My Week

It's the start of a brand new day, and I'm off like a herd of turtles.  

Last Monday didn't feel like a Martin Luther King holiday because I was still being confined, cold and retired from working anyway.  Tuesday I renewed my license plate and asked for new plates be made since mine are warped and pealing.  Illinois has a lot of vehicles around with half the paint missing.  Although mine is not as bad as some, I can touch it and feel space between the paint and metal about to peal.  At 7PM I took Amber to practice before her trial on Saturday.  When she was off leash, she ran zoomies not once but twice.  It's like she had a sugar rush.  Tuesday's mail delivery was delivered after 8PM.

Amber has been jerking me on the leash.  She even made me fall.  Now she is coughing.  I'm sure it's because of her choking herself when she pulls on a leash.  I called the veterinary office and was told she was treated for the contagious kennel cough through June.  I know she doesn't like a harness but that's what she'll be wearing for awhile to keep her from choking. 

Thursday I helped with the wreath clean up at Camp Butler at 8:30 in the morning.  The weather was pleasant too.  Nice turn out.  I brought my hoe and nose dived the handle through the wreaths and dragged them to the edge.  I took 2 loads in the back of my car to the dumpster area.  Since there was nothing left but transport to the dumpsters and many that had open trucks, I was able to leave about 9:45.  I picked up a new vent for the baseboard in the bathroom on the way home.  I picked up a wooden one because bathroom humidity pulled the paint off the metal one. Then I made it to the club for an open obedience practice.  After that, I had time to clean my car from all the pine needles.  Boy did it need that despite having an old blanket. 

I have been really bummed about the Inauguration and hope that was stolen.  I now await being called to some reconditioning camp.  

On top of that, I'm bummed about back-to-back failures on Saturday's 2 AKC Novice A trials.   I left with my tail between my legs in a hurry after the second failure.  Amber ran out of the ring during a recall and had to be caught by the collar by someone.  Now I don't know where to go from here.  It's like she's getting worse instead of better.  She scored 2 Qs and 1 NQ in June 2019 and now she's a dud. See my blog here for background.  She didn't sit during a halt or sit in front of me during a recall. Then it got worse on the second trial. Amber was sniffing the edge of the ring and crossed over from my left heel position to the right side.  On the off leash recall, she zoomed out of the ring on recall and had to be caught.  The judge excused me.  I need some separation time from her because she doesn't know why I'm mad at her.  Lest she will never recall again.  I'm am contacting a professional trainer that will be using a shock collar to let her know she can't get away with it.  Just need to schedule Amber with Sandy Mcmillan in Rochester, IL.

This was a poster at Kim's Dog sports which made me think of all the dog condolences.

 

I don't think I can show my face at Mound City ever again.

I had one goal for 2021, a trip to coastal Maine, and that was canceled.   As I examine my future, there doesn't seem like anything to live for or anything I'm really good at.  I just eat and sleep.  January is always a depressing month but during COVID it's the worst.

My prayer app starts a new novena toward "Our Lady of Good Success"  Never heard of this saint.

I watched Jane Eyre on YouTube free. I watched  Williamsburg: the Story of a Patriot (1957) .

My Week

You may recall in my last blog about the frustration when my car wouldn't start because of the battery.  Well I was on the way to a funeral for one of our Amvets members but what I didn't say was that the closet rack that holds my many various veteran uniforms collapsed.  Replacing it will be on my to-do list.  

Wednesday I took Amber to Agility practice in Mechanicsburg.  Surprisingly the weather was nice enough for an outdoor practice.   Amber did a zippidy doo run in the fenced area.  On the other hand, she performed a more complicated run that included weave poles.  She does weave at home but a bit more distracting in a different environment.  I made her repeat the process when she missed a weave.

 Just as I have a laundry basket of mismatched socks, so too with a travel bag of gloves.  This bag was getting old and tearing because it's stored in the attic.  I found a brand new replacement for $2 at the Goodwill because it had the 1/2 off color of the week.  Still had tags on it too.  So I went through my gloves and paired them up and the old is gone. Goodwill is following COVID restrictions.  Seems they have hired many clean up workers and someone at the door to limit the population.  I had to wait in a line for someone to leave the store. 

Thursday I went to our Catholic War Veterans meeting. I picked up a new member to car pool with and his wife invited me to dinner before we left.  I'm kinda bummed because one of our Catholic War Veterans members lost his wife to COVID Thursday evening and he wasn't at the meeting. I feel bad now about questioning his absence at our Thurs night meeting when he said he'd be there. I didn't know until Sunday morning.  How sad. 
I went to church and we mask there but it fogs my glasses. Worse fogging when there's tears in my eyes

I was planning a trip to Maine through Marine Bank's Mariner Club for next August and that got canceled because of COVID over uncertainty in time for the deadline in February.  It will be postponed for another year.  The sad part is that there's an 89 year old woman (capable for travel) who was really disappointed in the postponement for another year. 

