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!

Is Agility Expensive?

John, Nathan, Audrey and I had the pleasure of attending my grandson's final day at summer camp last Friday-- a week long adventure at Bennett's Water Ski Camp in Zachary.  Kids from all over the world attend this camp, to the tune of $775 for a week, plus lodging.  The staff comes from all over the world as well, usually attending ULL (University of Louisiana Lafayette), which has a world renouned water ski program.  We met staff and students from Columbia, South America, Australia, Mexico, and other far-off places. 
Here's a 360 video of the campus.  Pretty impressive.  More pix on their website.



We also took videos of my grandson doing his final "beginner ski" run in Lake #3 -- my son rode in the boat with my iPhone, and I videoed from the shore with my Sony 3.3 megapixel HDD Handycam.  For some reason, Jonathan got quite a few more passes around the lake than the other students -- perhaps because he is athletic and strong and could take the beating.



I also think it's because he's a good student -- he doesn't get rattled when he makes a mistake, just gets back up and keeps going.  He seems to understand that there is "a learning curve", that it takes lots of practice to get good at anything.

After his turn, we visited the Pro Shop to get a cold beverage.  The shop was small but packed from floor to ceiling with water ski paraphranalia from vests, caps, bathing suits, wet suits, underwater cameras, ropes, goggles, and, of course, rows and rows of skis.  I was shocked at the prices!  The skis I liked were $1500, and a used water board propped up in the corner with a "For Sale" sign on it read $500.  Everything costs a fortune.

Each lake had a ski boat on it towing students one after another.  Our boat was the smallest, a MasterCraft, which we were told cost $65,000.  No telling how much gas it burns in a day. There is nothing cheap about water skiing!

And that's just to pleasure ski.  Competition water skiing, getting to the venues, lodgings, etc., must be very expensive as well.

Made me appreciate that agility is a relatively inexpensive sport -- an agility Pro Shop unnecessary.  Most of the equipment is stuff we'd use to care for the family dog -- a crate or two, leashes, dog beds and cushions, treats, dog food and bowls.  Add a few camp chairs, an exercise pen, a rug, a cooler, a battery powered fan.  No fancy attire required - your everyday shorts, tennies, jeans and T's.  A sweat band or two.  A few jumps in the back yard, and a place to practice that has all the "expensive" equipment.  Or, like me, you could have your own fully equipped agility yard for under $1000 iif you build your own.

Of course, our most essential piece of "equipment" is the dog!  And that, we'd probably have anyway.

Upwards and onward!
Michele

Cross Country Races - Part II

A few weekends back I attended my first cross country race, and the very next weekend, I attended my second one, where my grandson was running again -- their last Baton Rouge race.  I brought my sister-in-law Audrey, and Lucky Lucy this time, and met up again with Nathan and Allison.  John, of course, was at work. Knowing more what to anticipate, I captured new and different aspects of the races on video, and succeeded in tracking Jonathan's run much better.  For example, I caught the first 50 or so kids crossing the finish line, including Jonathan coming in at 30 (out of 300), several of his team-mates likewise finishing in the top 30, then the runners being funneled into a cool-down chute and into a tent where they turned in their numbers.  Their tags were stacked in order, and that's how they knew each kid's placement!  No electronic eyes here!  Here's video snippets highlighting all that:

The kids ran a bit slower this weekend and were more exhausted at the end.  Nathan surmised it was because the air quality was worse than last weekend.  It was also not quite as cool.  But the turnout seemed even larger, and all had a "camptown races, doo dah" feel.

L to R:  Michele, Audrey, Nathan, Philippe (Jonathan's
school friend), Jonathan, Allison

We enjoyed hanging out as a family for a change, each of us too busy doing our own things most of the time. Nathan discussed his early running training (which I don't even remember being as how it happened mostly at school and I don't have any pictures) -- how the movement of the legs is dependant upon the way the arms swing!   I found that interesting!  I also enjoyed watching the boys warming up with their coaches, though I didn't get a video of that.  I meant to.

