Most people dread coming home from a vacation. Getting back into the grind can be daunting, but for me, it's been all right.
I think it's because while on vacation I gained some perspective and have applied some of what I gained to my daily life. For example, I am a yeller...I yell at my girls, I yell at my husband, I just yell. While on vacation, I realized that yelling is accomplishing nothing (with the exception of raising my blood pressure) and since I've been back, I haven't yelled once and the world has continued to turn!
I am also always in hurry to get things done. For example, around the house...I don't mind some clutter, but when it gets out of hand, I go crazy. We haven't quite put everything away since coming home so there is some clutter. Instead of cleaning it up right away, I decided it was more important for me to spend time with the girls and the dogs and have left all the crap untouched. I pick things up here and there when I'm able, but I'm not fixated on it.
These aren't huge revalations, but for me they are a good place to start. I also found out after I came back from vacation that I will have some form of employment when my job at my current company officially ends March 4. I have been able to line up a contract gig and am pretty happy with that. I think underlying everything has been the fact that I would be jobless...I never panicked about it, but it's always been there...in the back of my mind.
It's the little things. And I'm working on it! :)
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Back from vacation
Jeff and I just got back from a week-long cruise vacation in the Caribbean. The girls stayed with our Nanny and had a great time! They were very well-behaved and overall good little girls. Erin can be the wildcard, so this was good news!
Our vacation was very nice. We went to St. Maarten, Dominica, Grenada, Margarita Island (Venezuela) and Aruba. We dove in every port except for Margarita Island...we swam with dolphins at this port! Underwater we saw seahorses, octopuses, big HUGE green eels, sea turtles, scorpion fish and one frog fish. The diving was the best in Dominica...really pretty reefs and good sea life.
We met some nice people on board the ship, though the serivce on board was less than spectacular. The crew seemed tired and somewhat rude. This was our 6th cruise so we have an idea as to what to expect.
As nice as our vacation was, we were both happy to be home. We missed the girls and the dogs and were thrilled to see all of them!! Now it's back to reality though. I have a show next weekend so Jammie and I have to get back in synch. It's been raining a lot here so I'm hoping we'll still have class tonight. Jammie is as wired as usual and has been bringing her ball to me over and over and over (and over) again. I think our next show will be quite a ride!
Our vacation was very nice. We went to St. Maarten, Dominica, Grenada, Margarita Island (Venezuela) and Aruba. We dove in every port except for Margarita Island...we swam with dolphins at this port! Underwater we saw seahorses, octopuses, big HUGE green eels, sea turtles, scorpion fish and one frog fish. The diving was the best in Dominica...really pretty reefs and good sea life.
We met some nice people on board the ship, though the serivce on board was less than spectacular. The crew seemed tired and somewhat rude. This was our 6th cruise so we have an idea as to what to expect.
As nice as our vacation was, we were both happy to be home. We missed the girls and the dogs and were thrilled to see all of them!! Now it's back to reality though. I have a show next weekend so Jammie and I have to get back in synch. It's been raining a lot here so I'm hoping we'll still have class tonight. Jammie is as wired as usual and has been bringing her ball to me over and over and over (and over) again. I think our next show will be quite a ride!
Monday, January 7, 2008
Reflections on a show weekend
My club hosted a USDAA show this weekend. I, unfortunately, was quite sick. I came down with a wicked cold and by Saturday, it was pretty bad. I did show Jam, but took a few naps in between classes. By Sunday, I felt better and was actually able to work!
The rain held off, thank goodness! We had a brief shower Saturday afternoon and some misty rain early Sunday, but it had all tapered off by the time we started running.
Jam did great! We had our issues, but she did great nonetheless. She got her first Grand Prix qualifier! :) She needs one more to participate in the USDAA Nationals. We have a few more chances to get one so I'm hoping we'll be able to do so before the cut-off. She also earned a Master Jumpers Q, a Master Pairs Q and another Snooker Q. She is only 2 legs shy of her MAD (Masters Agility Dog) title! I'm so incredibly proud of her!!