Friday I drove past the capitol to see it getting boarded up in anticipation of election riots.  Then I went to Walmart for the first time in a long time.  A man with kids walked right past a doorman handing out masks without any eye contact.  I needed some panties and other items and after that I went to ALDI nearby.  ALDI had better panties in their "Isle of Shame" so I got more.

As we begin the season of Mardi Gras (AKA Ordinary Time of the liturgical year) season, I wore these Keds-like shoes that I found at Goodwill brand new and never worn.  They are a kids size 4 but fit my size 6 foot well.   I needed a little bling.

Our state capitol building has been boarded up in anticipation of riots as we near the presidential inauguration date.

Even the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum is under militia protection.

Take solace in the past that Winston Churchill had been voted out of office. He left and was essentially considered damaged goods. But then, he came back and won WWII.

My Week

 

Last Monday afternoon, a little girl wanted to pet Sophie on a walk and Amber jealously attacked Sophie.    Of course this angers me for at least 24 hours.  So I put Amber in a harness since this slows her down and mellows her out.   This feeling carried over into my evening Nose work class.  I've already been disappointed in Amber's alert to the "hot box" odor in the past.  I had been given advice that another dog knew the task by what was worn including a harness for nose work.  Knowing Amber had a new harness, I tried that and it slows her down especially after an aggressive afternoon.  Well the harness did mellow her out Amber to the point she didn't perform or alert on the hot box.  Sandra told me to try without the harness and she did better.  She told me there was a difference between the way she had her tail down when she was wearing the harness.  Now I'm both mad at Amber's performance in nose work and her aggression toward Sophie.  Amber prefers to be naked even when it's cold.  I took her to class in a sweater once and she shut down also.  She is vengeful.  You may recall the video from my last blog that Amber finally learned the correct pressure to open a little trash bin.  Today she won't open the can because she's mad at me for making her wear a harness. She's punishing me.  I took the harness off and all of a sudden, she can pop the lid again.  Grr.

I ordered a new dog bowl that I don't need to bend over and pick up like this one.  It arrived on Monday.

I had one 3 years ago when I had my surgery but that one is getting plastic brittle.
 
Wednesday I took Amber to Agility practice in Mechanicsburg.  Initially she wanted to run around and do a zoomy but after a few exercises, she made me proud.  I had to give Amber a bath after agility practice in the barn. There are 5 other dogs and she's the only dog at practice that rolls in horse and cow dirt in the barn.

Despite my request NOT to get a Keurig coffee maker, my son forced one on me for Christmas.  It's a Hamilton Beach FlexBrew dual 12 cup pot and a single cup side.  I was happy with my 4 cup little pot similarly found in hotel rooms.  Filling that 12 cup carafe would be 2 days of microwaving cold coffee.   As for the single cup brewing, what sense is it to go through all the steps to make a regular pot of coffee for just one cup?  My other pot I put the plug in the wall, got a filter and ground and water and ready in a few minutes for a person that lives alone.  Now I have those same steps but have added it for each and every cup plus have to select between carafe or single, then push the brew button.   Oh, and the countertop space it takes up with an already crowded kitchen increases the clutter I really don't need.  I've been trying hard to downsize  and this doesn't help.

Friday morning I was in the color guard for an active veteran or our community, Joe Flemming.  It sure doesn't take long to get cold fingers during a brief ceremony.

 I would have been happy with fireplace logs.  

The patio sliding door that I ordered is in the warehouse at Lowes and scheduled to be installed Feb 3d.  Meanwhile, I picked up trim and stain that matches.  I'm really not good at staining or painting.  I didn't take the upc code of the boards so that happened between the 1st and 2d coat.

Monday after exercise, I was planning to go to the funeral for a fallen AmVets member and my car wouldn't start.  That kinda ruined the day.  Everything was flashing lights like it was about to explode. I called Nissan service and got an appointment for 2PM but the tow didn't come.  After seeking remote advice from my brother-in-law and friends on Facebook, I put the charger on the battery.  The needle hardly moved but an hour later it started and I got my ass over to One Stop Auto Shop.

A few errands to the bank and gas station and pick up Sean for his birthday dinner.  

Alan met us at El Mazatlan, a midway restaurant, that seems to be a recurring meeting place.

