flyball....

Today is our one day flyball tournament at All Dogs Gym in Manchester, NH. I still have to jump in the shower, gather all of Freddie's equipment, and find his Halloween costume for the contest afterwards. I was thinking of dressing up my self, but it's kind of hard to run when you're all dressed up. :)

One little thing I noticed about Bubo: when he's around, all of my birds are gone! No more chickadees, junkos or titmouses torturing the cats by hanging out at the feeder on the deck. It was mysteriously silent the morning after Bubo re-appeared. But, I haven't heard him since so maybe he just came in for a visit.

Some other good news (for me anyway) is that I'm about 2/3rds of the way done on my final paper. I'll do homework when there's downtime today, in hopes that I can just get 'er done. :)

D

My owl is back!!!!

While sitting here on the computer, I heard a familiar hooting sound coming from the back yard. Bubo the owl is back!

Some history: When I first moved into this house a little over a year ago, my first encounter with nature (not normally known to a concrete city) was with a Great Horned Owl. After reading about them online, I named my owl Bubo; the latin word for Owl (and a great flashback to my Clash of the Titans movie days.)

In the spring of this year, I was working from home one day and I heard birds sqawking all morning in front of my house. I looked outside a few times, but couldn't figure out what they were so irritated at. Later in the day I was leaving for an appointment and when I backed my car out of the driveway, I saw him. Bubo, relaxing on my lawn, leaning up against the lattice on the side of my front stairs. Now, I'm not sure if Bubo is male or female, but I like to think he's male.

It was one of the most beautiful animals I've ever seen. He had beautiful rust/brown mottled markings and the telltale tufted ears. He had the biggest most amazing eyes I've seen in an animal. And he was HUGE! Bubo was easily the size of 2 of my dogs put together.

I stopped the car and got out. I stood there and stared while he watched me for a bit and then turned his attention to the birds that were dive bombing him. I must've stayed there for 10 mins. or so wondering what to do. Owls don't come out in daylight! And they certainly don't take a nap on your front lawn! So I assumed that he was hurt or something and tried to think of someone to call. I dropped my phone, which must've startled him because he took off and headed away from my property.

I haven't heard from Bubo since then, so I thought he might have perished. But I'm happy to report that he's back and in full hooting mode! Interestingly enough, I just read that owls take over nests - one of the them being a hawks nest. So I wonder, do my owl and hawk just switch when the seasons turn?

Ok, off to a town meeting! (and then homework...ugh)

D

...and more rain

Well, I never did get that rip roarin' fire in the firepit - it started raining before I was done with homework. :( Bummer dude!

But, my friend did call me to let me know SHE was sitting in front of a nice fire. Wasn't that nice of her? :) She knows how jealous I get with that too.

Today was another raw, cold, wet day. The ground is still too saturated from the 10 days of rain we had so my sump pumps (both of them!) have been working overtime. It wasn't raining all that bad where my work is, but I guess here at home it was pretty steady and heavy. I'm just thankful they're both working. :)

I did have a bit of a scare this morning with water in the basement however. I went downstairs to check both pumps and I noticed water on the floor in a small area. Thankfully, it was just the hose to the dehumidifier leaking as it popped out a bit. I fixed that and then checked the pump pits, which were full of water. Apparently it had rained all night.

I found out yesterday that I got a perfect score on the last paper I turned in. Yippee!! (ya gotta take 'em where you can get 'em!) I also found out that I'm supposed to turn in a draft for my final paper (for this class) on Friday. I guess I better get cracking on it! I do have 4 out of 6 required references and the outline done, I just have to put the words on the paper. I know what I'll be doing alllll night tomorrow. :)

Freddie and I have a one day Flyball tournament at All Dogs Gym in Manchester, NH this weekend. Come on by and say Hi if you're in the area! We like having spectators. :) My friend Donna will be the photographer for the event. She's really so good at capturing the dogs. The heats are so fast that I have no idea how she does it. I have to save up some cake so I can purchase allll the awesome pictures she took of Freddie and Payton at the demonstration we did. There were some great shots of my boys! go see (Freddie is the first bunch of chocolate Min Pin pics, Payton is the last bunch)

Ok, I'm off to sleep - I get so tired in this cold weather!

D

Lazy (cold) day

I slept in this morning --- and enjoyed it! After checking email, I decided to treat myself for breakfast so I walked down to our local diner and had eggs over corned beef hash with coffee. Del'ish!

I read some homework while eating (it feels like people stare at you when you eat alone) and realized I still have a lot of reading to do. But, I have the whole day so no big deal.

I came home and watched Tivo for a little while (L&O:CI), then puttered around doing odd things that have been on my list of things to do: dremeled the pup's nails (they don't mind, the big spoon of peanut butter persuades them to like it), took a picture of the piping under the sink so Dad can take a look at it and make recommendations (it leaks a little), and got my paper recycling together. I came in here to check email before going back to reading homework.

I was thinking of doing some yard work but I really just don't feel like it. Not all the leaves have fallen so it makes sense to wait until they have before I head out with the Leaf Hog. And, more importantly, it's cold outside - a mere 45 degrees.... Brrr!

