tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-167985742024-03-12T03:12:22.540-04:00Dawn's Blog HouseA tiny cyber space for a few thoughts. They might be funny. They might be cynical. They might be profound. But they're mine. If you're unhappy with any of it, please close your browser window (it's the little X in the top right hand corner.) Oh yeah, and no stealing - my writing is copyrighted 2005-2012.Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.comBlogger740125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-35861756497537794222012-06-10T05:44:00.000-04:002012-06-10T05:44:19.712-04:00Made it!Tweak, Ash, Pitch & I boarded a plane 7pm Monday night and got here 8am Tuesday morning. The flight isn't 13 hours long, it's only 7 but there's a 6 hour time difference, hence the 8am arrival time. The dogs made it through with flying colors, although Tweak stress slept alot of that day away. The Borderstaffies just wanted their next meal. :p<br />
<br />
My friend Dina followed the next day with Simi as I couldn't take all 4 with me at the same time. That was a little bit of planning that had me relying on multiple friends to have everything go off without a hitch. Susan to take us to the airport Monday and then take care of Simi for me until Kate could bring her to the airport the next day to meet up with Dina, who flew down to Newark from Boston on an earlier flight. But, everything went off without a hitch, all parties are now in Norway and WOW do I have some amazing friends or what!<br />
<br />
The first couple of days for me and Dina were about getting used to the time difference and taking small walks here or there. Once we were somewhat adjusted we started doing touristy stuff - went downtown and window shopped, saw the American Embassy which is guarded more heavily than Fort Knox, visited the King's Castle and gardens, spent some time at the wharf at city hall plaza, did some shopping, etc., etc., etc.<br />
<br />
The amount of walking these people do is surreal. Man is my ass going to be fine though once I get used to it. I complain all the time about it to whomever will listen but secretly I'm happy I am forced to have more regular exercise in my life. Staying home all the time in an effort to save money doesn't really lend one to have an in-shape physique. Well, I guess that wouldn't be true if I had any desire to exercise but given the choice between being lazy and exercising, I'm picking lazy every single time.<br />
<br />
The dogs are adjusting incredibly well. They go for walks multiple times a day and have had a few trips down to the park for some longer walks and frisbee sessions. They aren't reacting to the outside doors opening and closing or people walking up and down the stairs. All in all they're doing way better than I had hoped.<br /><br />The dog food selection here is really limited. You can feed Pro Plan, Science Diet or Eukanuba and that's about it. Nobody feeds raw here, you can't even buy marrow bones in the market! But we did find one store that carries a limited selection of higher quality food. We visited them yesterday to buy food and found out that they're moving locations next week and will actually be closer to us. I'm cool with that because walking with a 30lb bag of dog food doesn't really give me the warm fuzzies.<br />
<br />
Today is Sunday and the world stops in Norway on Sunday. You can probably count the amount of things open on a Sunday on one hand. Luckily for us Museums are exempt from the day of rest and are open. We have plans to visit the Viking Ship Museum (vikingskiphuset) today and maybe a few others that are in the area. But generally a lazy day is planned so we can somewhat recover from the walking tour of Oslo. All of us are feeling it in one way or another. :p<br /><br />~D<br />
<br />Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-44943673614628615602012-04-24T18:56:00.000-04:002012-04-24T18:56:03.119-04:00Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...Sooooo, I guess I've been pretty awful at keeping up with the blog thing. I'll try harder.<br /><br />It's been over a year since my last post and a lot has happened in that time. Here's a small recap:<br /><br /> - LOVED Norway<br />
- married the most wonderful man in the world
<br /> - got a puppy for Christmas last year<br /> - got my honey for both Christmas AND my birthday<br /> - had my personal belongings packed up to move to Norway.<br />
<br />
Our wedding was in a cute inn near Mt. Washington in NH. There were a total of 6 people there (including inn staff). It was a dream wedding - no stress, everything done for us during the middle of the week in the fall. I wanted to do it in shorts and a tank top near the pool but honey wanted to have pictures of us all dressed up so I got an official wedding dress. It was *perfect*.<br /><br />Pitch joined our household in December. He is related to both of my dogs Simi (BC) and Ash (BS). He has the same mom as Simi - one of my favorite dogs, a Border Collie named Tetris owned by my friend Kelly and the same dad as Ash - a Staffordshire Bull Terrier dream of a dog named Hemi owned by my friend Sarah. Ash calls him his mini-me and plays with him when Simi isn't. He is sweet and energetic, just like his siblings. His nickname is Piglet and once life slows down, will start his flyball training.<br /><br />Tweak was unimpressed with her little brother and continuously looks at me with eyes that plead for the whole world to go away except for her and I. She'll survive. :p<br /><br />Jan came here for the holidays and I was *thrilled*! We were pretty busy, like always, but it was great to have him here to experience an American Christmas. I'm looking forward to seeing how the Norwegians do the holidays this year. :)<br /><br />The movers came last week and packed up everything I was taking in wooden crates to be shipped over seas. It looks like I'll have a month or so before heading over there myself to start the rest of my life with my honey. I couldn't be happier and am seriously looking forward to it.<br /><br />
DDawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-54732192588396664212012-04-24T18:54:00.000-04:002012-04-24T18:56:34.005-04:00Day 5 - travel to Bergen/AlesundWe were up at 5:30am this morning (11:30pm EST) so we could begin traveling to the coast. We're on our way (as I type) to visit Jan's parents - our own version of Planes, Trains and Automobiles. We took the bus to the train station and got there early (see what happens when I'm not in charge of timing...). We got some coffee that could grow hair on your chest at 7-11 in the train station and hung around for a bit. <br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We're currently on the train (has wifi) and will get into Bergen about 3pm this afternoon. We'll walk around, have dinner and then board a ship for an overnight cruise to Alesund. We should be able to get some really good scenic pictures from the boat. It's still light out here around 9pm'ish so light shouldn't be a problem.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The scenery along the way is pretty cool - used Jan's camera and got a couple of cool shots of water/mountains/trees. To me it's similar to driving in Vermont or very western MA, but those places aren't as expansive and spread out. There is still snow on the ground in some places, which is kinda odd. But mostly there are just a ton of trees. No matter where you look, trees. Sometimes there's something in addition to the trees but you can always count on seeing trees. Lots and lots of trees. Did I mention there were a few trees?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Not sure if we'll have internet later or not...<br />
