Not Much

I'm sure you've all heard the song that starts with the line "Stuck inside these four walls" (Paul McCartney, Band on the Run).  Well that's how it's been this week for me....too many weeks these past few years.

We've only been here five days but it seems much longer....to me anyway.  Daily routine - Mike walks a couple dogs then comes back and takes a couple more, then comes back and takes the last one.  When that is done, he rests a while and then starts over.  Everyday.  I think he and the dogs both miss having a yard.

Today was big excitement.  We received our first batch of mail from home.  Boogie got first dibs on getting to open it.

First you take the strip off....and then start to pull mail out - one piece at a time as grandma instructed.

Ah, forget being dainty.  Let's just go in for it all.

This evening we had our first beautiful sunset.  This is the view from inside the RV.

I hope we have many more!

Debbie

Deep, Sincere Thanks

(Olympia, WA) Things were a bit hectic at my parents house (remodeling) on my birthday so the family celebration had to be delayed....to today.

When you are growing up, you know that someday you will repay your parents for all they do for you while you are growing up. I certainly know that I always thought that when my parents got older and needed help, I would be there before they could blink.

It's now that time. It saddens to me to no end that I am physically unable to help them in the slightest. I'm always hearing of things they need help with. I want to dash right over and take care of it. But no can do.

Instead, my parents came to our RV today and spent many hours cleaning the RV because I can't do it. How backward is that. I should be helping them and instead, they are coming to me and slaving away. It's just so wrong. I will say, this is a source a great pain for me. My parents have done so much for me my entire life and now when I should be helping them, they are still having to do for me.

There aren't words to express how much I appreciate all they have done for me....and all they continue to do for me. I truly don't know what I'd do without them.

In addition to doing hours worth of cleaning, my mom slaved away all day yesterday making her famous cinnamon rolls that I requested for my birthday. It is my favorite food ever, hands down. Unfortunately, it takes hours and hours to make.

My mom has made those cinnamon rolls since before I was born. She's made them for all holidays, birthdays, and other special occasions. I can't count how many times Mom has made them to cheer me up and at times that were way more special than she ever knew.

Mom, thanks so much for working so hard to make cinnamon rolls for my birthday. I know how hard they are to make and how much time it takes. There is nothing better...for any occasion. I've always said I want my last meal to be mom's cinnamon rolls.

The weather today was beautiful. The view from my parent's house is so pretty when it's nice out. Their yard is landscaped so nicely and both the water and mountain are so beautiful.

Since I don't know how to make panoramic pictures, you'll just have to look and pretend you're turning your head. The pictures go from left to right (taken from my parents deck).








While I was outside taking in the beautiful scenery, a float plane went by.



Just seconds later, a helicopter went right over my head....I felt like I could just jump right in with them.



Mike and Slugger had a nice day in their normal position. This is not an uncommon position for them. From the time Slugger came to our house at six weeks of age (supposedly to die that night), he has been a lap dog. I think he still thinks he is one pound.



Slugger never sleeps well unless he is on top of you. This is how he sleeps every night....on top of one of us. And Boogie won't even be in the same room with us. Does this seem a little backward to you?!

Debbie
9/13/10

Thoughts

(Woodinville, WA) Not a lot has been happening recently....which is not a good thing for me as it just means I have a lot more time to think about things. I call it "busy mind".

Like, why do people get upset about such small things. I mean, you may think it is a big thing....but if you think of it in the grand scheme of life, it's really not a big deal at all.

For instance, when someone does an agility run and it doesn't go perfectly (which is often for most of us), then they get mad at the dog. How does this help? Why does it really matter if you Q or not. The dog doesn't know about Q's. Are you doing this for titles? Or are you doing this to have fun with your dog? To socialize with other people? What?

Think about it for a minute. For those of you that do agility, stop reading this post and think about why you really do agility.

Do you know how lucky you are to even be able to go to the line with your dog? I would give just about anything to be able to go on course with my dogs.....even if we "messed up" every run. At least we'd be doing something fun together.

What if you had to stop doing agility immediately. How important would it be then that your dog Q'd on every run?

When I could run, my dogs thought they were perfect on every run. And we partied after each run as though they'd just won the Championships. They were so proud of themselves and so happy....and so was I.

Now that I just watch (when I can even do that), I see so many people that really get on their dogs because a mistake happened. They blame the dog. I could easily see from the sidelines that the dog was really doing exactly what their body told them to do.

