Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

L to R:  Pepper, Lucky Lucy, Maxie

Here's our very first doggie posed Christmas Card!  I sent it out to family in magnetic frames, and to the dog's teachers and friends in a big card.  Of course the question was "Where's Willow?"  All I can say is Willow doesn't do agility and didn't attend the trial where the photographer was.  I posed the dogs I had with me.

Christmas was fun.  Jonathan came into town, we gathered at Audrey's house Christmas night with all the usual peeps.  I made a double batch of Seafood Gumbo, Audrey made her Oyster Dressing and Sweet Potatoes, other people brought salads and desserts.  Yum!   Then Nathan, Jonathan, John and I all went to see Hobbit II 3D the next night (John's treat).  The dragon was the most awesome ever, but my assessment of the movie was . . . . .  too loud, too long, with too much dragon, and too many orks . . . . . and 28 minutes of previews).  They overdid everything.  I had to make earplugs with my napkin to survive the high decibels.  Movie theatres seem hell-bent on making the populous deaf.
 
New Year's Eve . . . after 15 straight years of partying around a bonfire in our yard, writing our resolutions on a cabbage leaf, and all jumping the fireline and walking the labyrinth at midnight, we didn't do anything this year.  The energy just wasn't right.  The lawnmower broke so we couldn't vacuum the leaves nor even see the grass labyrinth, John pulled his back and was (still is) moaning with acute pain, my knee prevents me from walking much, Schuyler had the flu, the kids all had young people plans, and Laura's sister, Julie, came to her house to get some rest (she's going to have a baby in 25 days or so and is exhausted). Besides which, it drizzled all day and evening in 45 degree weather. Everyone hunkered down at home.  We all talked on the phone, though.  Audrey and I made sure to be talking together at midnight, and I went outside with towels and wiped the wet dust off my car, with fireworks exploding everywhere, so numerous it sounded like a 3 hour air-raid! And fireworks are illegal in Baton Rouge!!!!!!!!

John and I sat on the front porch sipping hot chocolate, discussed our resolutions and pretty much agreed on a direction for our new year, health being a top priority, financial stability,  family & friends, of course. Following our passions, enjoying each and every day.  And then, of course, being useful,  minimizing stress, etc.

His passion is astronomy, mine is my home, my dogs, and recording audio books for Librivox. 2014 will be interesting for both of us because there's not enough time in the day to learn or do all we want to learn or do, and that's a very good place to be.

Today was the LSU/IOWA game at noon (we won), and Laura made it over for cabbage and black eye peas!  I'll build a fire tonight in my newly repaired fireplace, and we'll look for a new series to watch on Netflix while we recover from our injuries.

My best wishes to everyone out there, and I'll now share my favorite recent fortune cookie wisdom with you: 

"Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out."

Upwards and onward!

Lolly-Gagging and Librivox

WOW!  Exactly 7 weeks since my last post.  I haven't exactly been lolly-gagging, just musing, coasting, groping my way, "seeing through a glass darkly".  After watching Maxie's agility performance deteriorate these past 8 months or so (poorer times, skipping the weaves), and observing his erratic behavior at home (skulking off into other rooms and hiding in corners to sleep), I have known something is wrong.  I took him to the doggie chiropractor who said several things were out of place but she said she put them back and gave me the green light to continue performing, with the admonition not to let him jump off the king-size bed any more!

But I lolly-gagged in getting him checked out further.  Plenty of other things intervened.  Finally I had to bring FoohFooh in with an infected toenail and bad limp, so Maxie came along, got some bloodwork done and a general checkup.  I found out he has inflamed gums and a few loose teeth, and perhaps a few compressed disks!  I scheduled a tooth cleaning for the next day. They ended up keeping him overnight because during the cleaning, 8 teeth fell out and they had to pull 8 more.  Little 7 lb. Maxie was on a morphine drip overnight, and lost 16 teeth!  I was absolutely sick.  Also, they put him on some liver meds to see if his numbers there might clear up in a month or so, otherwise they will have to do more!  And he's going back to the chiropractor this weekend, since one will be at our trial.

This has taken the wind out my sails.  I didn't realize how much I feed on Maxie's enthusiasm.  His comportment has always been "teach me something, Mommy, teach me something NOW!".  Most of the time nowadays,  he's just content to rest or look at me. He still runs, plays and eats well, but not with the same intensity.