<br />
D<br />
<br />
Edit: Found this post as a draft from last year's trip and figured I'd publish. :)</div>Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-63506594324037614682011-04-23T05:08:00.002-04:002011-04-23T05:26:47.345-04:00Day 4 - Vigeland ParkWith the Easter holiday and everything being closed, we took the bus (woohoo!) to Vigeland Park in Oslo. What a nice park! It was *huge* and had lots of statues and different sections. I posted some pics on FB so go look there for them. <div><br /></div><div>The park was named after the sculptor that created all of the statues in it, most notably <a href="http://cruises.about.com/od/northerneuropeancruises/ig/Oslo--Norway-Pictures/Vigeland-s-Angry-Boy-Statue.htm">Angry Boy</a> and <a href="http://vigeland.museum.no/no/vigelandsparken/monolitten">The Monolith</a>. That park wouldn't last a week in the US as there are naked statues of adults and children doing normal every day things scattered about the park. Definitely something the Europeans have over Americans - not being too prudish about statues depicting people as we were made.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm not sure how it happened but we kinda lost track of time yesterday. Going to the park was the only thing we did and we were only gone about 4 hours. I have no idea where the rest of the day went but know we had a pretty good day just being together. :)</div><div><br /></div><div>D</div>Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-74202555749590909872011-04-22T05:42:00.002-04:002011-04-22T06:32:18.190-04:00Ahhhh Day 3 :)<p>Day 3 was relaxing day!!</p><p>This weekend is the Easter holiday and Norwegians take their holidays seriously - most people have Thurs, Fri & Mon off from work to celebrate. BTW, those are paid holidays. So, with most people off of work, most places are closed. In the US there's always something open - even xmas day some places are open for those that don't celebrate the holiday. You can go to a movie or do a little shopping at select stores. Not here. No way, no how. NOTHING is open.</p><p>So we spent the day indoors, talking, playing games, listening to music, watched a movie - basically just being all lovey dovey and enjoying each other's company. Ahhhh.</p><p>Jan has made a homemade meal every night so far. Last night was a dish called KlippFisk - a traditional Norwegian dish made with dried, salted Cod, potatoes, onions and butter. The fish was a little stronger than I am used to and I had to eat each piece of fish with a piece of potato due to the high salt flavor but it was pretty good. I told Jan next time we'd have to grab some sour cream - that would change it from good to great for me. :)</p><p>The weather has been typical spring weather - nice when it's nice, cold and rainy when it isn't nice. Actually, yesterday was a bit cloudy but that has really been the extent of the bad weather here. It's been mostly sunny and in the low 60's for the most part. Oddly enough, thinking back on our walking trip through the city, most Norwegians were covered up in one way or another and I thought it was beautiful, just has a t-shirt on. For people used to "cold weather", they didn't seem to think it was all that warm.</p><p>We have plans tomorrow to take a train to the coast, then take an overnight cruise to his hometown to visit his family. Not sure what is on the agenda today, probably out walking somewhere. :p We'll see what day 4 brings us!</p><p>D</p>Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-80161376715588815132011-04-22T04:34:00.002-04:002011-04-22T05:42:02.885-04:00Day two - ouch<p>So, like any big city around the world, if the public transportation infrastructure works, there's no need for a car. Jan lives in the city, his walk to work takes 10 minutes. He walks everywhere and when he needs to go further, he takes a bus/train/taxi.</p><p>I'm spoiled. I don't walk anywhere, I jump in my car and go wherever I need to. I don't think about distance, I just go. So when he said we could easily walk to downtown Oslo, I really should've thought about that little fact.</p><p>If you ask him, I complained the whole way. If you ask me, I didn't complain nearly as much as I could've. :p </p><p>Like I said to him, keep in mind I'm coming off of a flyball tournament (sore), am fat, old and out of shape and I'm used to walking to the next room or to the car. Sad but true.</p><p>We walked to what they call downtown and saw a few famous sites. We walked up to the King's castle (Norwegian castles aren't like what you see in movies apparently - get rid of the old Irish or English stone architecture with lots of turrets and stuff mental image - it's a big rectangular building. Think business building with a few touches of grandeur. We walked to a pier, saw a few ferries, saw lots of people having lunch at outdoor cafes, saw lots of stores.</p><p>BTW, they don't have stores like Walmart here. If you need food, you go to the food store. If you need towels, you go to a housewares store, clothes, a clothes store, etc., etc. To run errands that we would normally go to a Walmart/Target/etc. and do one stop shopping doesn't exist here.</p><p>I think that would totally tax my planning capabilities to the max. No one stop shopping?!?! Ugh. I'm so spoiled.</p><p>All in all we had a really good day - spent a lot of time walking around in the warm spring weather (3 hours to be precise, not a short jaunt), looking around, did a tiny bit of shopping, people watched and if you ask him, complained. :p</p><p>D</p>Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-72587767332800471052011-04-20T06:03:00.003-04:002011-04-20T07:16:41.850-04:00Norway, Day 1<p>I figured it was easier to write about my experiences here than to people individually. Plus, I'm sure to have some... ahem, experiences.. here that I wouldn't have in the US.</p><p>The flight over wasn't as bad as I thought it would be - about 8 hours or so in the air. It was an overnight flight and I thought I'd be able to sleep but that was quite impossible. I'm thinking about buying a pillow at iKea and bringing it home with me - maybe that will help me sleep on the plane. ;)</p><p>I'll say "Norwegian" a lot but really I mean Scandinavian. I think there is a lot that is common between the countries. Not having visited the others, I can't say for sure but I'm going off of what Jan says and from what I do know about the area.</p><p>Mostly, I think I'll talk about food as that seems to be the biggest difference so far. I'll also impart language lessons from time to time as I encounter them - just have to figure out how to add the special vowels they have. </p><p>First lesson of the day: Kaffe is coffee. It's stronger than most basic American coffee but not as strong as Starbucks. It's quite good but I'd recommend learning how many "cups" equals how many "liters". It's important when futzing around with coffee makers - trust me.</p><p>Last night Jan made dinner - pasta from scratch with a cheesy cream sauce, chicken, mushrooms and prosciutto. It was delicious and a good introduction to home cooked Norwegian meals.