Have I lost my mind??

So.. now that the holiday season is approaching its end, we all take a look at ourselves and I have decided that I need to get myself in better shape. So.. Mere and I take a trip to the local Gold's Gym. She is a member, so I go as her guest. On Christmas Eve. we work out together. 30 min on the eliptical and than some weights. She has me following her around doing lunging squats. The men at the gym watched us lunge around the gym. It was pretty funny.

I wanted to check out the classes though. I think that this might be for me. So yesterday, I went to the half and hour abs class, did 30 min on the eliptical and than the hour long yoga class. Needless to say, I can not walk today. Very sore and I love it. I am just not sure I can go back today.

Back to the Grind

So.. the packages have all been opened, the room cleared of all the debris and the kids are ready to pack their cars and head back to their lives. It was a wonderful weekend. But in typical fashion, it was not ordinary. On the day before Christmas Eve we got a call from a gal who wanted to breed her bitch to Tanner, the only problem, was she was ready. So she drove across country and arrived on Christmas day. So between all the festivities, and the partying and the eating. we were also doing a breeding. My family and friends think that Dog People have lost their minds. I really can't say too much about this, since I am probably leaving to breed Hannah on New Years. Oh well.

We did it

So. yesterday was Newell's birthday. He turned the big 5 0... On Thanksgiving his sister Jackie asked if we were going to do anything special and that kind of started the ball in motion. Mere and I put our heads together and came up with a plan. We put together an intimate guest list, really just family and people who were close friends. Mere put out the evite.. Andrew responded yes to the evite because we had forgotten to tell him our plans. I went to Bill Batemans' and reserved the back room and it was done. He really didn't have a clue. We walked into Bill's just like we do all of the time. He went to sit at the bar side and I said I thought I saw someone we knew, lets go and say hi.. and than the big SURPRISE!!! Most of the way back to the room he called me a Pain in the Ass. But I knew he couldn't believe it. It was great. I think we really got him. Happy Birthday Newell...

I am Done...

So.. How do I know I am done shopping. Well here is how it goes. I take all the presents out of the closet. I wrap them and put them in piles according to who they belong to. Andrew's pile, Mere's pile and Newell's pile. I don't care so much about Newell's pile, but it is there anyway. Well, a week ago I did this, and Mere's was way smaller, so out to shop again. Yesterday the piles were even. Almost. Even Newell's pile is up there. I wonder how big my pile is? Maybe as tall as the ceiling? hee hee Merry Christmas..

Newell's Worst Day

So, here is how it went down. Saturday Newell thinks he may have tickets to the Ravens game but doesn't hear from his guy. Sunday morning we leave for the dog show, as Newell says we get up before God did. At 7:30 am, while we are almost at the dog show, the text comes he as the ticket, but we are already at the show. So..Oh well. We get royally dumped at the show. Not only do we not win in dogs, but Tanner and Heather are all but bullied in the Best of Breed class. We are not happy. We rush out of there so we can be home in time to watch the game on TV.. While driving home, Andrew calls, he has tickets and he is going to the game. Perfect. Well, we get home with 2 minutes to spare and the GAME IS NOT ON TV. . The Eagles are on, NOT the Ravens. Uh Oh.. Sorry Newell...

The end of Sportsmanship

So.. we went to the dog show today. And I know, it is a competition. But there is a sense of sportsmanship There is a sense that when you are disappointed that you didn't win you still congratulate your competitor and take your loss back to the car.

Not today.. Today I saw the end of good sportsmanship.

In the Best of Breed class the steward called in her class and the dog at the head of the line did not come in. She wanted to make an entrance I guess. Well, our dog (who was second in the line) came in and stacked up. My handler left plenty of room for the first dog to come in and when she did make her entrance, she stacked her dog right in front of Tanner's face. Heather asked politely, ( I was sitting right there) if she could move up and in a very not so nice tone, she replied to Heather, no, move back. Well, I could see on Heather's face that this was not OK. She did move back and had to crowd the dog behind her.

The judge proceeded to judge the dogs and did not consider Tanner. She was considering the first dog and the Veteran. When she brought the Veteran up, Heather made room for him, but again was crowded out by the girl behind him and she wouldn't move back.

It really doesn't matter that we didn't win. We have plenty of judges that like Tanner, but to behave in such a way as to crowd out your competitor. Well, that is just bad sportsmanship. Heather wanted me to say something, but to be truthful, the universe has a way of taking care of that sort of thing. If you live with such negativity and meanness in your life, your Karma will come and bite you on the butt.

Good luck in the future doing that to other dogs in other judge's rings. Many of the judges would not tolerate such behavior, today's judge was not one of them, and she won't get an entry from me again.

Merry Christmas!!!

We are Ready

Sorry it has been a week, but I have been getting ready for our annual party. Well, this year it is a bit different. We are having more of an Open House during the day. Yesterday, I spent cooking and cleaning, and now today with just a few more hours to go, I think we are ready. The house looks great, the tree is still standing and has not been peed on ( at least I don't think so) we have vacuumed and vacuumed all of the hair up ( or at least most of it) and it should be great. Have a wonderful holiday season for those who are out there, and I will be hopefully seeing you all soon.

