I need a man...

Just so he can mow the lawn and I can avoid the allergic shit fit my body has after such an activity.

Ants crawling on the keyboard off of my body. Who needs it.

Oh, and he should absolutely love changing the kitty litter box too.

And cleaning, he should love cleaning.

That's not too much to ask, is it? :p

D

day off

I'm so thankful I took the day off. I'm wiped and I *still* have so much shit to do around here!

A little more about Camp - it's a place where you can take your dog and do a bunch of dog stuff that you wouldn't normally do. You can try different sports, learn new skills, heck, just even sit and have lunch with your dog! It's held at a college in New Jersey and we stay on site in the dorm rooms. From here, it only takes 4 1/2 hrs to get there and starts Friday night with registration and ends Monday afternoon with prizes, awards, and raffles. It's a serious good time!

Saturday was my lazy day, I only had 5 classes - With me! Attention and Heeling, Game Time, Flyball class 1, Dog Day of Beauty, & Canine Troubleshooting. Sunday was my hectic day! I had Building Drive, Pet Tricks, Intro to Clicker, Flyball demo, Flyball class 2, & Canine Troubleshooting. Nobody signed up for the clicker class so I had that slot free. My free time in the afternoon got booked by a private lesson on learning to dremel nails (that was in dog day of beauty.) Monday I had Flyball Class 3, another private lesson on nails, and a Clicker Skills seminar, which nobody signed up for. The last class on Monday is at 11:30 since camp ends at 3pm - we need plenty of time to win stuff!

I talked to Susan (the owner) this morning about how it went and we were on the same page - Awesome! We are already thinking of new things for next year. On Sunday night we had Canine Idol - a canine talent show. Millie & I did Patty Cake but we were topped by a few acts - a dog that rang a bell twice for yes and once for no, answering questions and a service dog that bribed the judges by bringing money up to the judges table. Everyone was really creative and although I grumbled about it the whole time (once I found out I *had* to participate but couldn't win), we had a ton of fun. Millie was really pleased with leftover steak treats as her reward.

There were a couple of really high points of the weekend for me, personally too. The first one was reading a comment on an evaluation form on my Building Drive class (the campers all fill out evals on each class and get tickets good for raffle prizes) - "Dawn is the most enthusiastic trainer/person! Great motivator!" And the second was having Susan, the owner, ask me when I was moving down to New Jersey every hour. :) I know if I ever decided to, I'd have a job! I know I'm heading down there for the Min Pin picnic in September, but I'm going to try to get down there a couple of times before then for a few long weekends.

Today has been all about unpacking for the most part. I did take a ride to pick up more dog food. While I was there, I picked up a few annuals to plant in the front garden and a couple of flowering baskets for the front of the house. I picked ones that liked full sun this time, unlike last year when I bought 2 shade loving plants and then burnt the shit out of them in the first week. :p Live and learn. I think I'll wait until later today to put them in the ground - it'll be cooler and the bees will be gone. :p

I was really surprised to see my Irises and Rhodies in full bloom when I pulled into my driveway! That was a great treat! I'll have to go out and take pictures soon - probably tomorrow before work. Bees generally aren't out at 7am - a very good thing for me. :)

I think I'm going to attempt to open the pool today too! I think I can set up all the pump stuff first and then take off the cover. I'm hoping my brother is able to come up and help after work. If not him, my Dad - hopefully. I think the water can still warm up under the cover.

Right now, I'm off to throw a load of laundry in the washer and then mow the lawn (ducking while the bees swarm overhead.)

D

back from camp...

Yup, we're back from camp and *boy* did we have a good time! All of the dogs got to do a little something and are tired. Well, all but the puppy. I'm not sure she'll ever get tired again. :p

My classes were awesome! One dog was able to do full runs in flyball after 3 days - incredible! I got really good feedback from my grooming class/demo and my building drive class. Dremeling dogs nails was pretty popular, as was getting your dog to pay attention to you apparently. Nobody signed up for any of the clicker stuff - at all. Ah well, that just meant I got 2 free sessions that I didn't have before.

Camp is so much damn fun! It's tiring for me and the other staff, but even so, it's a blast. I can't fathom why anyone that owns a dog wouldn't go to it. You get to try a little bit of everything - agility, rally, tracking, lure coursing, flyball, games, behavior, CGC, search & rescue - you name it, it's there. I'm hoping more people from up here are up for the drive next year. :)

Well, my brain is fried and Tweak just pee'ed on the top of the chair. It's sooooo time for bed. After cleaning the chair.

D

ready or not, I'm off

I got home at 9:30pm last night and started packing. I took Tweak to the vet and started to head to Cindy's but the traffic was ridiculous. I stopped at my sister's for an hour and let that die down, then went to Cindy's. I hung out there for an hour or so, let the puppy play with her dogs, chatted - all the stuff I really didn't have time for but did anyway. It was good for my state of mind.

So now I'm off.

If I don't see you this weekend, have a fabulous one!

D

work, packing

No time, blah, blah, blah, not enough time. Yeah, I'm tired of hearing it too so I won't talk about how much shit I have left to do.

Last night I went out to dinner with Sue and Aunty Kathy. I hate that I don't see her as much. We're both busier these days, her with the kid, me with the puppy, which is understandable. I miss spending time with her tho'. Now that Neely might be allergic to cats, well, that doesn't bode well for them coming over here too often.

