Lost, Tossed, and Too Much Cost

Tuesday was orthodontic day 60 miles from home. It's a drag to have a day off eaten up by those kind of obligations, but what can ya do. The boys and I made a day of it by running some other fun-type errands including hair cuts for Charlie and I and some new (some were new/used) clothes for mostly my growing monsters, but also a new sweater for me at work. I'm phasing out the t-shirts and trying to wear more professional shirts and sweaters. I don't do much "grunt" work at work anymore, so I can wear nicer clothes now. We had lunch at Cracker Barrel, which is a rare treat and was very good. Charlie had a 4" thick slice of meatloaf and all 3 of his sides were the mac n cheese! LOL! Dylan had probably the best country fried steak he'll ever eat and just raved about his applesauce (simple pleasures). I had a grilled chicken sandwhich that was to die for in taste. :-)

We stopped at the PETCO to get feeder mice and look around at dog/puppy toys. I couldn't justify the prices. :-( I spotted a really nice rubbery type frisbee that looked like it would both fly and be teeth/gum friendly. 19 flippin' dollars!! What? And because it's $19 you know what would happen? I'd throw it once and it would end up on the peak of this two story farmhouse! Just like when I did agility I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED those heavy duty fabric frisbees Clean Run sold. They flew, they held up to ridiculous tugging, and you could shove them in your pants. (Oh how I miss grass and grit in my under-britches!) I had one, loved it. So when it came time for a new one I ordered it. They were not cheap, but it was a tool and it was worth it. I used to always ensure they didn't get left in the yard- hence the tool aspect, additionally although they held up to training, all day teeth work probably not so much. One day, proud of myself for NOT leaving it out, I plopped it onto the roof the van. Yup. You already know where this is going don't you? Yes, yes I did. But what's *really* sad is that I actually drove around LOOKING for it when I realized what I had done! Then there's the Go-fer balls (we call the "launcher balls" 'round here). They are my dogs' absolute favorite. They are a weird texture of a ball, somewhere between ratchet ball and foam. They are tennis ball size and have a loop of surgical tubing attached. Like I said, "launcher" ball. And they fly! Again, not a cheap toy and I could only find them online. But they were enough fun to be worth it. My problem? (no, not leaving them on the van- that's only frisbees) Two things. Launcher control and trees. Did you know that a 20" loop of surgical tubing, when attached to a ball and thrown can tie itself into 40 knots in exactly 1.2 seconds? Yup. There ain't no gettin' those suckers down! And we have tried. Ever watch a 6' tall man trying to control 25' of pvc while 10 revved up Border Collies are dancing around his feet? It's funny video worthy. Also funny video worthy are grown adults throwing just about anything they think just *might* break off the 1" diameter branch that suddenly seems as though it's made of unbreakable material. I think even bee-bee guns have been used. Remember this is a toy more expensive than it should be and is desired enough that it has been ordered.... I think one year I had 3 launcher balls proudly blowing in the breeze long after all the leaves had fallen. Only once the sun and the rain have eaten away all of the surgical tubing's stretch do we get our launcherless ball back- and then... well it's just another tennis ball. (insert raspberry and the look of 12 forlorn pitiful Border Collies here...) So even though my thought process was that it would be a fun new toy for all to enjoy, I remembered my past history with the "special" toys and with a heavy sigh, hung it back on it's hook. Today I bought a can of tennis balls. For 3 dollars.

Like Weeds

Rose is big into "covering" motion and goes non-stop. She has the most expessionate face and it just screams "wicked smart!" I think Rose is going to be a super fun girl to work and bond with, she has a delightful personality.

John is still handsome as ever and becoming more personable. I think once they start getting one on one work I'll see a whole new side to John, he finds me more and more often and is quite loving. He isn't a "big" personality like his sisters, but I can visualize him being a very, very faithful, business is business type of worker.

Henry is still my man. We have quite the bond already. Even looking at his photos pulls at my heart strings! Henry is having to spend the daytime alone lately, as he and John are suddenly not each other's biggest fans. I don't have any problems with either of them with the girls, but they have gotten into a few too many quite serious fights with each other and I don't care to have them get into it in a 10x20 pen while I'm away at work. It's mostly Henry being dominant, and when John from time to time stands his ground, it never ends well. I've never seen pups fight like they have from time to time and for what seems just out of the blue. They can be fine all day and then all of sudden something snaps and once they get into it Henry will not let John be. I can get them apart, only to have Henry follow John... I've never had this issue with raising littermates before. For some reason the 2 boys just don't much care for each other. Neither of their parents are at all dog nasty, so hopefully this is a puppyhood stage and simply making sure they aren't together unsupervised for a period of time will be all it takes. They both get along with the girls, and the girls are far from submissive to the boys, so I'm not exactly sure why there's the occassional tension between the 2 boys. In my experience it's always been the bitches that can sometimes be... well, bitches.

Henry is such a love bug and we really have a special bond already. My heart hasn't felt like this about a puppy in a long time! :-)

Nora is as full tilt as she is cute! She is a Gwen clone in personality. She's very, very smart and enjoys hanging close by. She has the most delightful little expressions. She's one of those that can speak to you with her eyes.

Henry and John

Wild Girl Rose and John

Pretty and sweet. Gracie is a special girl. Like her littermates, she's very bright and outgoing. She has Dylan wrapped right around her paw.

Fun With Adobe

Perfect Winter Day

Today is a beautiful day! It's going to be in the high 40's and all sun with no wind! :-) I really do miss this weather! Ben and I have always been on the fence about moving back to the mid-west, more specifically Wisconsin or Minnesota. Because I grew up in WI on a large horse farm, I am not ignorant to the winters, or the fact that summers there can also be hot and humid. This real winter spell we're having has reminded me how beautiful the winter really is, and that even though it has it's miserable moments, it's a season I miss terribly. I like being outside in the snow and the colder temperatures- I will take skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, etc over the beach and swimming pool. We've been in Virginia nearly 15 years now, and I can say with real conviction that I'm about over it. It's not as though we can pack up and move this year, or the next, but I feel like Ben and I have both reached the point where we're ready to make some real plans to get ourselves back to where we came from... Most of Ben's childhood was in sub-burbs of Minnesota. His family moved to Wisconsin when he was in high school. Just for kicks I looked at some on-lines properties in both WI and MN. Wisconsin has some nice land available that is all set to move into. I even found a couple really nicely put together beef or dairy properties that would not be an unrealistic price range. Although dairy farming is not at all my thought process, the barns etc can easily be converted into things like a boarding kennel- something I wouldn't mind doing. Or simply sheep/beef housing. This one would be at the top end of what we could afford, but wow, how perfect! This one is already completely fenced and has no neighbors! And the thought of owning 90+ acres, wow! How great for trail riding, atving, and snowmobiling! :-) Now the hard part is figuring how to make this really happen. How to get our debt knocked out so that when we sell this place we are not so bogged down with crap-debt that we cannot get the piece of land of our dreams! I believe we are going to have to really crack down on ourselves for the next 5 years. Extras have to go, and Ben and I have to get a real budget put together. Neither of us are good with money... Changing that is one of my goals while Ben is deployed until July. The first thing I have to get over is the fear and hatred I have of money. I hate knowing how much/little we have, I hate knowing how much everything is costing us, and I'm always afraid that we will never be able to reach our real goals because of debt... I need to get over it and instead of pushing it to the back of my mind, deal with it and start to turn our finances around.