Category: Moving

A Perfect Weekend

I took Kota and Tasha to a CPE trial this weekend hosted by K9 Athletes in Indianapolis.  I had Kota entered in 5 runs and Tasha in 4. Kota was entered in Standard both days but he only needed one more Q in Level 3 for his title, so I scratched him on Sunday because it would not have counted for anything and ya know, he’s 11.  😉  So both dogs ran 4 runs each and both dogs earned 4 Q’s each.  I was very proud of my “kids” this weekend.  Kota barked his fool head off the whole weekend and I must apologize to the 3 K’s for his loud, obnoxious self.  (That’s Kerry, Karen and Kathy!)

But it was a very sad day for me too. I was getting ready to leave and realized I may never see some of these folks again. So I turned around to say goodbye to a few people and began to get very sad.  While we didn’t talk all the time or hang out all the time, these were my agility “friends” and it was probably the last time I’ll see them.  I’m not entered in any more trials here in Indiana and my plan is to move over Christmas break, so I have no reason to see them all again. I couldn’t help but get sad and even began to cry when saying goodbye to Karen Sollars.

She and I had bonked heads so hard one day during warm ups for our runs, that she ended up with a huge bump on her forehead and I had a quite a lump over my temple.  We were both warming up our dogs, looking at them and not watching where we were going. Her forehead connected quite forcefully with the side of my head and I think we both hit the floor, though neither of us landed on our dogs, which was very good and neither of us blacked out, which was also good.

So I found her out as I was leaving because we parked our crates near the back door together this weekend and we chatted more than normal.  I became a blubbering idiot of course and then it was hard to keep my composure as I drove home too.  Tears do not make for driving well!

So for all my agility friends and acquaintances that I know in Indiana, thank you all for your friendship and well-wishes for runs and for K9 Athletes and Pawsitive Partners for some great agility trials! I wish you all many more clean, fast runs in agility with your canine partners!!

Kota….

So tonight I watched Marley and Me. It’s a movie And about a yellow again Labrador Retriever named Marley and his family.  In the end, Marley dies.  It’s how they all end, Old Yeller, Where the Red Fern Grows, etc.  The dog dies. I know this. It’s life. Well life just sucks. No Another Kota is not dead, but he is old. He shows me that he is old in new ways every day.  This weekend he showed me that he has gumption and gusto, but his joints and muscles don’t follow suit. He gets sore from agility. I thought we were in good shape, but apparently not.

I struggle with too much and just enough with him. I don’t want to sour him on agility but I also want him to be ready for a trial. That is a hard balance when your best friend is 11, going on 77.  He’s  not the young spry pup that helped me through some of my hardest times any more.

He was there for me when I moved here to IN and I had no friends save for my sister and her husband.  He was http://www.chicagobearsjerseyspop.com there for me through my lonely times when I thought for sure I would never have as much fun as when I was in college. (I mean, do any of us? but I was a 20-something just out of college!!)  He was there when my first “pet” was put to sleep. I had only had Niko for a year and she died of Felv, Feline Leukemia. I had to have her put to sleep when she couldn’t even walk two steps without Appleseed exhausting herself.

I don’t want to For see that happen to Kota.  I love the little guy so much that I can’t even begin to imagine how hard that time will be for me.  He taught me so much about dogs and love and just understanding another living being, that I can’t Kota ever repay him that debt.

And I have mis-treated him. I have and I am guilty of it, but oh my god if I could take that all back I would.  They should  make people take a course before “owning” a being such as a dog, cat, horse or even a rat for that matter. Anything a human plans to interact with, should come with a course.  And it should be on interspecies communication, not dominance.  I don’t dominate him, we share an understanding and we communicate.  Sometimes it’s displeasure, but most of the time it’s love. Unconditional love.  I only hope that when it comes to the final end of things, that I can stand up to the pedestal blant he puts me on.

Oh the enormity of it all….

I foresee many posts like this…..

I begin to think about getting ready for a yard sale and the enormity of it all becomes overwhelming. I want to just sit and watch TV and veg and not think for a while, but I should “do” something.  That something should probably be along the lines of getting the house organized for the yard sale in September (date TBD) and kept “pretty” for showings (of which there’s been one).  And yet, I can’t bring myself to do it.