I have to leave work early so I can take Tweak to the vet for her shots. Right now she's laying on the back of the sofa with her draped over my shoulder. Too cute.

After that, I'll have to fight traffic to get home and pack everything up. I have to stop and pick up more snack bags for the liver brownies I made last night. Right now they're stinking up my fridge to no end. Ugh.

I also have to take a ride to Waltham to pick up the jumps. Maybe I'll do that right after the vet appt. since I'll be on 128. Sounds like a plan.

The bookcase wall looks really good. I'm getting more used to it being there and I haven't even walked into it once. :p

'k, gotta shower.

D

and more stuff

There really just isn't enough time in the day to do everything. Life goes through spurts - sometimes it's stupidly hectic and other times it's slow as molasses.

Firepit table is set up.
Slate is set up underneath the firepit table so I don't blow the deck up.
The sitting area has been cleaned (why does *everything* start with cleaning?)
The sitting are is set up in the newly cleaned area.

The 2 chapters I needed to read are read.

The puppy has been fed, trained, and tugged (the other dogs too.)

Tomorrow I'm supposed to go out with Sue after work for dinner and a little shopping. Neely is sick tho' so I don't know if that's happening. I'm kinda hoping it doesn't because I could really use the time to finish my homework for this week, start and turn in my homework for next week (cuz I won't have internet access at camp), do all the laundry and the dishes, and pack everything up.

I need another pair of hands and about 4 more days before Friday. Work on that and get back to me. ;p

D

too much to do...

Went to work today - work, work, work; chat, chat, chat; welcome back; it's good to be back (gag), work, work, work.

Got home.

Fed the kids.

Mowed the lawn.

Mowed my neighbors lawn (he fixed the rider the other day.)

Took the trash out.

Took the recycling out.

Cooked dinner, ate.

Trained the puppy.

Put together the patio furniture.

Now I'm off to do homework for 2 chapters I haven't yet read.

I hope tomorrow is more calm.The 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean (oooooh Johnny Depp, oooooh Orlando Bloom) is coming out on Friday and I'm going to be in New Jersey. Waaaaahhhh. :(

D

staining

I *just* finished staining the bookcase.

It's a good thing the stain is very close to my hair color. That's all I'm saying.

Guess who's going to be late for work tomorrow.

D

errands...

Today was the day of errands. I left around 11am and got home around 3:30'ish. I went to Pet Edge and picked up an order I placed for me, Susan, and Nancy that I'll bring down to NJ with me. I ordered some steps that go next to the bed for Millie since jumping up there is getting hard for her these days - another sign of her getting old. They had the same thing I ordered in the clearance room for $30 cheaper. Sweet deal! I found a stupidly cute sweater for Tweak - it's pink with pink boa cuffs and collar. I'll put her in it and snap a quick pic before she tears it to shreds. :p It was only 2 bucks. :)

After that I went to Super Walmart to pick up a few things I need for dog camp next weekend. I think I'm just about set with that stuff and just need to continue making tugs. Have I mentioned how hard it is to make tugs with a 3 1/2 month old Border Collie in the room? No? I'm sure you can guess. :p

Speaking of the young BC, Tweak has devised a way to let me know when she needs to go out. She jumps up on the back door and hits the doorknob, which makes a rattling kind of sound. She's hit it a few times today and I've let her out. Shes run outside and pee'ed each time. Yay!

After Walmart I went over to Jason's to drop off some poison ivy stuff. Apparently last night hit him harder this morning and he was kinda hurting. :p He was supposed to finish the facing today, but instead was going to relax on the couch for the day. He'll do it tomorrow morning, which, in Jason time, is just before noon. :)

Dad should be by around then too. I think. Maybe I'll make liver brownies.... I need to make them for dog camp. We'll see.

G'night.

D

nostalgic

I've been thinking about my fur family lately, how it's changed over the years, how it will change again in the future.

Skootchie's 10th birthday was the 15th of this week. She would have been 10 years old. I still can't believe I lost her when she was so young. She was the easiest puppy in the world to have. We bought her from a pet store after we were denied by a shelter. The thing is, we went to the shelter a month earlier and asked what we needed to do to prepare for a dog. We changed our work schedules, bought everything they said, and planned to come home for lunch to let her out. When we were ready, we again went to the shelter to see what they had. When we asked to see a puppy, we got a lecture like you wouldn't believe from a different woman. I was so angry I cried (I'm not sure many people have seen me that angry.) We would be "cruel and inhumane"
because we would crate her during the day when we were at work. I'll never, ever forget that. (Maybe I should go back and thank them, since they were essentially the reason I got started in rescue and to this day have saved well over 500 dogs.) So, we internally said fuck that and drove right to the pet store at the mall.

She was soo quirky, which made me love her so much more. I mean, how many other dogs do you know that can sneeze on command? That's how special my girl was. She used to take a squeaky toy, drag a dog bed over it, and then do this kinda digging thing on top of the dog bed. I never knew what that was about but I'll never forget it. She had the worst breath in the entire world but her kisses were precious since she didn't dole them out all that often. I still tear up thinking of her, I miss her so freakin' much.

