it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I sucked it up and pulled out the big ladder today.... I hung my Christmas lights all on my own!!!!

It was plenty scary when hanging the lights at the peak of the roof, but somehow I managed. I didn't hang lights last year since I was in the middle of moving into the house.

And yes, I noticed there's a chunk of lights that aren't working... I'll have to pull out the ladder again tomorrow and tweak them. They were working earlier. *sigh*

And the doorway... :) All pretty and welcoming :) (and note the "Wipe your paws" doormat ;-) )


I don't have my tree up. I'm still in a struggle over wanting a live tree, versus just using the artificial one I already have. When I figure that out, I'll post pictures, I'm sure! :)

Now to try and get pictures of the four of us for our Christmas cards! :)

it's officially official....

I'm going forward with my breeding plans...

I husband hunted high and low and far and wide, and literally smacked my head when I was talking to Kim S about Glacier. How could I have not looked at him!?

The breeding is a nice line breeding on Carbon. Glacier produces nice puppies that go on to produce nicely themselves as well. Glacier has OFA Good hips, and produces puppies with good hips also. Big Important Factor, given Sedona's one "bad" hip. He has a nice strong rear, and moves like a dream... Sedona's one major downfall (and may well be what's holding her back).

Now the question is.... ship her to Arkansas so Leda can do the live breeding, or have fresh chilled shipped to me and have a local repro vet help out... It'll be a spring breeding for a summer litter...

I'm excited, yet terrified all at the same time. Anyone looking to come to Arizona next summer is MORE than welcome to come and help out! ;-)

Wish me luck!

Skywatch Friday

As I pulled out of the garage and driveway on Wednesday morning, I looked to my left and saw dark ominous clouds to the West.... storms were rolling in. To my left, I saw this.....
Sometimes natures beauty just really makes you stop and take it in....

Happy Friday, and Happy Skywatching!

Thanksgiving with the family

the HUMAN family....

My cousin Don's daughter, Tresha, and her hubby, Brandon.... are they not the most beautiful couple ever??

Mother and son working in the kitchen... Aunt Sheri (my dad's sister) and Don (Aunt Sheri and Uncle Don's son) slaving away on the wonderful dinner.

My cousin, Don, carving the turkey....
Aunt Sheri and Uncle Don
Tresha making sure Brandon had the mashed potatoes under control :)
Tresha helping her Grandma figure out the settings on her camera.
Uncle Don and his only son, Don :)
me and my Aunt Sheri (and she was wearing HEELS!)
All of us at the table after stuffing ourselves!
Brandon, Tresha, Don, me, Aunt Sheri, and Uncle Don
me and Don
Aunt Sheri, Don and me
We had a great meal... great company... it was nice to be with the family again! I hadn't seen them since Brandon and Tresha got married in March!!! I'll see them all again in December, when my mom comes out to visit :)

I hope you all had as nice of a Thanksgiving as I had!

Happy Thanksgiving 2008

Chance, Dakota, Sedona and I wish you all the Happiest of Thanksgivings! I'll be spending Thanksgiving with my Aunt, Uncle, cousin, his daughter and her hubby in Glendale.... I hope you all are surrounded by great family and friends on this Thanksgiving day! :)

Movin' on up...

We had our final Intro to Agility class tonight.... it was fun. We did a bunch of relays and fun stuff, and then ended with running the obstacles. Kota is whooped! :) Cindy, the owner of the place, approached me to make sure Anita (my trainer) had talked to me about moving up into Foundations. She'd never approached me before! :) I'm So excited and honored, and I can't wait to get started next week! of course this means shelling out more money, but it'll be money well spent in the long run. :)

Again, my many thanks to Carolyn, for insisting this dog really wanted to come home with me. I didn't see it then, but we really did need each other! I'm SO very thankful!