</p><p>Side note: I did tell him I would try anything he put in front of me but he doesn't want to force me to eat anything. He's so sweet. <3</p><p>This morning he made breakfast. I guess a lot of meals are somewhat tappas style - just put out lots of little stuff you like. He cooked bacon and eggs (Swedish bacon is a lot saltier than American bacon but the rest is the same), then put out an assortment of stuff: bread, butter, peanut butter and strawberry jam (in case I didn't like the other stuff), yellow cheese, brown cheese and finally, pickled herring in tomato sauce.</p><p>Bacon & Eggs - check. Not much of a difference there. Same with PB & Jam, butter, bread and the yellow cheese. I guess they have 3 kinds of cheese - white cheese, yellow cheese and brown cheese lol. We had yellow cheese last night with the pasta - it's kind of like a type of mozzarella but not. Hard to explain but good. </p><p>Tried the herring. It wasn't totally disgusting, I didn't need to spit it out or anything but it's not something I would request. They call it a tomato sauce but it's more like a shrimp cocktail sauce with onions - not as much of a bite as American cocktail sauce but very much the same flavor. So, not my thing.</p><p>The brown cheese was a pleasant surprise. I've seen YouTube videos of Americans trying brown cheese for the first time and I was not really looking forward to it. First, a few things about brown cheese - it is cheese, made the same way or similarly to regular cheese. It's brown because of the sugar content in the cream according to Jan. Like an other sugar, the longer you cook it, the more of a caramel you get. Same thing with this cheese apparently. </p><p>It was really pretty good. It's a fairly soft cheese and comes in varying degrees of "brownness". The darker brown it is, the more the sugar was cooked. I tried a fairly light version of it, Jan's favorite, Flotemysost (the first "o" is supposed to have a slash thru it). It was a mild flavored cheese that was pretty sweet - much more sweet than I'm used to, but good. It had a later taste of a soft caramel. Now I'd guess that a sweet, soft, caramel tasting cheese sounds pretty bizarre but it was quite good.</p><p>One thing I have noticed is that things are generally smaller here. When you buy a package of bacon, it's not like an American package of bacon. It probably has about 1/4 of what you'd get in an American package. The pillows are more square than rectangular. They are very conscious of and very good at managing space. </p><p>We're heading downtown in a little bit and I'm going to bring my camera. We'll see what kind of pics and shopping we do!</p><p>D</p>Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-15750435645411192132010-09-07T20:32:00.002-04:002010-09-07T21:13:22.603-04:00The longest 5 weeks of my life...<p>Ok, I know 5 weeks is 5 weeks but the next 5 weeks is going to feel like eternity even though it's passing by pretty quickly.</p><p>I have been friends with a man for quite a while now. We both play this stupid game on facebook, which is how we met. To make a really long story short we are now dating in a complicated, odd kind of way and have been for a few months I think. I'm so bad at time, I have no idea what the date was. </p><p>Anyway, going back to making the long story short, he'll be here in 5 weeks and I can't even begin to describe how excited I am. We'll have 2 full months together! We'll live day to day life together as well as some weekend trips and a week in Florida doing the Disney/Universal thing.</p><p>~~!!! EXCITEMENT !!!~~</p><p>The reason why he's visiting for 2 months and not a weekend or week like a normal guy/relationship? Because he lives in Norway. Makes sense, right? :p</p><p>If you know me well, you're probably rolling your eyes and chuckling. If you don't know me, well, let's just say I'm not known for doing things like other people. I tend to take the long, winding road instead of the easy road. </p><p>omg, 5 weeks...</p><p>D</p>Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-52245521963646678122010-05-10T16:57:00.002-04:002010-05-10T18:13:01.390-04:00I am one of those...It shocked me today to realize that I have turned into one of *those* people. We all know them, tolerate them to a point and avoid them the rest of the time. Well, I've joined the club - instead of pulling out baby pictures and telling people what great new thing little Johnny did, I do it with the dogs.<div><br /></div><div>I'm not actually sure when I turned into one of those people, maybe my friends can help me pin point it sometime. But, as sure as shit, I am one now. Apparently I can't go anywhere or talk to anyone without bringing up some silly thing one of the dogs did. Or I'll start talking about the dogs, then segue over to flyball, which really gets them to yawning. </div><div><br /></div><div>Crap! When did this happen? Last I knew I could hold a normal conversation with normal people and get along just fine in the world of normal people. Sadly, it looks like that time has passed for me. Bummer dude.</div><div><br /></div><div>I guess I'll have to be more aware in the future - talk dog stuff with dog people and non-dog stuff with non-dog people. The problem I can foresee is that I do so much dog stuff that I am kind of limited on non-dog stuff knowledge.</div><div><br /></div><div>Darn.</div><div><br /></div><div>D </div>Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-80894673054656005892009-12-24T09:28:00.002-05:002009-12-24T10:19:13.685-05:00the HolidaysIt's Christmas Eve and I still have a few things to do before heading to my aunt's house tonight for the extended family gathering. It used to be all the aunts, uncles and cousins but has shriveled down to just my siblings and my cousin Sue & her family. We're really not sure where all the other cousins are - they faded out of the family years ago for reasons we don't know. It's kind of sad because we used to have such fun during the holidays together. It's been so many years since any of us have seen them that we aren't even sure how to get in touch with them. How sad.<div><br /></div><div>This year I'm having trouble with my holiday spirit, as in, it's missing. I didn't put up the tree or decorate at all, which is probably part of it but certainly not all. It's been a tough year and I think the fact that I'm coming up on a year of being unemployed is starting to effect me. I'm not all Bah Hum-buggy or anything, just more neutral. Usually I have a lot, especially on Xmas eve and I'm hoping I'll feel a little bit of it tonight when I'm with my family.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, the festivities are the same as they always are - Christmas Eve at my aunt's house, Christmas morning at my cousin's house and Christmas afternoon/night at my Dad's house. The dogs will open their gifts after Sue's and before Dad's - we'll see if Ash can figure out how to open gifts this year. :)</div><div><br /></div><div>I have a few last minute things to pick up today but am done otherwise. I only bought gifts for kids this year so I don't have a lot of wrapping to do, which I'll do today. </div><div><br /></div><div>I suppose I should get my ass in gear so I'm not late (Ha!) and get everything done that I need to.</div><div><br /></div><div>Whatever holiday you celebrate, I wish you the absolute best!!