Millie. The story behind Millie is that we went to the shelter (same shelter) to adopt a dog. Skootchie growled at every single dog we put in front of her, except Millie. While we were there, a family was returning Millie - they had adopted her the day before. They put her in a crate and kept her in the kitchen. They couldn't understand why she barked the whole night. The father couldn't be kept awake like that so they returned her. When she was put in the cage, she barked more and more. We asked to see her and Skootchie immediately took a liking to her. We didn't pick her, Skootchie did.

We should've known then that she was going to be a handful! After years of destruction, training, seeing a behaviorist, almost getting us kicked out of our apt, housebreaking, and loving her through it all, she's the best dog a gal could ask for. She used to go everywhere with me. Her snarkiness with other dogs never really improved, which is why she doesn't come to flyball or demos with me. That and she still can't be crated. She's slowing down now - I see the signs of aging like a hammer to the head. I worry that I'm going to lose her before I'm ready. Of course I'll never be ready. She's white all over now, not just the premature graying thing she had going on in the face at 3 years old. She's stiff and her joints crack when she moves (she's on supplements now, which she hates.) She doesn't run as much as she used to, doesn't play as much as she used to, gets startled really easy these days, and sleeps all the time. You will never understand what this dog has done to my heart.

Then there's Freddie. He came in as a rescue. He was 7 months old at the time and my home was the 4th he had. His bark was fucking ridiculous - like, I can't even describe how ridiculous. He is a gorgeous dog and has an incredibly sweet, Momma's boy personality...until he gets pissed off. :p But, his bark was so shrill, so loud, so high pitched, that nobody would take him. I searched high and low for a vet that would do a voice alter on him - nobody would. One day I got a call from a vet that wanted me to pick up 2 abandoned Min Pins. I explained the situation and asked if he would consider doing the procedure. He said he wouldn't promise anything, but to bring him and if he thought his bark was bad, he would do it. We put him in a crate in the basement and left the room, which got him barking - he is still a pretty vocal dog. Once the vet heard the first bark, he said, Oh yeah, that's what the procedure is for - that type of bark.

Freddie is ball crazy and needed a job being stupidly high in energy. I found out about flyball and wanted to get him involved immediately. It took about a year to train him. The team I was with at the time didn't do clicker training with flyball so I had to fly by the seat of my pants and make it up as I went along. I wish I knew as much then as I do now. He might even have a box turn. But he's 9, slowing down a tad, but still going strong. Just don't put your hand near a ball, he might draw blood accidentally. :)

Pacie. Sigh. I don't even know where to start with Pacie. He was adopted out by my friends in New Jersey that do Min Pin rescue. The family they adopted him to moved up north and couldn't handle him. I now know why as he drives me up the freakin' wall every single day. I wanted to train him in flyball, worked on recalls, worked on the box, and brought him to practice a few times. But, then he got sick. His kidney values are in the toilet and we don't know if they'll ever improve. My vet doesn't think he has all that much time left - not as much as a 5 year old dog *should* have.

I considered adopting him out. He and I butt heads occasionally and he and Freddie fight all the time. Not just stupid little snarky type of fights, but close to you're-not-getting-out-of-here-alive kind of fights - similar to bitch fighting. It's hard to break them up when they get like that. I scream like a banshee every single time and usually that works but there's been a few times I've had to physically separate them. I shouldn't have kept Pacie, he wasn't/isn't good for the pack, but at this point he's staying until he dies. It's the very least I can do for him. No regular pet home would be able to handle him anyway. Which is too bad because he's a total Momma's boy too. He gets wiggle butt if he even *thinks* I'm reaching out to pet him and he loses his mind.

And then there's Tweak. It's amazing how quickly I fall in total and complete love with a dog I know will be mine forever. She's so good, so easy to own. What a great personality on that little girl. She's growing like a weed and, in some ways, reminds me of Skootchie. I can't wait to see what the future will be like with her. Sometimes that thought makes me feel guilty. I wish Skootchie could've met her. I think she would've taught her a ton.

So, my family went from Skootchie and Millie to Millie, Freddie, Pacie, and Tweak in a short 10 years. My life would be soooooo different without them. I don't know what I'd do with all of that free time. Maybe I would be ok with it. Maybe I would always feel like something's missing. I don't know and never will. I only know that I wouldn't trade my life with anyone in the world, for any amount of money in the world. My Dad says everyone has a price and for the most part I agree with him. Not when it comes to my fur kids though. Bill Gates doesn't have enough to make me part with my dogs. Life just wouldn't be worth it without them.

D

tug toys

I'm a tug toy making fool. No, seriously, I am. I spent $80 in fleece at Joanne's today. *And* it was on SALE! The lady turned me on to this pizza wheel cutting thing tho', which is soooo much easier on my hand and a billion times faster than cutting it. Sweet. :)

I'm making tugs for 3 reasons. First is because my little girl is tugging for all she's worth these days - Yay!! I want to make sure I have tugs everywhere for little training sessions. Second, I'll be selling some down at dog camp in New Jersey next weekend, along with clickers, and some liver brownies. Third, my team will sell them at some of the demos that we'll do this summer. Anything to make money and support our flyball habit. :p

By the way, the lady at the Super Walmart in Salem told me that they're going to stop selling fabric!! Not all stores, but most I guess. Damn. I guess I'll only be able to buy fabric when I get those Joanne coupons.