Nathan demoing "deep breathing"
L to R:  Michele, Nathan, Phillippe, Jonathan, Allison

Nathan also gave a demo on deep breathing, which Jonathan and his friend Phillippe tried.  It was entertaining, and Audrey caught this photo of my "ripped" grandson.  Where is my baby boy?  I'm glad he's in a good high school where his energies are channeled into constructive activities and self-improvement.

I found out Nathan is running 5 miles around University Lakes a few times a week these days.  Seems our end of the family is getting more into fitness now, lagging far behind my nieces and nephews (David's kids) who have been doing triathalons, karate, soccer, and lifting weights for years.



Lucky attracts admirers of all ages.

Lucky was a kid magnet, of course.  Kids and grownups came by to pet her, and at one point I put her thru some obedience paces -- heeling off leash, figure 8's, sit/stay/come from about 30' away, finish, and line up between my legs.  Nothing spectacular, except curious onlookers remarked that their dogs could never do that.  (Well, if they'd take them to a few obedience classes, they probably could!)  What I found spectacular was that despite crowds of people milling about close by us and even crossing our path, Lucky was totally calm and "all eyes on me".  I was a very proud mama!

Last weekend was the agility seminar. Tonight I teach class. Tomorrow I leave for the

Kiln trial, so today I'm packing, packing, packing.  Weekend after that, Lucky's CGC test.  Doggie stuff is increasingly taking over my life . . . . . . . my yard, my garden and my house might not agree with me, but . . . . . it's a good thing.

Upwards and onward!

Cross Country Racing

Michele and Jonathan, after the race.

I've never been to a cross-country race, so my mind was reeling with excitement last Saturday morning while attending my grandson's cross country races at Highland Park.  Nathan, Allison and I met up there.  Hundreds of high schoolers from neighboring parishes were bussed in to compete in 2 mile and 3 mile races from about 9-11 a.m.  15 to 20 schools had canopies set up across the landscape. The crowds of spectators were enormous, I'm guessing 1,000.  Parking spaces were scarce and a long ways away. The weather was bright, beautiful, and cool on the 1st day of October.  Thank goodness for that, because the terrain was hilly for the runners and not much shade.

I took lots of videos but there was so much to take in, I only got a moment's footage of my own grandkid at the end, which you'll see in the composite video below.  But that turned out not to be my only subject.  I found the whole event fascinating, especially gratifying to see so many kids participating, not as in days of old when only a select few made the varsity team and the rest of us sat on the sidelines.  "We've come a long way, baby", in recognizing the value of participation and inclusion.

I also got the proof I needed that real runners do get airborn, they land heel first, and their back feet kick up behind them!  I've been asking for a Running Coach (see previous post).  This helped.

Here's a composite of snippets from all the footage I took at various stages of various races, including the start, middle and nearing the end of Jonathan's race:

I have simply GOT to get a faster computer, a better video camera, and better video editing software!  It took me a whole day to make this 4 minute video!  And COX had better get their act together, too.  Their broadband delivery system is woefully inadequate and I'm going to dump them the minute I find a better alternative.

Jonathan nearing the finish line.

I include one still shot from the video, for those of you still on dial-up who can't play the videos I post. Just letting you know (Mom and Dad), you are really cramping my style! 

I heard Jonathan came in 27th, a very respectable finish, but anyone that finished has my respect. Nothing like being shown up by a herd (or is it hoard) of teenagers.

Nathan, Maxie, Willow

Of course I brought Maxie and Willow, and  they were, as always, a conversation piece.  I heard people exclaim "look, twins", "how cute", and "can I pet your chihuahuas".  Very few recognize the Papillon breed, and nobody I told about Maxie's and my sport had heard of dog agility!   We've got a ways to go to get our message out about agility.  I'm proud that anybody, even the physically challenged, can participate in my sport.  I'm proud that I, at last, can say . . . . . "I have a sport!"

Another thing I'm proud of is Willow, who used to huff, pant, grunt and become overheated just walking around the block when we first got her, did perfectly fine walking around for 2 hours in all the excitement.  Down from 16 pounds to 8.5 in the past 2 years, I take this as a solid sign that her heart is truly healthy again.  This is most gratifying, especially as she is indispensible as Maxie's crate mate at trials. Gotta have her!

