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!

Painting, Painting, Painting!

We did a LOT of painting this weekend! In order to get our house sale ready, we had to have all the hideous wallpaper stripped off of all the bathroom walls and repaint them into nice soothing colors.

We hired a crew to do the wallpaper stripping - DH and I fight about enough home improvement stuff as it is, I figured stripping wallpaper might be the final straw.

So they started on Thurs and got the master bath and the upstairs bath stripped and almost all primed. The crew had to leave early to go to court( ok....) but promised to be back bright and early on Friday morning, and they sure were! I decided to leave Reilly home with me, just baby gated downstairs with plenty of room to move around.

Our great friend Catherine( who is VERY eager to have us move) came over on Friday to help and she painted the downstairs bathroom, as well as put in some new fixtures in the master and the downstairs. She brought her 3yr old Mary who spend the day playing on the Wii and petting on Reilly.

So the Master bath was painted Livable Green( Sherwin Williams). I tried to get some pictures, but it was really hard - the color didn't really come out. But those of you who have seen the wallpaper, will appreciate this:


The art was a little crooked( mental note to fix when I get home).

( sorry about the messy towels, I was just clicking away....)

So that was the master.

In the upstairs bath, I put Cottage Cream( Sherwin Williams). Cat framed the mirror for us and it has made all the difference in the way the bathroom looks.

You can't really see the color, but anything is better than the green and gold striped wallpaper that was up there.

And then last but not least, the downstairs half bath. Cat also framed this mirror for us and we changed the light fixture and added a cute little lamp. This color is Behr River Rock.







We also rented a storage unit and started to declutter the house. WHAT a job that is!

Hopefully the roof gets put on tomorrow, then we can clean the carpets and get the house on the market!

Fourth of July

Happy( belated) Fourth everyone! We had a good weekend - lots of time with friends and family. My mother is here with her dogs, they've been here for a week now. Reilly and Shadow are getting along very well, which is a big plus - they used to fight a lot. But Reilly is exhausted. Shadow loves him and she will NOT leave him alone at all.

Here are some pictures of them playing with a stick:

This is Shadow appropriating the stick.  Then Reilly decided to get in on it - it is HIS stick you know.  It's in his yard:

I was worried, Reilly doesn't always play well but this turned out ok...

We had a great party at our friend John and Cat's yesterday.  They always throw an awesome 4th of July party for their family.  We had great BBQ( thanks John!) and Catherine always throws a wonderful party.  They have a beautiful house and always have enough room for friends and family.

 

Today was a resting day.  It's been raining here in Atlanta - DH and I planted some grass seed and took naps and did a little shopping, so it's been a nice day. We needed the rain for sure.  

I hope everyone had a great 4th!

Trim the Fat Thursday!

I think the Cheat to Lose diet plan is finally kicking in. When I stepped on the scale yesterday, I was down 6 lbs! Now I know I've lost inches too, so as miserable as this diet is, I am going to keep on for a bit.

My goals for this week are:

Get cardio in( my foot is healed so I should be good there)
Take my vitamins
DRINK WATER! I am so bad at drinking my water......

Have a great 4th everyone!!!

Trim the Fat Thursday!

I have jumped on the bandwagon - Thanks Angie!!!

I've not done as well this week - it's been a rough week. I have had a lot going on, but I have been as good as possible. I'm not losing any lbs ( which is odd, but I need to get back to excercising - can't with the injured foot right now.) But I have lost inches, I can definitely tell there. So I am going to keep on, keeping on!

Bachelorette Parties, Swimming pools, dancing and a potential broken foot!

Or what a GREAT weekend we had- well minus the potential broken foot( I LOVE you Bethy!!!!)

Our friends John and Cat, had their 10th wedding anniversary this weekend. So to celebrate, they decided to renew their vows and throw a small(ahem) cocktail party.

Well one simply cannot renew their vows without a proper send off, so the DH and I planned B&B parties, limo and all. Thanks to a lot of help from neighbors Wendy and Andy, as well as sister Elizabeth( the afore mentioned Bethy) and her hubby Sasha, everything went off without a hitch. Us women, went and had a wonderful dinner followed by a couple of hours of dancing.... the guys, well, we won't go there, but they had fun too :)..

