so much has happened...

Well, I'm back home now. :) Yay! :) I still haven't figured out how I'm going to pay for everything, but hopefully the meeting I have with FEMA tomorrow will help me find a way.

Thursday night *T* came over for dinner. As always, the conversation was great, we were just limited on time, him for work, me for the drive to NJ. I think it will be very interesting to see what topics we hit when we do actually have more than a few hours to spend chatting. I can picture it now, after dinner, in front of the firepit with a few beers... can't wait. :)

I left here, after being in the house one day, to head to New Jersey on Friday. A friend of mine has a dog training center down there and this was their first annual Camp Barking Hills doggie weekend. It's a weekend away with your dog(s) that one can take introductory classes on just about everything there is in the dog world, training, dog sports, behavior, etc., etc. I was down there to teach Flyball classes and do a few seminars on Flyball and Clicker Training, as well as give a different point of view on an "Ask the Experts" question and answer session. I'm very glad I went, as I was paid handsomely for my time and it is very much needed right now.

I think the dogs' brains started melting by Monday though. They've been through a ton of stress with the evacuation and staying at my sister's house - being crated most of the time. Things had gone back to 'normal' for a very short amount of time before I hauled them off to New Jersey. I'm sure they had a good time while we were out doing stuff - during my down time, I was able to drop in on classes and do a few run-throughs. The boys had their photos taken by a well published photographer. She also got a bunch of photos of Freddie on the flyball box.

I was beyond thrilled and surprised when there wasn't a boatload of traffic on the way down -or- on the way back! So it was a quick 4 1/2 hours down and back thankfully. :) I haven't done squat since I've been back. I was still exhausted from all the house stuff, adding a hot, busy dog weekend wasn't my brightest idea, but I had committed well over a year ago and couldn't let my friend down.

While there, I had a few of the New Jersey flyball teams come on Saturday and do a flyball demonstration, which received rave reviews. :) I've already been invited back next year so all's well that ends well. :)

Tomorrow was supposed to be my first full day back in almost 3 weeks, but I now have that appt. with Bob the FEMA guy that I can't miss. So, I'm going into work early, and will have to leave in the middle of the day to meet with him, and then head back to work. I have a back procedure scheduled for Thursday, so I'll be out of work for the rest of the week - hoping that it won't take me more than the weekend to recoup.

But for now, I'm going to take my tired bones to bed so I can get up at the crack of dawn (no pun intended) and head to work. :)

D