She did have some weave pole issues though, so we'll be working on that in the next few weeks. She also got really silly on me during a Masters Standard run...all I could do was laugh at her!
Given all of Jam's structural issues, I cherish every single show I get to compete with her. She has elbow dysplasia and issues with a locked sacrum (pelvis) which stems from a very tight mid-back. I've been taking her to a holistic vet who specializes in chiropractic and acupunture therapy. He also has Jam on some herbs to help with her "Yin" whatever that is! She still runs with glee, but I am very careful with her and don't overdo.
All in all a good show. We really had fun, even though I couldn't breath through my nose the entire time!
The rain held off, thank goodness! We had a brief shower Saturday afternoon and some misty rain early Sunday, but it had all tapered off by the time we started running.
Jam did great! We had our issues, but she did great nonetheless. She got her first Grand Prix qualifier! :) She needs one more to participate in the USDAA Nationals. We have a few more chances to get one so I'm hoping we'll be able to do so before the cut-off. She also earned a Master Jumpers Q, a Master Pairs Q and another Snooker Q. She is only 2 legs shy of her MAD (Masters Agility Dog) title! I'm so incredibly proud of her!!
She did have some weave pole issues though, so we'll be working on that in the next few weeks. She also got really silly on me during a Masters Standard run...all I could do was laugh at her!
Given all of Jam's structural issues, I cherish every single show I get to compete with her. She has elbow dysplasia and issues with a locked sacrum (pelvis) which stems from a very tight mid-back. I've been taking her to a holistic vet who specializes in chiropractic and acupunture therapy. He also has Jam on some herbs to help with her "Yin" whatever that is! She still runs with glee, but I am very careful with her and don't overdo.
All in all a good show. We really had fun, even though I couldn't breath through my nose the entire time!
Friday, January 4, 2008
2008 is gonna be GREAT!
At least that's the jingle I've taught the girls to say! Personally, I am partial to even-numbered years, so I am optimistic.
We had quite a busy holiday season. We headed back to Wisconsin for Christmas with my family Dec. 20. We stayed a week. The girls got to have snowball fights, go sledding, build a snowman, make snow angels and eat snow...YUM! We had one bitterely cold, blizzard-like day, but otherwise it was all good. The girls LOVED "Uncle Crazy" and had load of fun with Uncle Jim. Dani is definitely a "Grandpa's Girl" whereas Erin is partial to Grandma. All in all, a good time.
We came home to chaos, in that there were 4 extra dogs at our house (3 we knew about) and 6 extra people. Jeff's family decided to help his mom out by remodeling her home. They took all the furniture out, repainted, put in new window treatments and put in new baseboards. They had tilers replace the carpet and linoleum with tile. Since Jeff's brother/SIL and kids are from California, they stayed with us. Jeff's other sister who is local also stayed with us since Jeff's mom stayed at her apartment. It was pretty crazy. They all left by New Year's Eve so we rang in the New Year quietly.
Meanwhile, Jam and I are prepping for a USDAA show this weekend. And of course, rain is predicted. So far every local show has had rain threatened or has been partially canceled due to rain. Hopefully it won't be too bad.
We're 4 days into 2008 and so far so good! Jeff and I are off cruising the Caribbean again in a couple weeks...woohoo! :)
We had quite a busy holiday season. We headed back to Wisconsin for Christmas with my family Dec. 20. We stayed a week. The girls got to have snowball fights, go sledding, build a snowman, make snow angels and eat snow...YUM! We had one bitterely cold, blizzard-like day, but otherwise it was all good. The girls LOVED "Uncle Crazy" and had load of fun with Uncle Jim. Dani is definitely a "Grandpa's Girl" whereas Erin is partial to Grandma. All in all, a good time.
