Gonzo’s Talents

So, my high school had a talent show tonight, as a fundraiser for the dance team, who wants to go to dance team Nationals in Florida. In a moment of weakness, I volunteered myself and Gonzo for some stupid pet tricks. It was pretty cute, and Gonzo was a hit, but man, he is CRASHED now – a zillion kids petting him, lots of tricks, lots of screaming and clapping from the audience in the auditorium, and the bright spotlights on the stage, even for those few short minutes, took their toll. Still, it’s always nice to do something with just Gonzo…he kind of just “is”, around the house…gets lost in the shuffle. He’s been sleeping on the bed with me for the past few nights, in David’s absence, which is nice, so I don’t become too much of a bed hog when David gets back.

Anyway, on another note, week three at the gym, and I’m finally getting back in to the swing of things. I will say that I do love the mild high that I get from working out, and it does wonders for my self esteem when I go regularly and work hard 🙂 Tomorrow I meet with the trainer again to discuss diet and eating habits. Then probably a workout from hell, under her supervision 🙂 But I’ll enjoy every second of it.

David is home again, after a week’s absence down at Funagain in Ashland (www.funagain.com). So that means I can watch Curb Your Enthusiasm again…I can’t watch it alone, for some reason. It’s just not funny when I’m alone, and I feel weird laughing by myself.

Life is good!

Fun with video

I thought I’d try sharing a video from a recent trial, so here goes:

The video quality is really lossy…Heather, if you read this, do you have any advice? I rendered it using the 512 Kbps setting on Sony Vegas…

USDAA and more rain

So, I only just now got home from the USDAA trial not more than 40 minutes from my house. I’m feeling pretty anti-USDAA at the moment. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the games (except for gamblers, which I think is the ruination of good and consistent handling), but I absolutely hate not having time between runs to properly cool my dogs down, and I hate not having time to sit and bond with them. In the end, that’s why I’m there – to do agility, and to spend time with my dogs, whom I love so dearly. Oh yeah, sure, I want to win…although that’s not entirely it – I want to do my absolute best, be the best I can be, and raise my dogs to be their best as well.

Anyway, Jesse did pretty well. He qualified and placed in all of his runs for the weekend – except I think pairs, because his partner didn’t qualify. He won the 26″ GP, and got 2nd in the Steeplechase. He finished his MAD, and only needs gamble legs for his ADCH – this because I don’t attempt the gambles if they require handling that I wouldn’t normally present to my dog. By the end of the weekend, his contacts, which have recently gotten somewhat sloppy, were tightened up quite a bit, and overall I was pleased with his performances.

Fly did well too. He won the Perfomance 22″ GP, and qualified in both the standard runs with a high enough YPS to win the NW Cup for Performance dogs (an award he’s won twice before in the Championship Division). There was some pretty good competition in the Performance class, too, which was great to see – apparently there are lots of other people who absolutely cannot stand that stupid goddamned 6’3″ A-frame.

And yet, I absolutely hate that instead of coming home feeling triumphant and happy, I just feel thin and wasted, and chilled to the bone. My dogs are exhausted, and so am I. I’m definitely an AKC Princess, and I’m okay with that. It’s no secret that my one goal is to be on the AKC USA World Team – everything I do is in keeping with that goal. So why even bother with USDAA? Well, USDAA Nationals is a pretty big event, and I like big events. If I want to be on the World Team, I should strive to be successful in any venue I choose to participate in, and of course all of the people who are at the top in AKC are also at the top at USDAA Nationals, and USDAA Nationals is just one more opportunity to compete with the best.

Still, even though I’m obsessed with the idea of being on the World Team, my dogs are pets for the vast majority of each day. I work full time, and trial weekends are often when I get the most quality time with my dogs. I can take walks with them, hang out in my little trailer with them, just BE with them and relax. But not at a USDAA trial.

On the upshot…..NEXT weekend is an AKC Trial, which I am absolutely thrilled about. Jesse needs just two QQs for MACH2, and Fly needs just three QQs for MACH3. I had thought it would be neat to get both MACHs with both dogs on the same day and the same run, but I guess the same weekend will have to suffice.

And to top it all off, it just won’t quit raining.

Farting around

I’ve been farting around with making my Livejournal “prettier”. Jeez. Talk about nerdy. It is pouring here. I had planned on taking the dogs outside, even just for a few minutes to burn off some steam, but that plan was aborted. They’ll just have to wait out the weather…and I’ll head to the gym to blow off some steam myself in a bit. Then, back to the computer to edit some more videos from this past weekend, so I can send a tape off to Linda for (hopefully) some good feedback.

I’ve sort of been toying with the idea of keeping my competition journal online, using Livejournal…we’ll see.

Jesse is driving me insane.

Rain rain go away, and only come back when I’m sleeping

It is raining. It has been raining. It was raining. It rains. It is likely to continue raining. Rain predicted in the forecast. That about sums up winter in Oregon.

Thank heavens christmas is over. I started going back to the gym last week, complete with appointments with the trainer that I used last year. It hurt, but it also felt really good. So Christmas Eve I put my fat butt on the scale to see the damages, and get a baseline of sorts…ouch. Those cookies are evil. So, *sigh*…..no more cookies for a while.

Who am I kidding, though? It’ll just have to be more sweat put in at the gym. Bleh.

The dogs are going bonkers, and I really don’t want to take them outside at ALL. I’m sick of wet stinky dogs, and I’m sick of doing agility in the rain. I want that indoor carpeted arena NOW, dammit!

…..off to the gym.

Yippeee

I am now a LiveJournal member. Yay. I’m not sure if I will start blogging here, or continue blogging at my myspace page (My Myspace Page), but I’m sure I’ll figure it out shortly.

Daisy