...still waiting!

I was supposed to interview at JCPenney's today, but that ended up not happening -- the manager called in today. I'll wait for her call tomorrow and see if I can meet with her then. Lynne also called me this evening and said she wasn't feeling well and that she was going to cancel class tonight. Robby just got off work and we're still going to take Lexi out to PetSmart or PetCo and work with her.

I asked Lynne about the status of the Moore PetSmart and she said she talked to Mark yesterday and he's starting to pull off the applications. She reminded him again that I applied for Presentation Manager, so hopefully I'll be hearing something from him soon. He's up at the Penn & Memorial store getting used to being a store manager again.

Robby interviews with Alltel on Friday -- we're hoping that goes well, too. He was the first person that the manager called to get scheduled (they were supposed to meet last week, but the manager had to reschedule.)

The day after Christmas.

Last night we took our tree down -- it's so nice to have our livingroom back! The yard ornaments are still outside and we'll probably leave them out a few more days.

The temperature today was awesome! I left the dogs out all day, opened up the windows, and cleaned house!

I took Drew with me to the cleaners this morning, I think he had fun.

Robby is getting really bored with his work! Hopefully his Alltel interview will go well next week, or his friend can help get him on Braums management.

I still haven't heard anything from PetSmart, but I expect to next week. The store is set to open in February as long as it doesn't get pushed back again.

Miss Lexi was very naughty...

Santa should bring her a lump of coal this year for what she did yesterday! The first part of class went well. But then I had her in a down in the training center while Lynne and I were talking. One of Lynne's "trainers-in-training" walked in to sit down and Lexi barked, jumped up and nipped her. She didn't do anything but cause a small bruise thank goodness. I felt absolutely horrible! Right after that we went to work, hard. After explaining to Lynne about Lex trying to herd Smudges around constantly, and some other problems we were having, we opted to try some counter-conditioning in hopes that we just need to get her herding drive under control. She started to do better as the night went on, but I need to start taking her places and working on her focus while people walk by. Hopefully it all works! I've never had a dog with so much drive so this is all new waters for me. I keep reminding myself this is exactly what I wanted...a dog with a lot of drive...and that's what I got! I just need to figure out how to harness it!

"To grandma's house we go..."

Yesterday was fun! Robby & I left around 7:30 (in the corvette, yippee!) and drove down to Grandma & Grandpa's house for Christmas. After we got there, Robby took Grandpa for a ride in the vette like he had promised. They were gone awhile!

The food was different this year! Seafood and Mexican. Robby & I made beef enchiladas and those vanished like you wouldn't believe!

Robby got a Lowe's gift card from Aunt Linda and I got a Bath & Body Works gift card and a bottle of shower gel from Aunt Elizabeth.

We stayed until Heath & Jamie got there and visited for a bit. Robby got to finally shoot his shotgun and get rid of all of those shells he found in a truck at the dealership last year.

It was a fun day and great to see everyone since we missed out on Thanksgiving.

Robby & I went to Lowe's last night and picked up some putty to fill in a spot where the loveseat recliner kept hitting the wall. Then we went to bath & body works (it was so busy!) and I picked up two different shower gels and a bottle of lotion. I had a coupon for a free item with any purchase, so that made it even better!

Stormy

We cleaned her cage this evening and while we were doing that, we let her jump and run around in the front bedroom. She had a blast! She wasn't too happy when I brought in the camera, though -- she kinda froze!

stay!

We took Lexi and Skye both to class last night. It was fun. I did stays with both of them side-by-side...good work for Lexi. Skye broke her stay a couple times, but Lexi didn't budge! I got her to where I got disappear around the corner, and was even able to put her in a stay in the doorway of the training center then circle it without her moving. It was awesome! We also worked on heel work, turns, and recalls. Everything is coming along smoothly. She did bark at one little dog, but that was it. Skye had fun socializing and Lynne said she had gotten bigger since the last time she saw her.

The bug guy came out today to spray - they have a new spray for inside and it's so much better! We were all able to stay inside and never once did we smell anything! The chinchilla, dogs, and cat acted like nothing happened.

We took our books back to the bookstore from this semester. Robby got a B in Oceanography, and I got a C. We're still waiting on our lab grades, but considering we had A's & B's for every assignment, we're not worried! It's so nice to have passed that class!! It was a little scary there for a while!

Ran by Hillcrest and checked with Doc on the business cards -- I had to order more and knew I couldn't get the same logo. We went to Kinko's first and their price was outrageous (not to mention their customer service was horrible!) Left and went to Office Depot, got awesome help and a cool new design (hope Doc likes it) for a lot cheaper.

Still waiting to hear a final word from PetSmart. Apparently Mark is going to start interviews after Christmas.

Lexi

We brought out her favorite toy to play with some this afternoon -- she had a blast!

It's cooold!

Dogs haven't spent much time outside today because of the temperatures and boy does it show! Lexi has been dropping her Kong at our feet constantly for us to throw.

Robby has a 2nd interview tomorrow with AXA Financial. Hopefully it goes well and he won't end up going back to the car lot.

We went out to the mall today and I bought some Yankee Candle tea lights. I finally found Coconut Bay again! I thought that scent disapeered -- I could never find it anywhere! It was nice to get out and walk around. I'm tired of being cooped up in the house!

Tomorrow night is Lexi's class. I bought some doggie sausage last week, so maybe I'll get a little better attention this time.

Friday

Today was fairly relaxing. We ran some errands this afternoon and took Skye with us. She had fun riding around in the car.

