Once an OSU SB Fan, Always an OSU SB Fan

The last three hours of my day were quite interesting!

First, my class tonight was about marketing and branding - my teacher totally destroyed my ability to ever walk through stores randomly again. I will forever look at a product and ask myself what I am admitting to before I buy it...ok, maybe not forever, but I am definitely a brand girl in some respects and will always be (Coke, Ann Taylor, Honda) I guess there could be worse vices.

After my class, I headed over to the last OSU home game of the season - and in all actuality, the last game of the season. I felt for the seniors, because their career ended at home against OU, the same way mine did - and I have to admit, a little nostalgia was felt. Anyway, I headed over to the game to meet up with my parents and the Longeway's, friends of the family. I grew up playing softball with Cheryl (the daughter) and we went to the same high school and played 2 yrs together. I replaced her as Kennedy's pitcher. So Ward and Lee are in town, and my parents took them up to the game. As I was walking up the stands, I was shocked to look up and see Marla Pickard's parents. Marla was a senior when I was a freshman at OSU, from Orange County as well (I think she went to Ocean View HS - but don't hold me to that) Anyway, Marla still lives in Columbus, and I guess Mr. and Mrs. Pickard have a condo near her in Westerville, where they spend 6 mos a year to be near Marla. I can certainly tell you the Pickards and the Longeways were shocked to see each other at an OSU softball game in Columbus, Ohio!!! I guess they had a nice visit - I did not get there until the bottom of the 6th inning, and the score was 0-0. HOWEVER, just as I got there, this is what happened:

1st batter - Tory Haddad, over the left field fence
2nd batter - Rachel Shephard, same place as Tory
3rd batter - Whitney Cooper, into the trees in center field

Now, there was no question they were all out of the park, but Whitney just crushed this ball. No joke, this girl is about 6 ft tall and the pitch was freakin' fat - belt high over the middle of the plate and she just crushed it straight over the 220 sign in center field. I bet she hit that ball 250 feet if she hit it 10. It cleared the fence and then some. They won both games, and won the second game 3-0. I personally think it was me getting there, but I am sure that had very little to do with it!

Another funny note to seeing the Pickards was where they now live in So Cal - they downsized from their house in Huntington Beach to a condo in Mission Viejo. Their condo is right in the heart of So Cal softball in MV - yep, you guessed it, right above Alicia Park!!! This should bring back memories for all my So Cal girls - 8AM games in where the grass was soaking wet and it was freezing (relatively speaking of course, for all my Ohio girls!) 8PM games where it was foggy and freezing, parking on the hill, having to leave your house at 6AM to be at the park to warm up at 7AM for an 8AM game - then having the 8PM game followed by an 8AM game the next morning..and the traffic, oh lord, the traffic. It was bad 15 years ago, I can only imagine what it is like now!! Seeing the Longeways and the Pickards brought back a lot of memories...certainly not what I expected on a Wednesday night.

As Bill, Mags, Ward and Leona left, I was joking about a car full of senior citizens and laughing at them - and reflecting on how all of their kids have grown up, graduated from college and moved on to their own lives. I really had a nice time visiting with them and wished I had an opportunity to spend more time with them. Life has a way of bringing the unexpected, and I certainly was not expecting what I got tonight...but was very grateful for it.

On top of it all, Mother Nature seems to be back on track, as we did not freeze our you know whats off tonight...thankfully.

Hope everyone is well!

Record Setting Night

..and probably not in whatever way you are thinking!

Last week, I had a cold and we did not go to the hospital - I was sneezing, hacking, all that good stuff and decided the poor people at Dodd had enough problems without my germs. Tonight, I had recovered enough to go for our visit, so off we trooped. We had a limited time tonight, as mom was getting a haircut at 7:45.

Our record setting event tonight? We made it to a grand total of 2 rooms. Yep, you read right, 2 rooms, 3 people. The 2 ladies in the first room were very talkative and seemed to enjoy her company, and I did not want to take Chel away from them. At that point, I had already determined we would be lucky to make it down one side of the hall, so I just stayed there as long as Chel was not too antsy.

