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By wpadmin, December 23, 2011 9:44 am

Well another year coming to a close! Who saw THAT coming?

I’ve been a very bad blogger lately and I blame Facebook. It’s too easy hop on there and post a quick status instead of a lengthy blog post, and after several status updates the blog post seems redundant.

Somehow we got through the Fall agility season fairly well despite only having use of my teeny-tiny yard to train in. Jayda (who just moved into the B classes this summer) is now 2 Q’s from her MJP, halfway to her MXP and, after several weekends in the “one little thing” club, finally got her first double Q. She’s also just 2 Jackpots and 5 Standard Q’s from her C-ATCH2. Despite her issues, I’m really enjoying her these days. Jayda is the poster child for “good egg” and she really has no technical/equipment issues at all – getting good runs out of her really comes down to choosing venues where she feels “safe”, and I’ve added a few more of those to our list this year. And at home she makes me smile, she makes me laugh – I adore her !

Raven started out the season really well, only to fall apart in the end. Not sure what’s up with her – if it’s a confidence problem or something physical. Probably a little of both. She tested negative for TBD’s, but to me she looks “stuck” in her mid-lower back so a long-postponed trip to the chiropractor is definitely in order, probably followed by some remedial training and a lot of cookies.

Bryce is still in clinical remission. If I look at him at certain times and in certain light, he looks exactly the same as he always has, but looking at him closely he seems to get older by the minute. He’s developed some really odd quirks, and I have to wonder if we will share another New Years after this – that makes me sad. I know I’ve been saying that since his cancer diagnosis, but he IS almost 13 1/2 now. I ran him in agility a couple weekends ago – just CPE Fullhouse (Veteran, Level 5.) I found a nice do-able strategy for him, we had a good run – qualified and placed with time to spare, but I could see him get a little “confused” at one point. It may be time to fully retire him – will totally miss running the little guy, but it would be nice to end his career on a happy and dignified note.

Speaking of agility, I am going to be teaching agility part-time again next year ! I’m excited and a little apprehensive all at once, having been away from it for several years, but I do miss it. I love agility and I like helping other teams learn and be their best – simple as that.

Hopefully not a bad omen that I got miserably sick (sore throat, coughing, sneezing, laryngitis, sniffling, fever, not-sleeping, tapering off to just a lttle sniffling and coughing now) after spending a weekend at the facility where I will be teaching – or maybe it’s some kind of really weird good omen?

Kitties are good. Kacey and Hat have become BFF’s – they often sleep together and there’s a ridiculous amount of mutual grooming. Cuteness overload! Kacey is doing pretty well at nearly 16 – I do have to watch her eating, since Biki often noses her out and eats her food! She’s a skinny little thing to begin with so I’m always giving her “snacks” – she doesn’t complain.

Cassie (left) now has the run of my upstairs room most of the time, and is pretty friendly with Hat and Kacey. I need to bring the dogs up there more often so that they’re “familiar” to her when she starts to come downstairs. Biki refuses to even go upstairs and LOOK at her (though she’s curious enough to sit outside the door) – I have a feeling it will be ugly when those two (who are probably real-life sisters, or half-sisters) finally meet!

Cassie is a little snugglebug with me, and now that she’s not constantly on alert like she was outside, she’s relaxing and learning to play. She loves her catnip and is just starting to see the fun in wand toys. She may be getting a new name for the new year – “Cassie” and “Kes-Kes” started turning into “Cassandra” and the urban-chic “Kessindra” which has lately turned into “Cindee”. It seems to fit her.

I love that Cassie/Cindee and Hat are both safely inside now, but it has its drawbacks: After years of freedom from rodent pest problems, there are icky mice in my basement again, and even worse, I had a flying squirrel in my house again a few weeks ago! I think I need another “porch cat!” Any takers?

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By wpadmin, September 28, 2011 8:35 am

Dear Constellation Energy:

With the deregulation of power suppliers in my state, many energy companies, including yours, have been sending me offers soliciting my business.

