A hint of spring

We are within 6 inches of the historical record for the Metro area in snowfall for a single season. That includes the 3 inches from last night. And that record would be 80 or so inches. Good laugh this morning when someone suggested that we just get it over and done with now-as in snow 6 inches, make the record and be done with winter all together. I'm all for that, now God did you hear the request?

By far this has been the weirdest winter. I remember the 78-79 storms, then the summer of 93 with the floods, then I think we had winter issues in 2003 too. Each generation has their memories-drifts, sun, rain, heat, cold. You name it, someone will have a weather comment-I remember when....

So this morning, getting ready to let dogs outside, I braced myself. You could hear the wind blowing, saw the wind spinner going gangbusters. But as I cracked open the doors, told the boys to get back and not rush the door, it was a warm breeze that greeted me. Talk about shock. I was ready for the dreaded wind chill blast that goes right to your core. Conversation around the kitchen at work commented about the same thing-you know you have had too much winter when you think balmy is temperatures in the teens, windchills are at zero and 1-3 inches is no big deal. I think it was an honest attempt by God to remind us that he hasn't forgotten about us and that spring it just around the corner.

In our lives we have lots of situations such as this. Lamenting about the past, becoming acustomed to the out of the norm and making it seem the norm. Did that make sense? Every now and then it's nice to know that change is coming, that the norm isn't the norm or that our seasonal progressions are still running along like clock work. We have to get a small wonderful reminder that indeed hope is not lost. Oh how did I enjoy that warm breeze. I could have spent the entire day outside with it like this.

Spring is a season of rebirth, growth and hope. I love spring, not the mud mind you but the weather, the joy you see on a face and the shedding of those heavy winter coats. Horses, dogs, ducks, they all shed their coats too ;0) That I am not as keen on but oh well. What that does though is give the local birds nice nesting materials. I enjoy digging my hands in the black earth of the garden, waking up the earth worms and telling them to get to work. The creek runs cold and fresh. The yard doesn't need mown every other day and the lilacs, oh the lilacs are blooming. My second favorite is the lily of the valley. Hidden deep in the grass, you can smell them before you see them. Sitting here I take a deep breath and remember the smell. Clean fresh spring.

Rebirth comes in many ways for us. Spring is a wonderful time to reopen a lost or forgotten part of our lives and give it a new start. Or to take a deep long look at our lives and opt for change. I tend to opt for change. I love Ash Wednesday and the exercise of writing down our prayer for change or what we want to fix in our lives. Having the knowledge of someone praying over it without really knowing what we want. Then burning those wishes on Good Friday, sending them to heaven. I feel fulfilled so to speak. I love lent too. I don't give up things as most people do but I find something that I want to make a good habit-writing a letter, saying thank you, walking a few miles a day(this weather has not helped that one become a good habit yet), or going out of my way to help a certain person or donating my time to a worthwhile organization. We make it as much about others as ourselves. Can't wait till Maundy Thursday and the play that the mens group does for the last supper, or the somber service for Good Friday, depicting Jesus' last moments.

But the best is for last-Easter Sunday. It's not about the candy, the toys, the basket. It's about that realization of change-that hint that God gives us of the glory yet to be. Ah for that warm breeze. Oh I can't wait for spring.......

later gators..........

C

In The Ribbons

As you may have noticed, we show dogs. All kinds of dogs-bullmastiffs, german shorthair pointers, collies, pomeranians, brussels griffons, just to name a few. Now we don't raise all of them, cardigan welsh corgi is our breed, but we also handle for our friends on occasion. We do the whole run around the ring, act silly and get lots of pretty little ribbons. Always hoping for the yellow and purple ones, I guess I can settle for the white and blue ones too. All depends on the dog and the day.

By nature I'm not competitive. WRONG, I'm very competitive. I always want to win,don't we all? We want to grab that brass ring as the carousel horse goes around. We want that free ride, or to be the 1 in 10 winners of something when we take that pop top off the soda. But we can't always win. That's just life. What we do though have to strive for is getting the most out of what we do. Being satisfied with the end result. It should be also that the end result was obtained in such a way as no one was hurt along the way either. What the shame is those that seek perfection while missing out on the moment. Yes the wanting of it and wanting it now is rampant in the world. Where is the anticipation, where is the "all good things come to those that wait"?