The patient in the second room is one that will probably stick with me for awhile. He was a gentlemen in his late 50's/early 60's, and he had some sort of brain surgery. We ended up talking with him for about 20 minutes, and it turns out he had an inoperable, cancerous brain tumor. He had such a great attitude - I think he said something to the effect of "this is not going away so I am going to have to learn to live with it" I couldn't help but wonder if I would be gracious enough to have the same attitude - ok, I probably would not. Every time I leave there I am grateful for my health, mental and physical faculties...and tonight was no exception. There was a stray apple on the floor I picked up for him before I left and I told him I would eat the candy bars in the bag on his chair before I ate the apple. He smiled and said he was quickly working his way through the bag. Mr. Lynch was his name - please say a prayer for Mr. Lynch and his family.

Mother Nature has apparently not gotten the memo about the fact that it is spring yet, as I have had to turn the heater back on. I held off planting this past weekend because of the deep freeze warning we have in effect until 9AM tomorrow morning. It was chilly in the house this morning, and my bed was so nice an warm...between my nice warm blankies and Chelsie's body heat, it was very hard to get up this morning. Is it the weekend yet??

I hope this finds everyone doing well. Barf dog managed to ride all the way to the hospital and back without barfing in the car, and even waited patiently in the car while mom got her hair cut (such a liberating experience!) Have a great rest of the week!

I need to quit seeing things out of the corner of my eye

Tuesday morning it was psycho prega jogger lady. Tonight, it was the pile of puke Chelsie left on the back seat of my car. I thought it very odd that she was sitting on the opposite side of where she usually sits in the car - and for good reason, because she had puked all over the side of the car where she normally sits. It was mom's fault - I had an early game and I fed her before the game. Not such a good idea because she runs around like a nut after her ball and then inhales water. I can honestly say I was not shocked when I saw it, I just felt bad for her. The saving grace is that it is easy to clean up. She supervised mom's dinner and supervised pruning of the evergreens and then mom gave her a little something more to eat. She is now sleeping peacefully next to her mom.

My Dating Pool

I was watching the Today show this morning and they were promoting a book about horror stories of mothers setting their daughters up with men. My mom would do just about anything for me, but I don't think she would touch this subject with a 10 foot pole! Anyway, they had the author and her mother on there, and one of the nightmare stories was that one guy her mom set her up with was married - clearly, the mother did not know this at the time and it was obvious she was horrified by this even today, but I had to laugh somewhat. Apparently it was a blind date and the guy actually told this girl he was married! Seriously??? For those of you living vicariously through me and my single life, consider the fact the my dating pool apparently now includes married men willing to go on blind dates. Awesome.

Not only do I have 11 pillows...

...but I make the bed every day! Yeppers! It is ingrained very heavily in me to make the bed - my grandma always used to say that even if the rest of the room was a mess, if the bed was made it looked a little tidier. Keep in mind this was the same woman who often told me my room looked like "the wrath of God with a door knob on it". Growing up, my bed was made every day (mostly by her) so I am finding it a hard habit to break - I even make it on agility competition mornings, when we are out the door at 6AM...

It is hard to believe that Monday marked 6 years since her passing. Making the bed is just one of the strong habits I have that I learned from her...a few others for humor are the fact that any spread I put on bread for a sandwich has to go all the way to the edges (or it wasn't a proper sandwich, according to her) and that I am VERY particular about how my shirts are folded. All of you out there with children beware, because in these cases, I am a prime example of how much kids do mimic the adults in their life!!! I suppose I could mimic worse things, but in my mind, these aren't ENTIRELY bad habits to have...

You know you are having a bad day when....

...as a pitcher you are trying to intentionally walk someone and the umpire calls a strike!!!!!

Tonight, after class, I stopped over at the Buckeye softball game. I got there in the midst of a rally in the bottom of the 6th inning. For those of you that have been following Buckeye softball, you know Sam Marder is on her way to a record breaking season for most intentional walks. Linda said she had over 50 walks, 28 of them intentional in the Big Ten. So Marder was up, with first base open and the pitcher threw a FATTY. It was, as good old Bob Eucher said in the movie Major League, JUST a bit outside - but by God, not by much.

I have been watching/playing softball for many years - and tonight was the first time I had ever seen a called strike on an intentional walk. Obviously, I have seen some close ones where the pitcher had an "oh s*&^%" moment when she let go of the ball in an intentional walk situation, but never a called strike. Eventually, they did walk her on the next 4 pitches, but history was made in my life tonight. I tell ya, it is the small things. The Buckeye went on to beat the Cardinals of Ball State 6-0.