I had a conference call this morning which was supposed to last for 1 1/2 hrs but only took 1/2 hr. I guess it was a good way to slowly get me back into the swing of things. Sigh.

After hitting Joanne's, I went to the dealership to get a few parts replaced. The audio controls on my steering wheel sometimes worked, sometimes didn't. Sometimes I'd go to turn the volume down and it would go up instead, or I'd go to change the track and the volume would go up. The power adapter (they used to be known as cigarette lighters) was hanging out so it was hard to plug stuff into it. It's so stupidly low that I need to get one of those adapters for it anyway. Apparently when I get back from Jersey, they'll have the new back seat in stock and that can be replaced. Jeez, it's only been a year. :p

I was gonna do all that bookcase stuff today but instead I worked on creating some of the stuff I'll need for Jersey. Oh, and making tug toys. Oh, and training the puppy. :) That's really been my day. I so wish it could continue like that....sigh.

Let's see. Tomorrow Jason is coming by finish facing the bookcase. I'll work on puttying and sanding then. Sunday my Dad is coming up to view the new wall and hang out. I'm hoping I can rope him into staining and polying too. :p Monday is (ARGH!) back to work. I really can't complain too much, I have Friday off so I can head down to camp.

At some point before then, I need to finish making tugs, make about 4 batches of liver brownies (that's 12 lbs. of liquified liver - yum), finish gathering all the things I need for camp, and pack everything up. I'm sure I'll be bored. Yup, lots of free time. :p

D

sigh...

...back to work on Monday. It's been a good 2 weeks, busy, but good. It's just too bad that I can't do that all the time and that I had to have surgery to do it at all. Ah well.

I'm done with this cold weather. Please bring back the 80 degree weather. Please? I'm freezing my ass off! The dogs aren't all that happy with it either, except the puppy. She doesn't care all that much about weather.

Pretty soon I'm going to put all the other dogs away so I can train Millie to do Patty Cake. She knows high five (y'know, gimme five!) so I just have to extend it and have her switch her paws to match up with which hand I put out. It should be a cute trick. :) I have to write a list of everything she knows, I'm starting to lose track!! I'll have to teach them to Tweak too. :)

Did I mention I'm done with the cold? Brrrr.

Jason came by and put most of the facing on the bookcase - it looks great!! Tomorrow I'll putty the holes and sand the whole thing down. Then I have to put on a conditioner and one coat of stain. I finally found a color I like - Gunstock or something.

I went to the doctor today and got my stitches out. The incision is longer than I thought it would be - longer than it felt. It's not too pretty right now but in a week it should look a little better. Today's the first day I could type with 2 hands! Woohoo! Limited typing - I can't do 8 hours of it yet...not until Monday.

There are a ton of drugs out there to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Why do you think that is? Maybe because we do nothing but sit in front of computers all day instead of working the field or using our hands to make a living? We don't move around nearly as much as we used to. Maybe the people that are having trouble sleeping should quit their day jobs and go by a farm. I bet they wouldn't have trouble sleeping after working the fields for 10 hours.

That's why it's good to have dogs. I have trouble sleeping *maybe* twice a year. The last time was a couple of weeks ago I think. I couldn't tell you when the time before that was. Heck, I'm tired now. :)

Ok, I have to go teach Millie Patty Cake. :)

D

just a few things...

I've done my homework for the day, my errands for the day, my cleaning for the day. It's a Planet Earth kind of night - cuddled under the blanket with the Pins. Millie will probably sleep under the covers tonight since it's so cold. Who knows what the puppy will do. It's a good night for hot chocolate too. :)

If you haven't seen Planet Earth, I highly recommend that you do so. I bet it's absolutely amazing in HD because the image quality on a regular tv is incredible. It's educational tv on crack. :)

The mower wouldn't start today. I tried jumping it but it still wasn't turning over. I need a mechanically inclined person to take a look at it.

We've had thunderstorms all day and except for one really big, sharp crack of thunder, the dogs could care less. Whew! I'm glad the puppy is still good with them.

Speaking of which, Tweak loves running around in the rain. I can't fathom why she won't put more than a foot into the dog pool but whatever. At some point she'll become a "normal" Border Collie and lay down in the water to cool off.

I met Jason and Kevin for lunch today. We went to Flatbreads and had beer and pizza - two great tastes that taste great together. :) If Domino's offered beer with pizza, they'd make a killing. :p

Tomorrow I have my dr's appt to get this damn thing off of my arm and the stitches out. I'm a little concerned about the lack of feeling I have on the top of my thumb. I'll talk to him about it tomorrow. I'll also find out when I can start typing like a regular human being as well instead of this one handed hunt and peck crap. And I'll know when I can go back to work. :P I don't wanna!

I'm tired. Time to let the kids out and hunker down under the blanket.

D

Tweak's 1st flyball tourney

I think it's safe to say that we've now hit, and have exceeded, the 100 dog/person in 100 days thing. Tweak met just about everyone participating in the flyball tourney, met a ton of dogs, played with about a dozen puppies, including her siblings. :) It was really interesting to see how different their personalities are! Plus, they're growing at different rates as well - Tweak is pretty tall!