Robby & I went to PetSmart Wednesday and picked up some stuff, including a couple frisbees for the dogs. Drew & Skye absolutely love playing with it! Skye was prancing around in the backyard after getting it. Lexi isn't too interested in it, she likes the kongs more.

We're waiting on our grades to be posted for Oceanography. We know we both got 100's on our research projects. Robby had access to his final exam grade, and he figured up that he probably got a B in the class. I don't have access to my exam grade (the Professor had problems with the online class system the whole semester, and still never figured out why some grades would show up and others not...) Hopefully we did good. She said she will be emailing us our exam grades this weekend. She had surgery apparently today, so we knew we wouldn't get any info then.

Lexi

Class last night went very well. We were the only ones who showed up since apparently the weather, to some people, was questionnable. In that case, we got to work on whatever we wanted. We did some heel work, a couple recalls, and then some AWESOME stays! I was able to put her in a sit or down stay, walk to the end of the aisle (which are fairly long) and walk back without her budging. We still need to work on returning to treat half way through and then walk away. She thinks her treat is her release, not "okay." I messed her up a couple times because I led away from her with my left foot instead of my right, so she thought she was supposed to heel. Other than that, she did awesome -- especially since I didn't work with her any last week. We're going to start going to other PetSmarts, Tractor Supply, and Atwoods to get more practice. She had some barking issues last night, but settled down eventually.

No news on jobs -- it sucks!
****Update**** Robby took a job at City Chevrolet. Just waiting on the background and drug tests to come back. Still nothing from me -- but I did apply for a job at a University...out of state...we'll see what happens!

Monday

Not much to say since my last post. We finished our Christmas shopping (only had to buy two things this year...easy) -- went to mom & dad's for the BOk Christmas party/football party. OU made it to the National Championship (yay!) Finished school work -- done for the semester. Went to see Kim this afternoon (after sleeping through my initial morning appointment!) -- just a follow up on my Lexapro -- all is well and I don't have to go back for 3 months.

Tomorrow night is Lexi's class.

Midway

It's finally Wednesday. This week is going by horribly slow.

Robby got layed off last night from Reynolds. Stupid budget cuts. He's gone to interview at CarMax right now. Hopefully we can both find something quick. I'm getting so bored now. I applied at a few other places this week. PetSmart is just being so slow!

Lexi's class went well last night. We worked on come, stay, and leave it.

I gave her and Drew a bath this morning - they were stinky! Everyone (including the cat) was crashed out in various spots of the living room until the pups woke up. Now Lexi is laying on Drew chewing on him.

Not much else going on -- just sitting and waiting.

Simply AMAZING!

That's how good the TSO concert was! My eye candy's leg was in a brace from jumping off the stage a few weeks ago -- ouch! I had my voice this morning, which was good! But, the concert was better than last year!!! It's soooo awesome! I felt bad for Robby, though -- I had to go to the bathroom at one point and while we were on our way back to our seats (which were only five rows back - YEA!!!) I heard them start playing Flight of the Bumblebee which is one of Robby's favorite parts of their concert. We made it back to the floor in time to watch the final moments of that part.

This morning we slept in a bit (we were both totally exhausted from our escapade yesterday!) Then ran to Hillcrest for a couple hours, Freddy's for lunch, then home for a bit. Studied for our test and went to take it - we both did a lot better this time around. Ran a few more errands after that.

Skye was very naughty today. When we got back from Hillcrest this afternoon - she had pulled two books from the bookshelf and chewed them up. One was the Purpose Driven Life and the other was one of my dog show books that had a ton of old pictures from the early 1900s in it. She was in soooo much trouble!

Sunday = Fun Day!

Robby's mom & stepdad came over last to visit, and of course watch the Bedlam game. Robby's mom graduated from OSU, but Grover was for OU - so it was all fun and games! They left shortly after the game was over and we crashed into bed!

This morning we left the house at 8 to head to Grandma & Grandpa's for the day. Aunt Martha was the only one left there from this weekend - but it was good to visit for a while! We left to come home at 2 and made pretty good time.

Tonight is finally TSO! Yippee!!!!!!! I can't wait!

Here's hoping I can talk tomorrow!

Lexi flies after her Kong on Thanksgiving

Yesterday was nice and relaxing. Robby & I slept in a bit, then got up and watched the Macy's parade. We went to get the front yard decorations at mom & dad's after the parade was over. Talked with them a bit and helped get their Christmas stuff out of the attic and the tree from the shed. We came back home and put everything out in the yard - I made a map of how everything was set up last year, lol - it was easy to get everything put back out!

Robby took the dogs out later and started throwing the Kong around. I came out with the camera and got these cool shots of Lexi flying after the toy. She caught it most every time - including once when she shot up in the air and caught it. Her back feet were a ways off the ground! I didn't have the camera ready, unfortunately!

I called PetSmart this morning and the district manager is on vacation this week and was busy last week. I should hear something Monday or Tuesday, though. Thank goodness, it's getting a little boring around here!

Wanda & Grover are coming over tomorrow night to take us to dinner. I've been busy cleaning the house - always fun. TSO is Sunday night...yippee! I just hope I can talk Monday morning! Last year I ended up losing my voice for over a week! (and last year's concert was December 23rd! It was a very quiet Christmas, lol)

Deck the halls...!

I put up Christmas decorations today! It was fun -- didn't take long since we don't have that many. I put the ornaments up high on the tree to keep the dogs away from them. I'm getting ready to go outside and put the garland and lights around our porch railing -- still have to get the dogs from mom & dad's house...and the collie santa hat.

