how they say you never forget how to ride a bike? It was like my body remembered exactly what to do. The mare was a bit frisky, but I had no trouble staying with her, and getting her to settle down and mind her manners. I rode back and forth, and then gave the kids rides, and went home knowing I had opened the door to something that I had thought was only in my past. It’s hard to really describe how I felt. It was like realizing I could have dreams. My life was no longer the constant struggle to earn enough money to provide food and a decent home for my children. I didn’t have to be the career woman, or good little suburban wife who was content with a few pets and a nice garden plot in the back yard.

I started going to a riding stable near where I worked, and it wasn’t long before I learned they had a “lease to own” program, and I started eyeing the horses, with a future purchase in mind. I talked it over with my husband, and he agreed to let me lease a horse for a few months. If it worked out, I could keep on and eventually buy the animal, and if after a few months, we decided it wasn’t something I wanted to do or had time for, I could walk away without being stuck with a horse I needed to sell. Then one really bad morning at work, I left early and went to the stable for a ride. It wasn’t during their busy time, so there was only one other customer and his young daughter waiting to go out on the trail when I showed up. They put me on a nice chestnut appaloosa with a snowflake pattern on his rump, and the man and his daughter up double on a draft cross. Since there was only the three of us with the guide, she let us run quite a bit, and I really liked the horse I was riding. I’ve always had a soft spot for those appy’s, my first horse was one. This horse was also a pacer, which I thought was really neat at the time. Sure did make for a comfortable ride.

We got back and I went inside to find out more about the horse. He was a five year old, unregistered App/Walker cross (that is where the pacing came from). He’d been used on the trails for three years, and was one of the favorites for the trainer at the facilities. I brought my husband back the next day, and I signed the papers to lease him for the summer.

That summer also had other changes for me. I had gotten about as far as I could in my career based on only having a two year education. I had a good, sound accounting background, but jobs at larger companies required a four year degree. I had always planned on going on with my education after graduating from the Academy of Accountancy back in ’89, but just had not gotten around to it. The problem I was faced with now was because of changes in the MN CPA requirements; the college I had planned on attending would no longer accept my prior Accounting course work. Had I gone back to school even one year earlier, this would not have happened. I was able to get some general credits, and figured I could test out of some of the lower Accounting classes. I didn’t want to attend a different college, as this one was geared toward working adults, and most of their classes were offered in the evenings or on weekends. I started classes that fall, taking two evening classes and one Saturday class, while working full time. It was a struggle, but with my husband’s support at home, I made it through the first year. I did test out of a few classes, and actually took Intermediate Accounting before I realized I was wasting my time. I’d worked in a CPA firm long enough to know that was not what I wanted to do, I was way more interested in the CMA program, and that didn’t require a degree in Accounting, only a four year degree and several year’s experience in the field. I wised up and changed my degree to Finance.

Fall went into winter, winter into spring. I ended up with a new boss, the old one having retired. The new boss was decent enough, but had lots of plans for growth, and started wanting me to do a lot more work than my job had demanded in the past. I didn’t have to dress up for my job, and kept a pair of coveralls in my car. I’d take an hour for lunch, go to the stable and take my horse out for a ride, and go back to work. I think that helped keep me sane, while the pressures of working and attending school full time became too much. I had to make a decision, something had to give. I had to either cut back on school so I could devote more time to a job I had grown to hate, or quit the job and concentrate on school. It really wasn’t that hard of a decision. Since I wasn’t working now, I figured I had plenty of time to concentrate on school, and finished my remaining three years in two. The most classed I took in one quarter was seven, and I really wouldn’t recommend doing that. During that time, I’d paid for the horse, moved him to a private stable closer to home, and we’d bought a second horse. Right after I graduated, we sold both horses and bought two more suitable, a two year old registered Paint (loud chestnut overo) and a four year old registered Quarter Horse (bay without a white hair on him.)

I started a new job; my son was a senior in high school, my daughter in 8^th grade, and my husband working as an Instructor at the Union school. We had two horses at a boarding stable and our quite neighborhood had been turned into suburban bedroom community. In the two years I was finishing school, the land surrounding the small development we had moved into had been sold to developers, and we were now surrounded by houses on all sides. We were making lots of money, had low house payments, and liked our neighborhood less and less. And that was when we decided it was time to bail out of city life. Adding up our first and second mortgage, and our horse boarding costs, we could afford to find a place farther away from the Twin Cities and get out of this rat race. So in the fall of 1998, our search began.