We came home to chaos, in that there were 4 extra dogs at our house (3 we knew about) and 6 extra people. Jeff's family decided to help his mom out by remodeling her home. They took all the furniture out, repainted, put in new window treatments and put in new baseboards. They had tilers replace the carpet and linoleum with tile. Since Jeff's brother/SIL and kids are from California, they stayed with us. Jeff's other sister who is local also stayed with us since Jeff's mom stayed at her apartment. It was pretty crazy. They all left by New Year's Eve so we rang in the New Year quietly.
Meanwhile, Jam and I are prepping for a USDAA show this weekend. And of course, rain is predicted. So far every local show has had rain threatened or has been partially canceled due to rain. Hopefully it won't be too bad.
We're 4 days into 2008 and so far so good! Jeff and I are off cruising the Caribbean again in a couple weeks...woohoo! :)
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Been a while...
Not sure why, but I just wasn't into blogging for a while. Guess I got kinda busy!
At the moment, I am in the process of scheduling over 200 volunteers for the Cynosport World Games to be held in Scottsdale. What's a Cynosport you may ask...? It's "dog sport" in greek (I think!). Basically, this is the USDAA Dog Agility World championshps combined with other dog sports such as flyball, disc dogs, splash dogs, herding, lure coursing, etc. There's over 1,000 dogs entered in agility alone, so it's a HUGE event.
Jam and I are also running in this event! We qualified on a Team at our show in Bermuda, so me and Jam, Jane and Tizzy and Rose and Kelly are "Two Tollers Having a Tizzy!" I'm doing it more for the fun of it rather than to be serious!
Speaking of Jam...she earned her Advanced Agility Degree (AAD) and is now in all Masters classes!!! She has only been in 6 USDAA shows, so I'm pretty proud of my baby puppy!!
The girls are doing well. Dani is doing great in school! Her teacher told us she's ready for 1st grade! We'll most likely put her in 1st grade the next school year, though we'll keep tabs on her progress throughout this year. She's still somewhat of a talker, but is doing better at controlling it!
Erin is a devil...Plain and simple! She can be a cute little imp one moment, then put on the devil horns the next. She's also doing well academically, but needs to work on her social skills. We're going to start working on that in earnest and soon!
Job-wise, I found out in Sept. that my position will be eliminated March 4! It's actually quite a blessing as I am not really happy here. Haven't been for a while. I've been bullied by a co-worker for about 1.5 years now so to be away from her will do me good! I've decided that Technical Writing is NOT my bag, rather I'd like to do training instead. I sat with a person who hires consultants for training and I'm hoping to make something work there. I've also started to teach an agility class one night a week. We'll see how it all pans out.
Jeff is in budget-hell at Freescale rigth now. Hopefully it will all end soon!
That's it in a nutshell. We're prepping for Halloween...and the World Champs. The Champs start on Halloween so I will be VERY busy!!
At the moment, I am in the process of scheduling over 200 volunteers for the Cynosport World Games to be held in Scottsdale. What's a Cynosport you may ask...? It's "dog sport" in greek (I think!). Basically, this is the USDAA Dog Agility World championshps combined with other dog sports such as flyball, disc dogs, splash dogs, herding, lure coursing, etc. There's over 1,000 dogs entered in agility alone, so it's a HUGE event.
Jam and I are also running in this event! We qualified on a Team at our show in Bermuda, so me and Jam, Jane and Tizzy and Rose and Kelly are "Two Tollers Having a Tizzy!" I'm doing it more for the fun of it rather than to be serious!
Speaking of Jam...she earned her Advanced Agility Degree (AAD) and is now in all Masters classes!!! She has only been in 6 USDAA shows, so I'm pretty proud of my baby puppy!!
The girls are doing well. Dani is doing great in school! Her teacher told us she's ready for 1st grade! We'll most likely put her in 1st grade the next school year, though we'll keep tabs on her progress throughout this year. She's still somewhat of a talker, but is doing better at controlling it!
Erin is a devil...Plain and simple! She can be a cute little imp one moment, then put on the devil horns the next. She's also doing well academically, but needs to work on her social skills. We're going to start working on that in earnest and soon!