Lexi's class went well last night. She was a little squirrelly at first, which was weird - but she was quick to settle down. She kept rolling over on her back while Lynne would be explaining something, which was funny.

I called PetSmart today to see if Sheri was working - but she's off until Friday, so I'll call back then and see if there's any updates.

Robby & I are hanging out at home tomorrow -- we have our little menu set (totally weird and untraditional, but hey...it's food.) We're having...get ready...chicken parmigan, pasta salad, corn, and deviled eggs - lol. Yummy!

Just a few more days before TSO - YES!!!!!

Lazy Days...

So this weekend was good, except for spending time at the hospital with mom yesterday! Glad you're back home and better -- now to just find out what happened!

Robby made three disasterous attempts at pumpkin bread last night. The first time, too much water (haha, he misread his own recipe...oops) - second time...just didn't turn out right - third time...weird taste. He called his mom after the second batch and re-compared recipes. Everything was written down correctly. Everyone who knows Robby knows he makes AWESOME pumpkin bread - and it seems to only be an annual occurance...so last night wasn't very good for him, lol. He was frustrated and rightly so! We ended up deciding to get some different flour, since the flour we were using was some his mom brought up I'm not sure how long ago, lol. We're going to try again tonight and hope everything comes out perfect!

I found out my final grade in Management is probably a 95 - yippee! We are getting a second chance at our Oceanography exam, so crossing my fingers we do good this time around.

Lexi's third class is tomorrow night -- should be fun. I'm going to talk to Lynne and see if she's heard any news on my job prospect, too.

Saturday night the dogs decided they loved chasing a laser pointer around. I had Skye, Lexi, and Drew racing from room to room and turning in circles (good work with Lexi's pivots, lol - now I KNOW she can turn tight!)

Guess I'd better go make dinner so the oven is freed up tonight for pumpkin bread.

There's gotta be something more...

Lexi did really well at class Tuesday night -- Lynne used her as a demo for leave it, and Lex caught on really quick! I need to follow up and work with her more, though. Her heel work went well and she's doing her turns a lot better now. We also weaved through some pallets of food and toys, and other than a few wide turns, she did good.

Yesterday I went with dad & Anya to get her final heartworm treatment. She's gained 10 lbs since they rescued her last month!! After dropping her off, dad & I went to grab a bite to eat and out to the World Show for our annual trip around the trade show and

superbarn. It was fun, as always.

I went to Home Depot and got some dirt to fill in the holes by the back porch. I put the ex pen up around them and then staked it in the ground. Hopefully the dogs leave it alone long enough this time!

We also got our Jeff Dunham Christmas special in last night!! My face hurt from laughing so hard after it was over!!! His shows just keep getting better and better! I got an email this morning saying on May 2nd he's coming to the Cox Center -- tickets go on sale in the morning and we're getting some. I can't wait!

I've been working around the house this morning -- I decided to put the tree up in stages this year since we have a few new guys in the house and I'm not sure how they'll react. So I set the bottom 1/3 up today and I'll leave that up for about a week before I add on the next layer...and then the next....and finally the ornaments! So far the cat is leaving it alone, but I haven't let the dogs out around it yet -- they're crashed out in the bedroom right now.

So, I also heard a song on the radio the other day and I actually listened to it. I never really liked Sugarland's music, but this song is good.

Something More (Youtube.com video)

There's gotta be something more

Gotta be more than this

I need a little less hard time

I need a little more bliss

I'm gonna take my chances

Taking a chance I might

Find what I'm looking for

There's gotta be something more

Catch up day

Yesterday I got an email from the lady we gave the cats to. She absolutely hated Electra, had put her on craigslist, and then accused me of various things, lol. I emailed her back, offered to take Electra off their hands - and I promptly get an apology for her harsh words, go figure. Anyway - Robby & I went to pick up Electra last night. They wanted to keep Panda, they loved her! Chunky (Electra) is locked in the front bedroom right now while I await a call back from Rescue. I feel horrible because just a few days ago I finally got an email back from them and I said "we decided to keep them." Grr...now I get to explain that one! Smudges wasn't too happy with us bringing Electra in, but she was over it by this morning.

I had an interview with JC Penneys yesterday afternoon. Came home with a job offer. I doubt, and hopefully won't, end up taking it. But if it doesn't work out with PetSmart for whatever reason, it's just nice to know I have a job to turn to. So if I happen to take it, lol, I would be working in the jewerly department.

Woke up this morning and we were all laying in bed (yep, all the dogs, Robby, and me...!) Skye was laying on top of me and all of sudden took her paw and swiped it across my face. Well, she hit my eye and popped a blood vessel....OUCH!!!!! It's still sore. I kept an ice pack on it for about 30 minutes, and then have had one off and on all day. I can see, but it's a little blurry sometimes, I think just from it being sore and me blinking and squinting it so much. It's a little dry, too.

I finished my management class today, yippee!!! I figured up my grade, and I have an 88 - but he still has to curve some of the tests and all, so I may end up with an A! Oceanography hasn't been as generous, though! I'm just hoping to flat out pass that class. If I don't, that's trouble. Big trouble. We have to take our second exam Friday, and then we're going to work on our final exam this weekend. Luckily, that is an open book test. I'm hoping with my research project (which I finished and turned in today) and the final exam each being worth 200 points (twice the exam scores) I'll be able to pull off a better grade. Plus, she said she'll be curving all of the grades at the end. :::crossing my fingers:::!!!!!!

