Squirrel Underpants

Just when I think work cannot get any worse we sink to new lows...today felt like a torture session. Forget the Chinese Water Torture. At my work we have the Michigan Phone Torture. Have my department be wildly shorthanded, have the phone ring constantly, answer it, have each person who calls ask you 5 million questions while you are still looking for the answers to the first million questions they asked. Have every other member ask you a question requiring research. Have those members not asking research questions apply for loans (which you must process in your "spare time".....ha!), and every freaking time you hang up a call....have the phone ring again so the cycle starts all over. Occasionally, have the phone wait 5 seconds before ringing....giving it 5 seconds is key, because it gives the representative enough time to have hope that the phone may stop ringing long enough for them to work on something, only to have their hopes dashed by the shrill ringing of the phone yet again.

I guarantee that by 9:30 AM you will be on the verge of yelling at the more demanding of callers who are yelling at you because you are not providing an instantaneous answer to questions 3,4,5,6,7, and 8 they asked because you are still trying to get a word in edgewise to answer questions 1 and 2.

In other news, naps are good! It's 10 PM and I've had two already today and am shortly to return to bed with a much beloved Evadne Price "Jane" book.

Also, not sure if this falls in the category of "a new low" as well, or if this is incredibly brilliant: squirrel underpants!!! I love Archie McPhee, they rock. Now if only we could manage to get those underpants on our tubby flashers, we'd be happy. I think I need to contact Archie McPhee and request that they produce an extra large size for squirrels residing in college towns. Because college students are dumb, feed the rodents, and make them quite plus sized. On the one hand, it's pretty gross, but on the other hand, if it gives them health problems and causes them to expire sooner, I am all for that. Mack and Clara say they adore the chubby squirrels due to it being easier to catch the slower, chubbier ones.

Nevermind the fact that they have yet to catch one. They have high hopes. And Mack says he's caught a groundhog before, and they're tubby, so if we make the squirrels as tubby as groundhogs he should be able to catch them, too.

Muddy Sheets

I did not take a photo last night, but the following old photo from last year serves as an example of what Clara Bow can look like when she visits some good, old fashioned mud:

Clara really knows how to make herself muddy. In fact, one of her myriad of nicknames is "African Mud Hound" due to her great ability to coat the entire dog with mud.

Well, last night I am lying in bed, reading a very funny Evadne Price book, when Nicole brings the pups inside, from a last potty trip of the night, and encourages Clara to come visit me. Now, please be aware that not only have we had record snowfall this year, and 4 inches of snow Thursday, but everything had thawed and melted during the day on Saturday, so our back yard looked rather similar to the above photo. Granted, it was dark outside at this time and Nicole forgot it was muddy, but that still didn't make the pup any less mud covered.

Clara runs upstairs and belly flops onto the bed, then proceeds to do a grand face washing on poor Meg while dancing gleefully all over the bed linens with her muddy feet.

My nice, white snowflake design sheets were covered in mud. Ditto my blankets. Great. Guess what chore I got to do today? If you guessed laundry, you are dead right.

Note to self: next time Nicole brings the pups indoors after a trip to MudLand and encourages one or both to run upstairs and get in bed with me, I should jump out of bed and slam the door quickly before either dog can make their grand, muddy entrance.

Search Strings #3--How to Keep your Ridgeback busy

In reviewing the search strings that lead people here on a regular basis, there is one search which comes up quite frequently. That search is, with some slight variation in wording at times, the following:

How to keep a Ridgeback busy

I never really thought this was that hard of a puzzle, but apparently it is, so I am compiling a list for all the future searchers. If you want to figure out how to occupy your Ridgeback's time and keep it out of your hair, you're in the right spot. Granted, Clara Bow is a Ridgeback mix, so not all options may work, depending on your Ridgeback's personality and likes/dislikes, but here's our list:

• Ridgebacks are not solo dogs. Yes, many people keep just one Ridgeback, but they are happiest with siblings. Siblings provide a ready-made toy, playmate, snuggle buddy, and entertainment. Make sure you either end up with another Ridgie or a dog who enjoys Ridgeback-style play. Another high energy, high play drive, dog who will be just as prone to wild bouts of play and long nap sessions is ideal. If you're crazy like us, a Flat Coated Retriever mix or a Husky mix works well. Clara Bow has a great fondness for Great Danes (and is so mad her Great Dane cousin lives so far away, as she'd adore playing with him). Wild, hyper Goldens who have retained a lot of their Flat Coat traits also can work, especially if they're into wild play. I've also heard Ridgie owners sing the praises of a Ridgie/Whippet household (although not feasible if the Whippets are more delicate and your Ridgeback enjoys body slamming quite as much as mine...she'd probably break the poor dog). Generally calm, low key dogs are not going to work, so ditch the idea of the cute rescue Lab, unless he/she is an anomaly and quite hyper.
  
  
• Rawhide. Rawhide is your friend. As are pig's ears, pig's snozzles, rabbit's ears and the like. But rawhide is awesome as it lasts for longer than the other options (some people dislike rawhide, though, so discuss with other dog friends and/or vet about the pros and cons of rawhide. Or google it! We've found it is a necessary tool in our house). Ridgebacks adore eating, and something that is kinda like an actual animal and takes a long time to eat, plus cleans your teeth is a good idea. If your Ridgeback is a RidgeBitch and is a super ultra busy hound, this helps with the busy-ness.
  
  
• 1.5 acres of fenced land comes in handy, too. If you have a running-mad, lure coursing wannabe Ridgeback, a huge chunk of land to run in is ideal. In fact, if your Ridgie is a runner and purebred, look into lure coursing as an option as well. But, trust me, a huge chunk of land is a great investment. We do not live on the land, but visit it often for doggy romp and play sessions. We can do agility practice, play sessions with our friends, fetch games with toys (with a Ridgeback a fetch game is more likely going to turn into a run-out-and-grab-the-toy, then-run-around-in-circles-playing-keep-away game, but that still wears them out, so it's good).
  
  
• Snow can be fun as well. Don't take the Ridgie out to play in the cold when it's well below freezing or windy or whatnot, and be prepared to dress them in warm clothes if needed, but contrary to popular opinion, Ridgies can really like snow. Clara loves it best when the winds are calm and it is just below freezing. Having a Husky-mix brother who is snow-mad also helps.
  
  
• When in doubt, Tug-o-War! When Clara Bow is just being a really busy brat and it's not feeding or rawhide time, and I am too tired to work on things requiring the use of the human brain (like obedience or agility work), we get out a piece of fleece or a rope toy or an old toy carcass and play tug-o-war.
  
  
• Dogs on the furniture. I know, I know. You probably said you'd never let your dog on the furniture. Get over that idea real fast. Furniture is a busy Ridgeback owner's best friend. Ridgies love a comfy, cozy place to lay and sleep. They're generally so skinny and have such short hair that they adore things like beds, blankets, couches, armchairs, etc. When your dog is asleep he/she is not getting into trouble. It is great. Designate a specific loveseat or couch as dog property and teach the dog the command "couch". When Clara Bow is being really busy, and we can tell it is because she is overtired, we tell her "couch" and she couches herself, calms right down, and nods off into dreamland in no time flat. I am still kicking myself that it took me a year to allow her on the couch, and two years before I let her on the bed. I could've saved myself a lot of frustration if I'd just given in right away and allowed her on furniture. This is one battle the Ridgeback will win in the end, you might as well set the rules early on as to which furniture is allowed and which isn't, and strictly enforce it.
  
  
• Sunning is also a popular Ridgeback sport. On a warmish, sunny day when you are spending a bit of time outdoors doing non-dog related activities, take your Ridgie with you. He/she will adore getting to lie in the sun soaking up the rays. If your dog is particularly persistent, and demands to follow you around, put him/her on a 20 foot tie out and let the pup lie in the grass in the sun, but make sure the tie out reaches a shady area too. Even African Canine Solar Panels need to cool off a little bit at times. Especially if they are mid red wheaten to dark red wheaten. The light wheaten colored Ridgies tend to overheat less, but make sure there is some shade and a big bowl of water accessible, and you'll have a happy, sunning Ridgie. In the house the same effect can be had by placing a small sheepskin ruglet (available in quantity at good prices from IKEA) or a very comfy dog bed in a sunny patch on the floor. The Ridgeback will happily cook it's brain in the sun and you'll have peace for a few minutes to a few hours.
  
  
• Be creative when deciding what is a "toy" for your dog. My dogs adore ripping paper and playing the rip and tear game. We have trained them so they know they can only play this game with us, and only if we offer the paper to tear. Clara likes ripping up the sales flyers from Glenda the stupid realtor who worked as the seller's agent when we bought our house. She is possibly the world's dumbest realtor, and keeps sending us lots of sales flyers, so Clara Bow gets to help destroy them. Ridgebacks seem to have a very strong need to rip and destroy, so this helps channel that aspect of her personality into a positive use and keeps her from ripping up her blankets or pillows instead. Cardboard paper towel rolls are also wildly popular in our house as well as a destructo toy.
  
  
• More meals spread throughout the day. Food keeps a Ridgeback happy. It also keeps them busy, as they must spend a minimum of 5 minutes after the meal searching the entire area just in case a stray piece of kibble escaped their notice at feeding time. Feed them smaller, more frequent meals. If your Ridgie is prone to pre-bloat symptoms, this may also help. Clara gets three small meals a day (two out of a mini-muffin pan, one from a Kong or Tug-A-Jug....more on those later).
  
  
• Come from a family fond of high energy dogs. The pups have a Beagle/Whippet mix cousin who is just as high energy as they are. This means everytime we go a-visiting, Clara has a readymade playmate to visit with. The great thing about having a high energy mix cousin is that age does not slow her down, so even though she's several years older than Clara, she still is hyper and loves to play "Chase the lure Ridgeback" and other assorted games.
  
  
• A mix of low quality toys dogs are allowed to destroy (see bottom half of this entry) and high quality, premium fun toys they can only play with under supervision makes for a happy dog. Also, rotate your toys. Take a toy away for a couple of months and re-introduce it at the Ridgeback will be just as delighted as they were the first time around. Also, when a Ridgeback guts a toy, allow them to keep the skin as a trophy. This makes a great toy. This is, of course, assuming your Ridgie is not the sort which eats all textiles. If they are, throw out the carcass. Clara is not a carcass eater, thankfully, so we is allowed to keep her trophies until we deem them too disgusting and throw them out. This triples the lifetime of the average cheapie toy. On that note, find out which toys your dog really likes best and load up on them. Some companies offer bulk discounts on purchasing multiples of a particular toy. Some occasionally offer special sales or coupons for discounted purchases, or free shipping. If you have a sewing machine and are handy with fabric, try your hand at making your own toys as well. Squeakers can be bought in bulk on Ebay (I know, I've done it!) and used to make great toys. Joanne puts fiber fill stuffing on sale all the time, and you can find lots of good fabric in the remnant or clearance sections. When you find a shape you like, make a pattern for future toys. Our bone-shaped toy is very popular as it is great as it fits right in the mouth, plus can double as a tug toy with our two. Clara loves ripping open the heart shaped toys and removing all the stuffing and worrying the carcasses.
  
  
• Tug-A-Jugs. Tug-A-Jugs are also your friends. Give a meal, or a partial meal out of this and it will keep your Ridgie busy and happy. Ridgies like thinking and working out problems, so this is a popular food dispensing toy at my house. Ridgies are smart and also like variety, so we mix this up in our routine and sometimes give a Tug-A-Jug instead of a Kong. The only downside is that Ridgebacks, being partially descended from Great Danes, have a lot of saliva, so touching the Tug-A-Jug after a food dispensing session may make you cringe. Then again, if you own a Ridgeback you better be prepared for touching all sorts of icky things and dealing with the nasties. Ridgebacks have a great talent for finding the ickiest things possible and attempting to eat them/roll in them/etc.
  
  
• Kongs, Kongs, Kongs, Kongs!! How am I writing this long entry if I am owned by a particularly busy little Ridgeback-mix bitch? Simple; I gave her a frozen Kong before I started typing. A well made, fully frozen Kong can take her an hour to eat, giving me an hour to work uninterruptedly. If you follow only one link from this entry, follow the above link. Look at all those Kongs. Kongs are great and easy. Invest heavily in multiple Kongs, make big batches and stick them in your freezer. Feed your dog a Kong a day as one of their several mini-meals. If your Ridgie is food oriented, but has separation anxiety like Clara did at first, this is a godsend. She is now 98% cured of her separation anxiety, all thanks to the wonder of frozen, stuffed Kong treats and a hungry belly.
  
  
• Make friends with other high-energy dogs in your area. Clara Bow adores her friend Zoey, and since she lives next door we can get in a lot of mini-romp sessions in the back yard (and an occasional romp session out at the land). Never underestimate the power of high energy dog friends. This will give your other dog(s) a break from the constant playing, while allowing your Ridgie to get in some good play time.
  
  
• Water. Some Ridgebacks abhore it, others adore it. Clara started off hating it, but living with a Flat Coated Retriever mix has changed her mind. If the water is lukewarm, she likes it better. Hot water would be ideal (she's mad we don't have a jacuzzi hot tub for her). Since her closest friends and family (Flat Coat/Husky mix, Elkhound/German Shepherd mix, and Golden) all adore water, she is willing to give it a try.
  
