uh, BRR

When I checked the weather this morning - what did Google say?  29 degrees here in the desert at my address.  TWENTY NINE.  Uh, BRR!! *shiver*  No wonder I was perfectly content under the covers in bed this morning.  And no wonder I had Cardigans on either side and above me.  It was a 3 dog night, for sure! :)
(as an aside - the little widget here on my blog says it's 25!  Eek!)

Finally - the IMPORTANT picture!!

Finally!  

Photo of the AKC Confirmed
CH Baledwr Desert Sunset CGC

My pretty pretty princess!

Now to get the picture and certificate framed and put up on the wall with the boys :)

a Thanksgiving day walk

 So I decided to take the black kids out for a Thanksgiving Day walk.  No iPod, no talking on the phone.  Just me, the dogs, and the chill in the air. 

 The kids trekked around the neighborhood with me like a trooper.  Kota pooped out about half way around the 3 mile loop.  :)  On our way back, I took them up the railroad tracks to snap a few shots...  I will bring them back and bring my Nikon :) 

It was a lovely walk....  maybe after dinner we'll take another walk (shorter tho, for Kota's sake) :)

Hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving.  I have much to be thankful for - I hope everyone takes a moment to give thanks for all they have been blessed with.  :) 

Chance's adventures....

Chance went to the vet on Monday 11/22 to get a health certificate.  The doc walked in and said "I can't tell you how great it is to see a healthy dog today".  :)  Despite some dry skin (due to weather change) and shedding, he's in perfect health and weight.  We got our Health Certificate and went home.... 

Tuesday the 23rd, we went to Sky Harbor to catch Chance's flight to Portland, OR.  It was significantly delayed, so we went to Tempe Beach Park to walk around for a while, while we waited.

Chance showing off the lovely Tempe Town Lake...

And along the walk, there was a set of office buildings (KPMG among them) and I saw this pretty water fountain.  Chance wasn't as excited about the water fountain as I was, unfortunately...  LOL

Always the willing to please kid, he hopped back up on the wall and stood for another picture with the Tempe Town Lake behind him... :)  Good boy, Chance....

This was taken near the Tempe Center for the Arts.  The wall behind him (tho you can't really tell) was a wall of water falling from the pool above it.  It looks very cool in person, but unfortunately didn't photograph as well as I had hoped.  Had I had my Nikon, the photo might have turned out better....

This was an interesting wall at the Center of the Arts...

And Chance, with the eternity pool behind him (that then spilled down onto the wall from the photo above) and the sunset. 

After our walk, we returned to the airport and checked him in. 

He arrived safe and sound in Portland, OR and in the hands of my friend Kim at almost midnight Pacific time on the 23rd. 

Kim reports that he's settling in nicely, is getting along with all of the dogs there and reminds her a lot of his daddy, Carbon. 

He's missed here, but will happily do his 'job' for which he was sent for...  he should return sometime next week after completing his 'mission' ;-) 

Cross your fingers for a pregnant Maya-girl soon! 

Operation Championship Photograph accomplished

The girls and I went to Tucson to have Sedona's CH picture retaken.  When Curtiss finally had time, we couldn't find 'the photographer' so we called another who Curtiss liked.  She was understanding of the situation and took what she said was a great shot.  Now I wait. 

Sedona had fun seeing her dog show people and one of her dog show buddies, a Cavalier named Newman. 
It was a good day... now cross your fingers that the picture turned out great. 

Lost : one important photograph..... Part Two

So (insert photographers name here) called me just a minute ago.  He said he did a baseline search (explaining to me what he meant - looked at each frame he took that day) and there was no photograph taken at the dog show.  I assure him that Curtiss said there ABSOLUTELY was a photograph taken.  He said "I am not going to argue with either you or Curtiss.  I will be at the Tucson shows in a couple of weeks, and I can bring the sign.  I'd be happy to take the photograph again". 
Thankfully the judge was Gloria Kerr, who happens to LIVE in Tucson!  She will be there in one capacity or another (she has stewarded the last few times) and I'm sure would be willing to take a photograph, given the circumstance. 
Curtiss' reply?  "I'm not surprised.  He's a (insert expletive here)."

Guess who is getting a bath to look all pretty and have to act like a show dog ONE LAST TIME?? 

Lost : one important photograph.....