Merry Christmas,, we say Merry Christmas at my house

I have two BAD puppies

So.. I have two BAD puppies. They are into everything, but mostly it is their continuous chewing of things. Papers, poops (yea that's right), shoes, everything. Well, Newell and I spent all of yesterday decorating the house. The house looks great. I get up this morning, let everyone out, and brought the puppies back into the house. Put the gate up and went to work out. When I got back, they had gone behind the Christmas tree and pulled out the extension cord and chewed that like it was a milk bone. I mean, into tiny pieces. Why in the world would they do that? And extension cord doesn't look like food, smell like food or taste like food. But there they were, their little innocent faces with pieces of the plastic hanging out of their mouths. Thank goodness the tree wasn't plugged in, we would have had bar b qued puppies.

Shopping for Dawn

So. yesterday was my finish up my Christmas shopping day. I had a few gifts to get and I was on a very specific mission. What I did notice as I made my way around town, is that in every single store, I could have bought something for myself. When I went to Treasures, there were several things I would have loved, at Dicks well you know... At the outlet mall, OMG... even at the Sportsman's outlet, but it really struck me when I went to Starbucks to buy a gift card that I thought to myself, gee I hope someone gets me one of these. I must be the easiest person to shop for. Anyone who knows me must know this. And each gift I get each year, I use and appreciate. So I decided that for next year's grab bag... I will get everyone's name and everyone else will just get my name. That should work..

The Door

So.. Sunday after the show we went to watch the Ravens play at a sports bar down the street. When we headed back to the room, we realized that Tanner was not in his crate and the door of the room was left open. We panicked. As we approached the door, we heard the maid inside saying, "Now Tanner, you have to stay on the bed when I vacuum. It is very hard to clean with you following me" We went into the room, only to find the dog and the maid in the room. He was wagging his tail with his new friend. She was afraid that we would be mad, which of course we weren't. She then asked if we would take a picture of the dog and her. She snuggled up on the bed with him in her lap and we took the picture. Anyone that could deny that this dog is and ambassador for this breed, is crazy.

Always the Bridesmaid

So. we had the big show on Sunday. The judge was from Slovenia, so the playing field is level. No one is going to have a disadvantage. The dogs walk in and it is certainly an impressive line up. The top dogs in our breed all together. Wow!!! I could hardly breath. He examines the dogs. I know what he is going to like because we have been watching him for about 2 hours, holding on to our chairs. He is going to like a nice top line. I know he should like Tanner because he has a great top line. After examining everyone, he makes his cut. Pulls out Tanner. Now the heart starts pounding. We have been here before. Don't panic, don't expect anything yet. We have been at the front of the line before, and had it yanked away. Remember the Garden? So it is Tanner, Ty, the bitch and Vinnie. It is certainly appropriate. Tanner #1 in US, T #1 in Canada and Vinnie #2 in US in CAlifornia. Well, Vinnie wins and Tanner and Ty get Awards of Excellence. We are always right there.. But never really there..

Where to begin

So.. lets start at the toes and work our way up. Georgeann offered that we all go and get our toes done. We started the day in a town car driving around the town of Long Beach CA looking for a nail salon. Well, we found one with the tubs and the full works and we were in. 3pm Georgeann, Cindy, Heather, Fara and me loaded ourselves into the car and went to get pampered. We bounded into the salon, and basically took over the place. We all sat down and began to enjoy our pampering. Well, Heather ( and we all just love her) began. This is what she liked, and not too much of that, and could you rub it this way, and could you do it that way. And can you put a design on my toe and do you have a book that I could look at to see what design I want, and could you massage my shoulders and do you have flip flops and how much are they and what color do you have.. I finally leaned up from my bliss and looked to my left and said in my most Dawn-like way.. "Heather you are such a giant pain, just lean back and shut up and enjoy yourself".. Everyone laughed and laughed. Geeze....

Safe and Sound

So.. we are here. Everything went very smoothly.. Except... they didn't like Tanner's crate,, now mind you he just flew from Finland, to Paris to US in this Crate but the TSA didn't like the crate and decided they needed to lecture me on the downfalls of this crate. Anyway,, we worked it out. Then he wouldn't go in. Crate, no, Crate , no.. Crate shove Oh OK... Flight smooth as can be.. I asked Newell .." do you think we have a pilot"? 5 1/2 hours not one word from him. No.. look out the window and see the Rockies, or the weather is good..nothing.. just if we have turbulence I will let you know.. Very smooth,, just the way I like it.

Tanner and Rita came bounding out of the crate. We gave them water which them slopped up. The driver of our van didn't appreciate the dogs on the seats and made a big deal about hair on the seat.. Too bad!!! Tanner laying on the bed, all is well.

Heather and Kevin want us at 12 noon to groom, I don't think so. Sight seeing is more on the schedule..

More later

California here we come...

So we are ready. Teeth are cleaned, bath and nails are done. We have our suitcases and of course Tanner has his. We are off the Eukanuba. TAnner was invited from both the US and Canada. There should be a lot of dogs there and Grandma Chris is there as well. Cindy and Rita will meet us at Georgeann's and off we go. Wish us luck.. Win or lose it should be a great time.