  
• Agility is fun. Clara Bow adores learning and training on agility equipment. Due to health issues with her human handler, we will never compete professionally, but she adores doing it for fun. Give her contact equipment and a free rein and she would be running up and down it all day (Clara Bow and an A-Frame are a hilarious combination, as she adores them). Clara thinks she is the Jumping Queen and Ruler of Weave Poles as well. Many Ridgies aren't agility fiends, but if your Ridgeback is busy, hyper, smart, loves to play games, loves to learn, and can be pretty focused (or can develop that skill), give it a try.
  
  
• Make friends with other dogs with yards. Our friend Abby is still learning how to play with other dogs, so she doesn't interact and play with Clara as much as she'd like, but the change of scenery is good. And, being a scent hound, the Ridgeback side of her adores getting to sniff a whole new area. If your friend also lives in a squirrel populated area this can make the sniffing extra fun. Clara likes treeing and crying little strangled growls of frustration at the squirrels at her friend Abby's house.
  
  
• Hunting is also fun. If you're a hunting sort, Ridgebacks are often good hunting companions. Some trainers specialize in training hunting dogs to build upon their natural instincts. If this is your thing, you might want to consider this. Or, if you're like us, you might make friends with a farmer who allows you to run your dogs on his fields and woods in the off season, giving your dog an excellent opportunity to chase all sorts of wildlife. It makes the dog happy, keeps the deer and rabbits a little more wary of hanging out on the farmer's land, and tires the dogs out and gives them a good workout.
  
  
• Other things to try, depending on your Ridgeback's personality, are obedience classes, formal obedience competition, Flyball, dock diving, herding instruction, dog parks, jogging with your dog, roller-joring, bike riding with your dog, hiking trips with the Ridgie on a leash or long line. Chase the frisbee/flying squirrel toy is also popular. Training new commands and tricks is also popular as it involves food, attention, using her brains and learning, so she adores it. Clara likes any attention at all, so sometimes I sit with her and read aloud whatever book, newspaper or magazine I am reading. She finds it fascinating. Also popular in my house is playing the "chase the Ridgeback!" game. Some people say never to play chase with your dog where you are the chaser, as they'll always outrun you and will think they can disobey, but I believe that is a lot of bunk. We have established it as a formal game with rules, and the game can only be initiated or terminated by the humans. It is only played either in the house or a fenced area.
  

Any questions?? Anybody else have other suggestions I missed? Let me know in the comments section! I have to go now, as my Ridgie is done with her Kong and needs attention...

Ugh, Bug

Yay, the cranky modem has been beaten into submission, but the nasty stomach flu bug has not. Many thanks to Nicole's boss for passing along this vile bug to first Nicole and now I. I came home from work, was in my pajamas by 5 PM (I'm on the ultra early shift this month), asleep by 6 PM, and only awoke at 9 because the dogs were pestering for dinner, otherwise I probably would've slept the night through. My stomach and intestinal system seem to be more happy now than they were earlier today, thank goodness, but I still feel like the undead, my hands can't stop shaking, I'm dehydrated, and my electrolyte levels are pretty out of wack (I am drinking liquids like crazy right now....I don't drink it often, but today Gatorade has supplanted Nicole as my Very Best Friend).

Clara can tell I am feeling icky and has been the world's best snuggle bug (when she is not attempting to herd me...she has been very herding oriented this week and is driving Nicole, Mack and I crazy with her shepherdiness right now. Apparently, I can't find my way down the stairs unless she herds me properly. ::sigh::).

After only having a 1-day weekend last week due to working on Saturday I am as pleased as punch to have a full, two-day weekend now. I have high hopes that, with a little more rest tonight and a good lie-in tomorrow morning I may be well enough to haul the ginormous seed starting table, grow lights, and seed starting mix upstairs from the basement to start the seeds (yes, I should've started the non-squash seeds two weeks ago. Yes, I am a slacker. But, if I get the seeds started this weekend I will still be starting them a couple of days earlier than last year, so I should be fine. I just really wanted to give the tomatoes a little longer to get established before planting out).

All of the reps in my department at work are experiencing major frustration and burnout, to the point that our manager decided to give us the option of taking a longer unpaid lunch (1 hour instead of 45 minutes) or to give us the option of a 15 minute break (we haven't had breaks in 6 months). She asked our opinion to make herself seem "fair", but will probably make her own decision based entirely on what she thinks should happen, not on the majority opinion or what is best for each individual rep.

I'm hoping they decide to go with the 15 minute break option, even though both options will just stress the rest of us out (less people on the phones/more overworking), as a mandatory 1 hour lunch will ruin my commute schedule. Already, due to my constantly changing work schedule, over which I have no control, I must get to work 15 minutes early each day, so there is no bus that gets me there on time, only one that gets me there 15 minutes early. If we add another 15 minutes to the workday due to the longer lunch I will no longer be able to take the bus that comes right after my shift ends, but will have to wait for the bus that comes half hour later than my current evening bus. As a result, my schedule this month would look like this: leave home at 6:20 AM. get off the bus at 6:45 AM. Get to work at 6:55 AM. Start work at 7:15 AM. Leave work at 4:15 PM (instead of 4 PM). Get to bus stop at 4:25 PM. Get on bus at 4:45 PM. Get home 5:20 PM (yes, the return trip is 10 minutes longer due to evening traffic), so I'd be getting home 11 hours after I left for work. Considering that my workplace is only 4 miles from my home, it'd suck to be gone for so long each day. And, yes, another employer may try to work with their Most Valuable Rep to make things easier on her to slightly shift things to accommodate her bus schedule. My employer, however, says I have to deal with it and they can't make special deals to accommodate my needs. Nevermind that they do that for another rep because she is in school.

I actually bus due to health reasons (lack of depth perception and frequent vertigo and arrythmias make me a poor candidate for driving), so if I wanted to make big fuss and declare us as violating the company's policies regarding reasonable accommodation for disabled persons I probably could, especially if I dragged their bending over backward to accommodate the other rep into the deal, but that'd take more energy than it is worth. Instead, I think I will just get the hell out of Dodge. I've thought long and hard on it for a week and I am still thinking May 31st as my last date at work sounds like a most excellent plan. My friend Liz (who used to work in the department, but was lucky enough to sneak out of it to another department before they decided to close all the borders and no longer allow phone center reps to leave, and who does not miss the days of sheer frustration and uncontrollable crying in the bathroom from stress at all) thinks it sounds like a good idea, too.

I have three weeks worth of 100 Foot Diet Challenge meals to post and hope to get to them this weekend or early next week. Apologies for the lack of food posts....I have been making fabulous food, but a wonky, loose connector on the laptop makes downloading photos a big pain (they tend to putz out part way through, requiring me to download them several times before completing a true, successful download), so I have been delaying the downloading of those photos for a time when my temper wasn't as short and I had more patience (it took long enough to download the last set of dog photos and videos that my patience has been a bit used up).

Moving Logistics--Transport to Alaska

Either the Evil Modem or the Wireless Router of Death are taking a vacation right now, so I cannot get online to post this and will have to get this up tomorrow after work (assuming the Internet will behave at that time?), so I am having to type this entry offline. That said, I am mostly pissed about the evilness of my computer accessories at keeping my from receiving my Internet fix, so what I was going to say went entirely right out of my head.

Oh yeah, now I remember: logistics. The Great Alaska Move is still at least 2 years+ away but that doesn't stop me, the Logistics Queen, from having a field day trying to work out all the logistical aspects of the move now. I need a lot of time to think about this stuff and hash it out. And, as I am better at doing the diagnostic/logistical thinking than Nicole, it's mostly up to me to come up with ideas, hash out the pros and cons, and do a lot of the focusing on pre-move logistics. Which is good, since Nicole's strengths are in being able to do other useful things, like piloting cars and such, so our skills compliment each other.

One of the biggest logistical puzzles is the How To Get Us and All Our Crap To Alaska puzzle. I've been working on this one for several months (even before we were sure we wanted to relocate) and the best, most workable option, and the best value for the money is still this lovely toy trailer from Carson Trailers. It has living areas to allow us a place to sleep, prep food, shower, and hang out in on the road on our way there. It has a cargo section to haul our stuff. It has tons of excellent cabinetry for holding stuff installed in the best places. Plus, if you pay very slightly more, you can get one with a non-ugly finish which will make it a happy vacation option for years to come (plus it'd help to make it a nice set of guest quarters for family and friends visiting in the summer).

If we had this trailer, we'd also have the option of staying, long-term at one of the friendly RV parks which not only allow, but encourage long-term stays and encourage people with dogs while we get started in our new jobs and look around for long-term housing. Also, the price is decent, the company has a good reputation f or making well-built, sturdy yet few frills RVs, plus Sue says she and her pack are very happy with theirs. When I quit my job I will be taking my 401K and retirement plan money out early, paying the IRS' early withdrawal penalty (yes, not the most fiscally intelligent option for most people, but since I will not live to 65+ to use it as intended, why not withdraw it early and use it for my own benefit?) I will have almost exactly the right amount to pay for one of these puppies out of pocket (including taxes and extra costs for additional cabinetry, the generator, the oven option, and the prettier cabinet and couch fabric colors).

We will probably still be shipping some stuff, most notably a good chunk of the 1,000+ books will be sent via media mail (all except the most popular/hardest to find/most expensive to replace/must have access to at all times books).

Non viable options which have been ruled out include buying or renting a regular haul-y trailer (the cost for staying in motels along the way is astronomical, and we like the idea of taking cheapie vacations with a sleeper trailer in the future), renting a U-Haul truck (see previous), paying a semi-truck moving company to move our stuff and just driving up (too expensive for how little we own, plus still means we have to stay in hotels or motels along the way), paying a smaller scale moving company to move our stuff (see previous), loading our stuff in a Pod trailer and shipping it there (not an option as they don't operate out of Alaska), flying us and dogs and shipping or paying movers to move the rest (I have read too many horror stories about flying dogs, plus still very expensive).

The absolutely ideal moving option would be as follows: have the fabulous Pod people start operating in Alaska, ship a bunch of stuff that way, thus allowing us to buy a slightly smaller model of the preferred Carson Toy Trailer, which is easier to drive, lighter weight, thus cheaper on gas mileage, and a cheaper initial cost. This would allow us to drive to Alaska, which would allow us to not freak out about how the dogs handle air travel (and not worry that the dog will wind up in the Netherlands--which happened to my dad once when he moved a dog this way--or wind up with the dog dead from mishandling/mismanagement from the airline companies), and would give us the option to see some of the US and Canada along the way. There are about 5 million RV/trailer places along the route (about a million of which allow dogs), and the fees are very reasonable. If we drove we could go at a slower pace and stop often to get out with the dogs and walk them often. Also, it would be a lot less stressful on the dogs to travel this way, as they'd be driving in a car they know, in their own crates, stopping often for sniff and potty breaks, plus they'd be staying overnight with us in a trailer full of stuff from home.

One thing I like about this trailer is that it has two "couches" which you can either fold out into two twin beds (in addition to the loft bed over the cargo area), or which you can fold up against the walls as needed. Our plan is to have one of us sleep in the loft bed, fold one bed/couch up against the wall and use the space there to store a small amount of needs to be accessible items for the trip, and the other bed/couch will be folded up against the wall with my lovely IKEA couch (I bought it at the Schaumburg, IL IKEA the day they released it in the US and I love it. It's no longer available, or I'd link to it) in place as the other couch/bed.

This couch is the mother of all awesome couches and I wish everyone was lucky enough to have one. It is very lightweight, in large part because it has a hollow center under the couch. You could place a couple of boxes full of stuff under the couch in the hollow to help hold it in place and to maximize storage. The couch, when it's pillows are removed, makes the most comfortable bed imaginable (it's actually slightly more comfy than my own bed!). Multiple people have slept on it when visiting and all rave about it's level of comfort. It is designed so a fitted sheet fits almost perfectly over it to make it an excellent bed. This will be the other person's bed while in transit, plus it's large enough to accommodate sitting room for one human and two dogs, or two humans and one dog sitting on it while hanging out.

Additionally, our goal is to purchase the trailer at least a year before we move so we can do practice travel runs with the dogs and get them more comfortable/familiar with it so it will be a very comfortable, non-stress inducing place for them (also this would allow Nicole to get more comfortable driving with the trailer before the trip). As we own a big chunk of land now and have the ability and room to park the trailer on the land, this is a totally reasonable idea. We even have a pole barn to overwinter the trailer in out on the land. Also, if we have the trailer out at the land we could, conceivably, plan overnight stays out at the land as we'd have a trailer with a generator, a fridge, stove, and full bathroom facilities available, so it'd be kinda like having a "second home" out at the land. Sounds good to me. My goal is to possibly purchase of this vehicle in summer or autumn 2009 with a May 2010 or May 2011 move date. I'd prefer 2010 but, realistically, I know it will more likely be 2011.

Yay, Author's Blog!

