Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.


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A lazy Sunday

We got snow this weekend. The good news is neither of us (or Katie) had to go much of anywhere, and snow is always more fun when you can stay inside and look at it rather than try to go outside and drive in it.  We all spent much of Sunday napping.

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For those of you that have moved permanently or temporarily to warmer climates, and are doubtless missing your snow quota, Katie and I ventured out this morning to see what there was to see. We’ll share a few pictures with you!

katie-1172 Katie wanted to explore under every tree to find something truly remarkable to share with all of you…but found that most of the good stuff was deep under the snow!

katie-1169After much snuffling around she’d give up and look fairly confused, complete with snow all over her face.

katie-1170In the end we found a few interesting places, but nothing really special to share with you.  Like frozen food…or mice or rabbits to chase.  Just a lot of snow piled up on everything.

Here’s an extra layer of insulation on the birdhouse roof…

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..and the new deck is all covered in snow…

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..our rocking chair waits patiently for summer to come back…

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…and Dad keeps blowing that snow out of the driveway!

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Now, all of your living in the south and west…aren’t you missing snow?  (hee hee!)

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If it's Saturday it must be AGILITY!

Katie and I got to go to agility this morning. We haven’t been to any doggie school in over a month and she’s a bit bonkers. She went to the groomer this week, which she doesn’t like at all, so this morning when I had her leash and was headed for the door to the garage she went and hid behind the sofa. I told her we were going to school, which generally elicits happy dancing, but she wasn’t believing it this morning. So I dragged her off to the back of the car, and she shook in her kennel back there for the first few miles, with me reassuring her that it really was a school day.

Once we arrived and she realized there were no blow dryers or bathtubs she was all excited.  She said hello to a few of her friends but mostly she wanted to GO GO GO!  Hurry up Mom!  This week the instructors set up three groups of obstacles, and the five of us in class ran our dogs through sequences of three  things, over and over.  The first set was chute, tire, jump.  Since Katie is still new (this is only her 4th class) the instructor held up the end of the chute so Katie could see, and she ran right through every time.  She balked at the tire somewhat, wasn’t sure where she was supposed to go and tried to go under it and around it.  But eventually we got her to jump through it.  The subsequent times she went through the tire pretty well.  And she loves to jump, so jump was no issue.  By the fourth run through she was getting everything right as long as the chute was held open.

The second set of obstacles was jump, tunnel and A-frame.  But we were going the other direction, with the dog on our right.  BOY!   That’s hard for Katie and for me!  She’s just had almost a solid year of obedience always on my left and that’s where she wanted to be.  I wasn’t the only one having issues.  So we stopped and all practiced heeling with the dog on our right for awhile.  That’s something I’ll have to practice.  Katie too.  Anyway, eventually we went back to the obstacles and did the jump, tunnel, frame, and Katie flew through all those, even the A-frame!  YEA!

The third set was hardest.  It was teeter, weaves, and table.    Katie wasn’t afraid of the teeter this week, the instructor held it so it landed gently, but we were useless at weaves.  I need to get some weave poles so we can practice.  She did these much better last class than we did today.  The table was fun for her, so not a problem.

Finally the instructor put all 9 obstecles together and we got to run it twice.  Katie did REALLY well the second time, except for the weaves she did everything (with a little help with the chute and the teeter).  She had so much fun!  I was working up a sweat, but she could have (and would have) run all afternoon.

I wonder if we should just build some weave poles out of pvc, or buy some.  Anyone have a source they use to buy stuff like this?

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Winter day with a sheltie

Yesterday was a beautiful day. Blue sky like we haven’t seen in a long while. Fresh snow on the ground from the night before. Sunshine.

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Katie and I spent a good amount of time outside exploring.  She loves the snow, and I do too, when I’m wearing my heavy coat and boots.  Here we are, me trying to get her to look at me, and her being…well…her.

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After awhile, with me calling her and asking her to sit…she did.

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We had lots of fun playng in the snow.  I saw this tree with it’s great shadow; looked perfect to try a water color painting technique.  So I took the picture and hope someday I’ll make the time to try to paint it.

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We spent a lot of time outdoors before I had to get ready to go to work.  Katie was ready for me to go to work too.  She needed a nap.

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Well…she’s trying to sleep, if Mom would stop taking those blasted pictures!

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It was a good day.

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Katie's coat

Katie went to the groomer yesterday and is all pretty today. So I’m sending out pictures of her coat, hoping some of you will help me figure out what kind of sable little girl she is.  She has a fan of lighter sable fur along her shoulders, then a darker body.  Here she is reluctantly letting me photograph her from behind.

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And here she is from the side.  So what color Sheltie would you say she is?

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Now I need to go and play a rousing game of Fetch the Froggie!

See you later!

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Maybe Agility?

katie-1119 My schedule at work got radically changed yesterday. For the next 3 weeks anyway. So now the 4 week agility class that starts next Sat. might just be a possibility. I think I am free at least 3 of the 4 mornings, just need to wait for a confirmation email this morning, and hope that week 4 is OK too.