If it wasn't for my family, I'd be in Texas. :) Besides the warm weather, there's just something about a guy in boots and a cowboy hat with manners. :-D If only the guys up here could get a clue. Considering the majority of them are barely literate and refuse to publicly acknowledge things like capitalization, grammar, and punctuation, I think I might be asking for too much.

The one good thing about the cold is that I can get a rip roarin' blaze going in the fire pit without sweating my butt off. Maybe that will be my reward after doing my homework. :)

D

Thoughts for today...

Well, I didn't actually get my bulbs planted last weekend like I had planned. Partly due to laziness, and partly due to the fact that I had a more pressing concern with the appearance of water in my basement due to the bazillion inches of rain we received. Out of the 2 sump pumps I have, one of them wasn't plugged in for some unknown reason. The other one, which was plugged in, turned on, but didn't pump out any water - it was broken. :( I again have 2 sump pumps (3 if you include the broken one I have to figure out how to get rid of) thanks to Dad. :) Which is just in time for the rain we're supposed to get this weekend and next week.....Joy.

Going back to the bulbs, I did manage to get them planted yesterday after work. Another just in time thing as according to the packages, they need to be planted before the first frost. 6 hours before the first frost is good, right? I mean, it's still *before* the frost! So, we'll see if anything comes up in the spring. I also didn't follow all of the directions of this many inches down, this many inches between bulbs, etc. I did, however, put them in the right way. :)

This weekend seems to be fairly quiet as far as plans go. I thought we had flyball practice but we don't so I can sleep in. :) I have homework to do tonight, Sat. & Sun. but that shouldn't be too bad. I looked at my grades for this class so far and they're pretty darn good. If I can keep it up, I think I'll be able to keep my 4.0 gpa. :) I have only 4 classes to go for this portion of my education, 13 classes for the next step, and about 4 billion for the step after that. :)

I turned the heat on this morning - it was 60 degrees in the house when I woke up. Millie said forget it and went back to bed (under the covers) after going outside. I've been thinking about getting those vent things that redirect the air underneath furniture if you have a piece of furniture over the vent. Does anyone know if they really work? I guess I should get a filter pretty soon too.

Now I have to find all of my winter clothing....sigh. I'm not ready for the cold!!!

D

rain, rain go away....

What a crappy week. Just a scant week ago (or so), the weather was beautiful - sunny, warm (high 70's), and absolutely wonderful. This past week (or so), it's been nothing but cold (50's-60's), rainy & crappy. I don't think I'm ready for fall! Ok, I'm really just not ready for winter is what it comes down to - I hate being cold!

On top of a crappy week of weather, Millie got stung/bit by something and became my lumpy, bumpy bumpkin. Her eyes were swollen shut, her left jowel was swollen, she had hives all over the place... What a scare to come home to. She didn't even look like my dog! After I panicked, I gave her some Benadryl, which didn't do too much at all. Thankfully she was better the next day and now looks like her old self. :)


Today, I planned on planting some bulbs in the front of the house. I got a bunch yesterday and shared them with my friend Ellin, whom I visited with yesterday. Bulbs to plant: large white crocus, small botanical mixed color crocus, spring green tulips, skagit valley tulips, queen of the night tulips (they're so cool looking! Such a deep purple they look black), pink double tulips, red parrot tulips, large white hyacinths, small grape hyacinths, and ixiolirion, or, Mountain Lilies as they're also known as. But, I'm waiting for a potential home to come and see Snoop so that will have to wait for a bit. Hopefully it'll be a bit warmer later as well!

I mentioned visiting with Ellin yesterday. It's one of my zen places; good friends, good food, a fire in the fireplace, incredible conversation, and a relaxed environment. I went down with Millie, so she could play with Floyd, Ellin's dog, and to just hang out. She made dinner, the name I've forgotten (Beef Burgundy?), but it was a dish that cooked all day in a crockpot - meat, carrots, onions, and mushrooms that was served over rice. Delicious! We hung around in front of the fire talking about this or that with Joe (her husband) and we hit upon some fascinating topics of morality in today's society. It's interesting to hear what people think of the way society, and more specifically, our children, are evolving. The technology age that we're in has changed how things are done and I have to stop and wonder if it's for the better. I never hear words like honor or respect bandied around anymore, unless we're talking about the lack of it in society. Why is that? Since when has honor become anathema and isn't taught? Long ago, a family's honor was everything. Now, there isn't such a thing. Respect is pretty much non-existent (from my experiences.) We don't respect each other, so how can our kids grasp such a concept if it's not learned by example? I don't know. The more I think of it, the more I'm convinced that our current complacent, "not-my-fault" society is allowing the US to go to pot and I don't think we're actually aware of it.

And of the few of us that see this isn't the direction we should be heading, we ask ourselves "What can I do?" If I can ever answer that question succinctly, I'll write a book. Included will be a chapter on morality and values; how they've disappeared from everyday life and how to get them back again. Some day.....

