Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Category Archives: fun stuff


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Need a funny story?

Tonight as I drove home through our subdivision I noticed a Canadian goose sleeping alongside a driveway a couple of doors down. I thought it was odd, but then again the driveway is a single car width dirt drive, with ponds on both sides.

This spring I’ve witnessed the territorial aspects of the pair of geese that appear to live in the bigger pond.   They consistently and with intensity chase away any other pairs of geese that happen to land on their pond. So it was with laughter that I watched the homeowner try to come home from work this evening. They pulled into their drive; the goose was still sitting in the middle of the driveway.   The SUV stopped. It’s not like they could go around the goose, with water on both sides. Suddenly, with great noise and a very wide wingspan the mate of the sitting goose rose out of the water and attacked the stopped SUV. Then the goose on the driveway got up and flapped it’s wings at the vehicle as well. With both geese honking and flapping their wings in front of the SUV, the homeowners finally backed up and drove away.

Eventually the geese settled back into their pond, the homeowner circled around and successfully made it up their driveway and into the house.  Obviously there’s a nest somewhere near the driveway.  I have to wonder how they’re going to get out tomorrow morning.


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Out of control rally fun match

I worked all day today, rushed home, grabbed the dog and drove 45 miles south to a fun match this evening. The result? Katie was out of control. We had little to no time to warm up, though the facilities were very nice. She was scared; she loves to go to school, but when we arrived she knew right away this wasn’t any school she’d ever been to before. She immediately peed all over the asphalt behind the car. Poor girl, she’s never done that before!

Inside we were one of the first few people there, so we started right out with Rally. They were really good with me. There was a “off set figure 8” that I had never seen before that some lady explained and explained to me. Then the judge explained it again better! Also a right step that wasn’t set up very well and that we never did do quite right.

Katie was a wild thing, paying attention to the other dogs, other rings, loud noises, people going by. She didn’t focus on me until the judge asked me if I had treats, which I did. Once Katie figured out I had treats she focused a lot better! LOL! But still.

They let me go through the course twice with a judge and we learned a lot. But half way through the second time Katie just sat down. Then jumped on me. She was WAY DONE MOM! We finished strong though once I got her moving again.

In obedience they were really patient with me too. Most of the issue is me, obviously. The obedience judge gave me some good pointers for stand for exam, and for getting her to heel closer to my leg. So that was well worth it, though I was somewhat embarrassed by how out of it she was.

Then I FORGOT to stick around for sits and downs, which we really could have used practice on. On the other hand, Katie was not in the mood to sit still for very long.

So all in all, it was an OK $10.00 spent. It did show me that we have a TON of work to do, mostly on heeling correctly. The rest will come from that. And from me studying my rally move cards more!

Don’t know about Katie, but I’m exhausted! I have to work all day tomorrow and all day Sunday, so I’m headed for sleep now. Unfortunately, Katie, now at home, wants to PLAY!

Silly dog.

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Went for a walk

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Yesterday it was finally warm enough not to freeze off vital body parts, so I took myself off for a walk. I used to have a favorite four mile run, and since I haven’t been able to run for a very long time, I walked the route, just to see what had changed during this last long winter.  I thought about taking the dog, but decided I wanted to walk further than she was able to go.

It was a beautiful day, blue sky, bright sunshine.  I walked along a packed dirt road, realizing that it was a perfect day for a run.  But I’m in no shape to begin running yet, still nursing the stress fracture in my foot.  So I settled for a walk.  Turns out it wasn’t such a bad thing.

At the two mile mark there is a small park with nature trails that I have never explored.  Usually I am running as I go by this spot, and have never taken the time to stop and find out what was there.  I saw this past winter a map that said there was a heron rookery at the end of these trails.  So yesterday, armed with my trusty camera I headed down the trail to see what I could see.

My first decision was which way to go at the fork in the trail

trees-877 Hmm…should I go into the woodlands or the meadow?  I decided maybe a heron rookery would be in the woods, but I wasn’t at all sure.  The woodland path headed downhill, and I reminded myself that I’d have to come back up anything downhills I traversed.  Funny.  In the old days when I was in better shape I never would have thought about that.  Sad.

I stopped to take a few pictures of the path ..