Yay, hooray for the Internet! Two days ago, while working on my GoodReads list, I was adding my Susan Beth Pfeffer books when I found a link from their site to her blog!! All work on the GoodReads list has been suspended while I read through the back entries. Ahhh, how I love the Internet. I grew up reading lots and lots of Susan Beth Pfeffer books as a kid--I've probably devoured at least half of the books she published in the 70s and 80s--so I was absolutely delighted to see that she has a very good, very funny blog. I love her sense of humor, she is fabulous.

Additionally, her recent-ish book, Life As We Knew It, is on my short list of the best books published by all authors so far this decade (right up there with the likes of Ellen Emerson White's Long May She Reign and Joan Bauer's Hope Was Here, so she's in good company!). Coming from The Girl With 1,000 Books that is high praise, indeed. It has been constantly receiving excellent press and tons of nominations for awards. It is fun to read her happiness over how well it's been received, and to read her excitement about LAWKI's companion books (and, since I know Susan Beth Pfeffer likes to Google to see who is mentioning her stuff, and will probably come across this entry at some point I have to say that, yes, I have preordered the dead & the gone and I am very eagerly awaiting it's laydown date!!).

I need to do some serious housekeeping on the blog lists at the right, as I have several new ones to add, but have not yet had time to revise and revamp the lists. Susan's blog will definitely be going on the book blogs list just as soon as I can get my lazy butt in action.

In other news, today Clara Bow saw a street sweeper for the first time, and she was OK with it! For Clara, little miss reactive rescue dog, this is a Really Big Deal. She often throws a minor spaz attack when she sees something new that is in the realm of scary, but we've been working hard the last 2.5 years to acclimate her to new and scary things, like aggressive dogs, draft horses and street sweeper vehicles at a distance. This time there was no spaz attack at all. Just some avoidance of the side of the street where the noisy car with all the swirly brushes was doing it's business, and rather more sniffing than was necessary, but that was a normal dog reaction to something scary-ish. She was definitely scared of it, but felt fully safe enough to not spaz out. I am veryveryvery proud of her right now.

She was almost as scared as she was of the draft horses when she saw them the first time at a slightly more removed distance, but she did not throw a hissy fit, or get terrified, or ignore her humans or anything. Yay for the good, big girl! She just keeps growing and maturing by leaps and bounds. Her 3rd anniversary of her Gotcha Day is April 16th. I can't believe it hasn't even been three years yet. It is so hard to remember what it was like before we had Clara, she is so omnipresent in everything we do (other people might call it "pushy" or "busy bitch" but I know Clara thinks of it more like being omnipresent and having her say in all we do. She is a very active do-er and join-er type.).

Sourdough Addict

Today was one of the busiest, craziest days I have endured on the job. I had 122 calls during the last 7 hours of work, scheduled several ACH loan payments, processed multiple loans, faxes, and e-mails. In fact, I ended up working on e-mails during half of my lunch, as there was no time to do them today during work, and several of them were urgent and could not wait until tomorrow morning. We were very short-staffed, we had myself, one other rep all day, a second rep for half the day, and one manager, and that was it. I was so overwhelmed and stressed by our shorthandedness, our extreme busy-ness, and the constant, non-stop ringing of the phone and alllll the members' needy demands that I was actually shaking from sheer frustration and stress at one point towards the end of the day. It was, overall, a pretty black day and I thought longingly of scribbling an "I quit!" notice on a loan view sheet and handing that in as my written notice.

And then I got home, went to Meijer, and looked in the fresh baked bread department, and there it was: San Francisco Sourdough bread. The bread that is so popular it is usually sold out. It's the one and only decent sourdough bread I have tasted east of the Rockies. There was one loaf left, and it was mine. It was as if the ceiling opened up and shaft of pure sunlight shone down on me. I was so happy I felt, to quote Flann O'Brien "[as] lively as twenty leprechauns doing a jig on top of a tombstone."

The day still sucked majorly, but it had a happy ending, and that's all I ask right now. This sourdough bread is sheer heaven.

Obnoxious Ridgie & Prancy Retriever

This is an example of the true reason more people do not have Ridgebacks (or Ridgeback mixes). It's hard enough on a dog to be just a sighthound or just a scenthound, but Ridgebacks are both sighthounds and scenthounds. Thus, much of our time is spent like this:

Now imagine trying to walk this sort of dog on a leash! It's amazing we do not get frustrated at her more often (and vice versa).

In other news, we are working on teaching Doggy Genius (one of Clara's many nicknames) how to comprehend and follow compound commands. It's essentially like speaking shorthanded sentences. It's amazing how much she can understand and how well she can put a string of commands together to interpret what we are trying to tell her.

For example, Nicole threw Clara a piece of bread while she was lounging on her couch the other day. Nicole's aim missed, and the bread piece fell just short of the couch and landed on the floor, next to the dog toybox. Clara was sniffing around the couch, trying to find the bread, so Nicole told her "'Off.' 'Find It'" which are two commands Clara knows well. Clara understood that Nicole was communicating that the bread was on the floor (hence she had to get off of whatever she was on, in this case the couch) and she had to seek for it, as it was not immediately visible. She immediately popped off the couch, started sniffing around edges of the couch until she found the food about 15 seconds later.

I still can't get over the fact that she understands human language so well now. At this time, two years ago, she was just barely beginning to understand words consistently. At this time three years ago she was newly picked up by the animal control, after having broken loose from being chained up outside somewhere, uncared for and unloved, with a mutilated ear, frostbite damage to her tail, malnourishment, irritated skin, and no one to play with or interact with. That winter was almost as snowy as this one (that was our previous record for most snowfall in a season, until this last storm broke the old record). It breaks my heart to think that she had to live like that so recently. I am really proud how far she has come from that wild, feral dog we adopted.

And, because Mack cannot be left out, here's a video of the mouthy retriever mix, prancing with his toy:



In other news, one of my coworkers just adopted a 5 week old puppy. No, that is not a typo, I said "weeks". Anyone want to help me brain the morons who bred the Malamute and Shepherds and produced this mutt pup and her litter, and then started giving the pups away at 5 weeks?

People piss me off and disgust me. Not only do you have the health concerns to worry about (I spent 10 minutes just trying to explain the parvo danger and how parvo shots work to my colleague), but I don't even want to think about how this pup's mental development is being stunted/damaged by being crated most of the day (a family member is coming over once during the workday, but her human is gone 10.5 to 11 hours a day), plus she is crated overnight. Not to mention, being taken away from her siblings and mom, from whom she could be learning so much more and gaining so much more confidence and experience.

Clara had a lot of bad stuff happen to her after she left her first home and went out into the world, but she was given ample time with her mom and siblings, and is very mentally tough, curious and eager for new experiences, and is very dog body language-smart and, in many areas, rather bomb-proof despite the terrible lack of socialization that happened after she left her momma. Mack had a pretty sheltered life, but was taken from his mom early and is rather dumb about inter-dog communication and is overly nervous and such, and that bad start has really made the rest of his life so much more difficult.

If you love the puppy so much, can't you love it enough to let it stay home a little longer to provide the proper foundation it needs to help it through the next 10-15 years of it's life? How could you place 3 extra weeks of cuddly puppiness as being more important than this dog's long-term mental and physical health? People are so selfish. And owners who do not spay and neuter their dogs and breed them to provide yet another litter of giant mutts (most of whom people will probably want to dump once adolescence hits and they're no longer cute and are large and attempting to be in charge) should be shaken violently until some sense comes into their brain.

I feel so badly for dogs who, right off the bat, are set up for failure in life like this. There is a chance the dog may be 100% bombproof anyhow and healthy and not bear any scars from the early separation, etc., but it is a much smaller chance than if proper precautions had been taken, and there is a good chance that either this pup, or it's littermates, will end up at the pound like so many of the mixed breeds in the area.

Too Many Books

It is absolutely official: I have too many books. I've been estimating my book total at 600 to 700 books, but I just found out that estimation is way off base. We're looking at a figure more like 1,000 books. Granted, quite a few of them are Intermediate and Young Adult level fiction (approximately 400 of them), so they don't take up as much room as, say, 1,000 copies of long adult fiction books but, still, that is a lot of books.

I spent about 2 hours today working on organizing some of the books. I still have another 6 hours or so of organizational work to do but I now actually have most, if not all, of the Mabel Esther Allan books together in one place. I counted them (as I have more books by her than any other author) and came up with a total of 61 books. And that is counting individual titles, not total number of copies as I have multiple copies of most of the Drina books, copies of the same book in multiple different publication formats from different publications, as I am a bit of a Drina book pack rat. I loved those books as a kid.

I think I may have 2 or 3 Mabel Esther Allan books still hiding out somewhere, though. The chaos in my library is pretty extreme at this point. It has never been quite this chaotic before, and I doubt it will be this chaotic again. There is a shortage of bookcase space and many books are laid on top of the shelved books, as there is not enough room to place all the books properly on their shelves. I need more bookcases, but am reluctant to purchase any more considering the fact that we'll probably be moving to Alaska in a few years. I have a few bookcases in the basement being used for sewing supplies storage, and am thinking of moving those upstairs to house the homeless books.

My goal is to have the books in proper order and properly placed on the appropriate shelves by the time my mom comes for a two week visit (in May/June), as my mom is rather klutzy and has been known to do things like spill a glass of red wine on a 100 year old copy of an Elizabeth Von Arnim book when given half the chance, so I need to do everything in my power to help her not ruin my old books.

Additionally, I am in the process of posting my library list on GoodReads.com, but haven't gotten very far just yet, as it takes a lot of time to locate all the books on their databases (or, in some cases, make new entries for books not in their database). I don't even have half of my library posted online yet, and I am already well past 400 books.

Happy Spring

This was the view outside my back door this morning when I left for work:

Ahh, yes, I see that Spring is upon us.

Dogs at the Land

Here are some photos of my crazy pups out at the land this weekend. It doesn't look anything like this at present, though, as all this land is now buried under a foot of snow. Happy Spring!



Clara Bow is seriously talented. Who needs crazy shows like Dancing With the Stars when I have my own star, Clara Bow, putting on moves like this!



Clara taught Mack how to do the Hokey Pokey.



Clara Bow learned how to walk on water.



Mack had a swell time. In fact, he was downright puppyish at times:



Yes, he is 6.5 years old, going on 1 year old. Gotta love the combination of Flat Coated Retriever and Alaskan Husky. Who thought up that crazy combination?!



They have the cutest little muscular butts.



There was much racing and chasing.



Clara did a few aerial laps of the property thanks to the help of her spring-laden feet....



....and her Dumbo (AKA "dumb Bow") ears. Poor big eared baby. At least she can fly!



The pups had a fabulous time. I'm hugging my Clara a little tighter today after having learned that we lost Beckett, AKA Ch Rare Earth's Quantum Leap UD, MX, MXJ, HIC, TT. He was one of the most influential and talented performance Ridgebacks, a gentleman who brought a ton of athletic ability and good temperament to the Ridgeback community and showed everyone who thought that Ridgebacks were untrainable or could only be food motivated that a Ridgie can be a top notch multisport performance dog, too....

All his wonderful traits live on in his equally talented offspring who are tearing up the show ring, and agility, obedience, lure coursing, etc., venues worldwide. Yes, he was almost 13 year old, but the boy was legendary and it's hard to imagine the Ridgeback world without him. We will miss you, Beckett.

I am not making this one up...

I was sitting at my desk at work today when one of my bosses came up and plunked down two greeting cards on my desk and asked me to sign them. They were "we're excited about having you come join us, thanks for hiring in" cards for our two new employees for the department, two people, I think female, who are going to be starting in training next week (which means they should be ready to start taking shifts on the phones around, oh, say August or so).

We've not been told names or anything important like that. I think, given our terrible track record with new recruits, they're waiting to see if we have to fire them or if they quit before disclosing info like names. I know my main boss was trying to be welcoming and friendly, but it came across to us current employees in the department as a pathetic "we're so short handed and desperate for employees...please, please don't quit" sort of sentiment. I couldn't help it, I found it terribly funny and had a hard time keeping myself from laughing out loud. We really are getting quite desperate. Which is funny, given all the doom and gloom notices we've been hearing about the economy doing so poorly and jobs being hard to find in unemployment-ridden Michigan.

Teeth Gnashing and Hair Pulling

I had the day off work yesterday, which was lovely. I got a lot accomplished and was happy and mostly stress-free, unlike Monday (a day I worked). I returned to work today and the stress came pouring right on down. I walk in and there is 3-4 hours of work waiting for me the minute I walk through the door. And this is work I need to do besides my work answering the phones and helping people on the phone. What stresses me out the very most about my working situation is not the job (I actually love it), but the extremely unfair working conditions. I cannot continue to work in an extremely short handed department, I cannot be expected to do such a high volume of work with no off time. Our call volumes and work volumes keep increasing while we allow reps to cut hours, and then fire other reps causing us to be expected to do a large quantity of work with a very skeleton crew. I think my big problem is that I can only operate on chaos/crisis mode for about six months. After six months of nonstop shorthandedness, no relief, tons of chaos, crisis all the time, and more work being piled on my plate, my brain just plain quits.

