Change Is Hard

September 20, 2010
by dawnkinster 7 Comments

Rejoice! The recession is over!

Heard on the radio during my long commute home tonight that the recession was officially over back in June of 09. Gee. Guess they forgot to tell us that up here in Michigan. What with our unemployment still over 15% we must not have noticed all the rejoicing in the streets back then. I know I was still employed in a library, albeit part time. And that I got laid off in October of 2009.

I’m pretty sure I heard that one group making this astounding announcement was a University of Michigan research group. Huh. That would be the same university that assured us that many librarians were retiring and that the job outlook for people with my degree looked promising.

Credibility is a bit lacking. Just saying.

September 18, 2010
by dawnkinster 6 Comments

Training Challenge #7

This week’s challenge for Katie was going for a long drive. We are wondering how she’d travel, so we took her over to Michigan State University which is just over an hour away from us.

Next year, if I get the opportunity to drive down to Alabama, I’d like to take her with me rather than have her stay at a kennel. But sometimes she gets feisty even coming home from her school, and I can’t envision a two day car trip with a sheltie barking at me!

But on this trip Katie settled in on her princess pillow in the back and seemed content to just nod her head sleepily. Maybe because we did this last Sunday, after her Rally Trial, and she was exhausted. LOL. She wouldn’t put her head down, but her little eyese were closed and her head was bobbing up and down until she’d catch me watching her, then she’d try to look alert.

We were visiting the ornamental grass garden on campus. It’s out near the farms, on the grounds of the sod farm where they experiment in making grass that golfers love.

Katie was really happy to get out of the car and explore.

The gardens were beautiful. We had a nice time checking out the names of the grasses that we particularly liked, and considering where we might be able to add a few varieties to our own landscape.

Katie drank some water and peed on the pretty green lawn, just to make sure everyone knew she’d been there. Then back into the car we went for the hour trip home.

She did great. Maybe some weekend I’ll see if I can take her a little further from home. Because two hours is not two days and I still don’t want to find myself somewhere in Tennessee with an unhappy girl.

Know what I mean?

September 17, 2010
by dawnkinster 7 Comments

Mystery solved

You know the great mystery about where the socks go that come up missing after doing laundry? Well here at our house we’ve solved it.

This morning I pulled laundry out of the dryer, specifically looking for a pair of socks I wanted to wear to work. There was only one. I knew I had put two socks in the dryer! I looked back in the washer. No sock. I checked the dryer again. No sock. Disgusted I headed back toward the bedroom to find a different pair.

And found this.

So I’m thinking that if in your house you’re missing a bunch of individual socks…you just might want to check with the pupster.

Katie likes to steal underwear too. But I’m not going to take any pictures of that!

September 17, 2010
by dawnkinster 12 Comments

Falling off a bike

So you know that I started back to work at a new/old job this week. It’s been over four years since I was there, and the economic world has changed. Heck the whole world has changed. Now there are many rules and procedures, all done online, that were never in place before. Most of them make a lot of sense, but it’s still a lot to remember.

Several people that I knew from back “in the days” have stopped by my cube and asked how I was doing. When I expressed a doubt about something they’d all say “It’s like riding a bike, you’ll remember.” So far I’m replying that my bike feels like it has a flat.

You probably don’t know that I also rejoined the local community band. (It’s on my list of 101 things to do in 101 days.) I belonged seven or eight years ago, but left because they were too small and didn’t play many concerts. Over the years I’ve checked on them, and they seemed to be growing and playing more events. So I signed up again. At rehearsal last week there were only 4 clarinets. Way too few. I stubbornly held onto the 2nd clarinet folder of music, refusing to play first. After all it has been at least 6 years since I’ve played anything. This week at rehearsal there were four clarinets, but not the same ones as last week. Again I was asked if I could play the 1st part. I told them the last time I played 1st clarinet was in1978 and I’d rather stick to 2nd. And the director said….”It’s like riding a bike.”

Lately my world is all about getting back on that bike. But I think I need to get the tires re-inflated first.

September 14, 2010
by dawnkinster 8 Comments

Life is an 8 a.m. class

Many years ago, like many college kids, I tried to avoid scheduling any classes at 8 in the morning. Because it was just too hard to drag myself out of bed that early. But when I graduated and went to work I found out that Life IS AN EIGHT O’CLOCK CLASS! Rather than maybe having an early class a couple days a week, work meant an early start EVERY SINGLE DAY! That was a shock.

Over the years I got used to the early day of work, day in, day out, year in, year out. Then I did the unimaginable and quit. Really. Just quit. I went back to school where sometimes I had an early morning, sometimes a late night, but never consistency. And I liked the variation in my days. After graduation I found part-time work in a library and had some early days, some late nights and again I enjoyed the variation.

But the world changed when our economy went haywire and library jobs were impossible to find. So I’m back at the bank and getting used to waking up in the dark and driving through rush hour traffic to sit in a cubicle for the entire day. Then it’s rush hour traffic home. Life is once again an 8 a.m. class.