Small problem. You see, you never sent an offer to ME. Instead, the one and only offer from you arrived at my house addressed to my father. My father who has been deceased for over a decade. My father who never was in any way a bill payer at this address – a single family home which I own and which is in MY name.

So why was this offer addressed to him? Because the prefix was “Mr.???”

I realize this is just some computer program / mailing list screwup and not a personal decision on your part, but FYI, that sort of thing pisses me off. I trashcanned your offer. I may go with one of your competitors. One who knows who pays the freakin’ bills.

Have a nice day.

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By wpadmin, September 26, 2011 3:42 pm

In the spring and fall, agility trials are so plentiful around here that you might have a choice of several venues and locations on any given weekend. This past weekend there was Skyline’s CPE trial in Stony Point and two AKC trials – a small one on Long Island and a larger one in eastern PA. Door #1, door #2 or door #3? The CPE trial was the closest and being a Skyline member I rarely pass up a club trial, but I’m prioritizing on AKC these days so I broke with tradition and went with door #2 – the Long Island trial.

I’m not at all sorry I did! While participants at the other trials ended up slogging through a cross between agility and mud wrestling, we had great footing and not a drop of rain. If I were to be picky, I would have preferred it to have been about 10 degrees cooler and a little less humid, but it overall we lucked out big-time. A great judge and some fun courses rounded out the weekend.

Big news of the weekend was that Raven got her AXJ on Saturday on a very technical course which didn’t yield a lot of Q ribbons! We had some weebly-wobbly lines which cost us time, but her short body and responsiveness make her fun to handle on that kind of course.

I don’t always bother to take a toy when we win one, but I couldn’t resist that one – it’s a Halloween bat and it’s too cute!

I think Jayda would have done well on that course too, had she not taken down the triple early on. She was feeling rather stressed on Saturday and I think she was taking off early, because she ticked the triple on her Standard run also. After she dropped the bar, I decided to try a blind cross in part of the course – I was really itching to try it, but would never have had the guts if there was a Q on the line. It almost worked – I didn’t give her long legs quite enough room and pushed her to the wrong side of the jump. But she took the cue nicely and didn’t even look at the off course tunnel – had I stepped a little deeper into the pocket and given her the room she needed, it would have been really nice – that move is filed away for future use .

It was a jumpers kind of weekend. Sunday’s course was promised to be a “wahoo” course, and it was, with lots of running for dogs and handlers alike. On Sunday Jayda was much more relaxed and this time BOTH girls Q’d in JWW. Raven started out very sluggish (she’s not a fan of hot weather) but picked up speed about 4 obstacles into the course, JUST squeaking by on time for her first MXJ leg. Jayda finished the weekend with a beautiful, attentive 1st place run, beating Raven’s time for her 4th MJP leg and the most points she’s ever earned in a Jumpers run! Wahoo, Jayda !

So the new Family Challenge is on: Which sister will get her Master Jumpers title first? Stay tuned!

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By wpadmin, September 11, 2011 8:14 am

For me, the miracle of 9/11 is that I only recognized two of those 2,976 names. You see, I lived just across the river in northern NJ and, up until June 2001, had been working in the financial industry for about 15 years.

In late August 2001, a bunch of my former co-workers and I had gotten together for lunch, for what we knew even then would probably be the last time. We had been a close-knit and congenial group, but since being laid off in a merger, we were slowly but surely going our separate ways. A few of us were still gainfully unemployed, others were moving on to new jobs, most in the booming NY Financial district.

We were all happy that Scott made it to the luncheon. Scott used to sit across the aisle from me – he had a wickedly-funny sense of humor and was great at his job, but the love of his life was his family, especially his two children.