I am strongly considering quitting my job, even if I don't have another job lined up. And, given how exhausting my job has been lately, I don't know if I'll have the energy to work at my current job, take care of my dogs and garden and apply for a new job at the same time. I am thinking of possibly submitting my written notice some time in either late April or the first week of May, with my last working day being the final business day of May. By that point I'd have substantial enough savings to last me through the rest of summer, if needed, between the tons of hours of saved up vacation pay, tax refund money, and my funds in my savings account. I will continue to contemplate this, but I find myself leaning much more towards quitting my job ever since I returned from vacation and was reminded how truly horrifying my working conditions are lately.

On that note, I am off to go watch The Prisoner as part of our Patrick McGoohan-fest.....If Pat McGoohan can resign, I can too! The Village is the name of my housing co-operative (I am not joking!), so I guess I have no worries about someone dragging me off to The Village if I resign from my job, as that's exactly where I'd be heading if I submitted my resignation.

And, yes, I was a big fan of The Prisoner when I bought into this co-operative, so I invested with full knowledge that I was being relocated to The Village. A warped sense of humor is a good thing to have, at times.

Kindness

The two most influential family members in my life have been also, not surprisingly, the most intelligent, kindest and most morally thinking/behaving people I know. One of these people is my mom, the other is my father's mother; my Grandma Alice. Both of these ladies have had a heap of trouble pitched at them in their lives, and both remained strong throughout and have always remained true to their moral code of treating others well while also treating themselves well and keeping their pride.

It's a very fine line, and one my family is generally not good at dealing with. We tend towards being either rather hedonistic in our outlook, or too self sacrificing and become doormats no one values, or we're rather out to get all we can, even if it involves treating others poorly. Morals and scruples are not my family's strong points. Kindness is often viewed as a failing by some in my family, something to be exploited and used against others. Kind people are also often judged as stupid people and, in a family full of genius IQ and near genius IQs where half the family makes intelligence a bit of a competition, this is considered to be a big failing. We also tend towards quick and harsh judgement of others, and tend to be vocal in our condemnation. We are really not nice people. All those things make me very un-proud of my family. Which is probably why I am not very close to most of them. They're hella fun to hang out with a joke with a laugh with but, mostly, you can't trust them the way you can your friends. Which is why most of us are closer with our friends or "adopted family" (i.e., I'm closer to my best friend/adopted sister, Nicole, than I am to my real half siblings).

I think my older half-sister has turned into a nice lady the last few years, someone who is worthy of being called Grandma Alice's grandkid. That's probably the biggest compliment I can give, actually, and I wish I had the guts to say it to her, but I know I probably never will. She loved and valued our grandma as much as I did, though, so I think she could understand the compliment that is intended by that observation. It took her a lot of years away from our rather toxic mutual family, and a lot of years with her very nice husband and kids' good influence before she turned out as nice as she is. She was one of the meaner ones in my childhood, though, so I still have a hard time trusting that she is as really good as she is now, like I expect her to turn around and suddenly bite me or something, although I seriously doubt she will. Thus, I'll never say it to her, but I will think it.

What I value so much in my mom and my Grandma Alice is their extreme common-sensical intelligence coupled with a desire to be nice to others and to treat them fairly. Both my mom and grandma have, at times, been occasionally too nice and have been mistaken for doormats, and have been treated as such by some of the more stupid members of my family, which has really infuriated me. But, for the most part, they did an excellent job mixing pride and strong will with niceness and kindness. I wish I could be as nice and kind and loving as those two. I am a rather untrusting person, though, so the "nice" and "loving" portions will probably never apply to me. "Kind", though, I think I can do.

Their kindness isn't the helping old ladies cross the street, or giving candy to the neighborhood kids sort of thing. Sometimes people confuse "sweetness" and "kindness" and those sometimes go hand-in-hand, but not with these two. Especially not with my Grandma Alice. Grandma was a tiny twig of a lady, a petite little Scot-Irish Army nurse and, later, Air Force nurse who took no nonsense from anyone. She was also a very devout Catholic, though, and had been treated rather poorly and discarded by her party-girl mother as a child, and she went through life with a motto that it is important to treat people fairly, kindly, and nicely, and with love.

It might've seemed odd to a stranger, that I'd refer to a lady known for always saying "get the hell out of here, you little bastards, you're driving me crazy" whenever the mob of us got too much underfoot as being loving and such, but she really was. She was also extremely blunt, as New Englander Army folk are wont to be. We all knew she loved us dearly, there was/has never been any question in that matter. In all my life I would say there are only two humans who I am absolutely sure loved me at all times, and they are my mom and Grandma Alice.

Grandma Alice was an ugly little skinny monkey of a kid, with thick glasses, legally blind as a child, monetarily very poor as she lived with her working-class grandparents, and she was unwanted by her own parents. As a result, she knew what it was like to feel left out and unloved, so she made sure those she cared about always knew how much she loved them as she never wanted us to feel like that. When I was too poor to pay for my AP tests and SAT tests, she footed the bill. Not my 6 figure income father, who refused to pay for them as he never wanted me to go to college in the first place (as it'd prove I was smarter than him, and he couldn't have that!), not my mother and stepfather, who were struggling to support the 3 of us on a 4 figure income (I am not joking, my senior year of high school our income was just over $9,000). These crucial, key tests were paid for by my grandma who, at that time, lived all the way across the country and was helping two of her younger kids financially as they were finishing up college and entering the work world. She paid for these tests because she knew me well enough to know that I am extremely intelligent, that I highly valued my chance at higher education, and she felt it was important to give me this as a gift, rather than the stupid baubles and trash people are likely to give a 16 or 17 year old teenager when birthdays or Christmas rolls around.

My other 2 grandparents were fun, neat people, but neither of them took the time to know me and love me as an individual quite the way she did, and thus they both missed out on giving me the more meaningful, truly loving gifts like that. To them, I was just another grandkid. Rather cute, rather tall, definitely fun and silly, witty and smart (when she wasn't too busy remembering that she was shy), always writingwritingwriting, daughter of their rather space cadet goofy next-to-youngest kid so she must be just as goofy as her mom. I'm glad that Grandma Alice took the time to get to know me well. From what I've heard, my mother's grandmother (her mom's mom) was also very like Grandma Alice in many ways. I didn't know her well enough, and she died while I was still very young so we never got as close as Grandma Alice and I, but I think that was one of the reasons my mom liked my Grandma Alice so much. She had a lot of the same, cool qualities as my Great Grandma Dot.

Wow, I got off on a tangent there....I was talking about kindness...Kindness, I guess, is loosely defined by me behaving in a just and right manner towards others, making proper decisions....choosing what is morally right over what may be the most self serving choice. I guess I sort of confuse the term with fairness and morally right behavior. I came across a definition of kindness which I like; "the quality of being warmhearted and considerate and humane and sympathetic". I also came across one which I don't necessarily concur with; "tendency to be kind and forgiving". I think you can be forgiving and kind, but you can be a kind person without having a very forgiving nature. Like me, I'm a pretty nice person, and am rather forgiving towards those I trust, but I am, generally speaking, a rather big bitch about refusing to forgive those who do not deserve it.

I had this argument once with a good friend who is deeply Christian. He believed strongly that to be good and kind you have to forgive everyone. I state that there are those who, categorically, can not be forgiven for their wrongs. If they repented and had a true change of nature, maybe, but he stated you have to forgive people across the board, regardless of what rats they are and how badly they try to hurt everyone, in order to be a good Christian. We fought long and hard over this subject and finally called it a draw. I refuse to state that I am not a good Christian, but I also refuse to just up and forgive Hitler, or my father, or anyone like them, for being really big jerks and hurting everyone and everybody they could, just because they're self-centered, hurtful people.

Part of me knows, deep down, that I cannot forgive the unforgivable people because I, personally cannot forgive someone I cannot trust. I cannot open myself up to be potentially hurt so badly, and monstrous people can hurt you pretty badly. I also cannot open up those I love best to be potentially hurt. For example, some of my family think I should still be in contact with my father and talk with him and be around him, especially now that I have been diagnosed with major illnesses which will drastically shorten my life. I say "why should I do this?" My father is a very unkind man. I have seen him ditch the family dog alongside a large highway because he didn't want it anymore. I have seen him take every single one of my stepsister's belongings and throw them in the trash. I have seen him defend his wife after she dislocated my nephew's shoulder when she treated him roughly. I have seen him banish a 6 year old to eat dinner on the toilet because he decided her table manners were not good enough (they were about average manners for a 6 year old), and have had to listen to him while he called her a pig and a disgrace to the human race. I have seen him throw a 40 pound dog house at a puppy because she teethed on something inappropriate. I have spent hours listening to long winded tales of how much I suck and do not deserve to breathe the same air as other humans because I am inferior and such an awful, undeserving girl. Thus, I cannot forgive such a person.

And I cannot allow him around those I love. I am a good, kind person so I will not go out of my way to hurt him, but I will not open up myself or my loved ones to potentially being hurt by him, either. I could never allow him around my dogs, for example. I couldn't trust him to not abuse them, and if anyone ever abused my Clara Bow again I'd probably rip their head off. She's suffered enough unkindness in her life before we met, and should never have to deal with that sort of behavior again, now that she is with me and I can protect her. I guess you could also say I don't trust myself to not maim and/or kill someone who is an unholy terror of a person like that. I am kind, but I can also be unforgiving and, to evil people, I could become vengeful. Since I know I cannot trust myself around such truly abhorrent people, I stay away from them. I know my weaknesses pretty well, and this is one of them. If someone maliciously hurts another person or animal without a damned good reason, I would not be able to control my temper.

So, I guess, my definition of being kind and kindness will always differ from my friend's, because I don't believe you have to potentially open yourself up for martyrdom just to be kind. And my definition of kindness is too much colored by my own experiences. You can make decisions which are not self supporting, and which are in another's own favor and for their own good, even though the decision can be far from your own best interests. And you can do this because you try to be kind to the human race in general, because it is how you think people should be.

(I'm sorry I didn't post this on 3/18 when I wrote it....I was planning to add more in this vein, so I saved it for later posting, but since the rest of my thoughts on this would take about 2-3 hours to type up, I will save that for a future posting)

'Tis a silly place...

I am most decidedly having a difficult time convincing myself to stay with my current employer when we are so understaffed, overworked, and overstressed. I came home very stressed and frazzled, and decided that I needed to unwind with a boatload of crazy dogs. The best one of the evening, though, was the Monty Python and the Holy Grail reference:

Of course, maybe I am just in a silly mood, as I also cracked up laughing at pictures of Aliy's lead dog, ChaCha, electioneering by attempting to kiss babies at the finish line in Nome. Granted, if Aliy's dogs are her kids, then this baby is ChaCha's cousin, so it makes a little more sense, but she seriously looks like she wants to do some political campaigning or, at the very least, an old fashioned, baby kissing, election campaign.

For a large portion of Ann Arbor, today is the 4th and final day in the a 4-day-weekend-long St. Patrick's Day Excuse To Drink-fest. The town is not very fun at this time of the year, trust me.

What gets me, though, is how utterly un-Irish the revelers are. Lots of Dutch, Germanic, English, and Polish-American folk wearing green, drinking copious amounts of dyed green alcoholic beverages, and hooting and slurring on all sides. I think it's the Ultimate Irish Revenge on all who put us down a century or so ago and tried to insult us by making the word "Irish" synonymous with "poor white trash". We don't get revenge on you at the time, per se, but we get the best revenge of all by making generations of your American offspring look like moronic dolts while they imbibe too much and say it's because they're celebrating our special day. Poor people. Thank God I'm Irish enough to not fall for this stupidity.

In my house, St. Patrick's Day is a) a celebration of my Irish heritage (one of about 10 different nationalities that make up the Meg, but one my family has always been fond of, with us recently being from the Boston, Massachusetts area and all, you can't help but be proud of your Irish-American side) and b) the first day of celebration for the birth of our favorite Patrick, Patrick McGoohan. Patrick's official 80th birthday is Wednesday, but since it follows so closely behind St. Patrick's Day we sort of merge the two holidays and end up with a 3-day Patrick McGoohan-fest on our TV set. Lots of The Prisoner and Danger Man/Secret Agent Man (and, yes, we own all the episodes of both shows, because we are retro dorks).

And now it is time to go watch copious amounts of Patrick McGoohan on TV, drink a glass of Irish Cream, and eat the yummy potato wedges which smell like they're ready to come out of the oven.

Happy wagging dogs

Another video of the Crazy Dog Kennel crew:

Just a bunch of happy, wagging sled dogs (and one cranky housepet, Maudy, lying on the ground not wagging as she was mad at having to hang out with the sled dogs).

The Snow is Going...

The snow is 98% gone and the ground is soft under our feet. Clara played outside with our (pale blonde) Golden Retriever neighbor, Zoey, today and turned Zoey into a nice brown dog from all the mud. Since Zoey likes to spent half her time on her back, wrassling like crazy, and the other half up on her feet, doing puppy zoomies with wild abandon, she was covered head to foot with mud. At least she's a water-loving Golden, so she adores taking baths and getting cleaned up. Or maybe she's just plain tub-crazy. Actually, given this video of her and the fact that she hangs out in the tub all the time "just for fun" makes me think that's probably the case.

Speaking of videos, YouTube has been rather cranky lately about crashing my Internet connection every time I try to upload a video, but I did manage to upload one brief video of Streak (and Probe and Robin) from Crazy Dog Kennels. Here it is:

Iditarod Finisher!!