After an evening of dancing( and a bit to drink) we thought it would be a great idea to go swimming in W&A's pool.... and that's all I am going to say about that. :)

Saturday was blistering hot in Atlanta, and once Doug and I were able to roll out of bed and make ourselves presentable, we went back to John and Cat's to help finish the set up. The ceremony was at 7 and it was beautiful and simple.

While pictures were being taken, Doug, Wendy, Andy and I ( along with these poor out of town souls that needed to follow us) rushed back to the house to set out the food.

And the rest is history. The food was great, the company was great, and the dancing, well the dancing was awesome!

The only caveat to the night, was that Bethie ACCIDENTALLY stepped on my foot during the first dance with a 4 inch spiked heel. It hurt a bit at first, but I continued dancing till about 1am, then we went off home. It doesn't really hurt - but it's purple and swollen and I am scared to try to get a shoe on.....

The DH blames it on my dancing barefoot( which is a HECK of a lot safer than me dancing in heels) but it would have happened shod or not, as I was wearing strappy sandals and NOT tennis shoes or steel toed boots.

I am sure the continued dancing did not help my situation. But it's not the first broken foot and I am sure it won't be the last.

But it was all worth it!

I raise my glass to another 10 years for John and Cat.

Tagged! Crazy 8!!!

Tagged - Crazy 8!


I was tagged by Angela at Hello Dahrlin'! Thanks Angela!



8 things I am looking forward to:

1. Cat and John's 10th Anniversary Party and the fun right before it.
2. Disney in the Fall
3. Visiting Angela and Daniel and FINALLY getting to use the pool! :)
4. The Agility Seminar in Sept and visiting Janyne.
5. Agility Trials starting back up in Sept.
6. Meeting Angie at the Def Leppard Concert!
7. Mom coming to visit in June.
8. Cat and John's 4th of July party.

8 things I did yesterday:

1. Had Agility class.
2. Went to lunch with a friend.
3. Worked, worked, worked
4. Had Chick Fil A for dinner at 10pm
5. Read the paper
6. Loved on my dog
7. Worked on my Facebook Farm town
8. Slept like the dead!


8 things I wish I could do:

1. Go on vacation
2. Sleep
3. Sing
4. Dance better
5. Be disciplined about diet
6. Read as much as I want
7. Play an instrument
8. Eat cake and not gain weight

8 shows I watch:



1. Gene Simmons Family Jewels
2. The Closer
3. Leverage
4. The Graham Norton Show
5. Grey's Anatomy
6. Bones
7. Rules of Engagement
8. My Boys

8 people tagged:

(1) Janyne
(2) Ginny
(3) Robin
(4) Jane
(5) Natalie
(6) Lizz
(7) Penny
(8) Phyllis

Bark in the Park

Last night was Bark in the Park at Turner Field - the Braves were playing the Pirates. But who cared about the game? The important thing was that we got to take the DOGS! A lot of people showed up with their dogs and it was really awesome. There was plenty of ice and water, misting fans and wading pools to keep the dogs cool. Reilly would have none of that, of course - he was having too much fun looking around at everything.

We went with our friends Mo and Veronica. DH was supposed to go, but he's sick :( So they stepped in and came with us. Reilly and I came dressed up - he was in his 4th of July Bandanna and I was in my Reilly shirt( a new one, courtesy of Cat. ) So everyone knew he was Reilly :).

We got there in good time and got some good pictures.

As any good mom would, I bought Reilly a 6.00 hot dog which he proceeded to spit out. Ok, ok, that was fine, I could deal with that. Then I got him some doggy ice cream which he usually loves - NOPE - no ice cream either. So I just gave up trying to get him to eat something.

He looked around a lot - and even went to sleep for a bit( not a baseball fan I guess) but was SO good for the entire time! I was very proud of him. He got through the scary bits, which included going to the bathroom with me. He hates bathroom stalls.

There were lots of cute dressed up dogs there, including a beagle next to us named Connor.

Here are some more pictures. We will definitely do it again, as long as it's a night game. The day games would be way too hot for him.








A BIG Thanks to the Atlanta Braves Organization for making it a great night!

I know, I know, I got behind again!!!!