Until then, I'll go on with my life, trying to do what I can where I can. I'll start by planting my bulbs. :)

D

Movies tonight

Dad, Betsy, and I are going to the movies tonight. I wanted to see that movie with Jodi Foster - Flightplan, so we're going to Chunky's to have dinner and watch the movie. If you haven't been, I highly recommend it!

D

Finally!

Y'know those weeks where every day seems to last forever and Friday seems so far away it might as well be in a different year? Yeah, that's been this week for me. :) The pathetically sad part about that is that it was only a 4 day work week!

Thankfully I only have a few more hours before I can blow this popsicle stand. :)

D

Tired!

Yesterday I had an appt. with my new doctor. She was very nice and not as conventional as other doctors I've had in the past. She has a good mix of conventional and new-age (mind, body, spirit.) I think I'll keep her. :) After that, I puttered around the house, did some homework (it feels like I'm always doing homework), and then went over to Sue's house for dinner. Aunty Kathy made roast beef with a ton of veggies and this homemade gravy that kicks ass. She told me how she makes it but I doubt I'll ever be able to duplicate it. Yuuummmmy. :)

Today I went back to work (I usually take the Monday after a 2-day tourney off) and was actually fairly productive. Not as many interruptions as normal, which was nice. :) Not that this makes sense to anyone else, but I have a bunch of DRs in the works and need to get them all into our production environment by the end of the month. For most it's not a problem; for others it will be a big issue. :)

I did a bit more homework after I got home from work and then headed out to training. I took Payton with me so he could get some more obedience work in. He did very well and I'm very happy with the progress he's made. I do, however, need to seriously work on how he takes food. Right now a few fingers are swollen because he's a bit rough. We'll be working on that tomorrow. We'll also be working on him allowing me to open his mouth like I'm going to give him a pill. I refuse to fight with him if he ever needs to be on medication.

Millie's is pacing between the bedroom door and the computer, stopping to give me kisses each time. I'm pretty sure she's telling me that it's time for bed. :) Payton was lying down next to me calmly until Skootchie came up to sniff him. Then he started to get fresh and she had to put the smack-down on him. He'll learn. :)

D

Success!

Congratulations are in order to Mr. Freddie & Ms. Steffi for the successful addition of the coveted Flyball Masters title! Their title list now looks like this:; FD, FDX, FDCH, FDCH-S, FDCH-G, FM

This weekend's tournament was great; people, conversation, weather, racing, timing of the races, everything! We never did get the EJS system up and running so the NET team was pulling triple duty running the tourney, running their teams, and manually scoring the entire 2-day, 168 race event. HUGE kudos to them for keeping everything on track and running smoothly. :)

The Lightning team placed 3rd and got approx. 821 points for the weekend. The Hurricanes team unfortunately did not place, but did get approx. 162 points for the weekend.

Even though there was a lot of racing this weekend, we did have time for some interesting discussions. One of them, car testicles, actually had us running into the lane just as our race came up. This weekends discussions took us all over the place, with a number of interesting tidbits learned in the process. We found out about the 3 top things they tell people from Sweden when they come into the country, how everyone feels on being naked, and that there are now testicles for cars. I'm not even kidding on the last one. We discussed purchasing a portable grill so we won't have to eat crappy fast food anymore. Hopefully we can work on that before next Spring. :)

And now, I have to write a 1250 word argument for school.... And I was having such a good day!

D

Yawn....(stretch)

How interesting! This is the first time we've had a flyball tourney at Monadnock. We're in the barn - and I mean a barn. Like watch where you walk because there are horse turds bigger then your dog kind of barn. You get used to the smell of horses after a bit and it's nice and open so it's not too bad.

Unfortunately, the EJS system (the lighting tree - like you see in drag racing) didn't have all of the appropriate cords, so we're doing manual times. It's a good thing in that there are less false starts being recorded, so things are moving along quite nicely! We were done with our racing by 3:30pm - unheard of on a 2 day tourney.

Freddie needs 6 more points for his 6th title - Flyball Masters (FM). Another dog on the team, Steffi, needs 17 more points for her FM title. We should easily be able to accomplish both of those goals today.

And, the ride there and back wasn't actually all that bad. Which is what I'm off to go do now!

D

4:30am and I'm up....

The fact that it's 4:30am and I'm awake is ridiculous within itself. Add to it that it's a Saturday morning and it's just outright silly.

Freddie and I have a Flyball tourney this weekend at the Monadnock Region Pet Expo in Swanzey, NH. I think it will be a lot of fun, having other things to do during down time, having more spectators watch the sport, and just being in a bigger location. However, driving back and forth 1 1/2 hrs. for two days is going to be a bit much. I should've looked at a map before saying Yes! :)

But, Freddie, if he does well this weekend, *should* get his Flyball Master title. He needs 421 points and being on the team he's on, that's doable in a 2 day tourney.

For now, I just have to stop shivering - it's 60 degrees in the house - and get ready so I can pick up Holly & Rob on my way. I think I'll let them pick me up tomorrow. :) Off to the shower!

D