Here are my shrimp fajitas in a pineapple shell.  It's important to eat the accompanying salad and rice because those items don't do well in a carry out box for tomorrow's treat.

My 44 year old birthday boy.

I was asked to thank all those that wished him a happy birthday on Facebook to reply on his behalf from Facebook jail.

After I got home, I took Amber to her second last Containers Nosework class. She still sniffs everything in the room since we started this series of classes in July.  But tonight, Amber did better than previous weeks just sniffing around and not indicating the hot box. This was first time we used the word "alert" and did not know where the hot box was.  She had one false alert but Sandra said she noticed my hand near my pocket and thought she could trick me into giving her a reward.  I called "alert" and was told no.  The other 3 dogs in class indicate the hot box by either a sit and stare ore nose pointing to the box.  Amber indicates it with a single paw on the hot box.  I repeat "show me" to make sure.

I renewed my membership with CPE but was also disappointed that this coming weekend's trial was canceled.  Now I have to wait until May 22-23.

 In the wake of what was intended to be a peaceful support rally for our president, turned out to be a mob infiltrated by a paid busload of Antifa.  Some of the peaceful crowd mingled with the violent protesters and. Censorship in this country is real.  Done with Republicans and Democrats, it’s time to walk away from both parties. The Democrats hate the country and the Republicans hate their voters. We are headed toward a "single party" system as supporters drop the Republican party.  We war left to Satan's culture.  

My Week

Happy New Year 2021.  2021 is already better, we can go back to writing the last two digits of the year instead of the full thing again! Wooo small joys!

For the blind hoop jump trick, I picked up a large embroidery hoop and love this idea for wrapping paper in "Amber's Christmas Story". Few details to fix but oh so clever. This trick is known as the paper-covered
hoop / blind jump through curtains trick.  See video here:

 I had a custom made agility leash.  It's designed to wear around the waist during a run and ready to leash up at the finish line.

I got a welcome email from TDAA (Teacup Agility Association).

Wednesday I spoke with my brother on the phone and he really concerned about his wife's recovery from the accident.  She had a set back and had to go on dyalisis.  He sent this photo of a TAU rosary that was given to him at the hospital.

I read him the history about the Tau cross . I sent him a thank you card for his Christmas gift and a vial of miraculous water from Lourdes.

I had a small New Year's Eve with Liz and Chris for dinner at 6PM - 9PM.  We had some spicy jambalaya.  New Year's Day was an ice storm warning.  I was planning to attend Mass for the Solemnity of Mary but received a text that it was canceled because of the ice storm.  My sisters and I planned a simultaneous New Year's Day facial mask.   Well here is 2 out of 3.

My sister (I hope this doesn't inhibit her from sharing in the future but ... hell, who would recognize this?)

Amber (and I) have been working real hard and long on opening a trash bin (like about a year). She just couldn't get the concept of putting pressure on the pedal. You'll notice the tape that once held a treat when the lid opened. I tried everything and now we have it. She'll be policing up things next.  Sophie wanted in on the action. For every 2 rewards Amber gets, Sophie gets 1. I think she's trained too. 

 I fixed an outfit for Amber and Sophie in the virtual Soulard Mardi Gras Pet Parade.  Amber had many retakes because she doesn't like wearing anything.  You can see it in her eyes.  This used to be Sophie's outfit but this year I added some colorful trim that I found on sale and pig tails.  Isn't she cute?

Sophie's outfit is attached to a harness and flowers in her hair.

We had an ice storm New Year's Day so I didn't leave the house on Friday nor on Saturday.  Sunday morning I woke to snow on the ground.  It wasn't too bad...just beautiful. Bob called while I just sat down in my pew at mass. I saw he was calling and worried it might be important since his wife is in the hospital.  Meanwhile I'm having difficulty with my hearing aids.  I can only answer with speakerphone which I can’t use speakerphone in church. I accepted the call and  I went back to talk and explain the delayed “hello “    I called back later to learn that Nancy opened her eyes a little and pneumonia down. Still on ventilator. Social workers trying to move her to rehab. It’s like a tug of war between hospital care, and insurance. I understand that this. I suggested he stop pacing in waiting rooms where he can seldom see her and go back to work instead of taking time off.  I hope to get my hearing aids serviced sometime after the holiday.   

Sunday was the Epiphany also known as Little Christmas.  Each family received and ornament of the church for our 100th anniversary year.  With the parish down to 25% capacity and many watching services online, I'm sure it will be difficult to enforce the one per family ideal.

Monday was a winter fog all day long.  I had my annual optometry appointment.  Not much change but I will be getting computer/TV glasses to augment my regular glasses.  When I got home, I got my hearing aids back in order over a long phone call. 