Lexi has her second class tonight. I've had all the dogs playing in the backyard today, they've had fun! Hopefully she'll be nice and calm tonight, like last week. I think Lynne said we're going to work on sit (which Lexi obviously knows,) loose leash walking (or heel, for us), and then leave it...which she needs to learn badly!

It's Monday...!

For once I'm excited about it being Monday - how cool is that?!

This weekend was totally interesting! As you know by now, Sonny had his first UKC show (and mine too!) So I didn't make any stupid novice mistakes I was afraid of doing and after the first show was over, I felt like I'd been showing in UKC for years, lol. It was totally different from AKC in some aspects, though! Sonny won BOB all three shows, and two Group III's -- whoopee! I still have to figure out how many points he got, but I know he has two competition wins. He had fun, but he wore himself out, that's for sure! It was pretty cool seeing some breeds that aren't in AKC. I absolutely loved the Leonbergers, gorgeous dogs! There were four there...all different types, yet sooo pretty. The picture above is from the first day of shows -- I didn't get one with Sunday's ribbons in it. When was the last time I came home from a show and took pictures of the ribbons, haha!

Robby & I ran a couple errands yesterday afternoon. We went and bought a new tree skirt, and I got a new stocking. We worked on school work some yesterday, too.

I've been busy this morning applying for various jobs. Too many to list! I'm waiting to hear back from them, but more importantly to hear back from PetSmart.

Guess I'd better get busy finishing my school work - if I don't get everything done this week, there's something wrong! lol

I'm Free....!!!!

^ Fighting for attention from "daddy" ^

I walked into NRHA at 7:40 this morning, checked my email, sent Krissy one detailing where some things were, then grabbed my blanket, my leftovers from the fridge...placed my resignation in Dennis's chair and walked out the door by 8am. It was a wonderful feeling! It's so nice not to have the stress of that place anymore. If I never had to deal with the Board, I would have loved that job ten times more -- but as soon as the board got involved, it did a 180. And if you're wondering why I left earlier than the end of the month. I had heard some grumblings and mentionings that I could be let go earlier than the Slide. And, it just concreted that when on the conference call last night with the RHSF Officers that the president asked "Has Brandi left yet? I heard she turned in her resignation and was going to leave at the slide, but I heard she could be leaving earlier..." Yea, it was kind of interesting when I popped up and said "uh, Bill...I'm on the line." Open mouth, insert foot -- for sure!

At 11 I had an informal meeting/interview with the MWC PetSmart store manager. I think it went really well, I have enjoyed talking to Sheri. She told me she was going to forward my information to the District Manager so they could get me set up an interview. I'm still going for Presentation Manager, but if I have to start as a Pet Trainer again for a month or two until there's an opening elsewhere, or the Moore store finally opens, it'll be fine. I'm just anxious to find out more information!

Tomorrow is Sonny's & my first UKC show. We're entered in both shows tomorrow, and the show on Sunday (only one that day.) I've very excited and nervous at the same time! As Bethany put it in an email to her friend (haha, I found what you wrote!) "Sheesh, she was the #1 collie jr and she's afraid of messing up. haha" Yep - you're exactly right!!! I'm going to give Sonny a bath and trim some stray hairs tonight - and we'll be all ready to go in the morning. I hope I won't be too lost without my tack box and grooming table, though! I'll have to make sure I grab exactly what I need -- his collar/leash, a comb, maybe a pair of scissors? We'll see what happens!

Going to look around a few more job options and then take a nap -- I didn't sleep well last night...too much on my mind for sure! I need to fit some school work in sometime, as well.

Putting my foot down and then some

So yesterday was fairly eventful. I had my meeting with Dennis which lasted a good hour. Long story short - after sitting through the whole meeting, listening to Dennis what was expected of me from the Board, what was being said behind my back, and everything else...I handed over my resignation. I will finish out the month and at the conclusion of the Celebrity Slide, I'm outta there.

Lexi had her first obedience class last night and all went well. She was very well behaved (I think Lynne was impressed, considering last week Lexi was very obnoxious!)

Today I left the office at 3:30 to head down to the fairgrounds and help coordinate the Make-A-Wish kid videos. We taped five amazing kiddos and I can't wait to see the finished product!

2 years and counting

The house at Christmas last year

It was two years ago today that Robby & I signed on the dotted line for our first house. In that two years, it's been pretty interesting! We've had a number of animals come in and out the door, a huge hail storm that damaged our siding, light bulbs go out, replaced a few parts of the fence, and had a crazy ice storm that left us trimming trees up through this summer! The flower bed as also had a few different looks, and the final house in the neighborhood just sold a few weeks ago. Looking back, I wouldn't have changed a thing it did to get to this point. To celebrate, we're headed out to dinner tonight.

Work was absolutely, positively a pain in the behind today. Too much crap went on and I have a lovely meeting in the morning with Dennis. Needless to say, I will have my immediate resignation ready to hand over at a moments notice. I typed that thing up tonight (let me know if you want to read it...it's a hoot!) I will be working late Wednesday night and Thursday night this week. At least Wednesday will be fun - we're taping the Make-A-Wish kids for a video segment that will play at the slide. Thursday however will be a boring conference call.

Guess I'd better get busy doing the things I need to do around the house before Robby gets home.

Darn...

