You know how some weekends just seem to never end? Yeah, we had one of those this last Memorial day weekend!! I mean it wasnt ALL bad, just mostly bad. LOL.
I had entered the WY shows Saturday thru Monday (had to work Friday). The Saturday show is up in Casper, which is about 5.5 hours from home for us. Onofrio gave Pointers an 8 am ring time (which really sucked since I had the only 3 and staying for Groups would mean a LONNNNG day with a LONNNNGGG drive home!!) We woke up at 1 am to get ready to leave and I was in screaming pain, so decided against even getting out of bed. It ended up being a pretty decent day, we went out for breakfast, it rained all day, and we spent most of the day playing videogames and just having fun :) The puppies were upset they couldnt go play in the mud, but otherwise it wasnt too bad.
Sunday and Mondays shows were in Laramie, which is about 3.5 miles from our house. I should have known when we loaded the van and plugged the address into the GPS (both of them, the portable and the vans GPS) and neither could find the address, that it was going to be a bad day! Mapquest "found" the address on my phone, and off we went, following those directions. We had left the house with 2 extra hours of "buffer time". We hit HEAVY fog right around the WY/CO border. That took an hour off our buffer time having to slow down in the fog. Once the fog lifted, and we were finally in the "right" area (according to mapquest!) we realized that we were just heading out into the middle of NOWHERE! After about 30 miles and fewer and fewer buildings, I finally was able to reach someone on the phone who could tell me where to go!! We pulled into the parking lot of the show grounds with 15 minutes until ringtime. We pulled the puppies out of their crate, and they were both covered in poo! (and they had both gone before we left! ugh!)Oddly enough, they had covered it up at some point, and we had never even smelled it in the van!! Thank goodness for wet wipes!! We got the puppies cleaned up the best we could, and over to the ring (bouncing and spinning and playing and having a ball the whole way!) with just a minute to spare! The worst thing ever is to take a puppy out of a crate they have been in for a few hours, and walk into a show ring with them!! They were HORRIBLE! So horrible, in fact, that the Judge handed me Pradas ribbons and said "I'm going to tell you now that I'm not going to give her BOW." LOL...cant really blame him!! Gibbs went WD/BOW/BOB for another point. He was such a good boy :) We hung around for Melissa to show Maui in Juniors, and they made up for the Puppies being so bad by winning thier class! So it wasnt a bad show, just stressful to get to! lol. The drive home was GORGEOUS, although long. Still raining in Colorado Springs when we got home. I just put all the dogs out and let them get good and muddy. I also re-bathed 4 dogs before bed :)
We left the next morning EARLY...we had afternoon ring times, but there is NO WAY I was having a repeat of yesterdays fiasco! We got to the show without incident, and spent most of the day walking the puppies around and having fun browsing the vendors. Ring time finally rolled around, and we took the Pointers over. Louie was still acting crazy...but hey, hes 9 months old and wanted to play, so cant blame him. Prada was being a twit and wanting to RUN.........But my Gibbsie boy was an angel :) LOL. Another WD/BOW/BOB for him, and another point. Brings him up to 4 total now. 5 more singles and he will just be hunting majors. Another gorgeous drive home to more rain in the Springs (well, it was raining in WY too, and most of Colorado, but with the dirt in the backyard, rain in the Springs SUCKS!!). All the dogs loved it though. Oh, Melissa and Maui got thier 6th class win in Juniors. They are currently #2 Pointer Junior team in the US.
It was nice to get home. We re-arranged the dogs and put the crates downstairs, so they arent stacked anymore. Poor Tony keeps jumping up on top of Pyros crate and getting really confused that his crate isnt there!! LOL. Hes my acrobat though...he walks on the rail on the back porch...can almost jump up on it from a dead stand but prefers to use the chairs to climb up. He started doing it because we close the curtains on the patio door to keep them from jumping up on it, so he can peek in the dining room window if he is on the rail. Silly, smart boy!
Brian leaves in less than 2 weeks. (I'm about to cry thinking about it) Another dog show this weekend. Majors in Dobes. I have the only class Pointers entered. Large Juniors entries, so I'm hopefull that Melissa and Maui will SHINE like always and do well :) But its MUCH closer to home than the last shows! We arent really doing anything after that until the end of June because Brian is deploying the weekend of the Colorado Springs shows, and there isnt anything local until the end of June. Besides, all my money will be going to health testing in June! LOL.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Reality....