Here we are with another week of Covid and the holidays.  Sad news about the Nashville. 

You may recall that I had entered an AKC Elite Trick performance Last October with "Amber's Christmas Story".  Here is the winner Debbi Snyder & Amos performing

Hairy Pawter and runner-ups listed on the website:

Hairy Pawter Sorcerer's Bone 2020 AKC Tricks Nationals Winner 

Congratulations.  The difficultly level of the tricks was superb.  To see the runner-up videos, click here

Tuesday afternoon I took my dogs to a local Capitol Illini-Chatham Veterinary Services for a photo session based on other photos that I had seen with a beautiful setting. Due to COVID, I waited outside while the clinic staff took them inside for pictures.

 

 That evening, I accompanied some of our VFW members distributing cookies to the police and firefighters.

 Wednesday I took both dogs with me to Mechanicsburg for Amber's agility practice.  Sophie stayed in the car but then she did get out before and after and she sleeps a lot.  It was so windy.  Remnants of corn husks blew across the road.  It was said that the gusts were up to 50 MPH.  It was too windy to practice outside so we practiced in the horse barn.  This made Amber roll in the horse dirt.   She had a bath later that day. 

Christmas eve I was surprised when my neighbor, Dennis and Julie, brought over a gift of chocolates.  The tag also included my dog's names but we know dogs can't have chocolate.

Alan came in the evening and so did Sean.  We watched a movie and lit the fireplace because it was in the single digits.

I went to Mass on Christmas morning at 9AM. The two Christmas Eve Masses were live streamed and can be seen here.   There was no choir on Christmas morning so the congregation had to sing.  I didn't know Father John could play the piano.  It was almost like his own stage with the exception of readers and servers.  Not the best angle but you can see Father John sitting at the piano.  

Our Christmas morning picture 2020 just before opening presents and stepping in a mess of wrapping paper.

 Take 2:

I do a lot of video.  Especially watching my queuing of my dog.  Every mistake is the handlers so they say.  I got a new camera to watch myself cue my dog.

I got a tactile necklace knife.

My sons got gift cards for Outback Steak house from their Aunt Kate. They both have Hawaiian shirts but if you look closely they are battle design (guns, grenades and poppies).

Then there was the food and lots of it.  I got a very expensive prime rib.  

Here's Alan checking the temperature of the prime rib.

My sister gave me a doggie towel.  It's almost too cute to use so I'm not sure of how I'll use it or keepsake it.

I got a coffee maker and a blender.  I got a soft green sweater and a book for my garden.  I got a new hummingbird feeder with a lot of packaging. My niece sent me coffee.

I got some exercise wear from my sisters and a facial mask with instructions to use it concurrently together on New Years Day.

Alan hadn't been over in awhile and his dog forgot how I taught him "paws on the bucket". Hank had little manners.  If I tried to train and reward, he was forceful at grabbing the treat teeth and all.  I tried the open palm so he wouldn't get my fingers. 

Alan left me his jeans to mend.   Yep, repair to be made in a tight spot.

The neighbor behind me assembled a trampoline.

 It's impossible to be unhappy and grateful at the same time. be filled with the Holy Spirit!

My Week

Well today happens to be Sophie's eight birthday.  Woof it up!

 Prayers are needed from my brother's wife, Nancy, who was in a terrible accident.  She's going to have a long road to recovery. She has fractured ribs and pelvis and fighting Pneumonia.

 Monday I had a COVID test in prep for my Thursday colonoscopy.  It was negative.  Wednesday was prep time.  The Magnesium Citrate tastes just like bitter lemon with the pucker factor. Not too bad compared to the old prep. The bad part is the stomach gurgling still happens.  My scheduled procedure was moved earlier then expected too.  There must have been some drop outs.

 Wednesday afternoon, at the beginning of my fast, I had my mammogram and got a call later that all was well.  Sean drove me to my appointment and that went well.  In my little waiting room I watched TV.  There was a calendar on the wall near me with nothing written on it so I wrote "Rose was here".  Every thing went well and polyps removed.  My but was raw.  I soiled all 5 of my open winter robes. Bathroom is cleaner than ever.  My neighbor, Donna, walked the dogs but Sophie didn't go very far with her.  Amber was ready to go all over.  Might have been better walking separately.  On the way home, I asked Sean to stop to get me some Chinese food to take out.  When I got home I needed a nap and had Sean bring me my electric blanket.