After a busy day with grandma and grand paw (which included meeting baby Kaitlyn - according to grandma, Chelsie had absolutely no interest in her, which is not surprising to me) Chelsie made it home to her mom. More importantly, gramma made mom's bed...and put all 11 pillow cases on all of the pillows. She even IRONED 2 of them - yes, I have been known to iron my pillow cases..in my defense, I come by it honestly. What can I say??? Um, that I am resting comfortably in my nice clean bed. Thanks Mom!!!

The softball Buckeyes are off to Wisconsin and Minnesota this weekend....GO BUCKS!!!

Progress

For those of you that have had the pleasure of getting to know my little Chelsie Belle, you know that it is all about the mama. She is my dog, and wants to be with me all the time - and I love it. However, there are times when I need help, and it requires her going somewhere else - mostly to grandma and grandpa's. When I was traveling regularly for work, my parents would come and get her when I was not home, because she was visibly terrified of leaving with them - and for awhile, she would hide under the table when they came because she thought they were taking her. Seriously? Now, mind you, these are the same people who spoil her rotten - grampie comes over many days a week to give her a potty break when he is in Columbus, gets her Timbits, shares his recliner with her, etc - you get it. She is very well taken care of there, but pitches a ridiculous fit when she has to go. Suffice to say, when I have human children, my day care options will be second to none based on the care they give my canine child.

Well, I have been taking this class on Monday and Wednesday, and gramma and grand paw could not stand the thought of her being home alone all day and night. So, for the last month, they have been coming on M&W morning and taking her home for the day. She has learned that going to their house does not always mean she will have to stay. This morning, my mom had taken my brother's dog to the vet for her spa day, and she came and got Chelsie (and every piece of my bedding) early. I told Chelsie to get in the car, and she jumped right in and did not display her usual paranoia. Gramma was going to stop and get her Timbits on the way home. What a spoiled puppy.

At any rate, I am very happy to see that she no longer treats going to gramma and grand paw's house as The Worst Thing in The World. Gramma rocks - not only does she launder sheets, she makes the bed too...including all 11 pillows on my bed.....

Phew...

Thankfully, I did not see the crazy prega chick out running this morning. I was mentally prepared for it, so now I have extra brain capacity for the day since that capacity did not get used this morning. I am sure my staff will be thrilled by that. :)

I am officially a PANSY

This morning, on the way to work (actually on my way to get my morning shot of caffeine from Wendy's), I was stopped at a light and saw this jogger out of the corner of my eye. When I focused on her, I realized that she was in an advanced maternal state - no joke. This chik was definitely in her third trimester - out jogging. Um, really? As I laid in bed at 5:15 this morning and still did not feel as though I could survive kickboxing because I still have a sore throat? I mean, I did get up and take Chelsie for her walk, but then felt like a total lazy a&^% when I saw this chik, seriously like 7-8 mos pregnant, out running around for the whole world to see. Thanks, lady.

Are you crazy???

Somewhere along the way, I read/heard you are supposed to rake up your old mulch before putting new mulch down. Now, I love my flowerbeds 364 days a year - and hate the day I have to mulch them. I decided I hated this day as well. So, I decided to call for reinforcements.

I called my dad and asked what he was doing, they were over at John's before the baby came home. I asked if he would help me rake the mulch up and he said, What are you doing? I have never heard of that. Are you sure that is what you are supposed to do? He then went on to say the mulch would eventually compost and he did not understand why this is necessary. I swear I read it somewhere...what he didn't say (but might as well have) - are you crazy????

Long story short, I called Ohio Mulch and they said the old and new should not be more than 2 inches and that it probably was not necessary. Talk about feeling like a moron. I will take it if it means not raking the beds out - hauling the bags to the curb SUCKED!!!

High Quality People

So, today I decide I am going to get my car washed. The day is nice, so I figure there might be a wait. I get over to the car wash, and there is a lane open - and another car in the next lane waiting. Sometimes, the card readers can be crabby, so I figured the person was inexperienced with this car wash and went on. The card swipe processes, but tells me to wait until the wash bay is empty. Small problem, there is no car. The guy waiting in line just totally watched me go up and do this - totally rude. Suffice to say, when some guy pulled in next to him, I gave him a look that said don't go there. I will have to see how many car washes post on my next credit card statement.

