The Good Life

Entering the Modern Era of Technology

2011-12-12T22:26:00.002-05:00

In the past three months, I have updated my technology SIGNIFICANTLY. I ditched the Dell...it was never worth all the money I paid for it and snails move faster than it did. I traded it for a nice, new Toshiba laptop...and I am loving it. Takes less than 30 seconds to boot up and does all kinds of fun stuff.

I also upgraded to an iPhone. I did a lot of research and a lot of cost comparing, but finally made the jump. My company is transitioning over to iPhones and iPads...and I think an iPad is in my future. Unfortunately, before an iPad graces my presence...I need to replace the tires on my car. The not so fun big expenditure.

Anyway...I have been snapping lots of photos with the new little toy...enjoy. :)

I was in the kitchen a few weeks ago and looked up and he was actually standing on the sofa table. I stared, dumbfounded. I try to keep something there to keep him from standing on it...but he still likes to look out into his kingdom from this vantage point. As long as he is not standing on my furniture...I am fine with that.

"Hurry up and give me the nuggets, lady". Chelsie waiting for her snack (not so patiently) on our way up to an agility trial in East Lansing, Michigan.

Ace's brother Blue came for a visit..."motivational camp", as my breeder called it. I worked with him for a few weeks to see I could get him to move faster. I am happy to say that he had a great weekend when we went to East Lansing. He lives in Grand Rapids, which is about an hour from East Lansing...and he went home after this trial. His brother misses him...tons of extreme bitey face at all hours of the day and night. Bluey likes to hold things...as you can see in this photo.

Brothers at their agility trial. Blue on left, Ace on right. Cute little sauce pots, aren't they?

Torture...being forced to wait for dinner so mom can take a picture. Next to breakfast, dinner is the most exciting part of Acie's day. My dogs eat side by side in a raised feeder, and have from day 1. Chelsie is a pushover about a lot of things...but not her food. The boy has gotten that message loud and clear. :) After he eats, Ace runs to find me..as if to say THANKS MOM FOR FEEDING ME BECAUSE I WAS STARVING. Chill son, you're not starving.

Life is good in labbie land tonight. After getting home from work, we had family errands...to the dry cleaner, bank, car wash and gas station. Errands followed by a walk and bedtime treats, not to mention that breakfast is all ready for the morning. Yes, life is good in labbie land.

A little nylabone gnawing time before bed. I am biased...but he is a cute little stinker.....

Stranger Danger

2011-12-10T22:40:00.001-05:00

Interesting title. I sort of like it. I promise, it will all eventually make sense.

All is fine here...work is good, busy...which is always good. I am settling into my new job, as evidenced by the fact that I can now stay wake past 7 30. Dogs are good, Chelsie is doing awesome in agility, Ace is well, Ace...he needs lots of reminding about everything and is sometimes off the wall. Case in point...today, while I was putting my make up on (on the bed) he started licking my sweater and getting into my make up. I pushed him over on his back for a belly rub and when I was done, he jumped off the bed and tried to eat his sister...who has stitches in her ear from getting a wart/growth removed. UGH. That was just a small part of our day. Son, you killed me today.

On to the title of the post. The time of year is obvious...the holidays...not to mention the dreaded birthday along with it. The time of year where being single is absoloutely HIDEOUS - and a double whammy at that, with Christmas and my birthday right on top of each other. I so want to just hunker down and completely avoid the very thought of Christmas, however, that is impossible. I keep telling myself that next year will be different, I will be celebrating with someone special...however, that never seems to be the case.

Most of the time, I am comfortable with who I am and where I am...sometimes, I am not. Most days, I can handle it...some days require more effort to get through than others. What I find to be the most exhausting is being my own cheerleader. True, we all have to be our own cheerleader to some degree, but being your own cheerleader all the time is emotionally exhausting.

So...here we go...stranger danger. Today, I decided I needed to go shopping. My goal with shopping was to find a pair of brown boots. I see people wearing them all the time..they look great. I have this vision in mind of what I want them to look like on me. I wear the pants that intend to wear with these adorable brown boots, and off I go...to find these boots that will look great and make me feel good about myself.

First stop...Macy's. I was in there the other night, saw some really great options. Didn't have time to do much trying on, but there was definitely potential. Now, I am a girl who has been schooled by Clinton and Stacy on What Not to Wear...I know you have to try on 50 things to find three great things. Today, I tried on about 10 pairs of brown boots...and wanted to try on about 10 more pairs...however, when you wear size 10 narrow and have calf muscles, your selection of boots is limited. Long story short, I did not find the boots I was looking for. To make matters worse, it seemed like every woman I saw in the mall had on GREAT BROWN BOOTS...and looked great in the out fit they were wearing. I even saw some little tweeny bopper that had the look I envisioned in my head. Feeling very deflated at this point.

So...off I go...wandering around...feeling deflated about the boots...and watching all these couples/families out Christmas shopping. Insert feeling like a million bucks. But I press on...just looking around to see if any item of clothing speaks to me...and none do. Off I go to meet Belinda and the kids...took kids to play area and then off to food court for dinner.

In a conversation at dinner, I relay to Belinda my sob story about how every other woman out there has these adorable boots...even the tweeny bopper...and how they all look fantastic in them and that even if I found them, I would never look as good as some other women I had seen...you know, the size zero and twiggy ones. What we concluded from this conversation was how unhealthy it was to compare ourselves to other people...that we see only our shortcomings and not our good qualities.

I repeatedly find myself in the same situation when it comes to my relationship status...I compare myself to other people...people I know and people I don't know. This does nothing but seed negative feelings. It is not helpful...yet it is a behavior I often find myself trying to correct. Things are not always what they appear to be and the grass is not always greener on the other side. My perceptions of other people's lives may not be reality, rather the reality I have created in my head...and that is the reality that often starts the negative feelings about myself when it comes to being single.

The stranger danger for me this time of year is comparing myself to those cute little families who seem to have it all...when really, that may not be the case. I am certainly envious, there is no question of that. But I can't help wanting to be one of those cute little families. And some days, it is harder to remain positive than others. This year, I forced myself to participate in the holidays. I put up and tree and decorations on the inside and even dragged several of my outside decorations. Its a lot of effort for just one person, but I am very, very glad I did it.

This year, I will be thankful for my family, my health, my job, a roof on my head and food on my table. For my two furrry companions who love me unconditionally every day. For my friends. For agility. For soccer. For the ability to be able to push myself in the gym....the list could go on and on. I will celebrate with family and hopefully start some new traditions. I will wish for what I think I want, but be greatful for what I have. For me, stranger danger is allowing myself to want what I think others have and then feel inadequate or like there is something wrong with me because I don't have it.

Thankfully, most days, I can overcome my stranger danger. But for all of you out there, hug your partner tonight and tell them you appreciate them. While they probably have annoyed the hell out of you at some point today, be thankful that you have found your partner to journey through life with, and celebrate that partnership this holiday season. Don't let your perceptions of my so-called "freedom" become your strager danger.

21 mos

2011-11-13T21:25:00.001-05:00

Today, little Acie punk is 21 mos old. Happy 21 month birthday to my spicy little sacuepot and his litter mates...Ella, Libby, Blue and Lily, the little flower.

For his 21 month birthday, little punky boy gave his mom 5-6 contacts this weekend in his standard runs. Before this weekend, he had been COMPLETELY blowing me off, leaping off the contacts with reckless disregard for his command to stop. He has to wear the collar of shame, as gramma calls it...meaning, he now wears a collar during agility so that when he disobeys his "spot" command, he gets the walk of shame off the course held by the collar of shame. This weekend was our first trial with the collar on and all in all, it went pretty well. We are still learning...one day, we will get it.

His sister was her usual flawless self. She got a little caught up in the chute and by the time I figured it out, I was pulling her off a jump because she was a little further behind that I expected.

Tomorrow, I will get up and go to work to pay for dog biscuits and agility...and the dogs will stay home and recover...REALLY???

The Broken Glass Ceiling

2011-11-10T19:54:00.001-05:00

For the past 2 days, I was very fotunate to attend a "Women In Leadership" conference sponsored by my employer. Planned by 2 females on our executive council (ie, the executive council reports directly to the CEO of the organization), no expense was spared and no detail over looked. Case in point - they had a gift for us at the end of the conference - it was a Vera Bradley cosmetic bag, luggage tag and coin purse. As I said, no detail was overlooked - Vera Bradley was chosen because it was a company owned by a woman in our Indiana service territory.

We were fortunate to have a number of terrific speakers on hand - including the attorney general of Illinois Lisa Madigan (www.illinoisattornetgeneral.gov) Connie Lindsey, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Norther Trust and the current President of the Girl Scouts of America (http://www.girlscouts.org/who_we_are/leaders) and the former chief of staff for the first Lady Michelle Obama. We also heard from the Dean of the School of Business at Notre Dame, Dr. Carolyn Woo, a member of our Board of Directors.

All of these women are amazing women in their own right - passionate about what they do and believe in giving of themselves to help create more opportunities for women. In my professional career, I have been fortunate to have never had to wonder if I would be held back because I was a woman - I have always felt that if I worked hard and did the right things, that those opportunities would be there for me. To date, this has been the case. But there are a lot of tough situations for women in the workplace - how their co workers perceive them (male and female) achieving balance personally and professionally and taking risks were among the topoics we spoke about.

We also had the gift of hearing from our chairman of the board, as well as our CEO. Our CEO is an awesome leader. He very personable (I know him on a first name basis), very humble and has displayed the ability to make some diffucult decisions in the best interest of the company. I feel very fotunate to not only have a job, but to be working for a company with terrific leadership.

What I took most away from the conference was that occassionally you have to take risk to get potential reward and that finding where your yin meets your yang is key. Dr Woo spoke of leadership in three words - self, others heart. In a nutshell, to be an effective leader, you have to care and nurture yourself, have the capacity to care and nurture others and do everything with passion in your heart - whatever it is. Don't feel guilty for setting limits and enforcing those limits.

All in all, it was a great two days. Last night, a group of us gathered to go out and ended up at a dueling piano bar....transportation for the evening was a Hummer Limo...cost was negotiated by one of our Supply Chain people (who negotiates contracts on a daily basis) So 10 of us rode around in a white Hummer limo that probably could have fit 10 more of us! Just for clarification...this bill was footed by the 10 of us. :)

Another little black dog....

2011-11-08T11:48:00.000-05:00

...to play agility with!

Last night my first night with my new agility charge, an over the top, bursting with excitement black lab named Tequila. Unfortunately, Tequila's mom, my friend Suzi, had a horrible accident a few weeks ago on the agility course. While planting for a turn to change directions, she snapped her heel bone and tore her achilles tendon away from the bone. Apparently, this is not an unheard of injury, that is seen in tennis players who stop and pivot and move forward with great force.

Suzi had surgery 2 weeks ago and will be non weight bearing for another 6-8 weeks. Full recovery time 6-8 months. In the interim, I have agreed to work with T on the agility course and run her in some trials. Last night was our first night working together and it went very well. Many people would find Tequila to be too much for them - she is a lot of dog, but she is a lab who is just excited to be there. She is very well behaved on the course and stayed with me quite well...in fact, our instructor told me to "demand" more of her.

My own two dogs did very well last night also...poor Chelsie still can't get her handler to get her into the correct end of a U shaped tunnel (where they can see entrances to both ends and I have to send her in the correct end) but she still comes over and jumps on me and gives me kisses after...I hug her, tell her I am sorry and get out the bounty - which, lets face it, that is really all she cares about.

My next trial is this upcoming weekend and first one with T will be the weekend after Thanksgiving. :)

Life is Good in the New Hood....

2011-11-04T23:43:00.001-04:00

Hello readers! It has been awhile since my last update...so here goes.

We have been in the new house for 2 mos now. It is awesome...I am loving it. Totally worth the stress of moving. I had been looking at new cribs for awhile..wasn't too serious about it, just kind of kept my eye on what was out there and all this fell right into the place. It is perfect in every way...the increase in square footage is in all the areas I live in - plus, I now have first floor laundry. I went from 1200 square feet to 1900 square feet - key is that the 1900 square feet is extremely functional. Some of my favorite things about the new place....

Bigger master bedroom
Bigger master bath - with huge walk in closet (ALL MINE) and linen closet
Bigger, open kitchen with countertop bar
Dining room (which I did not have at the other house)
Bigger living room
FIRST FLOOR LAUNDRY CLOSE TO THE BEDROOM
Master bedroom not off main living area
Upstairs office
Oversized garage
Smaller front yard, flatter back yard

The pooches are loving it as well...we had virtually no transition issues to the new house. This was not the case when Chelsie and I moved into Meadowhurst. Acie has even come out of his crate - he has been out for a month now and no issues.

All in all, it was a great move. I also started a new position the week after I moved, so life around here has been a little stressful. I do like my new job and am learning a lot, but my brains are scrambled at the end of every day.

I promise to post some pictures soon and to deal with the new template...but for now, I leave you with this recent photo of the little punk.

Catching up...

2011-08-21T22:59:00.000-04:00

Hello faithful readers..I have been slacking. Packing and moving has literally wiped me out. :)

So a lot has happened since my last post...as I type, I am officially homeless! My parents have been oh so kind to take us (and a lot of our crap) in. My dad was joking that the dogs and I would be livng out of crates and cardboard boxes, and holding signs that said "will weave for dog biscuits". :)

Seriously, it hasn't been that bad. I am at the end of week 2 with my parents and probably have another 7-9 days with them. I close on the new house Tuesday, take possession on Friday and the movers are dropping my stuff off on Monday, 8 29. A couple of rooms need painted so we are going to do that before all my stuff comes...I am carrying around 8 gallons of paint (5 gallons actual paint, 3 gallons of primer) and have a bunch of paint supplies in the car as well. My parents sitting room is loaded with CRAP...funny story about the CRAP. In the CRAP was a bag with about 15 tennis balls - I don't let wild thing play with tennis balls because he destroys them (he is classified as a "powerful chewer"). So I had a bag with a bunch of tennis balls in the CRAP..and somehow, wouldn't you know..he managed to find them. The dogs are doing ok...little Chelsie Belle gets nervous when mom leaves, but they have gotten pretty spoiled here. Chicken and green beans at every meal isn't so bad.

Mom has gotten spoiled too...probably the best thing is the fresh tomatoes my dad picks off his plant in the morning for my lunch. Clean sheets two weeks in a row, plus, I am taking advantage of the fancy front load washer and washing all my delicate stuff - wait, lets get this right...gramma is washing it. :) After two weeks of living here, I can actually locate just about any piece of clothing I might want to wear...both upstairs bedrooms looked like the wrath of God with a doorknob on it, as my grandma used to say. But I fixed that tonight. I did earn my keep today though, helping my brother out. :) Physical labor...and I am exhausted.

So that is our story..the next time I come to you will be from the new place...the one with a walk in closet, counter top bar, dining room, first floor laundry and a whole bunch of other fun goodies....

Whilrwind

2011-07-26T22:40:00.001-04:00

It has been a whirlwind of a few weeks around here. I figure by the time the house selling and buying process is over, a total of about 6 weeks will have passed. It isn't any wonder I have a headache.

Inspections on both homes are complete and all went well. I have received my request for remedy from my buyers; the work is minimal and somewhat irritating actually, but whatever....I have an estimate and will call in the morning to get the work scheduled. I on the other hand, lucked out...my roof is being replaced under an insurance claim, as are the plumbing boots and gutters. :) I am also getting a credit for a couple of windows rotted out and getting some venting fixed. The one remaining item we have yet to have remedied is related to the structure where a piece of wood has come loose. They have agreed to have a structural engineer come out and look at it. My gut tells me it is normal for a house of this age and that if there were indeed structural issues, they would have shown up in other places in the inspection. However, I am not willing to take a risk with such a big issue, so we are going to get that worked out. The seller has been very reasonable in all this, and the realtor understands my concern and is also reasonable as well.

I ordered my moving supplies today...boxes of all sizes, tape, tape dispenser, foam and these really cool labels that are very brightly colored and clearly tell the movers where things should go. I have a moving co compning out tomorrow for an estimate. My buyers want to close a week ahead of the original contract, so if I can find a moving solution that includes storage at no extra cost, I will rip the band aid off, pack up and go stay with my parents for 2 weeks. My seller would not move the close up, but I have no problem doing so as long as it doesn't cost me $$. The best deal is a closed deal. :)

On a lighter note, last week was my cousin's annual visit with her kids. Her kids are growing up..Amanda is now 15 and Jenn is 13. Amanda graduated from COPS kids camp last year, and is currently is Utah on an Outward Bound trip. (they have to dig a hole to "go" in the woods and bury it...apparently is it called "grooving" - can't wait to hear her stories about that!!) Jenn still has one more year after this but I don't see her "grooving" in the woods. It was a fun filled week...as usual, it went by too fast. I was so tired last night I went to bed at 7 and got up at 7 this morning - I was in a hotel room in PA for work. Hilton Garden Inn beds ROCK. :)

So that is the story from here. One last little tidbit of info...I entered Acie punk in his first trial. He will make his debut in Zanesville in September...assuming he lives long enough. One more greeting like he gave his sister tonight and he might get punted back to his gramma Ellen in Michigan. I keep telling him that chomping on his sister's neck is not an appropriate greeting and that his behavior pisses her and I off. Does he care? Not at all. :) He is a MAMA'S BOY...100%. He cares about me and me only..his behavior is nothing other than jealousy and wanting all my attention. He follows me around...where I am, he is (secretly, I love it). As much as I rag on him, he tries hard. :) He will be very excited to meet one of his new cousins this weekend (from the litter I posted about earlier). He will see his uncle Sniper this weekend (Morning Star's Hit that Target) and his newest cousin, Stinger (Longlesson's Heat Seeking Missile). I am hoping that they wear him out. :)

Hope everyone is well!

Its Official..

2011-07-16T23:22:00.000-04:00

We are moving. :) We will be in the new house on 8/26.

What a whirlwind week. We are all exhausted. But I am very happy with my purchase. Inspection on my current home Monday, we are still trying to finalize inspection on the new house. I will take some photos of some of my favorites things during the inspection. :)

What's up with us?

2011-07-14T09:10:00.000-04:00

Dear readers,

Mom says she found us a new castle...but we can't make an offer on it until we sell our old castle. So...the castle is up for sale, mom is constantly cleaning up after us, taking the crate up and down and brushing us a lot. Oh yeah, we have been shipped to gramma's a lot too - 4 people have come to look at our house since it officially went on the market last Friday.

So...here is the link to our castle. :)

http://cbrmls.columbusrealtors.com/Pub/EmailView.asp?r=406370182&s=CBR&t=CBR

Here is the link to what mom hopes is our new castle.

http://www.kingthompson.com/property/details/28889/MLS-211023830/4761-Coolbrook-Dr-Hilliard-OH-43026.aspx?SearchID=86269&RowNum=1&StateID=41&RegionID=0&IsRegularPS=True

We have been very busy....but happy. More to come on what we have been up to later.

Love,

The Labbies

Getting Old...

2011-06-22T20:19:00.000-04:00

I think I am getting old. I did a particular exercise in my workout on Monday as of this this Wednesday evening, I am well aware of my glut muscles. Some serious glutial fatigue going on - I could hardly even run the dogs at agility last night.

Getting old sucks.

My two favorite yard decorations...

2011-06-15T21:08:00.000-04:00

Photos taken June 2011.

Ok, I am biased, I am their mom....but aren't they two of the cutest little stinker bugs?? I sent this photo to the man that owns Ace's father - when Ace matures and fills out, his body structure will be very similar to his father. (Cody - registered name "Lime Creek Code of Honor")

They look like they sort of like each other?

A bit of perspective...