Has a funny way of hitting home. Mine came in the form of the Advon Party leaving this morning for Afghanistan. Its real now. It hit me at about 4 am when Brian came home from driving the bus of Troops to the Airport. I couldnt sleep the rest of the morning. From what we now know....deployment is about 3 weeks away. Part of me cant wait because I HATE the build up to deployment, but part of me is heartbroken over facing another year in agony never really knowing whats going on or if hes ok. The dogs help. Keeping busy helps. I have a LOT to do around the house while he is gone, and hopefully that will help keep me occupied so the time will pass quickly.
Rio Grande Kennel Club Shows and New Mexico Trip Update
Let me just say this off the bat: I will NEVER help someone move AND do a dog show in the same weekend!! Talk about DRAMA!!
It all started out ok, but got progressivly worse as it went along. Brian and Zack got the UHaul all loaded up and ready to go by Thursday night. Brian only worked a half day on Friday, so was home early taking care of a few last minute things around the house. I got off a little early, and Brian helped me take the dogs that werent entered into the show over to my good friend Patricias house (THANK YOU again, Patricia, for watching them for me!!). After that, I bathed 3 dogs (OUCH! Hard feat given my circumstances!!) and loaded up the van and off we went. Wait, I forgot to mention that my younger Brother, Zack, and his girlfriend are with us (and now living with us while they get back on thier feet down here). So we have 3 dogs and 3 people in the van, and Brian is driving the 26 foot UHaul. Now, as we get started down I-25, we realize that this UHaul not only can not drive over 60, but it can barely make it up a hill!! And mind you, we are leaving Colorado, which is ALL HILLS!! So our 5.5 hour drive turned into a 7 hour drive. We finally pulled into my Parents new home around midnight. Brian and Zack quickly set out unloading the UHaul, and since Brian forgot to bring our air mattress, and I refuse to sleep on the floor, my Mom and I left for Wal-Mart to buy a new one, and pick up some food as we were all starving! LOL....well, Wal-Mart was open, thankfully, but coming from a city where everything is open 24 hours, to a small town where everything closes by 6 was...well...weird!! To say the least!! We drove around looking for food and finally decided to go pick up some premade sandwiches at Walmart and just bring those home. So an hour later, we finally get back. The boys had made short work of the UHaul, and everything was stacked in the garage. The dogs got a late dinner and another quick walk, and we all collapsed in bed at about 2 am. Thankfully, Onofrio gave us late ringtimes!!!!!!!
More drama followed in the morning when I finally did get up around 8 and walked the dogs. Louie tends to bark if hes not let out first, so I took him out first (I can really only walk one at a time right now or I'd have taken all 3 out at once.....and since my Parents house is brand new, they dont have landscaping yet, much less a fence, so it was one at a time walking on lead...which the puppies hate) I walked up one side of the driveway while Louie sniffed around, and when I stepped forward, I felt something spiney sink into the side of my calf. I was wearing my pajama bottoms, which are kinda like capris, but have really thick knitted cuffs...and I got a piece of giant dead dried thorny cactus stuck IN my leg, through the cuff of my pants!! I tried to get it out to no avail, and no one in the house could hear me screaming....so I walked to the front door, with this cactus thorn digging deeper into my leg with every step I took. Thankfully my Mom was able to pull it out quickly when she answered the door...Brian just laughed at me and finished walking the dogs while I took care of the wound on my leg. (You'd be suprised at how hard it is to do simple things that require bending over at this point in time!!) So cactus drama over, dogs walked, and everything settled down and ok, I went to take a shower. Well, my Parents had opted for the fancy new "hot water on demand" instead of a normal hot water heater. LOL...the builders hadnt programed it at all. There was no hot water. We thought we got it all figured out, I got in the shower, and as soon as I got all soaped up, ice cold water again! LOL...figures. Brian fixed it, and I quickly finished my shower. (Builders of course didnt leave the book for the darn thing either!!)