A brief note, and then I am off to bed....

Zoya and the Crazy Dog team finished the Iditarod a few minutes ago in 53rd place. A big congrats to Zoya and the dogs. I know this has been Zoya's dream for a long time, so we are very happy for her, very proud and absolutely overjoyed for her at getting to reach her goal. She has done, and continues to do, an excellent job with her dogs.

In other news, I had another crappy day at work (at least the locks are fixed and I no longer have to break and enter to get to work!) and am dead exhausted. I was just waiting up to see Zoya come in safely to Nome before heading off to bed. I had the longest stretch of dizziness/extreme nausea/shakiness/chest pain/shortness of breath yet for about 20 minutes straight without stop this afternoon at work. I wanted to stop for a minute and try to catch my breath and try to regroup, but first we had a backed up queue of callers, then about 3 or 4 minutes into my bad stretch we realized that our ATM network connection went down and we were being inundated with calls. I spent most of the time with my eyes closed while I talked because I felt a little less sick to my stomach if I couldn't see anything. I was only opening my eyes when I needed to consult something on the computer screen.

I feel mostly better now, but still pretty shaky and a little "off". I hatehatehate having major chronic illnesses. I know this will never get better and will only get worse, so I should accept it and such, but I am still pissed off. I am 30, I shouldn't feel so crappy so much of the time. I hate this and it makes me extremely cranky and snappish. It is a lot of work to continue being Nice Meg to all and sundry when I am mostly feeling cranky under the surface and want to bite everyone.

I am trying to decide if I should consider a trip to the ER if I get another run like this during the weekend, but I don't think they could do anything for me there. Last time I went to the ER I left with a bad case of ER-caused dehydration, feeling sicker and shakier than before the ambulance picked me up, so I am reluctant to visit them again for anything short of cardiac arrest, yellow fever, or severed limbs.

Hopefully lots of liquids, lots of rest, lots of snuggle-with-dogs time, etc., will help me both get over the cold I have and help my heart get back to a more steady, stable, happy rhythm. I need to rest and recover now as this is the last weekend I'll have off work until the end of the month.

blah blah blah

I know I planned dog pictures for today, but that will have to wait. This week has been beyond bad in most ways possible. The only good news is a) that, for the first time all week I, theoretically, will not have to break and enter in order to get in to work tomorrow as they, allegedly, fixed the lock I mentioned earlier and b) my favorite musher, Zoya DeNure is happy and doing well and is scheduled to finish her first Iditarod tomorrow.

For me, I am still getting over this cold and am very sick and exhausted, my heart is not following any sort of actual rhythm pattern, I can barely keep my balance while walking and/or standing, and I've been having all sort of visual disturbances and extreme headaches, especially on the left side, plus I've been having problems with weakness/lack of co-ordination with my left arm/hand...which is bad for me, seeing that I am left handed (you should see all the corrections I have to make in my typing!).

I want to quit my job but, at times like this, I begin to wonder if it is at all ethical to try to hire on somewhere else when I am not 100% and cannot expect to be able to meet all the normal job requirements, since I feel like passing out when I stand up half the time, and I tend to often weave when I walk, which looks rather drunken sailor-ish. Ever since I had some sort of weird "jolt" a couple of years back my left arm has been very weak and not as good at fine motor skills as it was, plus my left eye no longer tracks normally like it used to, so I have a right eye that moves normally, but a left one that wanders all over and does as it pleases. I've tried to address this a couple of times with my doctor, but got nowhere, so I stopped pressing the issue. It makes me look a bit like a freak, and makes me feel like everyone must be staring at me, what with me holding my left arm and my wandering eye, my shuffling, stumbling steps, my feeling of unreality and faintness that comes on all of a sudden for no reason, my vertigo, etc., etc. It makes me very reluctant to quit my job and try to start somewhere else. I am really incredibly good at service-related jobs, but who would hire someone who looks this scary half the time? The rest of the time I almost look and feel normal-ish, but on days like today I feel like I have no shot whatsoever at working for another employer. I'd be an absolute liability, and if I was a human resources manager I'd never hire me. Don't want the customers thinking our employees are freaks.

Since I eat disgustingly healthily and take really good care of my body, plus since I have strings of "good days" the doctors won't declare me medically disabled because I am in better shape than I, theoretically, should be at this point. Unfortunately, I am, basically, barely able to drag myself through work on my bad days and have to come home and climb straight into bed to recover enough to finish my day. I am writing this after a 2 hour nap has slightly revived me.

Having all these medical issues sucks. I know I've said it before, and I certainly will say it again, and I need to say it now as that is my overwhelming feeling at the moment.

I'm off to climb back into bed with a copy of Gene Logsdon's The Contrary Farmer's Invitation to Gardening and a dog to snuggle with. Those are two good things I really enjoy, and I think I earned a chance to end my evening that way. I wish today was Friday, as I don't know how I am going to get through tomorrow (it's a big payday for our largest local employer group, and we're always twice as busy on these days....hard to handle when you only have 2/3 the staff you are supposed to have as we cannot hire and keep anyone in the department!). Probably it'll be with the aid of lots and lots of caffeine, which is terrible for my arrhythmic, tachycardiac heart but which is the only way to get through the day without passing out or falling asleep from sheer exhaustion!

Don't Try To Sell Me Politics While I'm Working

Why is it that people think it is OK to try to a) talk down to young-ish sounding people on the phone and b) try to sell their political candidate in a stupid, rather hype-ish way, playing solely on emotions and sound bites?

If this was a random solicitor calling me at home it'd make some sense, but this was a person I was speaking to on the phone at work. I was providing him with a service, did my job, was trying to tie up loose ends when he started patronizing me and trying to sell me an Obama. First off, a) I sound like I'm 20, but I'm really 30, so don't talk to me like I'm a small fry and b) sound bites and hype talk and overemotional appeals will not sell me a political candidate. In fact, if anything, they'd drive me away from the candidate just for that very fact.

If he doesn't watch out, his followers will be costing him votes. I know of one of his supporters, a fellow blogger, who is rational and human and doesn't insult my intelligence on the rare occasions she mentions the candidate. Unfortunately, she is the only supporter of his (aside from some occasional comments from a couple of folk on the Ellen Emerson White message board--currently broken, otherwise I'd link to it now) who do not try to go out of their way to insult my intelligence with their banter, their attempts at winning votes by using really stupid emotional appeals, and their attempts to compare their candidate to JFK and the like. Personally, I base my political leanings and support on logic, research, voting record, stance on issues, and the candidate's intelligent ideas, so this hype and constant emotional spin game is really driving me mad. If his supporters would try to sway my vote with logic I'd applaud it, but the appeals I am hearing sound about as intelligent and as logical as something I would've expected to hear 4 and 8 years back from Team Bush, and that disgusts me.

In other, happier, news, congrats to Lance Mackey for another Iditarod win, and congrats to all the mushers for such an excellent race so far. Zoya is still on the trail, on her way to Koyuk, and is expected to arrive in Nome early on Friday morning. She's in 52nd place right now, is in the top half of the rookies standings at this point, and is having fun from all accounts, so I am happy for her. We've been following the Crazy Dog Kennel crew for a couple of years over here, and we're very proud how they're doing. Considering that there are former shelter rescue dogs like Hunter and other mushers' rejects like Trapper on this team alongside the home grown and imports from other kennels, I am even more proud.

The work Zoya has had to do with just Hunter alone, to convince him that he didn't want to be a spoiled brat, out of control, constantly annoying the other dogs and disrupting everything out of sheer lack of self control, the fact that she's managed to mostly convince him that she is just as cool and deserving of respect as John is amazing. I say "mostly" because he is still a man's dog and doesn't respect or work as hard for women as he does men, plus John is his special person who he loves, so he will probably always work harder for John.

A lot of the behavioral problems Hunter had when they pulled him from the shelter were very similar to the problems Mack had when we adopted him (plus a few were like Clara's problems, like the overexcitement leading to major lack fo control), and it took us a lot of work with Mack, a lot of time, and a lot of being quietly firm and 100% consistent and united in our efforts to get him to believe we knew what we were doing, were worthy of his respect, etc. Knowing full well from first hand experience what Zoya has had to deal with to get him to listen and respect her makes me applaud her even more. She could've said "I give up, he'll never listen, I'll dump him back at the shelter" (as, unfortunately, some other mushers might've done) or she could've said "he doesn't like girls and only works for men, I have no chance, so I'll let him just run with John's race teams only", but she didn't. She worked with him, and continues to work with him, to earn his respect and to convince him that he wants to be an MVP on her team, too, not just on John's team, and I think that is great.

More photos of the Crazy Dog Kennel dogs tomorrow! I've been up since extremely early this AM following the Iditarod finish, so it's time for some sleep.

Bad Day

I am tired of working in a high stress, high volume call center that has not been fully staffed in nearly a year. When we're not fully staffed, the reps are just expected to work harder, and it's assumed that we'll have a few more dropped calls, but that we still should be trying to take all the calls in addition to completing all our additional work. More stress, plus less pay (company mandatory health care through the one and only plan they offer has raised prices so much the last 3 years that I am making significantly less take home pay than I was 3+ years ago before I relocated to the call center) makes me very demotivated to continue serving out my time with this company.

I'm also sick of managers and VPs walking in, looking around at our scanty staffing levels and saying "where is everyone?" or "is this all of you today?" Yes, we're insanely short staffed and this sucks. Please do not rub it in.

I am also a bit pissed because the time change means the internal clocks which manage the electronic portions of the buildings' locks do not get reset. I, therefore, arrive at work and the building has me locked out and will not let me in. Other staff members who have to be at work at 7 have keys to the side door. Being a call center rep I do not warrant a high enough status to receive one. I cannot call my coworkers in the building to ask them to come let me in....because there is no one in the phone center to transfer me to them.

If I'm lucky enough to get into the building I have a second set of locks I have to pass. The first door into the section I can get through, as it operates using a traditional, old school key, and I have that key. The second set of locks in the section is an electronically operated set of locks and it is also malfunctioning like the first door, and it will not let me in. In order to get into my section I have to, first, place my coat, bag, etc., right next to the door so I'll be able to grab it later. Then, I pull a chair up to the high receptionist' counter, climb up onto the chair, climb up onto the high counter (did I mention I have vertigo?? And have random dizzy spells several times a day??), climb down onto the receptionist's desk, climb down to the floor. Then I have to go around to the door, grab my belongings and shove the chair back where it belongs while propping the door open with my foot, and then I am stuck in my department until the doors decide to start working again an hour later. Yes, I could prop the door open and pop over to grab some water or use the restroom or something, but since I work for a financial institution and our door is supposed to be always locked and never left open and unattended, that is not allowed.

The sad thing is that I am really, insanely good at my job and really like doing it. I am such a fantabulously excellent phone center rep that it would be difficult to find my equal. And my regular members are cool, the non-regulars who call for help are generally great, it is the fact that a) we're perpetually short staffed and b) we don't get treated like we should and c) it gets taken for granted that we'll put up with bad working conditions that really, really irks me.

I am tryingtryingtrying to stick with my employer because the pay is still better than I'd get elsewhere, due to seniority and current bad job market driving wages down a little. Also because I would have to pay for COBRA so I still have health insurance if I quit, and COBRA is not cheap (but due to my medical problems I cannot be without health insurance). But, OH MY GOODNESS, I hate the peculiar circumstances of my job at the moment, and wish the earth would open up and swallow my department so it no longer existed. I tell myself that if I keep doing this job for longer I can save more for moving to Alaska and repay debt more now, so I can live on less money later on. But it is very difficult to be that far seeing sometimes. Sometimes the suckiness of the bad work conditions really get me down. And then, when I have a cold...and am tired and dizzy...and having problems sleeping at night, and work is as obnoxious as ever, and there is not even 1 second of time between calls to work on my mountains of work that Must Be Done I find myself temporarily freaking out and wanting to hide under a desk. Or go quit and work at Meijer. Or something.

All I really want is a job where the doors are not locked to keep me out, where I am not required to climb up high to break into my department so I can do my job, and I'd like a department that is full staffed 75% of the time and a manager who does not take me for granted, give me pittance raises (47 cents an hour does not even begin to cover the increases in mandatory health care coverage costs we've had lately...I've lost all of my raises money and then some for 3 years running due to sudden spikes in health care coverage costs), and treats me more like a human and less like an indentured servant. Somehow I don't think that's too much to ask.

Movie Quotes

I think I need to learn to be more organized and check out things like Fun Monday assignments earlier than the day they are posted. It's my own fault that I tend to be a bit of a non-joiner, off doing my own things, and then I miss out on the fun. Plus, I tend to have problems following the rules. As in, today's Fun Monday assignment is "I need YOU (yes, the wonderful YOU!) to pick 5 memorable lines from 5 different movies (if you could tell us which character said it and to whom, would be a bonus)...and tell us To WHOM (who in the people in your life) you could have said those lines." Well, I like the movie lines idea, but I'd need far more than 5. Could I change the rules for me to, like, 50? Over at Beyond My Slab Ari listed one of my favorite quotes from Design For Living and that set me off thinking of my favorite 5 quotes just from that movie alone. Ugh, I am a movie-mad lady.