2011-05-27T23:04:00.000-04:00

Tonight, I decided I need a buckeye sundae from Greaters (peanut butter chip ice cream, with whip cream, hot fudge and chocolate sprinkles.....YUM!). As I walked in, a dad with three little boys walked in ahead of me. They were SO excited for ice cream - they talked about what flavor they were going to get and were in awe of the line that had formed behind us (it was pretty long) They were really good in a somewhat long line - and lucky for them, the teenagers that run this Greaters have it down. They can move people in and out of that place like its no ones business. Did I mention these were three of the CUTEST little boys out there?

As I waited in line and watched them, I reflected on how something as simple as ice cream with dad can be so exciting to a little kid. While they will remeber the big things they did with their dad (vacations, etc) I am guessing that these little boys will remember going to get ice cream with their dad for many years to come. It was obvious this was not their first dance, and it seems like this might be a special treat for dad and his guys.

It reminded me to stop and look at the little things in life and how much those things really mean. We all get so caught up in our every day life that I think we sometimes lose perspective of what is important...I know I do.

One year later...

2011-05-13T23:09:00.000-04:00

This weekend marks the one year anniversary of Chelsie's return to her agility competitions. After a long, long...LONG rehab, May 15, 2010 was a glorious day in her world. We didn't get a q on that first run, but she had a great time, ran beautifully considering she hadn't trialed in almost 10 mos and all her friends gave her a great cheer.

One year later, life is a little different in our household. Ace is no longer the little flea he once was - although still a flea in Chelsie's eyes, I think she is learning to love him and would miss him if he wasn't here. (Ok, maybe that is a stretch). But as I watched them play today - her submissively on her back while he pulled on the neck she never grew into - I came to the conclusion that sometimes...not all the time, she likes him. Me too, little bean...most of the time I like him too.

One year later, we have adjusted to a 2 dog household. I think the hardest thing for me is not to humanize Chelsie's emotions. She is to the point in her life where she, for the most part, does not care where I am. She doesn't have to be right next to me all the time. Ace is still in that phase where he is wherever I am - and don't get me wrong, I am ok with that, as he is still a puppy and still should be supervised pretty much 100% of the time. But because he is always so close to me, I am definitely cuddling with him more, petting him more, handling him more. Add to that it is the time of the year where it gets hot and when it gets hot, Chelsie won't sleep on the bed. She still always gets first dibs on everything...but it is still a little difficult for me to reconcile in my mind.

One year later, we can all actually lay on the bed in harmony - with Ace touching Chelsie...at least for right now, until she gets down and goes to her cool bed. :) I have to hand it to her...whatever she has said to him about that bed, he gets it. I have never seen him lay on it...and if I did, I would kick him off and tell him that's sissy's bed.

Tomorrow, we will be going to Cleveland. We will see all our friends and have been invited to Ace's littermates house to swim in her amazingly awesome pond. At the end of the day, I will have 2 happy, tired puppies - who will be ready to go back to the hotel and crash with their exhausted mom. Yes, one year later life is different...but I could never imagine having another dog before now and could not imagine having any other dog besides my little Acie.

I promise to take pictures and post them. :)

Some oldies but goodies....

The three photos above are from Chelsie's first run back last year....I took an extra few seconds to love on her and let her know how proud of her I was. :) Her friends were still cheering for her. :)

One of Ace's first few days at home. He was a fast learner...he saw the big puppy laying there so he assumed he could lay there too. :) Approximate age in this photo is 8 weeks.

Better Blogger? Maybe not so much....

2011-05-05T22:52:00.000-04:00

Um yeah, think I am falling a little short in the blogging arena. :)

So let's see...what has happened since my last post...ah, yes, Ace's family was here. 5 labs in the castle, an agility trial and a week of recovery. :)

We had a great time with Ace's siblings. I wasn't quite sure how they would all do in a confined space - I was most worried about Chelsie and Amber, Ace's mom. Chelsie gets very protective of Ace around other dogs when she thinks he is being picked on...god forbid should she play with him, but she gets all protective if she thinks he is the kid on the playground getting beat up. Ace's mom is a little snippy - meaning that she is not shy about curling her lip up and telling everyone to buzz off. Those 2 have had meetings of the mind before, so I wasn't quite sure how it would go in the black dog's territory with all the little yellow fleas around. It went fine.

Poor Chelsie was just beside herself...she had this look on her face all weekend that said...My god, when are they leaving??? Not soon enough for her. It didn't stop her from rocking the house at her trial though...she was only 5-6 and her 1-6 was handler error. Handler saw off course jump out of corner of eye, over reacted and pulled her off a jump. Oh well. She got her treat bag dumped on the ground after her run, that is the no 1 priority for her!

I would like to proudly introduce MACH MORNING STAR'S AMBER WAVES! Amber got her MACH on Friday afternoon...was 1 second short on Friday morning! Ellen hobbled around the course in a well deserved victory lap, and it was a beautiful, beautiful run. Amber had a great time. :) See photo below.

Judge Christie Bowers (the judge we got our MACH under) Amber, Ellen, and judge Don Farage. Brittany, if you ever have a chance to run under either of these judges....THEY ARE AWESOME. If you picking between 2 trials and one of them is judging, pick that one. :)

And, for good measure, a photo of mama Amber and one of her babies. Hard to say which one this is because there was no collar, but if I had to guess I would say it is Blue (aka, Blue Collar boy). Pink collar girl (Lily) and green collar boy (Ace) were really the only ones that wore colored collars when they were this small. Libby was much smaller and lighter in color, so by process of elimination, this is likely Blue. I love this photo.

On another family front, Ace and his siblings welcomed 11 new cousins into the family on April 28/29. Amber's sister McGhee gave birth to 11 pups over a period of 24 hours, causing poor gramma Melanie (her owner) great stress. 6 boys and 5 girls, all healthy, all doing well. According to Melanie, the first puppy, a boy, came out butt first...and apparently there is a "great deal of bitching by all if someone gets pushed off the faucet". According to Melanie, McGhee is a very good mom. There was about a 7 hr break between puppy 5 and 6, and the remaining puppies were born within a span of 6 hours, the last 3 being about 30 minutes apart. Initial estimate of litter size was 10-12 puppies. One of these puppies will be going to live with Ace's Uncle Sniper. He will go home over the 4th of July and will be in town at the end of August at an agility trial. We can't wait to meet him.

McGhee and her 11 bundles of joy.

As it has done the entire month of April here in Ohio, it rained all weekend Ace's family was here. April has been a record setting rain month, and those of us that live in Ohio can certainly vouch for that. Today was the first day we have seen sun in a week, and won't see it again until Sunday/Monday. Everyone's grass, while very green, is very overgrown. On a positive note, I busted my can on Saturday to get my flowers in the ground ahead of the rain all week - it was well worth it. I will try and take some photos...treated myself to a new wind chime at Kroger tonight that matches some yard decorations I got. Hopefully, my yard will be burgeoning with color in a month or so. Pictures to follow. Because of the rain, we have not been able to start the spring softball season, nor have I had my inaugural trip on the water. I hope to change the latter this weekend and the former on Monday...but given the forecast on Monday, I am not holding my breath.

Still working out with my trainer....some days are easier than others, but most days I think my heart is going to explode and feel like lactic acid is oozing out of my legs and booty. :) I like the way my clothes fit, although I did nothing for that tonight by eating a pint of Graeters Buckeye Blitz. It was worth every calorie.

I hope this post finds everyone well. I will try to get some more recent photos on here. :)

Recent Photos & A Big Upcoming Weekend...

2011-04-20T23:05:00.000-04:00

Ok, Mimi....here are your recent photos of little Acie boy. :)

Big weekend upcoming! This weekend, we are showing at a three day trial in Zanesville. Ace's breeder is coming down from Grand Rapids to show his mom (Amber) and is also bringing his brother Blue and sister Libby! So...the phrase "more lab than living room" will take on a whole new meaning this weekend! I have seen Blue a couple of times since bringing Ace home, but have not seen little Libby since I picked Acie up. Libby is definitely the runt, tipping the scale at a mere 34 lbs. I promise to take pictures.

It is a big weekend for Ellen and Amber - they are 14 pts away from their MACH. I know they will do great...I hope the do it early in the weekend - Ellen's foot still isn't quite right and there is a good chance I will get handed Amber's leash after the MACH run.

Also, we wish the BEST of luck to our friends:

Sally & Aussie - one QQ from MACH 3

Jan and CJ - one QQ from PAX

Ellen & Cailin - less than 20 pts from MACH

We can't wait to celebrate with you and cheer you on in your victory laps.

More photos to come from this weekend...be sure to check out the video below of Ace's Wednesday night adventure with Scoobi the kitty.

Mom and Acie at the CATC trial in April. :)

Um, hello - I am walking you, not the squirrel. He has some, um, distraction issues - birds, bunnies and squirrels in particular. In his quest to "see" them, he gives not one care to the fact that he might rip your arm off in the process....

Bird, squirrel and bunny alert. He did however come back and sit when I called him...

An oldie, but one of my favorites....Chelsie, pre MACH and pre torn ACL...

And still smiling...loving her mom, loving agility and loving her new 16 inch jump height. My loyal, obedient, trusting girl. You are the BEST Chelsie Belle, every run with you is so special and I am so proud of you for coming back like the great dog you are!!!

Acie & The Moveable Toy

2011-04-20T22:19:00.000-04:00

Grampie calls kitty the "moveable toy". Acie and kitty's adventure tonight....

CHECK...one off the list

2011-04-18T23:21:00.000-04:00

I have decided there are a few things I am going to do this summer, whether or not anyone else wants to do them with me. :) I am going to keep the list to myself and I will share with you as I accomplish each event. :)

First order of business...a game at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. It was a gorgeous night and I went with 2 people I met at my conference I am here for. We are about 5 blocks from the field, so we could just walk. The weather called for some potential showers, but mother nature was in a good mood for a change. The Reds gods, however, were not in a good mood, they lost 9-1. You know its not your night when 2 of your 3 hits come in the bottom of the 9th. :)

Even though the Reds lost, it was still fun...nice to be outside in the fresh air and think about what it would be like to play in a facility like that. :) Check one off the list. Stay tuned for other activities coming off the list. :)

Begging and Pleading....

2011-04-17T00:12:00.000-04:00

Dear Mother Nature,

Obviously, you are not over it yet. Something must have really irritated you today...you couldn't make up your mind earlier this morning whether to allow the sun to come out or allow the clouds and rain to take over. You teased us...some sun, then clouds and repeated the process until about 3 PM when you settled on rain - windy rain at that. You are still aggravated with us because you are huffing and puffing like you want to blow my house down...and it ain't warm air you are blowing either, sister.

Can we settle on a truce? I am tired of being chilled to the bone and having nasty weather. Maybe could we start tomorrow? It is supposed to be our inaugural trip of the season in the boat...but at the rate we are going, the trip will be blown out before we even start.

I am begging and pleading with you...please let spring show up soon.

Very Sincerely,

A freezing camper in Columbus

14 mos...

2011-04-13T14:31:00.000-04:00

Today, little Acie pup is 14 mos old...I can hardly believe it. He is sweet and spicy, saucy and sassy, spirited and spunky all in one.

He has quite the little personality...ALL BOY!!! He is pretty good most of the time, but still likes to get into things...he hasn't quite figured out how to be a little more sly when he hasn't something he shouldn't. He really wants to play with his sister, but his play turns more into harassment and usually results in him getting the spray bottle method of discipline. :) He tries really hard in agility, but is a little distracted. :) Ok, a lot distracted. However, he is still a very young dog and will hopefully grow out of it. Once the game of agility clicks with him...look out. Every thing he does, he does with great gusto. :)

Ace's top ten at 14 mos:

1. Breakfast is still the most important priority in the day.
2. He LOVES his frisbee.
3. He is still a CHAMPION car rider.
4. He loves going out and doing his "practice" at his sister's agility trials and in our basement.
5. He has turned into quite the snuggler and literally gets into his sleeping position by laying on top of me and rolling down into the final sleeping position.
6. He has improved dramatically in his pedicure behavior.
7. He has successfully learned to beg...hard for him because he has a really long, unstable body.
8. He loves to have his belly rubbed.
9. He has springs for back legs.
10. He is very jealous of any other dog that has his mama's attention...including his sister.

So happy birthday little buddy...I can't believe you have been home for a year. You make me laugh every day and are the cutest little stinker I know....

Happenings and Such...

2011-04-03T23:16:00.000-04:00

Well, it seems I have failed miserably in my attempt to be a better blogger...here is a snapshot of what is going on in our world.

1. Mother Nature continues to be a craba**. We are so tired of cold, rain, snow, hail and whatever other weather incident out there exsits. Need some sun...pronto.

2. We finally got out of preferred Open purgatory in agility. We are now back in excellent, which means we are running with all our friends again. Looking forward to a 3 day trial this weekend in our own backyard.

3. Pups doing well. Acie continues to grow up and into his own little personality. He is a little turn head sometimes, but he is so darn cute it is hard to get mad at him. Case in point...last night, he snaked part of my avocado off the counter when I went to check on the chicken. He walked into the living room licking his lips and I knew what he had done. Chelsie really likes the new method of discipline I have started with Ace...the spray bottle. I ask him when he is harassing her "Are you supposed to be doing that?" Usually picking up the spray bottle is all I need to do. I am not sure Chelsie has been feeling well as of late..she is actually engaging her brother in play. This is good for my guilt, but not good in the sense that there is more lab than the living room can handle.

4. My trainer continues to kick my fanny...twice a week at 6 30 AM. If I am not in need of a lung transplant when I am done, he is not doing his job, according to him. No worries there, Casey....I am looking for 4 more lungs after 30 minutes. Your filty 40 the other day that is a precursor to the filthy fifty? I might even need 6 lungs after that. My clothes certainly fit better, that is for sure!

5. I continue to be amazed at what a difference paint makes. I painted the top half of my kitchen and my bedroom this weekend. It was just the change I needed. Much thanks to Maggie for the assistance on the bedroom today. It looks fabulous.

6. I have been house hunting as of late thinking I might want some more space. Looked at an AWESOME house on Friday with one huge problem...the pool. Case in point...there was a garden of mulch and rocks 18 inches from the edge. Um, hello? Not to mention a tree in the yard (and the neighbors yard for that matter) right over the pool that was dropping red things. In my prior life, I was a pool man (we had one growing up) and I know how much work they are in the best planned circumstances. Add to that there was an attempt to keep a tree WAY too close to it...I took a look at it and asked my dad "Um, do you see any other possible places for the roots of that tree to go other than through the side of the pool?" He said no. My realtor accuses me of hating trees because I cut them down. :) I do indeed cut them down...but in my defense, the first one was making a mess out of my walkway (roots lifting it) and the second one was just out of place. I mean, come one...who has a Christmas tree at the end of their driveway???

So that is the 411 of what has been going on there. Mama Nature needs to get over it...it is April and the boat needs to go in the water. Not to mention I don't want to freeze for the first session of SB....and my house needs some fresh air going through it.

Hope everyone is well. :)

This and That...

2011-03-06T19:59:00.000-05:00

We have not been up to much around here...I guess the biggest thing that has happened since my last boy is that little Acie was offfically freed of his burden of manhood. Theoretically, that is supposed to help settle him down, but I am convinced it had the opposite effect! Chelsie too. I emiled my vet and told her as much, and her response was "So he is recovering well?" Um, yeah. He woke up recovered. It has been 5 days and his wounds are healing nicely - he was stictched up from the inside out, with dissolvable stitches in his britches and his outer layer of skin glued together. Minus a little razor burn and a few little scabs, he was fine. :) This was the extreme opposite of our last experience with dog surgery...which was Chelsie's ACL. Getting males neutered is MUCH less invasive than females spayed. My vet says his goods were very firmly attached and quite large.....

Hm, what else. I got a personal trainer last week...one of my old softball buddies got one and looks amazing. I have been writing down everything I eat...its amazing how you ask yourself "Do I really want to tell Casey I ate that?" My main reason for getting one is to have more efficient and productive workouts - and after 2 visits, I definitely have those. Its amazing how the right exercises can leave you huffing and puffing like you would not imagine. :) I keep thinking about the skinny jeans I finally had the courage to buy and what I want my booty to look like in them. I will also be in much better shape for wakeboarding season, which is just around the corner.

Next weekend is an agility trial in Zanesville, and then off to visit Dallas for the weekend to see my friend Lara and her kids. So we have a few things going on around here, but nothing too exciting...which is a good thing.
Hope everyone has a good week. :)

Dear Mother Nature....

2011-02-25T09:02:00.000-05:00

Dear Mother Nature,

I am not sure who messed in your cheerios, but I am willing to go the extra mile to make it ok for you. You have punished all with your annoyance...snow, rain, ice, stupid people on the road - I get it. You are mad. But can we kiss and make up? Maybe with some sunshine?

Very Sincerely,

Freezing and Tired of the Inclement Weather in Ohio

On the road again...

2011-02-21T23:01:00.000-05:00

Happy to report that no one has injured anything and needed to go to the vet and that no one has eaten anything they shouldn't have. I used some peanut butter kongs to distract the both of them while I dragged the suitcase out. They didn't even notice. I guess I don't feed them enough.

On another good note, Chelly was 3-4 this weekend. The one run she messed up was my fault...I was super irritated with myself. She had a fan club on Sunday morning - one of my co-workers lives in Indianapolis and came to watch. This was the first time we had been to this trial and it was nice. The ribbons were black and red and had a checkered flag theme. :) The leash posts had little race cars glued to the top of them. Chelsie ran jumpers while my friend was there and ran it PERFECTLY! Since moving down to preferred...she is 8-8 in her jumpers courses! Std, well that is a different story but we will be back in excellent after our next trial.

Home on Wedensday morning...lord willing, I will be able to walk them outside when I get home!!!

Little Acie cuddling with his brother Blue at ~ 7 weeks old in the breeder's backyard. I know this is Ace because of the white spot on his paw. That was how they told the boys apart. :)

Oh Dear...

2011-02-16T21:24:00.000-05:00

It was an interesting few days at my house...and I am not even there!

On Sunday, Acie's birthday, I admonished him for licking the couch - which sent him right to licking his paw. I happened to notice the pad on the back of his left leg was in miserable shape...the top of it was just hanging off and it was red and irritated underneath. Imagine a blister where the skin has been torn away a little and you are afraid to rip it off for fear of great pain. Swell. His other one was red and inflamed, but not torn, and the dew claw on that foot was red and irritated as well. Me being the pet owner of the year, I have no idea how it happened, but am fairly confident that whatever happened, happened a few days ago.

Did I mention I was off to Miami, Fl on Monday?

So super parents to the rescue...they come and take Southpaw (my new nickname for him in his injury period) to the vet. I had made cupcakes for Acie's class on Sunday night, but given that he had an open wound on his foot, I opted not to take him to class because it would have been a mess if the skin had ripped off his paw. I put the cupcakes out for my mom to take to the vet - and off I went to the airport.

About an hour later, I get a call - Ace got some ointment and a bandage on his foot, which he promptly removed during the 10 minute ride home from the vet. My mom returned home to one pissed black lab - I had left with the suitcase and gramma had left with Ace - she was pissed. She knocked the stainless steel trashcan down, which thankfully I had just emptied, but had gone gounter surfing for the cupcakes. Ate 9 of them, white cake and chocolate frosting, paper and all. A pissed lab was now a bloated, farting, pissed lab.

Meanwhile, mom re-wraps Ace's foot and gets out the inflatable ecollar, puts it on him and puts him in the car. She puts Garbage Gut in the car too, and off they go. Chelsie farted the whole way home and Ace had the bandage and Ecollar off by the time they got home.