AZ Canine Experience

Today was the AZ Canine Experience. I *thought* there was going to be tables and chairs provided, and that we'd be in the shade, but well, it seems I was wrong on ALL accounts! Shannon, and Karen let me swipe a table from the registration area, and I swiped a chair too! Everyone around me had easy ups (as you can see), but I braved the sun! :)

I made the little banner last night.... swiped some butcher paper from school and made the banner look as best I could..... I'm thinking it might be time for the local group to get a banner put together ;-) I'll start looking into that soon :)

We were next to the GSD's, and it wasn't long before Sedona was making friends :)

This is little 12 week old "Story". She was SUCH a cutie, and Sedona was rolling over on her back for the baby.... TOO cute!


Rita showed up with Gypsy, too, so Sedona and Chance gave Gypsy a good sniffing and a quick little wrestling session :)
Kota was involved too, but for some reason was not in any of the pictures.... but I got this nice one of him as they were hanging in the shade provided by the table ;-)


Before we left, I made sure to get the obligatory picture of the kids in front of our little "booth" :)
By 12:15pm, i was fried and had to leave... I got there at 8am. Four hours was all I could stand sitting directly in the sun. It was a cool event tho. I wish I had been able to go and check everything out! :)

Kota's exciting news!!!!!

Kota has been in the "Advanced Obedience and Intro to Agility 2" course for the last 5 weeks at MLF Dogsports in Queen Creek... you all have been subjected to my weekly summary of how our classes were each night ;-)

He hasn't been in a formal training class of any sort since he was a young dog.... gosh, less than a year old??

On our way into the AZ Canine Experience today, I was approached by my instructor who after my dogs all mauled her, asked me "Hey, would you want to be in our Foundation 1 class?"

My jaw dropped for a bit and I realized what she was asking me!

SHE WAS INVITING US TO THE NEXT LEVEL!!!!!!!

FOUNDATION 1
This is a beginning agility class that teaches the dogs and handlers the correct performance of the obstacles. Obedience and familiarization with the obstacles is required for this class. Students are invited into this class upon completion of the Obedience and Agility Intro. 2 class. The dogs must learn to work with their handlers and stay focused on the job at hand. The instructor determines when the student is ready to move on to the next level.

They stressed to us that it's not uncommon for many dog/handler teams to repeat Obedience and Intro to Agility a couple of times before moving on into Foundations, but Kota really impressed her and she thought we worked really well. I told her I was SHOCKED because the night Cindy came to observe was Kota's worst night! She agreed, but said that overall we work really well as a team and she thought we could move on. I am STILL amazed!!

So one more class of Intro, and Kota and I will be moving on into the Foundations class!!!

EEEK!!!!! I'm SOOO happy for Kota, cuz I KNOW he's gonna just LOVE it! :)

the 8 things

I got tagged by Tavia - gee, thanks Tavs! :P

8 Favorite Foods
Pad Thai
Crab
Chicken Spaghetti
BBQ Ribs
Homemade chili
Homemade tamales
Edamame
Sushi

8 Things I Did Today
Fed dogs
went to the AZ Canine Experience
Sat in the hot sun for 4 hours
Drove a total of 2 hours
Checked email
Squeeled with excitement
drank a soda
worked on the CWCCA Newsletter

8 Favorite Stores
Walmart

Target

Kohls

PetSmart

Bed Bath & Beyond

Cost Plus World Market

DSW

Lane Bryant

8 Favorite Restaurants
Market Broiler

Red Lobster

McCormick’s

Chipotle

Applebee’s

Chili’s

Ray’s

Outback

8 Things I Look Forward To
Falling in love with a wonderful man
Marrying said man

Christmas

Buying a house

Finishing Sedona’s Championship

Finishing Chance’s Championship

Starting full on agility with Dakota

Having my mom visit

8 Things I Like To Do With Family
Go shopping

Talk

Look at old pictures

Play games

Visit other family

Reminisce

share pictures

just spend time :)

8 Things On My Wish List
HDTV

A house

A marriage proposal ;-)

A money tree

A happy family
to get in shape again

more materials for my job

to get an extreme make over :P

8 People I Tag
Richelle

Kate

Kim

Ariel

Megan

Emily

Penni

Jeri

Happy Birthday Brandon!!