Just think about it next time you go to a show. I used to put a quote at the bottom of my emails that said:

"The real joy is in the privelge and ability to step to the start line with your dog by your side, not in the crossing of the finish line victorious over others." Author unknown.

That is more true than you realize.

Since I haven't been up and around doing much, I'd like to share some pictures with you that have either warmed my heart each in their own way.

Look at these two dogs....so content and happy to have a friend to sleep with!

Doesn't Boogie look so sweet just lying next his little friend?



Ha, fooled you all. This isn't Boogie....but you could have told me it was and I would have believed you. This is actually Boogie's litter mate, StevieRay (on the right of course), with his "sister" Emma. He's quite the agility dog too. StevieRay and Boogie are exactly the same on course....run, run, run....but even more....bark, bark, bark.

Emma (on the left) is my hero. She is an extremely talented dog. I get my inspiration from her a lot. You go get 'em, Emma.

For those of you not in the Pacific Northwest, this picture was taken in Puget Sound. If you look closely you can see a Pit swimming way out in the water (exactly like Slugger likes to do) and the big white thing in the distance is a ferry....it carries vehicles from the mainland to the islands...and back.



My best friend has a beautiful property here in Washington that we are fortunate enough to get to visit from time to time. The dogs love it and we love it. It would truly be paradise....if it was warm there year round! Even these guys miss the sun and took advantage of a rare moment of sunshine to get some sun bathing in.



The final picture that was sent to me recently is a gorgeous scenery picture. My very special niece took this picture in Wales.



I'll leave you with the beauty of the last picture and won't tell you about all the other things my "busy mind" thinks about.

Special thanks to Marti, Lori, Shari, and Asami for sharing these beautiful pictures with me.

Debbie
8/23/10

Quick Sightseeing

(Newport, OR) Mike and the dogs have been playing on the beach non-stop since we got here. I've been stuck in the bedroom the whole time.

So today Mike decided to try and take me on a driving tour of downtown Newport...all three blocks of it!

I think since I grew up around and on the ocean it is a very happy place for me. So many good memories. But when you go to the ocean with all those memories of such good times and can't partake in the activites it is very difficult.

The scenery was beautiful...especially if you like boats.



Most of these boats are commercial fishing boats. If you wanted, you could walk right down onto the pier and watch them unload their catch for the day.



This is the view looking out to the ocean with the bridge you must go over to get into Newport.



Mike said Wazzu wanted to make friends with all the seagulls....as usual. They wouldn't even fly away when she got near. It was like a stare off...in a very friendly way....like curiosity.

Over the weekend, a friend of ours had told Mike about a really good restaurant in Newport called Local Ocean Seafoods. So on our way home we stopped to get some take-out.

But they told Mike that dogs were allowed at the tables. I wonder if this is what they meant.



Boogie was nice to let me sit with him for a quick photo op.

The food was super good. Pictured in the above picture is a roasted garlic and crab soup. It was better than can be described. Every bite was full of big pieces of crab. Boogie found out he likes crab soup!

Wazzu and 2iggie were along with us as well. But they were good dogs and sat under the table. Our waiter even brought out a huge bowl of water for the dogs. How nice was that! They enjoyed having water but I think they were wondering why they didn't get soup like Boogie!

Debbie
7/13/10

Making New Memories

(Olympia, WA) Thirty years may have passed but Izumi and I picked up right where we left off those many years ago. I will cherish these past few days for the rest of my life.

Since I can't do all that much, we mostly stayed home and talked. But we did manage a couple activities.

My dad is in charge of building a new Rotary Park in Olympia. So we went down to check it out. It is going to be so nice....the city will be lucky to have such a nice park right on the water with a beautiful view of the capital.

Weyerhaeuser was really busy across the way as a huge ship was on its way.

Boogie was such a good boy for Izumi as we walked around the park.

In this picture of me taking the above picture, you can actually see more of the park.

A couple things I notice in this picture. It's the end of May and we all look like we're dressed for winter. Seattle is stuck in winter this year. Yuk. And what is it the dogs are all looking at...whatever it is, it is in all different directions.

I happened to mention to Izumi that one of my favorite meals when I lived in Japan with her was Shabu Shabu. So one evening, Izumi surprised me by making Shabu Shabu for dinner. You put all the food in boiling water...only takes seconds....even for the meat as it is sliced paper thin.