Freddie was solid like usual. He so knows his job - even coming back over the jumps when he bobbles the ball. He didn't use to so clearly he's getting better with age. :) I so love running him - we have such a good time. :)

Millie and Pacie stayed with my brother and his girlfriend at my house this weekend. It was still standing and Pacie is quite chunky so apparently they had a good weekend as well. :p

It was kinda tough with the one hand thing - I'm so glad Freddie is as easy to run as he is! But, the team all pitched in to help bring crates to and from the room. Now that's team work. ;)

Let me interrupt to say Tweak is one sneaky, and smart pup! She wanted the frisbee Pacie was playing with so she jumped on him and started wrestling with him. Once he got fed up, he jumped down and she pounced on the toy and ran away with it. He tried getting it from her once or twice and gave up. So she grabbed the toy and pranced in front of him with it until he started chasing her again. Not to shabby for a 3 month old puppy. :p

Anyway, we raced cleanly, but weren't good enough in our divisions. I think both teams took last place. It's a good thing we're not that competitive! hahaha

Monday I rested my hand. I kinda over-used it this weekend - shocking, I know. I got tires for my car, oil change, etc., which was just sitting around. I cleaned up the destruction debris that landed on the cellar stairs, tried to do a few dishes, picked up around the place a bit, and spent the rest of the time playing with the puppy, and catching up with tivo.

Jay came by today and built the third and final bookcase and nailed them into place. That wall is going to be so rocking when it's done. :p I'll be sure to post a picture once it's stained and full of books. :) I'll have no choice but to clean out the spare room then. :p

Tomorrow we're going to meet Kevin for lunch and then pick up the wood we need for Jay to face it. Whatever he needs, he'll get. I was a bad friend tho' by not creating a fully stocked wood shop in my basement for him so we have to take the wood back to his shop where all the "proper" equipment resides.

Ugh. I am soooo tired. I was up late last night and early this morning so it's time for bed.

D

can't sleep....

So I got up to walk around the house a bit, check mail, et., when I remembered I haven't blogged in a coupla days. It takes me so damn long to type anything now I dread the laptop.

Yesterday, I did nothing. Nada. Zilch. At least I think I did nothing, I'm not really sure tho'. Oh wait, I did a load of laundry and read the requirements for the class that started today. It was a Dog the Bounty Hunter on Tivo kind of day. I didn't even turn the damn thing on today, which means I'm behind. Again.

Today was different tho'. Dave the exterminator came up to do some killing. :) And killing he did! He took out 2 Carpenter Bees and 4 hornets nests. He said it was early for them to build nests. Ha. I guess he learned his lesson. I think they like the front of my house because of how much sun it gets. Someday they'll learn. If not, I'll just have Dave keep killing them. :p

Jason came over to start the bookcase project. I did what I could, which was really not a whole hell of a lot. I handed him towels, got water, hit Home Depot a couple of times, put my hand there when he needed me to (get your minds out of the gutter), sat and watched, grilled lunch, sat and watched some more - all while he worked so hard in the glaring sun. Did you know it was supposed to be 87 degrees out today? I didn't.

My hand certainly didn't like the weather. Hot and sweaty doesn't mix well with incisions, let me tell you.

Anyway, he decided to build it in three separate sections and actually got the two end ones done! Amazing. I was trying to learn from him while he was working without actually hovering over him. What I need to do is see where he makes his cuts. Anyone can measure, it's the cutting that's important. So, I'll try not to be a pest but will pay more attention tomorrow.

I put the AC on in the bedroom and tossed all the dogs in there while Dave was here. I can't have them going near all those chemicals. He says it dries in an hour and then it's safe, but I always give it more than that before letting them out, just in case. Today it happened to be 6 hours. Can't be too careful.

I'm going to attempt to do dishes with one hand tomorrow. I may even record it because I'm sure it'll be stupidly funny. I'll just have to figure out how to bleep out all of the cursing first. :p
I have to get everything together for the tourney. I'm leaving here at 3pm so we can get up there between 5 and 5:30pm. I printed out the directions, but have to write the hotel name on it so I know where the hell I'm going. I also have to get in touch with Renee to see where I'm meeting her. I have to bring the wheelie cooler up. The crates, grill, and chairs are in the car. Damn, I have to remember to ask Jason to take that seat out before he leaves.

I did homework after he left, read the chapter I was supposed to, posted messages on the discussion board, blah, blah, blah. I haven't much been in the learning mode lately. I'm hoping I snap out of that or I'll never move on to my bachelors. The good thing is that I don't have to take one class right after another, I can space them out and not get penalized or kicked out.

Tweak was sooooo freakin' cute today. With the furniture all over the damn place, she was able to walk on the back of the loveseat (one of her favorite places) without bumping into the wall. While I was sitting on the loveseat reading my homework, she walked along the back, plopped down behind my head, and rested her head over my shoulder. I could just eat her she's so damn cute!

Oh! I know what I did Wed, I shaved the cats! The poor things look *awful* since I'm not used to shaving with my left hand. But, they were much cooler and didn't mind being locked in the bathroom for the day (the chemicals y'know) since they got to lie on the cool tile in their new haircuts. I think Tweak is finally learning that they don't enjoy playing crocodiles and alligators. She only bugged them a couple of times tonight. Plus, when I told her to stop, she did. :)

I was THRILLED when it started raining and I heard the faint rumblings of thunder! Besides the fact that I *love* thunderstorms, I was really, really, really hoping she'd experience one before she was 14 weeks old! She was great! Just like every other "scary" situation, she bounced back in under a second. She heard the thunder, was puzzled when it was farther away, got a little scared when it was right on top of us, but immediately went to the screen to see what was going on. There were a couple of rumbles that had her tuck her tail, but those were really right on top of us and even Millie got spooked by them. But, she bounced right back to see what was going on. It was better than I could've hoped for!!