Off to the dog show in the early afternoon, with Louie, Gibbs, and Prada. The parking attendants sent us out to park in the middle of timbucktoo (I guess they thought we were going to the graduation??) which was about a 2 mile walk to the actual show building. Brian, my lifesaver, found a MUCH closer parking spot while we were walking to the building. I got to meet some new Pointer people (Again, Brian, awesome meeting you, and hope to see you and your dogs at more shows in the future!!) and some new Pointers. Under Paula Hartinger, Louie went Winners Dog for a 3 point major from the 6-9 Puppy class, and his sire, Gibbs, went Reserve Winners Dog from Bred-By. Prada was a goof, and I didnt think she would be Paulas cup of tea since she is sooooo immature still, but she held her stacks and actually rocked up over her front!! I'm so proud of how well she has come along in that regard. Anyway, Prada went Reserve. The Winners Bitch (Owned by Brian Dofford-Johnson - Envy & Takaras Whirlaway) also went Best of Winners and Best of Opposite to Josh, and picked up a 3 point major as well!! Congrats!!
The rest of Saturday was fairly uneventful besides me Dad and Brother fighting, but that always happens.
Sunday was crazy. The hot water kept cutting out while I was taking a shower, again. No cactus attacks while I was walking the dogs, thankfully!! We loaded up the van and left a little early so we could grab some breakfast. We got a flat tire right outside the show grounds. Flat tires on Sundays are NEVER a good thing!! The hole was right on the edge, so was unrepairable anyways. We managed to find an open tire shop, and thankfully they were NOT busy at all, and they had a new tire put on the rim and back on the van in less than 15 minutes!! I was soooo impressed!! Not impressed with having to pay for a brand new tire though!!!!! LOL...back to the show grounds, actually got a close parking spot this time without being redirected to timbucktoo!! Walked the dogs in on normal leads instead of show leads which helped save our fingers! Under Roger Hartinger (we had a Judge change from Ann Savory Bolus to Mr Hartinger) Louie went WD again for his second 3 point major!!!! YAY!!!! I'm sooooooo excited about that!! Gibbs got dumped in Winners, although the Judge gave him every opportunity to do well, he just wanted to be a goof!! Prada went Reserve again, although she behaved much better than she had the day before. The drive home was LONG, although much quicker than the drive down!! Felt good to sleep in my own bed again!! All the dogs were glad to be home again.
We are off to WY for the shows over Memorial Day weekend. I have the only Pointer entries, so hopefully we can add some singles to the points counts ......we shall see if the judges cross Prada over since there are no specials.
It all started out ok, but got progressivly worse as it went along. Brian and Zack got the UHaul all loaded up and ready to go by Thursday night. Brian only worked a half day on Friday, so was home early taking care of a few last minute things around the house. I got off a little early, and Brian helped me take the dogs that werent entered into the show over to my good friend Patricias house (THANK YOU again, Patricia, for watching them for me!!). After that, I bathed 3 dogs (OUCH! Hard feat given my circumstances!!) and loaded up the van and off we went. Wait, I forgot to mention that my younger Brother, Zack, and his girlfriend are with us (and now living with us while they get back on thier feet down here). So we have 3 dogs and 3 people in the van, and Brian is driving the 26 foot UHaul. Now, as we get started down I-25, we realize that this UHaul not only can not drive over 60, but it can barely make it up a hill!! And mind you, we are leaving Colorado, which is ALL HILLS!! So our 5.5 hour drive turned into a 7 hour drive. We finally pulled into my Parents new home around midnight. Brian and Zack quickly set out unloading the UHaul, and since Brian forgot to bring our air mattress, and I refuse to sleep on the floor, my Mom and I left for Wal-Mart to buy a new one, and pick up some food as we were all starving! LOL....well, Wal-Mart was open, thankfully, but coming from a city where everything is open 24 hours, to a small town where everything closes by 6 was...well...weird!! To say the least!! We drove around looking for food and finally decided to go pick up some premade sandwiches at Walmart and just bring those home. So an hour later, we finally get back. The boys had made short work of the UHaul, and everything was stacked in the garage. The dogs got a late dinner and another quick walk, and we all collapsed in bed at about 2 am. Thankfully, Onofrio gave us late ringtimes!!!!!!!