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and some fungus on a tree.

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Right about then I heard such a shrieking, grating, loud noise coming from up ahead.  It was the sound of blue herons!  Disturbed blue herons!  I couldn’t see anything, so I hurried down the trail toward the noise.  Not too far ahead this is what I saw, up in the sky:

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Can you see them?  There were thirty or forty (hard to count them all!) blue herons flying in big circles above the rookery.  I counted eighteen nests, but it was hard to see, there are probably many more.  The herons kept flying in higher and higher circles, their squawking decreased, and it became more quiet in the woods.  The path continued downhill, but was becoming waterlogged and muddy, so I eventually turned around and climbed the hill back to the road.   It was an amazing experience.  Once the leaves are on the trees I won’t be able to watch the nests, so I hope to go back and watch again soon.  I don’t think I was the one that disturbed them, as I was quite far away, taking quiet pictures.  But we’ll see if they all go up in flight next time I’m there.

On the way back home I walked through the wetlands down below the rookery, enjoying the sun and blue skies.

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It took me forever to do this four miles, especially with the side trip into the woods.  I doubt you could call it a workout, but at least I was out on a walk!

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Later in the evening Katie and I went to the park so that she could walk and sniff around as well.  I think we both need to do this more often, especially since the weather seems to have broken.

Shoes are broken in too.  Fun times.

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It's a long story

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For years I’ve looked longingly at the Easter egg coloring kits each spring.  We had such happy times as kids making colored eggs.   Some years I think I’ll just color Easter eggs by myself.  But then I think; “How ridiculous!  You live with one other person!  How many hard boiled eggs can you two eat?”  And so I don’t.  But this year my sister is visiting, and as we shopped for Easter dinner she convinced me to buy the egg coloring kit, and today we braved the cold outside and did some really creative work.  If I do say so myself.

easter-2009-013 Why, you would be right to ask, are we coloring eggs outside?  Well I was worried about spilling food colored water on my tile floor or granite counters and so I banned us to the outdoors.  My sister was freezing but I thought it was perfect weather to be dying eggs! 🙂  And I wonder why everyone doesn’t do this outside, as we made quite a mess on the tailgate of her truck!  We had fun, even if she did freeze her fingers off!

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I personally think our results are quite striking.  Though the husband did ask why we didn’t have any plain solid colored eggs.  Heck.  We could have just done simple single colored eggs, but where’s the excitement in that?  So here are our beautiful, fun filled, adults goofing off, eggs.  They make me smile!

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Happy Easter everyone!  We hope you and your families have wonderful, safe, peaceful and entertaining holidays!

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Happy to see you!

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Two things I can always count on  are the reactions of my dog and my family when they see me coming.  They’re always happy to see me whether I’ve been gone for weeks or just a few minutes.  That kind of unconditional love is hard to find in this world and I know I’m lucky.  I’m lucky that I have one of the sweetest most loving dogs, and the best family too; they’re all happy when we’re together.

It’s easy to take for granted the excited gyrations of your dog each time you come home from work, or the smile from your spouse when you walk into the room.  Sometimes it takes a loss to recognize what you had.  But far better, isn’t it, to recognize it right now?  In the moment?  To accept that hug, that smile, that quiet conversation or that tail wriggle and revel in the joy of having it, right now, right here?

Katie knows how to do that.  She doesn’t worry about the future (except if and when her supper will arrive) or agonize over the past.  She just loves you to death right now.   And as much as my siblings, husband and I have been through I think we’re beginning to enjoy the right now when we’re together.  Even when the real  stuff of our lives threatens to encroach.  When some of us are together we can, for the moment, right now, enjoy doing silly things.  Like coloring Easter eggs, or decorating Christmas cookies. Doing a little trick skiing or cooking some lavish squash soup.   We’ll climb a mountain, take a boat ride or maybe do all those things in a single weekend.  We fit in some of the fun little things we did as kids and forget we’re grownup with grownup problems.  Just hang out.  It’s not total avoidance, we know our problems will still be there when we go home.  And that’s all right.  Right now, we’re just HAPPY TO SEE YOU!

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Saturday at the library

It’s Saturday and the bad news was that I was stuck inside all day. The good news was that I was stuck inside all day at a library! Today seemed to be family day. Not every Saturday feels like that; a day filled with families that led me to my own memories of family and the libraries of my youth.