Its the small things...

Seriously - do I really get excited about these things? Around Christmas time, I saw a commercial for this level by Black and Decker - it is this picture hanging level where you can actually measure on the level while holding it in the proper position. It has three little bubbles so you can hang things in any directions. I thought, How cool. If any of you out there have ever tried to hang multiple pictures so they look good, you know it is miserable. And for those of you that have been in my house, you know I have a good amount of wall decor.

So...last week, I was wandering through Target, and saw the level. I have been looking in Home Depot for mos and they did not have any. There were multiple of them in Target at a price of $25, so I thought, no big deal, I will wait until next week. I was in The Andersens after that, wandering around and saw the same level on sale for $18. At that point, I was sold and had to have it. Tonight, I used it to hang my last three pictures I bought in Germany in January. The level works awesome - all three of my pictures are level and evenly spaced.

I really gotta get a life...

Earthquake in Ohio

If any of you saw the news, we had a small earthquake in Ohio. At 4:30 this morning, I felt a strange rattling in the bed that not even Chel could make and heard an unidentified rattling sound in the living room. It stopped, and I thought nothing of it (I was awake from 2-6 this morning with a splitting headache) I was looking on the Internet earlier this morning and saw that there had been an earthquake in the Midwest - and the shaking and rattling took on a new meaning. Obviously, the bed was shaking from the earthquake, and the strange rattling sound I have potentially identified as the candle holder on the coffee table rattling against the table.

I HATE earthquakes...and now here they come.

Spring is Here!!!

It appears spring is finally here in Ohio...a number of things have happened to prove this.

1) The heat is off. It is 75 and gorgeous, and there is a nice breeze allowing my wind chimes to make some beautiful, peaceful noise.
2) My first softball game is tonight!! Woo hoo! It is with the church league, so there will be no cursing when I find out how out of game I really am.
3) The grass got mowed yesterday - and it needed it. I was embarrassed to pull up to my own house. All my flowers/bushes are beginning to bloom.
4) I grilled out tonight. A little out of practice, because I charred the one side of my chicken. But it still tasted fine, I even gave Chel a small piece.
5) Outdoor soccer starts tomorrow. That will be interesting - I will find out how really out of shape I am then.
6) I have my semi annual spring cold. Out of respect for my co-workers, I kept it to myself and stayed home today. I even broke down and sought out pain relief for my splitting headache.

There are supposed to be scattered showers tomorrow, but nothing that causes an extreme temperature drop, thank god. Hopefully I can go a month or two without the AC - last year, I turned the AC on in May and it did not go off until the middle of October. Would be a nice little $$ savings, but we won't get our hopes up.

Happy Friday! It is officially the weekend!

Welcome Kaitlyn

My cousin John and his wife Karla welcomed daughter Kaitlyn Vada (I believe Vada is Karla's great grandmother's name) via c-section last night at 8:17 pm. She was 6lbs, 11 oz and 19 inches long. Karla's original due date was not until 4/28, but her water broke yesterday morning and she never made it past 3 cm - additionally, there were fluctuations in the baby's heart rate, so c-section it was. GAB and GUB (great aunt Becky and great uncle Bill) visited them shortly after Kaitlyn was born and were able to send a picture out - she is cute. Very little, but cute. My mom said cousin John was a very proud papa - hard to imagine little Juan a daddy. Unfortunately, it will be a few days before I can see her - some germ has had the nerve to invade my being and I don't think the new parents would appreciate me exposing their new daughter to a cold....

Good Job Chelsie!

Last night at the hospital, we had a first - we had to leave before giving everyone the time they wanted to visit with the precious. I have switched to Tuesday nights, so we can go straight from the hospital to agility. Usually, we start at 6:30 and need to be gone by 8 for agility, which is usually no problem. But not last night.

As usual, she was awesome. We had a little bit of excitement right off the bat - the guy in the room next to the first room we went in had a seizure in his wheelchair in the hallway. I could hear nurses yelling for help, and thankfully there was a doctor right there. The poor guy was coherent after, but there was about 11 people around him, taking up the whole hallway. We waited quietly until the crowd thinned a little and then went on our way. The poor guy that had the seizure got a first class trip in the tunnels back to the hospital.