Well OK there was another … he loved cars too. Scott was a walking database of car facts and trivia, and could talk car-talk for hours on end. He made some extra income detailing and selling peoples’ old cars. At least 3 of us in our workgroup had sold a car through him and in every case, even after taking his cut, Scott somehow delivered top dollar. We all joked that he could have had a brilliant career in car sales!

But if it came down to the cars vs the kids, it was no contest – those boys were his universe. His desk and walls were covered with pictures and it seemed every morning he had another story to tell about them. You couldn’t help smile, not just about the stories but because he was such an enthusiastic, proud and devoted dad.

That day, Scott had some great news: he had just landed an awesome new job which he would be starting in a couple of weeks. It was a job as a disaster recovery manager – which meant a big step up the career ladder for him, a big increase in pay to support his growing family and an equally big office with a fantastic view. Best of all, they had agreed to let him work 8-4 so he could get home early enough to spend quality time with his sons.

It was the perfect storm.

So that’s why on Tuesday, 9/11/2001, at 8:46 AM, Scott was in the office early – celebrating his birthday and his first full day on the new job in his bright, new office with a beautiful view of the Hudson river, on the 93rd floor of the North tower. I have no doubt that the first things he unpacked and put on his desk that morning were pictures of his boys. I like to think that they were the last thing he saw.

About a week after 9/11, the rest of us got together one last time. We didn’t speak much of Scott – we were all still in denial, certain that he would turn up in a hospital somewhere … or perhaps be found wandering around dazed in some used car lot. I don’t think any of us could have held it together had we known otherwise. Instead, we talked of the the many colleagues who worked in the towers who were not in the office that day. Of the ones who had been there for interviews just a few days earlier. Of the ones who made it out. Of the woman who caught that last NY Waterway ferry –the one where the captain put the pedal to the metal as the towers fell and headed for NJ as fast as that boat would take them. Faster than it was meant to go!

And we talked to Eddie – who weathered 9/11 across the street – hunkered down with his new co-workers in the Federal Reserve building, wondering all the while if they were going to be the next target, and witnessing things no person should ever have to see. Eddie was our touchstone that evening – his presence after the ordeal a spot of hope amidst unbearable sadness. Hope that we would all eventually pick up the pieces.

And despite the scars, life would go on.

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By wpadmin, September 10, 2011 6:58 am

So much for my “grow a potato from a potato” experiment!
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OK – you can stop laughing now.
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No really – Stop laughing!

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By wpadmin, September 5, 2011 2:13 pm

Look Familiar? She should – this is Cassie from Outside. She’s now Cassie from Inside.

How the **** did this happen? Good question!

With the eye of hurricane Irene headed straight for us, I was afraid for her safety outside, so I brought her indoors, fully intending to put her back out again when the storm passed. But things didn’t go as planned – one day turned into two, three, four, a week as I agonized over what to do with her.

Keeping her in won out by very a slim margin.

On one hand, I HATED taking her from the outdoor “home” she’s known for 8 years and certainly didn’t NEED another cat (or the extra litter, food, vet bills and cat squabbles that would come with it.) And I totally appreciated her keeping the mouse and mole population down (I had to deal with a lot of icky “presents” over the years – just proof of a job well done.)

On the other hand , with her inside I would no longer have to worry about cars, coyotes, hawks, frostbite, heatstroke, rabid wildlife, cat-hating people, parasites, or freaky-big spiders. Not to mention I wouldn’t have to coax her out from under my car every time I wanted to go somewhere, could paint my porch without risk of little painted kitty tracks all over, and the dogs could go out again without having a CAT rubbing up against them while they were doing their business (I have no clue whatever posessed her to do THAT!)

She loves the dogs, she and Hat used to lick the rain off of each other’s fur when they were outside together. Biki’s probably her real sister … or her half sister. The adjustment won’t be easy, but been there, done that, we’ll manage – somehow. We’re her family, she belongs here.

Four cats? Four litter pans? ARGH!!! I think this officially pushes me over the edge to “Crazy Cat Lady!”