Upwards and onward!

Jonathan's 14th Birthday inspires New Training Goals



Michele, Jonathan, John

Yesterday (Friday) afternoon/evening we set aside time to celebrate my grandson's 14th birthday.  Jonathan lives in Metairie (about 90 miles from me), and is so busy now with school and wrestling, even on weekends, I don't get to see him very often.  He's about the closest thing, next to my dogs, that makes me go mushy.  We always have a grand time together. He always inspires.

It was our customary foursome: John, Jonathan, Audrey and me. And as a family tradition, we always go see the latest Harry Potter movie together whenever it comes out - perfect timing for his birthday this year.





John, Jonathan, Aunt Audrey in front of the Prytania Theater



So I looked around New Orleans and found that only the Prytania Theatre off St. Charles and Jefferson was playing this movie in 3D, at 5 p.m.  Never heard of the place.  We arrived at a tiny, old red brick theater on a residential street, with no parking lot (every patron uses the parking meters right on the street!).  So I was fairly sure it would be a disappointment.

NOT SO! 



Concessions, Jonathan, John, Audrey

While the Prytania is a single screen theater with a small lobby and small concession stand, with not even one single video game, it has an interesting brick architecture, brilliant red wool carpets and a reasonably sized auditorium with reasonably comfortable seats.  The screen and sound were perfect, and a large wooden stage in front of the screen brought back nostalgic memories of my days working for Ogden-Perry Theatre chain (Gordon Theater, Broadmoor Theater) in my youth.

Beautiful chandeliers.  Very friendly staff.  I talked with a local patron who said it's the only theater she ever goes to, walks there from her house and catches every movie that comes in.  Neat.

Staircase to the balcony seats.

A staircase with hand painted posters on the walls leads up to an old-fashioned balcony, a step back into yesteryear for sure.

Harry Potter, The Deathly Hallows, Part 2, Where It All Ends, in 3D was awesome.  It did not disappoint.  It was faithful to the book.  It ended on a high note.  We left feeling victorious.  Just the kind of movie I like.

A few more theater pix



Main Entrance to Prytania Theater
(L-R) John, Jonathan, Michele

 

"A Streetcar Named Desire" sidewalk art, in front of Prytania Theater, w. Jonathan



Michele and Jonathan

Afterwards, Jonathan chose sushi for his birthday dinner, and we found The Basil Leaf on S. Carrolton, with the trolley cars going by in the rain.  The food was not that special, but it gave us a cozy place to give him his birthday cards, chat and catch up on all the latest gossip and news before rushing him home to pack.

His Dad picks him up at 10:30 this morning for a 6 day cruize to Cozumel.  Lucky them! Then school starts, and he'll be too busy again to see much of me.  No more time to attend agility trials with me, either, which he says "isn't his thing anyway".  This makes my heart hurt, for I had so hoped to share my favorite passion with my favorite person.  At least he is very devoted to his wrestling (which isn't my thing either come to think of it, but I would go watch him), so he is in the gym almost every day and already 3rd in State in his weight category.  Hopefully, wrestling will teach him to strive for excellence and acquaint him with the thrill of analysis and going all out.  It pleases me to think so. His team got their asses stomped this weekend competing with other teams from all over the US.  It gave him and his coaches some new training goals.


It got me focused on my new training goals - I promised to "turn over a new leaf" beginning today.  I have 2 weeks 'til the Hattiesburg trial.  2 weeks to learn to run again (after 8 weeks of limping with a very sore calf and other people running my dogs at the last trial I attended in Monroe).  2 weeks to remind my dogs how to run a course and follow my guidance.  My first run this past Wednesday night teaching class, wasn't so good.  Neither of my dogs were focused, missed ques, knocked bars, ran off sniffing.  And I realized I've built up a heap of fear around re-injuring my leg.  I have to let go of that fear, build up my confidence.  So I picked up all the sticks in my agility yard this morning, committed to run my dogs every day for at least a few turns, and walk on my treadmill 30 minutes a day, if only in 10 minute increments.  The heat index of over 105 degrees daily and high humidity of 30-70%, makes going outside (even at 6:30 a.m.) an unpleasant task.  10 minutes out there and I'm feeling clammy and trickling sweat and my dogs are panting.  But we've got to work through this if we want those green and blue ribbons, and those titles by the end of the year.