...the weekend is over! Today went by fast, but we got so much done! We ran our errands early this morning and were done and back home by 11:15. We groomed all of the dogs, cleaned our bathroom, and then started work on filling the shed. Robby & I ran to mom and dad's to start getting all of my stuff from the attic and their shed. Came home and sorted through everything. It was kind of nice to see some old stuffed animals, journals, etc. We got a lot of my dog stuff moved into the shed from the garage, and then also totally cleaned up the back bedroom. Aside from my dog stuff and the christmas tree (which will move out to the shed after Christmas)...all of the boxes are out of there!

We took our oceanography quiz tonight, and I did a lot of work on my management class. I'm trying to get as much done before the Futurity as I can since it falls on the week before class ends.

These pictures are from this morning when the Drew & Lexi were playing (and obviously Sonny & Skye not.) And...the one below is Drew hanging out on the desk while I type this!

Lexi is official!

I got Lexi's ILP papers in the mail today...she is officially known as Twister Passport to Paradise...yippee!!!

Ran around like crazy today! First stop was Hillcrest to take care of some things and hang up a poster there, then to North Pole City where I picked up a couple new ornaments (a horseshoe and a snowflake,) after that I went to the post office, then mom & dad's. Ran by McDonald's and grabbed a bite for lunch, then on to Norman to see if Jamie was still the PetSmart manager. Nope - he changed stores. Scrap that idea...left there and went to Atwoods to hang up a Celebrity Slide poster. Went home for a bathroom break for me and the dogs. Left home and stopped by Lumber 2, then Pet-Vet, Langstons, and Dad's branch (all to hang up posters.) From dad's branch I went to the other Langstons, Fox Lumber, some Western close out store in Moore, ACE hardware (they were weird...) and Bryan's (woops...Ft Thunder) Harley Davidson. Then I went to the dry cleaners, Tractor Supply, and FINALLY to PetCo. Never had a place to tell me no and had some people who were really excited and already saying they wanted to come - cool! I'm down to two posters. Robby got one hung up at work, too. It was a very productive day, and now I'm exhausted and so is my car! (For more information on the Celebrity Slide, please visit http://www.nrha.com/ and click on the Celebrity Slide logo, lol)

I found out Smudges likes to not only sleep in the bathroom sinks -- but she also likes to drink water from the faucet! She's such a friendly cat. She's sitting on the back of the desk chair right now just purring away.

Three weeks...

We're now down to three weeks before the Futurity Starts, yay. I'm ready for the 29th to be here...and right after that - the 30th -- T.S.O.!!!!!!!!

Haven't worked with Lexi anymore on training since Tuesday - yesterday's weather was bad, and today I've been working on a lot of school work.

Not much else is going on. I should have Sonny's registration number tomorrow for UKC. Then I have to hurry and get his entry in the mail so they get it by Monday.

Back to schoolwork - fun.

Election Day

Early morning...! It took us almost an hour and a half to vote this morning and for once I got paid for being late to work, haha. We had our Celebrity Slide meeting this afternoon. It went really well, and I'm very excited for this event. I have a stack of posters I need to get dispersed around the city to promote it, though. I already gave one to Bev for her clinic, and one to Lynne to put up in PetSmart, Robby is probably going to take one to work - and mom & dad are working on getting them up at their work. Only like 25 more to go, lol.

I had CGC testing to do in Edmond tonight and decided to stop by the armory and visit with Breawna & Bev a second. I got there early and took Lexi inside, she barked like crazy, so I quickly excused myself...but luckily before a lot people got there, I was able to do some heel work. She did good, but she was very distracted. Said hi to Beverly & Breawna then headed on up to Edmond.

(Breaking news...Obama was just projected to win the election - $#$@#@#)

Anyways...long story short -- Lynne said I could come up to her classes and work with Lexi. So I took her schedule and in the next week or two, I'm going to start going to one. I just have to figure out what night and time I want to go.

Lexi's Training

Worked this afternoon on heeling, left finish, downs, and stays. So far...so good! She somehow decided that the stay signal meant down...figure that one out -- I haven't even done down/stays with her! After all of that, I decided to do something crazy. I went out and laid an approximate 22' track on the sidewalk. I can only imagine what my neighbors thought with my scuffing me feet on the sidewalk and turning around every few steps to lay a bite of hotdog on the ground. She tracked it...of course picking up the hot dogs along the way and her biljac jackpot at the end...but it was fun! She never lifted her head, or turned around to look at me. Maybe we'll attempt tracking, too - lol

Boo!

Work was busy today, but I got a lot done. I finally gave up on getting a new office and moved all of my stuff into my tiny cubicle. You should have seen it. I took 90% of the things that were in this decent sized office, and put them in this tiny little space. So many people were asking how on earth I managed to do it. Consolidate, consolidate, consolidate. Whew! We had a costume contest, although only about 5 people dressed up. 1st place went to a witch, 2nd place to Alice in Wonderland (which the majority of us considered..."a hooker in wonderland"....her skirt was um...short...), 3rd place went to "Mike Gundy", 4th to a viking, and 5th to a Breast Cancer Warrior (she was at lunch during the competition, woops...) All in all it was pretty funny to see the few that did dress up.

I have to introduce the cutie above. That would be "Smudges." She is our new Ragdoll (that's the breed) kitty. We gave our two cats to this older lady, and took Smudges off her hands Wednesday night. The lady and I exchanged a few emails today and checked on the cats -- everyone seems content in their new homes. Panda is taking a bit to adjust, but that's 'normal' for her. Electra is already at home! Smudges was not happy Wednesday night, but there was a lot of commotion in the house. She has been getting better every day, and we're able to pet her now, call her to us (when she wants to come), and she wanders around the house. She's so pretty.

