Well, hello again!
It was noted the other day by a certain someone that perhaps I've fallen off the face of the earth. So I'm here to say, yeah, I kinda did. This has been the busiest summer I have ever had and I can't believe how quickly it has gone by! So I'll hit on some highlights because that's about all I have time for.
So far this summer:
~ my boys finished up school on June 13th, and I missed their last day because I trialed in Ridgeview the weekend of the 13-15. I don't think I even posted about it because with the beginning of summer we were off and running already.
~ we spent a week at the Oregon Coast (sans dog and husband) with my dad, his wife, my step sisters and my brother's son.
~ we spent a week in Florida. My husband received a message on June 25th from our friends who live back there that they were renting condos in Orlando again for the 4th of July, and did we want to come, LOL. (Heavy on the LOL) The text was mostly joking since it was short notice, but to their surprise my husband found flights and booked them that night and we flew out 4 days later on a red-eye. On Spirit airlines, who pride themselves on how cheap they are. Like the fact that their seats DONT RECLINE, their seat-back trays are the size of a Kleenex and you can't even rest your head on them and the seats themselves are hard plastic with a thin vinyl cover over it. There is no shortage of fun with my husband, I tell ya. I took a picture of Spirit Airline's blurb from a brochure in the seat pocket:
Yeah, they're proud of how bad they are. But we had a good time once we got there.
~ made it home from FL on July 10th and then got to prepare for the WEDDING OF THE YEAR! It was amazing!
~ came home from the wedding and had to deal with Ollie's pyometra, which she has recovered from and is feeling a hundred times better, but which took about a week of care. The other day Ollie had an "episode" which was probably either a small stroke or a small seizure. Not sure what's going on there. Sigh.
~ we attended three days worth of events for my husband's 30th class year reunion.
~ the ONLY weekend all summer we didn't have anything planned was the weekend of Aug 2nd and 3rd so I loaded up our trailer and left on Thursday night and took our boys camping. My husband and our neighbors from across the street joined us after work Friday night. We had a really good time camping, fishing, riding motorcycles and bicycles. But any thoughts I had of taking The Wick Dog back to Montana with us were dashed. Wicket FAILS at being a fishing buddy. He has never been a good fishing pal but I had hoped with some maturity he'd get better. He thinks sitting on the shore watching me wave a stick at the water is STOOPID 100% and is best left for Labradors. He has better things to do thankyouverymuch and he's OUTTA HERE at the first available attention-diverted moment from me! The little brat just takes off for parts unknown and us usually does it when I either get a bite, or have a fish on. I got so tired of having to leave my fishing spot to go find him. So he gets to go to Camp Redwood and stay with Aunt Naomi while we're gone to Montana later this week.
~ we went to see Tom Petty in concert here in Eugene on August 7th. I'm not really into concerts, but I do enjoy some of TP's songs.
~ THEN, this last weekend was the USDAA trial in Brownsville! It really should have its own post, but I doubt I'll get to it so here are the highlights. HOT. But it usually is. The last couple of trials I've gone to I've enteredWick in every class including the Masters Challenge and Tournament classes, but that really is too much for the poor dog. So I skipped the Team event on Friday and only entered him in the Masters classes for a total of 7 runs all weekend, and it was totally the right decision. Even though I sat and whimpered watching the MC classes because they looked so fun! But, Mr. Wick didn't do too bad this weekend with Q's in Masters Relay, Snooker and Jumpers. We missed getting our first Super Q by 2 pts because I changed my plan on the opening AS I WAS WALKING OUT FOR MY LEAD-OUT and wasn't in the correct position for the #5 combo causing Wick to knock the first bar of the combo for zero pts. Oops. But we had a great weekend overall and I enjoyed hanging out with all the agility folks, and traveling back and forth the with best driving buddy. I can't believe she keeps letting me ride with her because I either attempt, or succeed, at killing the battery in her van EVERY TIME!
~ and I came home from the trial to NO ROOMATES!! Yes, our ROOMATES moved out this weekend!! We still have Ollie, but she's pretty quiet. Although, as I typed that she just came in from the backyard covered in mud, I can't believe how much this dog digs! ARGH. I'm not sure what the plan is for Ollie because my SIL can't have her where she moved. There were a couple of temporary placement options but I'm guessing since the dog is still here those options didn't work out. I don't mind if she stays a while, but I don't want here permanently. Our house will always only be a one or two dog household and I don't want her taking a "spot", if you get what I mean.
~ last night when I got home from the trial the sky was ominous with thunderheads. We enjoyed the thunder and lightning for a couple of hours (I LOVE a good storm). The temperature stayed around 87 degrees and around 8:45 it started to rain. Right before 9 pm, winds from the east hit with sustained winds around 30 mph and gusts of probably 50-50 mph. The big winds lasted about 15-20 minutes, with the sustained winds lasting another hour or so. After the storm passed the temperature dropped 13 degrees in about 15 minutes. We lost another big trunk off our maple tree, several smaller branches off the maple tree and some other minor property damage.