Maxie, 2010, NA and NAJ Titles

I've got to think RIBBONS.  Boxes and boxes of RIBBONS. Some dogs like food.  Some like tugging and chasing toys.  Some trainers like Q's, improved time, or just "running with their dogs".  Me, I'm wild about RIBBONS, especially the blue ones (1st place) and the purple ones (2Q's in a day)!  That's my #10 reinforcements, and I never have this picture of Maxie's early successes (6 runs, 6 Q's, 6 1st places) and my elation over them very far out of my mind.  We're a much better team now, but the challenges have gotten harder, competition stiffer, the ribbons more elusive and with all this summer heat and rain plus my calf injury, the training sessions have been very infrequent. BAH!

Upwards and onward!

Mother's Day Weekend Surprises!



Michele and Winston (5.5 months old)

 As I reported at the beginning of this blog, I didn't get Maxie until he was 6 months old, so I missed out on his early puppyhood.  I've been making up for that now, thanks to my cousin Lois's gift of two 8 week old Papillon puppies to raise and/or sell back in January, and by staying in touch with their new owners I am able to learn more about Papillon puppy development, how fast they grow, how smart they are, when their feathers fill in, temperament, training, etc.

The first surprise?  Kathy called me Friday morning asking if I would keep Winston over the weekend.  Her husband offered her a Mother's Day weekend getaway but the hotel didn't take dogs.  I had told both new owners I would  puppy sit "any time", and suddenly, it was time.  I leaped at the chance provided I could take Winston with me while I managed the Crawfish Boil on Saturday (previous post).  She said yes, I made a few adjustments to manage a puppy (set up the Xpen outside, put up a baby gate at the kitchen, put newspaper in Lucky's big crate where the puppy could spend the night, and a dog crate in the car), and within a few hours, I was a puppy mom again!

Winston at 9 weeks.

Winston (previously "Roku") seemed to remember us and all our dogs, and was properly indignant when fenced off in the kitchen or Xpen.  I quickly became confident to set him free, and he just ran with the pack like he had never left our house. They seemed to remember him, too.  WOW!  This brought back so many memories of Maxie's first weeks here.  I forgot how full of "piss and vinegar" little puppies are!

Knowing he would be picked up Sunday afternoon, I spent my Mother's Day morning doing a bit of puppy training and taking videos of Winston while I had the chance.  More on that in the next post.

Second surprise?  Nathan and Allison came over around 4 p.m. with a beautiful bouquet of flowers, a tub of goose pate, and a lovely card.  I got to download Allison's ivideos of Jonathan's wrestling matches, which I uploaded to my family web album here.

Third surprise?  I called Jonathan and actually got him live, and we had a lovely chat.  He says he looks forward to seeing me this summer.  Boy, I am so looking forward to seeing him, though I have no idea what to do with a teenager.  He says "Just feed me.", but I think we'll take him to Avery Island, some plantation tours, maybe camping on a river somewhere. The phone book, I recently discovered, has a long list of tourist sites I've never even heard of.  We'll work that page over.  Sounds like a plan.

Okay, so now to post the training videos . . . . . . .



The Fry's Christmas - 2010

L to R:  Michele, Nathan, Allison, Jonathan,
Steven, Dawn, Audrey, John
Maxie and Willow were busy eating crumbs off the floor.

As said previously, I couldn't muster the energy to decorate nor take down Maxie's titling ribbons and photos from my mantle this year, so Audrey stepped up and offered her house. She made the sweet potato casserole, her famous oyster dressing and coccoons, salad, and rolls, and I brought a 14 lb spiral ham, loaded mashed potatoes, pecan pies, and chocolate.  And there were other goodies, like the Santa Bread.
  It worked out perfect.  Lots of hearty laughter.  Despite pleas of "no material objects, please,"

Lucky's Doghouse

Jonathan, Lucky, Max and Willow
and the completed dog house.