There were a lot of dog people last night. I was passing by one room and this lady was kind of dozing off watching TV, and I was not sure she would be interested in "the doggie" but I was wrong, as I usually am in these types of cases. She had a dog at home she missed very much, and was thrilled to see Chel. She rubbed her ears and scratched her butt and Chelsie was in dog heaven. She offered her a cookie, but mom said no way. We probably spent about 15 minutes with her and she was very, very happy to be able to see and pet my little precious.

We were there for an hour and a half last night, and the time just flew by. It funny how she knows who the dog people are - when she is with someone who is a dog person, she is just content to sit there and just kind of chill out. She did a very good job.

After working, it was on to agility, where she again did a good job. Again, her handler was suspect a few times, but every time I screwed up, she went exactly where my motion was telling her to go. She was a good girl.

We hope this finds everyone doing well. It looks like FINALLY we are going to have some nice days - I might have to "be sick" on Friday because it is supposed to be 75....

Its 6:26PM, do you know where your child is?

Last night, as we were on our way to the hospital, I was stopped at the light at King Av and Olentangy River Rd, right by Lennox. No joke, there was some kid, maybe 10, not much older or younger either way, riding in the middle of the other side of the street against traffic. Now, when I initially stopped, there were no cars coming, but then, cars started turning left from King on to Olentangy - and he tried to ride in between the cars as they were coming at him. Seriously? Fortunately, the cars had the good sense to come to a stop and give this kid a dirty look which got him over to the sidewalk. Of course, there were no cops around - hopefully one would have stopped him and given him an earful about the stupidity of riding into traffic on a major road...

Chelsie Loses Weight!

I think I have complained about how this one lady at my agility club is all over me about Chelsie's weight. She is right, it is good to have dogs of her size and build - front heavy, deep chested - in top shape so the dogs have less of a risk of getting hurt and having long term health issues. But she was so obnoxious and pushy about it - and vocal about it in front of other people - she almost had me in tears about it on many occasions. Compared to all the little shelties in our class...let's just say at various times she has earned the nicknames of barge, locomotive, freight train...etc, you get it.

I am happy to report that Chelsie has lost 3.6 lbs over the past three mos, largely in part as a result of the substitution of Kroger lite vanilla yogurt in her kong instead of peanut butter. I am very, very happy - of course, I want to keep her healthy and pain free. The lady mentioned above told me I needed to cut her food down to 1 cup a day, which is just nuts. I refuse to starve her for the sake of being a competitive agility dog - looks like what I am doing is just fine. We will continue on our current path - I would like for her to be about 68. She will never be one of those 55lb petite labs, but she is in great shape and is a happy, healthy lovable lab. And of course, mom's baby angel.....

A Sort of Weaving Retriever...

Well, today was round 2 of our agility competition. After a thoroughly DISASTROUS FAST run this morning, our next run was our open standard run, the one with all the obstacles (recall std has the teeter, A Frame, Dog walk and the jumper with weaves has jumps, weaves and tunnels) We needed one more qualifying score to get our open title, so we could move up to excellent. As with yesterday, the course was one we should have been able to do, but I was very panicky about the weaves...considering she missed them all three times yesterday.

We stumbled through the std run and did manage to get a Q. Her handler gave her a horrific entrance into the weaves and she missed them...totally my fault. We went back and she did manage to do all 12, but I was really shaky as a handler, and she picked up on my energy. No big deal, you can have one refusal at the open level, so we were OK. We also got an off course, which you can have as well in open - there was a tunnel at the end of the dog walk, and I pulled away before she was all the way in the tunnel and she put her feet back on the dog walk. Again, my fault. We got straightened out and on we went. We finished, but it was certainly not our best run.

The jumpers course was pretty tricky - lots of off course opportunities, starting right away at the third jump. The hardest part of the course was this long straight away...when you have a straight away like we did today, the dogs pick up speed - you have to position yourself in the right place to be able to get your dog to go where they need to, without going off course or having the run into you. The way this was set up gave me very few options of how to handle her, so if I was out of position, we were dead - actually, what likely would have happened is we would have run into each other. She has 4 legs and I have 2, so you do the math on who would have won that one..