I made a mini "Wreaths Across America" wreath for Ron Otken at the columbarium. He was a key fundraiser for Wreaths Across America before he died.  I copied the idea from the cremation size wreaths that I saw pictures of at Killion, Texas where they had enough for every other marker.  It's held in place by Styrofoam between the marble.  I sent the photo to his wife who was in Texas at the time.  She was pleased.

I put it there on Friday but it was down on the ground on Saturday with the Styrofoam ripped off and in the trash.  I guess it got management's panties in a wad.  

I have some more supplies that I found in a thrift store but will still need mini 10 inch wreath frames in either twig or straw and some more Styrofoam.  I'll see what becomes of this for next time.

Friday I helped our location leader separate the wreaths in groups by their sponsors to pick up on Saturday.  I placed a wreath on my husband's grave and then stomped on the empty plot next to him.

Despite the pandemic, we did have more wreaths than the previous year.  I put a wreath on the grave of my neighbor.  I sent her the photo and she was touched by it.   Seems every year there's a new restriction on this program from higher ups.  I mean, people have been decorating graves before Wreaths Across America but about three years ago, the staff had volunteers remove the wreaths and drag them to the side of the road for a clean up day about the third week of January.  Then last year, they declared we needed to provide a dumpster for the used wreaths.  This year we were further restricted by the fact we had to have the wreaths delivered off site instead of the the facility at the cemetery.  Our location leader secured permission at RP Lumber yard. There was no public ceremony for the wreath laying for the branches of service and guest speaker.  The cemetery staff placed wreaths privately early in the morning to avoid a crowd and encourage social distancing.  Although this was out doors, I think this was the most social event I've been to in a long time.  I hadn't seen these friends in a long time.

Sunday I watched two movies with Sean, both with foreign subtitles. The Giant (2017)  and Sarajevo 2014 which was a little bit like a murder mystery only true about what led to WW1.

 

 

My Week

 Tuesday I had an appointment with Dr Churuku for a prep on my colonoscopy next week.  In the afternoon I was on our Chatham American Legion color guard for the funeral of one of our own at Camp Butler.

Monday evening I was really disappointed in our first night of Nose Work 3 class. Amber sniffed the floor more than the boxes. She walked right past the hot box (with the odor to detect) couple of times. I wanted to put her back in the kennel rather than continue with the "find it" search.  I was upset and want to stick a q-tip up her nose (odors are soaked on a q-tip taped to the inside of the box).  The other two dogs in this class hit on the correct box. I practiced our homework similar to this with Amber this week no longer than 5 minutes per practice time. https://youtu.be/TcTrzrUr3Cw

In agility, Lisa, my instructor, sent me this video of our agility practice last Saturday.  That's a bit encouraging.  The trick of this exercise was to switch directions before the tunnel.  Watch here:

I had our Christmas photo taken at the salon that cut my hair.  TDIEVA Sophie and TDIA Amber with their impatient handler (me). On the way home I saw a family doing a window visit at the nursing home I used to visit and busted in on their visit (masked of course)

Here is the winter newsletter and Amber has a photo in it:   http://tdi-dog.org/images/Winter_2020.pdf
 I saw that one of the TDI handlers had sewed backing on the bandana like quilters do so I did this also.  That bandana always looks like a wrinkled mess.

I had enough fabric to make a matching mask.

Sunday's mass had a special anniversary blessing for John and Carol O'Neill. 

I got my son his Christmas present this week. He got a new garage door with an opener.  He really needed it too.  

I did some running back and forth to Fedex to print and copy documents for my nephew's court claim for my sister's estate.  Despite a prenuptial agreement to keep finances separate, and assuming Norm may precede her in death as being the elder in this marriage, Kathy had done her best to hold up her end of the pre-nup so as not to leave any medical costs behind and be a burden on her husband.  It's important to understand there's also an imbalance of wealth in favor of her husband. When there were no medical costs, Norm kept her Roth funds that were entrusted to take her through to her dying days and the remainder to her heirs as per her last will and testament.  He kept it without making any contribution toward her finances.  He violated the pre-nup for which he insisted having her agree to sign.  He logged into her accounts while she was lying on her death bed and transferred funds to his own accounts. Norm has a strong lawyer and my nephew is representing himself.  He is doing a lot of research and disadvantaged being states away. I want to help in any way that I can.  This is on-going. 

Sunday was the Gaudete Sunday when we light the rose colored candle on the Advent Wreath.  This pink candle represents Joy.   Father's sermon told about the Secret of Success  story but changed it from "wisdom" to "prayer" context to gasp for air to communicate with God. Without prayer we cannot know God. We cannot know someone who we don't talk to.

There is little Joy this particular Sunday because my brother's wife was in a serious car accident on Sunday.  More prayers please.    I really have little else to do or say.