Sky Watch Friday

From the Frio River, of course. . .

Blue or Bust - Flash Paws Agility Trial

That was the theme for our trial this weekend. We either came in first, or where eliminated.

Holly was all blue and no bust! She resisted the temptation to visit ring stewards, and took first place in Novice Jumpers (by breaking score ties with faster times) both Saturday and Sunday. At 8 inches no less! Stupid judge measured her at 11 1/4 inches Saturday morning, which bumped her up into 8 inch Preferred. Looks like we'll have to do a challenge measure at our next trial. I was so proud of my little Holly! When she first starting doing agility agian after a year off, she was kind of unpredictable and soooooo slooooooow; but now she is back to her dependable and consistent agility diva self! And she was running pretty darn fast!! Fast enough to break tied scores two days in a row. Guess those sprints we've all been doing are coming in handy for more than just me. And I always get such a kick out of seeing her have a good time.

Mikey did pretty darn awesome too; his problem was dropping bars. No Qs in Jumpers; I'm starting to think we're never going to get out of Open Jumpers. Worse still, one more Q and Holly will be running in Open too! Aaaaargh! In Standard (Excellent!) Mikey got first place (score of 100!) on Saturday! Excellent is very competitive, in fact I think Mikey was one of only two or three 8 inch dogs entered in Excellent A, all the other entries were Excellent B. On Sunday Mikey dropped another bar in Standard. Other than the dropped bars, Mikey had great runs all weekend. I couldn't have asked for more. I think the dropped bars are partly due to body type, and partly due to handling. All of our dropped bars were on turns. Mikey's got a long, heavy body (hello! Cardigan!) to get over those jumps. He can turn on a dime, but, obviously, he has a hard time turning and jumping and doing it clean. I think I need to work on my handling and figure out how much room he needs to get a clean jump on a turn. It seems like the problem is when I signal for a turn while he's in the air; Mikey is so responsive and reacts immediately to my signals, which I think is causing dropped bars. Nonetheless, I was very, very pleased with how Mikey did this weekend.

My dad and Meg had a similar weekend to Mikey and me, except her problem is getting over excited and running off to take a tour of the ring (resulting in an off course and elimination). On Saturday, she took off in Jumpers and he called her back, excused himself, and marched her right back to her kennel. Later, he took her to a huge open field next to the show grounds and threw the ball for her - for a long time. In Novice Standard, she showed what she is capable of doing, and had an awesome run for first place to finish her Novice Standard title! Part of their problem is that she doesn't take off like that in class, so he's having a hard time trying to figure out how to prevent it from happening at trials. Obviously it helps if she's a little tired, but he tried the same thing before Jumpers on Sunday morning, but apparently it wasn't enough.

The funniest part of the weekend was when I went and sat in the bleachers with Holly and Mikey for a while on Saturday. Holly was semi-interested in watching the people walking back and forth, particularly if she could lure them into coming and petting her (she's such a flirt!), but Mikey was glued to the action in the ring. I'm telling you, he watched EVERY dog that ran, from start to finish, with intense concentration, occasionally letting out a little yip of excitement. I guess he really, really likes agility, even as a spectator!

Good times and fresh air had by all!

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

The Scoop

The rest of my week since my interview in St. Louis has been relatively quiet. We were rained out for agility class this week. We've got a two day agility trial this weekend. Mikey is in Excellent (!) Standard and Open Jumpers, Holly is in Novice Jumpers, and my dad's dog, Meg, is in Novice Jumpers and Standard (one leg to go in each!) Saturday and Sunday. It doesn't look like there will be any ring conflicts between all three dogs, although finding time for lunch may be a challenge! There will be a Volunteer Measuring Judge at this trial, so keep your fingers crossed Holly gets her second measure at 11 inches or less! (Speaking of which, Holly ran at our last trial in 4 inch Preferred with the little Pembroke that originally gave me the idea last year that Holly might be small enough to run at 4 inches. Seeing them side-by-side while we both waited ring side, yup! they're almost exactly the same size!)

Also, Kate wanted to know if Mikey has finished yet. No. He still needs one more bloody point! And yes, I do intend to finish him. Actually, there was a local breed show this month that I had intended to enter, but the closing date was the week after hurricane Ike, and it totally slipped my mind until the weekend after it closed. There are a couple of shows in November that I'm planning on entering, including a supported entry that coincides with the Bluebonnet club meeting/Christmas party. Honestly, I really don't enjoy showing in breed anymore, but with only one point to go. . .