I know, I have gotten behind in my blogging again, but life has just been crazy! Between dog trials and horse shows and trying to get the house ready to sell, I haven't had much computer time. But I'll post a quick update!

The last weekend in May, we attended our last agility trial till Sept. We didn't get any ribbons, but for us it was pretty good. Reilly ran some nice courses, but we didn't get a good score for various reasons. One thing was that *I* got confused at one point and directed him over the wrong jump. And then another time, Reilly was tempted to go into the tunnel, instead of another obstacle. He was VERY good and did NOT go in the tunnel. Unfortunately, the tunnel was the obstacle with the ending timer on it, and by sticking his nose in there, he stopped the timer. So we got penalties for that. Then we had a PERFECT regular round but still got eliminated. Why? Because Reilly thought it would be fun to run the course with his leash in his mouth. But then I pushed him too hard and we did 6 classes and the last 2 he was just done. So those were pretty much a waste of time.

Then last weekend was the horseshow. I was paddock master, as usual, and I think we had a pretty good show overall. We had more horses and most importantly - SHADE! We shortened the indoor arena by 40 feet and that gave me and the horses some shade throughout the day. That was a real lifesaver.

This weekend should be pretty quiet, then we gear up next weekend for J&C's big Anniversary party. I've been trying to plan the bachelorette portion( yes we are going out). We ordered the cake yesterday and most of the other things are falling into place.

Also tomorrow night is Bark in the Park at Turner Field. So we are taking Reilly. I am hoping DH will let me dress him up in a bandanna, but I doubt it.

I should have pictures from that to post.

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!

Yesterday I had a very awesome 39th birthday! I got TWO sets of flowers, one from mom and one from my BFF Margo. The ones at the top are Margo's and the ones here, are from mom.

I also got some lovely cards from the DH and my friends - and a couple of other nice gifts - money which I can always use, a tshirt from Rolex KY and a doggy frame which is always welcome - especially as we get more pictures of Reilly's agility.





My agility peeps gave me a party with cheesecake and cards and gifts. Oh and the work group took me out to lunch.

So it was a great day overall. Thanks to everyone who gave me birthday wishes!

This Weekend's Adventures

or our first USDAA sanctioned trial.

First off my friend John says that I do NOT update my blog enough! So I am going to make an effort to update it more and more..... Thanks John for reading it religiously!

So this was a busy busy weekend( sounds familiar doesn't it?). We had our first USDAA trial and I decided to enter both days since we were so close to home. It was held at a facility 2 miles from the house - it was so nice to be the one close to home for a change.

Saturday started out the way I had expected. We entered the Gamblers class which is where each obstacle has a point value and you get to make up your own course, but you have to rack up a specific number of points in order to qualify. You also have to finish what is called " The gamble" which is a specific set of obstacles that must be done at the finish. And the handler has to stand at a distance. It's VERY difficult to do with Reilly, but it was a good way to let him blow off steam. We got 4 points - you needed 18. But that's ok! He got to blow off some steam.

We had some good runs on Sat. Nothing spectacular, but just remember he's still learning. And we had several of our friends come out to watch and support us. Cat and John came in their "Reilly " shirts and we had a blast.

Since it was the weekend preceding mine and Cat's birthday, we decided to do our annual birthday dinner on Saturday night. Thankfully the trial ended in enough time for us to go home and get a drink before getting ready for dinner.

We went to a renowned restaurant in Atlanta called Chops. You guessed it, a steak place. I had VERY high expectations and well, I am sorry they weren't met. The food was good, but the service left a bit to be desired. Is it too much to ask to get my water refilled??? Apparently.

But we were all very tired by the time we got home and I still had to get up the next morning to run Reilly again, so we called it a night.

Sunday it was raining and then it got cold, REALLY cold. And of course, here I am in my shorts and tshirt, bc I had no idea what the weather was going to do.

On Sunday we only did 3 classes - Gambler's, Standard and then Jumpers. Reilly was full of it in Gamblers and even made the judge giggle by running over and trying to pick up the tape measure to run around with. Fortunately it was too heavy and he had to set it back down.

We got through Gamblers and Standard ok, but by the time we got to Jumpers, Reilly was done. He was cold, tired and filthy and he wanted to go home. So we got into the ring and he just lost it. So we quit with a spectacular triple jump and left the ring.