Job-wise, I found out in Sept. that my position will be eliminated March 4! It's actually quite a blessing as I am not really happy here. Haven't been for a while. I've been bullied by a co-worker for about 1.5 years now so to be away from her will do me good! I've decided that Technical Writing is NOT my bag, rather I'd like to do training instead. I sat with a person who hires consultants for training and I'm hoping to make something work there. I've also started to teach an agility class one night a week. We'll see how it all pans out.
Jeff is in budget-hell at Freescale rigth now. Hopefully it will all end soon!
That's it in a nutshell. We're prepping for Halloween...and the World Champs. The Champs start on Halloween so I will be VERY busy!!
Monday, August 20, 2007
A month's worth of updates...
We've been a bit busy the past month. It's still hot, so that hasn't changed, but we've been getting creative on figuring out ways to get out of the heat!
We spent a weekend up at the lake last weekend. That was very nice. They have hotels with kitchenette's so we stayed in one, played in the water and had a great time! The girls are true "lake rats" and love the jet ski and tubing behind the boat!
Jeff spent a week diving in Belize with his brother at the beginning of August. The girls and I did some shopping, got our pictures taken in a photo booth and did a lot of crafts and painting.
Jam and I have been to a couple shows and we did GREAT! She is now one qualifying leg shy of being in Masters! :) She did earn enough Jumpers legs to compete in Masters Jumpers at the next show (not until October) so she's getting there. Cool thing is she's only 21 months old! She's truly one special little dog!
September is a little less busy, though we are planning another trip to Legoland since the girls (and us!) truly enjoyed themselves. I'll also start sending pleas to every agility person I know to volunteer to work at the USDAA Nationals. I'm the volunteer coordinator again (4th time) this year and need all the help I can get! :)
We spent a weekend up at the lake last weekend. That was very nice. They have hotels with kitchenette's so we stayed in one, played in the water and had a great time! The girls are true "lake rats" and love the jet ski and tubing behind the boat!
Jeff spent a week diving in Belize with his brother at the beginning of August. The girls and I did some shopping, got our pictures taken in a photo booth and did a lot of crafts and painting.
Jam and I have been to a couple shows and we did GREAT! She is now one qualifying leg shy of being in Masters! :) She did earn enough Jumpers legs to compete in Masters Jumpers at the next show (not until October) so she's getting there. Cool thing is she's only 21 months old! She's truly one special little dog!
September is a little less busy, though we are planning another trip to Legoland since the girls (and us!) truly enjoyed themselves. I'll also start sending pleas to every agility person I know to volunteer to work at the USDAA Nationals. I'm the volunteer coordinator again (4th time) this year and need all the help I can get! :)
Monday, July 16, 2007
Dang, it's hot!
Not only do we have temps in the 110's, but now there's a fair amount of humidity...YUCK! The monsoon season is here, sorta. This means we're supposed to get evening thunderstorms, but so far we've gotten a whole lotta nothing. We've had some wind which kicks up the dust, which coats my SUV, but that's it. Blech.
As a result, we've been spending a lot of time in the pool...all of us. Typically we (the humans) go swimming first, then when we're finished, the dogs get to dive in for their balls. It helps to cool us all off, though the water temperature is 93 degrees!
This intense heat has curtailed what I had hoped to be some progress in Jam's agility training. It's just too hot to even THINK of going out and practicing. We have a show this weekend...I don't know how it's going to go, but I'll hope for the best.
It's just too hot. Too Flippin' Hot.
As a result, we've been spending a lot of time in the pool...all of us. Typically we (the humans) go swimming first, then when we're finished, the dogs get to dive in for their balls. It helps to cool us all off, though the water temperature is 93 degrees!
This intense heat has curtailed what I had hoped to be some progress in Jam's agility training. It's just too hot to even THINK of going out and practicing. We have a show this weekend...I don't know how it's going to go, but I'll hope for the best.
It's just too hot. Too Flippin' Hot.
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