And please keep my parents in your thought/prayers. Bobbie, their older Brittaney, is not doing well, and hasn't been doing well for a while. They're having 'the talk' this morning. I haven't been talking about Bobbie partly because it's painful (I still lived with my parents, with my old dog, Misty, when Bobbie joined our family), partly because it's not my story to tell, and mostly because it's not my decision to make, and I know my mom reads my blog. Love you Cardigrandma! I'm sorry it's so hard and so painful and I wish I could do more to help!!!

Hug your dogs.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Wew!!

Home! As in back from my interview in St. Louis. Interviews are sooo much fun Did I mention I HATE to fly?

The good news is that this interview went (or at least felt) much better than the interview in Kansas City. Coincidentally, I FINALLY got an e-mail, this afternoon no less, from the HR recruiter for the KC job. "Thank you for your interest, but get lost". I joke, but that's how that kind of e-mails always seem to me.

I have mixed emotions about the job in St. Louis. I liked all of the people I interviewed with quite a bit, and felt much more comfortable with them than with any of the people I interviewed with in KC. While still a large, stable company, the actual group I would work in is nice and small.

On the other hand, Kansas City seemed like a safe move, since most of my extended family live in the greater Kansas City area, and I don't know a soul in St. Louis. . . And, salary never came up in today's interview. . .

Guess I'll just have to wait and see. And keep on job hunting.

And, last but not least, a big thank you to Cardigrandma for staying with Holly and Mikey last night so that I didn't have to board them! She must have taken really, really good care of them, since I got an underwhelming greeting when I got home, like "Oh, so glad you're home. Ummm. I guess this means grandma won't be coming back to stay with us tonight? Bummer."

Boot Camp - Cardi Style

The Burn, I Feels It!

Ok, so maybe Mikey and Holly haven't been lifting weights with me, but since I was laid off, we've really kicked it up a notch with our primal exercise schedule. We've been going to the George Mitchell Nature Preserve two or three times a week to hike. The loop is two miles (see the map at the bottom of the page I've linked to) and, depending on how hot/humid it is, we either do one brisk loop, or one loop plus some of the side trails. We love the place; since we've been going on weekday mornings, we usually have the place to ourselves. It's peaceful and beautiful and, according to Holly and Mikey, full of interesting smells.

Holly, Mikey and me have also been running sprints about two times a week (not including agility class/trials). Actually, I added sprints into our schedule several months ago. Sprints are not necessarily something I would recommend for someone with rheumatoid arthritis, but we love it. My joints do suffer afterwards, but I feel so free and powerful, and Mikey and Holly think we're playing some awesome game together. Running full out with them brings back a feeling from my childhood. As an adult, nobody runs just to see how fast you can go, or to see if you can keep up with your four legged friends. What a fun way to get some incredible exercise!

And, it's all totally working. We're all faster and stronger at agility. I don't get winded like I used to, which means that I have breath left over to call out obstacles. Holly's got muscles in her thighs that weren't there a few months ago, which has got to be good for her hips. And Mikey got a great compliment when we went to our vet for bordetella vaccines last Thursday; when she was listening to his heart, she said 'Wow, you can tell he's an athlete'!

Now, if I can just figure out how them to lift weights with me. . .

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Vacation Pictures - Finally!

New Title!

Pecan Valley DreamCatcher OAP NJP CGC

Mikey finished his Open Standard title with a perfect score of 100, first place and a run time of 48.69 seconds (SCT was 76 s)!! I was soooo proud of him! He's so fast, but still laser accurate at the same time. It was definitely one of those course runs where everything is so in sync, it feels like you and your dog are even breathing together!!! Such an awesome feeling! The course is below.

Unfortunately, we imploded for our Open Jumpers course. Everything started out well, but Mikey skipped a pole in the weaves, and my brain went. . . pffft. I was trying to remember if we could go back and retry the weaves in open while he finished the weaves, couldn't remember, and went on to the next jump. . . and then went off on a course of my own. . . and then realized I was off course and then my brain really started sizzling, so Mikey tried to fix things by adding extra jumps to the course. . . Oh well. Once we got back on course, we finished well, and we both had a good time regardless.