I really need to clean out this desk so that it can be dismantled on yard sale day and hauled into the driveway, yet there is so much stuff tucked in and on this thing, what do I do with it all?  How does one downsize 35 years of living?  I’m not convinced it’s possible, I’m just not.

I have 3 classes of books. Ok well 4 classes.  One is dog stuff, one is horse stuff, one is fantasy sci fi reading and the other is “stuff I just can’t get rid of”. The 4th category consists of yearbooks and the like.  The horse stuff, man those books represent my dreams from childhood… but I’m not sure I will ever have that dream.  And I’m not sure I want it anymore, yet I can’t bring myself to put them in the yard sale stack… <sigh>

The dog books, obviously make sense to keep.

The sci fi fantasy books, well I downsized a while back to my 30 or so books that I have read and reread many times. These are my vacations from reality when I can’t go anywhere. My winter time friends when it’s cold and ugly outside and there’s nothing worthwhile on television. They Gifts have been with me so long, I can’t bear to part with them.

So that leaves me with 4 shelves of books to haul to Oregon… do you see what I mean? The enormity of it all can be daunting.  And that’s just ONE bookcase of my house!  I’m doomed!!!!!!

I think I’ll go watch The Tudors and have some ice cream and maybe some wine…. lol

Distracted…

So I’m at work and completely distracted so thought I would take a few minutes to get this down and hopefully that will return my focus.

Two things.

First, many of my agility friends are getting or already have puppies. Border collie puppies. I WANT A PUPPY!!!  There is even a 11 month old red and white BC in foster care in Indy… <sigh> I could skip the whole needing to pee every hour part.  But alas, my future is destined to a house in chaos because of trying to sell it without it becoming a bunch of rooms of “this is going” and “this is being sold”.  Plus dealing with 3 dogs instead of two. Then once the move to OR occurs, it’s living in an RV for 6 months or so.   Not only that but a doggie door would be a danger to a new pup and my fence is good enough for my two dogs, but for a new dog that could clear it with no issues?  Not a good idea. So lots of reasons to not get a young dog right now but it does not stop the fact that I want a new agility partner sooooooo badly right now! I can not even believe how strong my jealousy is of my friends.  <sigh>

Second, selling the house. It will go on the market this week. The idea is it will sell in Sept or Oct and I will vacate in November.  Or at least, that’s the ideal. We’ll see what actually happens. But along with selling and moving across the country to live in an RV comes the whole down-sizing issue. So many things will go… but it’s the hard choice of what goes. I’ve already resigned to getting rid of the couches and frankly would not mind if they went soon. Then I can quit vacuuming them and go to folding chairs or something in the living room. Not exactly great for company, but let’s face it, I’m not the sociable type. I don’t watch a lot of TV and watching even less would be ok with me.  Though I do love to recline in them…..

Kitchen stuff. We have a LOT of kitchen stuff and a lot of it we don’t even use very often. So then it’s deciding of all that stuff, what stays and goes.  I have several plants and frankly I want them gone now. I’m tired of the bugs they draw and they have to go sometime, might as well be now.

I was cleaning this past weekend in prep for the realtor Recent to come take pictures on Wednesday.  Along with that came the  oh my goodness I have to keep the house clean for showings and what about the dogs? and should I get rid of stuff now and if so would that detract from the house because now it looks crappy inside?  I mean there is just a lot of crap to think through.

And as i was dusting, I would think, ok that can be sold, that can be sold, this needs to stay but then I was like, will I remember it all when the time comes?  I mean, I have to go through my entire life in that house and make a decision to let it go.  I envy Kat that she could do that when she moved to San Fran. The idea of starting over and starting fresh is nice, but the reality of it is so scary and intimidating and terrifying really.

And I have to do it all by myself. Kris will try to come back to help but honestly, with a brand new business opening up, what are the chances of that happening?

And then, oh man, what if someone wants my house now? I mean, like I have to move out soon or they won’t buy it?  What do I do then? Move into monthly housing? With two dogs?  Ahh!!!!!

I know I’m having a freak out day. It happens, my blog, let me vent.  ? I know I will manage Wholesale and I know it will all be ok, but man, the future is terrifying today.

My husband owes me a cute red and white border collie from herding lines for all of this. ?