More drama followed in the morning when I finally did get up around 8 and walked the dogs. Louie tends to bark if hes not let out first, so I took him out first (I can really only walk one at a time right now or I'd have taken all 3 out at once.....and since my Parents house is brand new, they dont have landscaping yet, much less a fence, so it was one at a time walking on lead...which the puppies hate) I walked up one side of the driveway while Louie sniffed around, and when I stepped forward, I felt something spiney sink into the side of my calf. I was wearing my pajama bottoms, which are kinda like capris, but have really thick knitted cuffs...and I got a piece of giant dead dried thorny cactus stuck IN my leg, through the cuff of my pants!! I tried to get it out to no avail, and no one in the house could hear me screaming....so I walked to the front door, with this cactus thorn digging deeper into my leg with every step I took. Thankfully my Mom was able to pull it out quickly when she answered the door...Brian just laughed at me and finished walking the dogs while I took care of the wound on my leg. (You'd be suprised at how hard it is to do simple things that require bending over at this point in time!!) So cactus drama over, dogs walked, and everything settled down and ok, I went to take a shower. Well, my Parents had opted for the fancy new "hot water on demand" instead of a normal hot water heater. LOL...the builders hadnt programed it at all. There was no hot water. We thought we got it all figured out, I got in the shower, and as soon as I got all soaped up, ice cold water again! LOL...figures. Brian fixed it, and I quickly finished my shower. (Builders of course didnt leave the book for the darn thing either!!)
Off to the dog show in the early afternoon, with Louie, Gibbs, and Prada. The parking attendants sent us out to park in the middle of timbucktoo (I guess they thought we were going to the graduation??) which was about a 2 mile walk to the actual show building. Brian, my lifesaver, found a MUCH closer parking spot while we were walking to the building. I got to meet some new Pointer people (Again, Brian, awesome meeting you, and hope to see you and your dogs at more shows in the future!!) and some new Pointers. Under Paula Hartinger, Louie went Winners Dog for a 3 point major from the 6-9 Puppy class, and his sire, Gibbs, went Reserve Winners Dog from Bred-By. Prada was a goof, and I didnt think she would be Paulas cup of tea since she is sooooo immature still, but she held her stacks and actually rocked up over her front!! I'm so proud of how well she has come along in that regard. Anyway, Prada went Reserve. The Winners Bitch (Owned by Brian Dofford-Johnson - Envy & Takaras Whirlaway) also went Best of Winners and Best of Opposite to Josh, and picked up a 3 point major as well!! Congrats!!
The rest of Saturday was fairly uneventful besides me Dad and Brother fighting, but that always happens.
Sunday was crazy. The hot water kept cutting out while I was taking a shower, again. No cactus attacks while I was walking the dogs, thankfully!! We loaded up the van and left a little early so we could grab some breakfast. We got a flat tire right outside the show grounds. Flat tires on Sundays are NEVER a good thing!! The hole was right on the edge, so was unrepairable anyways. We managed to find an open tire shop, and thankfully they were NOT busy at all, and they had a new tire put on the rim and back on the van in less than 15 minutes!! I was soooo impressed!! Not impressed with having to pay for a brand new tire though!!!!! LOL...back to the show grounds, actually got a close parking spot this time without being redirected to timbucktoo!! Walked the dogs in on normal leads instead of show leads which helped save our fingers! Under Roger Hartinger (we had a Judge change from Ann Savory Bolus to Mr Hartinger) Louie went WD again for his second 3 point major!!!! YAY!!!! I'm sooooooo excited about that!! Gibbs got dumped in Winners, although the Judge gave him every opportunity to do well, he just wanted to be a goof!! Prada went Reserve again, although she behaved much better than she had the day before. The drive home was LONG, although much quicker than the drive down!! Felt good to sleep in my own bed again!! All the dogs were glad to be home again.
We are off to WY for the shows over Memorial Day weekend. I have the only Pointer entries, so hopefully we can add some singles to the points counts ......we shall see if the judges cross Prada over since there are no specials.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Pyros Win Pics And A General Update
Things are moving along around here. We finally got a window for Brians deployment! YAY! Ugh...now if I could just get a FIRM date, we'll be good to go and plans can be made!!!!
My recovery is still moving along well. Pain was subsiding, but I had to go back to work, which made it peak again. Oh well. I know it will go away once I get used to moving around a lot more again. I cant tell you how much I've missed my dogs. Being in the same house but still seperated from them has been hard on me and them! I spent pretty much the entire afternoon and evening yesterday playing with them, and I think we are all happier for it.
I got Pyros win pics in the mail the other day from his WD placements at Terry All a few weeks ago. I dont like the pic from Saturday much...Pyro just looks, well, blah, in it. I do like the pic from Sunday, quite a bit in fact. Just wish his head was turned a little more toward the photographer. But, otherwise I think its a pretty good picture!!
We are off to NM with the Pointers next weekend for the Rio Grande KC shows. We managed to build majors in dogs, so hopefully one of the kids will come home with a major for the effort! lol. Wish us luck :)
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