I put off Lexi's training tonight since I don't have hardly any lights on in the house. I don't want little kids ringing the doorbell! I have to go to Hillcrest in the morning, but after that, I'll try to get a couple training sessions in.

Lexi's training update

Lexi finally got worked again tonight! We did some focus heeling, downs, halts, left finishes, weaves through the cones, left and right turns and beginning pivots, and finally recalling between Robby & me. She did really well on everything. Her finishes are getting better, and her weaves were tighter. Her left turn and pivot still has her sitting quite a bit, but she'll ease out of that eventually. She is downing on command without me having to bend over at all! Yippee! Having her do the recalls was hilarious, though. Robby & I set up on either end of the living room with hotdogs - I started by having him call her first. She wasn't sure what to do, and he had to call her quite a few times at first. She finally went to him and got a treat. Her recalls to me were quick, but I've worked with her 10 times more on that. By the end of it, she was racing between us and we jackpotted on the last recalls. We're making a lot of progress! It'd be nice to have her trained through Rally Advanced by the time she's ready for Novice in March...but maybe I'm being a little ambitious!

Trying to stay awake...

I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted! The rest of last week was fairly routine - not much went on, except that I stayed home "sick" Thursday. Saturday morning I had a lady come over and buy the gerbils. Wohoo! Now just to get rid of the cats, too.... After that, I went with mom to Affair of the Heart. We met Grandma, Aunt E, Aunt Linda, Jennifer, and Aunt E's mother-in-law out there. It was so much fun and great to see everyone again. I found an antique English Setter statue that I bought for a mere $4! Robby even thought it was cute...imagine that! Mom & I stopped by North Pole City on the way home to look for a GSD Ornament, but we didn't find one we liked. I came home that afternoon and transplanted my elephant ears into the pot I had bought a while ago. That was tough stuff and I was so dirty by the time I finished! I also cleaned up the garage and even hung some of Robby's car stuff up on the walls - that was a nice surprise for him.

Sunday started out with a phone call from Robby's mom to tell him his grandfather (her dad) passed away that morning. She also asked if Robby would be a pall bearer, which he agreed to. The funeral will be Thursday afternoon - Robby & I both have the day off. After that chaos, we left to go to Aunt E's house for lunch. We got to visit again with Grandma, Aunt E, and Jennifer - plus got to see Grandpa and Uncle Tim. Lunch was delicious! We left there around 2pm and came back to the city to run some errands. We took our quizzes for Oceanography, and each of us got good scores! FINALLY! I also took my Manangement test over the week and did really well!

Work was pretty boring today - I mainly tried to stay awake. It was cold and I was tired. I'm trying to convince Robby and finally decide for myself if I'd like to register Sonny in UKC and take him out for a spin on November 15th. I'm kind of nervous to do it, though! I know it's different than AKC - and I can only imagine myself making some huge novice mistake, lol! If I enter, ya'll are going to have to come watch me make a fool of myself. At least Sonny knows what to do!

Still working on Lexi's Rally training - I slacked off the past couple days, so I need to get busy! Her finishes need work....bad!

That's all for now. (and if you are wondering about the picture above...that would be my wonderful husband crawling into the tunnel, right before the dogs took off in after him!)

O.M.G. J.M.M!

So...Robby & I went down to the Wal-Mart in Norman this evening and got John Michael Montgomery's autograph on his new CD "Time Flies" and the sheet music for "I Swear" that I gave Robby for Christmas a few years ago!!! It was pretty exciting!

Went to the doctor today for a follow up. Kim wants me on Lexapro for another 5 weeks and we'll re-evaluate again to see if we need to keep going, change dosages, or change meds. I've also been having a headache off and on for about a week, so he wants me to wait another week and if I keep having them to the extent I need to take something, then I'll go back on my Topomax. No big deal, because that would actually curb my appetite! According to the scales I gained 5 lbs in 3 weeks -- but this time I also had my boots and jean jacket on, so you do the figuring.

Pictures

Took our time getting around this morning. It was nice to relax for once. Finally went down to mom & dad's so Robby could meet Anya and I cleaned her's and Kameko's ears, then sprayed some stuff on Anya's coat to help with her dry-skin. Robby and I went shopping for a new camera afterwards -- mine finally gave out. The screen went blank a few weeks ago, but I could still take pictures. Well, this morning, I couldn't even take pictures. We found a nice Canon camera is our price range and played around with it in the store. It was pretty good, so we went ahead and got it. The pictures above are what we took while trying it out on the dogs in the backyard this evening. We're attempting home work right now. Back to work tomorrow...

Friday, Friday, Friday...!

Finally this work week is over! It was fairly productive -- got a lot done on Celebrity Reining. Lexi started back on her training yesterday. She didn't forget much, thank goodness! I was watching some videos on youtube at work today (hey, everyone else was on youtube, too!) Some GSD novice, advanced, and excellent classes. Most certainly in novice, Lexi will do JUST fine!! I was shocked at some of the dogs and how they Q'd even with the mistakes they made. But of course, you can lose 30 points and still get a Q - sheesh! My baby girl will be just fine come spring! We took her pictures last night to send into AKC for her ILP. The one above is just one of the cute ones that didn't turn out for her paperwork.

Drew is sitting here tied to my waist, almost literally. I have a kennel lead attached him, then tied onto my belt loop so he won't go anywhere. He was getting awfully ornery outside, so I brought him in, and now he's mad. I'm going to have to do this "nothing in life is free" full force with him. I was going to try to get out the easy way...but nope! His problem, not mine. I have to get this fixed, so whatever I have to do, I'll do it.