So, yeah, I guess I am sorta joining in on the fun, Meg-style, which involves blatantly disregarding the rules and babbling on for quite some time. If you hate old movies, skip this post. Here are a few of my favorites, randomly selected, from some of the films I watched recently:

• Design For Living (1933), said by Miriam Hopkins: "It was certainly good to hear all the names you called me. I haven't heard them since I left father and mother."
  
  
• Design For Living (1933), Edward Everett Horton: "Mr. Curtis, what is your annual income, in round figures?"
  Gary Cooper: "In round figures? Zero."
  Edward Everett Horton: "May I ask what you live on?"
  Gary Cooper: "Nothing. I survive on miracles."
  
  
• Design For Living (1933), Edward Everett Horton: "Gilda, I've been your friend for five years."
  Miriam Hopkins: "And I want you to remain my friend for the next fifty years. So please shut up."
  
  
• Hands Across the Table (1935), Fred MacMurray: "Nobody has to have the hiccups" (we say this every time someone has the hiccups at my house....there's a big, long, drawn out conversation surrounding it in the film--an excellent one with Carole Lombard--and we die laughing every time)
  
  
• Topper (1937), Roland Young: "Bring me another flock of Pink Ladies" (said every time we eat Pink Lady apples--my favorite)
  
  
• Topper (1937), Constance Bennett: "Let's go have some dinner."
  Roland Young: "Oh no, we cannot eat on an empty stomach!"
  Constance Bennett: "Then we better have a few drinks first!"
  
  
• Bringing Up Baby (1938), Cary Grant: "Now it isn't that I don't like you, Susan, because, after all, in moments of quiet, I'm strangely drawn toward you but, well, there haven't been any quiet moments."
  
  
• Bringing Up Baby (1938), Katharine Hepburn: "You've just had a bad day, that's all."
  Cary Grant: "That's a masterpiece of understatement."
  
  
• Bringing Up Baby (1938), Katharine Hepburn: "There is a leopard on your roof and it's my leopard and I have to get it and to get it I have to sing."
  
  
• Bringing Up Baby (1938), Cary Grant: "I just went GAY all of a sudden!" My stepdad is a brilliant man with a highly intelligent scientific mind (and who looks, strangely, rather like Maurice Chevallier, of all people), but he tends to miss subtleties and nuances while watching TV. This phrase has become a code to explain to him that a character is homosexual when he clearly has missed the point, and is confused by what's going on...we just say, "It's OK, John, he 'just went gay all of a sudden'" and then he understands and can stop looking like a pouty Maurice Chevallier.
  
  
• Have a Heart (1934), Una Merkel: "If ya had a brain, I'd brain ya!"
  
  
• They Call It Sin (1932) George Brent: "If you're going to insist on being a jackass, I'm going to turn your case over to a veterinary." (I am a notorious George Brent-hater, but this is one of only two films in which I actually like him. Probably, in part, because of lines like that)
  
  
• Cracked Nuts (1931 Wheeler and Woolsey film), Edna May Oliver: "I have an idea you broke into this apartment."
  Bert Wheeler: "No man with any sense would do a thing like that!"
  Edna May Oliver: "How do you know what a man with any sense would do?"
  Bert Wheeler: "Well, you've got me there."
  Edna May Oliver: "Don't stand there acting like a fool!"
  Bert Wheeler: "I'm not acting."
  
  
• Private Lives (1931), Norma Shearer: "I was brought up to believe it was beyond the pale for a man to strike a woman."
  Robert Montgomery: "A very poor tradition. Certain women should be struck regularly, like gongs."
  
  
• Goodbye Again (1933) As the title suggests, there is a lot of saying "goodbye" in this film. Characters are always coming and going, and it's a bit of a joke how often the word "goodbye" is used in the script. It'd make an excellent drinking game. Anytime we're watching a movie or TV show and there is too much "goodbye"ing going on we do our Goodbye Again routine and shout "goodbye, goodbye, goodbye!!!" at the TV (it's our 1930s Precode version of a Rocky Horror Picture Show "Toast!!" throwing session. Yes, we are weird)
  
  
• Four Hours To Kill (1935), Richard Barthelmess: "They can only hang a man once...this murder's on the house" (phrasing might be slightly off on that one, my only copy of this film is an ancient VHS duped off a 10th generation bootleg copy, it's almost painful to watch, so I'm not checking my source for the exact phrasing)
  
  
• The Last Flight (1931), Helen Chandler: "On account of I can walk faster in red shoes." (I lovelovelove this film and the book it's based on. Many thanks to Richard Barthelmess for insisting that they make it into a film so he could introduce Nikki to me!) This is said every time I wear one of my pairs of red shoes. I have 4 pairs of red shoes (first pair was bought on a 2 day stay in Washington DC when I went there to see another Barthelmess film, and I picked up a pair of red shoes in homage to Nikki, they were $4 on clearance), so this is said often. It's Nikki nonsense, like all her chatter throughout the film, and highly entertaining. There's also a very good, very crazy, half page long bit about tackling a horse. If I could find my copy of the book version I'd type it out here, but it's temporarily hiding.
  
  
• His Girl Friday (1940), Rosalind Russell: "Walter, you're wonderful, in a loathsome way."
  
  
• His Girl Friday (1940), Rosalind Russell: "Now, get this, you double-crossing chimpanzee: There ain't going to be any interview and there ain't going to be any story. And that certified check of yours is leaving with me in twenty minutes. I wouldn't cover the burning of Rome for you if they were just lighting it up. If I ever lay my two eyes on you again, I'm gonna walk right up to you and hammer on that monkey skull of yours til it rings like a Chinese gong!" That has to be my absolute favorite string of insults ever in a film.
  
  
• Bed Of Roses (1933), Una Merkel: "Oh, well--maternal pride. I bet even a baby skunk smells like a rosebud to its mother."
  
  
• Sinner's Holiday (1930), Joan Blondell: "I'll be seein' ya around. Don't do anything while I'm gone that you couldn't do on a bicycle."
  

Signs that spring is coming...

It's not spring yet, not by a long shot, but we've had several signs recently that spring is coming. The last few days I've noticed:

• Clara shedding her short little hairs all over the place anytime you touched her. It looks like a lot of reddish brown straws all over the place. This is still very amusing to someone who has only had dogs with long coats, and long thick undercoats all her life.
  
• Squirrels running back and forth across the roof. I haven't heard that since November. After several nearly squirrel-less months the noise of little squirrel pitter patter on the roof is driving Mack and Clara nuts.
  
• There are more birds singing during the day, and a larger variety of birds are singing.
  
• Mack's undercoat coming out in great quantities. Also, Mack normally likes being brushed, but today he nearly took a flying leap at Nicole's head when she brought out the brush/combs box, he was that excited about being brushed.
  

Seed starting will begin next Saturday. I can hardly wait.

That's all for today. I have a bad cold and need to curl up under the covers with an audiobook (and with the laptop within reach so I can follow the Iditarod standings).

Zoya's dogs, part II

Lots of good Crazy Dog Kennels Iditarod updates both over at the Crazy Dog Kennels site and on Zoya's blog, including photos of Zoya's hockey stick-aided sled repair job. She's doing well, in 58th place as I type, has only dropped 2 dogs (Galen and Mambo) and is somewhere on the trail between Cripple and Ruby. The dogs look and sound like they're doing well. Considering that she has a lot of youngsters on her team and this is the first time both Zoya and the youngsters have been on a race of this length (I know Motta ran half of the Quest with John in 2007, and Djembe was in the Quest with Catherine Pinard in 2007, but Catherine scratched after 250 miles) it is great that they are all doing so well out there. Must be all the excellent training, plus the naturally great attitudes of all the dogs.

I spent part of the afternoon processing and uploading some more photos of Zoya's dogs, while monitoring the race on other browser windows. I'm bummed that it's just been plain too hot for Aliy Zirkle's team to be in contention this year, as she is one of my favorites, has a really excellent team and had a definite shot. It has to be tough on her Interior-based team to be running in such hot temperatures (above freezing most of the time), and you can tell she is running them more cautiously in order to keep them happy and healthy. It sounds like the weather might be cooling down out there and, if so, they should definitely have a shot at putting together some strong pushes towards the end of the race to move them up further in the standings. Many thanks to the SP Kennel crew for helping to keep us up-to-date, and major thanks to Aliy for allowing the Iditarod to place tracker on her sled...I've been spending far too much time watching her little GPS icon on the web the last few days (although it hasn't transmitted in over an hour, so I am a bit frustrated!).

I just received word that Zoya is now in Ruby and in 52nd place. She posted a good, fast run time from Cripple to Ruby (11 hours 6 minutes). She has to take a manditory 8 hour rest stop at one of the checkpoints soon, so I wouldn't be surprised if she did that now, as that would put her leaving Ruby at half past midnight, Alaska time, which would be excellent, as that would allow her to take a good run during the coolest time of the day, in the early AM hours. That's just speculation, though. We'll see if she chooses to take her 8 hours in Ruby.

Enough race chatter, though, it's time to share some of the dog photos I worked on so hard this afternoon. Here they are....more of Zoya DeNure's dogs! If you missed it before, you can find more of her team's photos here and here.

First up, we have Djembe. I think Djembe is now my third favorite, after my long time favorites, Henry and Streak. Djembe is as cute as a button, one of the happiest dogs I have ever met, and just a prancy little fairy princess of a dog. And, yes, a dog can be Iditarod tough and still be a cute little fairy princess. Djembe is proving that right now as she works her way through all the checkpoints.



Djembe was originally from Catherine Pinard's kennel, and came to the Crazy Dog Kennels last autumn. She is littermate to Zoya's Bongo and is cousin to Mambo. All three were Catherine's dogs, and when she disbanded her kennel, they moved over to the Crazy Dog Kennel team.



Catherine Pinard has referred to Djembe as "a really hard working dog" and Zoya has said about her this past fall "Djembe is always eager to go and enjoys leading the team. She's young, smooth, nice tight fast trot and right now is teaching her bro, Bongo how to run the show like a lead dog should."



Zoya has also said "Djembe is one of the sweetest dogs I'm running right now- everyone likes Djembe and the other girls don't feel threatened by her making it easier to run her next to almost anyone." This is a great asset in a sled dog, and considering that she can run either lead or in team this makes her an excellent multi-purpose, trouble-free type of dog, which is exactly what any musher would love to have.



She was a little shy at first, but quickly warmed up to us new humans after we'd been around for a while in her general area (mostly hanging out with Streak), but not coming super close to her. Her nature is to be shy, but she's also very curious, and by the end of an hour was darting up to us to give quick kisses, darting back afterwards to her spot near the truck where she felt "safe", looking very pleased at her boldness in approaching and kissing strange people.




Djembe, center, with Robin (left) and Probe (right)

And, lastly, two photos of Miss Djembe waiting patiently in the snow for the Iditarod ceremonial start to begin:





Next, we have Djembe's litter brother, Bongo.



Bongo was also a little shy, but has the same natural curiosity as Djembe, so he didn't stay super shy for long. Like Djembe and his cousin, Mambo, he is a very good looking dog. Zoya has been working this year on turning Bongo into a potential lead dog. Since most of her leaders are girls, it'll be really nice if he turns out to have the right stuff for lead work. He seems intelligent, and seemed very attentive to Zoya and John, so from what I could see he had some of the good leader qualities.



I only have one photo of him from the ceremonial start of the Iditarod, because he was too enthusiastic about all the hyper energy and excitement and kept jumping up on whoever was around, so I got several shots of just his torso (where, a few seconds earlier, I was lined up for a fabulous shot, and then he jumped). I can't remember his exact age, but I believe he and Djembe are either 3, or 2 going on 3, so he still has the young dog enthusiasm and a slightly puppy-ish brain at times. Here he is:



Bongo, with Motta sitting patiently watching his frisky behavior.

Speaking of Motta, Motta is another dog I really like. She's also a youngster (2.5 years old), and is very serious (no puppyish antics for her!). She seems to know that her job is being a professional sled dog, and that her job is to race with the best of them, and she seems to have the attitude that everything else is just fluff. Despite being only 2.5 years old, Motta has half a Yukon Quest under her belt, and would've ran the whole thing at 1.5 years old, except that she developed a pinched nerve halfway through the race, so John dropped her at the halfway point. If it hadn't been for the pinched nerve she would've gone all the way.



Motta was a little bit shy of us unknown humans, and mostly wanted to get to the end of the leash so she could investigate conditions. In the background of the photo below is Bridle, another strong minded female lead dog like Motta.



One of my favorite things about Motta is her nickname.....Motorhead!



Above is a photo of Motta with Galen. Galen and Robin are Motta's siblings (same mom, Zoya-dog, Galen and Robin are a year older than Motta).

Speaking of Motta's siblings, here are some photos of them....they're also pretty camera shy:



Galen at the ceremonial start to the Iditarod. He has since been dropped due to a sore shoulder.



A group shot....cousins Mambo and Bongo in front, with siblings Galen and Motta in the back.



This is Galen's litter sister Robin. They were a litter of only two pups, but proved that two pups were all that was needed, no "pet" pups in this litter, as both are on Zoya's Iditarod team.