Lots of parents with their kids, and seemingly a lot of them were getting books to work on papers, or to read aloud. One set of sisters had two huge stacks of books. Their dad asked me, “Can they check out that many books?” The wonderful answer is “YES!” They were going on a road trip for spring break and wanted to make sure they had enough stuff to read. How great is that!  Sounded like me at their age.

Another mother had four or five books about sharks. I knew we had just received a brand new book with wonderful pictures of sharks, and even though the new book was over the reading level of the 8 year old that had to do the paper, she was thrilled to take it home.  I know her son will have a great time looking at the photos.  And there might be a bit of new information in there that he can tuck into that paper.  I don’t remember having to do papers when I was 8.  But that was so long ago I may have forgotten!

Another family came in, two kids, two parents, and sat down at our computers. Mom and Dad did email work while the kids played games. When they left they checked out a few family movies and some books to read aloud as well. Their experience just shows how multi-purpose today’s public libraries are.  In my day we took home books to read to each other, but there weren’t any movies to check out.  I am beginning to realize that it probably doesn’t matter if people check out movies, as long as they use our things to spend time together.  So this family will be watching movies together, where my family read together…it’s the together that matters.

An  older man was browsing in the DVD’s.  From behind he looked a lot like my Uncle R. who has been gone for over 15 years.  Even when he turned around he reminded me of my Uncle, one of the favorite people in my life when I was growing up.  Uncle R. was a big kidder, always had a joke, a laugh, a twinkle in his eye.  I smiled at my patron, the one who brought back all those memories, but he didn’t have a twinkle in his eye, in fact he seemed rather unhappy and abrupt.  Too bad.  But I still appreciated the moments remembering summer visits on the farm.  I wished my patron a good weekend, and he perked up a bit.  Maybe he just doesn’t have any adoring nieces at home!  That would certainly account for the grumpiness!

So it was a good day; and I brought some books home for me as well!  An added benefit of the work I do.

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And music filled the evening

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a concert put on by the University of Michigan’s Department of Musical Theatre. It was a 25th anniversary concert, with past graduates, many of whom have gone on to Broadway in New York City, both attending and performing. They also featured the soon to be graduating class of 2009 and others currently in the school.

The concert consisted of bits and pieces of the many musical productions the department has staged over the past 25 years. The voices were strong and the supporting University Symphonic Band was wonderful. There were funny moments from comic theater and poignant moments as well. Like when a large group was singing “What I Did for Love” and I realized how significant the lyrics were to their lives; that they didn’t regret anything in order to do the thing they loved, preform wonderful music to adoring audiences.

The concert was long, three and a half hours, but you could tell those past and present students that sat in the audience between their own brief appearances on the stage didn’t want to leave. It was a giant homecoming for them, a homecoming of such talent as was hard to believe. And it was a joy for those of us privileged to be able to sit and listen,  to watch them glow.

Sometime during the evening it was said that the state of the arts is a good way to measure the state of humanity.  Last night humanity soared.


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Windy walk

Yesterday early evening I took Katie to another metro park for a walk. You might remember that we went out to my favorite park last week and walked while watching ducks and geese and swans. That park is quite a distance from home, so this time we went to a closer park. It’s not as fun to walk in because it’s mostly just fields and woods, and it’s over a mile before you even get into the woods! The first mile is down a BIG hill beside a hilly field. So that means on the way back the last mile will be up a very big hill.

It was very windy at the park during our walk. Katie started out excited and eager to get going.

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We headed down the hill with her sniffing along the edge of the bike path, checking out each blade of grass.  So we weren’t moving very fast.  Eventually I got her moving, though when I asked her to “heel!” she looked at me like I was nuts.  I totally forgot I was carrying chicken in a pouch.  That probably would have motivated her!

We stopped at a bench, and thinking of the picture of Josh on the park bench after his grooming appointment I tried to get her to sit on it.