</div><div><br /></div><div>D</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-69075217688708407762009-09-23T22:33:00.002-04:002009-09-23T23:16:45.269-04:00Stupid little rat with legs...Today was a *gorgeous* day - absolutely divine! I was a good girl and did all the things I was supposed to first thing - exercised the dogs, finished and mailed out some tugs, checked the PO Box, went to the bank, went to the unemployment office, went to the supermarket and then came home. I played with the dogs while doing some stuff outside - it's time to empty the vegetable planters that are done producing so I can put everything away.<div><br /></div><div>After playing frisbee with the Tweak & Ash (thankfully they've stopped crashing into each other when I play them at the same time), I figured I'd let them cool down and play in the pool. Millie & Freddie were out as well, but they were on the other side of the gate that separates the pool from the rest of the deck.</div><div><br /></div><div>(I just have to interrupt my train of thought here and say that one of the dogs is so totally gassing me out of the freakin' room right now. )</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, after playing for a while, Freddie jumped the gate to join us. This happens pretty frequently - he tries to steal the frisbee out of one of the dog's mouths when they're climbing out of the pool - and usually it's nothing to worry about. Not today.</div><div><br /></div><div>The little shit jumped over just as I threw the frisbee in for Tweak. He scooted right past me and started walking along the rim of the pool, which is a few inches below but right next to the deck, up until a certain point. Needless to say, he was unsuccessful in walking along the rim not next to the deck and fell into the pool. </div><div><br /></div><div>I wasn't really worried as he can swim on his own for short distances without my help. I just went over to the stairs and called him over. He was panicking tho' and couldn't hear me. Weirdly enough, he wasn't horizontal in the water, he was vertical. It's like he was walking on his hind legs in the water. Weird.</div><div><br /></div><div>He went under once, then went under again which succeeded in freaking me out and had me jumping into the pool, shoes and all, to save the little idiot. Thankfully Tweak and Ash are good swimmers and got out like normal since I wasn't paying the least bit attention to them while this was going on.</div><div><br /></div><div>The stupid little rat with legs was/is fine tho'. (But whichever dog is farting must have eaten something dead to have this kind of torrential gaseous eruption.)</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm heading down to New Jersey for the 10th Annual Min Pin rescue picnic. It was 11 years ago that we started the Internet Miniature Pinscher Service. I think Millie will be kept downstairs for the picnic since there's usually like 80 dogs or so that attend. She's better with Min Pins than with any other breed, but she's getting older and doesn't put up with as much as she used to. I'll let Freddie (the family Min Pin representative), Tweak & Ash have all the fun. I imagine Tweak will start herding all of the Min Pins at some point in the day and when that happens she'll go away too. </div><div><br /></div><div>Should be fun!</div><div><br /></div><div>D</div>Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-41516637459520446292009-09-20T23:43:00.003-04:002009-09-21T00:14:45.663-04:00What a cutie...James <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Marsden</span> - total <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">freakin</span>' yum. Wouldn't have known his name but I've been seeing him on TV a lot lately and figured I'd put a name with the drool action.<div><br /></div><div>Ash & Tweak are getting their final 32<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">nd</span> wind out of their system by doing box turns off of every piece of furniture, and me, in the living room while playing Crocodiles and Alligators. Gotta love that energy level!!</div><div><br /></div><div>This weekend I started helping my grandmother weed down her stuff yet again. She's moving into an assisted living facility and I/we will need to pack everything up. Again. Every time my grandmother has moved, I've helped pack her up. I'm getting pretty good at it since she's moved like 4 times in the last 10 years and it's generally just my aunt, uncle & self that do it.</div><div><br /></div><div>I went over to Dina's house this afternoon to start working with her dog. She was going to sign up for classes and then thought, boy that's stupid. So, for the next 6 weeks I'll be heading over to help her with basic obedience. We worked on sit, heeling and come today. Frisco did fabulously - quite the quick little learner and food motivated, which works very well with clicker training. Eventually I'll get out there with Ash and do all the same stuff! I've been so <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">lackadaisical</span> with his training.</div><div><br /></div><div>I started writing in my journal again, in addition to blogging. I like going back and reading what I've written. I take very large hiatuses from the hard copy version, only writing when I have something to figure out that I don't want to share with the world or when I'm feeling especially creative and want to write poetry or something. I found a couple of kick ass poems I wrote a long time ago. They make perfect sense to me but since perception is key in everything, I'm sure they'd mean totally different things to different people.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have a store order to finish, the website to fix and a whole lot of cleaning to do this week. Tomorrow is supposed to be really nice so I'll probably swim the dogs a couple of times. I worked with Tweak on a couple of freestyle moves that I learned from the Apryl & Ron seminar. I have a few things in the works that I'll continue to work on with them. More info on that later - like if/when it's done. :p</div><div><br /></div><div>D</div>Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-26258184812028105172009-09-18T12:08:00.002-04:002009-09-18T12:57:35.842-04:00sometimes life hands you lemons...It's been that kind of week - Murphy's Law on a rampage like bride-to-be's on the day of the Filene's Bridal sale.<div><br /></div><div>I could be all philosophical and say when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. But I own more shares in lemonade than I care to admit and am tired of the bitter taste in my mouth.</div><div><br /></div><div>Really what you have to do is just breathe through it. Breathe and dodge. Shit happens. Shit will always happen and really your dodgeball training as a kid will help you more than knowing how to make lemonade. Well, that and a good shower.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think I popped about 28 new gray hairs this week with all the stress & crap. Most I won't even mention. </div><div><br /></div><div>My friend's dog passed this week - they think he was poisoned in some way, maybe even from eating mushrooms. Peri was a therapy dog who finally got his own little boy this year. So sad.</div><div><br /></div><div>Scooby has gone quiet so it doesn't look like anything's happening there. I'll be in NJ next weekend but doubt I'll see him. Another one bites the dust.</div><div><br /></div><div>Next week will be better, life can't suck for all that long!