I am happy to report that as of today, all are doing better. Ace went back to the vet and they removed the hanging flap of skin on his pad and he is doing fine - he doesn't run away from grammie when she goes to put the ointment on it. Chelsie seems to have freed her system of the cupcakes, and the labs haven't been put up for sale yet by their grandparents. Ace did get into a match with grampa about who was going to sit in his recliner...grampie won that battle...but Acie won the bed war. Gramma heard him chewing on his bandage on Monday night and brought him into bed with her, grampie and Chelsie. Grampie decided he was not going to fight for allocation of space...so he went upstairs while mom and the labs took over the king size bed. :) Just when you all thought Big Bill was tough...he is really a sucker for the dogs. :)

Two more days everyone...then I will be home to deal with it all...

Happy First Birthday Acie Pup!

2011-02-13T22:16:00.000-05:00

Today...little Acie pup was one year old...I can't believe it, time has gone by so fast. A year ago today, I got an email that said "Puppies are here" and that if I wanted a yellow male, one was here. My life hasn't been the same since.

Happy birthday little buddy, I have enjoyed every minute with you. You test my patience, melt my heart, rattle my ear drums and keep me warm at night. Think maybe you could back off your sister for me too???

Cabin Fever

2011-02-07T21:09:00.000-05:00

So it is snowing again here, after all the ice we had last week. I am still not 100% convinced that all the ice is gone, and my precious little black labbie does not do ice. Her good leg will always be at risk of tearing her ACL, so I see no need to risk it. Consequently, we all have a little bit of cabin fever, even after the ride in the car while mom saw the chiropractor and did her butt kicking 15 minute work out.

All this makes for one loud yellow dog and one annoyed black dog. No worries, dear Waffle, if you don't think she has become less tolerant in her old age, think again. I saw a lot of her "pretty face" and heard the irritation in her throat tonight. So I took the little guy downstairs for his "practice" - where we work on some basic agility stuff. He LOVES to go downstairs to work - and I love that about him. I am pretty sure it has more to do with his food rewards than it does with pleasing his mom, but hey, we will go with it.

Both dogs went to the vet on Friday and got a clean bill of health. :) That made for a very happy mom. Also, the appointment has been made for THE OPERATION...March 1, Ace will officially be freed of his burden of manhood. Wonder what I am going to blame for his bad behavior???? :)

This weather has to give...hopefully, we will be able to at least walk outside soon. I have some nice warm clothes, but I don't do ice either....and my dogs are going nuts. Hope everyone else's weather is a little better!

Trapped

2011-02-02T21:21:00.000-05:00

Mother nature has been very crabby for the past couple of days here. In this instance, the predictions of the weather people were absolutely correct - everything they said would happen, did. Ice, followed by freezng rain/sleet and then snow. Doesn't that sound like fun? I did heed their warning and prepare for Armageddon, and in this case, it is probably ok that I did. Here are some photos of our adventure during the last 2 days.

What I woke up to Tuesday morning. I worked from home both Tuesday and today.

Fell on my booty trying to go down to get the mail. Suffice to say, I did not venture out to get the mail today and my trash can is still at the curb from pick up yesterday morning.

Truly a sign of progress. She was there first, resting her head on my feet. He got up, nicely, quietly and his booty was touching her booty. No dirty looks, no one started biting anyone else and no one got insulted and got down. The small things we celebrate.

Do you have to work on the computer mom? Really, I don't like computer work. Yes, Acie, I do...someone has to make money around here to pay for dog biscuits and agility.

I do plan on going to work tomorrow, lord willing. Something made a noise at 4 30 this morning that caused the black and yellow security forces to be on alert - and right as they were off scaring it away, the power went off until 10 30 this morning. Let's just say that it was a tad bit chilly in the house...heater ran for 20 minutes to get back up to 68 degrees.

Headed to Miami for work on 2-13, and no, not Miami of Ohio. Looking better every day. Stay warm and stay safe.

Some photos....

2011-02-01T11:41:00.000-05:00

So...what have we been up to? And why haven't I been blogging? Well, we have been up to quite bit..in fact, the last two weekends I have had no plans - which has been amazing! We trialed like MAD to get to our MACH, went to a few FB games with some friends (Penn St and Michigan), traveled for work, traveled up to Michigan, Christmas, more travel to Michigan...and now just trying to re group. So...in no particular order...here we go....

Baby Ace at 5 mos - taken at the Cleveland trial in May. Lord, was he cute...a holy terror, but cute. How has he changed? Primarily, he has gotten darker - and he does listen better. Like all men, he has selective hearing.

This picture is priceless to me. Taken by Virgil Smith of Pawprints.

Ellen, my breeder, sent me a CD of photos and videos from the first 8 weeks of Ace's life...this was on there. How can you not love this face? (he thrives on that by the way - you can't yell at me cuz I am too cute. Yes, little buddy, I can.)

Love this picture...captures the spirit of my little girl when she is on the agility course. Taken at the Cleveland trial site, sometime before her MACH.

Ace was about 6 mos old in this picture. He wanted the ball and told me about it. After he yelled at me, it got put away. One of the hard and fast rules in this household it that you DO NOT bark at your mom for a toy.

Ace and his littermate, Ella (MS Total Elation) in October. Lee and Ella live about 15 minutes from the trial site in North Olmstead and invited us over for a swim and a BBQ. She has a pond on her property and they had a geat time - although Ace nearly drowned. He latched on to a wire in the middle of the pond that usually held the fountain, which Lee's hubby had taken out to repair - he would not let go and was clearly getting tired. We had to get in the paddle boat and go out and force him to let go. It was terrifying.

Which one is Ace? In December and January, I had the opportunity to show Ace's mom, Amber, for my breeder. She was recovering from a broken foot. Amber was just a few pts away from being invited to AKC nationals - and by the time Ellen realized it, it was too late to get the points. I had told Ellen I would have gotten the points for her. So...I went and ran her. We finished our short time running together 22 pts shy of MACH - we got three QQ and 106 pts. For 2012 nationals, we got half the QQ needed (6 needed) and 1/4 of the pts (400 needed). She is an awesme dog and was a blast to run. Not many dogs will run for another handler, let alone run as awesome as Amber did for me. More important, she had fun. Oh yeah, who is who? Ace is on the left, his brother Blue, is on the right. Ace is a bully bruiser...and Blue-y is a lover, wants to cuddle all the time.

Seriously...what did you do all day while I was at work making money to pay for dog biscuits and agility?

Take a guess on who this is....ok, its Blue. He is significantly lighter in color than my little wild thing. :)

Ace, Blue and Mama Amber. Amber is barely 20 inches tall and 45 lbs...petite. The sire of this litter was black, Amber is a dark golden...and look at these boys, esp Blue! And only one black puppy in the whole litter...go figure. These puppies are nice size, as they have small lineage - Cody, the father, is about Chelsie's height and about 8-10 lbs heavier. This is on the small side for a male. No complaints from me.

Ah, the fun ones....at the beginning of the run for all the marbles, our MACH run. I always bend down and kiss her and rub her back - I nuzzled her nose for a few seconds longer on this run. Key to note Bill and Maggie in the background. I think they were more nervous than I was. :)

I can do it mom...just give me the signal! I love this photo...it speaks volumes of our relationship and the trust she has in me...

We did it! The judge, Christie Bowers, is a good friend of mine...she really wanted to be standing on that course when we took our victory lap. It was meant to be. I love Chelly in this picture...I did it mom, I did it!

Love this picture too...so, so proud of her.

This was on the CD my breeder sent me. Hours old in this picture...his mom's paw protecting him.

Our MACH run. I still remember it like it was yesterday....

Ok, all for now...I am working from home tomorrow...in case anyone hadn't heard, the Armageddon is coming tomorrow....

Happy Birthday Chelsie Belle!

2011-01-31T13:42:00.000-05:00

Today, my little Chelsie Belle is 9 years old. I think I am ready to pick up my blogging again and couldn't think of a more appropriate first blog. Happy birthday Chelsie girl, you are the best girl in the whole world.

Strong Finish

2010-07-19T09:53:00.000-04:00

For as crappy a handler as I was on Satruday, I got better on Sunday. Sunday's std course was wide open and FAST. Like really FAST. She tore up this fast course and we ended up 17 seconds under time. It was a fabulous run. She followed suit in jumpers, and finished the day with QQ 17 and 21 pts. :)

Also, we wanted to wish Chelsie and Ace's grammie a happy birthday. Grammie was very happy with her birthday present of a QQ and 21 pts!!!

Photos

2010-07-17T21:19:00.000-04:00

Well, for as good as last weekend was, today sucked...well, actually her handler sucked - and it started very early. Tomorrow will be a better day.

First, at 6Am this morning, I was going through my email and looked at an email from Red Roof Inn that said "Your survey for your recent stay at the Inn in Middleburg Heights". Uh, that was where we were staying tonight. I think what happened was that when I clicked submit for the online registration, there was an error I had to correct and the date defaulted back to Wedensday's date, the day I made the reservation. Oops. Luckily, they had a room for us (although not first floor and I had to haul Ace's wire car crate up the stairs) and graciously applied the no-show charge they hit my credit card with to the room tonight. On top of this, I went to check into the room, and realized I had no driver's license. Last night, I went to the park and just took my license and forgot to put it back in my purse. This would not have been a problem, except that we brought grammie's mini van to the show. Thankfully, grammie was with me and she had an ID that matched her CC...grammie will be driving home tomorrow.

On top of all of this, my handling SUCKED. We were 0-2. We dropped a bar and had an off course in std and then I sent her into the wrong side of the tunnel on a move I have perfected. In the middle of a front cross, I realized I was not supposed to be doing that front cross...right as she went into the wrong end of the tunnel. Thankfully, my friend Stacey did the same thing...we laughed about it - and I found out all my friends were making fun of me for that dumb move...She was a good girl. Her handler's handling left a lot to be desired.

And then, there is Ace...little Ace. His sister Ella was there today, and they enjoyed 2 periods of rough, tumble extreme lab play. Enjoy the pictures of then and now, and pray for better handling tomorrow.

Ace (Morning Star's "Going the Distance") and his sister Ella (Morning Star's "Total Elation") on May 15, 2010

Reunited! July 17, 2010

Two worn out puppies makes 2 very happy mommies!!! It was very warm out there and when you run around like maniacs...well, your tongue hangs out of the side of your mouth. It should be noted they are sitting this because it was at the end of play period #1....

Weekend in Toledo

2010-07-12T10:43:00.000-04:00

This weekend, Chelsie was 4-4 in her competition, earning 2 QQ's and 25 pts. Courses were wheeled VERY tight, which was why we didn't get very many pts, but she ran well, ran clean (obviously!) and had a great time. For her efforts, she was rewarded with a plain donut from Tim Horton's which she graciously shared with her little brother.

These QQ's were # 15 and #16...we need 20 to get to MACH. We are at 509 pts, with750 needed for MACH. So...the MACH counter is down to 4QQ and 241 pts. I would LOVE to get her MACH at one of my club's last 2 trials in Novemeber, but that might be a bit agressive - I would have to pick up one more trial in August, September and October to even have a shot. We will see how she does this weekend, what trials are going on and make a decision from there. All our Wild Weaver friends have been so supportive of us throughout our agility career...our beginning instructors are still amazed at what we have accomplished, given our start. Because of this, as well as their support though Chelsie's injury, it would be nice to come full circle with all of them. Something to think about.

Very proud of my little girl this weekend - she worked very, very hard for her mom. :)

Agility Photos - First Trial Back!

2010-07-08T11:17:00.000-04:00

Below are some photos I had taken at Chelsie's first trial back from her injury. These were taken May 15 at the Cleveland All Breed Training Club trial in North Olmstead, Ohio. This was Chrisite Bowers std course. We nq'ed on the run...mom cut a turn too tight and she knocked a bar, but got a big cheer from all her agility friend to welcome her back and congratulate her on a terrific first run.

I was very happy to see this picture - she cleared the jump easily with her back legs tucked up nicely and read where I wanted her to. You can see that she is looking straight at the next obstace, which is exactly what she should be looking at. The look of pure joy makes me feel good too...

Coming out of the chute...this is a blind exit, so she has to find me..

I took an extra minute and gave her a little extra loving because I was so proud of her. Then we were off to find her treats...and I let her stick her nose in the treat bag.

This weekend is our first trial in Toledo. Rumor has it that it is a very nice facility, similar to Cleveland. This is a very good thing! We are also trialing in Cleveland next weekend, and then will have 3 weekends off before heading back to Cleveland to trial in August.

Hope everyone is having a great day!

Weekend Wrap Up

2010-07-05T22:07:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone out there had a nice, long weekend. My weekend started Thursday night and I can't believe I am still scrambling to get things done before tomorrow....including making my bed with all 11 pillows..

Here is the readers digest version of the weekend...

1. Friday - chips y salsa y margaritas with my friend Lisa, puppy play group with Ace on Friday night.
2. Saturday - on the water by 8 30 (at boat at 7 30), errands and yardwork (it was hotter than moses while I mowed) while grammie kept the babies
3. Sunday - repeat of Saturday, except add Uncle Joey's annual 4th of July party in there
4. Monday - repeat of wakboarding, errands, chores

Wakeboarding went awesome. Worked on getting some air in between my board and the water. What I found out is that it is exhausting. :)

Also got to spend a little time hugging my puppies. On Saturday, little Ace was 20 weeks old. He will be 5 mos old on July 13. Growing up so fast, but is a really good puppy. He is in puppy play group with a bunch of other puppies from our agility circle - no doubt his favorite time of the class was when he was chasing Lucy the Jack Russell terrier all over the yard. He is currently trying to "help" me with paperwork. His sister had a good weekend too, and has been very helpful in entertaining him so I could deal with the paperwork that seems to have taken over my life...

I hope everyone had a great few days. For those of us here in Ohio...try and stay cool. :)

Cofirmatory Testing

2010-07-02T07:54:00.002-04:00

I heard back from Be the Match, and the inquring medical service has accepted me as a potential donor. :)

Be the Match!

2010-06-29T15:23:00.000-04:00

This afternoon, I got a phone call from "Be the Match". Anyone have any ideas of what this means?

Many moons ago, I signed up to be a bone marrow donor, for a number of reasons I won't get into at this point. This afternoon, I received a phone call that I am among a group of potential matches for a patient. Initial criteria is match of 5 or 6 different characterisitics of your blood (not sure what they all are) , with 6 of 6 obviously being the best. For this particular situation, there are a number of us that are a 6 of 6 initially, me included. Further testing will be conducted on each donors blood sample to determine who is the best of those of us that have a 6 of 6 match.

I gave a health history to the lady over the phone - obviously, I disclosed my current situation to her regarding my blood count. My guess is that it will probably eliminate me from the group, which is totally understandable. But then again, it may not, as my most recent blood counts have come back normal.

So right now, I just wait - this is obviously something that will resolve itself one way or another fairly soon. Suiffice to say, I was very surpised when I listened to the message on the phone and of course, called back right away. My guess is nothing will come of it, but if it does, I will certainly be happy to part with some of my healthy bone marrow. :) Until then, I will say a prayer that the right donor comes along for this individual and they are completely healed from their illness.

For information on donation, visit http://www.bethematch.org/.

A VERY BAD BOY

2010-06-25T12:20:00.000-04:00

Ace has had a rough few days. Good thing he is cute.

Yesterday, he started singing to gramma at 4 AM. At 5AM, when she let him out...she forgot the sprinklers were on. What grammie? You want me to come in out of the sprinklers? I am having way too much for the that. Its not funny...but I can't help but laugh thinking about my poor mom dealing with a soaking wet dog at 5AM. He was pretty obnoxious the rest of the day as well. My poor mom had a full day with things to do and was exhausted...and what did she find when she got home from her errands? My dad and the dogs asleep. Go figure.

Fast forward to this morning....while I was in the shower, he destroyed my glasses. Fortunately, I had an extra pair and my insurance covers all but the frames. Suffice to say, from now on, he will be eating breakfast in the crate while mom showers. My glasses have been left in the same place since I have had him, and they have never been of interest to him until this morning. My cell phone has always been of interest (and has a few little teeth marks here and there) but never my glasses. I told him he was lucky he was cute or I would have WORN HIM OUT...

Oh Ace...my little Ace. Good thing you are cute, esp when you cuddle up with mommy...

Coming Home...

2010-06-23T23:09:00.000-04:00

After three straight weeks of traveling, I am very happy to be coming home tomorrow....esp given that earlier this evening we were under tornado watch here in Indiana. When I left work at 5 30, it was miserable hot and humid with clouds rolling in. A vicious line of storms came in and we had a light show not like anything I had seen in awhile. Luckily, we were inside at dinner while most of this was going on. I also took a quick trip to Petco and B&N after dinner...have a new toy for each of the kids tomorrow to celebrate mom coming home.

While I was gone the first week, I came back to Ace having 4 adult teeth on the bottom and 2 on the top. Last week, we added 2 more adult teeth on top. Who knows what I will come home to this week. He has officially grown out of having his panel in his crate - and needing his panel in his crate for that matter. He is doing very well with housebreaking, and unless he had an accident my mom hasn't told me about, I think we can officially call him housebroken. We are still not ready for him go all day with no potty break, so his auntie Carol will probably come through the end of August - by then, he should be able to go 8 hrs fairly easily. My parents are up in the hood quite frequently, so that will help as well - but for right now, it is just much easier on the mama to know that the puppies will have a "break" in the middle of the day.

Both dogs are doing well. Chel is becoming a little more agressive in telling Ace to buzz off, and will actually lunge at him while pulling her lips back if he has crossed the line - and believe me, he does cross the line! But she also will pick up a toy she knows he likes and walk at him with it in her mouth...and will then engage him in submissive play. For the most part, Ace is doing well also...the boy is a real little YAK in the morning. Brings new meaning to waking up full of himself...not mention the volume factor involved. In his mind, waking up is an opportunity to bark. Loudly. Excessively. Usually, within 15 minutes of finishing his breakfast, he has had at least 2 timeout cuddles with mom...ie, getting pinned into submission. After that, he is quite happy to chew his bone or lay on the bed. He goes in his crate like a champ, which makes my life a lot easier. Chelsie always HATED her crate, and therefore I always HATED leaving her in it. I don't relish putting Ace in his crate, but it sure is a lot easier knowing he doesn't HATE it.
Both have started class at a new facility called Incredipaws and that is going well. It is hard for Ace because he wants to play with all the puppies! Chelsie has her first 2 day competition since hurting herself this weekend, and I am very excited. Little Space will get to go as well.

In the event anyone cares about the mama (smile - I know you all do) I saw my rheumatologist on Monday...and left him 5 vials of blood, which was swell. I have been MUCH better about taking my medicine, but am still incredibly fatigued. Granted, I have been busy, but this is a different kind of tired. I wear out easily and seem to require naps at a much higher rate than I used to. Clearly, I have new limits that have not yet been defined, but it is very frustrating. The blood tests are simply follow up blood tests to make sure nothing has changed. My elevated antibody counts will be what they were before, but he wanted to make sure there was nothing else involved. My rash is starting to show itself here and there, but nothing to the level it was a year ago at this time. My guess is my bloodwork will come back fine, I will continue to take the medicine and see him again in 6 months. Hopefully, I can figure out what my new limits are, because how I am currently functioning is not sustainable on a long term basis. Yesterday, I came in on a 6 30 AM flight and was asleep by 7PM. Probably won't be doing that in the future!
And now, I leave you all with what you want to see....photos of Ace. You will note Ace's necklace...it is actually his flying disc - which has clearly seen better days. I looked into purchasing a new flying disc for him...the dumb things are $21 at Petsmart. Sorry buddy, you will have to continue to play with your ripped one. Not that you care...you seem to love it no matter what!