The oak tree was fine. Well, as fine as the oak tree can be. This is what our oak tree looks like:
See all those red leaves? Sadly, our oak tree has died. It started to put on its new foliage this spring, but the foliage never made it to maturity and started to wither and die. The leaves turned completely yellow in early July and now the leaves are totally dead. I'm actually very, very upset about it and feel like a friend has died. We live on a busy road and the tree is a very prominent landmark and is very visible. When the power lines were put in decades ago the city ran the lines around the tree. There have been MANY people who have stopped to look at it including arborists, officials from the city of Springfield and employees of the utility companies who use the easement road along the edge of our property. At my husband's class reunion we had a couple people approach us and ask us about the tree. My neighbor said a lady from her work asked about the tree. I've had complete strangers recognize me and my vehicle at the grocery store and say, Oh, you're the one with the oak tree on H*** ***** Rd. that died. What happened? The fact is we really don't know what happened, but everyone's best guess is that it was a combination of factors and events. The tree is old. We had to have a significant branch removed last winter due to a large split in it, and the tree guys told us taking out a branch that big might shock the tree and it may be the beginning of the end for it. The branch removal was followed by the below-zero temps and snow. These two events combined with the below normal rainfall we've had the last several years I'm sure have contributed to the oak's demise. I can't imagine this property without that tree. All the landscaping has flourished because of the shade it provides and our house stays relatively cool in the summer because of it. Not to mention the cost to remove it. The guys who removed our branch - and they were the low-bid - told me at the time they'd charge $3000-$4000 dollars for a total removal. And now I'm going to have to have that chunk of maple tree that is impaled in my backyard removed too as it is beyond my abilities.
~ in better news... I got a new vehicle! Not new-new but new to us. A 2007 Honda CR-V with 67,000 miles on it and I love it! Hopefully it will be as good to us as our other Hondas have been. When we were up in Bend for THE WEDDING OF THE YEAR, my husband found it on Bend Craigslist, and it is even the color we both like. Green. Because everything we own is green.
~ we leave for Montana on Saturday and I think Lee will come home early and the boys and I will stay until the end of Aug. with my dad and his wife. I'm hopeful my brother and his son will join us at some point I hear the river is still high back there so hopefully fishing and boating will be good.
Well, that is most of it. I'm hoping that with 5 fewer people living in our house our life will start to not be so crazy. My yard, house, garden and sanity have all been neglected and taken a beating, my poor dog has been neglected. I feel bad for leaving him at behind again while we're gone to MT, but I'm not chasing him all over the damn Rockies or bathing him every time he rolls in a dead, rotting fish. He'll be happy doing pasture runs with Naomi's crew, and once we get home and the boys head back to school I think life will slow down a little.
I hope you all enjoy the end of your summer.
So far this summer:
~ my boys finished up school on June 13th, and I missed their last day because I trialed in Ridgeview the weekend of the 13-15. I don't think I even posted about it because with the beginning of summer we were off and running already.
~ we spent a week at the Oregon Coast (sans dog and husband) with my dad, his wife, my step sisters and my brother's son.
~ we spent a week in Florida. My husband received a message on June 25th from our friends who live back there that they were renting condos in Orlando again for the 4th of July, and did we want to come, LOL. (Heavy on the LOL) The text was mostly joking since it was short notice, but to their surprise my husband found flights and booked them that night and we flew out 4 days later on a red-eye. On Spirit airlines, who pride themselves on how cheap they are. Like the fact that their seats DONT RECLINE, their seat-back trays are the size of a Kleenex and you can't even rest your head on them and the seats themselves are hard plastic with a thin vinyl cover over it. There is no shortage of fun with my husband, I tell ya. I took a picture of Spirit Airline's blurb from a brochure in the seat pocket:
Yeah, they're proud of how bad they are. But we had a good time once we got there.
~ made it home from FL on July 10th and then got to prepare for the WEDDING OF THE YEAR! It was amazing!
~ came home from the wedding and had to deal with Ollie's pyometra, which she has recovered from and is feeling a hundred times better, but which took about a week of care. The other day Ollie had an "episode" which was probably either a small stroke or a small seizure. Not sure what's going on there. Sigh.
~ we attended three days worth of events for my husband's 30th class year reunion.
~ the ONLY weekend all summer we didn't have anything planned was the weekend of Aug 2nd and 3rd so I loaded up our trailer and left on Thursday night and took our boys camping. My husband and our neighbors from across the street joined us after work Friday night. We had a really good time camping, fishing, riding motorcycles and bicycles. But any thoughts I had of taking The Wick Dog back to Montana with us were dashed. Wicket FAILS at being a fishing buddy. He has never been a good fishing pal but I had hoped with some maturity he'd get better. He thinks sitting on the shore watching me wave a stick at the water is STOOPID 100% and is best left for Labradors. He has better things to do thankyouverymuch and he's OUTTA HERE at the first available attention-diverted moment from me! The little brat just takes off for parts unknown and us usually does it when I either get a bite, or have a fish on. I got so tired of having to leave my fishing spot to go find him. So he gets to go to Camp Redwood and stay with Aunt Naomi while we're gone to Montana later this week.