My 1st nephew, Brandon, turned 11 today!! ELEVEN!!! Seems like just yesterday my sister called me to tell me she was pregnant.... and then the day after that she was giving birth! I will never forget calling her in the hospital after she had him and asking "so...? how was it?" And she said "Oh geezus, it hurt like a b*tch!!" So I replied, "I take it you wouldn't recommend it to others!" and we laughed... :) A few hours later she thought it was the most beautiful thing ever (of course).

November 21, 1997

July 2008

We lost his mom four days after his 1st birthday... There are so many things I wish I could have shared with him and told him in his life so far, but he lives in NY and unfortunately I've only seen him fewer than 5 times... :( So needless to say, he doesn't know me very well right now...
When he gets older, I look forward to sharing SO much with him! Until then, I look forward to getting pictures of him as often as possible! He's grown up to look a lot like his mom, and have many of her mannerisms.... it warms my heart! :)

Happy Birthday Brandon!!

Skywatch Friday

Taken on 11/16/08, heading to the dog show from Karen's house... she lives just close enough to town that she's not really "out", but yet she lives "out" enough that it feels a little removed... It seems I'm getting lots of sunrise photos these days.... ;-)
Happy Skywatching, and Happy Friday all!

my trip to Tucson

while it wasn't a good dog show weekend, I learned a lot about a fellow Cardi folk, and had the pleasure of staying with her at her home in Tucson...(and eating her yummy meals!!)

She has wildlife that comes right up to her property.... meet Mister Peter Cottontail.....

and Peter, with his friend Mr Quail (there were TONS of quail and dove!)
and the two "show dogs" behind the fence.... they were a bit put off with having to be outside more than normal, but they seem to have survived and are no worse for it ;-)
My dogs are SPOILED. Oh wait, this is common knowledge. But damn, it's a good thing they're CUTE! :)

Kota even made an appearance ring side on Sunday, since it was easier to take him and just leave from the fairgrounds... he l-o-v-e-s dog shows... he has the attitude of a show dog.... too bad he doesn't have the body to be a special ;-) shhhh don't tell him i said that! :) It's almost been 4 years since I finished him.... good golly!

And while in Tucson I got some great Skywatch photos too! Can't share them yet tho! They're reserved for Skywatch Fridays! :)

no pressure

Kota and I did so much better when we didn't think about who was watching or who could possibly be watching. He was still a little sniff hound tonight, but he did SO much better than he did last week! On the recall, he was the slowest dog of all (of 15 in the class), but he didn't stray or pay attention to the dogs that were lining our "aisles". He came right to me... slow.... but he came! :) Everyone got a little chuckle out of kota taking his time... ;-)

As usual, once we got on the agility equipment he livened right up. We're doing combinations now, and he's starting to get it... jump jump jump tunnel.... he's finally starting to get the idea of going out and jumping rather than following me. There was once that I actually had to take the jump WITH him. Silly dog. That was last week. LOL

he's a tired Kota, but a happy happy dog. I'm still debating entering him in the Arizona Canine Experience agility fun match... I figure what's the worst that can happen? He'd make me the laughing stock? LOL It's a fun match afterall ;-) There's also a conformation fun match, but I'm not sure about entering the kids in that either.... They know what they're doing.... it's just the judges that we have to get on our side ;-) LOL

Tonight was fun again... and I didn't want to kill Kota once! :) yay!

Sibling Luv

My two little tired babies snuggled up on the couch next to me and fell asleep like this.... too sweet... Love the tan pointed monsters :)
In my head I think...
S: "Don't worry big boy... you'll get em next time!"
C: "zzzzzz"

:)

dog show dog show dog show

Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Tucson....

I'm staying with Karen Harbert this time and am looking forward to her stuffed chicken dish that I've heard so much about.... I'm bringing a nice bottle of wine and I look forward to good dog conversation. :)

I'm bringing my work laptop but am not sure I'll be able to get on to post results from there (damned restrictions!)... I'll try to post from my phone (love the Blackberry... LOVE it) if I can't. Worst case is a bunch of you shall receive text messages ;-)

The judges don't stand out in my mind as anyone who I've had particular success under, so we'll see how it plays out. We have 2 points in both dogs and bitches each day. Chance needs majors but *shrug*.