Thankfully, I managed to get in the right position to handle her on the straight away - as I knew she would, she came out of the tunnel and saw the straight away and took off. As previously mentioned, there were many off course opportunities, but not with the way I was positioned - and she started flying. Thankfully, I was in a position to keep up with her and slow us down back to the pace I wanted the run to be at. We got to the weaves, the dreaded weaves..I was on her left, which her weak side. I stayed with her, clapping my hands and encouraging her...and she was almost done...I turned left to block two off course jumps...and she pulled out of the last weave pole!!! UGH!!! Oh well, I was still very proud of her, it was a fantastic run. Lots of more experienced handlers had off courses and we did not. My friends from my club cheered when we finished, and it was fun. Our runs today were kind of like hitting a line drive and having nothing to show for it and then getting some cheap bloop single.

Most importantly, we had fun. Mom treated her to some Timbits from Tim Horton's and she came home and supervised me cleaning the car out. She is passed out upstairs now...and I will be joining her shortly.

As I have still be unable to locate my camera, I hope to get a new one where I can record a run and put on here for you to see. Chelsie does such a good job and works so hard for her mom, but most importantly, she has fun - as you can see from the picture I put on here tonight. I got some more pictures of her running today, they are fantastic. I should get them in about 2 weeks, they are from the same guy that took the ones I already have and he is just fabulous.

Have a good week!

A Non Weaving Retriever

Today, at our agility competition, Chelsie decided she did not feel like doing her weave poles. We had 2 otherwise perfect run. Tonight, the Grand Paw has dubbed her the "non weaving retriever".

And yes, the grand paw did manage to un-crap my happy crappper.

Some things are just a man's job

There are some things in this world that should just be done by men - no matter "who dun it".

As a single female homeowner, I have done a lot of things that I HATE doing - killed spiders, picked up dead things, plunged toilets...all of which in my opinion are "man duties". Tonight, the damn toilet in the happy bathroom needed plunged - and I HATE plunging toilets. (the "happy" bathroom is the guest bathroom with decor that matches the guest bedroom my dad has nicknamed the "happy room") I gave in and plunged - and usually that fixes the problem. Well, tonight it didn't - and I have no freakin idea what to do. I called my dad and told him "my crapper was crapped". Thankfully, he will be up in Columbus tomorrow and has agreed to come by and uncrap it (I hope). Thank god for dads.

Are you feeling old yet today?

If not, let me help you. For all of you that were my teammates at OSU my senior year, you will recall my cousin Michelle coming to watch us play in Sacramento - VERY, VERY pregnant. Well today is that little baby's 12th birthday. Happy, happy birthday Amanda!!

Chelsie meets Elway

Tonight was a good volunteering night. As usual, she was awesome....

On our way in tonight, we decided to walk outside, since it was 78 outside. While walking across the courtyard to Dodd, we saw a border collie in the grass, laying with his tennis ball while his mom was reading a book. The 2 puppies said hello, the moms exchanged pleasantries, and on we went.

As soon as we got in, nurse Kori came running up and said "You have to go to this room, there is a new patient in there. He is upset and misses his dogs. Don't go in there now, but make sure you get to room X". Ok, so off we go. We go in a few rooms, here and there, and finish one side of the hall. I stop in at the nurses station and ask Kori to remind me what room we need to go in. So in we go.

The patient, Mr. X we will call him (god bless the government and HIPAA) was thrilled to see us. He had some sort of brain surgery and while not immobile, he was certainly not mobile. Chelsie sat in front of his wheelchair and he was just so excited to pet her. About 5 minutes after we walked in, his wife walked in - you guessed it, the border collie's mom. The dog's name was Elway - named for John Elway of course. Apparently, they were Broncos fans - as evidenced by the story she told about their kids using washable markers to color their previous dog orange and blue and their current dog being named Elway. :) She smiled and said "this must be your surprise". They were a very nice couple - they had a rough few weeks, he had come straight from the ICU to Dodd and I think that had been hard on them. Anyway, we sat and visited - super nice people. I think this health situation has been really hard on Mr. X - I could tell he was frustrated, he said he was not moving very well. I told him to give these people here a few days and they would have him moving like he would not believe. Let's hope so - I am certainly not educated in this arena, but it seems to me this guy will do much better in a home setting.

On our way out, I stopped and we officially met Elway. He was running around off leash with his ball, which was too much for my little precious to take. Mom freed her and of course, she went after his ball. The couple's son was out there with Elway and he threw the ball, and off they went. A few times Chel got it and a few times Elway got it. They were both submissive dogs, so we did not have a toy war. It was great.