Probe is one of the key veterans on the team. John and Zoya say he's the oldest dog on the team (I believe he's 7, if I remember correctly), with their other "vets" being dogs like Bridle and Trapper who are 5 years old. If you listed all the races Probe has run it would take up half the page. Most impressive on his list are races like the Yukon Quest and La Grande Odyssee in France.





We'll have one more installment of dog photos later, with photos of my two favorites, Henry and Streak, as well as photos of Iditarod team members Dude, Bridle, Hunter and Sebe.

11,000 mile Iditarod??

Gotta love the moronic local paper which employs people who can almost write, and might, someday, learn how to fact check. A snippet from a story in yesterday evening's paper:

"Bruce placed third in the same event, but unlike Monica, wants someday to compete in the 11,000-mile Iditarod race in Alaska.

In order to compete at the Iditarod, mushers must compete and do well in several qualifying events, where race officials can judge whether they are competent enough to be recommended for entry into sled dog racing's toughest event."

Oh my. And here I thought the actual Iditarod was difficult. Imagine poor the poor mushers being on the trail the 100+ days it would take to compete in that Iditarod!

Just another example of how clueless people can be around here about really cool things, like mushing. I wonder how many days it will take before someone complains to them and makes them print a correction on the story?

Random Alaska observations...

I'm beyond ready for the weekend already. It's amazing how much lower my energy levels are for the rest of my life when I am working versus when I am on vacation, but still being pretty active (i.e., walking at least 4-6 miles a day). My job really sucks a lot of energy from me. I come from a line of cross country and marathon runners (although my dad was more successful at running shorter distances, like the mile), so lots of walking is nothing to me, I'm built for it and it barely uses any energy, but dealing with frustrations, incompetence, and short staff levels just drains all my energy.

A few observations about Alaska....Ford Tauruses are rather crappy vehicles to begin with, but are much worse when being used to drive the roads and highways of Alaska in winter.



We were OK, but on some of the windy, steep stretches it felt a little shaky. It definitely did not feel like a well built vehicle, it felt very flimsy. I missed our clunky, but sturdy, behemoth of a minivan.



In Alaska, people seem to actually accept the fact that winter is a season that happens, and go with it. In Michigan, people complain constantly, whine and bitch and are just plain generally downright obnoxious in their constant complaints about the normal weather phenomenon called winter. And they all automatically assume that you hate it too. Gee, no, let's see.....I'm a Californian, moved voluntarily to Michigan 9 years ago....I vacation in places like Moscow, Russia and Anchorage, Alaska during colder seasons....I'd say I'm a bit of a winter weather fan. When people go on and on about how horrendous it is that it snowed four inches and they had to drive on roads with a little snow on them I want to slap them upside the head. Four inches is nothing, not even enough snow to elicit "yay, it's snowy, let's be wild!" play from my pups, and it's surely nothing to complain about. You live in Michigan, therefore it snows. If you dislike the snow and the cold that much, Kentucky is pretty close and you can get there in a day. Pack you car and leave now, please.

Also, the entire time I was in Alaska I did not see one single person in a track suit. Nor did I see a single stupid girl wearing sweat pants with words across the butt. Am I the only one who thinks this is an insanely ugly trend? The weather was warm enough that people were wearing cooler, non-wintry clothing for much of our trip, and yet with all the casual outfits I saw, not a single person wore ugly sweatpants with "Foxy" or "Pink" or "Dumbass" written across their butts.

People brake for pedestrians in Alaska. Not just in Anchorage, this happened multiple times in Wasilla and Palmer as well. We're so used to cranky Ann Arbor drivers who would never let a pedestrian cross, so we often reached a corner and stopped to wait, only to be nicely waved on by a waiting driver who, in Ann Arbor, would be judged to have the right-of-way because they got to the intersection 3 seconds after the pedestrian, therefore it is their right to gun the engine and splash them with icy melted snow as they fly past the patiently waiting pedestrian.

Restaurant food is marginally higher priced than in the lower 48, but the difference is really tiny. Grocery store food, however, is significantly pricier. Packaged foods are, percentage-wise, the foods with the largest cost increases, so it's a good thing that mostly we buy more raw supplies and prep the food ourselves. I was expecting high prices, but the prices were higher than I anticipated. I actually visited multiple grocery stores and wrote down price comparisons for a variety of supplies. When I get a chance I plan to stop by our local Meijer grocery store, price the same items, and type up a cost comparison chart and post that up here. This may take a few weeks, though, as I have 3 pages of items I'll need to price, and our schedules are too tight the next couple of weeks to allow me an extra hour+ to walk around Meijer writing down prices of food items and other household supplies.

There are lots of smaller, cabin-y houses in Alaska. In the area we're looking at moving to (Palmer/Wasilla/Willow) there are a lot of regular big old houses as well, but we were impressed by the fact that there were a lot of smaller homes as well. And tons of greenhouses and hoophouses. I read, in one of my gardening books, that there are more hobby greenhouses per capita in Alaska than any other state, and I'd believe it. The Mat-Su Valley was particularly greenhouse-filled. I'm excited about the thought of gardening there.

In our part of Michigan there are very few non-chain restaurants in the price range we can generally afford, so we seldom eat out. Unfortunately, a lot of the big name chain restaurants in Southeast Michigan produce pretty crappy food. Nicole is, understandably, a bit of a food snob and refuses to pay $10-$20 for a meal (including beverages, but not including tip) and have it be sub par. She's more understanding of errors or misses in quality of food if it's a cheapie, fast food-y place, but cafes, delis, and small restaurants which charge over $10 but provide boring or bad food really bring out her wrath. Her whole culinary career has been cooking quantities of good quality food on a budget to allow people to pay $10 to $20 for a meal and get a lot of well made, delicious food, so she knows full well that it can be done. It's understandable that she gets mad when she goes to a TGI Fridays or other similarly priced place and finds the food subpar. So it was a nice surprise that everywhere we ate the food was in the $10-$20 price range (or, occasionally, slightly less) and yet it was all tasty, plentiful, nutritious and well made.

Also, there are a lot of moose in Anchorage. I think a rather ridiculously large percentage of the moose population of the state must reside within 20 miles of Anchorage. For example, my first morning there I saw moose three times before 9 AM.

I was also impressed with the interesting use of brightly colored paint on the buildings. I tend to like bright, bold splashes of color both inside and outside my home, so it was fun seeing so many gaily painted houses and commercial buildings.

There is an "Alaska Grown" promotional movement just getting started in the state, and that is exciting. They're starting to proudly label food items which are Alaska grown, or made from Alaska grown items. It's still in it's infancy, but there is even a Alaska Grown website. Not much up yet, but it looks like their hopes are to expand the site to be a sort of resource for all things Alaska grown. I hope it succeeds.



The bus system in Anchorage is really good. The Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti bus system serves a similar sized area (both population-wise and geographical size-wise) and yet the Anchorage system beats the Ann Arbor system hands down. I'd like to see us try some of their ideas out here.

There are so many Alaskan Huskies there, and they look and act even more like Mack than I was expecting. Mack's momma was decidedly a Flat Coated Retriever, you can easily tell this as he was taught all the appropriate Flattie mannerisms and such, but he is instinctively very Husky-ish, he seems to have inherited so many Husky traits from his dad's side. In Michigan, unless you're further north, you generally mostly come across just Siberian Huskies. Nice dogs, but they're so completely different from Alaskans. Different personalities, with Alaskans tending to be both more mellow overall for long periods of time, and yet also more capable of sudden bursts of extreme excitement. Different builds, with Siberians being more like a sturdy, hard working multi-purpose farm horse versus Alaskans being more like really well bred Quarter Horses (Thoroughbreds get all the press due to their speed, but I personally tend to think Quarter Horses are more the complete package, a very well-built, less injury-prone, extremely naturally athletic, intelligent, well tempered type of horse, so if I am going to use a horse analogy, I prefer to think of Alaskan Huskies as being like Quarter Horses of the dog world).

A lot of Alaskan Huskies have the same sleek lines like Mack, yet still have a very adequate undercoat considering how sleek and hound-y they look. When he has his summer coat (much thinner undercoat), Mack still tends to be hot at anything above Spring-like temperatures, that's how deceptively warm his coat is. When he has his winter coat on, Mack is happiest when it is below freezing.



It was so beautiful everywhere we went on our trip. Even in less interesting parts of town, with too much sprawl, or ugly commercial buildings, you still saw the beautiful mountains everywhere, and all the trees are so pretty. Michigan is not an ugly place, but it is so flat in comparison, and has a much gentler sort of prettiness. Alaska has such a big, bold, raw beauty about it.

A few more photos, and then I'd better head off to bed:

Hooray for Clara Bow!

I just have to post a picture of Clara Bow today, because I love my funny little monkey. Also, I need to celebrate the fact that she went on a long walk today and was good during the entire walk.

As a rescue who came to us with a ton of baggage and issues, she is not very easy to live with. She is mostly about 1000 times better than she was the first 6 months we had her, but she tends to feel scared and unprotected sometimes on walks, mostly because she forgets she's with a human (despite alllll the refocusing we do with her constantly on walks), and when scary things happen, like a large dog comes out of nowhere snapping at her, she tends to think she's on her own and an open target, and she gets really scared.

Today, though, she was a good girl and remembered she was walking with her pack, and when 3 strange dogs decided to be inquisitive from their backyard as she passed, she behaved perfectly nonchalant and wasn't scared at all. Ditto when strange, large retriever mixes were following her on the walk (for those who don't know, she was savagely attacked by a Golden Retriever during a late fear period shortly after we got her, and tends to be more inclined to flip out from fear when strange retrievers do things that could be interpreted as scary, such as following her down the street for blocks and blocks).

To people who've had nothing but normal dogs, dogs they've known and properly socialized since they were puppies, she probably sounds pretty strange, and I guess she is. But since she was verging on feral when we got her, and took months to even comprehend that humans might be on her side and want what's best for her, I am very proud of where she is now and how far she's come.

Dude starts a new trend...chain tiaras

I love the above photo. After trying to get an elusive treat which rolled just out of reach under the truck Dude (center) popped up with his chain draped across the top of his head like a tiara. My boy Henry, to the right, is trying to determine what the heck that crazy Dude is up to. Hunter, in the foreground, is sure the photography is all for him, as he is such a handsome man, and tries to strike a pose. Sorry boy, I was photographing that wacky Dude! He immediately shook it off and looked that the chain like "dude, that was weird, why did you sit on my head?" and then went happily on his way.

Dude and Hunter are on Zoya's Iditarod team. Henry is currently working as a puppy trainer, teaching the young ones and newer dogs the ropes.

Dude is half sibling to the Phoebe/Trapper pups I posted photos of yesterday. He's from another Phoebe litter (can't remember his dad at this moment). His younger half siblings watched him with awe as Zoya led him past on the leash. There is some obvious big sibling worship going on there. Dude is so cute and laid back and has such a suitable name for him.

Zoya had a bad bit of nausea and headaches out on the trail, but managed to wait it out at a checkpoint and is now back on the trail. Given that she sustained a concussion on her last race, that is very concerning, although her doctors did clear her for the Iditarod and said the noggin was in good shape and Iditarod ready. I'm keeping her in my prayers. She's in 70th place right now, up from 82nd earlier, so I hope this is a sign that she is continuing to feel better. She dropped one dog, Mambo, due to shoulder cramping. I was going to post some of Mambo's photos today anyhow, so here she is:





Another group photo from the Crazy Dog Kennels crew:



In the foreground Hunter, the gorgeous, leggy rescue boy from the Fairbanks shelter. He's running lead and team on Zoya's Iditarod team. In the back, lying down, is Djembe, and sitting is Robin. I believe they're usually both running in team positions, but don't quote me on that.

Djembe is very photogenic and has this fairy-like personality and looks. She alternated between being skittish and nervous and trying to be brave and interact with the people, it was very cute. She'd look hesitant, dart forward for a quick kiss, then dart back, looking very proud and relieved that the people do not bite. Robin was a little more shy, but quickly overcame her nervousness when her neighbor (just out of sight behind the truck) Streak told her I was OK.

I wish I knew what was up with Ed Stielstra's team and how they're doing. They've dropped 3 dogs, but no word yet on their blog as to who was dropped or why. Ed is a Michigander musher. He's running his A-team himself in the Iditarod, and one of his handlers is running the 2 year old team to give them more experience. Both Ed and his handler, Jake, have dropped 3 dogs on each team. Here are a couple of photos of Ed's team from the Iditarod ceremonial start:




We're hoping the temperatures cool down ASAP, as these warm (often above freezing!) temperatures definitely do not benefit dogs used to much colder winter weather, like Zoya's team, or Aliy Zirkle and Allen Moore's teams.

Also, good luck to Steven Madsen, currently in 85th place. He is from Washington State and he drove his team up and stayed at our hotel for a few days prior to the race. He was very good with his dogs, and they all adored him. He was also good with the myriad of curious onlookers constantly coming up and asking him questions. Being dog fans, we were overjoyed to have a team parked outside our window and his dogs provided hours of endless amusement for us. We had a great view of the dog box from our hotel room. Instead of watching TV in the hotel we'd watch The Sled Dog Show outside our window:



He states his goal is to finish in the middle of the pack, and I hope he gets his wish.