Wish us luck, think good thoughts, keep fingers crossed and all that jazz.... Sedona can stand to pick up some more singles and she's looking GREAT right now, so I'm hoping that'll help :)

Skywatch Friday

My Skywatch Friday photo was taken this morning as I was headed to work.... phone snapping as my arm was behind the passenger seat, pointed backwards. It's not a great photo (quality wise), but I was a dope and forgot my camera. I usually carry it with me in case I find an amazing photo opportunity along my journey :)

Happy Friday!!

teacher was watching

so he was really bad tonight! :(

The lady who owns the facility and who does the more advanced classes came into our class tonight to watch and see how we're progressing and to see who should move up for the next set of classes.... of course Kota acted up from the GET GO which made ME more anxious because I knew I was being watched. *sigh*

Must focus on the highlights....

1) he did ALL of the obstacles tonight (a-frame, dog walk, tunnel, jumps, weave, table, teeter AND chute) all off leash!
2) he did the teeter unassisted tonight for the first time!
3) he learned the chute in 3 tries!
4) he sucked up to the teacher while I bragged on my boy.

She had no idea he was a) intact, b) a CH, and c) had Rally titles behind his name. She also had no idea he was as OLD as he was.... so I apologized to her for him being a twit... he honestly was acting as tho there was a bitch in season somewhere nearby (which there wasn't). He wasn't the only male acting that way tho, so I wonder if there had been in another class or something...

I think the added pressure on ME knowing that the main lady was watching and making notes did not help our performance tonight.... I probably would have been better off not knowing she was even there. Oh well.

He still had a good time and he learned a new obstacle tonight, so that's always fun :) Now if he behaves himself all the way through, we'll have one heck of an agility dog!!! :) (oh, and if I can make it from beginning to end without wheezing, tripping, or otherwise making an @$$ of myself we'll be in good shape too!)

This was week 4 of 6.... I sense another round of this class coming ;-)

a weekend in pictures....

Having grown up here in Queen Creek, there are many things that are still around that were around the over 20 years ago when I moved here originally.... namely the Library. It was a small dinky building... definitely smaller than my 1700 square foot house. It worked though, and back in the day, it was plenty for our small town.

Since the town experienced a population spike a few years back, I can't imagine how it's taken them this long to get a new library up and running. This weekend was the "Grand Opening" of the new Queen Creek library, so I decided to go. I've been watching it as it was being constructed, and it looked beautiful from the outside from the start.

Coming up to the library from the back, this is what I saw...

There was a band playing and easy-up's all over the parking lot with different vendors and town businesses ranging from QC Water company, to State Farm insurance to Orthodontists... you name it, and there were businesses. There were also booths set up for someone selling Gold Canyon candles (yum) and one lady even had a stand where she was selling home made decorations for the home.

There were raffles and games and all sorts of things for the family. It was a beautiful day to have this event. I went in, paid my obligatory fee to get my library card, and came out to enjoy the day. Fee. Yes. Sad but true. Despite the fact that I work for the Elementary School, I had to pay a fee. I live outside of the county limits, in Pinal (pih-nahl) county. Queen Creek "proper" is in Maricopa county. Because this library is funded by property taxes, and because I "technically" live in Unincorporated Pinal county, I don't qualify for a free library card. I could go to Florence (big high security prison there, no thanks), Coolidge (the town that time forgot, again, no thanks), or Apache Junction (too far, no thanks) and go to a library for free, but WHY, when I have this brand new beautiful facility just up the way from where I work. So yes. I sucked it up and paid the fee.

When I came out of the library, this wall caught my attention. I thought it was quite pretty...

There were people milling about and I wandered around myself for a while... I saw people on these bicycle statues and thought they were kind of neat....

