Monday, November 08, 2010

Back! And Back To Routine

For pragmatic reasons, I love the routine. I love the structure of it ... I know my life is kind of orderly. I just like that better. - Andrea Martin

I'm still suffering from agility hangover today, so bear with me.

After a crazy weekend -- during which I still managed to maintain my NaNoWriMo word count (yay me!), I'm ready for a quiet Monday.

RE: NaNo -- Maria Zannini said in a comment a couple of days ago, "Maybe a mysterious letter arrives..."

And I thought ... OKAY! Let's do that.

So, a mysterious letter has arrived for Geoff. I don't have a clue what's in it -- guess I'll find out when he opens it (he hasn't yet, his night at the charity auction was stressful and exhausting).

Any thoughts as to what might be in the letter?

And, I'm still working on placing all your objects in the story. I have BIG plans for the stuffed pig coming up. *G*

RE: Agility...

Saturday was interesting and exhausting.

It took place at a different dog's gym and this place does professional AKC agility tournaments. The difference in terms of equipment quality and space was amazing. I love where we are, but our equipment is worn out and much of it it jury-rigged (using water bottles as weights on the chute, for instance).

This place's stuff was incredible. It practically sparkled. It was also AKC regulation -- so the frame was steeper and the jumps were different. Thankfully, Dakota wasn't fazed in the least.

There were about a dozen kids there, ranging in age from 5 y.o. to 16 or so (two of the girls drove themselves, so they had to have been at least 16). The rules for junior handling is kids up to age 19.

There were four groups based on experience. Because my DD hasn't competed professionally, she had to start in the beginner group. This was both good and frustrating.

The good? It was FAR less stressful for her. The frustrating? They pulled all but the simplest of obstacles (we had no chute, no teeter, no dog walk and few tunnels) and the courses were ridiculously short. But DD has to "Q" or qualify at each level in order to advance. The other frustrating thing is that THIS competition didn't count her last junior handler competition scores. Apparently different clubs do things differently.

So now she has TWO binders with check lists to keep track of.

They did well in their runs, though. Dakota did get distracted once -- she was running out of a tunnel at one point and saw the teeter off course, but pretty much right in front of her. She LOVES the teeter. So, of course she had to go and do it... thankfully it didn't disqualify them, and they still finished in the allotted time with only the one fault.

They competed in four different "games" -- she "Q'd" in every one and got first place in her class.

On Sunday, we had the fun match at our dog gym. DD ran three different dogs and did fabulously. The course was challenging and a lot of fun. I videoed everything, though I discovered that my camera's memory card wasn't big enough (it's EIGHT gigabytes!!) and that the battery wasn't good enough for the entire day. I the middle of the second batch of runs, I had to hurry home and grab my laptop, download the videos and charge up the camera. As a result, I missed about eight of the dog's runs (including two of DD's).

Dakota's team came in second and she came in first in her class. Though there was another dog who had the best overall time, she ... how do I put this nicely? ... okay, there isn't a nice way to say "she cheated" so there you go. This is an advanced dog, and the owner didn't have her do closed poles, even though she is more than capable. As a result, she ran down the middle of open poles which cuts off a couple seconds from her score. She only beat Dakota by less than one second, so ... :::shrugs::: . We know who did best. ;-)

I'm still working on getting all the videos posted. I'm not going to put them here -- you can see DD's face too clearly. But -- to all my regular commenters, if you'd like to see them once they're ready, shoot me an email and I'll send you the link.

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Today, DH goes back to work. Only for two days (he's off again for just over a week starting on Wednesday), so it will be back to routine. I'm relieved. I really don't do well when things just .... happen. DH is not the kind of person to do a lot of planning. He's very spontaneous and has a habit of not telling me what's going on until about five minutes before it happens. Drives me wonky.

Ah well, such is life.

How was your weekend?

===================




You Are Innovative



You're the type of person who is always putting a new spin on things. You are very creative.

You sometimes feel like you are a square peg trying to fit into a round hole, but that's okay! You'll build your own square hole.

You are cutting edge to the point of being avant-garde. You are extremely inventive.

You can't help but be original. You love to experiment and try new things.



Okay ... but mostly, that sandwich just looks yummy. I may have one just like it for lunch today.

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10 comments:

Maria Zannini said...

Ref: letter

The possibilities are endless! Forget the letter, what if there was a ring in the envelope. Or the red lipstick of a kiss on a card, or a satin ribbon--or a thong.

You could have a lot of fun with this. I can imagine all sorts of conflicts when he finds what's inside.

Ref: race
You're darn right that was cheating. Why didn't admin say something?

Dru said...

Do people still send letters? Is the letter handwritten? How about from a long-lost love.

WTG on your word count...over 12,000 words is awesome!

Congrats to DD in qualifying in her games and placing first in her class.

I hate cheaters.

My weekend was quiet, read, finished the quilt and found a comforter.

re quiz: I'm innovative - 50% accurate.

Have a good Monday.

groovyoldlady said...

You Are Playful
You're the type of person who is completely open to the world. You are very optimistic.
You love to joke around and have fun. You are naturally lighthearted.

You are quite plucky, and you love to tease people. Your teasing is only in good fun though.
You love to try new things, and you are always seeking out new opportunities. You're always looking to expand your mind and circle of friends.

Yep, pretty much!


My weekend was busy. I got allot of writing done on Saturday, none on Sunday. Taking my mom shopping in Augusta today. Somewhere between that and laundry and school I hope to sneak in 2,000 words.

We'll see.

I love the mystery letter. It reminded me that I had a mystery phone call, but the power was cut off by a strom and the call was dropped. I haven't gone back to deal with that. I also realized yesterday while I was not writing that my character is going through a great deal of angst over a scene that wasn't nearly angsty enough.

I need to go back and make my beloved Jason into more of a good natured jerk so he deserves what he's getting now.

Judy said...

You Are Skilled
You're the type of person who believes that something worth doing is worth doing well.
You have high standards for other people, but you also have high standards for yourself. You expect competence.

You are adept and proficient. You master any skill you set out to learn, and you're quite the renaissance man or woman.
You are both smart and talented. You're capable of almost anything you decide to take on!

RE: Sandwich. I had an awesome bagel on vacation-- cream cheese, tomato, sprouts, avocado, and I'm not sure what else. It was yummy.

Anonymous said...

Good for you on NaNo! Wish I could say the same.

Okay, the letter...Color me intrigued.

Brandy said...

Ooh, the mystery letter sounds awesome! Sorry to hear the dog cheated, did the "officials" not see it or say anything? That doesn't seem right.

This weekend we tore down our garden and found new head gear for Daughter and I baked and cleaned. Slow and comforting. *g*


You Are Reasonable
You're the type of person who makes sound and logical decisions. You are very down to earth.
You're a bastion of sanity in this insane world, and people know that they can count on you.
You aren't likely to get swept away in the moment. You have both feet firmly planted on the ground.
You are modest and humble. You always keep your ego in check and sometimes wonder why others can't do the same!

Yeah, I can see this. *g*

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Tori Lennox said...

Maria, what is with you and thongs??? LOL! :)

Maria Zannini said...

Tori: Hey, I didn't do the thongs last time. Xeranthemum did.

Obviously, they made an impression on me. LOL.

What greater disaster could there be if they fell out of the envelope at the wrong time?

Tori Lennox said...

Sorry, Maria! I realized that after I'd already posted that. :)

Maria Zannini said...

You made me blush, Tori. I thought, OMG, did I do thongs twice?

I can't even keep my sexy underwear straight.