</div><div><br /></div><div>So to raise my spirits and mood, I'm heading to G&E's tonight for Great Chow and cigars. :) I love sitting in front of the firepit, there's something so zen about watching flames with people you love to be with. Beer helps.</div><div><br /></div><div>In good news, AgilityVision.com just picked up Tweak's Tugs. :) A rush order was sent to them this week for their booth at the NADAC Championships. I guess I need to start learning what all this agility stuff means :) So if you're there, talk up the tugs!!</div><div><br /></div><div>D</div>Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-57277760866990763502009-09-08T21:31:00.003-04:002009-09-08T22:09:59.695-04:00got a lot of crap done...I have been pro-duc-tive. I did actually re-arrange the bedroom on Sunday. Yay for me. :) I'm actually really digging the set up too - no idea why I didn't think of it before!<div><br /></div><div>I FAILED on Sunday tho' when I totally forgot to head down to G&E's to babysit that night. I need reminders for that sort of stuff, like call me a couple of hours before and remind me it's Sunday and I should be driving to your house. I have no concept of days or time anymore, sadly. It's no excuse, I should've had a brain. Thankfully our friend Sarah wasn't doing anything and was able to head over. Also thankfully, she lives closer.</div><div><br /></div><div>Monday was spent getting orders and samples completed for the mail today. I also cut all the mats and bathed my male cat - that was a ton of fun. Not. I've been catching up on the laundry situation, doing pretty well too, believe it or not. All the dog laundry from the whole freakin' summer is done. I only have 4 or 5 loads of my stuff left.</div><div><br /></div><div>Speaking of which, I have too many items of clothing and once all the laundry is done, I'm going through everything. Good Will is going to get a few bags of stuff from me. After that I'm going to put all that's left away in drawers like normal people instead of living out of laundry baskets.</div><div><br /></div><div>Today I went to the post office, did a few errands, stopped by my grandmother's and sliced about 40 yards of fabric for tugs. I have a store re-order I have to get done this week and another potential order coming in from an online agility site that would need to be ready in 10 days or so. Hopefully they'll be able to figure out what they want rather quickly so I'll have some time to make them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Just for the record, if it's too cold out for me to go swimming, it should be too freakin' cold out for mosquitos to fly around and bite people. Just sayin'...</div><div><br /></div><div>D</div>Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-35270709534280829852009-09-05T20:48:00.002-04:002009-09-05T21:27:22.981-04:00sucker punched by a movieI've been working on the website today - something happened and all of the changes I made months ago are no longer showing up. So I'm trying to remember what I had where, re-writing the description and explanations and basically bring it back into the world of making sense.<div><br /></div><div>The TV was on in the background - I wasn't paying attention to what was on until some silly dialogue made me look up. I spent the next 2 hours seesawing between crying my eyes out or laughing at clever quips. I just got sucker punched by a movie! P.S. I love you is a movie about a woman who loses her husband to a brain tumor at the age of 35. Before he dies, he sets up a series of letters to be delivered after he's gone - they all end with P.S. I love you. </div><div><br /></div><div>I wouldn't have watched it on purpose unless I was in the mood for a good cry, hence the sucker punch comment. It wasn't until I was further into it that I started to pick up what it was about and by that time I was hooked. And crying. A lot.</div><div><br /></div><div>A good line from it was during a breakdown the wife was having, crying on her mother's shoulder, "God. I didn't come here for you to give me some bullshit honest answer. Why can't you just lie to me just once?" It was quite difficult trying to laugh while sobbing my freakin' face off but I managed it somehow.</div><div><br /></div><div>Last night Dina & I went to G&E's for steak and cake. As always I (we) had a great time laughing and chatting. I think it's mandatory that E & I now end all of our sentences with "We're awesome." I'm not sure how that came about, I mean it's true and all, but y'know, I don't like to brag. lol</div><div><br /></div><div>Today I swam the dogs, did some dishes, got a bunch of supplies ready for the next Tweak's Tug order, went food shopping, swam the dogs and myself, again and then made dinner. Talk about freakin' yummy! I made a lemon pepper chicken with onions, garlic and this wicked yummy lemony sauce. I also made myself a caprese salad using tomatoes that were perfectly ripe from my garden. De-lish. </div><div><br /></div><div>Tomorrow is a big cleaning day - I plan on re-arranging the bedroom and hopefully reining in the out of control laundry situation. I probably won't be all that successful but here's to hoping!</div><div><br /></div><div>D</div>Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-42519787536585827042009-08-31T12:11:00.002-04:002009-08-31T12:19:17.668-04:00lawn equipmentLawn equipment and I do NOT get along. At all, in the least, *ever*. The battery died so I went to jump it and stuff started boiling out of it. I took that as a bad sign. I have to figure out how to get it back to the store (bought it this spring) without burning my skin off.<div><br /></div><div>I've been in tug making world for quite a while now. Finishing that big store order, getting things together for the next store order, making online orders that come in. All good things.</div><div><br /></div><div>My cousin came by to help me get the accounting software set up correctly so I'm not screwed royally come tax time. Can I tell you just how much I dislike that accounting crap? I have no idea in the world how people can try to figure that crap out all the time. Yikes.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yesterday I went out to breakfast with Sue & Cameron, then went to Elissa's so we could go shopping at iKea. I need to make some mugs for the next disc competition and didn't have enough in stock.</div><div><br /></div><div>Next weekend is the Ron & Apryl seminar in VT and a disc competition the next day. I'm not sure if I'll stay overnight for the disc comp or not. Still deciding. :)</div><div><br /></div><div>Short and sweet because I still have like 20 tugs to make!</div><div><br /></div><div>D</div>Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-44908420420994776792009-08-27T20:32:00.002-04:002009-08-27T20:57:05.919-04:00the sound an elephant makes.......is called trumpeting. I do what I can to share the useless information banging around in this head of mine. :)<div><br /></div><div>Soooo, last time I was in NJ I met somebody. We've been talking but I'm kind of hesitant to say anything more than that because if you've been reading my blog for any length of time at all, you know I pick men about as well as I pick lottery numbers. Since I'm not independently wealthy....yeah. I'll just say we'll see what happens and leave it at that. In the meantime, we'll call him Scooby. :)</div><div><br /></div><div>Facebook is a pretty amazing tool when utilized properly. For example, I'm in the market for a cartoonist for a small project I have. I asked if anyone could recommend someone in my status and I got 5 people to check out. Pretty darn cool.