What is it about our society today? Instant gratification. Just kills me. I love the wait at Christmas, I'm always the last to open up my presents as I want to make it last as long as possible. I sat in a meeting today at work about our Warranty procedures. Now I work for a company that not only does construction, but retail and service work. Ever heard of the customer is always right? That's what we hope that we can grant each and every time but it can't always happen. Our society today has this issue with either reading in between the lines to an extent of nausea or not reading enough of the big print and getting just what they want out of it. At this meeting that's exactly what came up. The customer walks in and says it's under warranty, don't care about why it really broke, but replace it, fix it or give me my money back. Even when the big bold print also said, warranty on parts only, not labor or it says warranty voided if part used in manner other then listed here, etc. You kind of get the point. We see it in the dog shows too. Instant gratification.

It's fun to watch people and their reactions at the shows. Those that have been around for ages, felt the ups and downs, the winnings, the losings. Many of them just go with the flow. But many don't, back to the instant gratification part. Now you also have the newbies all nervous and excited, curious and totally caught up in the whole affair. We sit around and people watch a lot at the shows. It's fun to pick out the well known handlers, the big winning dogs, size up the competition and see how people react to the whole process. To see the raspberry jacketed gentlemen and the women with the skirt up to there, shirt down to there, all to impress the judges, or is that influence? And yes it's true, dogs do look like their owners. Afghan people are as wispy as their dogs, whippet handlers are skinny, lithe and move with grace. We also have a fun game of watching a dog and then matching a person to the dog-who looks like a bulldog, which one of us is like the scottie. What is even more interesting is watching how the dog's react to the person holding their lead.

I've seen dogs who should have won go in the ring with an owner who lumbers around, quite set up themselves yet totally ignorant of the dog who is unsure about the situation. The dog slinks, sets back, looks worried and all the owner can do is pop the lead and grumble. Usually this is the same person who stuffs the ribbon in their pocket waiting to find the nearest trash can to dump it in. We not only need to be aware of what our dog is doing but also aware of ourselves. The best handler out there isn't always the one who boast a decade of experience showing a certain breed but it could be the kid with a her first dog that is serious about what she is doing in order to get the most out of her dog. And it's not about the ribbons, it's about being there, learning, and growing. Yes we strive for perfection but what is perfection and what will we do when we get it?

In every show there has to be winners and losers. Same in life. What really matters is how we handle those wins and loses. Do we blame the judge for not knowing a good dog when he sees it instead of realizing that they put more emphasis on something we don't? Are we gracious winners or horrible losers? I do hope that you are in the ribbons more often then not, but if you aren't, I hope you avoid the blame game and realize that life isn't about always winning, it's how we play the game.

Later gators.......
C

The complete klutz

I started this post about 2 mos ago, drafted it and then forgot about it. Little background is now needed. This story relates to the incidents at the MO show in which my dear friend Rus ended up knocking his noggin on an "I" beam in the grooming area, not just once, but several times. I ended up showing his special as he couldn't see through the fog. Many of you know that my very handsome husband of almost 2 decades has been suffering from PCS for about 4 years now. Post Concussion Syndrome. So now I need to back up and relate the story of the headache cause....

We recently(4 years ago) built a new house out in the Black Hole area of Linn County, IA. Previously we lived in town. Small suburban area that lays between the imaginary line seperating Marion and Cedar Rapids. Now, I hate living in town. The noise, the lights, the neighbors, well most neighbors. On top of it, I am claustorphobic and lasted 7 years living elbow to elbow with the rest of Marion. Mom said she was shocked I lasted 5 let alone the 7 long years. So now picture a small 3 bedroom ranch, built about 1965-yes the brown oven and avocado fridge were still there when we moved in-those didn't last long! Anyway, as time went on, things as they do, need repair. For instance my bed. Okay, get your mind out of the gutter right now! Here's the way you describe it and then how it really needs to be said.


David got his concussion from the bed post hitting him in the head. When in fact, here's the whole story. My old bed had seen many a child use it as a trampoline. That was it's undoing. Yes one too many kids, a couple of dogs and what do I do, just sit on the edge of the bed, thunk. Yeapers, I broke the side rail and ended up on the floor along with the mattress. So the various parts of the bed get leaned up against the wall and the side board goes down to the work shop for repair. Mattress and springs are on the floor and that's where we slept for a few nights.