It was a difficult weekend for him - the heights were set at 26 - which he can do, but it's stressful. And there were a lot of spread jumps and difficult questions.

He was so NASTY when we got home, he got a nice warm bath and put to bed. Just like me :)

No pictures, but DH got some video, I will try to upload.

Our next trial is in 2 weeks and it's NADAC. But for John's sake I'll post before then!

NADAC Show in Canton

This past weekend, we attended a NADAC rated show in Canton, GA. Due to scheduling issues and some very important birthday parties, we only went on Sunday.

The weather was beautiful! It had threatened to rain, but we did not see any clouds until after the show was over and we were packing up to leave.

This was a big show for us since we entered almost every class available to us! We did 2 Regular classes, 1 Tunnelers, 1 Hoopers and 1 Jumpers. That made for a REALLY long day for both Reilly and I.

So we started out with the Regular classes. Reilly saw the first class as simply an opportunity to run around the field like an idiot and check everything out. Then he decided to humor me and go through a tunnel. Once he did that, I called him back to me, and we left the field.

Second class - still Regular( BTW, Regular is the class with all available agility obstacles) - a little better although Reilly got fixated on the tunnel. I kept asking him to go up the dog walk and he kept running through the tunnel..... I finally got him to go up the walk( at that point it was a matter of honor) and we finished the course, but got another E for eliminated! :(



Ok, no problem. So we gathered ourselves together for Tunnelers. Tunnelers is what is sounds like, an entire course of tunnels. Reilly LOVES tunnels. A no brainer right? Well maybe for Reilly but not for Mom. It was getting hot, I was getting tired, and I think I gave up on him 1/2 way through the course. I was exhausted..... the sun was beating down on me, and well, I screwed up. I got in his way, and he got mad and off he went. Right up until that point, we were having a beautiful run! It was amazing!!! And I screwed it up. Then he peed. Which is a BIG NO NO on the course! But as the judge commented, at least he peed facing out of the ring and NOT on the equipment.



Next up was jumpers. This was a course with only jumps. Great, easy peasy right? Nope. I screwed up again. When I put him in his sit, I threw his leash too high in the air behind me and he went running after it.( does this dog EVER get tired???) And he was off...... I finally got him back to me and we completed a spectacular jumper course! But got another E for him running off before the class.

Last but not least, the bizarre Hoopers class. It's simply a course of these hula hoops on their sides and you have to do a pattern between them. NONE of us had ever done those before, so we were all wondering how it was going to go. Reilly and I go in there, and he's wondering what the heck we are doing - where are all the jumps?? He kept looking at me like " Ok mom, I don't really *get* it, but I will do it if you want me to". And we got a 3rd place! Not stellar, but a nice way to finish the day.




The pictures that I have posted are from a professional photographer at the show. She and her husband did a great job.

Reilly and I have a big USDAA show this weekend! Wish us luck!

Car Update

The dogmoble went to the body shop yesterday and apparently there is more damage than meets the eye. Luckily all the parts are in stock and will only take a day or 2 to get to the shop. The financial damage is around 4,000.00 and I am hoping to get it back by the 15th - which would be nice since we have a big agility trial that weekend and I would love to have my car back.

On the rental car side, my insurance pays $30 a day towards a rental through Enterprise. I am not fond of Enterprise, not having had good luck with them before and while the people there are nice this time, the cars are not the best by a long shot. The first car I got was a Grand Prix and it was filthy and had almost 40,000 miles on it - hard miles. I drove it over the weekend and decided that I really needed to upgrade. So the nice lady at Enterprise who has put up with me and my indecision, put me in a Trailblazer for about $5 out of pocket a day. So I am now driving that. It's still seen some hard times, but not as bad as the Grand Prix. And I feel much better being in a car that's higher off the ground and has more room for Reilly.

Tonight, hopefully, I can pick up the police report. I keep checking and it's never ready...... I hope that this guy has insurance and that he is going to have to pay for all this crap I am going through.

Happy Birthday Reilly!!!

Today is Reilly's 4th Birthday!( or actually our best guess at his birthday!) He has become such a big boy- he's really matured into an adult dog over the past year and he is the joy in our life.

Happy Birthday big guy!!!! We've gone a LONG way in the 3 years that we have had you and I hope we have many more journeys together.