Alaska Dreaming

I have a million things I need to be doing right now if I am this keyed up and insist upon not sleeping yet, things like finishing unpacking, or doing laundry, making bread to replace the loaf of sourdough I brought home from Alaska (it is nearly all eaten up), making mashed potatoes and cheese for future quick fix dinners this week, etc., but right now I am dead exhausted from a terrible day at work, and all I really want to do right now is be cranky and wish I was anywhere but here.

I returned to work today and found it hell on wheels. The stress level was insane, and when I return to that absolute insanity after a week of a more calm, less stressful environment I am ready to quit immediately. Our new person quit, plus since we fired our former lead rep we are now short two people in my department. And that is when everyone actually shows up for work, which isn't often. I am expected to do lead rep level work without the title or pay, and without being given the extra time off the phones in which to do it. My call volume and work volume are beyond reasonable. I am always behind and never caught up on the work that is given to me to do. However, I am doing at least 1.5 times as much work as any other rep in my department. Insane.

After visiting Alaska the decision has been made that, unless something unexpected comes up, we are definitely moving to Alaska. Probably to the general Palmer/Wasilla/Willow area, a sort of musher's and gardener's heaven in Alaska. A place we can live on a little less so we can possibly work a little less and still be able to indulge in gardening, dog rescue, etc.

The general pace of life in Alaska is so much slower and calmer, especially outside of normal business-y "suit" type of jobs. The credit unions there are excellent and, unlike my corner of Michigan, have branches everywhere, so I'm pretty much guaranteed employment with someone, even if I don't get a job with my first or second choice credit union. Or, if I decide to opt out of credit union employment my years of both customer service related and retail work would help me land a retail job in Wasilla, the retail center of the Mat-Su Valley, in a heartbeat. There are cooking and culinary and/or hospitality management jobs galore in the area which would work well for Nicole. Since she is just over 2 months away from graduating with a degree in culinary and hospitality management, she is in the right field for good possible summer-heavy employment in Alaska. Her ideal would be to work extra long days in summer and either have winters off or work a reduced workload in winter and spend more time outdoors, with dogs, being active, and hopefully skijoring and/or mushing.

Neither one of us like how big city, money-centric, busy-busy frantic Ann Arbor has become in the last 5 or so years. It went from this cool, laid back, more hip college town to this corporate busyland, full of uptight people who are full of rage and anger and frustration. As the economy around here worsens people get more frantic and insanely busy, as if they can stave off collapse into a Depression by working super hard. It's really beginning to scare me at times.

I can see exactly why Nicole's older half sister moved to Hawaii. She used to live in the Detroit area, and they experienced this same sort of craziness taking over, but it happened a little sooner in Detroit and spread out and has only really reached us the last several years. She, like both Nicole and I, is a smart lady and knows that she wants a happier life. Unlike us, she is a warm weather fiend, hence the moving to Hawaii. The good news is, flights to Hawaii in winter are plentiful and cheap from Anchorage, so we could easily take a pretty inexpensive, stay with family vacation if we find that the winter blues get to us.

The Mat-Su Valley is not a perfect place, but it is very good, suits our needs and likes, and it's better than where we are now. Our slower, sustainable-centric, eco-friendly, animal and nature-centric lifestyle isn't as looked down on and considered to be as universally weird as it is here. Land is cheaper, building restrictions are less and, in some areas, almost completely non-existent. It is so breathtakingly beautiful as well. And the weather is not as harsh as in some places in Alaska. Greenhouses abound to help with growing of more warm weather or long season crops, and I also saw hoophouses, lots of raised beds, etc. I managed to pick up several excellent used books and pamphlets produced by the local co-operative gardening exchanges about gardening in Alaska, gardening with season extenders, and gardening in greenhouses and/or hoophouses.

However, moving to Alaska will not be cheap. Also, employment there will not be quite as highly paid as my current job, therefore I need to save to help with moving and getting established expenses, as I don't want to incur a ton of debt due to relocating expenses. I also need to finish fixing up the Land so it will be more attractive to buyers in a few years when we sell, ditto the house, and I need to greatly reduce my amount of debt. Therefore, logically, I should continue with my current employer, make tons of money, and use it to help me transition to Alaska.

Unfortunately, being in a place where I feel more comfortable, more relaxed, and more free, and then immediately returning to the hell that is my current employment situation is enough to make me want to put in my two week's notice now, as this job is killing me with the stress, the negativity, and the extreme drain on my energy. Also, the stress level is so high that it makes it hard to sleep, which just compounds the exhaustion from my health issues and from overwork. I really hate my job right now, and it is killing me that I have to go back to work tomorrow. And Wednesday. And Thursday. Etc., etc., for weeks and months on end. It is such a terrible, terrible place for me, yet I am too good where I am now to be allowed to relocate to another department, so I am stuck doing a job I like, but under conditions I hate, in which the management has a very negative-minded attitude and reprimands constantly, but seldom rewards, and I find myself stuck in a situation way beyond fair working conditions to expect humans to constantly have to deal with. I am angry and frustrated and pissed that I have to go back to such a hellish worklife after experiencing so much happiness, joy, and peace in the last week.

Some Alaskans we met told us to just stay there since we liked it so much. "Our dogs are still in Michigan, though" we said. "Go back, get the dogs, and bring them back!" they counselled. I wish I could do just that. The problem is that I have two pieces of real estate I'd need to sell, neither of which are rentable (the home would be, except conditions of the co-op forbid it, as it ruins our tax status as a co-operative of co-owners, and the land does not have a home on it and is not big enough to rent for farm use). Also, I am very attached to my books. They make me almost as happy as my dogs. And I like oddball, hard to find books which it is difficult to find and purchase, so I can't abandon them. Also, my passport is expired, so I could not drive through Canada to transport us all to Alaska. And our car would probably die a horrible death after the first 1,000 miles, as it has not long to live. Our plans are that our replacement vehicle will be a suitable for cross continent move, good for dog rescue work type of van, but we're not yet able to afford it. Oh, yeah, and my best friend is still in college and can't quit 2 months shy of her degree just so she can move to Alaska. So, immediate moving is not possible but, oh, how I wish it was right now!

Zoya's dogs, part I

OK, OK, I get the hint.....I keep getting hits from people searching for "Zoya DeNure's sled dogs" "Zoya DeNure's Iditarod dogs names" etc., so I will provide the list Zoya posted, although I hope you all know Zoya has her own blog and she and John are probably your best source for Team Z info right now. I'm just a fan of the kennel! Here's the list of the team members:

Hunter, Bridle, Sebe, Robin, Galen, Bongo, Djembe, Probe, Mambo, Peak, Bligh, Storey, Naked, Motta, Dude and Trapper

And here are some of my photos of said team members. They're names are listed below their photos. I don't have time to process and upload all 200 photos I took of her dogs today, but will do so over the next few days, as they really are a very nice looking, fun, happy bunch of super healthy dogs who love to run:

The almost 3 year old Phoebe/Trapper litter....left to right (I think/hope I am getting this right! Someone correct me if I am wrong!) we have Naked, Storey, Peak, and Capt. Bligh. These dogs have tons of energy and enthusiasm, and were very fun to watch. They are all very nicely built, too.

A couple more shots of the Phoebe/Trapper pups, because they are so fun and full of happy energy:



Such an enthusiastic group! That's Sebe in the background in case you're curious (more on her later).



That's Peak front and center, the sole girl in the litter. Her job is to keep the brothers on her toes, and I hear she does a good job.



"We are so cute. If we were any cuter we'd be falling over from cuteness overdoses"



"Oh, wait, we can get lots cuter. Aren't we super cute now? Will you please give us a treat??" Three of the litter (Bligh, Peak, and...?), with Bridle (white dog) in the background.



The cuties again, with their poppa, Trapper, in the background, pouncing on Henry (Henry is just off camera and was being leashed to be brought over to meet one of his biggest fans, and Trapper thought that was no fair, as he wanted to come, too!).


Speaking of Trapper, he is such a crazy, hyper guy. Here's Trapper in one of his rare calm seconds:



I did not think it was possible for a dog to be more extroverted than Clara Bow without being obnoxious. It's a very fine line, and quite difficult to do, but Trapper manages to pull it off.



He has these funny, almost bald, floppy ears (thankfully his pups took more after their momma in the ear department). He was in high spirits perpetually. He's the sort of dog I couldn't imagine in someone's living room, as that is too much energy for one house to hold, so it's a good thing he has a job as a professional sled dog. He was very voiciferous and had something to say about every single thing that was happening.



I must point out that the dog looking sulky in the bottom of the above photo is Maudy, the German Shepherd/Husky mix house dog, who was very put out by having to hang out with the sled dogs. I think she was a little annoyed by Trapper's high spirits.

One last group photo, and that's it for today, as I need to spend some quality time with the internet checking up on the teams I am following in the Iditarod. Click on the photo for a larger version:



A handful of Crazy Dog Kennels dogs hanging out. They are, from the front, Robin, behind her to the left is the bi-eyed Probe, opposite him to the right is Streak (not running in the 2008 Iditarod due to injury, but still my sweetheart), behind Streak the black dog with the white blaze and the super blue eyes is Mambo. Behind Probe the black dog with the white socks, throat and chest is Bongo. Behind Bongo is Robin's litter brother, Galen and in the very back is the one flop eared Motta.

Back from Alaska

We're back from our excellent trip to Alaska. I have entries I wrote to type up, and over 600(!) photos and videos to sort through and upload, so it may take a little time to get the back entries posted. Needless to say, we had a blast. Highlights of the trip were many, but the best were getting to meet and greet & dine with the Crazy Dog Kennels crew (see their photo from the start of the Iditarod above), getting to watch the last leg of the Fur Rondy sled dog races, getting to watch the ceremonial Iditarod start, getting to view the Matanuska Glacier, and all the fun we had wandering about, by foot, bus, and car.

Here are a few of the photos from the trip....more details for each specific photo can be found under the Flickr page. I will also be uploading more photos there first as I get them processed.


This is Streak. Unfortunately, Streak received a minor injury right before the Iditarod, so she is skipping the race this year. Zoya brought her along so I could meet her, though. She is such a sweetheart. A very quiet dog, at times a little intimidated by the voiciferous alerts and raucous play from Trapper and his pups on the other side of the truck. She is very sweet and loves to be petted. She kept leaning into me while I petted her.



This is a terrible photo of me, but an excellent one of Streak. You will not see many photos of me from the vacation, as a) I prefer to take the photos myself and b) I tend to be rather self concious about how I look, as I know I look terrible since the medication I used to be on made me gain a bunch of weight (I went from being a couple of pounds under weight at this time last year to now being at least 20 pounds/9 kg over my ideal weight range). I was petting Streak and she just kept moving closer and closer in and leaning against my coat. Clara Bow was absolutely fascinated with how fabulously doggy my coat smelled when I came home today!



This is Zoya and one of her best lead dogs, Sebe. Sebe is an amazingly intelligent dog and an excellent leader.



The blue eyed guy in the center of this photo is Henry, former racer, now one of the dogs who helps newer and puppy dog teams learn the ropes. Here he is flanked by Dude (in the foreground) and a complaining Maudy (house dog, not sled dog, and loudly complaining about being shoved in with the team). All three were trying to hypnotize Zoya's aunt into throwing them more treats. Henry is very sweet, gives these enthusiastic yet gentle kisses like Mack does, and was very wiggly and happy to receive attention. I didn't get many photos of him close up because he was too busy mobbing me for affection and pets and scratches when I was nearby, and you can't help but want to oblige Henry when he asks so enthusiastically and hopefully.



Trapper (on the right) cracks me up. I don't think this boy has an off switch at all. Henry looks a little weary of all his noise and energy. Trapper was very vocal about everything, and quite entertaining at all times. All four of his pups seemed to have inherited his high spirits and vocal nature. It was like a constant happy little party on their side of the truck.



If you're following the coverage over at the Iditarod.com website you might recognize this boy from his superstar profile on their website. This is Hunter, daddy's boy, with his favorite person (and one of my favorite mushers), his poppa John Schandelmeier.

A few more Crazy Dog Kennels photos from the Iditarod:







Our favorite musher, Zoya DeNure, saying "Oh, hey, hi!!!" in passing as she realized she knew those fans on this particular stretch of the sidelines as we cheered her on from our vantage point on Cordova Street.

I love that she's wearing the freebie mittens Target was passing out to all an sundry at the start of the race. The ceremonial start began at 10 AM, but by the time they'd progressed to the last bib numbers (Zoya included) it was past 1 PM and had warmed up considerably, so superwarm mushing gear was not required at that time (although we cold fans along the sidelines would've welcomed some superwarm gear...it was very chilly and windy on Cordova!).

A couple more mushing related photos and I'll shut up about mushing for today. It really is my favorite spectator sport, though, so I can't help but want to talk about it (and share all the photos I took!):



Ross Saunderson's team blasting off the starting line on the 3rd leg of the Fur Rondy races. Ross finished 4th.



This one needs no description. The Iditarod starting line!

And now a couple of non-mushing related photos:





As I took a red-eye flight in overnight/this morning and have an early day tomorrow (my shift starts at 7 AM) I have to dash for now. More photos, videos and entries later!