And then you reach in with your chopsticks, choose your item, then dip it in one of the two sauces.

This meal took me back to my days in Japan. Oh I'd love to go back....but I have a lot more recovering to go if that is ever going to be a reality. Guess I'll just dream.

We don't have a dishwasher in the RV but after six years Sparkie still remembers that her favorite job is helping with the dishes. I guess you'd call this the pre-wash cycle.

Once a week is sailing club night. Luckily for them, it was about the only time all week it wasn't raining. This was taken from my parent's "rain room". Most parts of the country would call it a sun room....

One day we took a walk around the Beaver Pond. We used to see so much wildlife activity there. But today all the critters must have been on vacation. All we saw was a lazy, and hungry, newt....

....a snail...(exciting huh?!).....

....and one lone pretty duck.

We spent some time playing my parent's Wii game. Most of our time was spent either playing tennis or bowling as that's what Izumi and I did together those many years ago...except for real.

One time, Dad accidentally chose Mike as the player. Mike is left handed...Dad is not. But he decided to try it left handed.

Izumi and I have the same natural style....huge curve.

And what a game! Izumi bowled her highest score and was feeling pretty good....until she saw Dad's score. I'm sure this record will stand for quite some time. And as you may guess, Dad has decided he is indeed left handed.

We wanted to get pictures of everyone before Izumi left. So here is what we got. (And no matter what I do I can't get these pictures to format correctly. Sorry about the mess.)

As you can probably tell, we were having a great time. We took a bunch of pictures so Izumi could share them with her husband, Shusaku, and Okaasan - both of whom we miss very much.

Left to right: Izumi, Deb, Mike

Left to right: Izumi, Deb, Mom, Dad

I sure hope it's not another 30 years until we get to see each other again.

Debbie

5/24-29/10

Rock And Roll

(Woodinville, WA) Oh my gosh, what a gorgeous day. Not a warm day by any means but a beautiful day nonetheless.

We took advantage of the day by taking a ferry trip to Whidbey Island. We couldn't have picked a prettier day. In both directions, we were lucky enough to get a spot right next to the outer edge so we could see the view right from our car. That's really important for us as we won't leave the dogs in the car by themselves while we go up on deck.

This was 2iggie's first ferry ride...and her first time on an island. She had no idea she was on an island but she knew the ferry was something new. She was so interested in everything. This is probably the most alert we've ever seen her. 2iggie wasn't so sure about things when Mike picked her up to look over the railing. No thanks to that! But she enjoyed all the smells and sights. We saw some really interesting cloud formations. They looked so soft and fluffy...but whoever was underneath was most likely getting sopped.




We went to a friend's house on Whidbey Island for an earthdog practice for Boogie. As always, he was ready to get the rats just while we were getting prepared for practice. (The box on top of the fence has a rat in it...that's what Boogie is so interested in.)




We had a great practice. Boogie figured out an unusual tunnel, barked at rats, eluded us from getting him out (that's what we went to practice), and worked on indicating. He worked so long and hard his tongue was curled completely up over his nose. We made him take a break to drink some water and rest. Then he got to practice indicating by working for a ratsicle. How fun is that!

The other four dogs had to stay in the car during all this but they were very patient just like always. About three hours later we headed back home.

When we got home we let all the dogs out in the backyard. All five dogs immediately ran to the back corner of the property and started looking upward barking like crazy.




We knew this could only mean one thing....a crow! Slugger hates crows - one tormented and teased him when he was a puppy while we were living in Maple Valley. The rest of the dogs have learned to help him take revenge on all crows. After about five minutes the crow finally flew out of the tree. And the case chase was on!



Wazzu was quite pleased with herself for helping to scare the crow away.



We thought the dogs would have an all out play time since they'd just spent five hours in the car. But the only dog that wanted to play was the one that had all the exercise. Go figure....the little energizer bunny.

The rest of them just wanted to roll in the grass.

Sparkie:




2iggie:




Wazzu:




Slugger fell asleep before he had a chance to roll. That crow really took it all out of him.




Since Boogie couldn't get anyone to play he decided to join in the roll-fest.




I guess even the dogs were happy to see a nice day so they could just roll around in the grass and enjoy the sun. I know I sure enjoyed a sunny day - no more rain...please!

Debbie
5/7/10
PS Happy 27th anniversary Mike.