The photograph taken when a dog finishes is pretty special to me.  I'm pretty sure most people who will read this will feel the same.  The photo was taken on 10/16.  Another person who won that weekend has THEIR photograph.  I am not happy about this.  I wrote an email yesterday asking for a status update and received no reply.  Today I called and spoke with the photographer, who says "I don't see that in my notes" "I'll have to look through all of the image files". 

WHAT!?!?  Yes.  You can imagine my face.

So I called Curtiss and asked, "It WAS (insert photographer) who took the picture of Sedona in Los Lunas, right?" 
"Yes, he was the only one there."
"Ok.  Because he's saying he can't find the file"
"He's a (insert expletive here)."

Great.  So help me, if this guy doesn't find my photograph, I will have the biggest cow ever known to human kind.  :(

Stay tuned.  He's supposed to call me tomorrow morning. 

a little bit of this... a little bit of that....

STILL waiting for Sedona's CH photo.... I wrote a "where the hell is my picture" email to Dan Pearson.  We'll see if I get a reply as to where the HELL my picture is.  It's almost been a month....  really?  Come on!!!

Chancey is blowing his coat all over the place without regard....  good thing he's not showing again till January! ;-)

Kota is Kota..  I'm going to take him in for a cleaning sometime soon - his teeth are an ugly mess.  They always have been.  I don't want him laughed out of the Veteran's ring because of it though, so we'll get em cleaned before January! :)

Pie2 is Pie2... as sweet and bossy as possible.  I call her my Gumby-dog...  loving, sweet, affectionate on one side, and bossy, bitchy and annoying as all hell on the other.  She's such a riot.  Still a little thing, but she's finally getting some coat again (hooray).  If I ever feel like I'm not drowning with too much to do, I'd like to get her back into agility training.  I feel like thats where her calling is.  Seriously.  Tom and Carolyn Cannon can attest to the springs in this dogs feet! :)

As for me, I am good.  I went through a bit of a challenging week this last week.  Some work hiccups and a family issue (ok, more than an issue, but i won't go there).  It's Veteran's Day, I have the day off, and all is well.  Our fall weather that has finally settled in...  we haven't even hit 70 degrees the last few days!  HOORAY!  I'm  breaking out with the PJ pants (rather than shorts) and slippers...  it's nice.  :)

Still as single as ever, which is ok most of the time.  I've finally closed the book on a chapter of my life that I had some unresolved issues with.  It feels GREAT to be free of that weight on my shoulders.  :)  Maybe now I can begin to move forward and seek out happiness again! :)  One has to be emotionally ready for moving forward, and while I may have SAID I was for all these years, I can see now that I really wasn't.... :(  I am now though, so watch out world! :)  

The fall semester for school is almost over (less than a month to go!) and that leaves me with 4 semesters left (4 down, 4 to go + my medical internship).  There's a teeny tiny little glimmer of light at the end of my tunnel.  I can't believe I've managed to make it this far and do fairly well in most of my classes.  :)  Before I know it, I'll be putting awesome initials after my name in my signature line at work! :)  Hooray! :)

Dog plans are coming along nicely...  I'm still planning to breed Sedona in February when she comes into season (yes, I know it will be February because this dog is like CLOCK WORK).  In the meantime, we're waiting for a girl to come into season and Chance will be bred as soon as that happens.  I'm so darned excited about the idea of him producing - now to see HOW he does....  His sisters have produced nicely, so fingers are crossed for some awesome little black and blue puppies out of him soon! :)  This all means my dog numbers are going to rise....  *sigh*  I'll be getting a puppy back from Chance, and of course, I will plan to keep one of Sedona's puppies too...  Whew.  Looking for just the right place for Pie2 to go once I know that Chance's girl friend is expecting ;-)  We're going to start working on Pie2's resume soon...  stay tuned, it should be funny! :)

Well, I guess that's life as I know it right now...

physical evidence

At least the American Kennel Club has sent me proof of Sedona's Championship....  now we wait on the (known-to-be-slow) photographer....

Thanks again to Mandy, Tavia and Carolyn for deciding to re-do the Carbon x Phoebe breeding, and thanks for letting me have my girl! 

Picture will be posted as SOON as it arrives...  (I feel like I'm stalking my mailbox these days!! LOL)