~ we went to see Tom Petty in concert here in Eugene on August 7th. I'm not really into concerts, but I do enjoy some of TP's songs.
~ THEN, this last weekend was the USDAA trial in Brownsville! It really should have its own post, but I doubt I'll get to it so here are the highlights. HOT. But it usually is. The last couple of trials I've gone to I've enteredWick in every class including the Masters Challenge and Tournament classes, but that really is too much for the poor dog. So I skipped the Team event on Friday and only entered him in the Masters classes for a total of 7 runs all weekend, and it was totally the right decision. Even though I sat and whimpered watching the MC classes because they looked so fun! But, Mr. Wick didn't do too bad this weekend with Q's in Masters Relay, Snooker and Jumpers. We missed getting our first Super Q by 2 pts because I changed my plan on the opening AS I WAS WALKING OUT FOR MY LEAD-OUT and wasn't in the correct position for the #5 combo causing Wick to knock the first bar of the combo for zero pts. Oops. But we had a great weekend overall and I enjoyed hanging out with all the agility folks, and traveling back and forth the with best driving buddy. I can't believe she keeps letting me ride with her because I either attempt, or succeed, at killing the battery in her van EVERY TIME!
~ and I came home from the trial to NO ROOMATES!! Yes, our ROOMATES moved out this weekend!! We still have Ollie, but she's pretty quiet. Although, as I typed that she just came in from the backyard covered in mud, I can't believe how much this dog digs! ARGH. I'm not sure what the plan is for Ollie because my SIL can't have her where she moved. There were a couple of temporary placement options but I'm guessing since the dog is still here those options didn't work out. I don't mind if she stays a while, but I don't want here permanently. Our house will always only be a one or two dog household and I don't want her taking a "spot", if you get what I mean.
~ last night when I got home from the trial the sky was ominous with thunderheads. We enjoyed the thunder and lightning for a couple of hours (I LOVE a good storm). The temperature stayed around 87 degrees and around 8:45 it started to rain. Right before 9 pm, winds from the east hit with sustained winds around 30 mph and gusts of probably 50-50 mph. The big winds lasted about 15-20 minutes, with the sustained winds lasting another hour or so. After the storm passed the temperature dropped 13 degrees in about 15 minutes. We lost another big trunk off our maple tree, several smaller branches off the maple tree and some other minor property damage.
The oak tree was fine. Well, as fine as the oak tree can be. This is what our oak tree looks like:
See all those red leaves? Sadly, our oak tree has died. It started to put on its new foliage this spring, but the foliage never made it to maturity and started to wither and die. The leaves turned completely yellow in early July and now the leaves are totally dead. I'm actually very, very upset about it and feel like a friend has died. We live on a busy road and the tree is a very prominent landmark and is very visible. When the power lines were put in decades ago the city ran the lines around the tree. There have been MANY people who have stopped to look at it including arborists, officials from the city of Springfield and employees of the utility companies who use the easement road along the edge of our property. At my husband's class reunion we had a couple people approach us and ask us about the tree. My neighbor said a lady from her work asked about the tree. I've had complete strangers recognize me and my vehicle at the grocery store and say, Oh, you're the one with the oak tree on H*** ***** Rd. that died. What happened? The fact is we really don't know what happened, but everyone's best guess is that it was a combination of factors and events. The tree is old. We had to have a significant branch removed last winter due to a large split in it, and the tree guys told us taking out a branch that big might shock the tree and it may be the beginning of the end for it. The branch removal was followed by the below-zero temps and snow. These two events combined with the below normal rainfall we've had the last several years I'm sure have contributed to the oak's demise. I can't imagine this property without that tree. All the landscaping has flourished because of the shade it provides and our house stays relatively cool in the summer because of it. Not to mention the cost to remove it. The guys who removed our branch - and they were the low-bid - told me at the time they'd charge $3000-$4000 dollars for a total removal. And now I'm going to have to have that chunk of maple tree that is impaled in my backyard removed too as it is beyond my abilities.
~ in better news... I got a new vehicle! Not new-new but new to us. A 2007 Honda CR-V with 67,000 miles on it and I love it! Hopefully it will be as good to us as our other Hondas have been. When we were up in Bend for THE WEDDING OF THE YEAR, my husband found it on Bend Craigslist, and it is even the color we both like. Green. Because everything we own is green.
~ we leave for Montana on Saturday and I think Lee will come home early and the boys and I will stay until the end of Aug. with my dad and his wife. I'm hopeful my brother and his son will join us at some point I hear the river is still high back there so hopefully fishing and boating will be good.
Well, that is most of it. I'm hoping that with 5 fewer people living in our house our life will start to not be so crazy. My yard, house, garden and sanity have all been neglected and taken a beating, my poor dog has been neglected. I feel bad for leaving him at behind again while we're gone to MT, but I'm not chasing him all over the damn Rockies or bathing him every time he rolls in a dead, rotting fish. He'll be happy doing pasture runs with Naomi's crew, and once we get home and the boys head back to school I think life will slow down a little.
I hope you all enjoy the end of your summer.