This weekend is another big weekend for her, she'll experience a full blown flyball tournament and all that it entails. She'll get to see most of her littermates again, and will be able to play with other puppies as well since Paula is bringing Coal with her. I think she'll be nice and tired by the time we get home. So will I. :p

Unfortunately I'm still not tired after 2 freakin' hours of typing. Ok, so it was more like one. I guess I'll go stare at the ceiling and hope I get tired soon.

D

more pics

I've been swapping pics with the other owners of Tweak's littermates. I usually share here too and today is no exception. :)


Look at those long legs! One morning she woke up and Poof! she had legs. :)


This pic was to show her ears and her cute face. :) Sometimes that ear is full up, most of the time it's at 3/4 up. Either way is cute. :)

She's so good it's ridiculous. :p

D

p.s. She doesn't quite get the dogs-barking-on-tv-aren't-really-there theory so she's barking her fool head off at the kitchen door. :p

doing well

Surgery went well. I'm recovering nicely. :)

I'm not in pain, which is surprising and super cool! The dogs know something is up and have taken it easy on me, napping when I have and playing together. I'm not up for tugging or training so the puppy is getting a break today.

I wanted pizza for dinner and found out, while looking for Domino's phone number online, that you can order and pay online! Woohoo! I so love technology when it works in your favor. :)

Tenille *finally* hauled off and smacked the shit out of Tweak today! I think her puppy license with them is expired. ;)

I forgot to mention that we started doing restrained recalls with Tweak at practice. I tried a technique Cheryl told me about - throwing the tug while running. I'm not even sure she noticed. :p She was totally on me the whole time, which is a good thing I think. :) After she "caught" me we'd run back to the tug and play.

Also, our team really does do everything together! Almost every single one of us have new'ish to new dogs! Paula surprised the team by bringing her new puppy to practice this week! Nancy is going to see her new puppy this weekend. Cindy has Mattingly, Renee has Ailis, Holly & Rob have Herbie, Angelica has Winston, I have Tweak, and Deb has...uhhh...I forget his name! Now we just have tot talk Phil into letting Susan have another dog and we'll be set. ;p Oh and Kate needs one. But since she's doing the baby thing this year, she'll jump on the dog bandwagon next year.

I couldn't handle the warmth of the day so I turned on the AC in the bedroom. I probably wouldn't have except I wasn't feeling that great from the anesthesia. I think it'll be cool enough to sleep in there tonight. I like it *cold* when I sleep - keeping the window open in the winter time kind of cold. :)

It's taken me about an hour to type all of this so I'm off. Tivo and I have been catching up today - I'm only 2 1/2 weeks behind. I caught up on CSI today, tonight is Dog the Bounty Hunter. :)

Aloha.

D

to do list

My to do list is about as long as the Rapunzel's hair. There's no way I'm getting everything done before surgery, it's just physically impossible. I need another set of hands and 3 more days. Ha!

Yesterday was a blur, fun, but a blur. I was 1/2 hour late for flyball practice (ugh), shot home, dropped off the kids, and headed over to my aunt's house. I had to pick my cousin up so I could take her down to the recording studio. I was actually on time for that, but we left 1/2 hour later than we were supposed to, which made us late for the studio. Ugh.

We got there around 1pm'ish. We spent a bunch of time picking microphones, and setting stuff up. Mary warmed up with National Anthem but decided not to record it. I won't go into alllllllll the details, I'll just say that she recorded 11 songs and we left there around 10:30pm. Got back to Peabody around 11pm, got home around 11:30'ish. Have you done the math? Yup. The puppy was in the crate for 12 1/2 hours. UGH!!!

Of course she pee'ed in her crate, which is fine since I wouldn't have wanted her to try and hold it for that long. I tried to call a few people to see if they could let her out but nobody was around. :( I was NOT planning on that much time away, I would've ex-pen'ed her in the kitchen with papers if I had known. I felt *horrible.*

Of course she was raring to go when I got home. Woohoo. And she needed a bath. :p So, all the kids went outside while I started cleaning crates. Then the puppy had her 2nd bath of her life - oh so way beyond less than pleased. I didn't have the time or the patience to make it a really good experience, so she just got a bath. She didn't really struggle all that much, she was just afraid. We bonded afterwards while I towel dried her and whispered sweet nothings in her ear. She was fine after that. :)

We played and played until I couldn't stand up anymore and then it was bed time. It was 1:30am. I so passed out.

All of the kids had had plenty o' time to sleep so they were up and ready for the day at 6:30am. Yay for me. I seriously contemplated passing out on the couch and saying screw it to work. But, it was my last day before surgery and I had a ton of shit to get done before tomorrow. After I'm done depositing my useless thoughts, I'll log on to work and finish up a few things before doing laundry, playing with the dogs, doing the dishes, and finishing up a few things.

Damn! I forgot to measure the deck! Be right back....