After this, we were off to agility, where she continues to excel. We did some hard stuff for us tonight, and I was so proud of her. A couple of times her handler screwed up and she went just where her handler told her to - what a good girl. We are both officially wiped out tonight - after House Hunters International (Sweden), we are done. Lights out - in fact, I think my precious is already out...

Hope all is well with everyone!

More Brain Cells....

Half way down West Case tonight, on our way to volunteer at OSU, I realized I did not have an appropriate leash in the car. Um, sort of required equipment for volunteering. I had her agility leash in the car, because we go to agility after volunteering - which means I had to go to the leash hook and look right at the leash I needed....

BTW - Natalie, the surf and sand got to your brain and you have lost your mind. :)

Brain Cells Anyone? Anyone?

I am truly losing my mind. I missed a doctor's appt yesterday (it was on my calendar for today - good thing I called), lost the dry cleaner receipt and experienced difficulty in using the gas pump at the gas station today....hello? Maybe its because the weather is nice and I am confused...who knows.

Its a Dog's Life...

Hello friends,

I wish we had more days like today, my mom and I...it was a total dog day.

This morning, we slept until 8:30 - which was fantastic, since mom was up at 5:30 AM last Saturday morning. I was pleasantly surprised to find that although overcast, it was not raining and the day showed some promise weather wise. After breakfast, mom went to kickboxing and I took my nap. So far, so good.

After kickboxing, we went on my walk. When we walked by Truth's house, the front door was open, so I went in to see if she wanted to come on our walk with us. She did, but her mom did not, so she got to be a normal dog on a normal dog walk. After our walk, it was off to softball practice - which was the BEST part of the day.

Mom made a big mistake in taking me to practice. She got so excited that it was nice outside, she gave no thought to the condition of the field and grass at the park. It was blissful for a field lab such as myself - when my ball landed in the grass, it splatted in the water. The field was mushy and muddy, and got all over my belly and in my nails. But I had so much fun - mom let me run free in the outfield, and I made a new friend, Roxi the boxer. Thankfully, mom has a good seat cover, as there were no towels in the car. She thought she could brush the dirt out of me, but thankfully she realized quickly that was not going to cut it. I got soaped up in the bath twice to get all the mud out of me.

My day was good but exhausting. Mom treated us to Graeter's tonight, and the girl that waited on her took special care to ensure my sugar cone was not crushed in transport - she put it in a cup with a lid on it. I am now ready for bed after my long day...mom says we have a lot of outside work to do tomorrow, including cleaning the garage, mowing the back yard and pruning a few bushes. She says we also need to go see grammie, who has another cold.

I need to rest up for my day tomorrow, pray my mom does not have me out of bed at an ungodly hour tomorrow...

Very sincerely,

Chelsie Belle

In a rut?

I can only conclude the steady, CRAPPY weather we have has put me in a rut. I went into Ann Taylor night, with a specific purpose - a black suit. I found a one, a gorgeous one I love - but absolutely nothing else. I mean NOTHING. Nothing spoke to me - you know, those things you put on and they say, "buy me, you have to have me"! Clearly, something is wrong with me.

Officially A College Student Again...Sort of....

I am officially a college student again! I can't decide what is better - being a FT college student and actually having to study or working all day, being a night student and not having to study. (there is no outside coursework for this) Jury is still out on that, I will keep everyone posted.

I am taking a Management Certificate class at OSU. It is part of the Fisher College of Business Executive Education program. Essentially, it is a lecture series of topics you would take in a FT MBA program. It started last night, goes M & W from 6-8:30 and ends on May 14th. Last nights topic was a discussion of strategy. The professor was very funny and very engaging, and I learned a lot. The new college of business is beautiful - amazing facilities, state of the art technology and they even had snacks for us.

Mondays and Wednesdays are going to be brutally long days, but I can do anything for 6 weeks. Grammie and the Grand Paw have agreed to help out with Chelsie, which is a huge help. On Monday, they will run errands and have dinner in Dublin and then spend a little time with her at the house. On Wednesdays, she will have a play date in Marysville with her chocolate lab cousin and then the Grand Paw will bring her home after dinner. I have no problem admitting my parents take very good care, I mean spoil me rotten. :)

Maybe this will inspire me to get an MBA? Don't hold your breath. :)