Friday, May 7, 2010

Let the Fun Begin!

I think the reason that six dogs are going to the Specialty has less to do with being competitive and more to do with being indecisive :) Plus, I have excellent Dog Nannies who have volunteered to help out so that allows me to skip important lessons in moderation -- lessons I could certainly use but will start when I get back (maybe).

This past week has been non-stop working because it was the last week of the semester and I had to have everything done and finals ready for my Teaching Assistant to give next week. As a result, I have not been sleeping much and last night was no exception -- at 10 pm I was still cleaning and packing, and at 3:00 a.m. I was up after a fitful attempt at sleep. Usually I have no trouble sleeping but this week has been HECTIC and I wanted to make sure all my ducks were in a row, so to speak, and so I was mentally making lists and fretting instead of sleeping.

But everything got done and I have my laptop so that I can continue to work while I am gone (lots of papers to grade!), and so far the only thing I can think of that I forgot is my tracking harness/line, which is no doubt my unconscious saying something about how I feel about the Specialty tracking test...

So, we left Montana at 3:50 a.m. and were in Utah before noon, even with our usual stop at the private dog park in Middle-of-No-Where, Idaho. Here are some pictures from our stop -- that is Maize in both of the pictures with the dog...




I kept a list of the wildlife I saw on the way down: one elk, one moose, several antelope-type things, many deer, a couple of heron-like birds in a nest together, a bald eagle, one black cat, and assorted birds -- pretty cool :) And all were alive!

With the assistance of caffeine, I made it safely to Utah with the girls and with the help of more caffeine, I managed to stay awake through graduation -- look at all the bling you get if you study hard...



And here are photos of the proud parents with the graduate (Jake)...



For once a Utah family dinner included me! We all went out to celebrate and that was super fun and included more caffeine, which is the only reason I am still upright.

Tomorrow I run Cadi at the agility trial in a very early morning class, and then we will pack up and head east to Wisconsin!! The fun is well underway -- hope you can say the same!

5 comments:

  1. Let me just say that reading about Cadi's adventures THIS year will be so much better than sitting here, cross-country, biting my nails until 1 or 2 AM (my time), waiting to hear if Cadi would make it through the night... I'm sure you're EXTRA joyful to be off to the "Olympics of Bernese Mountain Dogs" this year! Have some fun for me!

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  2. Oh, and "by the way" -- congratulations to you for raising such a clearly fabulous son who learned diligence and persistence from his awesome parents, I'm sure! Very impressive!

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  3. See you soon! Congratulations to Jake (and his parents) on the graduation. I have never seen all those cords on one person before! Way to go Jake!

    MA, get a good nights sleep tonight. And if you get tired stop and nap tomorrow. Safe driving!

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  4. Yet there are no pictures of the proud sibling and graduate...*tear*

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  5. Maize with her ears up! Save that picture! Happy trails.

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