Hope, the couch slug of a labrador that we own, or is it she owns us is used to sleeping in bed with us. At the time of this whole incident, the bed was a full sized bed. There's a cartoon called the Buckets and one of my favorite has a frame that says BD, the next says AD. I'll try to add it later so you can see it, but that stands for Before Dog and the couple is snuggling in bed, AD is After Dog and the dog is right inbetween with the couple now seperated, trying to stay on the bed. Just so happens that this time, she's sleeping on David's side of the bed, but on the floor. My guess is that she stood up and in the process knocked the head board, which in turn started to fall.

The next thing I hear is David swearing and sitting bolt upright in bed. The dog is running out of the room as fast as she can. I sit up and try to find out what's going on between the swearing and arm waving. The round knobs on the head board connected with his temple. Concusion, yes that's right, he got a concusion from the head board on the bed. See why I have to tell the whole story and not just the abridged version? Only gets worse, per David. I keep asking him if he's hurt or bleeding or what ever. Between swearing and swatting my hands away, I can't get a straight answer out of him. Getting no cooperation from the hurt person, I ask one final question-are you bleeding? No. I rolled over and went back to sleep.

Three rules growing up in our house. If you had to call mom or dad at work, you had either be dead, not breathing or spurting blood all over. Otherwise, it could wait till I got home. Of course that backfired when I came home to find all the bandaids used up one day on a cut finger. I have my limits of pointless phone calls-he's looking at me wrong, he locked me out of the bathroom or she's playing her music too loud. I will be thankful that the worst that happened while I was at work was the papertowel fight. Wet ones at that. That was a clean up job-I think they used 2-3 rolls of papertowels and I wouldn't have noticed except for the ones on the ceiling that dropped on my head later that evening. Still finding them when we were painting the house and getting ready to sell it.

During the rest of the week, David only gets worse. He was forgetting numbers, names, hard time focusing. Went to the emergency clinic, then to the ER for xrays. Nothing, take it easy, few days off and then just watch it. By Thursday, I had to go get him at work as he about passed out walking to his car to drive himself to the ER. Diagnoised him with Post Concusion Syndrome. Basically if you get knocked in the head, you want to black out. Otherwise, the brain does funny things. They likened it to a surge protector and the automatic shut off when a power surge happens. The brain works similar to that. Once again, he was instructed to take time off work, I think he figured out it was easier to obey the dr's orders this time around. The following weekend was a fun one, with a confused husband, the dog show and a group of handlers who just happen to be nurses, telling him what he needs to do. I think that was the last time he went to a show with me ;0)

Now PCS can last from 1 mo to 10 years. We still see signs of it when he gets really tired-little droop in his left eye, can't get the sentence out quite right. Hoping that as time progresses it gets better. Makes me wonder how all those football players manage game after game.

Okay, for my part in this, I guess I should relate my head injury story. Let's face it, I am a Klutz. Tried the 12 step program, didn't work. I came out of the closet about 25 years ago, so I chose to not hide it from anyone. I attend or attempt to attend regular meetings of KA(Klutz Anonymous)-that is if I don't open the door on my face, fall up the stairs or miss the chair and fall on the floor.

Last night, sitting on top of Marg's crate was the battery charger and the cordless drill. The drill was sitting upright, facing the front of the crate. Been there for days. Has a screw driver bit in it at the moment. Yes, I know you are figuring this out and picturing it already. Bent over to put Marg's food in her crate and wack! Divot in my forehead from the bit. Lump, bruise (I bruise really easily) and man did I chew out a certain hubby. He of course ran for cover then had the nerve to compare it to the concussion incident and wondered how I was going to explain this one away.

I have a headache this morning and a phillips head mark on my forehead......

Later gators......
C

Tongue Twister

She sells sea shells buy the sea shore. Didn't you just love those as a kid? Peter Piper picked a peck of pickles and so on and so on. I always managed to trip over them and they never sounded like they should have in the end. Kind of like playing telephone, what is said in the beginning never ends up being what a person says in the end.