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She didn’t like the bench at all, and this picture was taken just before she leaped off and asked me what the heck I thought I was doing!  So we kept walking down the big hill.   On our last long walk in the park she walked 3/4 of a mile out and 3/4 of a mile back to the car.  So today I figured maybe we’d walk 1 mile out and 1 mile (up the big hill) back to the car.  She seemed pretty agreeable to that.  But at 9/10 of a mile (they have all the 10th’s marked off on the bike path) she sat down.  Period.  Wasn’t moving any further.  In any direction.  Great.  We talked about it for awhile.  I told her I couldn’t carry her 9/10 of a mile up a big hill.  So we rested a bit, then turned around.  She kept wanting to continue on the way we had been heading, but I wasn’t going to get us into any more trouble than we were already in.  We stopped at every park bench to rest, and she conned me into carrying her for a couple of short spurts.

I took pictures along the way as something to do while we were resting.

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Then with 1/2 a mile to go I remembered the CHICKEN!  Oh yea.  CHICKEN!  I asked her to heel and showed her the chicken and guess what?  All of the sudden she was full of energy!  She trotted next to me like a perfect dog.  Like the dogs I had seen walking with their people the way dogs are supposed to walk!  She heeled almost perfectly the whole 1/2 mile back to the car.  Even after I stopped giving her treats.

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We got back to the car, she drank a little bit of water and we headed home where she fell asleep for the rest of the evening.   I need to carry water and some sort of container with me when we go for walks this long.  And remember not to lengthen our walks by too much too fast.  Just like any athlete, she can get injured if we do too much too soon.  Gotta think of her as my athlete in the family.  Certainly isn’t me anymore!

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Fun match was FUN!

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This morning Katie and I went to our first obedience fun match! It was really a 4-H  kids dog obedience match, but there was a ring for novice adults and their dogs, so a couple of friends from our last obedience class went with their Shepards, and I went with my Katie. It was less than 5 minutes from home, and it only cost $10, so how could I not go?  I took my camera and one of the husbands took a few pictures, but the lighting was terrible, so what I share with you will be grainy.  Still, it’s Katie in a ring doing WELL!

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Katie did her heel pretty good… most of the errors were Mom, not dog…though she still doesn’t like to be right next to my leg.  She sat instantly each time I halted, without me having to tell her, and she came like lightening on her recall.  When I asked her to finish (going around me to sit on my left, which she does just beautifully at home) she walked around behind me but didn’t come sit next to me.  Turns out there was something behind me against the wall that she had to investigate!  They cleaned that up after our run.  LOL!  She did great on the sit stay (see picture above where she was distracted but didn’t break her sit!) and even  made it all the way to the end of the 3 minute down stay!!  That was the longest three minutes of our lives!  She shifted a bit and I knew she was thinking about wandering, but she didn’t! GOOD GIRL!.  We did two runs, the second off leash, and she did just as good that time too.  I am so proud of her!

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One of the friends brought her family which included two little girls, ages 7 and maybe 4 years old.  They were instantly in love with Katie; she is so much smaller (and “fluffier!”) than their 8 month old Shepard.  Katie isn’t used to kids and initially backed away (once all the way under the chair I was sitting on, I had to tell her “TUNNEL!” to get her to come back out to me!) each time they approached.  But by the end of the morning Katie was playing with the older one, and tolerating the younger’s more intense petting.  It was really good for her and I’m proud of her for that too.

And even better?  There was no food allowed in the ring, so she did all that work without getting a treat!  I gave her treats in between runs, and told her what a good dog she was.  She snuggled in my lap for awhile, licked my face and seemed to have a good time.  But I know she’s exhausted.  How do I know that?  Cause she’s SLEEPING!  Or trying to.  The Mom keeps taking pictures of her and that is so distracting to a girl needing her beauty sleep, don’t ya know.

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We’re having a great weekend, sunny, warm…hope you are all well and having good weekends too!

Now we’re off to nap!

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Paw print!

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Hey guys! Katie and I finally found a pawprint!  We looked and looked but couldn’t find anything.  Then today I sat down to read my January/February issue (OK, I’m late getting to it I know) of “Public Libraries” and guess what’s on the back cover?

A paw print!

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It’s a book binding company that provides tougher bindings for books that get a lot of use!  Wouldn’t you know I’d find a paw print that relates to libraries!

Katie says;  “Enough of this reading stuff Mom!  Let’s PLAY!”

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