Anyhow -- making the trip to Dallas tomorrow to get Anya, yay! I'll post pics as soon as mom takes them. There's a dog festival down there that we actually decided to meet and pick her up at. Her rescue group will be there anyways. Sounds like a lot of fun!

It's Wednesday...!

Finally half way through the week. It's been fairly uneventful, though. I took yesterday off and got a lot done -- seemed to be more productive at work today, so that was good. Lexi is getting her stitches out this evening when Robby gets home. Now I can get started on her training. Drew is having issues with his toys, still! So, under some advice from a former corgi person and experienced trainer, I'm going to work on some behavioural changes with him. Let's hope it works. I'm going with mom & dad on Saturday to pick up their shepherd, Anya. She's finishing her heartworm treatment on Friday. I can't wait to meet her...we've all seen videos and pictures of her, and I think she'll be great for them and Rudy!

Sunday

Well, today Robby & I got up and drove out to Clinton for his step-grandpa's 80th birthday party. We had lunch at Montana Mike's (not bad food, just not great...kind of like a Texas Roadhouse.) Then walked back over to the hotel for the party. Got to visit with Rusty & Mary some - they have a couple trials coming up and only need 2 more double Q's to qualify for Agility Nationals with Rusty's dog -- hope they do well! We came drove back to OKC and went straight to Sam's before they closed. Then, we ran home to let dogs out and went to Target so I could pick up some cones to start Lexi's Rally training. I couldn't find any chalk -- I'll have to get that somewhere else, I guess. The dogs are being goofy -- Lexi is doing well on her training, but Drew is still getting horribly possessive of his toys. I need to find a way to correct that problem. Work tomorrow (joy.) Mom & dad will hopefully be able to pick up Anya on Saturday if she completes her heartworm treatment this week.

I see the tractors!!!

Bethany was right...Texas stomped all over OU. But only in the second half...so there! It's ok, though...we'll be back next year.

It's been a crazy couple days - work was a little nutty and aggravating at the same time. Still looking for a new job, but I can't find something that I think I'll like.

The dogs are doing well. Lexi & I worked on obedience some last night, she's so enthusiastic! I'm finding out she loves to pounce on things, too funny. Our PetEdge order came in Thursday and everyone likes their new collars and toys. We did have to take Drew to the emergency clinic Thursday night -- I came home from work and he had some diarrhea then proceeded to vomit...a lot. Started cleaning everything up and went out to give him some medication and promptly noticed his gums were starting to turn a pale grey. Robby left work and came on home to pick us up and take us down to Norman. Drew started getting better as we were there and ended up getting an injection and some prescriptions, which I filled yesterday. He's had a few doses, plus two meals of rice (which he hates) - and is back to his perky self. My little munchkin sure scared me for a minute, though!

My new class starts Monday and I have the wrong book (stupid bookstore people) - so I'm going to have Robby exchange it Monday morning before he goes to work. I think it'll be a decent class, I'm really looking forward to it. We also got our Oceanography DVDs in on Thursday and started watching them. Hopefully they help. I think our test is going to be ready to take in the next week or two. The Prof has been having trouble with the online format this semester.

I need to go grab me something to eat and then get started on house work -- I have a ton to do.

R.I.P. OU.....

I need to update more often!

Seems this blog has fallen off to the side here lately! Lexi is still in her e-collar and we've also wrapped her stomach to help keep the incision clean. She wears the wrap every other day to help give it a little air, too. She's getting very bored, so I've been trying to work some on her front sits and choose to heel while we're walking in the backyard, and keeping her busy with a kong in her crate. If Robby leaves when I do in the morning, then I come home for lunch...otherwise he leaves late enough in the day, that I don't have to. It's quite a drive and I spend over half my lunch hour just driving. The other dogs are doing well. Sonny is getting grouchy, but he is almost 10 (yikes!) Skye is her usual big baby-self. And Drew, well he's Drew! Our PetEdge order will be in tomorrow, the dogs will be happy!

Robby & I are going over to mom & dad's tonight for a cookout. He should be getting off here any minute now. I was busy at work today for once...it was nice!! I had a meeting this morning, scheduled phone call with a board member this afternoon, plus another meeting right behind that. And...two more meetings tomorrow. In the mean time, I was juggling the usual phone calls, prepping a flier for this weekend's event in Arizona, and trying to get a package together to overnight for one of our board members to give to some people at the PBR this weekend in Ohio. Whew! I actually temporarily liked my job! Until I was reminded of the upcoming Convention and Board Meetings in January...

Robby's mom & stepdad are coming up this weekend. It's Grover's dad's birthday party. We're driving out to Clinton on Sunday. Robby's aunt & uncle from Montana (the ones who run agility) are coming in, too. It's always good to talk to them.

I've put up a couple pictures from last weekend that dad took. I think they turned out awesome! We haven't decided which one we like best to use for our possible Christmas card, this year. I had an idea to buy one with the two pictures and have the larger one be of us, and try to do a smaller one of all four dogs -- we'll see if that actually happens. There's still time before I need to order, so maybe.