At times it seems like our lives are tongue twisters too. We start out trying to do something and then it's misinterpreted to something completely different. Or we start out with a specific task in mind and when it backfires, there's a million reasons why the place we end up is not where we aimed for in the beginning and many chose to blame other's for their errant ways. Over the years I've run into a lot of people who have that mindset. I gotta laugh thinking about how their brain is really a tongue twister. It's also a sad state of affairs to have to see someone live like that. Always flitting from one project to another, never satisfied and quitting before it has a chance to fulfill itself. Heck if you stick with something it might actually work out like you want-not all games of telephone go wrong.

Being a kid has it's advantages. We are easily forgiven for our mistakes as mostly it's a learning curve. Wouldn't it be great as an adult to have some of that same respect shown. And yes, it's respect in knowing that we aren't all perfect, that we have flaws and should always be learning. Meredith is a great example of it. As noted before we love to call her the 30 yrold living in the 10 yr old body. Growing up in what amounts to a house of adults, she catches on quickly. But she does make mistakes, accepts them and learns from them. Maybe we could learn something from her? The acceptance of things as they are, the willingness to learn and the humility to admit when they are wrong.

I've been blamed for a lot of things in lately. I accept when I have been wrong, acknowledge my mistakes, heck I have even apologized when I wasn't the person in the wrong! But what I really hate is when people don't like their current situation, which they and only they are fully responsible for and chose to blame a person just because they are unwilling to own up to their own flaws. Bites doesn't it? David has a saying-O just walk it off like we did in football. Gosh I hate it when he says that, but it rings the truth. Get past it and go on. My favorite motto for a long time was: "Learn from the past, Hope for the future, Live in the present" Let's be honest, you can't change the past, but learn from it and don't dwell in it. Live for today as it's new and fresh and we are in the here and now. And Hope, there's always hope that the learning and living will create for us a better tomorrow.

Philippians 3:13-14
"No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven. "

So to those who continually have to live in the past-just get over it. You can't go forward if you are always looking back. The telephone in the study rings, do you answer it and listen to what the caller on the other end says then pass the message on or do you let the machine get it and have to run the message over and over and over again so that you can get it perfect for fear of imperfection? Life isn't perfect, learn to accept it and play the game.

I'm full of quotes today.........

"If your everyday life seems poor, don’t blame it; blame yourself; admit to yourself that you are not enough of a poet to call forth its riches." - Rainer Maria Rilke, German poet (1875-1926)


Later gators.....
C

Calm before the storm

Gosh, so many posts in just a few short days! All because I am avoiding doing my taxes. David is hell bent on getting them organized but I don't seem to see him here helping. He's out extending the "mine" in the back yard. With 5 ft plus drifts outside, it's the perfect time to be a child around here-excuses for not doing the real work and going out to play in the snow. The "mine" is huge-both Dad and Daughter are having fun with the snow tunnel. I hear it's reached the 20 ft mark. Sorry to say that as of tomorrow, it might need to be re dug. Winter storm warnings, again.

Each and every season has it's storms. Every event in our lives seems to have some sort of rotten weather forecast. We tend to panic-not truly a calm before the storm but yet a build up of anxieties that lead us to believe it will always be worse then it is. I knew someone once, who at the slightest hint of thunder, prepared for the worse. Huddling around the radio or tv, emergency rations packed, ready to hit the cellar if the wind picked up just the slightest. Never could get that person to learn to enjoy it, never will. Some people just worry, worry their lives away.

We live out on 40 acres in the middle of nowhere. Love to call it the black hole-one city's phone #, one city's address, three different school districts and long term forecast for broadband or digital hookups for the house is 5 years. I hear the noon and 6 o'clock whistle from the burg to the west-seems the dogs know that too. This winter has been especially hard being one of the least traveled roads in the county, last to be plowed. So in that calm before the storm, we prepare with extra milk, bread, munchies and sweets. What ever we might need to hunker in for a few days. I'm starting to appreciate being self sufficient. The ducks are laying right now so I have 3 dozen eggs on stand by. I have loaves of bread in the freezer from a previous baking day. And no, I am not getting a milk cow. Though I won't be any where near as good as our dear friends in West Virginia. They figure they can go for a whole year without having to buy anything-living off what they preserve, freeze, dry and hunt.