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have a couple of big orders to get out the door in the next couple of weeks. One of them I've very excited about and once it's done, I'll tell you all about it. Scooby has some great ideas on business which I'll be trying out after I get these off of my plate. He owned his own business for 20 years and learned a lot in that time, which saves me from making some of the stupid mistakes I'd be probably make. Hopefully, anyway.</div><div><br /></div><div>Tweak and Ash have been swimming 2 or 3 times a day. Tweak is very cautious, very meticulous when getting in the water. There's a right way to do it (the way I shaped her into the water) and that's the only way she's going to do it. Period.</div><div><br /></div><div>Ash, on the other hand, is a freakin' maniac. He may not ever win at it but he will certainly be my dock diving dog. He doesn't care, doesn't have a fear in the world when it comes to the pool. He'll dive off any part of the deck for any reason at all. Thankfully both of them are very well trained on the proper way to get out of the pool so I don't have to worry about my liner anymore.</div><div><br /></div><div>The way Ash learned how to swim? I was in the pool vacuuming it one afternoon and the dogs were in the yard. I was close to the edge near the yard and said hello to him. Next thing I knew, he jumped 4+ feet in the air, landed on the edge of the pool and jumped over to me not knowing it was water. They say dogs don't have that many facial expressions (as humans know them) but I'll tell you that his expression while in mid-jump into the water was so priceless it's burnt into my memory forever! After that, I started training him on the ways in and out of the pool in case he decided to do it again.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, if I open the gate to the pool area (which doesn't keep him out anyway since he just jumps over the damn thing), he's at the edge of the deck in a down/stay waiting for me to throw the frisbee for him. I'll have to get some video of him at some point.</div><div><br /></div><div>My hands are sore from tug making but that's a pretty common thing these days. A friend of a friend runs an agility site and asked about carrying Tweak's Tugs on their site. Sweet! I just got another re-order from one of the other stores that carries them locally so I'm pretty optimistic about how the business is going.</div><div><br /></div><div>Tug making time...</div><div><br /></div><div>D</div>Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-43380722192494455282009-08-24T12:53:00.002-04:002009-08-24T13:19:20.624-04:004 months...It's been quite a while since I last posted. I guess I was just going through a phase of not wanting to write. But, I miss it and so I'm back (not sure how consistently, we'll see).<div><br /></div><div>The weekend before last I was in Canada for a flyball tourney. I love catching up with friends that I don't often get to see. The teams Tweak and Freddie were on both got 1st place in their divisions, which was cool. </div><div><br /></div><div>Last weekend I was in New Jersey giving a couple of disc dog demos for a huge 4H fair they have. Tweak and Ash both did very, very well playing with the kids too. I'm not surprised, they both have very nice temperaments, unlike their mother. LOL</div><div><br /></div><div>The dogs are all doing very well. Millie is really starting to show her age, which is kinda sad. My once super obedient dog now gives me the furry FU pretty regularly. I'm not sure if it's because she's losing her hearing or she just doesn't give a crap. She has to go back on drugs to stop her leaking or else she'll have to start wearing diapers. I'll also have to get some senior dog pee pads for her if I'm out of the house for more than 4 or 5 hours. Sigh. I hate it when they get older. :(</div><div><br /></div><div>Freddie is starting to get a little more gray in the muzzle but he's not slowing down really. He's such a trooper. :) Tweak and Ash, being the youngest, are doing the best. They swim a couple of times a day now that Tweak isn't afraid of the pool any more. :) They're both trained to use the stairs so my liner is safe. I have a few videos and will post them at some point.</div><div><br /></div><div>Back to tug making. :)</div><div><br /></div><div>D</div><div><br /></div>Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-85006461645866052122009-04-28T09:35:00.002-04:002009-04-28T10:55:00.633-04:00another good thingThis happened last week but forgot to blog about it. Shoot me.<div><br /></div><div>So I went to visit the manufacturer of the hockey balls I use, Mylec, so I could become a customer and purchase directly from them. It's so much easier when you have a consistent supplier for things.</div><div><br /></div><div>I brought some rope tugs with the hockey ball on it to show them what I was doing. They liked them a lot and are going to offer them on their website, which is really very, very cool. I found out they have a glow in the dark hockey ball available as well and picked up a case of them. If I could get the tug to flouresce, that would be awesome!</div><div><br /></div><div>I found out today that one of the sheltered workshops I've been meeting with had a successful trial on making the tugs. Woohoo! I officially have help! I've only met with a dozen so far - I guess 13 IS a lucky number! So now I'm cutting tubing and rope for 30 tugs so I can drop them off tomorrow.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've done a lot of planting - way more than I should, because I know I'll eventually and unintentionally kill most of them. With my luck I won't and I'll have more beans, peas & veggies than I can handle. I potted 25 strawberry plants, think that's enough? lol</div><div><br /></div><div>I can hear Tweak snap, snap, snapping out on the deck. That means she's playing tag with one of the carpenter bees. Thankfully the males can't sting her and the females are too freakin' busy drilling holes into my house. Fuckers. Once I find out where their nest is, Dave the exterminator is coming for a visit.</div><div><br /></div><div>Ok, I have to get these tugs together today so I have the afternoon to play in the pool. Temps are supposed to get up to 95 and you can bet your ass I'll be in pool regardless of how cold the water is!</div><div><br /></div><div>D</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-81618684694645171982009-04-20T08:55:00.003-04:002009-04-20T09:50:23.082-04:00lots of stuffI've been thinking lately how fear is a bigger motivator as you grow older... at least for me it is. Now there are so many things I have going on in my life that I want to continue, where as before, I didn't really understand what I'd be losing if something happened. I'm not as fearless as I once was and that's a good thing. <div><br /></div><div>The other thing that happens as you grow older (and have more experience) is that your not so quick to react in an emergency type way. 10 years ago if Millie came in the house limping or had a bump on her, we'd be at the vet within an hour. Now, I rest her up, ice her down and wait to see if it's something simple like a sprain or something that needs vet care.