Thursday, June 08, 2006

It's All Fun and Games

Sheesh, where does the time go? Seems like just yesterday I was getting doing my last blog update, and it turns out that was 2 weeks ago! Yikes! I guess when I have dog shows, school and work to worry about, the blog takes a backseat. Sorry all . . . but I don't think people are flocking to the blog either, so it's not like I'm disappointing the masses.

So I'm finally over my jetlag . . . that took at least a week. I combined it with dog show fatigue the weekend of May 26th, so the lines between different forms of tiredness got blurred. I actually felt so tired some days that I felt sick to my stomach. Thankfully that has passed, and been replaced by dog show and work fatigue. That kind of tiredness I can handle. I know I'm still tired because I'm sleeping like a baby at night, and it's unusual for me to go a whole night without waking up once. So I'm enjoying the good sleeps, anyhow. Farley is too - because of the heat, he is sacked out every night, snoring and dreaming (I think).

The weekend of May 26th I had a visitor - my good friend Vicky came, and brought her little Cocker girl Mercedes with her. Despite having major WestJet issues (let's just say the Fort McMurray branch SUCKS), we had a fabulous weekend. It was the Northland Kennel Club dog show, which is 6 shows in 3 days. Tiring, but a great chance to get points on your dog. Mercedes walked away with 4 Best of Breeds, a Group 1, a Group 2 and two Group 3's, so that was nice for Vicky. And Satan (yes, my own dear boy) managed to pick up 6 points from the Bred By Exhibitor class, so I was thrilled too. This is despite being skinny as a rail and refusing to gain weight. He is now eating the same amount as a small horse, so I'm hopeful that he won't be so skeletal when I take him to the Cold Lake shows.

Last week I had a one week intensive course for school on Bargaining and Negotiation. Just try and negotiate with me now! I'm a pro! Okay, maybe not a pro . . . or even very good . . . but at least I understand the principles and could argue myself into a better position than ever before. The class was very practical, with lots of trying of techniques, so I found it to be very useful. Two weeks off, and then another one week intensive on Business Strategy starts. The textbook is pre-assigned reading, so I'm slogging my way through that now.

Last weekend (yes, the one that just ended) there were back to back Cocker specialties in Edmonton, in conjunction with the NACA (Northern Alberta Canine Association) shows. Both days were lots of fun, and Billy even won a prize for being first in his class (never mind that he was the only Bred By dog LOL). It was really great seeing some of my dear Cocker friends again, and especially some of my friends in other breeds. Both Billy and Farley participated in Junior Handling, and for me, that was the highlight of my weekend. Farley looked so awesome with his friend Alyssa (whose mom has Shibas, but we won't hold that against her LOL), it was almost like he was never sick! I have to admit, I cried while watching him strut his stuff with his special girl. And Billy works so well for Coralee (who spent time with him while I was in China) that they are a fabulous team.

So now it's back to life as usual. Busy at work trying to catch up from being away for almost a month. And busy at home trying to get organized and get the clutter down to a dull roar. One more show for the summer and then I'm back on hiatus, so it had better be a good one!

2 comments:

Visichy said...

Great blog entry :)

It was great to visit with you in Ft Mac, too. Westjet issues aside, I had a great time :)

Congratulations on Billy's first 6 points. He's over half way there in just one weekend. How many wee puppies can claim that? Way to go, Mr Bilbo Baggins!!!

Louisa said...

Sounds like you're happily slogging and blogging away. :-)