OUCH! or My Poor Car!!!

Last night, as I was driving home, some punk kid decided that he couldn't wait an extra 30 seconds to get out of a gas station and he hit my poor car! I was stopped making waiting to make a left turn and he peeled out of the station and straight into my car's rear end! His excuse was that I was "inching" forward so he assumed I was going to turn. I wasn't inching of course, just sitting there at a stop.

So I got out of the car and started laying into this guy. Which probably wasn't a good idea since he could have pulled out a gun. Once I saw the guy and started to interact with him I was a little scared of him, so I called the DH and told him to get to me IMMEDIATELY! And to his credit he was there in a heartbeat.

Called the cops, they came in 15 minutes( a record I think!) and I was back home within 1/2 hour and on my way to agility in 45 minutes.

I think they cited him - which is good, I just hope he has good insurance. It's going to cost a pretty penny to cover my car, my car rental and the deductible.

It just makes me mad because it was a STUPID move on his part and now *I* am inconvenienced for at least a month if not more, in not having my car! Kudos to Liberty Mutual. They are covering a car for me for $30 a day and then I am paying an extra $1 a day to get a premium sized car. I refuse to drive around Atlanta in a dinky tin can. Plus Reilly has to have enough room to move around.

His car might have been damaged, but who could tell bc it was a true piece of crap.

And I had a hard time sleeping last night bc if you can't tell I am still MAD! ARGH!

On the bright side, Reilly ROCKED his agility class last night!

Here are some more pics of my poor car:

A Really Close Call!

Yesterday, DH and I decided it that we needed to get outside and do some yard work. His garganutan task was to trim the bushes in front of the windows. So he's going at it with the electric saw thingys when he spots this:


OOPS! Thank goodness he didn't get it with the trimmers! He continued to trim around them, and then once we were done, covered them up a bit with some debris to hopefully keep them hidden from predators.

Pictures Pictures!!!!!

( Clicking on the image should make it bigger)

I finally have some pictures!  I wasn't able to find the cord to connect the camera to the laptop before!

Here are pictures of the Buffett concert.  I will have to post Charleston pictures later, as I forgot to take my camera into town and I have to get them from my friend.  So the picture at the top is the whole gang getting ready to go into the concert.

Here are Carol and Penny getting their drink on - believe it or not, this was early in the afternoon!

We got out to the parking lot MUCH later than we intended.  There were rumors swirling around that they weren't going to open the gates to the parking lot until 4pm - their goal is to get us to buy more drink inside, instead of doing all the drinking outside.  We called the site to confirm this and they said - yes 4pm.  Then I got a  text - too late- from my friend who said that they had opened the gates at 12:45!  That's ok though - as you can see from the next few pictures, we still had  a pretty good time.  The concert was awesome!  There is NEVER enough time for him to play all his music.  But we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful Atlanta day. And we had a nice cool evening- I think it was the first Buffett concert where I wasn't drenched in sweat.

Off on a Little Vaca!

We are off on a little vacation to Charleston then back home for the Jimmy Buffett concert( cool pics to follow next week).

Reilly is going to the spa - aka Atlanta Dog Trainer - to stay with Mimi and Sonja and be spoiled while we are away.

Our days in Charleston include a day at the spa for Cat and I while the men golf.

And on Thurs my BFF comes to town for the JB concert!

So stay tuned and HAPPY EASTER!

Rain, Rain GO AWAY!

Seriously now! I know we are in a drought and I should be thankful for the rain( and I am ) but it's getting a little ridiculous around here. Too many plans have had to be canceled thanks to the wet stuff and I am getting a little tired of it. Plus I feel like there is mold and green ickies growing everywhere and I can't keep my kitchen floor clean( Thanks Reilly :) ) .....

... it's Spring and that's how it goes... but I have some VERY important outdoor activities coming up and I don't want them to be ruined.

Plus I have enough on my plate on a daily basis with the crackhead, without adding 4 days of ugly, " we can't go outside" weather on top of it.