</div><div><br /></div><div>Before, I'd be at the doctor for any weird pain. Now, eh. I'll head to the doctor if it doesn't clear up in a few weeks or so - sometimes months. I just think it's funny how things change over time.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've been slowly getting things done at the homefront. This weekend was phase one of my planting. I planted in containers:</div><div><br /></div><div>25 strawberry plants, 1 blueberry plant, 2 pepper plants, 1 oregano plant, 2 tomato plants and 1 flat leaf parsely plant.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have seedlings started for canteloupe, big beef & cherry tomatoes, broccoli, spinach, romaine, eggplant, lettuce, more parsely, rosemary, basil & sage.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm doing everything in containers and will pick up 2 large kiddie pools once they come out for the may plantings of corn, squash, cucumbers & whatever else I bought seeds for that I can't remember.</div><div><br /></div><div>Oh, I also have to plant the raspberry and blackberry bushes. Unfortunately those can't be in containers and I don't have any really good places to put them where the dogs can't get at them. It looks like they're going to have to be planted along the fence in the dog yard. Oh well, I just won't pick from the bottom. ;)</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm sure someone, somewhere is taking wages on how much stuff I'll unintentionally kill. Better get in now!</div><div><br /></div><div>Sunday we headed up to Jo's house for an outdoor flyball practice. The great outdoors changes everything for the pups when they're completely used to running indoors. But, they all held it together wonderfully - especially with a loose chicken in the area. I thought for sure a few of them would be tugging for a drumstick.</div><div><br /></div><div>We did some power jumping in teams so they were racing against each other while power jumping with the dogs that currently race. Then we worked with Fury over some jumps and Ash on the flat. </div><div><br /></div><div>Ash decided he does, in fact, like tugging now. I had his attention the whole time and he was on the tug when it was out. Good boy! </div><div><br /></div><div>I threw some videos up on youtube of all of the team kids. Unfortunately the videos for Tweak & Jigger didn't come out. Doesn't it just figure!</div><div><br /></div><div>I've got a rope order coming today, I have a hundred title awards to make, a couple of suppliers to call and job searching to do. Busy day.</div><div><br /></div><div>D</div><div><br /></div>Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-43950384238538725292009-04-03T09:04:00.002-04:002009-04-03T09:15:03.953-04:00It's flyball time!We're in Downington, PA for Revolution's tourney - Bare Naked Flyball. I'll leave the name alone but let your head go where it will.<br /><br />Pacie & Millie are staying at Aunty Susan's house while Freddie, Tweak, Ash & I are racing. Ash isn't really racing, he's just along for the ride to get used to the environment. I've been thinking of leaving him with A.S. too as she'd take him and do some training with him. :p I probably won't tho'.<br /><br />In other news, <span style="font-weight: bold;">GO SIGN UP FOR CAMP IF YOU'RE PLANNING ON COMING THIS YEAR! </span><br /><br />The economy sucks but this is probably your best bet at an affordable vacation - AND you can bring your dog!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.campbarkinghills.com">http://www.campbarkinghills.com</a><br /><br />If there aren't enough registrations by April 15th, camp won't be happening this year. You really don't want to see me cry, do you?!<br /><br />DDawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-25015779893972353722009-04-02T09:11:00.003-04:002009-04-02T09:22:14.095-04:00It's spring in New Jersey...And I'm beyond freaked out! Now, I'm not sure if we have these things up north or not but I know I've never seen them near my house. There's probably a name for them too, other than Donna referring to them as stink bugs, but holy crap are they fugly!<br /><br />They look prehistoric, like they were around in the monolithic era - hard shell with ridges along the side - they're kinda shaped like a spade or an arrow tip. According to Donna you can't smush them because they'll stink up the house. Ugh!<br /><br />There's one that's been flying around my head all morning, causing me to dance around and shriek. I hope her neighbors aren't home. It just fell into a vase in the sink and I feel bad that it's probably going to drown but at the same time, a dead bug is a good bug in my book. Correction, it has drowned. Now I feel bad. Sigh.<br /><br />Today I need to do some laundry and some shopping. Donna & I are heading out tonight to do the shopping part and I'm schlepping my laundry over to Susan's this morning.<br /><br />Wait! It's moving again! I'm almost tempted to pluck it out of the water because it hasn't done anything to deserve to die, like touch me or anything. But, that would involve me touching it, which ain't happening. Poor thing.... it's just gonna die.<br /><br />Anyway, once laundry is done we'll head out to lunch and talk about the new product licensing so we can get that up and running. I'm so excited about this thing, it's not even funny!<br /><br />A nice, relaxing day hanging out with friends before the craziness of a flyball weekend!<br /><br />DDawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-28308388984167151942009-03-29T18:24:00.002-04:002009-03-29T18:26:18.429-04:00WTF!Seriously, what the F*%# is wrong with people?!<br /><br />I logged in to check email and this news article is on the first page - <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/nursing_home_shooting">http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/nursing_home_shooting</a><br /><br />And people wonder why I like my dogs better than people most of the time?!?<br /><br />It just eludes me.<br /><br />DDawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-13737342924758054862009-03-27T00:08:00.002-04:002009-03-27T00:32:53.358-04:00I'd like to Introduce....<a href="http://www.tweakstugs.com">Tweak's Tugs</a>!<br /><br />I'm done! It's done! Good lord am I freakin' tired. :p<br /><br />If I wasn't so tired right now I'd probably have a feeling of relief, excitement and maybe even a little bit proud. Tomorrow I'll feel that way instead of the profound and all encompassing exhaustion I have now. ;)<br /><br />I'm relying on all of you - every single one of you - to go take a look, poke around and let me know what you think. I've been looking at it non-stop for weeks and weeks so I can't really tell the difference between one thing and the other. :p There are a few quirky things that are on the list of things to fix, like the zip code coming before the state but I could always use your help to find more.<br /><br />As if the website being live wasn't enough excitement, there are a few pet supply stores, local to me, that are considering carrying my tugs and one store that has already agreed! Dodge Grain in Salem, NH is the first store to agree to carry my products! Yay! After speaking with the owner earlier this week, I came away with an order for 6 tugs. I went by there today to drop off his order and drop off a pricing sheet and by the time I left I had another order for 14 tugs. I was jumping up and down earlier when I had some energy. ;)<br /><br />Right now, I just need to get the word out. I have a list of sites I'm going to request a link to but if you can think of any others, send them along. Other than that, tell your friends! If you have a friend that has a dog, please pass the site along to them. If you have a website, add a link to the site. If you have small pet supply stores in your area, send me their name and address so I can visit them.