Ok, that's done. The wood for the bookcase is being delivered on Wednesday. Since I have to pay a delivery charge anyway, I figured I'd order extra wood so I can replace some of the railings on the stairs and the deck. I probably won't replace them just yet, but why pay another delivery charge when I can just get the wood now on the same delivery charge? I had to measure what I wanted to replace and then call my brother-in-law to figure out what that actually equaled in supplies. I have to call Home Depot tomorrow before I leave for the hospital and add to the order.

So I got to work around 9'ish, worked straight through until 6:30pm, forgetting to get lunch. I was starving by the time I got home and was thankful that I took some steak tips out of the freezer the other day. I ate, played with the dogs, fed the dogs, replied to some emails, started researching a few things for camp, took the rest of the wood outside, cleaned off half of the kitchen table, got some laundry together, and trained the puppy.

Nice day, huh?

I'll be heading to bed soon so I can get up early and finish some work before taking off. When my brother gets here in the morning (he's my keeper for the day tomorrow), I have to show him how to use the mower. I desperately need to mow the lawn and I ran out of time. I think I had planned on doing that on Sunday, but clearly that didn't happen.

Tweak put a new hole in my arm today, by accident....I think. :p It's quite sore unfortunately. She put a few new holes in Millie too. Tweak learned that her whole head still fits in Millie's mouth quite nicely. :)

Well, that's it for me kiddies. I'm going to watch an episode of Metalocalypse and then go pass out. This is the episode where they record their next album under water with a producer that bleeds from his eyes because of the awesome amount of metal, then explodes while getting chased by a nuclear seahorse. Heh. Good stuff. :)

Wish me luck tomorrow. :D

D

destruction is fun!

So I demo'ed most of the half wall today. It was quite fun!! Some work, but still fun. It took about 5 or 6 hours and there's still more to do, but I didn't want a big gaping hole next to the cellar stairs. The dogs are smart enough, or frightened enough, but the puppy is still in a clueless stage and I'd like for her to not fall down the stairs and break her neck. :)

While I was busy swinging a hammer, the kids were outside enjoying the beautiful weather. Tweak got 4 paws in the pool today! For a while, I thought I had the only Border Collie in the world that didn't like water. :p Looks like that might change.

Terrie came over towards the end of the destruction. We went to the New Balance outlet to get new sneakers. I've blown out the heels on the 2 pairs I have and hers were like 2 years old. I found 3 pairs I like, a new gym bag, a couple of work-out shirts, some socks, and a water bottle - spending *far* more than I intended. Sigh.

After that we walked up to a restaurant in the square (don't blink or you'll miss it), had a few beers (Happy Cinco de Mayo - without the crappy beer requirement) and lunch. There was a wonderfully drunk guy at the bar. He made lunch fun. Not. :p

While there, we watched the Kentucky Derby. I've never sat and watched it before - interesting. I have no idea why it's as big as it is however. It's one race! They go around the track, what, once? Whatever floats your boat I guess. I just don't get it, nor am I impressed.

I'm of two minds about horse and dog racing. First, there's a part of me that really likes watching it! Is that surprising? Well, I do. The natural grace of the animal while in full run is incredible. Unless Planet Earth is going to do a special on wild stallions running across the land, I don't get to see that often. I can appreciate the beauty of the animal, the movement, the muscle's moving, the speed, it's all beautiful.

The other half of me wants to take the crops they use and whip the shit out of the riders. Fuckers. They don't give the horse an apple after it's done running, they do victory laps. The rider gets all the attention, not the horse. I'm sure it's good to walk the horse around after the run so it's muscles don't cramp up or something, but jeez, pay some attention to the horse!

(Kid Rock is on CSI:NY - what's up with that? And there's no mosh pit? How realistic is that?)

We came back here, where I did some training with the kiddo. It really doesn't seem like a lot does it? It's been a really full day though! The kids are all tuckered out. Millie, Freddie, and Pacie are under the blanket on the couch. The puppy is at my feet, head on my sneaker, passed out.

Tomorrow I have flyball practice from 8-10am. Then I'm dropping Freddie & Tweak off and picking up my baby cousin. We're heading down to the recording studio so she can make a demo CD. She has an amazing voice, hitting notes I couldn't hit in my dreams. I'm hoping she's going to take care of me when she's all rich and famous. :p

But, if I'm to get any of that done (I should really say - if I'm gonna get to flyball practice on time), I need to head to bed.

Oh, remind me to take an allergy pill in the morning please. I can't stand these itchy eyes anymore. I keep forgetting.

D

coupla pics

I took some quick pics before leaving the house this morning:


White & Purple Violas intermingling with Pink ground Phlox. (I'll have to move them so the don't get smothered.)

A delicate white Tulip.

The Japanese Maple is starting to bloom.

Tweak at 12 weeks old. Look at those ears!!

"Candy-stripe" ground Phlox.