This morning it was 45 degrees at 6:30 a.m. when I took my dogs out to pottie.  Lucky immediately curled up in her dog house for warmth, which reminded me how it was about a year ago that my grandson and I built it.

Since Jonathan usually spends a long weekend with me at Thanksgiving, I'm always looking for short projects we can do that will develop his manual and thinking skills.  Something he can do besides texting his friends and playing video games. Something requiring planning, thinking, and a tangible result.
Since Lucky is technically HIS dog,  what better way for Jonathan to show responsibility than to build "his dog" a dog house.  I have tons of scrap wood and screws (one of the advantages of living on a large property is my ability to store stuff), so the project wouldn't cost us a dime.


Our plans on paper, and the pattern
for the upper curve of the door,
 of Jonathan's design.

It was glorious fall weather, great for being outdoors, no jacket required. We reviewed our materials, set up a table out by the shed, lined up all our fabulous battery-powered DeWalt tools, then sat down with paper and pencil to design a house.  I had a some exterior siding left over from the shed's construction that would not need painting, some 1"x1" remnants for the supports, and a neat wooden "counter top" I had salvaged off of someone's trash pile . . . . . (yep, I'm a certified dumpster diver with the T-shirt to prove it - but that's another story.)  I had been saving that plank for about 10 years, waiting for a perfect application.  The width of our doghouse was determined by that top.  The length and height were determined by how much siding we had to work with.

Granny (that's me) operating the skill saw.

There was only half a sheet of siding (about 4' x 4'), so we used up every square inch we could to make the doghouse as long and as tall as possible.  We drew the lines together, then I operated the skill saw myself to make the cuts.

Very important was the skeletal support. The frame had to be sturdy. Lucky is a powerhouse of a dog and would tear up anything weak. Based on the sides we had cut out, we determined the length and height the framing posts needed to be, then built the frame. That was an interesting project all in itself. Both Jonathan and I learned some things about structure from that.



Jonathan operates the battery powered drill.

Next, J operated the drill to secure the sides to the frame after I tacked it into position. He liked doing that, and good thing because we used over 50 screws.  We were extra careful that none of the pointy tips stuck out on the inside, which could have cut up a dog pretty badly.

Next was the door opening.  We needed that as big as possible.  I showed Jonathan how to make the upper arch symmetrical by folding a paper in half and cutting out one half.  Open it up and it's the same on both sides.



Jonathan's door pattern, and the finished product.

He of course said "I know" to every trick I showed him, and didn't seem surprised about anything.  Age 12.  I had forgotten, 12 year olds are on the cusp of knowing everything.  Of not being much impressed by anything.  Of being sure adults don't know anything.

Still, I KNOW he had a good time because when he forgot to be cool and bored, he was grinning and gigglish, posing for pictures, jumping in and out of the doghouse, barking, acting silly. I have many pictures to prove it (these are just a few).

Years from now when he reads this story, I hope it will help him remember the warm sun on his hair, the cool breeze on his skin, the rustling leaves, the fresh woodland air at Granny's house, the love, the laughter, and the fun we had with our dogs --  in "The Doghouse That Jonathan Built".



Coaxing Lucky into her house
with treats.
Our yard, camper in background.

 


After Lucky loses her fear of getting in,
Jonathan and Lucky take turns
jumping in and out. 

Jonathan hanging out with the Lucky, Willow and Maxie after the project is finished. 
Now all we have to do is pick up the tools and move the doghouse around to the back porch.
Nobody wanted to do that just yet, so we just relaxed and basked in a job well done.

P.S. J was concerned that Lucky wouldn't have enough room inside and would never use the dog house.  But the exact opposite is true.  I put a rug down under it to insulate her from the cold bricks, and she curls up in there just about every day.  I'm pretty sure all the dogs know it is hers, too, because nobody else goes in there, although Max and Willow still perch on top, as they did from the first day.

A most satisfying outcome, and my heart is still full of thanksgiving for yet another wonderful memory at Old Hammond Hideaway!