Way to Go Tom!

Today Tom had only one run at Contact Agility Trial in Carmel where he did a wonderful job behaviorally FIRST because that was our goal and then he managed to come in second place while doing so because he had a super clean run. We lost some time on weave poles because I forgot what I was taught just the other day as a neat trick (always the handler's fault.........) so we were 3.81 seconds over time and no Q but hey we got a big red ribbon and I think Tom looks really proud of himself. We have three runs tomorrow so hopefully we will do just as well and maybe even better.

Marianne' s Breakfast & Babycakes

Us girls at work decided to throw Marianne a little surprise congratulations breakfast now that she has officially announced to everyone that she is having a baby. Claire and Yvonne organized. Sandy decorated the teacher's room in the brightest of yellow and everyone came to celebrate. We were all probably late to get our kids too! eek! I wanted to make Marianne something very cute so I decided on the baby cupcakes. When I saw the picture it looked very cute especially all the different expressions the babies had- smiling babies, sleeping babies, cooing babies, crying babies... Well I kept it simple just sleeping and smiling ones, and hopefully that's what she will be blessed with a lot of- sleep and smiles.

Dom's Yummy Tuna

Check out the tuna tail up top!

We were invited to Dom and Marianne's tonight to celebrate Dom's first tuna catch- a whopping 60 pounder. Although we ate nowhere near that amount it was very tasty and Paul even liked it and he hates fish! We had a great time realaxing outside as the weather is getting cooler and Tom and Jerry tried out their new ex-pen. We made all the dogs do some crazy stunts and ate some more of Tom's delicious cake. Hopefully Dom will catch another one soon! Hint Hint...... :)

Happy 2nd Birthday TOM!!!!!

Jerry and Tom

Today was Tom's second birthday and we celebrated by taking the dogs to the farm for apples and donuts (for us.) They just got to be petted and enjoyed the warm weather. We are trying to socialize Jerry because we found he is terrified of small children particularly little boys. It could be because he watches my neighbor's son across the street for countless hours each day screaming, carrying on and playing loud games with his toys, throwing things and making quick movements jumping from rock to rock. So anyway we managed not to eat any small children on our trip although Tom almost took out a chicken which surprised me because he used to live on a farm. When we came home Paul and I had Tom's yummy cake (his party theme was pirate since he is going to be a pirate for Halloween) and he and Jerry got some rawhide snacks. Then he got his new soccer ball and his new frisbees. What more could a Border Collie want. And no neither dog went anywhere near that cake. They know better than that!

Tom's Birthday Butcher (hair)Cut

Well I thought today was going to be a great day of cleaning, shopping and catching up with the fall decorating after I dropped off the pups for a day at the doggie spa. (ok just kidding- I took them to get a full service groom at a local place) I figured I could use the time to clean the house top to bottom without the dog hair recollecting behind me as I vacuum since they would be gone for four hours. I thought I was pretty specific with my instructions of Tom's haircut- trim underbelly hair and cut hair around his rear end and rear legs very short. I even signed the line where it said I did not want my dog shaved. Why then at 3:20, a half hour before Paul was supposed to pick them up was I getting a call that said Hi we are calling to verify you didn't want your dog shaved. I said NO I did not want my dog shaved, I left specific instructions on what to do. Is everything ok. They said yes everything is fine. We have your instructions right here. I asked if the dogs were behaving. They said that the dogs were perfect. Ok so then I get a call from Paul upon his departure from the store without the dogs because they were not finished that Tom was partially shaved! WHAT! My poor dog. The person who entered the info into the computer entered the WRONG info and it wasn't until the woman started shaving Tom on his neck that she thought that this might be a mistake since it was not that common for Border Collies to be shaved. HMMMM Good guess. I am glad they used a seven blade or something and didn't do too much so it isn't that noticable. It really isn't that bad and he sort of needed a good cut (NOT A SHAVE) but I made them give me a discount because I had to drive out of the way to go back to get them since they weren't done earlier. He was such a trooper. He will look so handsome for his birthday tomorrow even though he is missing a good amount of hair on the back of his neck and the top of his head. I guess he wanted to be a smoothie like Jerry!

Tom after his haircut

Clover Rose

Here is a recent pic my cousin Bridget sent of Clover. She is getting so big. What a cute smile.

Great Weekend

This weekend Paul and I went to the Poconos for some R&R. It was great. The place we stayed at had everything- a movie theatre, bowling alley, spa, billiards, mini golf, pizzeria a lake. It was huge. They are in the process of building an indoor water park onsite also. We of course had to stop at the outlets and the candle shop for some goodies and we even did a day trip white water rafting on a dam release day which was great- chilly but great. (Thank godness for wetsuits!!!) We had a lot of fun and are certainly not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. Yes for me it will be the first full week (five days) of school!

As a side note my levels are still not zero. It is only 12.5. So since it is dropping extremely slowly at this point, they want me to come back in two weeks and then if it is not zero, further testing will be done.

Yea Tom!

This weekend Tom and Smartie had their trial at Blackthorne. No Q's but they both had a great time except for Tom's little allergic reaction. After we arrived on Friday night, my dad and I had returned to the room from dinner and fed the pups when Tom and Smartie started wrestling. Smartie caught Tom across the head and I thought she hurt him because his head looked funny. Upon looking closer his eyelid was actually swollen and within minutes his eye was a slit, then his other eye. I ran to find a vet on site and I returned to find his little head swollen and his lips all pink and his eyes looked like little lines. It was so sad. But he acted so normal. Dogs don't have breathing issues like people and I was told to give him two Benadryl and ice his eyes one minute each alternately. After a few minutes he was fine. How scary. Poor Tom! So the whole thing was an allergy issue and had nothing to do with Smartie. He probably was bitten by a spider or bee. We ordered great pics of Smartie which we will post when we get them in three weeks.

Busy Busy Busy

Yes it is the beginning of a new school year and I have been swamped getting everything as organized as possible. I am getting even more obsessive compulsive with age it is scary! Anyway so far my class is nice and not too big- only 21 kids as of today. They all seem to be able to wipe their own nose if you know what I mean so this year might actually may be a year of progress for many instead of rush and catch up which is nice. I have also been keeping myself very busy because my wonderful blood levels are still not at 0. Can you believe it? Two Thursdays ago we were at 32 when they should have been 0 and then this Thursday for sure they would have been 0 they were not. They were 16. So I was summoned in today on a Monday since I will be away this Thursday to see if they go down at all. Of course the smallest percentage of people this will happen too and again I fall into that category. Hopefully I will get the call tomorrow that I will finally be 0. I never before wished for a 0 so much. :)