My Parrot tulips have bloomed. I love these flowers! (Need to plant more!)

new game

Tweak has a new game. From the couch, she'll do a kowabonga on to Millie's back, bite her neck, and hang on for dear life. :p Millie clearly doesn't mind or she would've told her off by now. Did you know Tweak's head can fit in Millie's mouth effortlessly? Neither did I, until Millie reminded Tweak of it yesterday when she pushed her too far. Being a hound/lab mix, she's got miles of extra, floppy skin that Tweak loves to grab. Right now the puppy is chewing on her front leg like it's a ham bone. :p

My morning routine has changed with the puppy. We get up, go potty outside (the dogs, not I), and when we come back in, we do some quick training with about 1/4 of her breakfast. Then it's bite inhibition time with Millie & Pacie while I check email, blog, etc. I'll jump in the shower after that, puppy goes in her crate with a bone. When I'm done we all go outside (weather permitting for me), they do their last bit of business, I'll pick up poop, water plants, or go through my mental to do list (which never shortens.)

That's about it. If you call, I'll be doing one of those things. :)

Last night I watched the Springloaded video on how to start training your puppy. I'm doing some things backwards, and haven't even started doing everything they recommend. I guess I better get on the ball with that. :)

The one thing I need to conquer quickly with her is grooming. She *hates* the slicker brush, no matter how lightly I brush her. I had an easier time giving her a bath than brushing her out! We're doing *tiny* sessions, like 10-30 seconds at at time. Since that's all I have to complain about, I won't complain.

Remind me not to turn on my IM in the morning please? I hate doing tech support before I've had my coffee. Gotta go.

D

current events

When it comes to current events, what's going on in the world as a whole, I'm clueless. Seriously. I'm a complete idiot and know zilch. Short of a super huge tragedy or something that people are really passionate about, I know nothing.

I don't read the paper. Nor do I watch the news. Negativity at it's finest. I used to, but not anymore. I used to come home from work and read the paper while I ate dinner. Not now. I made a choice a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away that I didn't need to know it.

I jumped on Boston.com this morning to check the weather and looked at the latest headlines. Let's see what little gems are out there:

Lawful incest may be on its way (a game the whole family can play)
Ex-MIT dean never cited actual degree (ironic)
Fire closes bridge, T stop (destruction)
Tirades, tantrums, and tiffs (hollywood stars acting normal - shocking)
Bush vetoes troop withdrawal bill (asshole)
911 call played in NYC sex-assault trial (crime in NY? unheard of)
Lawmakers ask feds to share data on guns (illegal guns are fine, lawful owners aren't)
51 civilians killed in Afghan fighting (death and destruction)
Teacher cleared in urination dispute (what?)
FDA: Tainted feed minor threat to humans (who cares if the animals eat it?)

Now of course I picked articles that sounded bad. I'll even admit there was one story that kinda made me smile - the elderly having a prom. Other than that, nothing there really gives me the warm and fuzzies. I can't read that stuff and think "It's great to be alive! I can't wait to start my day!" I will also admit that the pages weren't littered with drive-by shootings in JP & Dorchester like they were when I decided to stop being an informed citizen. Maybe things have changed. Drive-by shootings or war. Hmmm.... Maybe they haven't.

So I'm an idiot and I'm going to stay that way until I decide the media has stopped focusing on the sensational and crappy.

I'd rather focus on how cute the puppy is. Or how wonderful Millie is with teaching her how to play right. Or how Pacie gets her energy out by bombing around the yard. Or how Freddie is getting her interested in tennis balls. :) I'd rather focus on what great friends I have, what smart, funny, intelligent people are in my life. How great my life is (even though I've been known to bitch at times.) There's enough bad stuff out there and I have a choice to bring it into my life or ignore it.

There are countless arguments against my reasoning, I know that. If you want to debate them, shoot me a note - I'm always up for a good debate! But, it's what works for me, at least so far, so I'm sticking to it until it doesn't work for me anymore.

Thank you, drive through. :)

D

haha

Pacie & Tweak are playing tug of war with a toy. Pacie, clearly the stronger of the two, is dragging her around the floor like a mop. :)

Work was crazy, as usual. Y'know how if you're going on vacation there's a bunch of crap that needs to be done before you leave? And you spend the entire week before running around like a chicken with your head cut off? Yeah, well I'm not getting the vacation but that's where I'm at.

Jason came by tonight to take measurements and stuff for the bookcase. I'm really excited though, it's going to be absolutely amazing when it's finished. I have a lot of demolition to do this weekend! I don't think I have much planned except for practice so I should have plenty of time. Oh wait, I think I'm going out Friday night. :p4

I've been reading up on teaching a dog self control. The best training in the world won't matter a bit if the dog doesn't learn some semblance of self-control. It's been 9 years since I've had a puppy and I need to refresh my memory. :) Anyway, I'm about half way through it and it seems I still have another month or so before I need to start teaching her. Hopefully she'll pick that up as easily as everything else. Heck, maybe she'll just have it normally! HA!!

She's so much fun though! Let's see, we've worked on sit, down, spin, & heel. Last night we started working on come. Tonight we worked on come again once Jason left. She's funny, she anticipates me calling her so she'll take a few steps, stop, turn, and look at me like "is this when I get the treat?" We do a little bit of training every day, small sessions, different commands each time. I feel like I'm so far behind, but she's only been here for a bit over a month! :)

Today I learned what prick ears are - ears that stand up. :) In Min Pins, we say they're either floppy or they stand up. Who would've thought there's a special name for it? haha I don't know if it happens at a certain age or not or if they're preferred over floppy ones. I think her ears are cute doing the half and half thing and I hope they stay that way. :)

Time to let the kids out and head to bed.

D