Chelsie and Ace's Week

2010-06-09T22:39:00.000-04:00

Playing with the kong at his Aunt Carol's house...

So, it seems despite me being gone, my puppies are having a pretty good week. As I correctly predicted, Chelsie is going everywhere with grampie and got an empty peanut butter jar as a treat the other day. She has also had a harassment free week. :) Grampie takes VERY good care of her...I got a call from him on Tuesday night because the bag of food marked "dinner" did not have pills in it and he thought it should. She gets her pills at breakfast. Yep, hard to be a Chel.

As for Ace, well, little Ace. Here is a note I got from Carol, his pet sitter who is watching him. She comes and lets him out every day and he loves her. Here is a recap of the Ace man's day from Carol - note, she took himt to half his puppy class in my absence - she teaches the class we are in at 6 30 and she went early so he could play in his 5 30 puppy class.
FROM CAROL
Morning started at 5:30, out to potty, breakfast and back to bed!!I was hoping for a lazy morning, had been up extra early the past few days.Able to sleep til 8 !!!WOOHOO
Went for a walk, helped me fill the bird feeders.
He does need to get out and socialize more with strange places, dogs, people. Even though he knows me, he is acting insecure. Jumps on me all the time for reassurance. Hackles come up and he barks at noses, horses, different things. He comes around nicely and could be going through a puppy shyness. See if you can invite yourself over to different peoples houses once a week or so, to see different places, people, dogs, whatever. Its a BIG world!!
BUT, he really is doing well, he is trying hard to listen and be good!
Got home this afternoon, another walk and play with the puppy Kong I made him.
Left for WW early, he got to play in his puppy class for 1/2 hour, then I needed to get ready for my class. He did very well in class. He did refuse tunnel twice, Annette said he was doing that. We were doing small combinations. Jump-Tunnel.
We did a front cross after tunnel to jump. Then we did jump, with a pull to chute. Then jump and front cross to chute.
As far as I was concerned, he was the star of the class. He slept in crate for over an hour while I had class, ran Porsche. Then before we left, I got him out to say hi to everyone in the Run Thru class. Home for dinner.
My gelding was right at fence, so I went out to pet him, and Ace would *woof* and run back. He would come up behind me and try to jump on me for support. I kept telling him to get off. He finally came up behind me a was able to sniff horses leg through fence. Then he was got within a foot of his nose. GOOD BOY!!!

He just crashed in crate!!
Have a good time Mom!
Carol, you rock.

Playing at Carol's house...obviously, she lives in a more "rural" area than we do.

BAD Blogger....BAD, BAD, BAD!!!

2010-06-08T18:58:00.000-04:00

Yeah, I have been a bad blogger. I know. I will turn in my blogging card if my readers wish.

We have been busy...to say the least. As I type this, I am sitting in a hotel room in Virginia - marking the first of three weeks of travel. This week, Chelly Bean is with her grampie and Ace is with his pet sitter Carol because grammie is in Ca. I have had reports on both, both are doing very well. I miss them immensely, but I don't think they miss me!!!
Here are a few pictures, because I know that is what everyone wants to see. More to come later.

Baby Ace @ 15 weeks

Baby Ace @ 16 weeks

Award for Exellence in Writing

2010-05-25T18:28:00.000-04:00

WARNING - TISSUES MAY BE NECESSARY

Not by me, but by my 11 year old cousin Jennifer.

As many of you know, my cousin Michelle lost her hubby in the line of duty 5 years ago. Recently, she rode 300+ miles from East Hanover, NJ to Washington DC on the "Police Unity Tour" and raised over $5,000 for care of the memorial in DC that has Mike's name on it. The ride went into DC to mark the begginning of police week 2 weeks ago.

As you can imagine, life has not been the same - the girls were 9 and 7 when they lost Mike. Below is Jenn's award winning essay in the Solano County Reading Association's Annual writing contest.

My mom sat on the couch and cried as she remembered my father. My dad was a good man with a big heart for his family. My family always went to church, dinner, and on vacation together. We were close and loved each other.One New Year's Day when we were camping in our trailer, my sister and I were awakened by my tear-eyed mom saying she needed to tell us some news. I had a feeling something was wrong when my grandparents sat at the table in tears.

I thought my dad must have been in the hospital since my grandparents had made the two hour trip during the night. As we sat on the couch, my mother announced the tragic incident that occurred the night before. She told us that as my dad helped a driver stuck in the mud on Hghway 17, setting out flares and calling CalTrans for backup, a speeding driver crashed into the back of the CalTrans truck. The truck then rolled forward into my father, causing internal organ injuries. She said he lay there until an ambulance came, hoping to rescue him, but unfortunately God had already taken him to Heaven. Later that morning, policie officers came to bring my family and me to our home.

Since that day, I have felt like my time with my dad was cut short. I felt sadness and a piece of my happiness had vanished. My heart knew he was gone and in Heaven , but my mind doubted he was actually gone. Ever since that day I have felt jealous of other peoples' dads but now I know to be happy for others and to realize how special my father still is to me. On the day we went to the funeral home to say goodbye, I remember kissing him and breaking into tears because I wanted him to respond to me when I said good bye.
I learned to lived for the moment because you never know how long you have left. I know now, you need to tell someone you love them when you feel the need and I would tell anyone who lost a parent that it takes time to recover and not to constantly cry. I feel blessed to know my dad is in Heaven with God and I will see him again. Although it was hard to realize it at the time, I know God did this for a purpose and one day I may come to realize why God took my dad from me. Until then, I will wait and treasure my memories.
- Jennifer Walker, April 2010, Age 11

BACK TO AGILITY!

2010-05-15T21:36:00.000-04:00

We had a great day Saturday in Cleveland - all of us.

Our first run was our standard run - mom's timing was off on a front cross that caused her to take a turn too tight and drop a bar, but the rest of it was beautiful. She got lots of cheers when she came off the course from all her friends, many of whom told me if you didn't know she had been hurt, you never would have known. I was very, very happy and let her stick her nose in the treat bag so she could inhale them all at once.

We moved on to jumpers, where she got a record setting 8 pts! The course was wheeled very generously - meaning more yards and therefore more time. I just wanted a clean run - the course had some tricky spots - but was thrilled when all the bars stayed up. And then to find out the course time was 47 seconds (our time was 38.45) was the icing on the cake. Again, she got the opportunity to stick her nose in the treat bag and inhale again.
Also, we got to see Ace's sister Ella! She lives in Cleveland and her sister Reggie competed today at the trial. Ace enjoyed over an hour of play time with his sister (broken into 2 sessions), and they just went nuts. This picture below says it all...no question, Ellen, the breeder, had her hands full!!

Moose Baby

2010-05-14T10:30:00.000-04:00

Baby Ace on his 3 month birthday, 5/13/10

Baby Ace and his sister on his 3 month birthday on 5/13/10.

And one for the ages, to celebrate our return to the agility ring this weekend!!! Ace is going to the trial also, and will see his sister, Ella this weekend, as she lives in Cleveland and will be at the trial. I will be sure to post pitcures.

What puppy?

2010-05-10T22:31:00.000-04:00

With the exception of Little Girl (who weighed a mere 15 lbs last week), Ace and his siblings are getting close to the 25 lb mark. They were 12 weeks old on Saturday. Ace has lost his roly poly puppy look and all of sudden has HUGE feet and paws that are way too big for his body. It is definitely the start of the gangly puppy stage.

He is doing pretty well training wise for a 12 week old puppy. Some of his habits are less than desirable - he is a garbage mouth to the n'th degree (tonight's treat was ripping goose poop out of his mouth along the path by the river, which was just "fowl") and when he doesn't get his way, his first instinct is to reach out and chomp whatever is closest - your hand, the couch, my computer bag. Last week, I had Chelsie at Medvet for an eye exam - it was free for all service dogs, and as a TDI dog, she is considered a service dog - and some lady was there with her 6 month old lab because she thought he had swallowed a sock. He had. At our current rate, we will be there for Ace swallowing some sort of foreign object.

Here are some pictures from this weekend. They are not really all that great - but please keep in mind I am usually trying to either take something away from him he shouldn't have or take something out of his mouth. Just as soon as I correct him for one thing...he is off to the next. Oh the joys of a 12 week old puppy.

His sister in hanging in - becoming a little less tolerant and has actually told him to buzz off a time or two!!!

Hangin' In

2010-04-28T23:18:00.000-04:00

We are still attempting to settle into a routine over here, but so far, things are going well. Ace had his first puppy class tonight, Chelsie her first agility class since hurting herself. All went well. Wednesday's are going to be really long days - I have to leave work at 4 to get to Gahanna by 5 30. But its just for this session.

Little Ace man continues to grow. Mom was negiligent to the hurt he was inflicting on the big puppy's neck - his constant harassment resulted in 2 hot spots on Chelsie's neck. Poor thing had to go to the vet for the second time in 5 days (she had a mass aspirated last Friday that turned out to be a fatty mass common in labs) Dr. B shaved the spot down so it could heal up and sent her home with 2 weeks of antibiotics. Ace goes on Friday.

It is definitely more work to have 2 dogs right now, but the timing was right and I was ready. As for the little terror himself, he is spicy, saucy, spunky, spirited and a sweetheart all wrapped up into one package - esp right now because he is asleep in his crate. He is growing up so quick - he will be out of the baby kennel this weekend and into a portable crate at night...

Hope this finds everyone well!

Picture Post

2010-04-25T16:53:00.000-04:00

I know I have been slacking in the picture department. I have forgotten what it is like to have a 10 week old puppy - they require constant supervision. He is really doing great - housebreaking going great (he has really gotten the hang of going to the door over the past few days and we have not had an accident in the house in nearly a week - and we have never had a no 2 accident in the house) He is very agreeable to going into his crate, which makes my life a ton easier. I am clicker training him, which is going very well also - he sees the clicker and I definitely have his attention. We are really good at sit, down and touch..still working on taking the treat nicely.

His sister is his best playmate, and most of the time she is very willing to play. She is also not afraid to tell him to back off, which is very nice. He needs to learn he can't be a little jerk around other dogs. He wants to do what she does, and I used this to my advantage this morning, when I sent Chel outside to do her business right before a downpour started - he went right out and did his business as well.

Both dogs start class on Wednesday night - Ace a class for puppies younger than 20 weeks and Chelly Bean...AGILITY!!!! YAY! They are back to back, which will be nice, but will also require some serious organization on my part - esp because they start at 5:30 in Gahanna. Yeah..downtown to Dublin to Gahanna with 2 dogs (one of them being a 10 week old puppy) by 5 30. By week 2...we should have it down!

As for miss Chelly Bean...she gave me a scare last week. I found a mass on her rib cage...Dr. B aspirated it on Friday and it is just a fatty mass. PHEW. I have decided to enter her in a trial in May for one day only, just to see where she is. We have been jumping over our jump in the basement, and she seems to be doing really well. I will watch her to see if we need to add an anti-inflammatory to the mix. She weighted 57.5 lbs at the beginning of April, and with her full return to activity, gained a pound and weighs 58.5. I am pretty sure it is muscle mass, given the activity she encounters on a daily basis trying to keep her brother off her.

Here are some photos!

I'll Show YOU, SQUISHY YELLOW PUPPY!!!

2010-04-21T21:06:00.000-04:00

Dear Waffle,

For 10 days now, I have been pestered...pestered by that little flea. I barely wake up in the morning and he is ALL OVER THE PLACE! Trying to eat my food when mom puts its down, hanging on my scruff, barking at me...but finally, tonight...IT CROSSED THE LINE.

We were out in the yard, mom mowed the grass and was weeding. She had brought some toys out for the flea, and then put my rope kong down for me. What happened, you ask? You got it...squishy yellow puppy tried to TAKE MY ROPE KONG! That was it...I had enough! I yanked it out of his mouth and told him about it...and then I started running after him. Take that! And that! And that again! Take down, three times!!! He went running into mom's lap after that...but he got the message and then left my rope kong alone.

Begrudingly, I do admit, I am sort of attached to the little fellow...even if he hangs all over me and tries to steal my toy. If I really want to agitate him, I take his stuffed carrot and squeak it in front of him. When other people besides mom are around, I fake like I don't like him...won't even look at him. Both grandma and Carol, our pet sitter, say that - mom says she knows better and has video evidence to prove that I play with the little booger.

Mom says not too long from now, he will be as big as I am...hmph. But you and I, my dear Waffle, know who will always be at the top of the dog chain. That's right my sister, you and me.

In sisterhood of black labbies,

Chelsie Belle

One Week Later....

2010-04-16T23:00:00.000-04:00

Ace has officially been here for one week! And we have all lived to tell about it.

Overall, he is a pretty good dog. It has been so long...8 years to be precise, since I have had a puppy. Housebreaking is going pretty well - his accidents come during play time when he is running around like a raving lunatic and then has an OMG moment...and just pees wherever he is. :) Thankfully, those are fewer and farther between - only because mom watches him like a hawk.

The best way I can describe him is that he is full of spunky, spirited puppyness! He has one speed when he is awake - full throttle. He loves to chew on his toys, the coffee table, the couch, shoes - Chelsie was never a shoe chewer. Good thing most of the time I put my shoes away.

Our first week went very smooth, all things considering. I had work functions 2 nights this week and had to be at work at 8AM - god bless grammie and grampie!. I was up very early both mornings to give him lots of play time, so at this point, I am pretty exhausted. He gets up once a night, but goes right away when I take him out and goes right back to bed as well. Probably the funniest thing about him is that he is a TERRIBLE eater. For those of you that have seen my belching, farting trucker eat, you know that she practically inhales the dish. Not him. He is too distracted to eat. Eats for a few bites, then wanders off for a minute, comes back, eats a little more...too funny. Right now he eats three times a day.

I have a wonderful pet sitter who comes and lets him out at lunch and is really working to help me train him. I do agility with her and take great comfort in knowing she is caring for him.

Pictures to come...this chica is worn out!!!

Photo Opps...

2010-04-10T20:49:00.000-04:00

Overall, we had an amazing day. Hopefully tomorrow is half as good as today. He is really a nifty little guy. His sister is still not sure about this, but she is getting used to it. Here are some photos over the last 2 days.

Resting in a puppy pile with his brother and sisters - he is up against the pen. The one next to him is his brother, Blue (Morning Star's Red While and Blue "Blue") the balck one is Ella and the one in the front is little girl. Rosie left shortly before this was taken.

His mom, Amber. She loves her firsbee and her weave poles, and is very content to curl up in her chair.

Hard at rest in his kennel in the car. He really settled down nicely in his kennel on the ride home.

Meeting the GRAND PAW for the first time.

With his grandma.

First night of family bonding. We were all exhausted.

Attacking the frog. He looks like a wild man.

Rare moment...both are sitting still.

Trying to figure out the 30 foot drag line.He soon realized this was a good thing.

To quote Carrie..."adorable cuteness" - he found the newspaper, determined it was a mean, evil, nasty thing that must be destroyed.

Newspaer destruction is hard work. When he is tired, he is perfectly content in his baby kennel. There is a big boy kennel next to this one with a divider panel for potty training purposes. He was alone for an hour today..no accidents.

Playing in the grass with his sister. This was also a big day for his sister...she got a new pink kong from David...she lost her other one, which she LOVED - he got her a new one and with our release to full activity on Thursday, she was able to chase it to her hearts content.

Better enjoy this spot while you can still get in it, little buddy. Under one of the chairs at the kitchen table.

Resting in his sisters spot on the couch.

Pupdate

2010-04-10T14:14:00.000-04:00

Introducing.....

Morning Stars "Going the Distance" - call name "Ace".

His name commemorates my softball career...as you all know, a pitcher that "goes the distance" pitches all nine innings and is often referred to as your "Ace".

Little Mr. Green jeans made it home yesterday....he was nothing short of amazing. A little distressed when he realized what was happening, but I had a litte paci bone Ellen gave me, which helped out a lot. He would chew, cry, chew, cry..and about 30 minutes into the trip he passed out. Rode on a pillow on my lap for the first 2 hrs and then in his crate the rest of the way home.

He met his sister - I think she is hoping he is a short term visitor. Pack order was established in this morning's first play session. Ace had her frog, and she does what I call the lab creep when another dog has something she wants. Well, she creeped and jumped and he freaked out. She quickly realized she was no match for him and things have been fine since. He is of course more interested in her than she in him...but both are doing well.

The dog is doing amazing from a house breaking perspective. I have already been dubbed the "potty ninja". He has had no accidents...but because every time he looks like he might need to potty, I am scooping him up and taking him out. It has worked...he knows what to do in the "the spot".

Pictures to come soon.

Mr. Green Jeans

2010-04-06T21:58:00.000-04:00

It looks like it is going to be Mr. Green Jeans. :) New pictures posted at:

www.simplesite.com/labkat

Click on Amber/Cody litter. In the newest pictures at the bottom, where the puppies are looking at the camera, I think Mr. Green Jeans is the second boy in there - the first one is little girl and then of course, you can tell who Rosie Posie is by her pink collar but the boys are naked..I am pretty sure Mr. Green Jeans is the second boy - light blue's ears are a bit longer and green jeans is a little broader in the chest.

Pick up time is 10AM on Friday...I can't wait.

Little of Everything, Whole Lot of Nothing....

2010-04-04T22:08:00.000-04:00

With the warm up in the weather, time just seems to fly by....here is a rundown of the happenings:

1. After a bout with infection (including fever of 102 and chills) my dad seems to have taken a tremendous turn for the better in his recovery. Today, Easter Sunday, he is moving around amazingly well. He and my mom went to lunch one day last week, no more home PT and he was able to walk around the block a couple of times this week. He is done with the walker and uses a cane, but can walk short distances without the cane. He still finds sitting in certain chairs uncomfortable, as he is still under some pretty heavy mobility restrictions, but he sees his surgeon on Thursday and we are hoping the restrictions are lifted. It is very clear he is feeling a LOT better, which is good.

2. We celebrated Easter with some of the best carne asada out there - straight from El Centro, California. For those of you not familiar with El Centro, it is about 20 miles from the Mexican border. We were eating the real stuff - and it was YUMMY! Karla, John's wife, also brought her "thing" for dessert - it is a salty/sweet treat with a crust of crushed pretzels/butter/sugar, with whip cream and strawberries set in strawberry jello. We just call it the "thing" - Karla pretty much knows what she is bringing to family dinners these days.

3. Family in San Diego is safe and sound after 6.9 earthquake (my uncle Steve and all of Karla's family). A few things to clean up off the floor, but nothing major. Brought back some unpleasant memories for my Uncle Steve, as they were in Big Bear for the Landers/Big Bear earthquakes - both were close to magnitude 7 on the Richter scale on separate fault lines about 90 minutes apart. My Aunt Eileen and Uncle Norm had a cabin in Big Bear at that time and they, along with my brother, Uncle Steve and John, were up there the morning of the earthquake. The house next to theirs was a total loss due to structural damage - their house was fine, but it was a mess inside from things falling down, the refirgerator opening up, etc. For those of you that don't know, I am deathly afraid of earthquakes...and I mean terrifed. It was always at least 7-10 days before I would sleep in my own bed again...grandma always said "yes" when I would tap her on the shoulder to come sleep with her...