Of the calms before the storms, there are always those times when we have an honest sense of something being off. I have over the years had what is called a gut feeling. Mom likes to call it my guardian angel pinching me. I think I must agree. The times that he's gotten me out of trouble are too numerous to count. Let's take our relationships. I've had people over the years who I considered dear friends, but something just told me that it wasn't right. I must also say that I tend to be a very forgiving person-accepting a person's faults, idiosyncrasies and odd behavior as just who they are. Not as a warning sign that I should step back a little and be on the look out for the storm. After the last year, I don't want to seem bitter, but as soon as the G.A. pinches me, I tend to listen a little closer, be a little more of a skeptic. Though, I have to laugh as I got a few I told you so's in the last year or two. I don't mind those, but I also made mention that a good swift kick in the butt before the eye of the storm overcame me would have been helpful. Though one thing I will say is regret is not something in my world. Each and every event regardless of it's outcome, has shaped me and will continue to. I would never redo something if given the chance, though I have learned a lot about what not to do. Extra batteries, fill the water jugs, just to name a few.

It's the aftermath that we need to worry about more so then the actual storm. We love to sit out in the yard and watch the storms roll by. The crack of thunder, the light show. I can always remember growing up and Dad never stayed in the cellar, he always stood out on the hill and watched it go through. I never learned to appreciate it until I got older. We need to learn to enjoy the storm, look at the beauty of it all. A storm hides nothing, but opens up the gates for all to flow through, the true nature of the beast is revealed.

Over the last year I've had to clean up after many a storm. The summer was full of high winds, downpours and destructive forces, none of which I could control. But I went along behind it and cleaned up the mud slung, the branches thrown down in our path and collecting the ever present junk left behind that the wind tried to take with it. Not only this summer, but the winter storms, and I might add, ones in my personal life too. Ending relationships and fighting the storms that ensued. Beauty of it all was seeing the real person, seeing the true nature and opening my eyes to what I had brushed off as nothing more then just their odd personality traits. I've taken a deeper look at myself and learned what it is that I really want. I hope that I have become a better friend to those around me. Sharing in their storms, not concerned about getting rained on a little. Doing clean up as needed and above all, seeing the rainbow at the end of the journey.

Later gators....
C

Gotta crush on him

For once, it's not snowing, blowing or acting just plain miserable outside. Gotta love it. I have piles of dogs on the floor surrounding my feet. Clairee's dreaming, you can tell by the heavy breathing, woofing and paw twitches. Eddie's groaning trying to find that perfect position laying right on top of my feet. And Max is gazing out the window at the ducks, who are just loving this almost 30 degree weather and seems they found a mud puddle too.

My mom and I get mistaken for sisters, alot. When growing up, we constantly did things together. My friends loved her even more when she took us to rock concerts. Yes that's right, my mother, brother, two or three friends and a whole lotta other crazied teenagers, crushed up against the stage screaming at the latest heartthrob to hit the area. Huey Lewis and Rick Springfield were just a couple that I can remember us going to. I got a chance to revisit that with her last night when we went to the Rick Springfield concert. She had been down to the event center with my dad for something else, saw that tickets were on sale and couldn't help herself. The cover of course is an early birthday present for me, but I knew she wanted to go even more then I did.

Sold out show, not too shabby and a much nicer environment then the 10,000 seat arena I first saw him at. Dad offered to drive us, underlying plot to go sit at the casino and play some cards while we shimmied, shook and screamed our heads off at a 58 yr old former rocker. I must say, he's not former anymore, but really hear and now in the present, hunky and totally still the reason I had a crush on him 25 years ago.

Remember those crushes? What ever era, we all had them. The movie star, the hot sports personality, rock star or singer. Dad still has the hots for Barbara Mandrell, Crystal Gayle and Reba McIntire. I had all of Rick Springfield's albums, Leif Garrett, Andy Gibb and who else? Oh Shaun Cassidy as a Hardy Boy, Harrison Ford as Han Solo and Mel Gidson as Mad Max . We dreamed of them taking us to the dance, driving into the sunset and generally for a small town Iowa girl, big city living and excitement. Still dream of that, especially when it's 30 below and 2 feet of snow on the ground, but for the most part, the life I live now is what I want and enjoy.

Still doesn't mean I can't have a small crush on a 6' 1" transplanted Aussie. BTW-the concert was awesome. David was alittle upset that I didn't take him but the strob lights would have knocked him out in 5 mins and Mom had the time of her life. He even came into the crowd for some fun. Tushie is still tight, body ripped and voice has not changed a bit. Oh and I got to touch him as he went by during his crowd session. Made sure he wouldn't fall on me while walking the rows of chairs to the stage-now couldn't let that happen, could we?