<br /><br />I know I'm asking a lot, especially if you don't know me personally but I can't put into words just how much I would appreciate any help! Word of mouth is the *best* way to advertise it so really, I just need you to talk about it. :)<br /><br />I need to go pass out now. I'll blog tomorrow about some other really cool things that have happened or will happen with the site.<br /><br />Don't forget - <a href="http://www.tweakstugs.com">Tweakstugs.com</a> ;)<br /><br />DDawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16798574.post-67640324237832455632009-03-21T12:39:00.003-04:002009-03-21T13:17:03.539-04:00months of updates...Ok, not months because I just don't have the memory capacity for that but it's still an update.<br /><br />I am soooooo close to getting the site live it's not even funny. Expect to see a Woohoo!! post within the next week. I can't even begin to explain what a pain in the ass this process has been but I'll summarize.<br /><br />I hired a couple of consultants to help me figure out some weird stuff. The first consultant helped identify a corrupt install of the CMS & shopping cart. I thought that was all set and was ready to customize it to how I wanted. Some of the things I wanted I didn't have the programming skills to do myself. I don't write PHP so I hired another consultant to help with that. I got scammed - hard. After a day and a half of getting it the way I wanted, the consultant deleted *everything* off of my server claiming I needed yet *another* re-install.<br /><br />ARGH!!! Not only did he delete all of the store stuff, he deleted my mail, my databases, my private files - everything. I could barely log in and called my hosting company, literally, in tears. *Thankfully* they had a backup that was just 2 hours old and put everything back where it was. Whew!<br /><br />Nothing in life is perfect, however, and I ended up needing to re-install the CMS & shopping cart *again* - of course losing ALL of the customizations I had just paid the consultant to do. Fucker.<br /><br />I seriously considered tossing my hat in and calling it a day with the website at this point. Thankfully my stubbornness turned into a boon and I started from scratch, again, determined to get it up and running come hell or high water - both things I have experience with and have overcome. ;)<br /><br />No consultants this time, just me. I re-installed everything and got it all up and running, cleanly, not corrupted and customized!<br /><br />Right now there's a blank page hiding the real deal. As soon as the photographer takes pictures of the remaining examples I gave her yesterday, the site will be live. I'm sure you can imagine the kind of happy dance I'll be doing once that happens!!<br /><br />I have a list of sites I need to contact to see if they'll link to me, I have a bunch of places to visit to see if they'll sell my product. I have a few other designs in the works that need to be dog tested (any takers?) I have more supplies to order, customizations to make to the notification emails (because they're butt ugly), but all of that can be done after the site goes live.<br /><br />Can you see what's been taking up my time lately? Hopefully it'll be worth it. :)<br /><br />I plan on sending emails to every person I know - word of mouth advertising is everything. Even if you don't plan on using them, spread the word!<br /><br />There will be a big sigh of relief when I can actually do other stuff (besides looking for a job - I've been doing that the whole time too).<br /><br />Of course I'll launch the site live and will cry my eyes out when I don't get an order that first day. :p<br /><br />Enough of that - I'll look forward to as much feedback as you care to give - both good and bad - when it goes live so *please* don't be shy and leave comments!<br /><br />The kids are doing well. Millie gets more and more creaky every day so I've ordered some supplements that will be good for her and the other kids. The puppy is growing big! He's such a sweetheart and is a lot of fun to play with, until his distracted mind notices the wall or something. He'll get it - I hear it takes a little longer with the mixes.<br /><br />Freddie has gone up in the flyball Miniature Pinscher ratings and is the 3rd Min Pin in the sport, for now. I say for now because monthly tourney season is about to hit and I'm sure the younger dogs will soon whup his ass in points. I take every victory I can get with my 10 yo man.<br /><br />I had to take a picture of Tweak for her animal actor portfolio and it came out *awesome*! I guess there's a very specific shot they use and I was pretty darn close to it. A dog food company is looking for a pair of Border Collies for a commercial next month and she's one of the dogs being submitted for the job. Fingers crossed she gets it because the household could use the extra money!<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF4bf-2z-uyGliuVjF-lszOPLRtqMzDUdWJWG5sYCQCrAM4QXmd_m6Rn81ZaVmExkuH9L0IDMq71gMBayLlvmA9VA4IUTR4p3ybUj7btT8IlGaFQEjs-dBulHjALX6R5ZG_u80sA/s1600-h/tweak_photo_pose2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 378px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF4bf-2z-uyGliuVjF-lszOPLRtqMzDUdWJWG5sYCQCrAM4QXmd_m6Rn81ZaVmExkuH9L0IDMq71gMBayLlvmA9VA4IUTR4p3ybUj7btT8IlGaFQEjs-dBulHjALX6R5ZG_u80sA/s400/tweak_photo_pose2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315690646538494882" border="0" /></a><br />Let's see - we're heading to a flyball tourney in PA the 1st weekend in April, Millie, Tweak and I will be returning as the Tricks demo for the Mass School of Law's Animal Rights day in April. I'm working with Tweak on some new moves for freestyle and hope to be able to go for some private training in April as well. I also hope to get her herding again very soon.<br /><br />The boys (Freddie & Pacie) had another photo shoot with Pet Edge for their catalog this month. Can't wait to see what comes out of that.<br /><br />I know I've mentioned this service before but I just have to rave about it again - Freecycle! My bread machine died and I was able to pick up another one from someone who doesn't ever use it. Today I'm meeting with some people to grab a crib/toddler mattress that they no longer need. Millie needs the extra support for those creaky bones! I went to one of those baby stores and couldn't believe the mattresses were like $60-$80! A lot for a dog bed. But, we're getting one for free today and, most importantly, keeping it out of a landfill for a while longer.<br /><br />Since the site stuff has slowed down, I'm spending the weekend getting my house in order - dishes done, floors swept and washed, shit put away, pictures hung, etc. I guess my spring cleaning has started. I *hate* cleaning but like how everything looks when it's done. I'm even aiming to be able to see the kitchen table today!<br /><br />DDawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05773463566798092888noreply@blogger.com2