4. Big week for us...Chelly Bean has her last follow up with Dr. Kennedy and will hopefully be returned to agility. Mommy is banking on it, as her class registration was mailed in today. Little Ace will also be coming home next weekend! As I look at my puppy sleeping peacefully on the couch (head back, on her side, paws and mouth twitching) a pang of guilt comes over me for the disruption I am about to inflict on her little life. :(

5. BC dog went home last week - I met Scott 15 miles into Pa. We talked for nearly 2 hrs and cried when we left each other. We will always be very close...but from a relationship perspective, we are not what each other needs right now. I am not sure what is worse...acceptance of that fact or someone doing something hurtful to someone. Scott showed RIP this weekend and was 1-4...a knocked a bar, had an off course and RIP did his weave pole "thing" where he goes in the first pole, skips the second one and finishes the rest. Scott posted some pictures from the weekend, and I figured out why Rippy might have done some of those things...he was frightened my the hideous yellow MICHIGAN shirt he was wearing...All kidding aside, I still have my moments where it hurts...a lot.

6. I was reacquainted with my mower this past week...now just waiting for everything to come into bloom. I was reacquainted with my dad's mower also this afternoon. :)

7. I had hoped to get reacquainted with my wakeboard this weekend..but we had some pretty high sustained winds yesterday that put a damper on our plans. We concluded that there was a reasonable possibility that we could indeed capsize...so we opted not to put the boat in the water. Evidence supporting this decision was in the form of my BBQ laying across my deck when I got home...the top is cracked and broken...UGH! I think it is still functional, but there will come a point where I will put the "f-it" rubber stamp on it and go buy a new one. My parents grill blew over as well, and they had to purchase another one for our carne asada today. I think we need to invest in some bungee cords to strap our grills to the deck rails - this is the second time that mine has blown over and the same part has been broken. Hopefully, I can hold on until the end of the season...

So that is the wrap. Busy week upcoming - have to go Indiana for work tomorrow, my coworker is showing up at 8AM, we are picking up another one and heading about 300 miles up to NW Indiana. I may have the opportunity of a lifetime tomorrow night...to be at the Duke/Butler game in Indianapolis tomorrow night...that would be nothing short of amazing. Come home Wednesday, meet Ace's pet sitter Wednesday night, take Chel to Medvet Thursday, leave Thursday night for Michigan to get Ace, get him home as early on Friday as possible so he has a few days with me to settle in and start potty boot camp!!!

I hope everyone was able to spend the day with family and had a nice day. Life is short, play hard, take nothing for granted. Have a great week all...more pictures of Ace to come...here is one I know is him...he is also known as "green jeans" and is the one chewing on the toy.

What you have all been waiting for....

2010-03-29T17:34:00.000-04:00

This weekend, I went to see the puppies. I still don't know which one is mine, we are waiting on results of some genetic testing that took place last Tuesday. Labs can carry a gene known as Exercise Induced Collapse (EIC) - if you breed two that carry the gene, the puppies will be affected. In the case of this litter, the mother is a carrier, the father is not. The puppies therefore have a 50-50 chance of being a carrier, but will not be affected.

All of the puppies are adorable...but what lab puppy isn't? I have forgotten how cute roly poly little puppies are and how sharp their little teeth are! It is going to be a lot of work initially, but I am hoping that with 6-8 weeks of potty bootcamp, we will have some sort of routine. I will be picking him up next weekend. We should receive the results of the testing sometime this week.

And now...what you have all been waiting for...

Who ya' gonna call?

2010-03-24T21:20:00.002-04:00

I know, don't fall over, 2 posts in one day.

I am writing this post as a follow up to Natalie's post from Tuesday regarding the horrific incident that took place in Columbus last week regarding the beating death of a four year old by his stepfather while his mother went into the other room and turned the music up so the three other kids in the house wouldn't hear what was going on. Natalie indicates you will be sickened at what you read, and she is absolutely right.

I am writing this to call your attention to a different perspective - that of a first responder. Yep, a first responder. Who is a first responder? Have you ever given much thought to that? I hadn't really, until December 31, 2005, when my cousin's husband lost his life in the line of duty as a lt. in the California Highway Patrol responding to the scene of a car that had skidded off the road. Who is a first responder? My dear friend Jodi as a parole officer is considered a first responder - who is Jodi? She is Dolan's mother, James' wife, Stan and Mary Lou's daughter, Brad and Kenny's sister, our beloved teammate. All of these people have something in common - daily, they risk their lives to help people. They are the people that see first hand the AWFUL things we see on the news and read in the paper/on the internet.
My good friend who is a fire fighter/medic had the misfortune to be a first responder on the scene for this incident last week. What started out as a "non responsive, CPR being performed" run turned into the run from hell for them - half way there, dispatch informed them it was a 4 year old that CPR was being performed on. It was quite apparent to them that something was not right upon coming on to the scene - despite the anger and disgust they felt toward the individual that had committed this horrific crime, they were able to remove him from the scene and focus their efforts on trying to save the little guy. David actually drove the medic to the hospital...85 mph from the east side of Columbus to Children's downtown. As a result of this incident, they were out of service for nearly 3 hrs (ie, unavailable to help anyone else) while they were interviewed and waited around the hospital to see how the little guy fared - the outcome as we all know here in Columbus was terribly tragic.

Your first responders - the people you call when you need help - they are someone's husband/wife, father/mother, brother/sister, best friend. They risk their safety to keep us safe. When traveling down the road and you see lights and hear sirens...do you pull over and let them pass? Someone's loved one is in there...on the way to hospital the other night, with a 4 year old child dying in the back of the medic, people were racing it, following it and not pulling out of the way. This could be your loved one back there.

Next time you see a police officer, fire fighter, medic, etc, stop and take a moment and appreciate them - they will be the ones that come to your aid if, god forbid, you ever need it. Move out of the way when you see lights and hear sirens. When levy's come up for safety, that impacts the funding of your local police or fire department, consider voting for them...having proper man power and proper equipment is of paramount importance - much of the equipment here in Columbus is so old that it often has to be taken out of service for repair and any calls to their response area while they are out of service have to be answered by another unit - minutes and seconds are precious in a life and death situation. (Um, sorry your house burned down, but the closest engine available was 20 minutes away)

The awful human beings involved in the above situation are currently in jail with no bond...thank god someone got that right. Natalie's blog addresses what appears to have gone wrong from a Children's Services/family court perspective. Sadly, this little boy had been removed from the care of his mother and step father at some point and had been returned just two weeks prior to this incident. Overwhelming to try and grasp.

So tonight...hug your kids, appreciate your first responders and move out of the way when you see lights and hear sirens.

Riding through the old 'hood

2010-03-24T20:38:00.000-04:00

Tonight, I had dinner with Natalie - for all of you dying to know, I did get my buffalitos I posted about on FB, garlic parmesan to be more specific. We went to BW on Bethel Rd, my old stomping ground as many of you know.

For old time sake, I decided to drive through the hood where Chelsie and I pounded miles and miles of pavement in her puppyhood. These were the sidewalks we walked to the school to play with Truth and walked to get to Belinda's condo. Belinda would come to our apartment in her walking clothes, and Chel would just go NUTS because she knew we were going for her walk.

I used to walk through the neighborhood admiring all the houses, dreaming of the day I had a house of my own. I admired flowers, trees and yard decorations, as well as porches, dormers and the facades of all the houses. I used to get so frustrated when people did not care for their houses, because I so badly wanted one of my own - which is part of the reason I am so OCD about caring for my house (to show it how much I appreciate living here - yeah, I know, I forgot to take the psycho drugs today, sorry). When the time came and I was able to purchase a house, that neighborhood was a little out of my reach...but driving through it tonight, I still remembered how much I love it. :) Maybe after little Ace comes home, we will take a walk in Chelsie's old 'hood and she can tell Ace all about how she walked these sidewalks (I almost said walked these streets but then thought better of it!) in her puppyhood....

Returning to Dodd Hall

2010-03-18T22:49:00.000-04:00

Tonight, after nearly a 6 month hiatus, my girl and I returned to Dodd Hall. Oh glorious visits! She was thrilled to put her jacket on and go to work - and jumped straght into her crate in the car!! Her nurses were so excited to see her...they loved on her and she told them that she was neglected, unloved and did not get enough to eat. :) We visited for nearly 2 hrs.

It was a return to some form of life pre-injury. I have really been struggling with the change in routine since Chelsie's injury. For the first three months post surgery, her activity was severely restricted....severely. It was very challenging to find the balance of activity - too much vs too little. Then, once we got released to more activity, winter unleashed its fury and made going outside unsafe to us. Although I had BC dog to run in agility, I want nothing more than to be running my own princess. As we get closer to hopefully being released to do agility, I get more and more antsy and more and more nervous about letting her try again. And it is weekends like this...when I know my closest friends are cheering each other on at a big trial (one I was at last year) that I really miss it.

These past few weeks have been a struggle...my life has truly been out of sorts since Chelsie's injury. Add the break up to it and my life as I once knew it (and was quite happy with) is no more. I am holding out hope that warmer weather will make me feel better, and that bringing Ace home will help fill the void I am feeling right now. I am working hard to fill my life with new, fun and different things, but I miss what I had. I am sure that this too, like all other things in life, shall pass...I just hope it is sooner rather than later. :)

Bad Blogger....Again

2010-03-17T10:29:00.000-04:00

So I have not been the greatest blogger as of late...so here is the 411.

1. My dad had his hip replaced last Wendesday. According to him, he didn't need it. His doctor disagreed...the hip was "a mess" (I was there when the doctor said this) All went well for the most part, he is still working through a few things, but each day seems to get better and the pain is a different pain. He will get physical therapy at home 3X per week for the next three weeks and has a follow up in 6 weeks. I am going to fertilize his lawn and plant his bulbs this weekend with my mom. I will probably take him some flowers too...I definitely get my love of flowers from Big Bill.

2. Part of the reason for my bad blogging is because I have been sick. I even called the cute doctor and got some medicine..and added Mucinex and Robitussin to the mix last night. I had an appointment with the rheumatologist last week, and I will continue the medication for 3 more mos. This is a medicine that requires time to work, and they will evaluate my blood count in June. I have been having minor episodes of the rash on my legs, but compared to what they were, this is nothing. Hopefully, the weather stays nice and I will feel better soon.

3. The end of the era has come and gone...I am done running BC dog in agility. We had trials the last 2 weekends...and this past Sunday, our last day of showing together, was our best 2 runs yet. We didn't Q, but we looked pretty darn good....like we had been running together for a lot longer than three mos. He will be going home for good in 2 weeks, as Scott and I split up last month. Schedules and distance proved to be too much. Although I know long term this was probably the right thing, I am having a very hard time and miss not having him in my life. While having BC dog around is difficult, having him go will be difficult as well. We have agreed on a day, but have not worked out the logistics just yet.

4. The baby puppy was 4 weeks old on Saturday. All of them except 1, "Little Girl", the true runt of the litter, are completely weaned. They have been outside multiple times and ae starting to mouth and carry toys around. Light Blue boy was tugging with the breeder's hubby this past weekend, and then took the tug toy into the crate so he didn't have to share it with his siblings. She has a crate in the pen, and the puppies seem to go in there on their own, which is a good thing. New pictures and mugs are up.

www.simplesite.com/labkat

Click on the AmberCody litter, puppy photos. And watch the video titled "Ella" - little girl maybe little, but she can sure throw her weight around. Ella is token black of the litter.

5. Chelly-Bean continues to do well...February was difficult on our rehab walks, so I hope March is a little better. She goes back to Medvet on 4/8 and I am hopeful that I can begin to re-introduce agility to her after that. My hope is to compete in a trial in July. She continues to be her mom's princess in every way...and mommy is mildly concerned about what she will think of her new brother. It will be interesting to see how she reacts to Rippy going home....

So that is what has been going on here. Hopefully, spring has sprung..winter was nasty, snowy and cold, and some nice weather is definitely in order. March is about to become MAD with basketball, and that is always fun. I think tomorrow my crew and I are going to go somewhere to watch tip off of the festivities...it is supposed to be nice outside and we don't get out of the office enough to begin with.

Hope all is well with everyone!

Rachel and Cessy

2010-03-07T20:09:00.000-05:00

This weekend, me and BC dog competed in a trial. Saturday was a disaster, today was a lot better. 0 for Q today, because his handler was an idiot and made the same mistake twice on a rear cross. A rear cross is when I change directions left to right behind the dog - this is not something I do with Chelsie, as I am always ahead of her and cross in front of her. The timing is totally different and something I am not used to.

The first time I screwed up, I had good reason..if I missed, we were for sure doomed, as he probably would have gone into an off course tunnel staring him in the face - it is important to note that the dogs were approaching a very tight sequence of obstacles with a tremendous amount of speed...I cut the angle too close and sent him right by the jump. Fast forwad to jumpers...same opportunity, only no off course out there - I thought, great! I can fix it - this is a good course for him, we will get past this and be good...wrong. Praise the dog, slap the handler...

Anyway, about Rachel and Cessy. Rachel is in 5th grade and trains her Samoyed Cessy (a big fluffy white dog) at our club. I first saw Rachel and Cessy about 2 summers ago, at one of our NADAC trials. These trials are less intense than AKC and great for jr handlers. My first show with Chelsie was a NADAC show. Anyway, it was on dirt, and Cessy found a stick and became obsessed with it. It was obvious Cessy had zero intention of doing anything but getting that stick. So the judge walked over, got the stick and gave it to Rachel and let her run the course with a stick in her hand - a big no-no. But Rachel and Cessy finished, quite well actually all things considered.

This weekend, in her second AKC trial, Rachel and Cessy completed their novice titles and moved into open. They got their novice jumpers title yesterday and competed in open jumpers today, and in one of the last runs of the trial this afternoon, they got their standard novice title - and there were some tough obstacles out there, primarily a horrendous weave pole entry off the A frame and a horrendous angle on jump 13 going out. A lot of dogs ran by jump 14 because of the angle. But it was great to see them finish - yesterday, they did the only thing they could have done not to qualify and that was knock a bar. The standard ring was the ring I was course building in, so I saw it all.

We were all so happy for this little girl. She is one patient kid and has worked so hard with this dog. She trains in the class before me on Wednesday nights, and it is obvious that she has stuck with and kept on going - Cessy is not an easy dog to train. It was great to be able to see her reap the benefits of 2 years of hard work. Not only did the dog qualify, she was 21 seconds under standard course time - the look on her face when her mom told her that was priceless.

Made it all worth it to be there close to 2 hrs after the other ring was done and gone home. :)

The Right Thing

2010-03-05T00:09:00.000-05:00

This afternoon, my parents were downtown and had the opportunity to see my office and meet my coworkers. I am blessed to have some pretty great co workers, and was glad my parents had the opportunity to meet them.

After they had left, I was talking to my boss, and he asked what they were downtown for. As it turns out, they were downtown to go to the state insurance board. There is a creek not too far from where my parents live, which puts them in a flood zone - so they have flood insurance. Flood insurance premiums are based on where you live in the flood zone. My parents ended up switching insurance companies, only to find out the one they left had overcharged them because they had my parents in the wrong zone - and had overcharged them for 2 years. My dad called the Union County offices and FEMA and verified this information was correct, that they had overpaid based on where they lived in the flood zone. My dad called the former insurance company to try and get their money back - to no avail. In the event you are not familiar with flood insurance, it is quite expensive.

Clearly, the former company made a mistake - and is not owning up to it. Lord only knows how many other people are paying far more than they should. That being said, my dad has reported this issue to the state insurance board. Whether or not they get a refund at this point is irrelevant - my dad fundamentally believes in doing the right thing, and he feels the right thing in this case is for the insurance company to own up to their mistake. I told my boss that my dad is a man who believes in doing the right thing, even when it is not always convenient.

Fast forward to 2 hrs later. While my parents were stopped at a red light (they were the first car waiting for the light to turn green) a car ran the light and t-boned another car crossing the intersection. The car hit another car, for a total of three cars in the accident. When I was talking to my mom, she said they driver at fault told the police that the light was green - I asked how she knew that. She said that they stayed and waited for the police - that my dad felt obligated to provide information to the police being as they had witnessed it all. The 2 cars behind them stayed as well.

Growing up, the phrase "Its the right thing to do" came out of his mouth quite a bit. Wasn't always what I wanted to hear back then, but I hear it loud and clear now, and it has left a lasting impression. So for all my dear friends out there who wonder whether their kids "hear" them - while they may not acknowledge they hear you, they do. :)

Pupdate

2010-02-28T21:34:00.000-05:00

The puppies were 2 weeks old on Satruday and continue to grow like weeds. Their little eyes are open and they are sitting up and walking around...looking like real little puppies. I have included the link to the breeders website. Click on the"Amber/Cody Litter" link, it is on the top left. Apparently over the past 2 nights, they have become quite proficient at "expressing" themselves regularly every every 2 hrs...hopefully MY little puppy stops that before he comes home...

http://www.simplesite.com/labkat

Voo Doo Medicine?

2010-02-23T22:03:00.000-05:00

As an athlete, aches and pains are part of life. Some days are better than others - some days I think I am a 35 yr old rock star and other days I feel my age and the years of abuse I have inflicted on my poor, defenseless body, all in pursuit of some stupid round ball varying in size. However, over the years, one source of discomfort has remained constant - my neck and my right shoulder. I have had massages, Xrays, taken hot showers, ice it on a regular basis - with limited success in ridding myself of the discomfort. .

More recently, I have added lower back pain to that mix (prob 5-6 mos). I am a belly sleeper, which is causing a high level of discomfort for me. I get up and walk around like an old lady - in fact, my brother gave me grief just last night for getting up slow and walking hunched over. I can't stand for long periods of time without my lower back just aching.

Many people have suggested a chiropractor to me...but I just haven't been able to bring myself to go there. Sure, like most other athletes at Woody Hayes, I would line up eagerly on the days Dr. Pangoinis was there to throw us around and crack every joint in our neck and spine, but I never game much thought to what he was actually doing for us. I hear people swear by the chirpractor, but I wasn't sure I believed it would work. However, modern and conventional medicine has been scarce in providing relief to my discomfort and I have reached my limit. I was talking to a friend of mine in whom I have great faith and he was able to share his positive chiropractic experience with me, as well as some of his reservations before actually seeing one. He spoke very highly of his experience and encouraged me to go. The clinic he goes to is acutally covered in my insurance - a benefit I know most people are not fortunate to have.

So off I went today. They were very educational, explained why proper alignment of the spine was imprtant and how improper alignment affected the rest of your body. It appears as though I have some inflammed nerves at the top of my spine that are creating the discomfort in my neck - one of them is attached to some nerves in my arm, which explains some of the tingling I have been feeling in my right hand. I attributed the tingling to an old shoulder injury I had. I also had some swelling and inflammation in the lower part of my back (they took some sort of scan) that is the likely culprit of the lower back pain. While I was laying on my stomach, it felt like he was running my back over with a mack truck...thankfully it was over quickly. I also had multiple xrays taken of my spine.

So I will give this a try. I am going back in the morning to get "adjusted". I am hoping it provides at least some immediate relief, but am prepared that if in fact this does help, it will be a period of time before I see some consistent, noticeable relief.

This past year has definitely been frustrating - the sinus thing, the rash thing, the autoimmune thing and now this. Really what has pushed me over the edge is the lower back issue. I went through all of this stuff today with the doctor, and he said that the inflammation in my neck could have played a part in the TMJ situation...but who knows. I am hoping to see enough of a result tomorrow to encourage me to go back, but am also prepared for the fact I could feel like I have been run over tomorrow. :) Here's to hoping for relief...

Our Beloved Truth Ann....

2010-02-16T22:54:00.002-05:00

UPDATE: The vet was able to determine Truth had a mass on her spleen that ruptured. She also had suspicious spots on her liver the vet believed to be cancerous. No intervention would have prevented the outcome. Sharon is relieved to know there was nothing she missed or nothing she could have done to prevent this...but is still missing little Miss Truthietoes tonight.

