Solar and I got to Atlanta at 6:30am.  My flight to Brussels wasn’t til 5:30pm, so I pulled my luggage and Solar out of the airport and rented a car for the day.  We headed to a nice breakfast joint where I got some tasty southern breakfast; grits, biscuits, eggs, and sausage, and some GOOD coffee.  Yum. Not healthy, but YUM.  Then I headed over to a friend’s house, a friend who lives in Atlanta and who I met years ago at chicken camp.  It was good to catch up.  At 11:30, I headed back to the airport to pick up Lori Michaels and her dog Soleil, who arrived from KS and were flying out to BRU with Solar and I. Solar and Solei got along great, of course – their names are the same!

Our flight to Brussels was uneventful, and once there, we met up with Linda Mecklenburg and Wonder, who flew over from OH on a different flight, and then we all drove to our hotel near the show site, about an hour from the airport.  The coke machine at the airport had this really weird psychedelic peeing cherub on the front; Linda said last time she was in Belgium, he was EVERYwhere.  Weird.

The weather here is much like the weather in the NW, cold at night, nice during the day, with intermittent showers, and lots of green everywhere.  The hotel is really nice and quiet, and much like our stay in Germany in 2010, there

are lots of nice trails just behind the hotel that the dogs can run around on, off leash.  It’s very relaxing.  And, the wifi isn’t all that great,

which is a mixed blessing/curse – I try to do things in the Online Classroom but then just when I try to do something the internet cuts out, and so I’m forced to go and enjoy the scenery.

On Wednesday, we had a two hour practice at the show site, which has really nice dirt just like in Germany in 2010.  It’s a pretty high end horse facility, there were some pretty fancy horses there jumping some pretty fancy horse jumps!  Two of the three rings are going to be outside, so hopefully it won’t rain during the event.  One of the rings is inside, no worries there!

After our practice, Lori Michaels, Stacy Peardot-Goudy, and her husband Geoff Goudy, and myself all headed to Brussels for a little sightseeing.  Unlike David, I am terrible at finding good places to go in advance; he’s the one who always has that stuff planned.  But, I figured that if I used the GPS to route us to the Museum of Cacao and Chocolate, we were bound to get close to some other good stuff as well.  The traffic in Brussels was really thick, so by the time we got to the museum, it was 4:34 PM, and the museum closed at 4:30! But, as predicted, the museum was in a lovely square in the middle of the city, and we got to do a lot of sightseeing anyway.

The same peeing cherub that was on the coke machine was everywhere.  On beer steins, shirts, posters, cups, mugs, you name it.  Corkscrews where the cherub’s equipment was replaced by the screw (super weird) abounded. After our dinner in the square, we used the GPS on my phone to locate the actual statue that all of the tourist paraphernalia was promoting, and it wasn’t too far from where we were.  So we headed over to take a look.  Well, the actual statue/fountain was pretty underwhelming compared to all the tourist junk:

And in fact, this one was much more interesting:

Thursday, we headed back to the show site around 1:45pm for a 2:30pm veterinary check.  Then, off to do a little shopping before practice at 4pm. After practice, opening ceremonies! And now, I’m headed off to bed, to get a full night’s sleep before an early day tomorrow!

While at Tryouts last weekend, David and I made an offer on a house.  The offer went back and forth, back and forth, and then Wednesday night, it was ACCEPTED.  Part of the reason we really love this house is all the light – look at those windows! The light, the property, it’s all really amazing. Also, the price – it’s a short sale, so even though our offer was accepted, it’s not over YET; we still need to wait for the seller’s bank to approve the sale.

In fact, I’m SO not excited that I played around with Google Sketch to make this:

Read the original Holding Thumbs, Holding Breath post.

All in all, although not the weekend I had hoped for, it wasn’t a bad weekend.  There were three very tricky dogwalk challenges in the standard rounds at Tryouts, and Solar and I *aced* them all.  We had three clean rounds out of five, and placed in those three clean rounds. We had no missed contacts, no dropped bars, no refusals, no missed weave poles, just two minor bobbles that ended in the big E  We went in to round 3 in first place.  We ended up in fifth place overall.  So by the numbers, yes, not bad.

Still, I had high expectations for myself and I didn’t meet them. After round 5, I’m not ashamed to say that I left the arena and sat in my rental car and had a little bit of a cry.  Yes, I know that there are many who would like to be in my shoes.  Yes, I know that I did better than many other fine competitors.  But still, for me at least, that’s part and parcel of WANTING something – if you really, REALLY want something, then you have to be prepared for some frustration and disappointment that might just be proportional to how badly you wanted that something.  And I must say, my fire is kindled this year like no other.  In 2010, I was excited for my young dog (Solar), who had won Nationals, to get some experience at Tryouts.  In 2011, I *thought* we were a team.  But this year, 2012, I really feel like we are starting to come together as a bang-up team; Solar will be 5 next month (still young!!), and last month, once again, won AKC Nationals. And so I want it – I want to go to the Czech Republic and burn it up. So yes, I was disappointed, and yes, I was frustrated to the point of tears.  But after a couple of primal screams in my rental car (windows up!!)…well…life goes on, and at the end of the day, the quality of my participation in life is under my control.  And I’d much rather have smile lines than frown lines! My tea tag tonight says “The art of longing and the art of belonging must be experienced in life”.  How appropriate

Also, this year, I had the opportunity to cheer on several STUDENTS who were at Tryouts, and that was a huge thrill for me. It was really cool to have played a part in their successes, to have been a part in their journey.  I didn’t anticipate just how much I would enjoy that, and I’m looking forward to more opportunities to enjoy that particular role.