Of course, there is still Lucky Lucy, always wanting to tug and retrieve, go for walks, etc.  Depending upon me so much for her entertainment.  I throw the ball for her and she stays in shape leaping over the 30" fence several times a day to retrieve her ball.  (Retrieving is great when the dog brings you back the ball -- all you have to do is stand there!)  But it's not enough.  She needs more.

And then there is Pepper.    What a sweetheart, but I'm not sure I can go the distance to train him as an agility dog.  He does all the full height equipment, and we play around, but he just doesn't get the sequencing.  He loves to tug, and to chase the ball, too, but doesn't bring it back.  And, he doesn't beg to be trained like the other two.  It is not imperative to me, I'm realizing, to have a third agility dog.

And then, my vegetable garden has kept me occupied, plus making jellies and pickles.  I'm working on a single post that will cover the entire season's harvest in pictures. Here's one day's worth.  Isn't it beautiful?

And then I've discovered how much I love to record audio books.  That sucks up a lot of my time, but it's so fascinating.  In honor of my deceased father, an avid sailor and seaman, who treasured Moby Dick, Treasure Island, and all the old sea adventure books, I'm solo recording Jules Verne's  Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea for Librivox.  It is a HUGE project, a real challenge, and I'm only half-way through!  It will probably take me through December to complete it.  I also record short stories and segments for several of Librivox's collaborative projects.  What fun, to record, also to listen.  I stream free audio books on my iPhone (through iTunes) almost every night, while driving, in the dentist's chair, etc.  So does John.  I can listen while washing dishes, sweeping, weeding the garden, etc. FREE Librivox audio books have supplanted Netflix as our entertainment of choice!  We are having a blast catching up on all the classic literature we never found time to read in our long working careers. 

For my dog loving friends, here's a wonderful Librivox recording I listened to recently, Jack London's White Fang.  Man, what a dog story! You can download it to your computer, or to iTunes then stream or download to your iPhone, iPad, or mp3 player.  Best of all, it's free!

In any case, this weekend is our local dog club's agility trial and both Maxie and Lucky Lucy are entered.  With little practice under our belts due to heat and so many rainouts, we'll just go and see how we do.  I'm feeling very relaxed and comfortable about it, no matter what the outcome.  But I wouldn't mind a few Q's!

Upwards and onward!

Librivox Audio Books




by Kristen

I love audio books, which I get free from the library, and podcasts which I can stream on my iPhone.  I often do this laying in bed at night, or on the road in my RV when there is no TV reception, maybe even no electrical power.  It is a source of endless entertainment and education, for free, forever, without straining my eyes.  To help with my insomnia, my husband sometimes reads me to sleep, but when he's not around (like at most agility trials), these podcasts "read me to sleep", and when I wake up in the night, they can "read me to sleep" again.

Interesting factoids: 
- you can stream podcasts on your iPhone ALL NIGHT LONG and it hardly consumes any battery!
- If you have Wi-Fi, set your phone up for that and you won't use up your Cellular Data quota
- If you have the Unlimited Cellular Data plan, like I do, it doesn't cost any extra to go that route.

My good friend Phil has been after me to turn my attention to recording as well as listening to Public Domain books through an awesome volunteer organization called Librivox, an online community which in 7 short years has organized over 8000 volunteers to audio-record and help upload over 6759 books, short story collections, poems, and topical programs. Librivox organizes and stores them FREE to anyone through their website. It's an amazingly successful effort with fun at its core.

As so many agility folks I know enjoy reading, I thought I would share how to check out the Librivox website.  You can listen via download or streaming through iTunes or other programs listed, on your computer, iPhone, iPad, mp3 player, etc.  There are whole books, poetry, short story collections, and last night in bed, lights out, dogs curled up all around me, I went to their Community Podcasts, randomly chose one, and was surprised with a charming 50 minute talk on The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyám, including some wonderful verse plus a discussion of the history of the poet, the plusses and minuses of the various translations.  Some Librivox volunteers specialize in recording one particular author or genre and bring you a whole lifetime of expertise on that one topic, and all as volunteers.  Fascinating!



I have only begun to search through all of Librivox's offerings. Here's a video Phil made on how to find material to listen to at www.librivox.org.

Upwards and onward!