Where Did October Go?

Holy cow, where did October go?! Here were are, November 4th, and I am still thinking its last month. What a busy fall this has been….

The last time I blogged, we had completed a fairly unproductive weekend of agility in Orlando. Although we did not experience much success, (actually none) some important lessons came from that weekend, and led to some important decisions. For one, between my increasingly crazy job, new responsibilities, and taking an online certification course, I decided that the stress of also trying to teach classes right now was too much. The challenge of fighting 45mins of traffic to change clothes, shove dogs into the car, and fight 45 more minutes through traffic to build courses and teach for a couple hours, practice with my dogs, and then make the long drive home and get to bed at midnight was taking too much of a toll. The fact that my classes were on Mondays, one of my most hectic work days, and often following a weekend of trials or travels, meant that I was supremely exhausted by Tuesday, and didn’t feel human again until Thursday. Although I struggled with the decision for months, and was able to delay it through the summer by teaching on Saturday, Buster was very supportive and helped steer me in the right direction. I miss my students terribly, but still see and talk to many of them, and will hope to resume classes in the future when the conditions are favorable again. Secondly, after falling on my butt and ruining a terrific JWW run with Xander, I bought a pair of soccer cleats (which I love) and have been running drills with Buster to improve my footwork. I am determined to learn to be less clumsy!

On a happier note, after being too stressed out to enjoy or compete well in Orlando that first weekend, we returned to the area the following weekend as part of Buster’s birthday celebration which we shall now refer to as the “ Roller Coaster Marathon Extravaganza!.” Having never ridden the coasters at Busch Gardens together, and for Buster, who had never ridden them at all, we were excited to go there on Saturday after staying at the La Quinta within walking distance of the park, and visual distance of the Sheikra! We awoke early enough to walk to the Ihop for an absurdly big breakfast before continuing to the gate, where we were actually 10 minutes too early to get in. Once the gates opened, we made a mad dash to the new Cheetah Hunt, and sat in the front row. While it was a fun warm up ride, it didn’t live up to the hype of the commercials, and we were glad we had ridden it first. From there was the floorless classic, Montu, set in the Egypt area. Always a favorite of mine, it was a definite step up from the lethargic Cheetah. After that, we headed across the park to the Sheikra, where we both experienced this thrill for the first time. By far my favorite ride in the park, the first drop was incredible and left us wanting another ride! We did ride it again, although later in the day. After this, we headed to the powerful Kumba, the oldest ride in the park, and still one of the best. We also rode Kumba twice, which was nothing compared to the seven times my uncle, brother, and I rode it in a row without stopping when we were younger. I am certain I would puke now if I attempted this today, although Gary was about my age now when he did it with us. Hard core, that one is.

We saw many animals, including a petting zoo of kangaroos, and some incredible cheetahs and tigers. We also rode the train and sky rides a couple of times, and did the Rhino Rally where an obnoxious kid almost tripped me when he cut across to get the seat in front. We saw a goofy pirate 4-D movie, and then were ready to head back. We enjoyed a fun evening in Ybor City with dinner at the Green Iguana, and turned in early.

Nothing says happy birthday like a car alarm at 2am, which is what we heard when our adjoining neighbors came home from the Hallowscream and woke us up. Sharing a door with obnoxious neighbors (who talk loudly and leave their TV blaring all night long) is not recommended, and while we didn’t get much sleep that night, we did get a $20 discount for complaining.

After that, we headed to our second home, Universal Studios Orlando, where we spent the day riding every ride we wanted. All weekend we enjoyed riding in the front row, and almost zero wait times! The longest we waited all weekend was for lunch and for the Rip, Ride, and Rockit!, which were both well worth the wait. All told, we rode 15 different rides over the two days, including 9 different coasters. Also, our weird but fun waiter Eric told us, after assuring us that he is good at picking up on things like this, that we shared a special aura together that will last. Good to hear, but we knew that already. Oh, and there was Butterbeer. Always Butterbeer. Yummmmmm.

The following week went quickly, as I was off on Friday for our Pals and Paws trial here at the lovely Equestrian Center. I really hope we get to keep this venue, as this was such a wonderful trial. In my opinion, it was one of the best our club has ever put on, and went really smoothly. People were happy and seemed to be enjoying themselves. I also got to see my student Anna Marie run her poodle Irish for the first time, and she Q’d in two Novice JWW, and one Novice Std runs! I ended up stepping in to run the costume contest on behalf of Stacey, which turned out to be a lot of fun. I was also one of the chief course builders, but had a nice judge who nested his courses well, even if he spent a long time tweaking each course! Overall, Xander and I had a great weekend, and we are really figuring things out. We had one trainwreck in JWW, but other than that, we either Q’d or missed by only one little thing. In the other two JWW runs, he ran past a wingless jump on a sharp turn both times, so obviously something to work on! We earned two ExcA FAST legs, both with 1st, and he earned two MX legs, in which I held his dogwalk for several seconds, so we earned a 4th in both. The other STD run was a near miss with one off course near the end of the run, as he blasted out of the tunnel toward the weaves without looking for me. Something I know, but didn’t see, and fell into the trap! More homework!

Kirby had fun, although seemed to be struggling to focus by the third day. He had a couple train wrecks, two close calls, and two awesome MXJ runs. He earned a 3rd on Friday, and on Saturday he beat a bunch of 12in dogs for a 1st! I have decided though, that due to his age and his build, I am going to go ahead and move him to 8in performance. He loves the game, and hopefully this way he will get to play it a little longer! Welcome back to the land of Novice, and only 6 weave poles buddy.

Kaylee, in the meantime, enjoys yelling at the boys when they come home and demands to know where they have been, and what they have been doing. She gets the most snuggles though. It’s a good life of retirement.

Monday was Halloween, so Count Buster and the Lady Vampire Bonnie accompanied Lumberjack Lovers Mike and Ashley, along with a poor victim, Buster’s friend Adam, to roam the streets of downtown St. Augustine. We had a fun dinner and admired the fellow costumed creatures. This was the first time in years that I’ve worn a costume. Good times.

This weekend, Xander and I are checking out a short seminar in Ocala with Rhonda Koeske, and the following two weekends will be AKC and USDAA agility. Then it will be Thanksgiving, and I will be asking where November went! Happy holidays?

Oh, and Youtube disabled the music that I carefully picked out, but here is the video from Pals and Paws last weekend. Pretend it’s a silent film….