Last night he was a NIGHTMARE at agility class and I have the scars to prove it. Apparently Reilly thought that it would amuse him to constantly bite me while running around the agility course. You know they say the best thing is to ignore this kind of behavior, but it's not that easy if you are getting chunks taken out of you as you run around. He wasn't being mean or malicious about it, he's just a mouthy boy and that's how he expresses himself. Should this continue this week, you will see his freedom of expression get squashed fast!

That is, if we get to have class - depending on the weather.

What a Weekend!

WOW! What a weekend we had! Saturday started out with agility class - where I was a totally idiot and couldn't remember a course to save my life! Then moved on to lunch with an old HS friend and concluded with a Southern Living party and dinner with friends.

Sunday was exhausting but wonderful! I took Reilly to his second agility trial and he was a total rockstar! When I got there I was seriously considering pulling out and not running at all - it was being held in a HUGE open field. There were some barriers around the sides and back but NOTHING at all in the front - just vast openness..... Um, not good with a dog that can run 300 miles and hour and be gone in an instant!

BUT my wonderful agility friends convinced me that it would be fine and that they would be there to run interferance in case of a break for freedom. DH was there too, and the hope would be that Reilly would run right to him.

Our first class was Jumpers and he was fantastic! We came in 5th out of 6, but the best part was we didn't get a big E for elimination!! We would have scored higher, but Reilly went into the wrong tunnel. I was able to call him out before he completed the tunnel, but we lost points for that.

The second class was Regulars which is all the obstacles in Agility. He was trucking around the course like a veteran - until the last 2 jumps. He came off the teeter and took off running for his daddy who was standing at the edge of the ring. I was too far behind him to get him back and since there was no barrier in front, there was nothing to stop the run. But that's fine. We got an E, but I was so proud of him for getting that far.

Then the last class was rough. He was getting tired - as we all were. He did the first 5 obstacles then made my greatest fear come to life - he took off running out of the ring. He circled around the left side of the ring towards the road. I just yelled "Somebody PLEASE catch my dog!" - indicating to the crowd that it was fine to grab him, I wasn't going to try to complete the course.

So Doug and my classmates started over to try to get him back - he circled back around, peed on a tree and ran back into the ring like "ok, I just needed a break, but I am back! Let's go!". At that point I just grabbed him and told the judge "Thank you, we're done"! But I was still all smiles because he was just awesome!

We had a good day overall. One of my classmates Q'd and won all of her classes and also won the High Point Novice award. Another Q'd and won one class and the third got 2 seconds and a fourth. So a great day overall.

DH and I were exhausted, but we barely had enough time to get home, eat a quick sandwich and then get ready to go and see Spamalot. That was a really good show. I am so glad we went.

WHEW! That was our weekend in a nutshell! :)

Yummy Soup!

We've had some really nasty weekends this year in GA - rainy and cold, or snowy and icky and last weekend was no exception. After spending the day driving around helping a friend look for apartments the DH and I were exhausted. I mentioned to him that I was going to make soup for dinner - nice hot comfort food, yet easy to make. I was thinking Chicken Noodle soup - Angela's famous recipe - but he wanted Lemon Chicken Soup.

DH and I grew up in FL near a large Greek Orthodox population. We were always noshing on Greek salads, yummy bread and lemon chicken soup. So I got on the internet to search for a yummy recipe and I found this one. I cheated a bit when making it because we were so tired. I used Boil in Bag rice and just got an already cooked rotisserie chicken from Publix.

But let me say this - it was GOOOD! I don't have pics like Angela, because we scarfed it all up! Seriously though, it was very good and we had enough left over to freeze for later consumption.

I just served it with sourdough bread and butter on the side, and it hit the spot!

And The Result of the Agility Trial?

A big E :)... but that's ok. Reilly did his absolute best and in our eyes was a SUPERSTAR! I could not have asked for anything more from him at all.

So our whole weekend was a mess - the painters came on Friday and I sent Reilly to daycare. They left on Friday evening, while we were out, and left the place a mess. Their ladders and everything were EVERYWHERE. This threw poor Reilly just totally out of whack.

I was counting on agility class on Sat morning to get us out of the house while the painters finished up. But because of the horrible rain, class got cancelled. We ended up holed up in the bedroom. The stress was too much for poor Reilly and he got sick - throwing up and everything. When the painters left, he was finally able to relax a little bit and catch some sleep.