So with dogs at my feet, house to clean, and dinner to cook, I'm going to day dream a little longer, but this time it's wondering how good Rick is at vacuuming, mowing the lawn and doing my taxes. The realities of life.

Later gator....
C

Mouse in My House

I love lots of fourlegged creatures. Ask my mom, always bringing something home that I shouldn't. Of course I then married a man who is pretty much the same way. We've had hamsters, English budgies, parakeets, turtles and lots and lots of fish over the years. Almost forgot a couple of cats and then there's the horses and dogs. Then after a spectacular incident several years ago with a budgie, the hamster, a German Shepherd and a little cocker mix, it was determined that we really can't keep prey and predators in the same house.

As winter approaches, especially living out in the country, the outside critters make plans for winter. That usually means moving indoors if they can. It's just a given that they attempt to come inside and we make all attempts to keep them outside. Last winter I had a tribe of mice invade my suburban. I spent the entire winter cleaning out, trapping and chasing those damn things. I relocated some to various show sites over the months and finally as spring approached, was able to get rid of them. But not before they ate the wiring in a couple of places. So this winter, I was very proactive-moth balls, traps, cedar blocks, you name it I tried it. Of course you can't use bait with the livestock around, but I did everything but. I won this year-they decided that the 'burb was not the appropriate place.

David and I also laid out a maze of traps and sticky boards in the garage. That turns into a freeforall on days when you are cleaning the garage as David likes to keep a count on his hunt. Well anyway, we have managed to keep a pretty good handle on the population at home. So no mouse in the house or so I thought.

Seems since they couldn't invade me at home, how about in the office. Yes that's right, my office. I work as a purchasing/inventory coordinator at a pool construction and service company. My little office is shared by our construction/project manager. Thank God he's a former California boy and dislikes it cold, so our little corner of the world is always toasty. I also usually keep some sort of chocolate in the office in a small basket. Unfortunately, seems mice like to keep toasty and well feed on chocolate too. Moving files the other day, we found their stash of a 1/2 of a bag of Hersey Kisses-Cherry Cordials. I was pissed as those are my absolute favorite ones and since they had been disappearing at an alarming rate, I figured that I had another fan of them in the office, just didn't figure it was a fourlegged friend. This meant war. I called my warehouse/maintenance crew and begged for mouse traps. I was not going to let those damn mice get away with it. Set the traps, left for the weekend, leaving instructions for the retail guys to come in and do a body count for me. Darn it - nothing. I had stuffed peanut butter all over the traps and they were all licked clean. Defective traps, no bodies, I was bound and determined to win this one. So I resorted to my preferred weapon-glue traps.

Now let me digress here a little. Glue traps are great for catching mice and small bugs, but at times I have also caught a labrador, a cat, my shoe, the pomeranian, and my bare foot in the sticky things. The lab went after the dog food used as bait-stuck it right square on her nose and while I was laughing so hard I couldn't stand up, I had to pull it off her nose. The cat and pomeranian, well paws stuck on them and no clue what they were thinking when they decided to attach themselves to the trap. My foot and shoe-just plain forgot where I put the traps and bang, stuck. I knew what the dogs felt like.

So back to my office. I set my traps and once again, left for another weekend. Previously I had cleaned all the files out, desk was picked up and yet again, I found another stash of the Kisses, rotten little **(%^^%^%. Hoping that on Monday I have a substantial body count.

I came in, examined the traps and was getting a little depressed until I looked under the counter and bingo--time to all the cororner! Two bodies, fat little buggers too. I had been hoping that all the sugar and caffeine had given them heartattacks-would have served them right for eating my candy. But heck, I got'em that's all the mattered!

So far nothing else has shown up. Maybe I scared them off, who knows. New strategy-glass bowl with lid for the candy! Then they can just stare in the "window" at the goodies, but beware, I still plan on having those traps out-I will not be defeated again!

Later gators.....
c

But, but, but, BUTT

Just a picture post for the day. If you have been any where near the goofy minds of corgi people-cardigan or pembroke, there's a mantra that is often heard. Corgi Butts Drive Me Nuts. Now modify to Cardigan Butts or Bunny Butts(cute name for Pembrokes). Or even the one that says Got Fuzz? With a cartoon corgi doing it's usual shedding dance.