It’s exhausting and sometimes overwhelming. But I’m working on getting settled in the groove. The last four years have been, in effect, a very long, very wonderful vacation. Which is more than most people get.

So I’m appreciative; even as I yawn while driving toward the rising sun each morning.

September 13, 2010
by dawnkinster 10 Comments

Challenge #6 – It's Rally Time!

Today Katie and I got up extra early and traveled all of about two miles to the county fairgrounds where we got our second leg of Rally Novice! Katie knew something was up because I was moving around collecting things and making trips to the car, and the sun wasn’t even up yet! To her this can only mean one thing…the dreaded GROOMER! So she went and hid in the bedroom.

Finally I had everything in the car except my dog, so I called her out of the bedroom. Poor little girl; she shook in my arms all the way out to her crate in the back of the car. But as soon as we arrived (approximately 5 minutes later) and she was out of the car she was fine.

See Mom? I’m not scared!

We walked around outside for a bit, then ventured inside. It was sort of scary in there, a big noisy room with lots of echos. But she ate treats right from the start, so maybe I don’t have to get everywhere a whole hour early just to get her over that initial fear. Maybe she’s been in big scary rooms with lots of other dogs enough times that we can just arrive like other people, set up and go! Maybe.

I’m not scared in here either Mom. Much anyway.

So…we waited through all the Excellent dogs and all the Advanced Dogs…and then we were on! Luckily one of Katie’s favorite teachers was there with a camera, and one of Katie’s favorite shepherd owners took some video of us! And extra luckily, Katie’s Dad figured out how to get the video to show up here on this blog!

Katie did very well. I, however, needed to remember to take the empty poop bag out of my back pocket! And to move a bit faster because Katie pays attention better when she’s moving along.

But I’d proud of her anyway. We got 2nd place with a score of 96 out of a class of 6 dogs! This judge didn’t give out any 100’s the whole morning. The winner of our class had a 99.

I think Katie deserves the nap she’s taking right now. But it’s an awfully pretty day, so perhaps the park later this afternoon will be a good reward for a good dog.

Ya think?

September 11, 2010
by dawnkinster 4 Comments

Hero Dogs of 9/11

I saw this on Jane’s blog…and she got it from another blog.

For those of us that love dogs here are some Hero Dogs from that day.

Thanks to all of them.

And I’m giving thanks for my own this morning too.

September 10, 2010
by dawnkinster 6 Comments

Melon memories

I bought a melon with my Mom yesterday. Not literally you understand, as she’s been gone six years now. But she was right there.

Mom told me years ago when I was a teenager that you could tell a ripe honeydew melon by feeling the rind. The ripe melons have a softer, more velvety feel, rather than the slicker skin of an immature melon.

I’ve never tried to buy a honeydew before, but somehow when I saw that stack of melons displayed at the store yesterday I reached out to touch. And I found one, just one, that had that velvety texture.

I smiled, along with Mom, as we rearranged the display to take home that one melon, way at the bottom of the pile, that we both knew would be just perfect.

Moms. Always there. Always right.

September 9, 2010
by dawnkinster 6 Comments

Just a few more…

Here are just a few more photos from the Meijer Gardens…starting with the conservatory, which is a giant glass structure holding a tropical garden as well as desert plants and a small room full of carnivorous plants.

The art glass was mingling among the tropical plants.

…sometimes hidden and sometimes displayed more obviously.

Sometimes the art glass was the plant…

…and sometimes it just enhanced the plants.

Outside we were treated to larger pieces…

…but the glass never competed with the sculptures that live at the garden permanently.

This is me when I was in grad school…

…and this will be me, balancing life, when I go back to underwriting next week!

We enjoyed some quiet time along a boardwalk edging around a lake filled with blue mini-icebergs.

…and a walk in a tiny garden at the front of the park that introduced us to the art glass in a more dramatic fashion.

For whatever reason I found this sculpture intriguing.

I liked all the textures…

…it had so much character, almost ominous…but somewhat reassuring in it’s solidness as well.

I have no idea what it meant, any more than I did this one, which is supposed to be two disparate lines…

…nor these sculptures, people sitting made out of letters of the alphabet, though I couldn’t find any actual words in the one I studied.

Maybe it’s not my job to understand the art. Maybe it’s just my job to enjoy it.

I hope so, because I’m really good at enjoying it.

Hope you enjoyed it too!

September 9, 2010
by dawnkinster 11 Comments

20 years – it's a walk in the park

My husband and I have been married twenty years and we celebrated our anniversary by visiting the Meijer Gardens near Grand Rapids Michigan. The gardens have a huge conservatory with tropical plants, and acres and acres of gardens outside that are beautifully planted and showcase giant sculpture.

The gardens are wonderful, the sculpture interesting, sometimes even funny…and right now there is a special installation of giant art glass interspersed among the waterfalls, flowers, grasses, hills, woods and sculptures.

There were so many wonderful, colorful, playful and striking things to see; I have so many pictures to show you, but I guess I’ll try to limit myself here.

It’s going to be difficult to choose…