Southern Gathering 2009

Last weekend Reilly and I drove to Asheville to meet up with some of our fabulous Canine-L friends. It was a nice mix of people- some were old friends we'd met before and some were new - we know them from the list but had never met them in person.

Reilly and I decided to drive up Sat instead of Friday night, so we got up VERY early Saturday morning and headed up the road. We hit Asheville about 9:30 - just in time for Reilly to try his CGC test. Unfortunately the stars did not align and we didn't pass. But that's ok. We know what we have to work on and he was a good sport for trying so hard.

Then we went into Asheville and met up with a HS friend that I had reconnected with on FB. That was a nice hour spent outside catching up with promises to get back together again soon.

Finally we were on our way to the little community center in Fairview that was SO kind to let us use their facility and bring the dogs in. We were afraid the weather might be bad, so we wanted a place that had some shelter. The weather turned out to be absolutely beautiful though! We could not have asked for prettier weather.

We met some great people and dogs. One dog, an Irish Wolfhound*( Dancer) just stole my heart. She was a sweetie and so calm for a 14 month old puppy. I wanted to sneak her in the car.

The collies were there, along with Cooper and a little Corgi. Reilly kept pretty much to himself- by my side and if I wasn't available, he made straight for our friend Tim.

We had some great meals cooked by our friend Edie - and were all stuffed by the time we had to leave. But Reilly and I were exhausted and happy to get back to the hotel to crash.

After a nice shower, we got ready for bed. Now the one thing I could not figure out was WHY a dog friendly hotel had WHITE( nice) linens for the bed. I, unfortunately forgot to take a sheet for Reilly to sleep on, so we had to carefully remove all his hair the next morning. But WHITE? REALLY??

The next morning, we had breakfast at our favorite restaurant in Hendersonville NC - and then off home. It was a great weekend! The weather was beautiful and Reilly was so well behaved - and well you couldn't ask for better company!

We have MOVED!

Finally the big move is complete! Thank goodness!!! Reilly is starting to settle in and we are slowly unpacking and finding our things.

Thanks to our WONDERFUL friends( Cat, John, Libby and Wendy) we are unpacked enough to function. Cat and Lib got the kitchen, pantry and bed set up, while DH and John got the movie theater running.( THAT thrilled the girls!). Then Wendy came over and helped unpack all the clothes. They are still in disarray, but we can at least get dressed for work. :)

We have internet, I've changed addresses on things till I am blue in the face. Got surveys done and hopefully will have a small fence installed next week. It's not as big of an area as we wanted to fence in, but we are running a bit short in the ready cash area. So we scaled it down a bit and it will be enough to get Reilly through the winter. He can at least go out and use the area, and hang out a bit. Fortunately, there is a nice dog park about 5 minutes away, so we can take him there for a good run, if need be.

That's all the news for now! I will post pictures as soon as Lib sends me the ones she took!

Pictures of the show

I just have a couple, well that I would post. Dave did a great job taking pictures, I am just not that photogenic!

So here are some pictures of Reilly avoiding the weaves. He just won't get his head down into it!






Then here are some jumping pictures! The thing my little man does best!






( just ignore the poor human trying to keep up with the super dog :))

NADAC Trial and House stuff!

We had a nice NADAC trial over Labor Day weekend. DH and I had to house hunt, so I only entered on Sunday.

We did our usual 4 classes - Tunnelers, Jumpers and Regular 1&2. Tunnelers was first and as usual, our first class was a blowout. He was getting used to the ring and there was a photographer there that was distracting to him. But he had fun.

We then had Regular 1&2. He did really well( for him) and I was very proud. Then in Jumpers he ran out of the ring and straight to his fan club ;) . Cat, John and the girls were there( along with DH) in their Reilly Tshirts! But he came back to me, once he had acknowledged his fans and we finished the course with a flourish.

The house is sold( we think - all that's left is to sign the mortgage papers!) and we put an offer in on a great house. But I don't want to jinx it, so that's all I will say about that ;)

Ok Ok I know I am a slacker!

But we have been super busy with the house sale and looking for a new house. So stay tuned, I'll be back, I promise!!!!!

Weekend Wildness!

What a weekend! Friday started out with Girl's night to go see Julie and Julia! Fabulous movie, I highly recommend it!!! Saturday was a little crazy running around - we got an offer on the house, so that put us in a bit of a spin trying to figure out what to counter etc.

We took Reilly to his favorite spot for a long walk. Didn't do my knees any good, but he had a great time!

Then Saturday night a LARGE group of us went to see Poison, Def Leppard and Cheap Trick. The group included John and Cat, Angela and her husband, Angie and her husband, my DH and our friends Bill and Susan. It was so great to finally meet the infamous Angie and we hit it off right away!

The concert well, was interesting to say the least. Not only were we in a time warp ( where DO people get these clothes from the 80's?? Even Jellie shoes!!!) but there were certainly some interesting characters at the concert. We had a great time watching the domestic dispute unfolding from the people in front of us. Lots of entertainment.

Cheap Trick and Poison were ok, but Def Leppard definitely brought their A game! Doug and I had seen them before and they were great and this time they didn't disappoint! The rocked the crowd and it was so much fun!

Thanks everyone for a GREAT time!!!!! :)

Catching up ( yes again)

Where does the time go???  I feel like I haven't blogged in forever, and in the world of blogging I haven't. But we've been spending most of our free time getting the house ready to sell.  It's been painted, spruced up and mostly decluttered, so I think we are about ready.

But this blog is not about the house, and it's not about anything in particular.  We took some nice pictures this weekend and I thought I would share.  Now if y'all are from the Atlanta area you will be familiar with most of these landmarks, but for those that are not, I will put a brief explanation.

( and please forgive any odd ramblings, I am on Lortab and flexiril and I am quite happy and content, albeit a bit high at the moment.  Feeling no pain as they say :) - thanks to a sore back from hauling boxes around)

So here goes:

Ladies and Gents, the Big Chicken.   A historical landmark in Marietta -  Where you are in Marietta is defined by how close or far you are from the Big Chicken( and in which direction).  The beak and the eyes actually work:

The next photo is of the Strand Theater in Marietta Square.  It was restored to glory this past year and I do aspire to go see something in it, just don't know what yet.

The next stop on our tour is Kennesaw Mtn  Battlefield park.  A favorite of hikers, Reilly and Civil War enthusiasts:

And speaking of Reilly, no blog with pictures would be complete with out a picture of Reilly.  This was taken this weekend at one of the many parks along the Chattahoochee River.

That concludes this evening's tour. I am going to head inside whilst I can still walk upright :).....

Good night!