Sunday we woke bright and early to continuing rain, which was supposed to turn to snow. And it did, but that was later.

It was FREEZING at the trial - just bone chilling cold.... we got there at 7 and the trial started at 8. Thankfully DH and a friend brought coffee for all of us. Reilly seemed a bit stressed at the trial, but that was to be expected. I walked him around some, but due to the ever present rain, we couldn't really venture out for long. Oh, and we had an admirer! Someone came up and started gushing about how much Reilly looked like her dog. So she went off to get her dog and well, she did look somewhat like Reilly. She was older, and shorter and well a bit heavier, but I could see the resemblance. She was very sweet and we chatted for a few minutes.

It came out time to run and well, he did his best. Part if it, looking back, was definitely my fault- I wasn't in place when he unexpectedly started his run and I pulled him off the second tunnel. He proceeded to tour the ring for his admiring fans, but not at his usual breakneck speed. He was just kind of checking the place out. Which was fine, I expected that. And, after all that, he came back to me, I got him under control, we went through the last tunnel and out the gate where the DH was meeting us with tons of treats and LOTS of praise. So he was an AWESOME dog!!!

But the highlight of the day was when our friend came with his 2 little girls. They all had tshirts - and they even had one made for me and Doug. Mine said "Reilly's mom" in crystals, Doug's said "GO Reilly", our friend's said " Go Santos"( we joke that Reilly looks like Santa's Little Helper from the Simpsons) and it said something very clever on the back, which I can't remember. The girls( 3 and 6) were VERY cute in their shirts which said "Go Reilly" and " I Love Reilly". I thought it was awesome of them to come out in the cold and wet to watch us go for 30 seconds.... and to make the shirts. If I get their permission to post the pictures with their children in it, I will so you can see the shirts.

Our next trial is on March 22nd( I hope, I just sent the entry in). We have tickets to Spamalot that day, but hopefully it will move quickly and we'll get to do both of our runs. If not, that's fine too.

Oh and DH didn't get any pics bc the camera battery was dead :(....

And the one comment I heard at the trial was how fast Reilly was. I asked the DH if he was really fast( I can't tell I see him all the time) and he said, yes, VERY fast and he was only running 1/2 speed. WOW.

Our First Trial and Various Other Stuff!

This weekend is our first agility trial. I am excited, but very nervous! DH will be there taking LOTS of pictures, so I should have something to post on Sunday or Monday. I think we're ready. I am a little worried Reilly might be a bit stressed by Sunday, but hopefully he'll shake it off.

And finally - ( drumroll please) we are getting the interior of the house painted! It's been driving me CRAZY for YEARS and we are finally biting the bullet, forking out the dough and getting most of it painted.

We haven't been able to paint it ourselves because the foyer and the family room are 2 stories high and neither DH nor I are getting on ladders or scaffolding to paint it. So they come on Friday and should be done sometime Saturday - hence the stressing of the dog.

He's at daycare today because the house is being cleaned and will have to go on Friday again, when the painters are at the house. Then Saturday should be interesting as I am sure they will get there before we leave for agility. If all goes well :), they will be gone by 1pm and Reilly and I will come back to a newly painted house in a disasterous mess :).

DH and I are going to start taking things off the bookcases tonight and moving some of the more fragile stuff, which tends to stress out the dog. He's not big into change, if you haven't already guessed that.

Oh and we had a wonderful houseguest this weekend. Our friend Tracy who we knew in HS and then again in College was in Atlanta this weekend. We had reconnected through Facebook and it's been so good to see her again. But she fears she will never be invited to stay with us again! In the process of putting her stuff in her car on Monday, she locked herself out of our house without her Blackberry! Poor Tracy tried everything she could think of to get in the house. She went to the neighbor's on either side and the one who could help her wasn't home, and the one who couldn't help her was! She tried windows and everything else, and finally had to resort to breaking the window in our back door.

Which is not a big deal..... at all really, we aren't mad. It's just that since nothing in our house is the right size, we had to order the insert for the window and it will be a week or so till it gets here. We have it all taped up, but everytime you open or close the door, glass rains down on the patio.

And of course she's always welcome! :) We'll just have to hide a key next time.

Summerzcool 2009 - Here we come!

