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.