This afternoon, I received a call from Sharon to let me know that Chelsie's very best dog freind in the whole wide dog world, Truth Ann Schmidt, left us today. It is unclear as to what happened - she was ill last month with what appaeared to be the doggie flu, but seemed to recover and be back to her old self (and her antics). This morning, Sharon left for work as usual and got a call from Larry about 11 30 to say Truth was panting and had collapsed. She passed shortly after that.

Truth was Sharon's second guide dog and her second golden. Her first golden Sheridan had cancer, and never made it to retirement. Although the decision to retire Truth was difficult, Sharon was adamant that Truth would have a few good retirement years.

I met Sharon when Chelsie was just over a year old and Truth was about to turn three (she would have been 11 on March 10) The weather had been miserable and on this particular day, it had broken enough that I took Chelsie out. I remember seeing someone walking a golden and thinking to myself....if God loves me, that lady will bring that dog over here and she will play with Chelsie. Sharon called out in my direction and asked if I minded if she let her dog off leash. I said no and walked that way. When I got to her and saw the harness on her shoulder, I asked her how she knew where I was. She said that she heard the dog tags to her right and figured that whoever was with her was that direction. That was eight years ago this month.

We had not seen them in awhile...Forsythe is a 2 year old male that has lots of energy after a long day of resting like a good guide should at work. With Chelsie's knee still very much in the healing process, I thought it too risky to take her over there, so it had been months since the 2 saw each other. Sharon moved into her new house in anticipation of a bigger house and a bigger yard for 2 dogs.

Chelsie and Truth were very special friends. We only ever had to separate them once...and they really were not playing that hard. Chelsie always had to walk next to her friend while she was in harness, but knew not to bother her when the harness was on. When we stopped to let Truth potty on our walks (Guide Dogs are taught not to relieve in harness) Chelsie waited quietly and patiently for her friend - any other time we stopped on our walks she often acted like a screaming banshee.

Watching these 2 was something. Chelsie was jealous when I petted Truth and Truth knew this. She would get a toy that she knew Chelsie liked, play with it so Chelsie would pounce on her and take it and then come back to me when Chelsie started playing with the toy. She never barked just once - always 4 successive barks in a row. I never got to see her face first...usually her back end so I would scratch the golden booty as she threw her entire body weight into me. Always hungry, she knew just how much food she could snatch and swallow before someone could pry it out of her mouth. The risk was worth the reward - she knew she would get in trouble but knew we could never stay mad at her. When Sharon was really mad at her for something (usually for her food antics) she would tell her "I am not happy with you" - Truth clearly had a look on her face that said "Yeah, lady, whatever". She was fiercely loyal to Sharon and was always looking for her when they were not together.

Nothing I say will ever do Miss Truthie any justice. All dogs are special, but Truth was a notch above the rest. I always used to tell her that if there was not enough love at her house, she could come to mine. But there was more than enough love for Truth at home, at work and just about anywhere she went. She knew how to turn it on and play the "look at me and how cute and smart I am" card - and everyone ate her up. Some of my favorite Truth memories:

- 4th of July when I sat and watched her eye the plate of brownies, thinking to myself...that dog is going to go after those brownies. No sooner than I thought it, she had snatched up three of them.

- The night Truth snatched the last bite of hamburger from Sharon's plate as she was sitting on the couch

- How "vocal" she was when she was not satifisfied with the amount of attention you were giving her

- Like her friend, she could belch like a trucker.

- The day we were in Target after a long day of shopping when this kid started screaming at the top of its lungs....she turned and looked at me as if to say "Lady, get me out of here".

- The day she took up the whole back seat of my accord...so much that Chelsie had to lay on the floor

- The day she first went for a ride in my Pilot and got pissed about being put all the way in the back...she squeezed herself around the tiny opening in the cargo net to get in the back seat. Two seconds later, Chelsie did the same thing and neither of them rode back there ever again.

- The look of pure dog happiness when her Aunt Nicole showed up to take them to work...when I was working downtown, I would take them to work. Truth hated the public transportation Sharon used to get to work, so when I could, I "saved" her. Sharon would open the door when I got there and Truth would run out and greet me and get in the car and lay down...as if to say "Oh, thank you for saving me from Mainstream!!!"

I could go on and on...but you get the point. We are all heart sick...but I am greatful that whatever happened seem to happen quickly. Please also think of Larry, Sharon's BF, who was wtih Truth when this happened. They had really bonded in her retirement and I know Larry is devastated as well.

Truth Ann Schmidt - 3/10/99 - 2/16/10. We will miss you.

First Photos

2010-02-14T19:40:00.000-05:00

Here are the puppies fist photos!!!! The litter was 2 yellow females, 2 yellow males and a black female. In the picture below, the uncollared yellow on lying to the right of the black one is the other male. The smallest of the group was the lighter female, in between the black dog and the pink collared female. One of the males will be Chelsie's little brother.

I love the look on the mother's face...it clearly says...YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!

More to come as I get them.

To commemorate my softball career, this dog will have a baseball related name. I am open to suggestions.

On a final note, congratulations to my follow bloggers for their accomplishments this weekend:

Maddie - proudly presented Guide Dog Gabrina (FYL) to her new partner in San Rafael, Ca. this weekend. Gabrina is Maddie's first puppy for GBD. She is curently raising FBL Betsy.

Kelsey and Emily - proudly presented Guide Dog Burgess to his new partner in San Rafael, Ca this weekend. Burgess is Kelsey and Emily's 4 puppy for GDB. They are currently co-raising Keno, and MYL.

Madison - proudly presented Andros II to his new partner as a Service Dog for CCI in Dublin, Ohio. Andros was Madison's second dog for CCI and she is currently raising Butler, a MYL.

Congratulations raisers!!!

Its a....

2010-02-14T10:41:00.002-05:00

yellow boy. Chelsie sibling will be a male yellow lab.

PUPPIES ARE HERE!!!

2010-02-14T08:18:00.000-05:00

As of 1:13 AM this morning, all 5 puppies had safely arrived. Not too much from the breeder, other than that all of them were here and 2 of them were yellow males. :)

So now, I am just hanging out waiting to hear about the rest of the litter and where I fall on the list. No one on the list so far has requested any yellow males...so I am not sure if they will change their mind. This is a really nice breeding of 2 really nice dogs from really good lines, so people may change their minds, who knows.

My main issue with a yellow dog is trying to control yellow and black dog hair at the same time. Shallow, I know and I have been schooled not to discriminate against gender and color, only to go for the best dog. So to my fellow bloggers out there, I am open to advice as to your thoughts on managing both colors of hair, and whether or not you have been succesful at it. I wage war on dog hair daily....and am a proud owner of a Dyson D17 Animal, which will suck up a small child if given the opportunity. :)

Happy Sunday!

Attitude Adjustment, Part 2

2010-02-11T21:52:00.000-05:00

Ok, so here goes part 2 of my attitude adjustment...

1. Sucked it up and went to gym after work and did 30 minutes on the elliptical. Being as the gym is at my office, I really have no excuse - esp given I did not have soccer tonight. I am glad I did...it is now 9 30 and I feel tired. Last night was a fabulous sleep night...I did not move, making the bed (yes Kel, with all 11 pillows) was very easy this morning.

2. Let pooches play in the snow. Rippy loves to chase his frisbee (what is left of it) and Chelsie took one of her hard bones outside and kept dropping it in the snow so she had to dig for it. Dinner after we came in, then RIP went to look for the cat. Good night in his book.

3. Made yummy dinner - taco salad (with turkey meat and low sodium taco seasoning) Topped it off with a treat - a raspberry toaster strudel. BTW...toaster strudel is WAY better than poptarts.

4. WENT SHOPPING!!!! Had Petsmart gift card, so I got the kids some new filled chew bones. We were out of Bill Jac Liver treats (yum - NOT!) which are high value treats in our house, so got 2 boxes of those and then 3 bags of training treats. I go through a lot of them these days. Got some scissors at BBB - there is a scissors thief in my house. I swear I bought the very same scissors 2 weeks ago...but have ZERO idea of what happened to them. Now I have two pair..and death to the scissor thief. I also looked at mirrors for the bathroom and for some new dishes. I am in the market, but have not found anything that speaks to me yet. So for now, just looking.

5. Remembered tomorrow is an "out to lunch" day! Two of my staff (my newbies) are learning about gas meters (they are actually going to take gas meters apart!) and then we are going to El Vaquero! Chips y salsa!!!! We are also meeting some other peeps there - there was a project team that used to be right outside our door, we really liked all the people on that team. Unfortunately, they outgrew that room and are now at the location where Ryan and Shelley are taking gas meters apart. CHIPS Y SALSA with some old friends!!!

Tomorrow, little bean is going to have the muscle mass in her leg measured. She lost a significant amount of muscle mass all over her body in the first 6-8 weeks after her surgery (she was 57.5 lbs at one point, normal weight about 61-63 lbs), but lost a lot in her leg with the boo-boo. We have been standing and sitting, sitting and standing, walking over her little ladders...all in an attempt to get her muscle tone back. Last measurement was on her last day of rehab - good leg was 29.5 cm and boo-boo leg was 28. Not bad, given we were about 6 weeks out. About the only thing this snow is good for is her leg - she can't do sudden starts or stops and really has to work to tromp through the snow. Other than that, I really have no use for the snow. Sally, the rehab specialist, has a border collie named Griffin, so I told her I would bring in Rippy so she could meet him. So we are having a family trip to the vet in the morning.

Well, attitude adjustment part deux is complete. I still hate the cold...but am a little happier than I was earlier. :) Off to work the dogs for a few minutes and then to BED!!!!

Attitude Adjustment, Part 1

2010-02-11T09:55:00.002-05:00

I closed all the blinds in my office. I do think it is substantially warmer in here (I have my space heater directly on my feet as I type) and I don't have to look at the slushy mess and see the signs/bushes blowing in the wind.

In dire need of....

2010-02-10T11:21:00.000-05:00

An attitude adjustment. Right now, I am looking out my window at work, it is snowing again, the roads are slushy and I am going to have to shovel YET AGAIN when I get home. I am not finding the snow beautiful right now...AT ALL. Anything but, actually.

I am open to attempts at humor at this point. Anyone?

Still here...

2010-02-08T21:44:00.000-05:00

So, yep, we are still here...thankfully, my boss was insistent that my co-worker and I come home on Thursday from Lexington - and it was a good thing we did. The snow started on Friday and was coming down in big, heavy, wet flakes. The roads downtown were not bad, but by the time I got home, I probably had 6+ inches on the driveway. I decided NOT to run over it, parked my car in the street and tromped thri the snow to go in and change and shovel. Two hours later, I finally moved my car in the garage - shoveling wet, heavy snow just absolutely sucks. I will post pictures. For good measure, it continued snowing while I was shoveling and I had as much, if not more on Satruday morning. I fussed and grumbled and said all kinds of inappropriate things...from "this is a man's job" to "this sucks" to "I am getting a snowblower at the end of this season". My street is currently a sheet of ice and mother nature is supposed to bless us with more of her bounty tomorrow - 8 to 10 inches of it. Fabulous.

Part of why I am so miserable is that my hands freeze - no matter what I have on them. My fingers literally turn white, and hurt when the feeling comes back in them. The pad of my left ring finger was swollen for 2 days after shoveling on Firday, and my hands are interesting shades of red and purple from being so cold. UGH. A man's job.

The dogs, however, are in love with the snow. I took them out with me on Saturday and let them run around while I shoveled. I have to be careful letting the BC out, sometimes he loses his brain and goes in the street. Not a good dog. But he had his frisbee to play with - when my little brat was not taking it away from him. She loved the snow too, and I let her run around in it quite a bit - definitely the most movement I have allowed her since her injury. I was afraid I had let her over do it...but she was fine. I also let them out tonight for a little while and they loved it again. Both got to work for treats tonight too, so they were happy.

Saturday night I went sledding with the Quisenberry's..actually I watched more than anything. Again my hands were frozen and I could barely move. We went to dinner after and then I went back to their house to play Mario Kart with Bryce. Sunday was chores and a Superbowl party and today was work. Long day...and I will be going to bed soon.

And finally...litter of puppies scheduled to be born Sunday or Monday of next week. Amber, the mom, is hanging tough. The breeder says she seems increasingly uncomfortable, and that when Amber stretches out, she can see active little puppies moving around. Still don't know if I will get one, it just depends on what she has and what the people ahead of me want. This seems to be a nice breeding, so we will see. If I get one, it was meant to be, if not, it wasn't. I am really enjoying the change in training routine with Chelsie right now and the fact the she feels the need to closely bond with her mom.

Hope everyone is doing well. :)

Can't Wait...

2010-02-04T08:33:00.002-05:00

...to go home and see this puppy. I have been in Kentucky all week for work and we are leaving around lunchtime today to come back. It has been a productive week, but I miss this girl (and the obnoxious BC) and can't wait to get home and cuddle with her tonight!!!

First Agility Trial with the BC...

2010-01-30T21:36:00.002-05:00

So today, my mom and I ventured off to the FREEZING venue of Circle G Arena in Dayton - flashback to Nat's description of the horse barn where Naomi takes riding lessons and there you have it. I had never been there before and set up shop near a door where people took their dogs out. Suffice to say, we moved about 20 min after getting there.

I was a little out of practice in packing for agility - and have never done it for 2 dogs. All went well until we were well over halfway to Dayton when I realized I forgot the chairs. As I had never been to this venue, I had no idea what the seating availability was. We had plenty of time and stopped at a Target and picked up a couple of chairs - thank god, because all they had was wooden bleachers. But I managed to remember everything else...tarp, crates, blankets for the crates (X 4 - one to cover the crate to keep the edge of the cold air out and one for each of them to lay on) 2 water bowls, water, cookies, training treats, leashes...quite the production.

Chelsie LOVED her day out...was gushed over and loved on by all her agility peeps. She was not exactly thrilled when she was "zipped and clipped" in her house - her portable crate has a zipper you can clip so they can't nose the zipper undone...little Houdini has done this more than once, so when we leave her in her crate, it has to be zipped and clipped. Being zipped and clipped meant mom and gramme took the BC (border collie) to run agility and she had to stay in her crate...NOT COOL. I had her out for an hour, and she was very focused on watching the dogs in the std ring. She got to work for food when we came home and was a good girl. She is napping on the bed now, all worn out. She of course, has to rest up for her special day tomorrow...

Now, on to me and the BC. Our std run - obstacles 1-8, terrific. 9-13 - disaster. 14-18 - terrific. I was very encouraged by our start, but misjudged a sequence of A-Frame-jump-tunnel. I took my eye off him long enough for him to run off course - he came back to me, but then the little brat ran behind me into the wrong end of the tunnel - in agility, it is a VERY bad thing to have your dog behind you. We got back on track, then he missed the weave entrance - which he has had trouble with since I started working him. But we went on and finished nice - he became unhappy with me at some point during the run and was very vocal about it. I am not used to having a dog that barks during his run. :) I asked him if I was really that bad or if there was something that kicked his little BC brain out of whack for a few seconds.

On to jumpers...at that point, I just did not want to embarass myself. Now, I must say...this BC and I have been living and training together for only 4 weeks. Agility is team sport, and timing is very critical - and is developed over the time the handler and the dog train and play together. He is a lot faster than Chelsie - I work in front of Chelsie because I can stay ahead of her, but I cannot outrun RIP and work behind him. I watched the other dogs from the class before, walked it according to what I thought best, and just went out and ran. We nailed it. 24.88 seconds - I was where I needed to be at every turn...he was focused on me and kept all the bars up. I was amazed - I actually looked like I knew what I was doing. He wants to please and works so hard for me. His reward was getting to stare at the cat in the basement.

As I type this, a first is going on...both RIP and Chelsie are on the bed, laying down, in harmony, quiet. I have no issue having both of them on the bed..but RIP is usually too hyper to settle, then Chel gets irritated and jumps down. But it has been a long day for both of them, and we get to do it all over again tomorrow.

And finally....tomorrow is a very special day. Tomorrow is Chelsie's birthday...8 years young. I can't believe it...my little puppy is going to be 8 years old. Words cannot express what a wonderful companion my girl is. I am so proud of her and all her accomplishments, and there is no better greeting than a wagging tail and lab laps when I get home from work. To celebrate the impending occassion, she and RIP got empty ice cream cones from Graeter's.

I hope this finds everyone well and staying warm. :)

Home

2010-01-26T21:18:00.002-05:00

This afternoon, as I left Chicago, I thought about how happy I was to be coming home. To my own house, my own car, my own garage, and of course, my puppies. My grandma always used to say "East, west, home is best". No question of that.

So as the plane was packed to the gills (every seat filled) and I could hardly move, I decided it was not worth the effort to try and drag anything out of my computer bag for entertainment. That meant, I HAD TIME TO THINK. Very dangerous...all of you out there who know me well know that when I have time to think, it is generally not a good thing.

Today, I thought about what it meant to be going "home". This house, my home, has been my home for nearly 6 years. It is where Chelsie has spent the majority of her life. I have ripped it apart, put it back together, colored it, beautified it and loved it. Its what I know, its where I feel safe, its where I walk into the house and am greeted by a wagging tail running through the kitchen. Its the biggest investment I have ever made, requires regular love and care and the highest value asset on the balance sheet of my personal net worth. I have shed blood, sweat and tears over it (so have my parents and my brother - a lot of them).

But it is home...it is mine. Its where I retreat to when life hands me lemons, its where I go to make lemonade from those lemons. Its where I celebrate the good things, cook a meal, plant some flowers. Buying a home was the scariest thing I have ever done, yet one of the things I am most proud of. I take great pride in caring for it, making it comfortable for me, my guests and my canines, and walk in it and know it reflects me, the things and people I love and the things and people that are most important to me.

Among the most prized possessions in it are my grandmother's china, the scrapbooks I made for my grandmother and of course, my animals. The china I see in my living room every day was in the house I grew up in and on the table for special occassions. I have yet to eat a meal on that china in my house, but maybe one day that will change.

While I love my house, there are some things I do wish were different about it...and as of late, I have been looking at houses online to see what is out there. Lots of interesting things, but nothing so far that has grabbed my attention. I almost feel like I am cheating on my little beloved home looking for another one. Crazy, I know, but that is the way I feel. When it gets right down to it, I really have all I need here - and am greatful that on cold, blustery nights like tonight, I have a garage to drive into...and puppies waiting for me inside.

So for now...I am happily off to sleep in my cozy castle, in my own bed with a dreaming little labbie running agility in her dreams next to me. I need nothing else.

Words of the Day

2010-01-20T00:27:00.002-05:00

In our house, those words were poop and puke. This morning, at 4:30 AM, my little precious was standing the doorway, tail wagging. This is a sign that the need to go OUT is VERY URGENT - like, now lady. She stands in the door and makes the faintest of sounds until I hear her. Being as she gets me up once a year for something like this, I got up and let her out. She did not come right back, which is never a good sign. Now, at that hour, it was pitch black and she is a black dog...I just happened to see her coming at me and then make a game time decision at the steps to stop and squat. I knew then we had a problem.

I had warned my parents about what they might find, as they were coming to let the pooches out. They came upon 2 piles of poop and 3 piles of puke. Fortunately, our vet was able to get her in, and she got a shot to help with the vomiting, some pills to help her little tummy and some canned food for a yummy bland diet. All of this seems to have done the trick, as she is wagging her tail and sticking her booty in the air to be scratched...

So sad to see them sick and depressed...and grampie said she was definitely depressed. Hats off again to gammie and gampie...I don't know where I would be without them. I had a meeting after work - it was after 5 when they left the house, and I would be home at 8 - and gampie was just sick about having to leave her (he is definitely the softie of the group) But she made it and is well on her way to recovery...hopefully, tomorrow's words will be a little more fun!