The new library in my not-so-little town... a turning point, to be sure...
Since it was so nice out, I came home and decided to take the dogs for a nice walk. I've been walking with my friend Rachel twice a week for the last couple of weeks, and it would have just been a shame to have wasted such a beautiful afternoon... So I leashed up the monsters and off we went for a little jaunt in our community...
and yes, they ALWAYS walk like that... funny, huh?

We stopped at a park and I let them off to play.... I caught this little candid moment as they looked across the park at a man and daughter playing ball...

Sedona being her beautiful, photogenic self, as always....
The trio... I never tire of taking pictures of the kids together. Chance always seems to have that big flap o meat hanging out tho ! LOL


Today was equally as beautiful, so I decided to take another walk and find another park :) The dogs are loving all these walkies, and runs at the parks... thought this picture turned out cool. Kota is almost always the "chasee" :)
And this was interesting, as all three were going in different directions :)

It's hard to get good pictures of Kota cuz it seems he always closes his eyes... this one is very much Kota in every sense of the word :) Smiling, happy, flap o meat hanging out :) Love love love that boy :) I managed to catch Chance looking at Sedona and Dakota at another part of the park, which allowed for some really nice photos of him. This was one of a set of 4 that turned out really really nice. He's quite the striking boy, if I do say so myself :)
My two beloved boys off looking at goodness only knows what. Something about those boy dogs.... *sigh* :)
A group shot soon after we got there... gotta love Chance's flap-o-meat hanging out of the side of his face... *sigh* doofus.

And before our walkie ended, they all got ontop of the bench and posed for this lovely picture...
And now it's thundering and raining... and i'm almost done with one of the two books I got from the library. I didn't do the work I had brought home to do, nor have I vaccuumed the 20 tons of dog hair (thanks boys) off the carpet, but it's been a nice relaxing weekend all the same :) I have Tuesday off, so I can do those other things then! LOL Hope you all had a great weekend too!

President Elect!!!!

He's elected! Thank GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

An amazing day that will always be remembered for me...... Finally a candidate I voted for has won more than the necessary electoral votes to be our next President! I can't wait for the Change that President elect Obama will bring to our great country! :)

exercising our rights....

Today was had "Kids Voting" at school. It was cool to hear the kids get so excited about voting... even if some of the younger ones had complete lies in their head about the candidates ("Oh, I won't vote for him, he kills babies" -1st grader). Everyone dressed in red, white and blue, and all 495 kids in the school voted for either the president, or their favorite Thanksgiving food :)

Pumpkin Pie won, hands down, as their favorite Thanksgiving food, and much to my dismay, McSame won the presidential election at Queen Creek Elementary.

I thought it was fun all the same, and the kids learned a lot about voting and democracy... and it made for some cute pictures :)

my agility dog

Kota is a true natural, I decided tonight. He could give a crap about the obedience exercises we always start with, but when we're allowed on the agility equipment, he turns on like a LIGHT. he's doing great with healing and turns and stays and all that jazz, but it's booooooooring (he says). We got to try the teeter tonight for the first time, and one of the ladies in class asked about him and his experience. When I said it was the first night he'd ever been on a teeter, she had nothing but praise and kind words for my Kota. That's when I got to brag on how great of an agility dog Kota's daddy was :) I really think we may just be able to go into the agility ring sooner than I think, if I can get MY crap in order! he knows what he's doing! he's got the contacts down and everything. I'm so excited for him AND for me.... and I can't wait to get Sedona into this class too :) When/if Chancey finds a brain he might try it too... but until then he'll be my super cuddly gooey sweet lap dog :)
Oh, and I didn't mention that Kota did all of his exercises OFF LEASH tonight! Go Kota! I'm so so proud of my boy!

Visit with Ollie

Ollie is such a character, and it's good to see that some things NEVER change :)
i was getting "sniffed up" ;-)
Susan and I took the dogs for a walk, and Ollie was showing me that he can still "digdigdig" on command :)
my handsome boy :)
he's always been SO photogenic!
Ollie and Sedona... two very very special dogs in my life
photogenic boy :)
me and my boy :)
the three of us... too bad I wasn't looking!
Sis and I having a special moment... caught by Susan :)

He was too funny with the jack-o-lantern!