In 2010, before the team was announced, I kept a post of thoughts leading up to team selection, and kept it private til the team was announced (and til I could put an ending to that particular story). It was therapeutic for me at the time, and I enjoyed reading it again this afternoon after I got back to my hotel after Tryouts was over, so I think I’ll be doing that again It’s fun to have a record of my thoughts that is so easily searchable.

For now, no rest for the wicked; I leave for Belgium next week, for the World Agility Open, to represent the USA. This will be my first WAO, and it should be a fun, interesting, and challenging experience, one that I’m looking forward to.

And, we put an offer in on a house yesterday! It’s a gorgeous home, and I’m really hoping that the offer gets accepted.  Holding thumbs…

Solar is back to his favorite non-agility activity: sleeping!

Shortly, I will be joining Solar in his favorite non-agility activity – sleeping.  He’s a champion at sleeping and snuggling, and he has already left his post at my feet under the motel room table for the bed, and is opening his eyes sluggishly as if to ask why I am not there with him yet.

Tryouts for the 2012 AKC USA World Agility Team are starting tomorrow.  This evening, my cup of tea had the following quote on the tag:

“When ego is lost, limit is lost. You become infinite, kind, beautiful”

David put in a note to the buyer’s agent we’re working with in the Portland area to let her know to make an offer on a wonderful house we saw last week.  A house we could grow old in together, with our dogs. It’s a scary proposition – scary, and exciting.  The offer may be a moot point, as there’s an open house Sunday, and we’re not interested in being part of a bidding war. I told David that I wanted to concentrate on Tryouts this weekend, but certainly this will be on my mind. It’s a big step, but we’re both excited about it. It makes me feel alive.

Each year I’ve gone to Tryouts is a different and unique experience.  I’ve gone as the first timer, I’ve gone as a repeat World Team Member, I’ve gone as National Champion – but at the end of the day, I go to run fun and challenging courses with my amazing dog/s. I love the feeling of amazement that I get each year just prior to this event – the feeling of amazement that comes from the idea that we can even DO this with our dogs.  It’s crazy. And, I’m sure, like everybody else at Tryouts, that MY dog is the best dog, the most good looking dog, the best snuggling dog – of course everybody feels that way about their dogs at Tryouts, because without that special teamwork, without that special bond, none of the teams would BE there. And so, when I read that little tea tag, I looked at Solar, who has no ego, and who lives for each moment, and got a little teary eyed.  I’m hoping tomorrow that we can have three runs where together, we can be infinite, kind, and beautiful, while we’re out there together. This year, this tryouts, I feel like everything is slowed down. Slowed down so that I can savor every moment of it. I hope our runs are slowed down such that they last forever, so that I can see each step my dog takes with infinite clarity; I don’t want to miss a single moment.

“The Fire Snake is a sign that one would not wish to offend in a hurry. Possessing all the ingenuity and intuitive power of the Snake nature, this personality has the added dynamism and temper associated with the fiery element. The result is a sign that is both magnificent and cunning, charismatic as well as dangerous.

Fire is mostly associated with a greater dynamism in the sign – the result is especially noticeable in case of a sign like Snake who is naturally easy-going and even lethargic. When allied with the element Fire, this Snake gains some of the can-do attitude of more dynamic signs. Thus the Fire sign is ready to get on with things instead of just plotting and planning on how to achieve his/her aims. However since the essential Snake nature is opposed to rushing about and jumping on the merry-go-round of the world, the influence of Fire serves to heighten the ambition of the Snake rather than make him physically energetic in nature. The Fire Snake thus want a good deal from life – they want the money, they want the status but most of all they want power, and they will do anything to get it.

Yet another way that this Snake is affected by the dynamism of Fire is to acquire a more extroverted personality. Beneath all that social finesse and cultured veneer, the Snake in general is a very private person. They do not feel the need to surround themselves with human company and neither do they hanker for new and sensational experiences. The basic Snake nature is only too happy to be surrounded by the familiar and the pleasurable. But the Fire Snake on the other hand will be too glad of the limelight; unlike other Snakes who lurk quietly and confidently in the background, he/she will be laughing and shouting, telling jokes and holding court amidst friends and admirers.”

From www.futurescope.com

Mostly, these things are fun to muse on, but don’t mistake musing for belief Still, I do feel as though there is a need within me to constantly be changing, growing, evolving.  As soon as I get comfortable in my metaphorical skin, I feel myself scrubbing it off for something new that is coming along in its wake.  There are a lot of good things in my mind to be gained from having such an outlook.  On the other hand, if your’e constantly scrubbing off your skin, the skin left behind, the “new” you, is often left feeling raw and fresh.

I’m not sure why I had all these thoughts today, but they do seem appropriate.  In between exercising like mad to be in shape for Tryouts, working on finding a house in Oregon, working on the Online Classroom, flying around teaching, flying to TX to help take part in a Pilot Mental Management Instructor program…there’s not much time left over to discover much about myself.  But, perhaps that IS me – somebody who likes to be on the go, discovering new things, never making it easy for herself

I am determined this year that if I do NOT make it on the USA Team, it will not be for lack of preparation or effort.  And, if I *do* make the team, I am determined that if I do NOT do well at World Championships, it will not be for lack of preparation and effort.  I was not prepared last year. I spent much of my time wallowing around worrying about things that never happened anyway. I was not physically fit enough.  I was intimidated by my own maturity and in the loss of Daisy the wunderkind, rather than welcoming in Daisy the maturing athlete. Oh, there’s no doubt my dog, and I, are talented performers.  But talent is not fully utilized if the talented one is not prepared to meet the opportunity.  No magic can happen then!! This year, I am determined to make magic happen – or at least, to till the soil, plant the seeds, plough the way, whatever you want to call it, to make the conditions ripe for magic to happen