Issues

2010-01-17T21:53:00.002-05:00

UGH...this past weekend, I found myself displaying one of my less than stellar qualities. That would be obsessing over something stupid. Examples. I somehow managed to lost the clip to my Garmin - I took it out of the suction cup when we got to Scott's house Thursday night and neither of us could find it anywhere. I was so frustrated at myself for doing something dumb...and couldn't let it go. Fortunately, Scott took me to Best Buy and I got a new one - had to get a whole new suction cup piece thingy, which only made me madder. Tonight, I was fussing with a crate Scott sent for RIP to ride in - it is too wide to fit in my car with Chelsie's crate. I took both crates, tried to get them in and out several times, took down the cargo mat, took out the floor mat..and was rewarded with a broken fingernail. Same with my Ipod...I can't find it, I know exactly where I last had it, and am calmly exhausting all possible locations of it. To no avail and I am just going crazy...

UGH. Why is it that obsess about such stupid meaningless things in life? And know that they are stupid meaningless things and STILL obsess??? UGH.

Random Ramblings....

2010-01-16T22:30:00.002-05:00

Bad blogger...I know, I apologize...

What has been up...

1. In Pa for the weekend. Lucked out - Scott was in Chicago and instead of flying back home, he flew to Cbus and rode over to Pa with me. I even managed to get him to drive the entire way on Thursday night!

2. Chelsie continues to heal well. With the sub-arctic temperatures we have been having, I am eternally greatful for the fact I can let her out to do her business on her own. She is also happy to see all crates put away, all doors to bedrooms open and nothing impeding her ability to jump on her couch and beds for a nap.

3. RIP and I have taken 2 agility classes and we are doing well. I have been working with both of them on basic obedience at night - in short, I have been allowing them to work for food! (Only Charlee Bears - so nothing big) This paid off big time with RIP, as he was much more focused on me at class on Wednesday night. RIP and I have a private lesson with my friend Jenn to help make our class time more productive. He is a good boy - seems not to be so obsessed with the cat. He and Chelsie are getting along well.

4. I got an email about a lab litter that will be on the ground on 2/14, ready to go home in the middle of April. It is time for another puppy, but that might be a little earlier than I am ready for. I only plan to keep RIP until I can start running Chelsie again, and I think the timing is just a bit earlier than I am ready for - particularly since my parents will be out of commission begginning on March 10 with my dad's hip replacement. We will see.

5. I had my first appt with the opthamologist last Friday. My eyes are in very good shape. I certainly hope I do not have to endure that every 6 mos - tons of testing, I was there for over 2 hrs and exhausted when I was done. I have to go back again in June - let's just say that when I do it again in 6 mos, I won't be looking at a computer screen with my eyes dilated. I was pretty uncomfortable...some idiot told me that particular day was a good day to have your eyes dilated because the sun was not out. Um, hello, there was about 8 inches of snow on the ground that day????

6. The tiniest bit of evidence that the medication may be working is showing...my rash came back last week, but it did not explode. I am still dealing with hitting the proverbial "wall" - I hit the wall and it is over, like immediately. I have to stop what I am doing and go to bed. Example - last Tuesday, I was working on the computer and at 9 15, I realized I was exhausted. I let the dogs out and went to bed - I did not make my lunch or anything.

7. Work incredibly busy. Very busy. Having 4 direct reports is a lot. :) Maybe that is why i hit the wall so easily....

So that is what has been going on. Not too exciting...what can I say? :) What is new with you?

What is your color palette?

2010-01-09T16:10:00.002-05:00

My hair lady, Diane (who I met through agility) is awesome...she absolutely loves to make people look great and feel great about themselves. She regularly fusses over my hair for 2 hrs at a time when she colors it, loves to play with color and just get me looking all jazzy. She is also great to shop with, as she is brutally honest about how things look. She also introduced me to the lady that waxes my eyebrows and provides me skin care products (LaRoche Posay products)

For awhile now, she has been after me to get my colors done - this is where they look at all the hues and undertones of your skin, and determine what colors look best on you. My dad years ago told me I should get this done, but I never did. Anyway, on New Year's eve, I was out shopping with Diane, and she picked this shirt off the rack, held it up to her color chart, determine it was in her palatte, and took it into the dressing room. It looked amazing on her. So I was sold. I made an appt for today...and it was a blast. I haven't done too much for myself as of late in the shopping/beauty dept (other than the necessary items, like haircuts and eyebrow waxing) and it was so much fun. I was actually even motivated to go out an shop when I was done. I did not find anything I loved (and therefore bought nothing) but it was good practice matching my colors to clothes on the rack.

My palatte is SOFT AUTUMN...lots of rich colors, I love it. It palatte grew on my very quickly. I took the option where they give do your colors, give you a sample of your color palatte, give you a make up lesson and then give you a make up palatte in your colors. I can't wait to start playing with my make up! I also got a new mineral make up foundation...I had been using Clinique, but the girl told me there were lots of "impurities" in it and that since I used a good line of skin care products, I should really consider upgrading the powder...whatever...I did, of course. Now its time to go thorough it all and clean out the stuff that does not make me look absolutely amazing!!!

If anyone locally is interested, let me know...I recommend it for everyone! It is a lot of fun and will ensure a lifetime of wearing colors that make you feel great abount yourself!

How Young RIP Spends His Days....

2010-01-07T20:04:00.002-05:00

Young RIP is fascinated by the cat. He wakes up and runs out of his crate looking for her...she in turn eggs him on by laying right where he can see her. He gets too close, she starts hissing and he runs away. All of this is OK...unless the cat gets irritated enough that she starts going somewhere other than her box. She will have a short shelf life is she starts that....

FREEDOM!

2010-01-05T22:08:00.002-05:00

This morning, Chelsie saw her beloved Dr. Kennedy for her final surgery check up. She is doing beautifully! Major, major restrictions lifted, most notable as follows:

- She can jump on and off furinture of her own free will. No more closing doors, booby trapping furniture and sleeping in a crate at night. The bedroom crate came down tonight as well.

- She is allowed to relieve out back ON HER OWN. No more standing outside in sub zero temps while waiting for her to "go" (although she is usually very fast)

Dr. Kennedy also assured me today that barring any major unforseen events, she really can't hurt her knee at this point. The thing she is most likely to do is stretch out some scar tissue in her knee that may result in her limping for a day or two, but that is about it. He assured me that a slip on the ice is not super detrimental, but did suggest I be careful. He did confirm I was somewhat paranoid, but we all knew that anyway.

So now, we continue to rehab. She still has a little muscle deficit in her injured leg, but that is to be expected. Weight holding steady at 58 lbs. He suggested we wait to start agility until the May/June time frame. The one thing that is still not the best for her right now is sudden stops and starts - which also means she cannot yet chase her ball. But I now toss her toy a few feet from her and let her go after that...this makes her quite happy, as she has been bringing me her fuzzy wubba quite a bit over the past few days.

It is hard to believe 11 weeks has passed...I still remember those first few days quite vividly, wondering if she would ever be the same. She probably won't, but darn close. She seems very happy to see her surroundings going back to normal...esp both of her toy baskets being returned to the floor. Further evidence that all things shall pass.

Hope this finds everyone staying well and warm.

Highs and Lows of 2009 and what to look forward to in 2010...

2010-01-04T20:14:00.002-05:00

Hard to believe another year has come and gone...mind boggling, actually. But is has, and yet again, we are in the throes of winter, as evidenced by the fact it took me an hour to go 10 miles only to come home to a driveway I had to shovel. Wah, I know.

So 2009 was a year of ups and downs...recapped as follows:

- Actually accomplished my New Year's resolution, which was go get more sleep. Thanks to the help of a very cute doctor, I actually sleep soundly for 5-6 hours a night.

- Learned to wakeboard and love it...even after rupturing my ear drum on my first MAJOR spill of the season

- Took amazing trips...Europe, Las Vegas, NYC (even if only for one day!)

- Turned 35

- Finally went to Cedar Point for the first time...and I have lived in Ohio for 11 years!!!

- Got some major house projects finished, mainly my basement. Painted a few walls here and there, got some storage solutions up in the garage, added the flower baskets to my deck and finally got rid of the plants I didn't care for so much (mainly my ever green plants) Had a green yard all summer thanks to my wonderful irrigation system.

- Had an incredible agility year despite the torn ACL of one little lovable labbie

- Met Scott and have done a lot of fun things with him.

- 2009 was an EXPENSIVE YEAR...new water heater, furnace, AC, 2 new tires and some brakes, all in a span of about 2 mos. ACL surgery, rehab and dog biscuits 2 mos later...the bleeding had to stop somewhere!!!Thankfully, 2009 is over and hopefully, the bleeding is over.

- 2009 presented some challenges with my health...carried over into 2010. I have been blessed with good health all my life, and not feeling good sometimes is something new to me. Hopefully sometime in the not too distant future, they will finally be able to figure out what is wrong with me.

Looking on to 2010....

- Chelsie and I are starting some obedience classes on Friday! Called Rally Obedience...don't really know what it is, but I know it will get her OUT of the house. She is bored and ready to do something FUN!

- I am also keeping Scott's Border Collie RIP (aka - Ippy) to run in agility until Chelsie heals. Scott had offered me the option awhile back...and I took him up on it this weekend after helping at my club's agility trial. We start classes this week..hopefully...and may compete in a competition as early as the end of this month. RIP's registered name is "Harvest Moon The Undertaker"...call name RIP. Chelsie and the cat are not sure about this...Scoobi is a great baby sitter for Rip.

- At some point later this year, labbie number 2 will join our household. While I hope Chelsie's agility career is not cut short by this injury, she is nearly 8 yrs old (at the end of the month) and by the time puppy 2 is trained, she will be 10+ yrs old. My goal with her is to finish her MACH and move her to a lower jump height for as long as she wants to do agility. When she says no more, we are done.

- Get within 100 pts of Chelsie's MACH, her health permitting

- Get some air under my wake board...ON PURPOSE!

- Pay off my car!

- Eat better, consistently...and drink less diet coke. Yeah right.

- Spend some time at La Playa y Resort del Monroe. Natalie is currently turning her house into a beach resort, complete with pool. Hopefully it comes with Cabana boys and margaritas...in the middle of central Ohio where is it currently in the single digit temperatures.

- Minimize house projects and work on transitioning to maintenance mode

- Host 2 parties

I am sure there are a host of other things, but these are some of the big things I hope to do in 2010. I am sure it will prove to be incredibly busy, but I am happier when I am busy.

Much health and happiness in 2010. Looking forward to spending time with everyone!!

BUX BEAT DUX!!!

2010-01-01T20:38:00.003-05:00

Great way to the start the new year....BUCKS 26 DUCKS 17!!! That's what Lee Corso gets for putting the ridiculous duck on his head!!!!

Answers...or Not...

2009-12-28T12:10:00.002-05:00

This morning, I got the results of my latest skin biopsy - as I predicted, NEGATIVE. Now, this is a good thing...this was a definitive lupus test - and the Mayo Clinic said no, I do not have lupus. This is very good.

However, we are back to square 1 - itchy, nasty rash that keeps coming and going, swollen fingers and fatigue, and an elevated antibody count in my blood. So now, we just wait for three months, to give the medication (Plaquenil) an opportunity to work. While this is a very good drug, "fast" is not an appropriate adjective for this medication. I return to the rheumatologist on March 10 for further bloodwork to see if the Plaquenil is working. If it isn't....then I don't know what is next.

So for now, our goal is to manage the rash as it comes - my dermatologist has asked me to come back during the healing process of the rash, because that is the only stage she has not seen it in. She is quite fascinated by all of this - not surprising given her interest in research. So I laughed and said sure.

On a positive note, I seem to be regaining at least some level of energy - enough to go through the unfinished part of the basement and the garage and clean and sweep them out. I also painted over the burgundy wall in my living room yesterday - all of which are good signs. But I still tire easily and some mornings, feel the full effects of gravity in my warm bed...

So that is the plan of action here. Can't say I am surprised, but am somewhat relieved to know I do not have lupus. Merry Christmas to me. :) Hope everyone had a great holiday with family and wishing everyone a safe New Year.

How can you not love this face???

2009-12-24T12:04:00.002-05:00

Long Overdue Vegas Photos...

2009-12-24T11:45:00.006-05:00

Yeah, so I have been not such a great blogger...these are pretty tame. The one with Scott and the girl in the bikini was the Margaritaville Volcano girl that slid down the slide into the big bucket of Margaritas - it was quite interesting. Enjoy!

Moving into this Millenium....

2009-12-21T15:07:00.003-05:00

No, I did not get a DVR...plenty of people are still working on me for that, but it is not a DVR that is moving me into this Millenium, but a GPS!!!

I got a Garmin for my birthday - I borrowed my parents the first time I went to see Scott and it was a neat little toy to have, esp in the middle of Nowhere, Pa. I would be at the mercy of my map reading skills if I ever had to get off of I-80 in PA, so it is as much a safety thing as anything. My map reading skills are suspect on a good day! Now I just have to figure out how to use the darn thing...

I know I have been a bad blogger as of late...I hope to update soon with some pictures of Vegas and other random things. Still no word on the rash, hope to hear sometime this week.

I hope everyone is ready for the holidays!!!!

Doctors, Doctors and More Doctors...

2009-12-12T23:08:00.002-05:00

As most of my readers know, I have been dealing with some puzzling health issues as of late - primarily random rash that tends to show itself about every 2 weeks. I have also been extremely fatigued - beyond anything I have ever experienced.

One month ago, when I saw the rheumatologist for the first time, I had a very elevated antibody count in my blood, typically associated with auto immune disorders. My most recent blood work as of 2 weeks ago showed the antibody count to be the same it was a month ago - yet all additional screenings performed were negative at this time for the associated autoimmune issues. My counts remain 5x the normal level, concerning to all the medical professionals treating me.

Suffice to say, this is a bit frustrating - on a positive note, several serious things were ruled out for now, which is a good thing. However, we still don't know what it is. The rash is back again this week, and I am as uncomfortable as I have been in awhile. My rheumatologist is also a bit surprised with the results of the tests - while he is happy several things have been ruled out, he is still very concerned that I show high antibody counts in my blood.

The next step was taken on Friday morning, when I returned to my dermatologist for an additional skin biopsy. When the first biopsy was taken, we were not testing for autoimmune issues. This skin biopsy is a definitive lupus test - in talking with my dermatologist, basically someone will know when within 30 seconds of looking under a microscope whether I have lupus or not. I actually had 2 biopsies taken - one in an area affected by the rash, and one in an area not affected by the rash. Key to the diagnosis process is that the area is a non sun exposed area - sun exposure can impact the make up of your skin. The focus will be on the non affected area - if that sample is consistent with the patterns presented in a lupus diagnosis, that will be very, very telling. The samples will be evaluated by the Mayo Clinic, which is just absolutely amazing to me - apparently, they have an amazing set up for stuff like this and my slides will be evaluated under a $60k microscope. And I know this because my dermatologist is in a one year research fellowship with heavy lab focus. How lucky is that???

Although my blood work does not seem to indicate lupus, autoimmune issues often present in their own unique circumstances - my experiences are very typical of many patients with autoimmune issues. Moreover, I am very blessed to be working with doctors committed to my care - my dermatologist had a question about the sample she was taking and she walked right out of the office and called my rheumatologist while I was there (before she started poking me with needles and cutting me!). I have her cell phone number and can call her anytime. How lucky is that??

So I hope to know the results by the end of next week...if not, I will know the week after Christmas. In the meantime, they are treating me for general connective tissue disorder. Basically, my body is attacking the good guys - for some unknown reason. Your skin is what holds you together - connective tissue - and as far as my doctors can tell, something went haywire and what holds my body together is at war with my own immune system. For now, I have started taking a drug called Plaquenil, which is used to treat malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. I was very hesitant to start this because they do not know what they are trying to treat - I was also hesitant because this is something that is a long term thing, meaning it will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 months before I see any results. The reason I agreed to take it was because he said if it was autoimmune (and in his mind, I have some sort of autoimmune issue, he just doesn't know what yet!) that the medication will help with the fatigue. So I gave in gracefully...sort of. One of the very less frequent side effects of the drug is retinal issues (1 in 200k peeps affected) but I am very freaky about my eyes and I told him that - I have been close to someone who does not have their vision and I am in no way willing to risk my eyesight. Accordingly, at the recommendation of both the rheum and derm, I will now add an opthamologist to the long list of my doctors. My dermatologist is working on finding one in my insurance group. Did I tell you how much this woman rocks? She even waived my co-pay on Friday morning ($40 a pop every time I see someone and we are now approaching about 15 visits in all of this)...and her bedside manner is just awesome. Dr. Mary Jo Kerns....Dermatologists of Greater Columbus for those in Cbus if you ever need it.

At this point...I just wait. The biopsy spots are very sore...a little different from last time - the ones from last time had stitches, these dont, and these hurt more!!! Go figure. And usually I can ignore that rash, but it has come back in triple whammy format in three spots and I am far more uncomfortable than I have been in a long time. Past history shows the stuff clears up in about a week, so I am hoping history continues to repeat itself. :)

I will keep you posted as I know more.

Highlight of the Week

2009-12-10T23:38:00.002-05:00

So it has been an up and down week...just sort of there. And freezing...miserable cold.

I have to walk Chelsie for rehab, and there was no way I was going out tonight. It was 19 before the wind chill. No, no and NO way was I going out. So I asked Belinda if I could use her treadmill - Chelsie did ok on it...but it still made me nervous. She was a little panicky on it, and sudden movements are not good for her little knee, so please pray for warmer weather where I can actually walk her.

So off we troop to B's...where I was greeted with the most amazing little greeters...Bryce and Teagan!!! Bryce looked so grown up tonight, and Teagan loves her big brother and wants to do what he does. Tonight, I taught Bryce how to leave treats on Chelsie's paws and then tell her it was ok to eat them. He told her to "leave it" and then put them on her paws..he started out with one paw and then saw me put them on both paws and wanted to try it. So proud of him, he mastered the skill in his first night! I also put a treat in Teagan's hand, and showed her how to give it to Chelsie. The look on her little face was priceless when Chelsie took the treat out of her hand!

After treats, it was bath time, so we trooped up and supervised bath time. Chelsie has to be in the bathroom with the kids during bath time...and I mean right there - like her nose is almost over the tub. She sits like a nice puppy should during bath...and I sure somewhere in B's bathroom, Chelsie's fur is the gift that keeps on givng.

The highlight of the week was definitely my evening Bryce and Teagan...my little buggers!! (and I guess Mark and Belinda too!) They are growing up so fast....Every time I see Bryce, he looks taller and Teagan's vocabulary and communication is changing by leaps and bounds. We are working on her saying "Cole" and "Chelsie Belle".

My little buggers rock...they definitely made a cold, dreary night a happier night!

Being Militant Has Paid Off....

2009-12-08T17:53:00.002-05:00

This afternoon, Chelsie saw Dr. Kennedy for her 6 week post surgery check up. This was the visit where they took xrays of her knee to see how the repair was healing. The plates and screws were incredibly clear on the Xray.

All news was good. Dr. Kennedy was very, very happy with how the knee had healed! Told us he could tell we had been working very hard, and assured me that the hardest part was over. She has just a little bit of arthritis on her leg, which is why sometimes she locks it up during her stretches. He was also happy to learn she was going through the rehab she was at my vet - he feels the underwater treadmill will help quite a bit.

So, what does this mean?

- We can now go up and down stairs in a controlled manner.

- She can go on her retractable leash and have more freedom to trot about on her walk. We have been "walking with a purpose" - which resulted in continued use of the leg over a given period of time. In short, when I put her gentle leader on to go for her walk, she walks like a missile for 15 minutes. I can now give her the freedom to roam a little on her walk. I will still make her walk like a missile on most of her walks though...