Last night, going to bed way after midnight I asked Katie if she wanted to go back to school. Her eyes lit up and she started bounding all over the bed, leaping on me along the way. She was so happy and ready to go RIGHT NOW! I laughed and told her it wasn’t time yet and eventually she settled down to a restless sleep.

Silly me, I KNOW she’s going to react like that, why would I ask her at midnight? But it was fun to see her react. She hasn’t been to school for a couple of weeks and she misses it. I hope we get to go to this next class.

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Wicked – it's more than just a musical

My husband, aunt and I saw the musical Wicked this afternoon in Detroit. It was visually beautiful, musically delightful, and, if you let it, thought provoking. It’s the story behind the Wicked Witch of the West, the one who tormented Dorothy and her little dog Toto, and who frightened me when I was a kid watching the movie.

As the story goes, the Wicked Witch wasn’t so wicked growing up, but because of the way she looked (green) she was talked about and teased. She inherited some magical powers, and was used by influential people for their own gain, and that made her angry. Eventually these influential people spread rumors about her wickedness to cover up their own misuse of power.

The underlying theme is that we aren’t always told the whole story yet we regularly make assumptions and decisions based on things we’ve heard that may or may not be true. I couldn’t help but think of the parallels between this story and our political history these past 8 years.   I don’t think the musical meant to be political, but that was one of my takes on it.

Either way, political or not, it’s a great show, and if you ever get a chance to see it…do.  It would be wicked to miss it!


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Looking for hope

The library system where I work is a conglomeration of small libraries in small towns within a county that has always been heavily industrial. Mostly General Motors. Its a county I used to live and work in more than 15 years ago, and it was already struggling back then. Given the economic climate now the area is pretty devastated. Today I worked in a branch out in one of the small communities and much of the talk among patrons, overheard by me, was about job loss, the decline of housing prices, and fears for the future. Where to find health insurance, which employer closed last week, who is rumored to close next week. Who’s already out of work, who is likely to be out of work on Monday, who’s had interviews, and where.

Though the patrons smile at me as they check out their DVDs, CDs and books, the smiles are thin and don’t reach their eyes.  The faces are tired, hopeless, frightened.  People who were always able to take care of themselves are searching for anything, any kind of work, to feed their families now.  It made me feel guilty to be working, especially as I am now someone from outside their community.  I stay quiet, scan stuff in and out, try to make myself  less noticible.  Kind of hunkering down, which is what many people said they were going to do as they try to survive the next few months…or years.

As I drove the forty miles home tonight there was a beautiful sunset, all golden and orange streaks with big blocks of pink, purple and navy.  It was a sunset my mother would have taken a picture of, and it was just about the only beautiful thing I’d seen or heard all day.  While I’m glad the library is there, to give people  resources and a place to meet other people to talk and vent,  I wish there was more I could do.  And I feel guilty about hoping my husband and I don’t find ourselves in the same boat soon.

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It's a brand new year!

The first day of 2009 dawned a delicate pink here in Michigan. Fresh snow on the ground, clear skies and the sun coming up make for a hopeful feeling. Katie and I watched the sun rise as we wandered the yard looking for the perfect place. If you know what I mean.
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Traditionally this is the time to plan future goals.  So here are a few things I hope for in the year 2009:

That my family members find peace and resolution to their current troubles.

That I find a full time library job.

That Katie gets to take some more agility classes.

That the economy finds its bottom and begins to improve.

That the Middle East finds some sort of structured peace (hey if you’re wishing might as well wish big!)

That all of you are safe and happy.

Love to all, from Katie and me.

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Taking the library to where the people are

Today I worked at a branch of the library that is located inside the town’s major mall.  It’s down near Sears, with a steady stream of people walking by and  I could hear the mall Christmas music playing as I worked.  During my five hour shift the mall walkers stopped in after their workouts to read the local paper and chat in comfortable groups, and lots of people ducked in for a quick check of emails on  our internet computers.  At least three husbands were there reading while their wives shopped, and I noticed a couple of  male teens  reading and rocking in comfortable rocking chairs back by the teen fiction section.  Lots of people were looking at the DVDs as well, but I checked a lot of books out which always makes me smile.

All in all I think it’s a pretty successful branch, an example of putting the library where the people are; making it accessible while they’re doing their everyday stuff,  rather than making a visit to the library a special trip that  all too often is put off until another day.  It’s proof that if you build a beautiful, functional, convenient space, people will come.


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Return day

Today (well it’s probably yesterday now, I think it’s after midnight.) I worked both jobs, 5 hours at the library and 7 at the bookstore. Sort of have mind numbing brain cramping now! But I have to say the best parts of the long day turned out to be the retail side, were a continual line of young kids approached the register with their gift cards and stacks of new books. It was fun to watch kids who enjoy reading getting that special book; and there sure were a lot of those kids tonight.

Both jobs had lots of returns too…at the store it was mostly parents returning books and other stuff they received but didn’t want. Wish everyone had their receipts! At the library we had lots of returned DVDs, movies that families had watched over the holidays.  Wish retail returns were as easily handled as library returns!

Boy am I tired!