David took this picture the other day and just had to share some of my Cardigan Butts that Drive Us Nuts!!

Later gators......
C

Attitude

As breeder, I have many goals. First and foremost is produce stable, healthy puppies that will make their new owners proud. I also seek to produce a dog that is a wonderful representation of the breed and furthers my program along. There are times that you do the best by the puppy and even though he's a wonderful struturally correct dog, you place him the environment that will help him grow, which might not be a show home.

Well, Russ is just one of those dogs. He's out of our 6 pack Alcohol litter. Wonderful puppy with a great body, but just so very underconfident. I knew he should be in the show ring but felt it in is best interest to go to a home where he could get the individual attention he needed to bloom. Along came Kim, Kathy, Nick and the fourlegged Sarah. Kim was looking for a companion and wanted to get in to therapy work, being her former life as a social worker. Russ would have gotten lost in the chaos of our house, so off he went to create his own. And that he did.

Fast forward a couple of months and an email from Kim. Photos attached and WOW-what a boy he's grown into. Kim, we need to talk. So that's how Russ' show career got it's start and now I have Kim hooked on the whole show thing. Of course we all agreed that when we felt he was either not liking it or wasn't doing well, we would retire the boy and he could go on with his original mission of service work. Not gonna happen any time soon. Seems we created a monster.

Fast forward to January and the first big show of the season in Des Moines. Kim and Russ have been taking classes-puppy obedience, conformation and a fun match or two. Thought about entering just one day to see what Russ thought, but figured, why not just do both. Enter Russ to the show grounds. Mr Underconfident wasn't too sure but heck his mom was along so it should be cool. First day, Meredith takes him in. We created a monster. One step in that show ring and he went all Mr Attitude. God help us all now. Still doesn't like the table but we can work with that. Win their class and now it's wrangle dogs so we can get Eddie in the ring and Albert next. Rus-the two legged one, takes Russ the four legged back in for Winner's Dog. Guess what, he likes to talk now too-tail up and wagging. Borzois start around the ring next to us-gotta bark at those big tall sheepy looking things. We are so in trouble. Eddie got the major but Russ took Best Puppy then went on to a Puppy Group 2. Russ learned that when he walks on to the show grounds, it's all about me.

Day 2-it only gets better. I get to take the brat in this time. He's all on his toes, look at me, hi mom, oh fuzz balls, must chase. And yes I proudly call him a brat. He spent the morning barking at everything in the building, we were hoping he was hoarse-no luck. Rus once again took him in for me. Guess what-he got a 4 pt major win!! We were all so happy, shocked and well down right proud. I took him back in for BOB. This time a sheltie outside the ring was giving what for to someone, so Russ had to chime in. The video is priceless-I'll try to add the link soon. And it didn't stop, he then gaited around the ring, the poodles in the next ring were running and well, he barked at Boo's butt by accident-sorry Boo! Attention span of a nat and so full of it--he took Breed! Yes Mr Underconfident, now Mr Attitude took BOB. Not sure who was crying more, Kim or I. Everyone was clapping and hugging. Kim asked that I not let this happen every weekend we show. There is some point to that , no one will want to come out and play if we don't share. Also I don't think either ofus could handle that kind of excitement each time I walk in the ring.

What a way to start off a show career, considering he's just a pet ;0) That's the running joke, but truth. First and foremost Russ is a pet and that's how all show dogs should be. Second he's a therapy dog in training, last he's a show dog. It's great to see that he has blossomed under Kim's care. Now I need to know where the volume button is-Mr Attitude is also Mr Intense.

You can see more Russ stories on his own blog called cardigan capers. http://www.cardicorgicapers.blogspot.com/ Believe me when I say that you will keep coming back for more.

Later gators-----
C

Seasons in Iowa

It's been a month, sorry. Between being sick, kids going all different directions and this damn white stuff-I don't know where to begin.

Iowa has four seaons, begging to differ with our local city boasting 5 seasons, but just like any other spot on this planet, we have four of them. At this point in life I think they can be listed as such, in no particular order: snow, ice, mud and just damn hot. Snow and ice could be combined to just too damn cold many a times - especially this year. Let's start with the first one on the list-snow.