- Still no jumping on furniture or playing with other dogs.

But, best of all....WE HAVE BEEN CLEARED TO RETURN TO OUR THERAPY VISITS!!!!!

I am feeling an overwhelming sense of relief tonight. I was pretty sure all was ok...but you just never know. I was laughing with Dr. Kennedy about that - not knowing how much is too much, how much is not enough...I told him I screwed up on night one by giving her too much water, he laughed and asked if she threw up. Yep, I said, EVERYWHERE!!! This has been such an upheaval to everyone's routine...esp Chelsie. I am so, so proud of her for getting with the new program so quickly and being such a good dog. She has accepted my new rules and seems no worse for the wear. I am incredibly thankful for my parents - her little spirit would not be what it is today without the care they gave her over the past 7 weeks. I have no doubt that her not having to be in a crate all day with an ecollar has had a significant impact on her recovery.

So now, we continue on with the new routine..more freedom in the house and on our walks, stairs, no other dogs or roughhousing. Our last appt with Dr. Kennedy is month from now, which will be 11 weeks post surgery. We will likely continue to do underwater therapy, and hopefully, at our next appointment, we can talk about an agility timetable. My guess is that we will be cleared to trial sometime in April or May.

Thanks again for all your support.

Hey Baby, Let's Go to Vegas

2009-12-06T23:31:00.003-05:00

No, I did NOT kiss the single life goodbye!!! (Faith Hill song) Scott and I thought about posting a picture to FB in front of some little random wedding chapel and posting "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" but we thought better of it! I had an amazing time. Quite honestly, I don't have the energy to upload photos at this point, and honestly, I didn't take very many...although I do have some appropriate silly ones...think me fighting a gorilla for entertainment value...

My Vegas posse consisted of the following:

- Brother Joe
- BF Scott
- Cousin Michelle
- Cousin Kathi
- Roger, cousin Kathi's hubby
- Adrienne & Leno - friends from California

Anyway, here is my top 10 of my Vegas trip.

10. I was reminded of how much I love dueling piano bars. Scott and my cousin Kathi thought it would be funny to get me up there and have them sing to me...and trust me, it was NOT happy birthday they were singing to me!

9. I was reminded of how much I despise cigarette smoke.

8. Hoover Dam is an amazing structure. Took a tour of it and actually went inside the dam - took a photo from one of the little vents actually in the cement of the dam. They have a model of how the dams were built to control the Colorado river...the dam system to keep it under control spans 8 states or something like that! Never seen so much cement in one place.

7. Sat at a blackjack table and won $260 my first time out. I made some friends with some guys from Ireland and they schooled me on how to play. Came away with $220 in the black. Not bad. Set limits, stuck to them.

6. Saw crack and muffin top like I have never seen it before...all on the same girl. I seriously considered walking up and telling her that those jeans might not be the best for her. I will spare you the details...it was awful.

5. Sat in a sports bar all day Saturday and watched Alabama DISMANTLE Florida and Arizona hand USC its 5th loss. Michigan wasn't playing, so they couldn't lose. :) Adrienne sat with us for a little while before venturing out...and we told her we would be in the exact same spot when she got back - and we were true to our word!

4. Best quote of the trip was found in the elevator of a hotel...it was above a picture of a martini....it said:

"Trust us, you had a good time last night"

3. Ate all varieties of steak...the Delmonico's version of fillet Mignon and Bill's Saloon's version at 3:45 AM. Both tasted equally as good in their own way and both were a heart attack waiting to happen.

2. I was reminded that I am indeed 35 and not a 22 year old that can party like a rockstar for more than one night. I think it was the Royal bomb shot that did me in...a shot of Crown Royal in a glass of peach schnapps and Red Bull. For those of you who know and love me dearly, you know my code name for Crown...yep, you got it....gasoline.

1. Number one goes to brother Joe, who had to make an emergency landing in KC, Mo on his way out because some lady got obnoxious and started threatening people. Apparently, she had never flown by herself, took something to help relax her and then started drinking on top of it. Joe said the pilot literally had the plane pointed down...that from announcement they were landing to landing was less than 20 minutes. Apparently, she also tried to resist arrest..which rsulted in the police tossing her down in the aisle way of the plane. Jesus lord, people, get a grip.

All in all, it was a fantastic trip. I spent it with people who are very dear to me, and we all just had a really great time. I lived it up...ate what I wanted, stayed out until all hours of the morning...it was an eye opening experience for Scott. He knows me as the reserved, routine oriented, anal retentive accountant that I am. He actually commented that he was glad I let loose a little bit...I laughed. Most of my friends that did not know me in college can't ever imagine me being wild and crazy, even on limited basis...but I am guessing there are a few of you out there that know better....

Thanks again to my posse for a wonderful weekend...I had such a great time. Thanks also to:

- Maggie (my mom) for watching our (Joe and I) puppies, Chel and El. They have to be closely supervised and cannot be left alone because Chelsie is still recovering. They got a good report from Grammie.

- Auntie (my mom's sister Eileen) - she watched Michelle and Kathi's kids, all 4 of them. Toddlers and teenagers, all in the same weekend (Amanda - 13, Jenn - 11, Tessa -5, Makenna - 3)

Tuesday is our 6 week xray day...please think good thoughts for my little bean's knee!!!!

Progress

2009-11-27T21:54:00.002-05:00

Wednesday marked 5 weeks since little bean's surgery. She continues to progress quite well. I still see a little limp, but that is to be expected. We are in a marathon here, not a sprint.

Over the past month, I have learned a lot more about her little personality - and I thought I knew her quite well! Her behavior over the past month has really taught me a lot about the pack mentality, particularly in the sense that dogs look for a leader. I have established a set of rules for her, she knows what they are and for the most part, she follows them. Sure, occasionally, she gets a little too excited and has jumped on furniture once or twice (which she was allowed to do before her surgery) But for the most part, she has been a great dog - a compliant dog, as I like to say. I cannot imagine doing this with a non compliant dog.

One other thing that has come out of this is that I do see she sometimes has it in her to be a little cuddly, at least. For the most part, I had just accepted that cuddling was not part of her little personality and that she was not the cuddly puppy she once was. But when laying on the floor, she is much more likely to be touching some part of me now. One thing that interests me greatly will be to see how she does when she does not have to be crated anymore. I haven't decided if I am going to take her crates down or not. At one point in her life, she abhorred them...but now, i think she almost likes them. Lucky for me, that is a decision I don't have to make any time soon. :)

I still miss our old life...a lot. I miss our agility friends, our agility competitions (esp because Scott ran RIP today in a trial near his house)and I especially miss our volunteering. I would be lying if I said I thought I was physically capable of keeping our old schedule at this exact moment, but that doesn't mean I don't miss it. Again, I wonder if this is divine intervention stepping in, forcing me to slow down...I could do without the torn ACL's and my own health issues, but hey we will go with that.

On a final note, continued prayers for the Rhodes family. Stephanie's husband started radiation and chemotherapy this week. Please keep them in your thoughts.

Nice Gesture

2009-11-24T22:41:00.002-05:00

Tonight, on my way to Mexican and margaritas, a call came in on my cell from a number I did not recognize. It was my dermatologist. I had called her last week to let her know that one of my blood counts was off, and she was out of town, so she was calling to get further details. We talked through what had transpired since I had seen her last, and she too was quite concerned about my elevated ANA count - I think she said "that is abnormally high".

I took the opportunity to thank her for her efforts - she very easily could have said that this was just a rash that comes and goes and stopped there, but she didn't. She recognized this was beyond what she could treat, that this was not normal for me and actively assisted me in getting the next appointments set up. Not only that, the doctors she set me up with were equally as wonderful as she was. All three have consistently been amazing - all three saw me at the drop of a hat on the same day, the allergist gave me his cell phone number and called back within 15 minutes of me calling him and the dermatologist made the effort to call me and see how I was doing. All three also have an excellent bedside manner - which goes a long way in building your trust when you are frustrated after seeing doctors for the upteenth time.

So while this has been a rough health year for me, I feel very lucky to have received outstanding medical care. The ENT I saw earlier this year was fabulous (in addition to being fabulously cute) he actually read my history and was able to piece together the sleep apnea issue - and true to his word, I am a better person because I sleep.

What I have also learned is that you are your best advocate. You know your body and you know when something isn't right. And you need to make sure the professionals who are treating you respect that and if they don't help you, find some that will. I can't imagine what it would have been like had I not found such compassionate, caring doctors the first time around.

2009-11-23T22:34:00.002-05:00

Video of the Rockefeller Ice Rink.

Photos from the Weekend

2009-11-23T22:13:00.005-05:00

Weekend with Scott was awesome. NYC Friday, football Saturday (A BUCKEYE VICTORY!!!)and the TransSiberian Orchestra on Saturday night in Philly. TSO was awesome, absolutely amazing light show and special effects on top of the great music. Ate real philly cheesesteak on Saturday night too - learned you are either a "Pat's" or "Geno's" person. These are the 2 signature cheesesteak restaurants in Philly. Scott is a Pat's fan (not sure what the difference is), so we ate Pat's. Really, all it is is steak cooked on a grill with cheese whiz on it - and people stand in line all day and all night for it, whether it is 40 or -4 outside. :)

Enjoy the photos!

Health News - Mom and Chel

2009-11-21T13:30:00.002-05:00

First, about Chel - she began rehab on Friday morning at my vet! Medvet offers rehab primarily for dogs that are struggling, but thankfully, she does not need that. Grandma took her on Friday morning, as I am in PA visiting Scott. I have not yet talked to the rehab specialist, but our initial conversations seem to take us to the same page. Good news.

Per my last post, I saw the allergist on Wednesday, and got the steriod shot - to make the rash go away. I got to thinking and decided I was going to drop into the rheums office on Thursday to see if he had availability to see it. I walked in and they got me right in - he was very happy that I stopped in so he could see it. I was supposed to see him Monday, but I knew the rash would be gone by Monday.

We discussed the results of my xrays and bloodwork. My xrays showed a minor congential deformity in my lower spine - nothing major, but could explain a lot of the discomfort in my lower back. All of my bloodwok was normal except for one count, which was 5x normal level. This count does produce false positives, but my doctor does not think mine is a false positive because of the high count. It was a count that was indicative of a high concentration of a particular antibody (ANA). Further bloodwork is necessary for more specific testing.

What this means is 2 things - number one, we are on a path to getting some answers, because number 2, this high count lends itself toward some sort of autoimmune issue. Of course, I asked what my doctor thought, but he said he did not want to speculate. I of course have googled what this elevated count means and seem to have eliminated some things based on symptoms, but who knows. Anyway, most important - we have a specific path to go down now. Until now, it seems we know more what it isn't than what it is, so it seems like we are on the path of finding out what it is this time. Yay.

So although I am not exited about what they are testing for, I have to admit I am relieved to know I am not crazy. My gut told me this was not normal and I am very glad I stuck to my guns and had some medical professionals who listened. I see my rheum again in 2 weeks, so I will keep everyone posted. Thanks for the good thoughts!

Health Update

2009-11-18T22:18:00.003-05:00

Two weeks ago, in my attempt to figure out why I have random rash, I saw an allergist. Of course, random rash made itself scarce on the day of my visit and we agreed I would come back when it showed itself again. I honestly believe the allergist did not think it would come back...but I knew better.

It re-appeared on my leg earlier this week, and I decided today it was irritated enough to call. Dr. McNeil gave me his cell phone number, told me to call him when it came back and that I would be seen by someone immediately. True to his word, I called him today, he called me back in 15 min and said come in at 6:30 tonight - he works late tonight (how much sense does that make???It was awesome) Even better, I didn't have to leave work early to do this.

We both agreed the rash was not normal - 3 for 3 with the medical establishment on concluding this is not normal! He asked if I had just been running because I had shorts on - I told him no, that I HATED to run. He too is baffled by random rash. I told him I was going to see Scott this weekend, and he exact words were "well, we will do something to make that go away tonight so you are not miserable this weekend" That something was a steroid shot - called Celestone (nasty little shot - I still feel it!). We will see what that does. I will also go in for patch testing - which is where they put three strips of tape on my back for 2 days and see if I have any contact allergies. He did say he did not think it was contact dermatitis from something I was coming in contact with because of the bizarre locations of the rash, so it sounds like he will do his part to make sure that I am not allergic to anything...thus, it all the pressure at this point is on Dr. Antonchak, the rheumatologist. :) Poor guy. At least he doesn't think I am crazy and suspects there is some underlying cause of this.

So it has been a process, but I think we are getting there. At this point, we are confirming what it is NOT, but I would like to confirm what it IS. I feel very greatful that I have received what I believe to be very competent medical care - the approach to treating this was reasonable and rational. It seemed it was slow at times, but we are at the mercy of whatever is causing this rash - and hopefully on the path to the answers.

Lastly, extra, extra prayers are needed, this time for the Rhodes family. I reconnected with my high school friend Stephanie on FB earlier this year. Friday, her husband was diagnosed with cancer, and yesterday, they learned it was very aggressive and had gone to his liver, bones and soft tissues. They have three children who are young, yet old enough to understand cancer. It does not sound good. Difficult decisions lay ahead, so please keep them in your thoughts and say a prayer of thanks for your health and the health of those around you.

And, given that it is Michigan week around here...GO BUCKS!!!

FREE AT LAST!

2009-11-17T21:16:00.002-05:00

Today marks the biggest milestone yet. The staples are out, cone of shame gone.

I am still going to have to watch the bottom of her incision. They took the scabbing off so that it wouldn't itch, I am sure, but it is a little red and I still fear she might go after. So mom and grandma will be watching that closely. When I took her in this morning, the rehab girl came out and after we talked, she said to Chelsie "Let's go find someone to help me take out those darn staples!" Music to my ears.

On the whole, her rehab appt went very well. She is progressing nicely, and does not need any additional therapy. They did recommend the underwater treadmill to help her build her stamina back, but we can do that at my vet, and we likely will. She sees Dr. Kennedy on 12/8, at which time she will have xrays and he will evaluate her progress. Until then, we need to keep her on the same protocol we are on now - crate rest and taking it easy when she is not in the crate. For the most part, she "gets it" - in that she knows that if she is out of her crate she needs to be laying at someone's feet. The other thing today brought was an increase in her walking time, which is just huge. She is a pooch that firmly believes in her walks. She will be thrilled to go three times a day. We will have to watch closely to make sure we do not overdo it. :)

Tonight, after being picked up at Medvet, she went to a Varsity O meeting with me. I usually don't take her, but tonight I did. She was a good girl and rested under the table like a nice puppy should. We found her 20 minute walk loop, took a spin and now she is resting. She will be so excited tomorrow when she is not forced into the cone of shame...

Big Day

2009-11-17T05:46:00.002-05:00

Today is the day, yes it is, yes it is! The staples are finally coming out! All the staples they put back in 2 weeks ago are still there! While the bottom of the incision is still a little scabby and is not nearly as aesthically pleasing as the top, it is still healed and I am confident she will be freed from the metal in her leg today!!! YAY. What this really means is LONGER WALKS AND BEING FREED OF THE CONE OF SHAME...more fresh air, getting out of the house - even if it is that time of the year where it is getting cold. I will still be watching the bottom part of the incision like a hawk until that scab goes away - call me paranoid, but I will go with that.

We will also learn today what her rehab will look like. It is very likely she will participate in the TPLO rehab protocol onsite at Medvet. I believe this gives her the best opportunity for recovery at this point, and I would do it even if I were not going to compete in agility again. I want her to be able to go back to her little life to the fullest extent possible, which means lots of walks, swimming, playing with her toys and most importantly, being able to safely chase her beloved red kong ball. She will likely truck up to Medvet twice a week for the next 4-5 weeks. I am excited for the underwater treadmill - I expect that will wear her out, which is what she needs to feel like herself again.

She is over on the other side of the bed in her crate, complaining at me for being up too early, and I totally agree. Yesterday, my calendar spiraled out of control for the week, so I was up late last night and early this morning to get things done. I knocked out something big, so it was worth it...but my little girl let me know that she was NOT happy about the lights coming on and the keyboard clicking away at 5AM this morning! Neither was I for that matter, but as grandma says, someone needs to pay for rehab and dog biscuits...

I will let everyone know what happens today...off to the races.

I see her spirit

2009-11-14T20:53:00.003-05:00

Over the past few days, I can tell Chelsie is feeling better...her little spirit is rejuveniated. I told her to get a toy today, and she ran over to her toy box and got her lobster. She chewed on her bone this morning for an hour...sniffed in the grass during her walk and did doggie somersaults all over me. She also enjoyed a visit from her aunt Sharon, who came by to pick up some stuff. I got to meet Sharon's new dog Forsythe...he is a good boy. He is about as tall as Chelsie, but has a more blocky head than Chelsie does. Forsythe waited outside with Larry while Aunt Sharon came in and saw Chelsie. A field trip to Dayton might be in her future tomorrow to see her agility friends....from the view in her crate of course.

Here are a few picture. I really started to see her coming back the other night on the bed (I picked her up and put her on the bed of course...and carried her down the stairs with me tonight) You can see a slight curl in her back and all her paws are intertwined...a happy, content, tired pooch. First time I have seen that since her injury...

Quick Update

2009-11-13T00:08:00.002-05:00

This morning, my parents ran Chelsie up to Medvet so they could look at her incision. I had been watching her incision closely since re-suture last week,it was a little rough looking to the right of the incision. For lack of a better description, her skin appeared to be tearing. The wound was closed, but to the right of her incision, she appeared to have a scab that looked like it had started to heal and then came open with movement. The look of it made me call into question whether or not she had actually been licking at it....which would have been on my watch at night. I do not make her wear any ecollar at night, so if she was getting to it, it was at night. But based on the appearance of the rest of her incision, I was pretty confident that was not the case. Being as today was Thursday and we are getting the staples out Tueday, I finally decided I was going to call about. It had that "if this gets nasty it will take months to heal properly" look about it.

Turns out I was NOT crazy about this. A couple of her staples had twisted, which was causing the tearing. They took the afflicted staples out, and off she went to Marysville. She actually saw Dr. Kennedy, who said she was doing great. Weight consistent at 60.5 lbs. We will know a lot more about longer term rehab on Tuesday when she has her rehab consultation.

Tonight on my trip to the grocery store, I bought a box of brownies to bake for the staff at Medvet. They probably think I am nuts...and Chelsie probably says, yep, thats my old lady. A bona fide crazy....

The Little Things

2009-11-11T20:34:00.002-05:00

Tonight, I took my car in for a 75k service. (which caused my father to ask me where it was I drove, and tell me that I drove more miles in one year than the average person does - uh, yeah, I play soccer every which way all over Cbus!) Anyway, the Honda dealer I take the car to is great. They take you home after dropping your car off and then pick you up to come get - super convenient. Most of the time, when I go in for an oil change, I take Chelsie and wait there. It is a good opportunity for her to practice her manners. We wait in the service bay, and all the guys there love her.

So tonight I get there, and the service guys are like "No puppy?" No, puppy had to stay home, she has a booboo on her knee. The guy that picked me up - "No puppy?" No, she is inside the house, crouched down in her crate looking pathetic because she has to wear her ecollar. :) They all felt very bad. I told them they would see her the next time I came in, in 5k miles.

So that is just a little example of how much this has really put a dent in our routine. I would have tossed her in the car to come, but leaving her home was the better option. Suffice to say, she was still in the same position she was when I left, and had drooled all over herself. Gramma was at the house about 45 minutes after I left, and she did not spend much time in her house...she just hates the lampshade. We are enjoying some bonding time on the floor right now...I was thinking of carrying her downstairs to work in my office, but I am thinking I might just enjoy some bed time instead...