This year was definitely our lucky year with regards to Jimmy Buffett tickets! We found out about the tickets 3 days before they went on sale, rallied the troops and got the job done. It was definitely a group effort.

Saturday morning, I made my way to the nearest Publix to try my luck at drawing a good number in the lottery. The Publix was prepared for us - the woman selling the tickets was wearing a festive tshirt and had Buffett music playing. All in all there were about 15 people in line and once the lottery was over, I had drawn #2! So I called my partners in crime to let them know that since I had #2, I should be able to buy the limit of 6 with no problem and I just needed someone else to get 2 more to complete our order of 8.

Compatriot #1 - or DH, was at home manning the computer- I figured this would be a futile effort since several JB concerts went on sale on Sat and Ticketmaster would be slammed with requests.

Compatriot #2 was at another Publix and number 11 in line. So I was hoping she could get 2 or DH could get 2 and we'd be good.

As 10am approached the anticipation was building in everyone in the line. We were watching the clock and the people behind the counter were announcing the official time to us. Finally it was 10am and we all edged forward towards the counter waiting for the first tickets to start printing out. And we wait, and wait and wait...... The poor woman behind the counter could NOT get logged on to Ticketmaster! ARGH! I felt so bad for her, she was trying so hard to get in but the *&^%$#$ing computer would not cooperate.

Meanwhile DH calls to say that he got 4 tickets online. ( why only 4 I don't know). So I tell him to get back on and get 4 more!!! So in a panic he logs back on and tries to get more tickets.

We are still waiting, and waiting and waiting on the computer to cooperate. DH calls back, he's got 6 more tickets and we are on our way!

At that point, the woman behind the counter told people to start calling friends to get on the internet so that they had a chance of getting some tickets. I felt so bad for everyone, but hey, it pays to have a backup plan or 2.

Now you are wondering( if you are not a Parrothead) why it is such a big deal to get tickets and to have people spread out all over town to get them.

Well Compatriot#2 told me when I called her to tell her to pack it in and go home, that the SECOND person in her line was the LAST person to get tickets. That's it, they were sold out in about 6 minutes.

And if I could only go to ONE concert in Atlanta all year, it would have to be this one.

Since we have such a large group going this year, we are definitely getting their early and tailgaiting - in fact we have one person flying from MD, just to experience this first hand for herself with us.

There will be pictures, trust me....... :)

Agility update

Reilly and I are continuing on with our agility classes. But on top of our group classes, I have decided that we need some private sessions to work on some issues that Reilly and I have.

He loves agility, he loves the running and jumping and all that goes with it. But in his exuberance, he does NOT pay attention and starts running around, willy nilly and missing key contact points, which will kill us when we compete. Plus, sometimes it gets too much for him and he can't wrap his little brain around what we are doing and he gets stressed out and shuts down.

So in our private lessons we are taking things slow, and building on some basics trying to get him to a point where it does not stress him out.

Bless his heart - he's a SMART dog - I mean really smart - but I think he's just still immature, even at 3.5 yrs old. I can see him thinking so hard and the wheels are just spinning away when Sonja or I ask him to do something. Then when he FINALLY gets it and gets rewarded, it's all sunshine and happiness.

Now, not to say that he tries to get away with the minimum to still get a treat, but those days are now over. It's all black and white.

I will keep you posted on our progress.....

Long Time No Blog!

I know, it's been AGES since I have blogged, but between the holidays and year end close at work, life has been a little nuts( and if you live in the South, a little WET!).

I can tell you that as much as we need the rain here in GA, I have had ENOUGH. I have especially had enough of standing in the pouring rain in agility class. The kicker is it's never raining when we GET to class, but about 10-15 minutes into class it starts to pour. Now, we all stand in the rain, by our choice ( why not, we're already there) but it's still annoying and bone chilling cold.

Reilly had a wonderful visitor on Saturday night. Angela brought Pixie over. I was hoping they would play, but Pixie was intimidated by Reilly - he was probably the biggest dog she's ever been around, so she was a little shy around him. She was NOT shy around the people though and we got some good cuddle time with her on the couch.

What else? Oh yeah! Reilly and I have entered an agility trial on March first. We're doing tunnelers, which is basically running a course of tunnels, but we are VERY excited! Hopefully there will be pictures.

That's it for now....