This year, per our lovely weather guy(which has gotten just about every weather forecast right this winter!) since the first snow fall on November 21st, we have had an average of 52% of our days with snow. Laymans thinking, it snowed every other day this so far. On a further sour note, we are at 3.75 feet of snow in our area which if the trend continues, will be a record breaking season of snow, that goes as far back at the 1950's. Truth be told, it is pretty to look at but so is the moon and I never plan on going there. Calgone, take me away-preferably some place warm and without the seasons of mud and just too damn hot.

This last one was indeed a record breaker. 14.5 inches in Cedar Rapids, while outlying areas got about that much, more or less. I'm going with the more side. Living in the county has it's benefits. First off I can see any and all storms coming in and truth be told, I love to watch God's hand at work. Second off, the landscapers come and change the scenery on a regular basis. The down fall to the country, especially during the winter, snow bound kids, stuck trucks and when it finally all melts, there is a huge mess to clean up. I managed to make it into work on Wednesday am. No biggy really but funny that the people in town didn't head in while I had a 20 min drive down the highways and byways that were reported as travel not advised. Boss kicked me out at 11 because, well, I think he wanted to go home while there was still a chance of him getting there. So I meet my comic of a husband at the grocery store for those last minute snow supplies. Okay, I'm a bad mom-left the no school crew with quart of milk and just a few slices of bread. David was having way too much fun in the empty store and it caught on. My mother called and the only thing I could think of to say was-I'm stuck in the ditch in the middle of nowhere...... I think you can get the silence on the other end of the cell phone-a little stutter and I had to give in and say no, I'm fine.

So we head home. And they were right-travel was not advised. Got stuck turning off the hwy to the main road to the house. Got unstuck and up the road to turn around at the village. Made it home, this time with David in the lead. Parked out on the road, grabbed the groceries and told the boys to dig out the drive and park the burb for me. It really wasn't that cold, but the snow was falling and blowing and remind me to tuck in my shirt-yes, it went up there too and it's cold!

Upon entering the house, I am greeted by a 10 yr old who looks like she hasn't been up more then 5 mins, it's currently noon. When in fact I am told that she was up just after I left at 6:30am. In the five hours I was gone, she moved the entire stock of her bed to the front room and was surrounded by hundreds of stuffed animals. It was hard to tell where Fred, Clairee or even the kid was in that pile. She had watched all but the last 2 hours of the original Ten Commandments, had cocoa puffs for breakfast, not gotten dressed, brushed her teeth nor her hair. Yes it was a site. Also note-her brother was home also, he had just gotten up. Wish I could have snow days like this. So Mom comes in, takes over and rouses the house. Meredith off to take a shower and get dressed, plus relocate her collection back to her bedroom. Alec had to get dressed also, heaven forbid and go out and help clear the drifts so the burb could get in the drive.

Then comes the fun part-letting the four legged crew out to potty. The drifts along side the house were far enough away to provide a 2ft wide lane from the front gate to the front door. Othewise, it was like dunes in the desert. They kept moving, shifting and growing. The boys were in heaven. My guys are not afraid of the snow, they live for it. Bouncing through them, creating trails, fox and goose games going on. Find a somewhat flat spot to pee and off they go again. Fred makes doggy angels, lots of them. Groaning the entire time. Eddie got bogged down in one of the deepest drifts, which, unfortunately, gave Albert the perfect opportunity to attack. That's okay, later that night someone tried to bury Albert and he came in the house looking like a white cardigan with specticles. And if they couldn't bounce over them, they would go to the side and tunnel. So I let the collies out. Cardigans really try to keep up but that doesn't happen. New tactic, let the collies break the trail then follow, grab the tail or butt hair in Clairee's case and get a sled ride. Yes the dogs do know how to have fun. It was very hard to get them inside.

Later on when the sun came out, David and Meredith dug snow caves and tunnels in a few of the larger drifts. I, took a nap, though I was thinking I really should be at work. Oh well, hope I can get out in the morning(that almost didn't happen either). Now it's time to wait for the dreaded no school annoucements. These poor kids will have to go till the middle of summer to make up what they missed. Then again, I had no spring break, walked ten miles uphill both ways to the bus stop.........

Later gator---not looking forward to the next season-MUD!

C