Now, Miss Holly. First, all those crossed fingers must have worked; her first official measure was exactly 11 inches! Yippee!!! Exactly the right height for her to run at 4 inches preferred. One more official measure and we're safe. Holly did pretty nicely for her first trial. She went around one jump, since I forgot to keep an eye on her for a second (duh! it takes less energy to go around, instead of over, even if the jump is only 4 inches, or so Holly says). And, Holly took a short detour right before the very last jump to go say high to a ring steward. Everything else was pretty darn good. Not bad for her first trial. Of course, trialing with Holly is icing on the cake, I'm glad we can share agility in any form.

My dad's dog Meg did very well. It was her birthday yesterday. She took tour of the ring (twice) during her Standard course, but wasn't wildly out of control. Then, in her Jumpers class, she took first place with a score of 95. Man, oh man! She is one FAST dog!

We had a great day, although I wish it could have been a little cooler. A trick I've learned, in case anyone is interested. My dad and I don't like crating 'inside' with everyone else. It's just so noisy, it's not relaxing for me, and I can't imagine the dogs find it very restful either. So we keep our dogs in the car at trials. Besides two crate fans for each dog, here's my little trick; garden shade cloth. It can be hard to find the right type of shade cloth; it's the mesh type that's a loose enough mesh to allow air to flow through, but still provide shade. Doubled up, you still get good air flow, and I roll all the windows down and close the cloth into the tops of the doors and let it hang over the windows. One long piece along the passenger side of the car, and separate pieces for the front and back windows on the driver's side (so I can get the dog's in and out; I also try to park to that the sun shines on the passenger side, and then I don't have to worry about putting anything on the driver's side). I open the hatch in the back, and use clips to hold a big piece that drapes over the hatch all the way to the ground. And of course I put my normal front windshield sun block in place. The temperature yesterday got up to upper 80's, but the interior of my car was still nice and cool!

We've enjoyed a nice lazy day today; back to reality tomorrow (I've got an interview with a company in St. Louis next week, and no. I haven't heard back from the company in Kansas City yet. I got an auto reply to my voice mail on Monday that my HR contact was out of town all last week; if I don't hear from her tomorrow, I will call again).

Next trial is the weekend of the 25th.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi' and 'We had FUN!!!!'

Rain, Rain

So much for doing sprints this morning, it's really coming down, complete with thunder and lightening! Although I'm not saying 'Go away', since we haven't had a drop of rain since hurricane Ike several weeks ago, and this rain brings a cool front. The temps won't change much, but the humidity will drop!

I haven't heard anything back from the company in KC; I called and left a message with my HR contact with the company yesterday. I have no idea if it's a good sign or bad sign that they are 'late' in contacting me (the hiring manager told me the day I interviewed that I would hear from the HR contact by Wednesday or Thursday last week).

For the time being, I'm job hunting, studying weak areas in my programming, trying to deal with my medical insurance situation, and spending (lots of) time with Holly and Mikey.

Spending more time with Holly and Mikey is one (the only?) good thing about being laid off. A couple of weeks before hurricane Ike, I found out about a local nature preserve with a great hiking trail, and we've been going there for a morning hike every few days. Since the hurricane, the trail is a bit more primal than it was before. Which is actually kind of fun for all of us; crawling under downed trees, or, in my case, climbing over downed trees if possible, or beating a new trail around downed trees. The coastal mosquitoes seem to have finally died off around here, although there are still plenty of the local boogers. And, in anticipation of the agility trial season finally starting up, we've been going out together and running sprints every few days too. Physically, we're oh so ready. And Holly and Mikey have both been kicking butt in class, so I think mentally we're ready too.

Our first trial is this coming weekend. Yippee! It will be Holly's first ever trial (Jumpers only) and Mikey only needs one leg to finish his open Standard title. We're only entered one day for this trial, since I was still working when I sent my entry; with my rheumatoid arthritis I just can't do two days and then turn around and work all week, the more days I trial, the more and longer I pay for it with bad joint pain (although I'm hoping that being in better shape this year, strength training and sprints, will help with that somewhat).

I have my Frio pictures ready to post, maybe this evening or tomorrow I will have time to post all of them (uh, I've got quite a few).

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.