Thursday...Friday...Saturday

So...Thursday - Robby & I went to Red Lobster for dinner...unlimited shrimp, yummy! Friday, after work, I went over to mom & dad's and helped dad set up their new fish tank and mom & I went to Freddy's. Today Robby & I went to Hillcrest to work on reminders and I also took Lexi because she had a little drainage from her incision yesterday. Come to find out, she had been licking it, caused it to swell, and messed up how the skin was supposed to be sitting. So, she got an antibiotic/steroid combo injection, cephalexin, and an e-collar! She looks sooo cute, lol. It'll take her incision a little longer to heal, but she should be good to go right now. Robby and I worked in the backyard some this afternoon. He trimmed back a tree that was pushing a board out, I scooped the yard, and then trimmed some dead tree limbs down. We're probably meeting dad tonight out at Will Rogers Park to take some pictures.

Catch up

So I had forgotten it's been a couple days since I posted, oops! Sunday was just really productive. Robby and I got a lot done. Monday, we bought a new car. Robby was getting tired of driving something that wasn't "his" and I was getting tired of having to be so careful in his demo car to make sure I didn't scratch anything with my shoes and whatnot. We got a 2007 Chevy Impala, white...loaded. It only had 24,000 miles on it and was owned by a teacher. She traded it in last week at the dealership. Yesterday we grilled out chicken and hot dogs, yummy! Got caught up on the some homework and found out some information on our oceanography class. It wasn't going well for the whole class, so the prof changed some stuff around and also said she'd curve our final grades. Hopefully it all helps. Today was boring. I had a staff meeting for like three hours this morning and then didn't do much the rest of the day. Got off work and went to pick Lexi up at Doc's. She got spayed today. She was sooo drowsy from the pain injection and is asleep in the expen right now. Just hanging out right now and watching a little TV. Hoping to hear some good news from MNT this week...we'll see what happens.

Weekend!

So I got up and went to Hillcrest this morning - took care of statements and bunch of other stuff. Then I went down to see mom. We went to Freddy's for a burger and then to Tractor Supply to pick up bird seed. Came back to their house and we went shopping online for stuff for their new rescue GSD, Anya. They'll get her in a month or so after she finishes her heartworm treatment. She's such a cutie! Got home a little bit ago and put dogs out -- Lexi is beginning to stop scratching on the door as much, which is nice! I came home yesterday for lunch and did group sits with everyone -- they did really well. Lexi also played in the sprinkler and had a blast! She got Drew to start playing with her in the water. Sonny & Skye wouldn't have any part of it, though.

Thursday

So...we've had Lexi for a few days now. She is starting to fit in very nicely. Drew still doesn't like her, but we're working on the toy issue. I've already started working on her obedience. We've started watch me, sit, down, come with a front sit, and choose to heel. Sounds like a lot - but she was already fairly reliable on sit/down when we got her, so I'm just fine-tuning those two commands. I decided to name her Twister Passport to Paradise. She gets spayed on Wednesday and then next month, when she turns 6 months old, I'll send in her ILP papers. Initially she was whining a lot when she was in her crate, but she's settling down, didn't whine at all last night at bedtime. She's a very loving dog -- tries to jump up and give kisses, crawls all over us, and today after our training session I let her lay in my lap for awhile -- she just kind of rolled over on her back and relaxed. We gave her a bath yesterday. She wasn't crazy about that, and especially hated the dryer. Robby held her while I did her nails, too.

Had my interview at Moore Norman Tech this afternoon, too. I think it went well, but I didn't receive any kind of reaction from the two ladies who interviewed me. Nothing good, nothing bad -- they said I would know something this time next week. Let's hope! Sounds like something I would enjoy, and there is room for advancement.

Meanwhile...back at NRHA...(lol) Dennis (the COO) told me that I would be moving into his office next week and he would be moving into my little cubicle. Talk about shocking! He said it'd be for a couple months, ooook.

Lexi

Well - the little pup at the shelter was already adopted, but we had come across another dog...our '2nd choice.' Last night we went to pick her up! She is a 5 month old german shepherd bitch. Her coat is fluffy and medium length - not your typical GSD coat, but not an extreme long coat, either. Her original name was Josie, but I kept calling her Lexi for some reason, so we ended up changing it to Lexi and she caught on to it without a problem. We started work this afternoon on loading the clicker and "watch me." She catches on really quickly - so this should be fun! The dogs are starting to play with her -- Drew got a little possessive of his toys, but he eventually started playing with her in the backyard.

Back to work tomorrow...

Unfortunately, my extended weekend is over. Need to go back to work for another crappy week.

It was a relaxing weekend, but aggravating also. Then again, there were rewarding times as well. Crazy stuff...!

Robby and I talked and we agreed that after Drew is finished that I would stop showing in conformation and move into performance events. I'll still handle for some people if they want me to and I happen to be at the same show, but no more personally owning and keeping any conformation dogs. I'm excited about the change, but at the same time...it is change. Branching away from conformation after 10 years is going to be hard, but if I can get my husband involved in competitions, and he be happier, then I'll be happier.

I found a german shepherd at a local animal shelter. I'm going to call first thing tomorrow morning and see if she is available still. If so, then I'll run down on my lunch break to get her, then drop her off at Hillcrest on my way back for an exam and any shots she may still need. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, and realize that she could have already found a home, but I'm desperately wishing she's still available at the same time! The picture of her is absolutely adorable, she's a long coat, and looks still very much like a 5-6 month old puppy.

Anyhow -- just finished an agonizing day of homework, need to shower and get to bed I suppose. Hoping for a good week!

FINALLY!

Dad took me out to finally ride a horse today. It was a blast! I know he wasn't that happy because his horse wasn't anything near what his old show horse used to be, but I still had so much fun!